Editorial by Editor

Pacific Press Publishing Company · Oakland, California · Feb 27, 1893

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 19, No. 17.

Editorial.

By Editor

"All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable."—2 Tim. 3:16.

THE power of true faith is the power of Christ according to our need; for faith lays hold of Christ through his word, and through his word is the power of Christ exercised. That power is "all power in heaven and earth." God will supply all "need according to his riches in glory." Let faith grasp the promises.

THE Supreme Court of the United States, on February 1, 1892, rendered a decision which makes Congress a censor of the press, and thereby nullified the First Amendment to the Constitution, which declares that Congress shall not abridge the freedom of the press. We are aware that the court declares that the liberty of the press is not abridged, that publications may circulate any other way the publishers please save through the mails; but the fact remains that the intent of the Constitution was to prohibit Congress from abridging the liberty of the press in the very agencies controlled by Congress, namely, the mail and postal service. The Amendment to the Constitution still stands, but its words are now empty so far as freedom of the press is concerned, according to the "construction" put upon them by the court. The next step will be the formation of an "Index-Expurgatorius." We may expect almost anything of the "Christian" Congress of this "Christian nation." It is that kind of Christianity which does just such things. It may always be expected of that kind of religion which seeks the aid of the State, or of that State which is controlled by the church.

IT is as difficult oftentimes to trace the beginning of backsliding as it is to trace the source of a river. In the lowlands between the tributaries of the great Amazon and Orinoco Rivers, the sources during the wet season often intermingle, and it becomes difficult to tell just which way the water runs. It will be readily seen what a small thing will change the destiny of a stream of water at this place. Such places every human being meets in his spiritual life. Some temptation, against which the Spirit of God warned, was yielded to, and the soul began its downward course. The sin of itself was what would be called small, but it was great in its results. It was the stifling of a conviction of duty; it was the hardening of conscience; it was the beginning of the downward path of sin which ends in eternal death. Beware, therefore, of the little sins, the little lapses from duty, the stiflings of conscience. Seek God continually for a knowledge of his word, for the anointing of the divine eyesalve, for an infinitely tender conscience, for a heart and will to ever choose for God and right. This is the way of loyalty and truth; it is the only safe way.