Earlier text: COME AND SEEIN HIS NAME.
By J. J. Hughes
CHRIST says, “If ye shall ask anything in My name, I will do it.” The name of Christ is His character, His life; and His life and character were simply the result of His faith. His faith made Him what He was and is. And for us to ask in His name, is to ask in His life, His character, His faith, believing God, and trusting Him in the same degree as Jesus did. Then and then only can we love as Jesus did. Then only can we express this love to others in a service, even unto death, that will woo and win them from a life of sin to a life of peace, purity, and joy. We must identify ourselves so closely with our fallen brothers as to put ourselves in their place, bear their sorrow, their shame, and their sin, and in a practical way say to them, I will exchange places with you; as Moses said, “Yet now, if thou wilt forgive their sin—; and if not, blot me, I pray Thee, out of Thy book which Thou hast written” (Ex. 32:32); and as Paul said, “I could wish that myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren” (Rom. 9:3). A later apostle, John Knox, cried, “O God, give me Scotland, else I die!” Christ could not live without us; Moses could not live without his people; and Knox could not live without the people of Scotland. So this same spirit, consuming us in behalf of others, will make us successful in winning many souls from ruin. J. J. HUGHES. Christianity and True Modesty
ALTHO Tully described modesty as the “custos virtutum omnium”—the guardian of the whole series of virtues—almost all the heroes of ancient Greek and Roman literature and history speak of themselves and their deeds in vainglorious terms. It is Christianity, with its great revelation of God and its humbling declaration regarding the sinful estate of man, that produces in the human mind a sobering estimate of itself and a genuine modesty and docility.—M. Y. Observer. Prepare Before Speaking
By J. W. Bashford
EMERSON says that man will be best heard upon a public occasion who knows most upon the subject in hand. Old Dr. Emmons was accustomed to say that the greatest fault in delivery is not having anything to deliver. “Fill up the cask, young men,” was the advice which this profound theologian was constantly giving to his students.—J. W. Bashford. “What does the expression mean?” “What is it to be under the law?” “Who are under the law?” These and similar questions are asked by several correspondents, and we reply to all here. 1. The expression in our common version does not always mean the same thing; for it represents different Greek terms. We give each occurrence as follows: (a) “Under the law” (Rom. 3:19) comes from the Greek expression, en tō nomō, literally, “in” or “within the law,” subject to its provisions. (b) A second instance is 1 Cor. 9:20, 21, where “under the law” occurs four times. In the last of these instances, “under the law to Christ” (verse 21), the expression is from the Greek ennomos, literally, “within the law,” subject to the law to Christ. (c) The other three expressions in verse 20 are from hupo nomon. So also are the seven expressions in Rom. 6:14, 15; Gal. 3:23; 4:4, 5, 21; 5:18. Hupo means under, inferior to, beneath, in subjection to; hupo nomon is literally under law. 2. The term “under the law” in Rom. 3:19 clearly shows that “within the law” is its meaning: “Now we know that what things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law; that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God.” This clearly teaches two things: (1) That all the world is subject to the claims of the law, in duty bound to obey it, and (2) that all have transgressed it, as it shuts the mouths of all, or proves them all guilty. 3. In 1 Cor. 9:21 Paul declares that he is “within law to Christ.” As Christ freed Paul, Paul was obligated to be Christ’s servant, subject to His rule. But note that in neither of these cases is the expression, in the language in which Paul wrote it, “under the law.” 4. The other expressions are literally in Greek, “under law.” The first is Rom. 6:14, 15, and is as follows:— “For sin shall not have dominion over you; for ye are not under the law, but under grace. What then? shall we sin, because we are not under the law, but under grace? God forbid.” The apostle declares that sin shall not have dominion or lordship over us. Why?—Because we are not under the law. “Under the law,” therefore, is under the dominion of sin; it is to be condemned by the law; for the law condemns the sinner. “By the law is the knowledge of sin.” Rom. 3:20. “Nay, I had not known sin, but by the law.” Chapter 7:7. But what does grace do for the repentant sinner?—“Being justified freely by His grace thru the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.” Chapter 3:24. Grace forgives; it bestows upon us, thru faith, “the righteousness of God without the law,” but the witness to the truth of that righteousness is the law that condemned. Verse 21. The law can not give the sinner it condemns the righteousness, but it is a blessed witness that the righteousness wrought by Christ Jesus is all-sufficient. It could not be other than this; for the righteousness that Christ gives is His own perfect obedience to that law. Chapter 5:19. The broken, perverted law is the law of death to the sinner, as he stands before it in his own nakedness; but, received thru Jesus Christ, it is “the law of the Spirit of life.” Chapter 8:2. And the sinner under God’s showers of grace is bound by all the goodness he receives to serve God. But if he believes that because he is not under law but under grace, he can sin,—transgress the law (1 John 3:4),—the apostle shows him that as soon as he does that he becomes again the servant of sin (Rom. 6:15, 16). Having this expression in his own life, knowing the condemnation of the law, the apostle could go to them that were under the law—condemned—as one of them, even the chief of sinners, that he might win them to Christ. 1 Cor. 9:20. Like Christ, he put himself in their place. “But before faith came, we were kept under the law, shut up unto the faith which should afterwards be revealed.” So it is with every sinner. Romans 7 draws the life picture. From sin there is but one way of escape, and that is thru Jesus Christ. The law is the jailer, the warder, the keeper, the pedagog, the hard master, till liberty, blessed liberty from the power of sin, is found in Jesus Christ. In sin the flesh rules the life and hates the law. Rom. 8:5–8. But in the Spirit the soul is lifted above the power of the flesh, and gladly, naturally, bears those fruits in perfect harmony with the law. For “if ye be led of the Spirit, ye are not under the law,” not condemned by it; for “against” the fruits of the Spirit “there is no law.” Gal. 5:18–23. “The righteousness of the law” is fulfilled in those who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. Rom. 8:4. All this is plain, isn’t it, that “under the law” is condemned by the law; that it is a state of sin and condemnation? Do men desire this?—Yes and no. The apostle addresses the Galatians (4:21), “Tell me, ye that desire to be under the law.” We could not understand that they desired the pure condemnation of itself; but they wanted to do that which would bring that condition which could bring nothing else save condemnation. They wanted to save themselves in some other way than the way ordained of God. Sometimes the sinner loves his pleasure, his folly, but not its consequence, death. Yet wisdom says, “All they that hate Me love death.” Prov. 8:36. They love that which brings death, and loving it they love death. Men love that which brings them under condemnation, and so love and choose the condemnation. There is one other text in which the expression occurs; it is as follows:—7 “But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, that He might redeem them which were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons.” Gal. 4:4, 5. This is a most blessed truth. It reveals what Christ did for us. Altho knowing in His own heart and life no sin, perfectly righteous and loyal to God, He took upon Himself our nature, was born of a woman, born under the law, for our sakes. Condemned?—Yes; for “Him [Christ] who knew no sin He [the Father] made to be sin on our behalf; that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” 2 Cor. 5:21, R.V. “He was wounded for our transgressions; He was bruised for our iniquities. . . . All we like sheep have gone astray; . . . and the Lord hath laid on Him the iniquity of us all.” Isa. 53:5, 6. He was born under the law to redeem those under the law. He worked out man’s redemption where man worked out his destruction. He came under the condemnation of the law for our sakes, that He might put the law within our hearts, even as it was in His. Ps. 40:7, 8; Heb. 8:8–11. He became partaker of our nature for a time that we might be partakers of His nature for all eternity. But in it all He was unsullied with sin; He swerved not in His loyalty to God. He kept God’s commandments, and abode in His love. John 15:10. And those who love Him walk in His footsteps. 1 John 2:6; 5:3. Why is it that men hate God’s-law? Enoch and Abraham and Moses and Joshua and Elijah and Jesus and Paul and John, and all the holy of Sacred Story, loved it. Why do men hate it? The Word furnishes but one answer: “Because the carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God; neither indeed can be.” Rom. 8:7. But God will give a new mind, praise to His grace and power, in which He will write His holy law; a mind that will say, “This is the love of God, that we keep His commandments; and His commandments are not grievous.” 1 John 5:3. Reader, which mind have you? Which is the safe mind to have in that great day? Which is the blessed mind to have now and forever? “What Is the Covenant from Sinai?”
A PERPLEXED friend writes:— What is the covenant from Mount Sinai that gendereth to bondage? Is that expression the same as this: “The law worketh wrath”? Is the covenant gendering to bondage, the words of the people found in Ex. 19:8; the law spoken from Sinai, or what is it? 1. The only thing that can bring bondage is sin. That can not be the law; for the standard by which is the knowledge of sin can not be the sin. Rom. 3:20. “Is the law sin? God forbid. Nay, I had not known sin, but by the law.” Rom. 7:7. That is settled. God’s good, holy law is not sin, and does not gender to sin’s bondage. 2. Transgressed, “the law worketh wrath.” God’s power is in His law. That power perverted works out death. “Sin [that perversion of God’s law], that it might appear sin, working death in me by that which is good [the law]; that sin by the commandment might become exceeding sinful.” Rom. 7:13. “The strength of sin is the law.” 1 Cor. 15:56. The foolish man perverts the current of electricity from the live wire, and is slain. The sinful man perverts God’s law of life to his own lusts (sins), and condemnation and death result. 3. The trouble with the covenant at Sinai was the promises; and the faulty promises were on the part of the people. Heb. 8:6–8. And promises broken are sure to gender to bondage. The covenant from Mt. Sinai which gendered to bondage was the people’s agreement to keep the law without God. They said in answer to the Lord’s requirement to obey His voice, “All that the Lord hath spoken will we do.” Ex. 19:8. There was nothing wrong about that, surely. Wherein, then, was the trouble?—They promised to do it without God. What is the proof of this?—Well, a little after their promise, God came near unto the people, because He loved them, and spoke His holy law. Deut. 33:1, 2. He desired to speak the law into their minds, to write it by divine power on their hearts, that their words asserting obedience might be proved true. Therefore said Moses, “Fear not; for God is come to prove you, and that His fear may be before your faces, that ye sin not.” Ex. 20:20. The only power that will keep us from sin is God’s Word enshrined in the heart and life. Ps. 119:11; 17:4. So God wanted to write His law on their heart; and if they by faith had received God, it would have been written there. But what did they do?—They said to Moses, a man, “Speak thou with us, and we will hear; but let not God speak with us, lest we die.” Ex. 20:19. O, it was a sad thing! Moses heard God, listened to God, and plead for a greater view of God’s glory, and saw beyond the glory of condemnation and death to the glory of righteousness and life. Israel put God far from them, and went into the bondage of sin. It was not God that brought bondage. He always comes with life and power to His people. It is when we shut God away, it is when we put man in His place, that the bondage comes. There is much more that might be said. In the light of these suggestions, study the subject. There are light and power in it for every one who will hear God speak. THE OBLIGATIONS OF WEALTH.
By G.
THE Word of God does not reckon prosperity according to visible possessions. One may have much material wealth and yet be poor; and he may be poor in purse and yet be “rich in faith.” The Scripture reckons faith as real wealth. “Faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the proving of things not seen.” Heb. 11:1, R.V. In the same chapter are instances that prove the substantial reality of faith. There is given a long list of persons whose faith materialized in practical results,—“who thru faith subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, waxed valiant in fight, turned to flight the armies of the aliens. Women received their dead raised to life again,” etc. Verses 33–35. The prophet Hosea said, “Israel is an empty vine, he bringeth forth fruit unto himself.” The margin reads, “a vine emptying the fruit which it giveth.” The thought is that Israel wasted his substance in self-gratification, and was unfruitful toward God. “According to the multitude of his fruit he hath increased the altars; according to the goodness of his land they have made goodly images.” Chapter 10:1. The consequences of this are also published: “Their heart is divided; now shall they be found faulty; He shall break down their altars, He shall spoil their images.” Verse 2. And so it must be with all whose efforts in life are put forth to selfish ends, whose aims are the enjoyment of the present life. “He that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption.” Gal. 6:8. In like strain Hosea continues: “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.” But in the very midst of these and other like denunciations is the encouraging admonition: “Sow to yourselves in righteousness, reap in mercy; break up your fallow ground; for it is time to seek the Lord, till He come and rain righteousness upon you.” Now the lesson of Israel’s chastisement is for our learning. His material prosperity was expended in the purchase of carnal enjoyment. The abundant products of the soil were not in any measure returned to God, who gave them; they went to the maintenance of idol-worship and the heathen orgies that ministered to the lusts of the flesh. Therefore Israel as a nation was scattered to the four winds, never again to be known as a nation in the natural seed. The sentence was, “In a morning shall the king of Israel utterly be cut off;” and it was so. The history of Israel was a striking illustration of the failure of any attempt to serve God and mammon. In bringing forth fruit unto himself, his heart was turned away from the true God, and he naturally went after other gods. “The carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.” Rom. 8:7. Israel sought pleasure in the licentious worship of the gods of the heathen, and the fruit of his labor was diverted in that direction. This fixed the heart there all the more firmly; for “where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.” Matt. 6:21. It is just as true with us as it was with ancient Israel that “ye can not serve God and mammon.” No one can bring forth to himself and be “rich toward God.” The Lord says he is a “fool” who “layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.” And He has left us a special injunction to “take heed and beware of covetousness; for a man’s life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth.” Luke 12:15. It is this spirit of covetousness that leads men—even professing Christians in these last days—to “heap up treasures” at the expense of the poor. But it is not confined to those who succeed in so doing; for many are just as anxious to become rich in the treasures of earth who do not succeed. It is not always the possession of wealth that makes one covetous; it is in the desire to be wealthy that the danger lies. The apostle Paul gives us pointed counsel on this point. He says:— “Godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out. And having food and raiment let us be therewith content. But they that will [are anxious to] be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition. For the love of money is the root of all evil; which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves thru with many sorrows.” 1 Tim. 6:6–10. Paul also tells us that a covetous man is an idolater (Eph. 5:5), and this without reference to whether he be rich or poor in this world’s goods. If by honest means wealth comes to your hand, “thou shalt remember the Lord thy God; for it is He that giveth thee power to get wealth.” Deut. 8:18. One thus favored is only a steward of the Lord; the wealth is not his own. For “ye are not your own;” “ye are bought with a price.” All that a bond-servant has really belongs to his master. And the Lord adds this warning to those to whom He has given power to get wealth: “If thou do at all forget the Lord thy God, and walk after other gods, and serve them, and worship them, I testify against you this day that ye shall surely perish.” Deut. 8:19. But there are also promises of blessings in material things, to those who are faithful in their use. Here is one: “Honor the Lord with thy substance, and with the firstfruits of all thine increase; so shall thy barns be filled with plenty.” Prov. 3:9, 10. And here is another, which must suffice for this article: “Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in Mine house, and prove Me now herewith, saith the Lord of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it.” Mal. 3:10. G. Grace and Obedience to God’s Law
When men boast that they are “under grace,” and continue to break God’s law, it is a very good evidence that they do not know what the grace of God is, or God’s purpose in giving it. The positive declaration of the apostle is that “sin shall not have dominion over” those who are not under the law, but under grace. Now “sin is the transgression of the law.” 1 John 3:4. If sin has dominion over us, it holds us in continued transgression. But if under grace sin does not have dominion over us, it is for the very reason that we are keeping the law. Sin is separation from God. It is inharmonious with the divine will. If grace does not eliminate that which separates, if it does not bring the sinner into harmony with God, it is received in vain. But, dear readers, “we then as workers together with Him beseech you also that ye receive not the grace of God in vain.” Prof. Geo. D. Herron, of “applied Christianity” fame, has launched a new sect, who emblazon as their motto, “What would, Jesus do?” Joined with him in Chicago are three former Methodist ministers, who have resigned from their own churches. Now we have no fault to find with the question, if men will seek the right source for information. If it is sought in every man’s, or any man’s, inner consciousness and religio-political theories, we may be sure that we will not have Christ’s mind. The only way to find out what Jesus would do is to learn from the Bible what He did do when here upon the earth. One thing is certain, He was not in politics, either Roman or Jewish. And to-day, even as of old, those who seek to make Him ruler politically will find themselves alone, and that the Master has withdrawn Himself. See John 6:15. Confronting with Perplexing Problems.
Ex-President Cleveland in his article in the New York World in regard to the “Presidency and the Twentieth Century,” says, “The new century finds us confronted with perplexing problems growing out of a startling expansion of our domain and an unprecedented creation of obligation-bearing relationships with millions of strange and incompatible people.” Mr. Cleveland takes a hopeful view of the situation, and thinks that all will come out right in the end. There will be, indeed, an end to these perplexing problems very soon. But it will not be the end that most men are looking for. So far as the perplexities of this world are concerned, God’s Word has spoken, and its language is, “There shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring; men’s hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth; for the powers of heaven shall be shaken.” Luke 21:25, 26. You may say, This is a very dark picture to present. Why not present something with more hope and cheer in it? The reply is, We should present facts. Closing our eyes to dangers about us does not destroy the danger, it only makes it all the more certain that we will stumble into the ruin. While the foregoing is a dark picture, and nothing can make it otherwise, yet there is a gloriously bright picture to place by the side of it. Immediately following the scripture quoted above are the words: “Then shall they see the Son of man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh.” Verses 27, 28. From the standpoint of him who is looking to this world for comfort and hope, things are indeed gloomy. But that is not the place to look. Read the prophecies of the Word of God, compare them with the events of the present, and know that the coming of the Saviour is even at the doors. And His coming is the one glorious hope of the centuries. A glorious age is dawning, even the kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. This is a theme calculated to lift every gloom and dispel every fear. Let us look to the real and blessed hope, that will bring us into all the blessings of eternity, and not the delusive hope, that will soon dash to ruin all who cling to it. In 1800 there were but twelve cities in the United States that had a population of over 5,000, and these twelve cities contained one twenty-third of the population of the country at that time. The combined population of these twelve cities in 1800 was 217,680. The same cities have a combined population of 6,428,027 in 1900, and contain one-twelfth of the entire population of the United States. This is but an item showing how the people are rapidly gathering into the cities, and consequently deserting the more wholesome life of the country. The attendant evil of this herding together in the cities is the general demoralization of so many of the people. Every city has its alleys and streets of vice and crime. Children are born and reared here, and the only teaching they get is that of vice and criminality. True ideas of morality never have an opportunity to cross their pathway, and, as might be expected, the vicious and criminal element of the land is increasing faster than the better class. What these evil tendencies will lead to in a few years from now can be but faintly realized to-day. Would that some of the wonderful ability that is being given to the selfish work of amassing wealth for personal or family aggrandizement and pleasure could be turned in the direction of making attractive homes for these people in the country, and leading them out there to teach them how to enjoy the blessings of a natural life. If this could be done, a great deal of misery and trouble would be saved. Perhaps only a few, comparatively, of these unfortunate and degraded people would respond to such a plan, but every one that could be reached and helped in this way would make things so much the better. “DRIFTING TOWARD INFIDELITY AND DEATH.”
The Healing Leaves, a quarterly Universalist publication for October, has an article entitled “Drifting toward Infidelity and Death.” This refers to the Universalist denomination, and is a strong protest against “a denial of the supernatural in religion and a disbelief in the historic veracity of the Bible.” In other words, it is a protest against the rationalism which has honeycombed the Universalist Church. At a late convention in Rome, Indiana, the following preamble and resolutions were offered:— “WHEREAS, There is such an irreconcilable conflict between rationalism and Christian faith that no organization can successfully devote its organic power to the promulgation of both of these doctrines at the same time; therefore, be it “Resolved, That this convention express its solemn conviction that, in order for one to be regarded as a Christian minister with respect to faith, he must believe in the Bible account of the life, teachings, miracles, death, and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ; and be it further “Resolved, That no person should be chosen to fill any official position in any of our churches or denominational bodies, nor to teach in any of our theological schools, nor to edit any of our denominational publications, who is not known to be fully and unequivocally committed to the doctrine set forth in the above and foregoing resolution.” But, altho these resolutions had the approval of some of the leaders in the denomination, they were tabled so as to cut off all debate, by a vote of 51 to 10. These resolutions set forth the doctrine of the founders of the Universalist Church, such as John Murray, Hosea Ballou, Sr., Hosea Ballou, Jr., Sylvanus Cobb, and others. They seem to be good Christian doctrine. But Universalists reject them, and how many of the so-called evangelical churches would adopt them, is a question worthy of consideration. This paper clearly and boldly further says:— “But think of a body of representatives of a great church, professing to be Christians, voting themselves infidels in order to avoid a discussion! It is true that those who procured the defeat of this resolution will continue to protest that they are Christians. We have never known an infidel who wanted a pulpit to preach in who did not protest that he was a Christian. Undisguised infidelity draws neither a congregation nor a salary. Until the vote to kill the above resolution is unequivocally reversed, every minister who invites a person to accept Christ by joining the Universalist Church thereby invites that person into the fellowship of an organization which has deliberately voted down the religion of Christ. Spiritual life under such conditions is not even possible. If, for the sake of an apparent harmony, our church must deny the basis of Christian faith, then it deserves to die. During the twenty years, 1835 to 1855, all of our leading preachers were as pronounced against rationalism as against partialism; and, in the face of great opposition, our associations increased from 40 to 83, our societies from 663 to 1,128, our meeting-houses from 245 to 877, and our preachers from 310 to 635. During the five years 1895 to 1900, our parishes have decreased from 1,022 to 948, our churches from 792 to 779, our meeting-houses from 835 to 770, our preachers from 766 to 758, our Sunday-schools from 702 to 623, and our Sunday-school scholars from 58,721 to 50,340. The first period was an era dominated by supernaturalism, and the latter was an era dominated by rationalism.” Universalism came in as a heart-human protest against the doctrine of eternal misery. It had ground for its protest. The horrible doctrine is neither scriptural nor godly. It is not even human. No one who has ever known the tenderness of Christ or the love of home could conceive of a loving God punishing to all eternity souls whom He had created. But the protest of Universalism was also unscriptural. Both it and the thing it fought rested on the same unbiblical basis, namely, the immortality of the soul. But from the Garden of Eden to the present, Satan has impressed this lie upon the heads and hearts of the race. It appeals to man in its mystery; it appeals to his self-exaltation; it appeals to his desire to live. It is taught by pagan lore, by papal dogma, in pagan poetry, in pagan myth, in fairy tale, in folk lore, in cradle song, in professed Christian hymns, in headstone inscriptions, from pulpit and catechism. But let God be true. His Word denies the hoary doctrine, and makes life dependent upon righteousness, and immortality upon incorruptibility of character, thru faith in Christ Jesus. And His Word must go on and live. The right thing to do, the only Christian thing to do, is for so-called orthodox and Universalist to accept the truth of life only in Jesus Christ, immortality at the resurrection of the dead and His second coming. Refusing this, of course they will drift. Nothing else remains. “Rationalism,” “Higher Criticism,” “Christian Science,” “Spiritualism,” “Evolution,” and other things will honeycomb, if they have not already done so, the entire church. Not knowing the Bible, regarding it as narrow and insufficient, they drift, hopeless, helpless, chartless, upon an unknown sea. The one remedy for it all, the only remedy, is faith, simple, submissive, childlike faith in the great blessed Word of God in Christ Jesus. WHAT THEY SAY OF RELIGIOUS CONDITIONS.
One San Francisco minister, Rev. John Stevens, in contrasting the infidelity of the closing years of the eighteenth century with this present time, declares:— “To-day we can see sacrifices as rich as Abel’s, victories as glorious as Gideon’s, translations as radiant as Enoch’s, and loyalty as unflinching as Daniel’s. We could write another eleventh of Hebrews out of the materials furnished by the nineteenth century. The age of doubt is giving place to the age of faith. Darwin’s book for a moment staggered the church like a ship in a storm, but she still keeps her course. ‘There remaineth much land to be possessed.’ So-called Christian civilization is badly mixed with elements of grossest paganism. Darkest England is very dark, and darkest America, too; but, thank God, the light was never more generally diffused than it is to-day, and never has it shone with greater intensity. Agnosticism is bankrupt, and the hunger of human souls is driving the heart of the world to Jesus Christ.” But Dr. R. A. Torrey, one of the late Mr. Moody’s co-workers, has this to say of the deplorable condition of the church:— “In showing these deplorable conditions one is likely to be called a pessimist. If in order to be an optimist one must shut his eyes and call black white, and error truth, and sin righteousness, and death life, I don’t want to be called an optimist. But I am an optimist all the same. Pointing out the real condition will lead to a better condition. “Look, for example, at the ministry. Many of us who are professedly orthodox ministers are practically infidels. That is plain speech, but it is also indisputable fact. There is no essential difference between the teachings of Tom Paine and Bob Ingersoll and the teachings of some of our theological professors. The latter are not so blunt and honest about it. They phrase it in more elegant and studied sentences, but it means the same. Much of the so-called new learning and higher criticism is simply Tom Paine infidelity sugar-coated. Our future ministers oftentimes are being educated under infidel professors, and, being immature boys when they enter the college or seminary, they naturally come out infidels in many cases and then go forth to poison the church. And look at the doctrinal state of the church. Many do not believe in the whole Bible. The book of Genesis is a myth, Jonah is an allegory, and even the miracles of the Son of God are questioned. The doctrine of prayer is old-fashioned. Conversion is unnecessary, and hell is no longer believed in. Then look at the fads and errors that have sprung up out of this loss of faith—Christian Science, Unitarianism, Spiritualism, Universalism, Babism, metaphysical healing—a perfect pandemonium of doctrines of devils. Worldliness is rampant among church-members. Many church-members are just as eager as any in the rush to get rich. They use the methods of the world in the accumulation of wealth and they hold just as fast to it as any when they have got it. Prayerlessness abounds.” Missionary Funds Are Low.
“The churches are rapidly increasing in wealth, but the treasuries of the missionary societies are empty. Christians do not average a dollar a year for foreign missions. It is simply appalling. And note how few conversions there are. The Methodist Church, which has led the way in aggressive work, actually lost more members than it gained the last9year. Here and there a church has a large number of accessions upon confession of faith, but these churches are rare exceptions, and where there are such accessions in how few cases are the conversions deep, thorough, and satisfactory! Unbelief is rampant, and hand in hand with widespread infidelity goes gross immorality. Infidelity and immorality are Siamese twins. They always exist and always grow and always fatten together. “Look at the divorce statistics! Men marry one wife after another and are still admitted into good society, and women do likewise. Greed for money has become a mania with rich and poor. The multi-millionaire will often sell his soul and trample the rights of his fellow-men underfoot in the mad hope of becoming a billionaire. Wars are waged and men shot down like dogs to improve commerce and to gain political prestige for politicians who parade as statesmen.” FOES IN GOD'S HOUSEHOLD.
By C. M. S.
Our Lord, in foreshowing the dissensions which should exist in the world because of the teaching of the truth, declared to His disciples, and thru them to us, that “a man’s foes shall be those of his own household.” There are no more bitter or disheartening feuds than those which spring up in one’s own family. There is no one who can so soon and so disastrously undermine the good name and influence of a family as one brought up under the family roof. We know this to be true of earthly families. It is equally true of the family or household of God. Foes in the family of heaven caused a multitude of the heavenly host to be thrown under chains of darkness and sentence of death. The key-note of that dissension, that enmity, was pride and the passing of creature judgment upon creative words and works. The creature exalted himself to the place of judge, and in the presence of his associates sat in judgment upon the Creator and Judge of all the universe. He created dissension by calling in question the righteousness and truth (infallibility) of God. Then came in swift succession the fall of the angels, the fall of man, and the launching of God’s plan for man’s redemption. But now eminent men, bearing the name Christian, declare to us, “Man is not fallen nor falling.” The Bible is “the masterpiece of ancient literature, inspired, but not infallible.” Here is a flat contradiction of God’s whole work and purpose concerning man. If man is not fallen, he needs no Saviour. Consequently, Emmanuel, who was to “save His people from their sins,” becomes to them a historical myth, and the story of His sufferings for man’s redemption, a sad, sweet fable. He who will not believe that he has fallen from the high estate in which God placed him, can not see the necessity for the deep heart-work required to make him a child of God, nor for the intercession in his behalf of the great Mediator between God and man. The declaration that man is not fallen, strikes at the very root of the Gospel work, and that is the purpose of him who inspires men to make it. And that other declaration that the Word of God is “inspired, but not infallible,” is the reiteration on earth of Satan’s challenge to God in heaven. When man sets himself up as a judge of the words and works of God, the rebellion in heaven is reproduced in the earth. It is a sorrowful spectacle to see fallible mortals, finite wisdom, sitting in sober criticism upon the wisdom and infallibility of the wonderful Counselor, The Mighty God, The Everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace, and taking upon themselves the task of sifting the Word to separate its chaff from its wheat. Is it too much to say, then, that here are foes in the household of God? Is it too much to say that the work which such are doing is not the work of God? It is a solemn thing to make the charge. It is a more solemn thing to be doing that work. The true child of God, whose heart has been touched and regenerated by the hand of God, till all rebellion has been taken out of it, will not allow the work of his foe to sever him from the true family of God. C. M. S.