Not against the Truth, but for the Truth
THE apostle Paul tells us in 2 Cor. 13:8 that "we can do nothing against the truth, but for the truth." God makes even the wrath of man to praise Him. At another time the apostle wrote his brethren at Philippi, who were cast down because of Paul's trials and imprisonments. "But I would ye should understand, brethren, that the things which happened unto me have fallen out rather unto the furtherance of the Gospel." See Phil. 1: 12-18. Whether men accepted or resisted the Gospel of God, all efforts were turned to the spreading of the truth. In that he rejoiced. The following incidents from Chili, given by the president of that conference, illustrate the above scriptures: At the time of the Chili presidential election, the elder of one of our churches and his father were named by the government to take charge of the ballots. But the election took place on the Sabbath day, and therefore the brethren refused to serve. They were indicted, and gave their testimony for the truth in court. No sentence of punishment was pronounced against the brethren for not appearing to serve the government on the presidential election day, and some prominent men had opportunity to hear the truth. A general good impression was made. As the result the work is moving forward. Sixteen souls were added to the church there by baptism this year, for which we praise the Lord. In the country near Temuco a certain monk, who made regular visits there, said that he would like to have a debate with one of our ministers, and if he were beaten, he would turn Protestant. Several families were interested, and among these the family in whose house the priest generally held his services. We invited one of our ministers to go there and meet the priest. When the priest learned that our people were there, he arranged his meeting in another house. The brethren went there also, and after a few moments, a woman, with quite a few joining her, began a great noise about the presence of the brethren. The priest finally invited the brethren to explain the reason of their presence. They stated that they had come to be instructed about several fundamental points of their faith. The priest then asked them why they were making such a noise and disturbance in his meeting. They told him that his own members were making the noise, and that he should ask them to be quiet. He did so, and said that at the close of his meeting he would instruct them privately, and not before all the people. The brethren finally went out of the meeting and met a number of Catholics outside. These were expressing their discontent because of the presence of our brethren. The brethren felt that they might be violently attacked if they should remain longer, so concluded to leave one by one, and not provoke much attention. Two, however, remained. Questions and answers were exchanged until each of our brethren was served with a severe blow with the hand, on the cheek. Neither of them retaliated, and so did not suffer further violence. As a result, many of the Catholics came to our meeting and listened to the truth with interest, several families accepted it, with many others interested. We expect to see the work grow there much faster than before. The patience of our brethren who received the blows, did much to increase the interest in the truth at this place.