The Truth Not with the Majority
By Editor
THE smaller the man in authority, the greater his liability to domineer over those in his sphere. A domineering spirit is inconsistent with greatness.—S. S. Times. THE war cry, the spiritual war cry, which every Protestant ought to raise in these days, is, "The Word, the Word, the Gospel, the Gospel, Christ, Christ," as against the voices of the Papacy and science falsely so called, which are shouting, "The Church, the Church, Tradition, Tradition," "Science, Philosophy, Evolution." The power of the first must come from God alone. The power of the last will be found in the subtle arts of deception, in appeal to civil arm. But if we have the Word, the Gospel, Christ, we have Immanuel—God with us. What can we ask more? THE word of man has in it all the power of the man uttering it. Permissively it may amount to something, and it may not. The man may utter the word, but he does not know whether or not it will be effectual. But not so with God. He is infinite; his word is infinite also. Behind God's word and in that word inheres the power of the Godhead. It made clean the leper; it gave health to the palsied; it restored hearing to the deaf, sight to the blind, speech to the dumb, and life to the dead. The same voice speaks to the penitent sinner to-day, "Thy sins are forgiven thee." Why not believe God? So shall his words be spirit and life in Christ Jesus. THE Bible is the great and only standard of Christianity. In that is revealed the whole will of God. It is not possible for moral question to arise in the life of any soul but what he may find sure guidance in the Bible. But he will not find this in his own wisdom; it will not issue to his own glory or self-aggrandizement; he must find it, if at all, by the wisdom of the Spirit of God, and the guidance will issue to the glory of God. But (blessed fact) the glory of God is always for our highest good; and with heart of humility, with submission to God, with simple faith in his word, we may be led "from faith to faith," "from glory to glory," till the likeness of the Author of the Book of God is seen in us. The Truth Not with the Majority.
The Sunday School Times well says that "progressive movements are not led by majorities." And to show that this is as true in the learned world as elsewhere, it quoted the School Journal as follows: "No body of men is so skeptical of progress as teachers. They . . . argued against normal schools, condemned object teaching, laughed at kindergartens, derided manual training, and predicted a short life to every one of them." And the Times thus concludes: "When one finds himself fairly settled in company with a majority, it is time to begin to look for a higher ideal." True, and preëminently true in religious matters. The real progressive reformers are in the minority. The word of God declares of idolatrous and captive Israel: "Ye have plowed wickedness, ye have reaped iniquity; ye have eaten the fruit of lies; because thou didst trust in thy way, in the multitude of thy mighty men." Hos. 10:13. "Thou shalt not follow a multitude to do evil." Ex. 23:2. It is well to bear this in mind in these days of deciding even religion and morality by majorities.