THE desire to get something for nothing, or for the smallest possible outlay, is innate in the human race. This disposition was highly developed during the prosperous days of the iniquitous Louisiana Lottery Association. That institution was squelched by act of Congress sustained by the U. S. Supreme Court. True, in annihilating this one institution, the act placed in the hands of Congress a most dangerous weapon—a censorship of the press—which may, and no doubt will, some day, be used to the detriment of the people's rights, in violation of the first amendment to the Constitution. Here was illustrated the fact that the enemy of righteousness is always on the alert, when men are endeavoring to put down evil, to cause them in some subtle way to overdo and open the door to some other evil.
But, in overthrowing that one great lottery incubus, the spirit of gambling was in nowise abated. In a measure it lay dormant, but only to await any opportunity or plausible pretext for appealing to the sympathies or apparent interest of the public. It frequently breaks forth in ostensible aid of some church interest, or charitable appeal, or popular municipal enterprise. In various ways the coal is kept alive enough to awaken the desires of the old and to create an ambition in the young to "make a strike" beyond the profits of legitimate business or the earnings of honest toil.
A case in point is the building of the new convention hall in Kansas City, a laudable enterprise of itself for a growing city. Concerning the manner of its finishing, Mr. W. F. Richardson writes as follows to the Christian Evangelist.—
When the report was made that a few thousand dollars were still required to prepare the hall for occupancy, the gifts began coming in with the generosity which has ever marked the people of this city in public enterprises. In a few days half the sum had been promised and the whole would shortly have been in hand. But, when Mr. K. B. Armour gave a splendid cow from his magnificent herd of blooded cattle, to be sold for the fund, somebody suggested that any such gifts received be used as prizes for ticket-holders for the opening concert. The idea took like wild-fire, and soon a full-fledged lottery was in operation on our streets. Many gifts of stock, jewelry, merchandise of all kinds, and other vendable articles came pouring in, until it is estimated that there will be fifteen thousand prizes. The papers have "boomed" it daily, and a hundred and sixty thousand tickets have already been sold, with demands for more. The city and surrounding country have gone daft on the subject, and men, women and children have been crowding the office of the directors, eagerly snatching for the chances of gain.
It is needless to say that this whole affair has been a most demoralizing one. Not only has it consumed the earnings of many poor men and women, and boys and girls, who could illy spare the quarters they paid for these tickets, this is the least of its evil results. It has given the vice of5gambling a public recognition in this city which it has not had for many years; and if we do not reap the fruit of this sowing in an increase of the vice among all classes of our people, it will only be because its evils are so plainly manifest as to forbid that any but those already victims to the awful habit should be led away by this spasm of indulgence. Another result which is to be deplored is the toleration with which it makes many good people look upon an act which is absolutely wrong, judged either by the law of God or of State and the city. Although this sale of chances has all the marks of an ordinary lottery, and differs from it only in the purpose of its institution, there are many excellent people, doubtless, who feel that it is entirely harmless. "It is for the good cause, you know!" But we must not forget what Paul says of the principle of "doing evil that good may come." The most deplorable result of this infatuation on the part of our people, it seems to me, is its effect on the young; it will be difficult for their parents, after purchasing for them chances in this drawing, to persuade them that there is any special harm or danger in repeating the act on other occasions. Many a youth will have the first tiny flame of the passion for unearned gain kindled in his heart by this convention hall drawing.
In all this is demonstrated the impotency of human law to reform the human heart. It can only restrain, and is limited even in this respect. So far as law does restrain men from injuring or defrauding others, it is all right; that is its purpose, and, legitimately, it can do no more. Hence the folly, the deception, of supposing that men's hearts can be changed, or be made any better morally, or be brought any nearer to Christ, through the instrumentality of human law. Only the Spirit of God, leading to obedience to His law, can make men any better at heart; no human law can compel such obedience. Men may be made to believe that they are obeying the law of God when they yield to the restraints of human law, but such are only deceived; they are only made self-righteous, hypocrites, Pharisees. Upon such the Lord has emphatically pronounced His wo. See Matt. 23:25-28. The teaching of Christ throughout inculcates this principle in the minds of all who will receive it. The law of God is spiritual (Rom. 7:14), and can be obeyed only through the unction of the Spirit (John 4:24). "With the heart man believeth unto righteousness." Rom. 10:10.
Notwithstanding all the teachings of God's Word upon this point, all our legislative bodies, from Congress down, are being besieged by men who profess to believe that Word, urging them to enact laws compelling men to observe Sunday, or to take from the public funds the people's money for the furtherance of some religious scheme in the name of Christianity. And there is a growing tendency on the part of such legislators to yield to the pressure in order to gain political advantage. But there is no Christianity in the compulsory observance of any religious rite or institution. "Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty." 2 Cor. 3:17.
THE SABBATH ACCORDING TO THE COMMANDMENT.
By John E. Moore
AFTER the crucifixion some of Christ's disciples lingered to see Him laid in the tomb; "and they returned, and prepared spices and ointments; and rested the Sabbath day according to the commandment. Now upon the first day of the week, very early in the morning, they came unto the sepulcher." Luke 23:56; 24:1.
Three of the evangelists that record the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ, were among the apostles chosen by our Lord, and all were endued with power from on high, and were guided by the Holy Spirit; and their testimony on this subject is in perfect agreement. The disciples kept the Sabbath "according to the commandment" while Christ lay in the tomb, and the Sabbath was past when they came to the sepulcher "early in the morning" on "the first day of the week."
Now the Sabbath commandment reads: "Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labor, and do all thy work; but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God; in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy man servant, nor thy maid servant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates; for in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day; wherefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day, and hallowed it." Ex. 20:8-11.
"The Sabbath according to the commandment" is the seventh day of the week. It was kept by our Saviour while He was on earth, and by His disciples both before and after His resurrection. It is the only Sabbath commanded in the divine Word. From Genesis to Revelation there is not one word in support of Sunday observance. And God will hold man responsible only for that which is revealed and commanded in His Word; for by that Word we shall be judged.
JOHN E. MOORE.
HOW LIFE AND IMMORTALITY ARE BROUGHT TO LIGHT.
By C. P. B.
THE Scriptures tell us (2 Tim. 1:10) that "life and immortality" are "brought to light through the Gospel." The Gospel, briefly defined, is "good news." But not all good news is the Gospel. What, then, is the "good news" by which life and immortality are brought to light?
In 1 Cor. 15:1-4 we have the Gospel clearly defined. Says the apostle: "Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the Gospel which I preached unto you; . . . by which ye also are saved. . . . For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures; and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures."
Here are given the three cardinal truths of the Gospel,—the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ. But it must be evident to every one that the death and burial of Christ were not the end, or object, but only means to the end. He died that He might live again. He entered the tomb that He might burst its bars and come forth a conqueror. "I am He that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive forevermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell [in this place the grave] and of death." Rev. 1:18. The conclusion is irresistible that it was by His own resurrection from the dead that Christ brought life and immortality to light. It is true that some had been raised from the dead prior to Christ's resurrection, but His complete mastery over death and the grave could be demonstrated only by the laying down of His own life, that it might be seen that He had indeed power to lay it down and power to take it again. John 10:17, 18.
Nor is this all. The one crowning, irrefutable proof of the divinity of Christ was not His power to work miracles, even to raising the dead, but it was His own resurrection. Rom. 1:4 tells us plainly that Christ was "declared to be the Son of God, . . . by the resurrection from the dead." And Acts 17:31 makes His resurrection the foundation of faith; for there we are told that God "hath given assurance [margin, "offered faith"] unto all men, in that He hath raised Him from the dead." And again the apostle Peter says, "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to His abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead." 1 Peter 1:3.
The same thought is more fully developed in close connection with the apostle's definition of the Gospel already quoted from 1 Cor. 15. That entire chapter treats of the resurrection, and all hope of a future life is declared to be dependent upon it, as in verses 14-18. But in nothing is the importance which attaches to the doctrine of the resurrection more clearly shown than in the closing words of this remarkable chapter: "Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, for as much as ye know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord."
"Therefore" introduces the conclusion, which is that because of the assurance which we have of a resurrection through Christ, our labor is not in vain in the Lord. Is it not strange that a doctrine of which the Scriptures make so much should be so neglected as it is at the present time? The reason is not far to seek: traditions of men have been substituted for the plain teaching of the Word of God. The Scriptures teach the giving of rewards at "the resurrection of the just" (Luke 14:14); human traditions and philosophy teach the giving of rewards at death. Reader, upon which are you building your faith?
C. P. B.
THE ANGELS' RECORD.
By Mrs. E. R. Lewis
"And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened; and another book was opened, which is the book of life; and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works." Rev. 20:12. "For whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap." Gal. 6:7.
Is it true that in the courts of heaven,
Before the Father's throne,
A record stands of all our work,
Of every seed that's sown?
Then what has been my sowing to-day,
What will the angels' record say?
Is it true they understand our thoughts
And chronicle them with care?
Will that record fix our destiny
For glory or despair?
Have all my thoughts been pure to-day?
What will the angels' record say?
Yes, for each idle word we speak,
And every evil thought,
The Lord hath said that every one
Should be to judgment brought.
Then what have you been sowing to-day?
What would you have the angel say?
Yes, soon, ah, soon, in the clouds of heaven
The Judge shall be revealed!
The sentence passed by heaven's court
Can never be repealed.
Then, precious soul, make no delay;
Examine the seed you are sowing to-day.
MRS. E. R. LEWIS.
Spokane, Wash.
Crowd-Conformity Masquerading as Conscience
A DESIRE to be with the crowd often masquerades as conscience. "Hosanna!" it cries one day; next, "Crucify Him!"—N. Y. Voice.
God’s Grace Unlocks Sin’s Chains
By Cawdray
As a spring-lock closes of itself, but can not be unlocked without a key, so we of ourselves may run into sin, but we can not return without the key of God's grace.—Cawdray.
Satan’s Golden Fetters
Satan forges some of his chains of hard bondage, heavy as iron, strong as brass. In other cases he binds the heart with golden fetters—but all alike are his slaves who are "led captive by the devil at his will."—Bowden.
WHICH SHALL IT BE WITH YOU?
IT is God's will that sin shall be destroyed from His universe. It is God's desire to save the sinner, so much so that He gave His Only-Begotten that He might win the sinner from sin to everlasting love. In many ways and in divers forms God has taught this vitally-important lesson.
Among these ways there stands out prominently the typical sacrifices, God's dealings through them with Israel. It is generally known that the various offerings—the sin-offerings, the burnt-offerings, the peace-offerings—represented Christ, who became "sin for us," He "who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him."
The sin and burnt-offerings offered for Israel, individually and collectively, represented their sin. As the beasts were slain, it showed that the one who made the offering was worthy of death, for which the beast stood as a substitute. As the offerings were burned by the fire of God, it revealed God's abhorrence of sin, and its final destruction.
In Lev. 9:22-24 we have a graphic scene described, a wonderful lesson to the children of men. The sin-offering and burnt-offering and peace-offering had been made, and the carcasses and substances placed upon the altar. Here in symbol was the people's sin. Aaron blessed the people, went into the tabernacle, confessed their sins, came out again, and once more blessed that people who had by humility and confession put away their sin. Then the glory of God appeared, the presence of the Lord was manifest, the sin was utterly destroyed; for "there came a fire out from before the Lord, and consumed upon the altar the burnt-offering and the fat; which when all the people saw, they shouted, and fell on their faces." No wonder they shouted and worshiped; God had removed their sin; they were free. God's presence consumes sin. Separated from the sinner, he, a sinner no longer, may rejoice.
But in the verses following, the first two of the tenth chapter, a different scene is portrayed: "And Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, took either of them his censer, and put fire therein, and put incense thereon, and offered strange fire before the Lord, which He commanded them not. And there went out fire from the Lord, and devoured them, and they died before the Lord."
The difference between the two events is easy to see; it pertains to man, not to God. In the one case the people separated themselves from sin, and the Lord came near by His presence and destroyed the sin. In the second case the priests sinned, identified themselves with the sin, chose the sin and its doom, and themselves sought God's presence, themselves with sin. Again God's presence was manifest, and His presence destroyed sin; and so, as Nadab and Abihu had chosen sin, they perished with the sin.
So it will be when Christ comes. His presence will be revealed. The heavens will disclose the forthshining of His glory. Righteous and wicked,—those who have put away sin by confession and faith, and those who have retained the sin by choice, and thus have identified themselves with it,—will both stand before Him, will both behold His glory. The one class will look and perish at His presence; the other will be changed from glory to glory.
Which shall it be with you?
THE MASK THROWN ASIDE.
By Editor
The Proposed California Sunday Law.
MOST Sunday laws of the past have posed as civil Sunday laws, police regulations, or sanitary measures. Of course these professions were only subterfuges, as we have often pointed out; but they have succeeded in deceiving both legislators and judges. These men have said, "O, no, we could not vote for a religious sabbath law; we could not regard such a law as constitutional; but this is a mere civil sabbath law, a police regulation!" But neither legislator nor judge can make this plea regarding the bill now before the California Legislature. It is distinctly religious. It makes no attempt to hide it. It rejects all the masks hitherto used, and demands of the legislators of California that they shall violate their oath, in which they have sworn to uphold the Constitution of the United States and California. The preamble of the bill reads like this:—
An Act to Prevent Sabbath Desecration, and to Secure a Weekly Rest Day.
Whereas, "Christianity is the common law of the land;" and as the people of the State generally regard the Christian Sabbath, or the first day of the week, as sacred to religious worship, and because the best interests of the State are conserved by Christian morality, which is inseparably connected with the proper observance of the Sabbath.
Five of the six prohibitory sections which forbid manual labor, open business places, sports, amusement, liquor-selling, and hunting, do this respecting "the Christian Sabbath" (both religious terms), which the bill defines to be Sunday, or the first day of the week. The proposed law abounds in these terms, "Christian Sabbath," "religious services," "Christian assemblies," "Christianity," "Christian morality," "proper observance of the Sabbath," "Sabbath desecration," and all of these in direct line with the object of the bill.
The preamble, which presents the reasons for—the foundation of—the bill is wholly of a religious character. Let us in a most general way examine these terms and objects as set forth in the bill according to the standard Book of Christians, the Bible. (1) What and when is "the Christian Sabbath"? (2) What is "proper observance of the Sabbath"? (3) What does "Sabbath desecration" mean, which the bill is designed to prevent? (4) What is "Christianity"?
Now, here are certain principles laid down by eminent jurists which are certainly worthy of application here:—
"In the case of all law, it is the intent of the law-giver that it is to be enforced."
"When words are plain in a written law, there is an end to all construction; they must be followed."
"When the intent is plain, nothing is left to construction."
1. Now the Word of God, the Christians' Book, tells us in Ex. 20:10 that "the seventh day is the Sabbath of Jehovah thy God;" in Gen. 2:2, 3, that the Creator rested upon, blessed, and "hallowed" the seventh day; in the fourth commandment we are enjoined to "remember the Sabbath day [not to make it holy but] to keep it holy;" Jesus tells us that He is Himself "Lord of the Sabbath" (Mark 2:28); and we learn from Matt. 28:1 and Mark 16:1, 2 that this Biblical seventh-day Sabbath came just before the "first day of the week." "The Lord's day," according to the Lord's Book, is the day which the Lord calls His own.
This Sabbath was made by Christ our Creator; it was observed by Christ our Example; its sacredness was taught and enjoined by Christ our Teacher; and He honored the Sabbath by declaring Himself its Lord.
Is there any one who will deny that the "intent" of the word of God's law (Ex. 20:8-11) is to enjoin the seventh day, not the first, of the septenary cycle?
Are not the words "plain"? Should there not then be "an end of all construction"? And should not God's words "be followed"?
In the light of the Christian's Book, what is the meaning of the terms used? "Sabbath observance" would be the keeping of the seventh day of the week, not the first day. "The Christian Sabbath" would be the Sabbath made by Christ, enjoined by Christ, kept by Christ, and of which Christ declared Himself to be Lord.
What other interpretation could a court put upon the matter than that the seventh day, and not the first, was "the Christian Sabbath"?
2. "Proper Sabbath observance" would, according to these principles, be the observance of the day commanded of God according to His instructions. His law declares: "Remember the Sabbath day [the day of God's rest, the seventh], to keep it holy." Man can not hallow it. God has hallowed it. He has made it sacred and holy. He commands that man shall "keep it holy," and He has commanded this concerning no other day. Therefore, if California is to enact and enforce a law for Biblical, Christian Sabbath observance, it must, unless it shall do violence to the Word of God and accepted principles of interpretation of law, attempt to enforce the seventh day—a thing our Sunday-law advocates would not have done for any consideration.
3. "Sabbath desecration," according to the same Word, and principles of American jurisprudence, means the violation, or profanation, of that which God has made sacred or holy; but as He has made holy only one day of the week, namely, the seventh, it follows that "an act to prevent Sabbath desecration" must apply to the seventh day, not the first day.
4. What is "Christianity"? It is not a system of forms and laws, altho it has its forms and laws. Its essential characteristic is life. It is nothing apart from its spirituality, which shaped its primitive original forms; but these forms apart from its life are dry, dead husks, as empty of life as the empty sepulcher from which Christ had risen; but if crystallized into statute law, as fruitful of bloodshed as was that empty tomb during the Crusades.
Moreover, "God is spirit," and God's "law is spiritual," reigning over and controlling the7man by ruling his thoughts, motives, aspirations, ambitions, intents, and purposes. Under God's law man does not kill his brother till he first hates him. He does not commit adultery till he has cherished concupiscence. He does not desecrate the Sabbath in deed till he desecrates it in thought. The roots of sin are in the heart. This is the fundamental teaching of Christianity. But no civil law can control thought, or purpose, or intent. It can not change the heart. It may be able to make hypocrites and slaves, but it can not make Christians or Sabbath observers. For the only true Sabbath observance is rest in Jesus Christ, of which the Sabbath day stands a depository, a symbol, a pledge.
For any civil State to attempt to enforce God's law or religious ordinances, is to put itself in the place of God, and no State has ever attempted to carry this out effectually but that its course resulted in persecution for conscience' sake.
Let California be true to the principles of civil and religious liberty, tho she stand alone. Let our Sunday-law brethren do their missionary work as Christians should—by persuasion, not coercion.
Question Corner
908. Meaning of "Countenance."
By Editor
WHAT is the meaning of countenance in Ex. 23:3, "Neither shalt thou countenance a poor man in his cause"? and what is the cause there spoken of?
J. H. McM.
The Revised Version gives the correct idea, "Thou shalt not favor a poor man," etc. The word "cause" means a contest, strife, personal or legal. The thought is that absolute justice shall be done. When men are in strife a man should not be favored because he is poor; he may be a poor scoundrel, warring against a wealthy benefactor.
909. The Day-Line.
WHAT change takes place in crossing over the international day-line?
H. E. M.
In passing from America westward to Asia one drops a day from his reckoning; in crossing eastward one adds a day.
910. The Scapegoat.
How do you harmonize Lev. 16:5 with the idea that the scapegoat is Satan, when that verse maintains the scapegoat to be a sin-offering? Also please explain verse 10.
N. McG.
No, verse 5 does not say that the scapegoat is a sin-offering. It merely declares that Aaron shall take two goats for a sin-offering; but verses 7 to 10 show what was done with these goats,—that only one was taken for the sin-offering, namely, the Lord's goat, while the other was "for Azazel" (R.V.), a name by which Satan was known. One goat represented Christ; the other, Satan. Upon the goat for Azazel was placed the sins (verse 21) of the people, and he was sent "away for Azazel into the wilderness" (verse 10, R.V.), typifying the binding of Satan (Rev. 20:1). He is a part in the finishing of the atonement, because he is destroyed with sin; and atonement in the universe of God is not complete till sin is destroyed. See "Looking unto Jesus," by U. Smith, or "Christ Our Advocate," by M. H. Brown, or "The Sanctuary and the Judgment." The last two are Nos. 127 and 25 of the Bible Students' Library.
Yes, and no. We can not comprehend nor explain the mystery of the Godhead. In a sense, our Lord is equal with the Father (Prov. 8:22-30; Micah 5:2; John 10:30-32); in a sense, He is not, and yet He is God (John 1:1-3; 14:28; 1 Cor. 15:28). The rendering of Phil. 2:5-7 in the Revised Version (margin) is as follows: "Have this mind in you, which was also in Christ Jesus; who being originally in the form of God, counted it not a thing to be grasped to be on an equality with God, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, becoming in the likeness of men," etc. Wonderful sacrifice—He did not think it a thing to be grasped to aspire to His rightful position.
THE SPIRIT BEHIND COLONIZATION.
WHEN war was declared last April against Spain it was for the avowed purpose of freeing Cuba from an intolerable oppression. The patriotic citizens who advocated this deliverance of the weak from the tyranny of the strong were, without any doubt, actuated by the purest motives of philanthropy. But no sooner was war declared and a few signal victories gained by the forces of the United States than persons here and there began to talk of "manifest destiny," and urge most vehemently that all of Spain's island territory in the world be taken from her.
It seems strange to very many people why such a sentiment could spring up so suddenly and become so popular all at once. A year ago no one dreamed of "territorial expansion" or colonization on the part of the United States. But the subject is now a most lively issue, and influential men through the press and on the platform say that none of the Spanish islands occupied by American troops must be allowed to go back to Spain, neither must they be allowed to govern themselves; and, since they are not permitted to govern themselves, American soldiers must stand guard over them, and kill them, perhaps, lest they kill each other.
The founders of this government published to all the world that governments derive "their just powers from the consent of the governed." But this fundamental principle of government is strangely ignored by those who talk of "manifest destiny" in the interests of territorial expansion. There are multitudes of the common people, who, by the way, are the safest to trust in all such emergencies, that do not take kindly to this new policy. They are not in a position to make so much of a stir as do the "expansionists," yet they are very pronounced in their convictions against this ominous innovation. Some one has taken the pains to collect the statements made by the farmers of the country as expressed through their farm journals, and they are quite unanimous in their opposition to the proposed colonization policy of the United States.
Those who favor this policy of extending the government of this country over the Philippines, Cuba, Porto Rico, etc., are embraced in two classes. There are those who seem to honestly think that it would be for the best. They believe that it would prove a benefit to this country and also a great blessing to the islands that are brought under the dominion of the great American Republic. But there are others who have no convictions of duty or patriotism in the matter at all. They are very earnest, however, in their advocacy of having this government own and control these islands, but it is all from a purely selfish standpoint. Their interest is wholly that of personal gain.
In this latter class—those who advocate expansion from personal motives—there are at least two more divisions. There is the money power, and also a certain wing of the church power. The evidence for this is too manifest to be denied.
The money power did all it could before war was declared to hold things in check till its bonded and commercial interests in the Spanish islands could be arranged so that these few men of colossal wealth would not suffer loss. "The invisible empire" of the money monopoly must have its interest protected. For instance, it was stated on good authority that one gigantic monopoly in this country held the exclusive trade with Spain, both at home and in her West India colonies, in one very necessary commodity that was extensively exported. There were other great monopolies, capitalists and bondholders that had their vested interests, and these interests all had to be protected, at least if it was within the corrupting power of wealth to secure this protection.
But the stories that were reported about the suffering in Cuba made a popular demand for interference by the United States that the money power could no longer resist. Consequently war was declared, and Spain was soon led to sue for peace, and the money power must now seek for some means by which it can be reimbursed and also make still further millions. These island colonies of Spain, now that the war is over, will offer renewed opportunities for commerce. They also have resources of agriculture, timber, etc. Large combinations of capital have the power to grasp these resources and opportunities, and they are not slow to do it.
Ambitious and unscrupulous politicians stand ready to raise their voices and use their pens in the interests of expansion, for they seek positions as governors, collectors of customs, etc., etc. And the fashion has established itself of the money power largely dispensing all these offices; hence the unprincipled politician and he who wields the sceptre of wealth will work hand in hand.
There can be no doubt but that if the influence of the "invisible empire" of wealth was dropped out of this question, a great part of the chorus in favor of territorial expansion would be hushed. And it is a sad commentary on our boasted "Christian civilization" at the close of this nineteenth century that the selfish influence of money should so outride every principle of justice and righteousness. Such influences of evil that dominate the world show most emphatically that the doctrine of a universal millennium of perfect goodness is all a delusion and a snare. There is no lack of profession and boasted goodness, but when we look for the article itself, it is conspicuously absent.
The other influence in this expansion idea—that of a great branch of the professed church—presents a most novel and remarkable feature. It must have been observed by those who are closely watching current events that the Papal Church has taken a most peculiarly active interest in the expansion doctrine. Why is this? What is the significance of it? The prophecy declares most unequivocally that the Papacy is to be restored to its former power. Is this one of the great links in the chain of events that are tending in the direction of the renewed supremacy of Rome? Think about it. The subject is a most important one. These are strange and perilous times, and every one should look well to the foundations. The decisions and actions of a day may fix your eternal destiny. T.
