"THAT THEY MAY ALL BE ONE."
By W.
THERE is no one thing to which Christians are exhorted more strenuously than they are to unity. Indeed it is the one thing essential. Without unity they have no means of proving to the world the truth of the religion which they profess. Christians are those who are united to Christ, and if they are united to Christ,—members of one body,—they must necessarily be united to one another. Therefore union is the great test of Christianity. But when we say this, we do not mean that all who profess Christianity must necessarily be united. We can conceive of union that would be far worse than dissension. We refer to a union upon something contrary to the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus. Such a union would be no evidence of Christianity, as anybody can see. It must be, therefore, that when our Saviour prayed that all his professed disciples might be one, he designed that their union should be a union upon the truth of God as revealed in his word. And this is still more evident from our Saviour's words in another part of that same prayer, where he said: "Sanctify them through thy truth; thy word is truth." These thoughts were suggested by reading a letter which we recently received, in which the writer deplored the fact that some are keeping the seventh day of the week,—the Sabbath of the Lord,—while the majority of Christians observe the first day of the week. He wished that there might be unity in this respect, and hoped that the time would soon come when Christians should unite in bringing about the fulfillment of our Lord's prayer, "that they all may be one." Inasmuch as he pleaded quite strongly for Sunday observance, we conclude that he wants those who keep the seventh day to unite with the majority, and thus fulfill our Saviour's desire. It is not an unfrequent thing for people to accuse seventh-day keepers of bringing in dissension, and of being the cause of there being a division among professed Christians. Now to us the case looks very much as follows: A teacher sends her score of pupils out to play, with instructions for them to keep within a certain inclosure, and an express injunction for them to keep together and be united in their play. Very soon they propose a game which if carried out would make it necessary for them to go outside the inclosure. They all start over the fence, except two who refuse to disobey their teacher. The others beg them to come along, stating that the teacher will not care, because so many of them have already gone outside, and then they remind the two of the teacher's injunction that they should keep together. But still the two refuse to go outside, and so the play is hindered, and the good feeling with which they all started out is marred. The teacher, hearing the dispute, goes out to see what is the matter, and is told by the majority that all the trouble is caused by those two obstinate ones, who refuse to act in harmony with them. Now we think that almost anyone will say that the two are all right, and that the trouble is all caused by the majority who refuse to obey the simple command of the teacher. The teacher also would say that when she enjoined them to keep together, she meant that they should keep together in the place marked out for them. No one would say that the eighteen ought to be praised for being united in an act of disobedience. Well, God has enjoined upon all who profess to be learners from him, that they should be one; but when he tells them that, he expects that they will be one in obeying his law. It would be too much to suppose that he would reward them for being united, if they were united in disobedience. Indeed, he has said that union in disobedience is displeasing to him, for we read: "Though hand join in hand, the wicked shall not be unpunished; but the seed of the righteous shall be delivered." Prov. 11:21. Numbers do not make a sin respectable in the eyes of God. He had more pleasure in Noah than in all the antediluvian world besides. In fact, Noah was the only one with whom he was pleased, and the reason is given thus: "For thee have I seen righteous before me in this generation." Doubtless Noah was accused of being a disturber of the people; but it was better to be a disturber on the side of right than to be joined to the multitude in error. In later times, when the Jewish nation had nearly all gone into idolatry, there was one faithful man, who refused to join their iniquitous union. The Israelites were a very united people at that time, and did not want to have any disturbing element among them. And so when Elijah came to warn them again, Ahab said to him, "Art thou he that troubleth Israel?" Elijah did not accept the accusation, but stated the matter in its true light, saying, "I have not troubled Israel; but thou, and thy father's house [have troubled Israel], in that ye have forsaken the commandments of the Lord, and thou hast followed Baalim." 1 Kings 18:17, 18. We love union, but we hope that we may never accept of any union that will involve a violation of the plain precept of God. Rather would we stand in the law of the Lord, calling the multitude to return and walk in the old paths. W.