Mr. Richmond P. Hobson, who won notoriety in the war between the United States and Spain, is still touring the country “in the general interests of peace.” Curiously enough, however, Mr. Hobson expects to see peace achieved through the instrumentality of powder, weapons, and great military organizations on land and sea. It is not the idea that these are to be used in actual warfare; but that the very possession of these instrumentalities of death will awe into peaceful silence any who might have a mind to pick a quarrel with this nation. It is another way of saying that we will live at peace with our neighbors so long as those neighbors will permit us to have our own way, or so long as we can make a naval and military display of sufficient magnitude to make them see the hopelessness of offering any resistance. A report of his speech given under the auspices of the Y. M. C. A. of New Bedford, Mass., on January 24, appears in the Evening Standard of that city, from which we quote:—
Congressman Hobson made an impassioned appeal for agitation in behalf of a naval fleet for the Pacific, declaring that with all our western coast line and our insular possessions in the Pacific left defenseless, there was imminent peril of a war with Japan. The eventual outcome of such a war, he said, would be a world-war with the white and yellow races pitted against each other, drenching the globe in blood, and postponing for an incalculable period the day of universal peace for which he hoped.
After urging the promotion of arbitration in the world’s quarrels, Congressman Hobson declared that if we would have influence, we must have power, and must prevent the outbreak of wars.
“The only way in which we can have peace,” said Congressman Hobson, “is by being able to control the ocean with war-ships, giving us an influence by which, without firing a gun, we could say to the nations of the world, ‘Peace, be still.’”
At the close of the address a set of resolutions embodying Mr. Hobson’s ideas was presented to the audience for adoption, and was carried almost unanimously. The speaker declared that he had presented the same resolutions with practically the same results to five hundred thirty-six audiences in different parts of the United States since 1905. The people are being led blindly to believe that the preparations for war will bring peace. It is one of the greatest deceptions of the last days, and every encouragement given to it will increase the weight of the world’s sorrow when the deception is finally unveiled.
Note and Comment
Urging a Boycott
ALTHOUGH the boycott has been pronounced illegal by the courts, yet representatives of what professes to be the one only true church of Christ do not hesitate to recommend its use by Roman Catholics. Displeased with an article which recently appeared in the Saturday Evening Post, the editor of the Standard and Times (Catholic) suggests that “there are some persons of Irish birth and Catholic faith among the readers of, and subscribers to, that esthetic journal” who may not enjoy reading the article in question, and of them he says:—
To such we have a right to appeal for a practical manifestation of their opinion of this kind of literature, such as will make itself felt on the next annual balance-sheet of the Saturday Evening Post.
Thus does the Times interpret to its readers the Christian principle contained in these words: “Do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you.” Are measures which have been pronounced illegal when employed by secular organizations, commendable when employed by the church?
Not Bigoted or Belated
A BIGOT is one who is unreasonably intolerant of opinions which conflict with his own. Bigotry has to do with belief and opinions rather than with political schemes or political actions. The New York Independent of November 19 declares editorially that the opposition to the election of a Catholic president in this country is either bigoted or belated. That the discussion of the matter is not belated, is proved by the fact that such a political accomplishment was never so near to a realization as it is at the present time. The possibility of such a thing grows more real with each new turn of the wheel. This is due to the increasing influence of the Catholic Church in this country and the increasing number of Catholic voters. The opposition is not bigoted, because it does not have to do with belief or opinion, but with the political aspirations of that church. Were the Methodist Church to seek to control the state, that it might use the power of the state to accomplish its own exaltation and the enforcing of its own religious practises upon the people, at the same time teaching its members that their allegiance to it in its political aspirations must take precedence over their allegiance to the state, and that they must labor to bring the Constitution of the nation into harmony with the ruling principles of the Methodist Church,—if it were doing all this, the people would have a right to protest against the election of a Methodist to the highest office in the state; and their protests would not be bigoted either. If the people refuse to learn that the Roman Church is a political machine, as well as a religious system, they are bound to assist it in accomplishing its purpose, the domination of the world.
Christianity Proclaimed in Eden
SOME interpreters of the Scriptures teach that Christianity and the Christian church were both established by Christ during his earthly ministry. The truth of the matter, however, has been well stated in these words:—
Christianity before Christ?—Yes. Jesus Christ did not originate a religion. He developed, or, to use his own words, fulfilled, a religion already existing.
From the time of the first proclamation of the gospel in the promise that the seed of the woman should bruise the head of the serpent there has been only one way of salvation,—through faith in the merits and the atoning work of Christ. Christianity was established when salvation through Christ was promised.
MRS. E. G. WHITE
By Ellen G. White
Lessons From the Apostasy at Sinai — No. 2
MRS. E. G. WHITE
Only a few days had passed since the Hebrews made a solemn covenant with God to obey his voice. They had stood trembling with terror before the mount, listening to the words of the Lord. “Thou shalt have no other gods before me.” “They made a calf in Horeb, and thou worshiped the molten image. Thus they changed their glory into the similitude of an ox.” How could greater ingratitude have been shown, or more daring insult offered, to him who had revealed himself to them as a tender Father and an all-powerful King?
Moses in the mount was warned of the apostasy in the camp, and was directed to return without delay. “Go, get thee down,” the Lord said; “for thy people, which thou broughtest out of the land of Egypt, have corrupted themselves: they have turned aside quickly out of the way which I commanded them: they have made them a molten calf, and have worshiped it, and have sacrificed thereunto, and said, These be thy gods, O Israel, which have brought thee up out of the land of Egypt.
“And the Lord said unto Moses, I have seen this people, and, behold, it is a stiff-necked people: now therefore let me alone, that my wrath may wax hot against them, and that I may consume them: and I will make of thee a great nation.”
God declared that he would disown the people. He gave them their true character,—a stiff-necked people, who would not respect his law or come under his rule. “Let me alone,” he said to Moses, “that my wrath may wax hot against them, and that I may consume them: and I will make of thee a great nation.”
Moses was tested with the promise of great honor. The Lord would place him at the head of a great nation. Had Moses possessed a narrow, selfish spirit, how quickly he would have grasped such an offer. But he would not listen to the promise of preferment. He continues to plead for the erring people. His one great desire is that the glory of God shall be maintained. Above all else he longs for the salvation of this people for whom the Lord has worked so wondrously. Their remarkable experience in escaping from slavery, the flight from Egypt, the passage through the Red Sea,—these are stamped on his mind as if graven in a rock, and he will not let Israel go.
O the power of prayer! Moses fills his mouth with arguments that express his own faith in God; and the Lord, who is testing and trying him, is not angry with him because of his importunity. God had said, “Thy people, which thou broughtest out of the land of Egypt.” But in his prayer Moses denies this honor. In humble, but determined assurance, he turns the people back upon God. They are thy people, he says. Thou art their God and Owner. Thou broughtest them forth out of the land of Egypt. I did only what thou commandest me. I was but thine instrument, obeying the orders thou gavest me. Thou, and thou alone, couldst do this work. The eyes of all the nations are upon Israel, a people so strongly saved. O, do not permit the throne of thy glory to be disgraced!
“Lord,” he pleads, “why doth thy wrath wax hot against thy people, which thou hast brought forth out of the land of Egypt with great power, and with a mighty hand? Wherefore should the Egyptians speak, and say, For mischief did he bring them out, to slay them in the mountains, and to consume them from the face of the earth. Turn from thy fierce wrath, and repent [What an argument!] of this evil against thy people. Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, thy servants, to whom thou swarest by thine own self, and saidst unto them, I will multiply your seed as the stars of heaven, and all this land that I have spoken of will I give unto your seed, and they shall inherit it forever.”
As Moses interceded for Israel, his timidity was lost in his deep interest and love for those for whom he had, in the hands of God, been the means of doing much. The Lord listened to his pleadings, and granted his unselfish prayer. God had proved his servant, he had tested his faithfulness and his love for that erring, ungrateful people, and nobly had Moses endured the trial. His interest in Israel sprang from no selfish motives. The prosperity of God’s chosen people was dearer to him than personal honor, dearer than the privilege of becoming the father of a mighty nation. God was pleased with his faithfulness, his simplicity of heart, and his integrity, and he committed to him, as a faithful shepherd, the great charge of leading Israel to the promised land.
The record shows that prayers of faith, though offered by frail human beings, have power with God. The earnest cry, “I will not let thee go, except thou bless me,” has saved many a soul. If there were far more urgent intercessions for perishing souls, there would be far more souls saved. Of Christ it is written, “He saw that there was no man, and wondered that there was no intercessor: therefore his arm brought salvation unto him; and his righteousness, it sustained him.” He wondered that there was no man who would lay hold by faith on his fellow men, and save them with fear, pulling them out of the fire, hating even the garments spotted by the flesh.
“He put on righteousness as a breastplate.” Christ was not covering up the sins of the transgressor, but was making the most determined effort to bring the sinner to a sense of the sinfulness of sin. His own hatred of sin, his own integrity, brought salvation to the sinner. “He put on righteousness as a breastplate, and an helmet of salvation upon his head; and he put on the garments of vengeance for clothing, and was clad with zeal as a cloak. According to their deeds, accordingly he will repay, fury to his adversaries, recompense to his enemies; to the islands he will repay recompense. So shall they fear the name of the Lord from the west, and his glory from the rising of the sun. When the enemy shall come in like a flood, the Spirit of the Lord shall lift up a standard against him. And the redeemer shall come to Zion, and unto them that turn from transgression in Jacob, saith the Lord. As for me, this is my covenant with them, saith the Lord: My Spirit that is upon thee, and my words which I have put in thy mouth, shall not depart out of thy mouth, nor out of the mouth of thy seed, nor out of the mouth of thy seed’s seed, saith the Lord, from henceforth and forever.”
“And Moses turned, and went down from the mount, and the two tables of the testimony were in his hand: the tables were written on both their sides; on the one side and on the other were they written. And the tables were the work of God, and the writing was the writing of God, graven upon the tables.
“And when Joshua heard the noise of the people as they shouted, he said unto Moses, There is a noise of war in the camp. And he said, It is not the voice of them that shout for mastery, neither is it the voice of them that cry for being overcome: but the noise of them that sing do I hear.
“And it came to pass, as soon as he came nigh unto the camp, that he saw the calf, and the dancing: and Moses’ anger waxed hot, and he cast the tables out of his hands, and brake them beneath the mount. And he took the calf which they had made, and burnt it in the fire, and ground it to powder, and strawed it upon the water, and made the children of Israel drink of it.
“And Moses said unto Aaron, What did this people unto thee, that thou hast9brought so great a sin upon them?”
The sin of idolatry is a fearful sin, and Aaron, as a magistrate, should have faithfully discharged his duty, instead of engaging with the people in sin. It was Moses who interceded with God to spare his life. Aaron was saved by the prayer of Moses. Aaron did repent, or the Lord would not have pardoned his transgression. He did not stand out in rebellion, but took his stand with Moses; and notwithstanding he had taken sides with the idolaters, he was saved.
All the people had the opportunity of demonstrating their repentance, and thus saving their lives. “Moses stood in the gate of the camp, and said, Who is on the Lord’s side? let him come unto me. And all the sons of Levi gathered themselves together unto him.” All were given the opportunity to be loyal to God. All who humbled themselves before him, and placed themselves on his side, showing that they desired to obey him, would be pardoned, while those who would not yield would condemn themselves as rebels. There would be no excuse for them. All were given the opportunity of repudiating their past idolatrous conduct, and of showing their determination to be true. But in the very presence of God many refused to repent. They were stubborn in their rebellion.
To the sons of Levi, who had taken their stand with him, Moses said, “Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, Put every man his sword by his side, and go in and out from gate to gate throughout the camp, and slay every man his brother, and every man his companion, and every man his neighbor. And the children of Levi did according to the word of Moses: and there fell of the people that day about three thousand men. For Moses had said, Consecrate yourselves to-day to the Lord, even every man upon his son, and upon his brother; that he may bestow upon you a blessing this day.”
The Israelites had been guilty of treason, and that against a King who had loaded them with benefits, and whose authority they had voluntarily pledged themselves to obey. That the divine government might be maintained, justice must be visited upon the traitors. Yet even here God’s mercy was displayed. While he maintained his law, he granted freedom of choice and opportunity for repentance for all. Only those were cut off who persisted in rebellion.
Love no less than justice demanded that for this sin judgment should be inflicted. God is the guardian as well as the sovereign of his people. He cuts off those who are determined upon rebellion, that they may not lead others to ruin. In sparing the life of Cain, God had demonstrated to the universe what would be the result of permitting sin to go unpunished. The influence exerted upon his descendants by his life and teaching led to the state of corruption that demanded the destruction of the whole world by a flood. The history of the antediluvians testifies that long life is not a blessing to the sinner; God’s
great forbearance did not repress their wickedness. The longer men lived, the more corrupt they became.
So with the apostasy at Sinai. Unless punishment had been speedily visited upon transgression, the same results would have again been seen. The earth would have become as corrupt as in the days of Noah. Had these transgressors been spared, evils would have followed greater than resulted from sparing the life of Cain. It was the mercy of God that thousands should suffer, to prevent the necessity of visiting judgment upon millions. In order to save the many, he must punish the few. Furthermore, as the people had cast off their allegiance to God, they had forfeited the divine protection, and, deprived of their defense, the whole nation was exposed to the power of their enemies. Had not the evil been promptly put away, they would soon have fallen a prey to their numerous and powerful foes. It was necessary for the good of Israel, and was also a lesson to all succeeding generations, that crime should be promptly punished. And it was no less a mercy to the sinners themselves that they should be cut short in their evil course. Had their lives been spared, the same spirit that led them to rebel against God would have been manifested in hatred and strife among themselves, and they would have eventually destroyed one another. It was in love to the world, in love to Israel, and even to the transgressors, that crime was punished with swift and terrible severity.
In this our day, when many, even among those who claim to be numbered among God’s people, are not fully decided as to the right course, the Lord is calling for men who will move steadfastly in the path that he has marked out, and with unshaken determination carry out his purposes. Those who occupy positions of responsibility should know what saith the Lord. Like Moses of old, they should stand unflinchingly for the right, stemming the current of evil. In the critical times in which we are living, men of determination are needed,—men who will stand stiffly for the truth at all times and under all circumstances,—men who, when they see that others are becoming untrue to principle, will lift their voice in warning against the danger of apostasy.
By and By
By Peter Prince
WHERE’ER heavy hearts are beating,
Comes the gentle, whispered greeting,
Hope’s sweet voice is e’er repeating,
By and by! by and by!
Chase the tear-drop, check the sigh,
Joy is coming by and by.
Rosy childhood’s pulse is bounding,
To that magic whisper sounding,
Telling of the joys abounding,
By and by! by and by!
Haste the moments, let them fly—
Joys, we’ll grasp them by and by!
And to manhood, tried and weary,
Through the work hours, long and dreary,
Steals an echo, soft yet cheery,
By and by! by and by!
Flinch not, pause not, guerdon high
Shall reward thee by and by!
— Peter Prince.
Babylon and Its Fall
By George I. Butler
GEORGE I. BUTLER
OUR last article introduced the second angel’s message, and inquired into the reasons why the term Babylon was used in symbolic prophecy. We found that the original name signified “confusion,” “mixture,” and, as applied to religious matters, a confusion of religious ideas—error mixed with truth, and heathenism mixed with Christian doctrines; pride, bigotry, persecution, politics, united in a system with Christian profession.
Rev. 17:3-6 was quoted. Here a woman, gaudily dressed in purple and scarlet, is introduced as riding upon a scarlet-colored beast with seven heads and ten horns. This seven-headed and ten-horned beast can be none other than the Roman empire, described in other passages in this same prophecy. In many scriptures a woman is used in symbolic prophecy as a symbol to represent a church: a pure woman represents a pure church, a corrupt woman a corrupt church. This woman riding on the seven-headed and ten-horned beast must therefore represent the apostate church ruling over Rome, as it has done for many centuries. This woman is called “Babylon the great, the mother of harlots and abominations of the earth.”
No term could more fitly describe the papacy than this term Babylon, “confusion,” “mixture.” To every candid seeker after Bible truth, with the facts of history before him, the conclusion is inevitable that the Roman Church is the result of an apostasy from the pure religion of Christ and his apostles. Great corruptions came in during the first two hundred years of church history, but especially was this true after Constantine’s time, when they increased till there was little resemblance between the church which the humble Nazarene founded and the apostles built up, and the church ruled by the papacy. She became the “mother of harlots,” “drunken with the blood of saints,” and her persecutions caused the death of millions upon millions of the humble disciples of Christ, who would not affiliate with her or accept her authority.
In the great Protestant Reformation of the sixteenth century, Luther, Calvin, and many others came out from her, and founded various other religious bodies. Some of them were state-and-church bodies; others had no such connections with the state. While these churches continued in the pathway of true reformation, God abundantly blessed them, and he was with them to a greater or lesser degree, according to their faithfulness to the teachings of his Word. The Catholics themselves professed to accept the Bible as their authority, yet according to their own teachings they preferred above it their own traditions and the authority of their councils and popes. In the Protestant Reformation far greater respect was accorded to the Scriptures, though many of the Protestants, especially the church-and-state bodies, still had much respect for human traditions. Yet all the so-called Protestant bodies which left the Roman communion brought with them more or less of tradition not authorized by the Scriptures. We will enumerate a few of these traditions:—
The keeping of Sunday in the place of the seventh-day Sabbath, which God appointed at the creation of the world. This Sunday-keeping practise has not one single text of Scripture for its support. The seventh-day Sabbath originated at creation by the example and appointment of the Creator himself. The patriarchs kept it. God commanded its observance from Mount Sinai, and10wrote it in his holy law. It was kept by his people for fifteen centuries, and by all his prophets; yea, by Christ himself and every one of his apostles, and by the early church, till the change was gradually made by the corruptions which came in after Christ’s ascension. The Protestant churches nearly all chose to keep the day of Catholic tradition rather than the Sabbath of the decalogue.
The doctrine of the immortality of the soul, taught first by Satan in the garden of Eden, when he declared to Eve, the mother of the human race, “Thou shalt not surely die,” after God had declared they should surely die if they ate the forbidden fruit, thus plainly disputing the word of the Creator, and attributing falsehood to God; then accepted in that hotbed of idolatry, Egypt; thence taught among the Greek and Roman idolaters, and from them received by the great apostasy into the Roman Catholic Church, and passed on to the Protestant Reformers, with all its train of fables. Not a passage of Scripture can be found stating that the soul of man, or any part of man, or man himself, is immortal. But his mortality is proclaimed all through its sacred pages.
Many other errors are taught by the leading Protestant churches. The grand old statement, “the Bible, and the Bible alone,” is a statement which should characterize all Protestants. But, alas! this truth has not always been lived up to. The grand Reformation of Luther and his associates has been a wonderful blessing to the world, but that Reformation has not been complete. It never will be complete till every vestige of false tradition is eliminated: Bible truth alone is the foundation upon which God’s people will stand.
The term Babylon is a descriptive term—truth with error intermingled. The Protestant churches came out of the old mother church of Rome. They carried with them some of its errors, therefore “confusion,” “mixture,” must apply to the daughters in a measure, as well as to their mother. This fact is made clear by another scripture: “After these things I saw another angel come down from heaven, having great power; and the earth was lightened with his glory. And he cried mightily with a strong voice, saying, Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and is become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird. . . . And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, ‘Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues.’”
We wish to call attention to but one point in this scripture in this article; namely, to the fact that in the last days, just before the coming of Christ, there goes forth a special message to God’s people to come out of Babylon, lest they partake of the seven last plagues of God’s wrath. Therefore, the conclusion is inevitable that Babylon exists in the last days, and that the great body of God’s people are in Babylon, and are called out of her prior to her destruction.
The Roman Church fell into apostasy of sin ages ago. We are forced, then, to the conclusion that the Protestant churches are a constituent part of Babylon, because a large portion of God’s people are in Babylon, and are called out just before the coming of Christ.
Bowling Green, Fla.
The Greatest Reconciliation
By W. E. HASKELL
— No. 3
What It Cost
W. E. HASKELL
The world's history contains many records of thrilling conquests made and held by force, but none like the following, wherein the greatest rebels are reconciled and become the most devoted, loyal subjects, conquered and held by the power of love alone.
As we have seen, God's law contains all good and no evil, and in sin is all evil and no good; therefore sin must be punished and destroyed. If the sinner, by his own choice, becomes one with, and inseparable from, sin, he must of necessity be destroyed with sin. But God has devised means whereby sin may be punished apart from the sinner, and this plan becomes effectual in behalf of each and every one who in faith will choose to separate from sin.
But how can the sinner's stubborn, rebellious, unbelieving will be won to such a choice? Sin is deceitful, and so blinds and perverts the sinner's mind that right and wrong, good and evil, become reversed in his judgment. He thinks he is right, and the law wrong; and therefore he is at enmity with both the law and the Lawgiver. Heb. 3:13; Prov. 16:2; Isa. 5:20; Rom. 8:7. As it is lost confidence in God, unbelief in his love, which leads to the first deliberate step in sin (Heb. 3:12), so the first step in returning to God must be by the way of faith, of confidence restored. Heb. 11:6; Isa. 30:15.
But how can this be accomplished? That first step in sin strengthens the unbelief which led to it, and confirms the sinner's belief that he is right, and that God is wrong. So there would be no way by which the unbeliever, of himself alone, could ever again have faith in God. There is seemingly no more thankless, hopeless effort than that which love attempts for the ungrateful and unbelieving. Doubt misunderstands and perverts everything that can be done—thinks there is some selfish end back of every loving act. Any ordinary effort that God might have made to help sinners back to the right would only have been so misjudged, by reason of their unbelief, as to appear to them new evidence that God was wrong. As they could not foresee nor understand the awful consequences of sin, neither could they see nor understand the need of the awful penalty of death. So the penalty which expressed hatred of the sin only, would be misunderstood by them as expressing hatred of the sinner also. How can God, while making plain his hatred of sin, still make equally plain his love for the sinner?
As a consequence of his unbelief, the sinner hates God. “The carnal mind is enmity against God.” This unbelief, this enmity, is a great barrier of misunderstanding,—a wall of partition,—primarily between man and God, and secondarily between man and man, nation and nation, race and race. It even takes that which of itself is good, and so perverts and builds with it that it becomes a part of these separating walls. How can the unbelief be overcome, the enmity be destroyed, the barricading walls broken down and taken out of the way? How can the sinner be reconciled to God?
There must be some extraordinary, overmastering display of love sufficient to break down and conquer every doubt, and convince that God is love. Love must be revealed to the uttermost.
The highest expression of love is in the sacrifice it makes, in the self-denial and suffering it endures. Fully to reveal an infinite love would require an infinite sacrifice and an infinite self-denial. And this supreme revelation God made in behalf of his enemies. He did it in the very act of giving his beloved Son, who also gave himself, to exchange places with the sinner. It could be made in no other way. Concerning this, God has said, “What could have been done more . . . that I have not done?” Isa. 5:4. Every resource was exhausted. The accumulated love of eternity was fully, completely expressed. John 3:16.
Brayton, Tenn.
Support of Gospel Workers
By William Covert
WILLIAM COVERT
(Concluded)
Some Important Considerations
God designs that those who know the truth for this time shall see that it is given to all the world, and the work is so great that nothing short of whole-hearted, faithful devotion to all its interests will suffice to accomplish it.
The Scriptures teach that man’s offerings to God’s cause should correspond to the light and the truth which shines upon him. Jesus, in talking to his disciples, said, “Freely ye have received, freely give.” Matt. 10:8. And again, “Unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required.” Luke 12:48. Those who have been entrusted with much of the Lord’s glorious truth are required to pass much to others. It is actually true that the more of the blessed truth we give away, the greater will be the amount that we shall retain in our own souls. “But this I say, He which soweth sparingly shall reap also sparingly; and he which soweth bountifully shall reap also bountifully.” 2 Cor. 9:6.
If we allow covetousness to get the advantage of us, and so become narrow and niggardly in our tithes and offerings, we shall most certainly drive courage and joy from our hearts, and therefore become lean and dry in our Christian11hope and experience. But on the other hand, if we cultivate a spirit of hearty, glad service in the payment of tithes and offerings, this will be used by the Spirit of God as a means of opening wide the very windows of heaven for the purpose of pouring out copious showers upon us, until, in our experience, we shall become like a watered garden. In fact, if the Lord’s directions are followed, the heavenly blessings will be poured into the souls of the obedient until there will not be room enough to receive them. And the Lord’s treasury will be provided with funds, and there will be a surplus in every conference, to be sent to the Mission Board.
The reader can no longer say he does not know that God is the great proprietor of all things, and that the tithes and the first-fruits of all proper increase belong to God; for he does know it. The Bible evidence is so plain that the normal mind can not deny it. And he will know from henceforth that if he selfishly uses God’s share, he is living in known violation of some very plain requirements of God. The only consistent thing is for the offender to balance his accounts with the Lord.
Where to Pay the Tithe
The tithe is to be brought into the Lord’s storehouse, so that the proper disposition may be made of the funds. The Lord is concerned about where the tithes are to be paid; for some have concluded that they can put the Lord’s money into such interests and such hands as they themselves may select, and so do not pay it into the regular treasury, where it belongs. This is a very irregular and improper way of doing business, for the Lord has an organized work, and a business management connected with it, which is appointed to receive and disburse the Lord’s funds. It is therefore proper that the whole tithe and the specific offerings should be paid into the regular treasury. When this is done, it can be handled according to the gospel plan of co-operation. The instruction given in Mal. 3:7-10 not only requires all the tithes to be paid, but they are to be brought “into the storehouse,” the place appointed for the reception of these funds. Obedience to this injunction will prevent confusion, and will place the funds in the hands of the organized conference, which is endeavoring to unify the work and distribute the labor in harmony with the world-wide gospel commission.
When to Pay It
There are business principles associated with the work of a Christian conference which must be recognized by all who are entrusted with its interests. Because the workers in the various departments of the conference receive their financial support from the treasury department, there is need of promptness and regularity on the part of all who pay tithes. The plan is to settle with the workers at the close of each month. For this reason the tithes and other money designed for this purpose should be in hand in good time, so that the treasury be not embarrassed for funds. Members on the right hand of the church should hand these funds to the church treasurer, that this officer may forward the same to the conference treasurer, thus preventing delay in the settlement.
The tithes and offerings from farm and garden products should not be held for long periods before they get into the storehouse, whence they are to be disbursed. Neither should wage-earners or persons engaged in business, delay the passing of the Lord’s share to the place where it belongs; for the various workers who receive support from these funds are not situated so that they can wait a long while for their stated allowance. Cheerfulness, promptness, and a hearty liberality should be encouraged by usall in the Lord’s business.
The Adversary Instructs His Forces
Satan, in his extreme opposition to the Lord and the Lord’s cause and people, gives the following advice to the powers of darkness: “Go, make the possessors of lands and money drunk with cares. If you can make them place their affections upon these things, we shall have them yet. They may profess what they please, only make them care more for money than for the success of Christ’s kingdom or the spread of the truths we hate. Present the world before them in the most attractive light, that they may love and idolize it. We must keep in our ranks all the means of which we can gain control. The more means the followers of Christ devote to his service, the more will they injure our kingdom by getting our subjects. . . . Discourage and dishearten their ministers; for we hate them. Present every plausible excuse to those who have means, lest they hand it out. Control the money matters if you can, and drive their ministers to want and distress. This will weaken their courage and zeal. Battle every inch of ground. Make covetousness and love of earthly treasures the ruling traits of their character. As long as these traits rule, salvation and grace stand back. Crowd every attraction around them, and they will be surely ours. And not only are we sure of them, but their hateful influence will not be exercised to lead others to heaven. When any shall attempt to give, put within them a grudging disposition, that it may be sparingly.”—“Early Writings,” page 266, new edition.
The Lord Admonishes His People
In view of the worldly and financial snares which Satan has set, the Lord says to his people: “Take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and so that day come upon you unawares. For as a snare shall it come on all them that dwell on the face of the whole earth. Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man.” Luke 21:34-36.
And the advice to us is: “If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth. For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God. When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory.” Col. 3:1-4.
Chicago, Ill.
Will the World Burn Up?
By Dr. A. C. Ames
DR. A. C. AMES
The Bible teaches that the earth will be burned up, but many scientists claim that that would be impossible. In view of this, the following extract from an article in the Pathfinder of Nov. 28, 1908, by Prof. Raymond S. Newbold, is to the point. After speaking of the sudden appearance of bright stars at various times in the past, which have in a short time almost or altogether disappeared, he says:—
“It is believed from spectroscopic tests that the sudden blazing up of a star is caused by eruptions of burning hydrogen, something like the flames that are seen about our sun at times of eclipses, only immensely larger. There is always a chance of our sun’s playing some such trick as this, and throwing out for a brief time such a quantity of heat as to destroy all the life there is on our globe—but the risk is too infinitesimal for us to worry about. However, it is conducive to a proper spirit of reverence for the Creator and creation to reflect occasionally that all our boasted civilization is subject to be wiped out at any time in the very twinkling of an eye, and that instead of being masters of our destiny, as it is often said, we are absolutely at the mercy of conditions of which we have hardly the faintest conception, and over which we have not the slightest control.”
While we have no reason to fear that any such thing will occur until God’s appointed time is reached, we may be sure that it will occur then, and that God has ample means provided by which to bring it about when the time comes. The sooner we learn to believe the Bible, whether we understand it or not, the better.
Mountain Grove, Mo.
The Hardest Fight
No fight known to man is so hard and wearing as fighting God. When man sets his will against God's will, and determines to have his own way at the cost of refusing to do what God wants him to do, he is making straight for an utter defeating of the best that God could do for him. In such a fight as that he struggles on hopelessly, beating the air, and losing ground inch by inch. He may think that he is having a good time of it, that he is making gains worth making, but his losses are always fearfully in excess of his seeming gains. No man can do his best unless he is doing what God would have him do. If he is not doing God's will, he need not be surprised that he gets so little done, and has such hard work to do even that.—Sunday School Times.