p. 1 | Signs of the Times, Vol. 16, No. 4. (1/27/1890)

Signs of the Times

Jan 27, 1890

International Tract and Missionary Society · Oakland, California · Jan 27, 1890

Rome’s Growing Power in Germany

Herr Windthorst has scored another victory for the Catholics over Bismarck in the German Reichstag. A resolution was adopted which exempts all students of theology from military service. "The same resolution," says the Catholic Review, "which exempted from military service also extended to the colonies of the empire the operation of that clause in the Congo act, which guarantees universal religious toleration." Such exemption ought to be granted the peace-loving religions, but a church which has sung her "Te Deums" at the bloodiest conflicts and massacres the world ever saw, ought not to ask such favors. The item shows the growing power of Rome. "Windthorst obtained this victory by the absence of certain members of the government party, and by having his own numbers ready for the vote." In the uncertain majorities of an effeminate Protestantism, the superior organization of Rome will ever make her the gainer if not the winner.

THE MOST EFFECTIVE AGENT FOR GOD.

By Mrs. E. G. White

BY MRS. E. G. WHITE.

"The grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world; looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ; who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works."

THE Lord does not delight in the deficiencies of his people, and as we are the objects of his love and pardoning mercy, we should seek most earnestly to come into harmony with his will. The purest, meekest, most child-like Christian will be the most effectual agent in the hands of God for the advancement of his work. The accepted instrument of God will make no great display, but his work will be as enduring as eternity. We are to be laborers together with God. The preaching of the word is an important part of the divine plan of making known Christ and him crucified. The apostle asks: "How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher? and how shall they preach, except they be sent? as it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things!"

Those to whom the gospel is committed should labor diligently to convert souls; and in doing this work, they will save themselves and those who hear them. Those who refresh others will themselves be refreshed. The faithful workers who have consecrated all to Christ, will receive a hundred-fold in this life, and in the world to come life everlasting. The Lord confers special honors upon the men to whom he has given the work of proclaiming

the glad tidings of salvation. The Lord's ambassadors are to stand as a mouth-piece for God, showing forth the love, goodness, and compassion of our heavenly Father. The prayer of Christ for his disciples was: "Sanctify them through thy truth; thy word is truth. As thou hast sent me into the world, even so have I also sent them into the world, and for their sakes I sanctify myself, that they also might be sanctified through the truth."

The apostles had been associated with Christ in his work, but there were still greater attainments for them than they had yet reached. They needed to be purified, renewed, and consecrated to God for the important mission before them. The Master had opened before them many precious gems of truth that had been hidden beneath the rubbish of error; he had placed them in their proper frame-work of truth; and yet all this labor of the Son of God would be in vain unless the truth should be enshrined in the inner sanctuary of the soul. The revealed truth of God must become an abiding principle in the hearts of his followers. The teacher of truth must be a living representation of its sanctifying power. The truth he reveals to others must become a living agent to transform his soul into the divine image. The minister must dedicate all his intrusted capital of power to the Lord's service.

Ministers and people have lost much by not dwelling more continually upon the work of our Redeemer. We should contemplate the love that led Christ to give himself as a ransom for fallen man, and this amazing love should be revealed in every discourse. The sacrifice of Christ not only makes apparent his compassion for the children of men, but also makes manifest the love of the Father; and this love ought to draw all men to God. The closest relation exists between God and his people, and the ambassador of God's truth should ever represent Christ. He should exemplify, by precept and example, the love of God, that those who are instructed by him may be brought into a position where they shall receive the divine blessing. The servants of God are to be earnest, penitent, trustful, thankful. Their lives should be living epistles, known and read of all men. They should be continually looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ. The subjects dwelt upon by the gospel minister will be of a character to elevate, ennoble, and sanctify the soul. The teacher of divine truth should present the necessity of close communion with God, and dependence upon the righteousness of Christ. When the minister fully realizes his own helplessness without the aid of Christ, the danger of his becoming exalted will be removed, and Christ will absorb everything; his presence will pervade the whole soul, and impress all the senses.

Faith in the abiding presence of Jesus will not bring gloom and depression, but it will bring the peace that elevates the mind, the pure and holy joy that is inexpressible and full of glory. It is thus that the Christian will become a light to the world. The truth we believe should make us earnest, full of love, and kindle in us desires to communicate to others that which we have found so great a blessing to ourselves. The representatives of Christ will emit light that will shine into the hearts of the people, and lead them to hold up the standard of divine truth. They will be the agents through whom God will call the attention of men to Him who was lifted up on the cross of Calvary.

The people of the world would gladly forget all about eternal things; but they cannot do this while the ambassadors of Christ are working together with God to shed light upon the world. "Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven." The duty of letting your light shine can be well done only when you diffuse the light of truth in a humble, Christ-like character. Regulation, ceremony, and display may be found in the church, but without inward holiness it will not shed forth warm, softening rays of light that will subdue the heart, awaken the sympathy, and inspire faith and love in the soul. Christ has said, "Without me ye can do nothing."

The minister whose discourses simply move the feelings of the people, does not exert the most healthful influence, nor work for his own spiritual advancement or for that of his hearers. The preaching that calls forth the praises of men to a poor, fallible mortal, instead of to God, does not lead to the best results. If a minister has really accomplished a good work, if he has set forth Christ crucified among you, if he has drawn men and women, not to himself, but to God, the church will not bemoan that he cannot always minister to them. If he has indeed been a messenger of light, if he has done a work for the Master, if the church has been illuminated, the church in her turn will let her light shine in clear, steady, bright rays. We shall know those to whom has come the light of life, for they will arise and shine, because the glory of God has risen upon them. To every man the Lord has given his work, and if the members of the church have indeed opened their hearts to the Sun of Righteousness, wherever they are found they will be a light, for in them Christ will be glorified. They will bear an effective testimony. A living energy will attend their words, because they have a rich endowment in the gift of the Holy Spirit.

The success of a church does not depend on the efforts and labor of the living preacher, but it depends upon the piety of the individual members. When the members depend upon the minister as their source of power and efficiency, they will be utterly powerless. They will imbibe his impulses, and be stimulated by his ideas, but when he leaves them, they will find themselves in a more hopeless condition than before they had his labors. I hope that none of the churches in our land will depend upon a minister for support in spiritual things; for this is dangerous. When God gives you light, you should praise him for it. If you extol the messenger, you will be left to barrenness of soul. Just as soon as the members of a church call for the labors of a certain minister, and feel that he must remain with them, it is time that he was removed to another field; that they may learn to exercise the ability which God has given them. Let the people go to work. Let them thank God for the encouragement they have received, and then make it manifest that it has wrought in them a good work. Let each member of the church be a living, active agent for God, both in the church and out of it. We must all be educated to be independent, not helpless and useless. Let it be seen that Christ, not the minister, is the head of the church. The members of the body of Christ have a part to act, and they will not be accounted faithful unless they do act their part. Let a divine work be wrought in every soul, until Christ shall behold his image reflected in his followers.

I would warn the churches everywhere to respect your ministers, but do not make idols of them; for you not only imperil your own souls, but the souls of God's messengers. Do not flatter and extol your minister, telling him what a fine discourse he has preached. Let him stand in his position as Christ's ambassador. Listen to his words as to one sent from God; heed his instructions, and show by your life that you have heard to some purpose. And as a humble Christian, without any parade, let the minister fulfil his duties, and give to others what he has received of God. We are nearing the judgment, and the Lord has set watchmen upon the walls of Zion, who are never to hold their peace day or night. They are to watch for souls as they who must give an account.

North Dakota’s Prohibition Statute

THE prohibition statute of North Dakota has no Sunday clause or section. A genuine prohibition law does not need one. A Sunday prohibitory law which allows liquor selling on the other six days, is in the interest of Sunday alone and not of temperance. The same power could prohibit liquor six days which prohibits it on Sunday.

Straining at Gnats

By Editor

WE learn that the bishop of Lincoln has been summoned to answer to serious charges. Among the terrible offenses charged against him are the following: That he turned his back to the people during the prayer of consecration of the elements; that he allowed a hymn to be sung after the consecration; and that he stood at the west side of the table. When the attention of professed Christians is taken up with straining out such gnats, we may be pretty sure that some pretty good-sized camels are going down.

SAYS the Catholic Universe:—

By Editor

SAYS the Catholic Universe:—

"A sectarian contemporary complains that Catholics ask more from the State than other denominations. What of that? We carry a larger deposit of truths. But, after all, we ask nothing but liberty of conscience. If our conscience is bigger than yours that is our affair. Suppose there is a right of road—whose business is it if I pass ten wagons over it to my neighbor's one? The question is of the rights of conscience, not of its many uses."

"Conscience" is a curious name for public-school funds for sectarian purposes, for it is that for which Catholics are asking.

Roman Catholic Schools and Public Funds

By Editor

ALLUDING to the opposition of Roman Catholics to General Morgan as Commissioner of Indian Affairs, the Christian at Work says:—

"A careful consideration of the evidence afforded in the statement made by Bishop Ireland and Mr. Herbert Welsh, of Philadelphia, shows that the new Commissioner would antagonize the Roman Catholics only by withholding government money from their schools just as he would from Protestant schools. In short, General Morgan regards the Indian schools in the light of the public schools, holding that no government money should go to any sectarian schools whatever. As this is a fair method, applied to all sectarian schools equally, we believe public sentiment will sustain General Morgan, and insist upon his confirmation in the absence of other charges well established."

Rome is always oppressed if her demands upon the public crib are not complied with.

Who Owns Sunday?

By Editor

ONE of the subjects announced for discussion at the Sunday-law convention held in Milwaukee, Wis., December 10, was, "Who Owns Sunday?" We have not seen the speech in which this was answered; we do not know as it was published; but we should like to learn the opinion of the convention, not that we have any doubt, but for curiosity. The papal church has a clear title to the day, and can prove it. But a question more pertinent to the present Sunday-law agitation is, "Who owns the American people?" Has every individual in this nation certain inalienable rights, as the Declaration of Independence affirms? or are they owned by a clerical party which has the right to force upon them at its own pleasure the day which it is booming for the Catholic Church? Must the American people take the goods whether they want them or not?

The New Year Treating Custom

The Advance thinks that for the cure of the New Year treating custom "one of the best things the American Tract Society could do would be to secure some capitally-written (mark the word) tract on the subject, and then send it forth everywhere on its beneficent mission. What is needed is to create a pungent public sentiment against the custom so senseless and injurious." Then why do not our Christian journals and the great preachers cry out against the habit? Could not they mould public sentiment? It is a sad fact that the so-called Christian press and the pulpit are afraid to cry out against great and popular wrongs. They wish to get a specialist to preach on the subject who will not feel the lash of criticism when gone, or to publish it in some little tract which can be widely circulated, but scarcely noticed. The Advance, it is but just to say, often proves itself a notable exception in these matters.

THE REFORMER.

Ah! would'st thou change a people's creed, And strive to end the grinding greed, In Church and State? In thine own soul must sow the seed, And with thyself in anguish plead 'Gainst greed and hate. Who thinketh truth can feel the need; Who loveth truth can master greed— With love, not hate. Who acteth truth can nations lead, And thus the world's great famine feed, In Church and State. —Selected.

SPECIE PAYMENT.

By Editor

Church fairs and festivals resemble death, in one respect at least, they have all seasons for their own. But winter is their favorite season. It serves then as a substitute for the revival, and is more pleasing to flesh and blood, and falls in more naturally with the life of the average church, than the revival, because the revival serves the Spirit, and the festival serves the flesh. Will our churches this winter serve the Spirit or the flesh? Will they go in for the festival or for the revival? These two cannot go into partnership. The church given up to the festival idea is seldom, if ever, troubled with a revival. The same soil don't grow revivals and festivals; if it does, the festival is a genuine one, the revival is a counterfeit.

We need the revival. The first step toward it is to discard the festival. The festival is for fun. The revival is a serious business. If you need money, put your hands in your pocket and give liberally according to God's rule, and send your subscription and your collector around to the brethren and sisters, and let them do the same, and you will have plenty of money. A writer in the Sunday School Times makes these judicious and pious statements:—

"The readiness to adopt indirect methods of raising money is a dangerous weakness of the Christian church of to-day. Whenever a church is to be built or repaired, or a large sum of money raised for any object, the first thought is apt to be of suppers and fairs and concerts, and other entertainments. Christians contribute a few dollars to such an entertainment, or buy a number of tickets, and imagine that the sum thus expended has been consecrated to God, and is put down to their credit in heaven. Some day they will learn that they have made a mistake, and that the credit side of their account on the great ledger is much smaller than they had supposed. That money is not consecrated to God that we spend in entertainments or suppers,

although we may receive no adequate return. It is simply a trade in which we have knowingly gotten the worst end of the bargain. Such schemes reflect great discredit upon the intelligence of Christians, to say nothing of their piety. If someone who is equal to the task would write a book on Christian economy, the real loss and wastefulness of these indirect methods might be made clear, and Christians might be induced to abandon them."

These views are eminently just. These festivals for money suppress the grace of giving, and turn the whole church life into a worldly spirit. The festival method of raising money has no countenance in the Bible, but is condemned by its principles and spirit. This same writer gives some illustrations:—

"What should we think of St. Paul, if he had written to the Corinthians thus: 'Now, concerning the collection for the saints, let all the brethren and sisters unite in getting up a charity ball, or a series of Isthmian games, with tickets of admission, that you may have a goodly sum of money raised when I come?' We should uncanonize him at once.

"The old tabernacle of the Hebrews cost an immense sum of money, and it was built at a time when the people were not in a flourishing financial condition. Why, then, do we not read, in the account of its construction, something like the following: 'And Moses called unto him Bezaleel and Aholiab, and said unto them, Go to, let us get up an entertainment, a grand festival with a manna supper, and roast quails in abundance. We may also have games and music and dancing. And let sundry beautiful damsels scour the neighboring country, selling tickets. Let them be in comely attire, and let them play upon the timbrel and lute as they go, that they may attract the attention of the people. It may be that yon wealthy Hittite will be pleased to contribute of his substance to the building of the Lord's temple; and, if we shall succeed in drawing a few shekels from some of the well-to-do Amalekites, our burden will be much reduced thereby; and, best of all, these ungodly sinners will have been duped into paying tribute for the glory of our God.'

" 'Absurd!' you say. Of course it is. If the Bible contained any such nonsense, we would throw it away."

We believe most heartily with this writer that none of the indirect methods of raising money find any approval, either from precept or example, in God's word. They are not in keeping with its teachings. They are a disgrace to the church of Christ, and bring only contempt upon it from the unbelieving world. Their result has always been to vitiate the true spirit of consecration, and to blight the spiritual life, influence, and activity of church members.

We are in full sympathy, and say Amen to his closing prayer: "May the time soon come when we shall be as practical in religious matters as we are in business. Then we shall do away with all indirect methods, all evasions of duty, and build up our Christian institutions on the only true basis—that of specie payment."—St. Louis Christian Advocate.

THE SABBATH OF ANTIQUITY.

By Editor

WE take the following from the Sabbath Memorial of October, 1888, published by Rev. W. M. Jones, London, England, and commend it to those who insist that the Sabbath was a Jewish institution solely. This, however, is only a small part of the proof which might be presented.

The New York Observer of October 27, 1887, prints an article by the Rev. George S. Mott, D.D., on the "Antiquity of the Sabbath," which ought to be of interest to those who assert that the Sabbath was given first at Sinai. In treating of the law of the Sabbath as having a prior origin to that of its proclamation at Sinai, Dr. Mott says:—

"And so the Sabbath law holds a similar position. It is one of the primal laws. It even antedates marriage. And now a question arises: Was a day of rest recognized in the youth of the human race, while as yet the traditions of Adam were only a few centuries old? The silence in the book of Genesis regarding the observance of the Sabbath has led to the inference that the day was never held as sacred. But the light thrown upon those early ages by modern discoveries in Assyrian and old Chaldean lore has disclosed the fact that the Sabbath had its place for many centuries after the fall of man. These clay tablets, some of which may be seen in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, in New York City, covered with that strange cuneiform character, have been translated. And they tell us of a people called the 'Accadians,' or 'Mountaineers,' who came down toward the mouth of the Euphrates. Already they were an organized nation, possessing a peculiar form of writing, and a systemized legislation and religion. These were conquered by Nimrod. They were probably the first people that consolidated themselves into a nation. Their writings are not preserved, but on these clay tablets are found extracts from their records and traditions. And we find that the seventh day, by a tradition handed down from Eden, was holy at that early age, and was honored by a cessa-

tion of all work on it. A series of tablets on the creation have been translated, and one of them thus describes the divisions of time:—

"The moon he appointed to rule the night, And to wander through the night, until the dawn of day; Every month, without fail, he made holy assembly days; In the beginning of the month, at the rising of night, It shot forth its horns to illuminate the heavens. On the seventh day he appointed a holy day, And to cease from all business he commanded."

"Such was the tradition respecting the Sabbath. But was any respect given to this tradition? Was the Sabbath observed? Here the Assyrian tablets give us most welcome information. Some 2,200 years before Christ, a race inhabited that region who were given to reading and writing. There were large libraries located at different points, and voluminous records were made of all occurrences. These records described, with minute particularity, the manners and customs, the civil and religious regulations, and the laws of those early ages; and we learn that the seventh day was known and observed as a day of rest. In 1869 the eminent Assyriologist, George Smith, discovered a religious calendar of the Assyrians, in which every month is divided into four weeks, and the seventh days, or Sabbaths, are marked as days on which no work should be undertaken.

"Other tablets referring to the Sabbath have been discovered and translated. On them the day itself has almost the same name as we have received from the Hebrews—it is called Sabbatu. It is spoken of as a 'day of repose of the heart,' a 'day of joy.' Its observance was enforced by law. Regulations as to this observance are laid down. And they are such as these: It was a day 'when the shepherd of men must not eat meat; must not change the garments of his body; when white robes are not worn; when sacrifice is not offered; when the king must not go out in a chariot, and must not exercise justice wearing the insignia of his power; when the general must not give any commands for the stationing of his troops.'—Lenormant's Beginnings of History, pp. 248 and 249, American Edition. What precisely all these specifications denote, we may never learn; but certainly they signify that on this Sabbatu certain things were omitted which could be done on other days.

"Now this was the Sabbath law under which Abraham grew up, because Ur of the Chaldees was in the same region. A sad degeneracy from the pure monotheism of the fathers already had shown itself, yet he would hear the seventh day spoken of as a 'day of rest for the heart.' He was accustomed to weekly assemblies for public worship, to hymns of adoration, and to prayer, although much of this was rendered to idols. Also the Sabbath was an institution in the home of the emigrants at Haran; and when Abraham journeyed on to Canaan, the seventh day was still observed as holy. Under the Sabbath influence Isaac grew up, and so he trained his two boys to observe the day. Jacob continued the same in his large family, and when that family went to Egypt they did not leave the Sabbath in Canaan. It was handed on through following generations. For we find this fact in the sixteenth chapter of Exodus, that before the children of Israel came to

Sinai, when as yet they were in the wilderness between Elim and Sinai, the manna was given to them, and respecting it, they were told that they must gather on the sixth day so much as would be needed to last through the morrow, because none would be bestowed on the seventh day. And the reason was, 'To-morrow is the rest of the holy Sabbath unto the Lord.' This expression is repeated several times, and finally in these words: 'The Lord hath given you the Sabbath, therefore he giveth you on the sixth day the bread of two days; abide ye every man in his place, let no man go out of his place on the seventh day.' So the people rested on the seventh day. This was no new thing, and when the fourth commandment was formulated, the time-honored regulations for the observance of that day were incorporated into it. The people were as familiar with its requirements as they were with those of the other precepts of the decalogue.

"And so we conclude that the Sabbath has existed from the beginning. But as the true knowledge of God was displaced by the false, to that degree did the observance of the Sabbath wane, until it finally disappeared in the degrading depths of idolatry. Yet I believe no Sabbath has come and gone since man was created but that somewhere precious souls have kept it holy unto the Lord."

A Mission Rather Than an Empire

By J. M. Reid

I would rather found a mission than an empire.—Rev. J. M. Reid, D.D.

THE SABBATH.

O PEARL of days, the best! The softest blue o'erspreads the sunlit skies; In the still lake heaven's perfect likeness lies; And balmy air all fragrant breath supplies. O holy, holy rest! Toil folds its hands, its six days' work is done, And heaven and earth, embracing, blend in one.

Over the hills and plains The churchly bells salute the listening ear; Childhood and age, all full of holy cheer, Fresh and devout in God's own house appear, While song's exalted strains, And prayer and praise in all their richness rise, Lifting the wayworn spirit to the skies.

Tranquility's sweet reign! Graze in the dewy dells the fleecy sheep, The weary oxen on the hill-sides sleep, And Sabbath laws unharnessed horses keep, While Eden's bliss, again, Like glints of sunlight through a storm-cast sky, Breaks in with joy, to gladden every eye.

Touch not this holy day! Off, vandal hands, and let it all alone! Still let it shine as it has always shone, Each loyal heart its ever royal throne. Hold! touch it not, I say, Ordained of God, on Sinai's granite height It still shall stand in more than granite might. —Selected.

MAGNANIMITY AND REFORM.

THE following narrative sets forth, not only the tremendous struggles of some men who battle with themselves to reform and overcome habit, but also the noble spirit of some women who patiently endure:—

I was endeavoring to work in the field after one of my customary debauches, and while steadying myself by means of a rail, I stared straight ahead at a corn-stalk. It soon began slowly to wriggle and curve! With bursting eyeballs and all the strength of mind I possessed, I forced that corn-stalk back from the animal to the vegetable kingdom, and then I staggered feebly out into the open air. I leaned against a fence, and for fear I should see more of those horrible twisting things, I clung to a post and closed my eyes.

"Time is called, Jim," I said to myself, "whisky and you part company to-day," and soberer than I had been for many months, though with no more strength than a baby, I managed to get back to the house.

There was a fight, though! I didn't tell my wife, for I had made a good many promises that hadn't been kept, and I thought I'd go on alone for a while. I got up in the morning, after a terrible night, with the thirst of a chased fox upon me. Water wouldn't quench it, and I tried milk. I crept into the milk-room, slipped a straw into the edge of a cream-covered pan, and sucked out the milk until only the cream was left, lowered smooth and unbroken to the bottom. Then I tried another, and another, until the fierce craving was somewhat dulled. It was a household mystery what became of the milk. No cat could lap it, my wife said, and leave the sides and cream untouched, and where did it go?

I let them talk, for the struggle was too sore and fearful to be spoken of, and I went on drinking the milk.

The road from my house to my shop lay by the groggery. When I left my gate in the morning I took the road, and on a dead run, as if pursued, I made the distance. I ran hard all the way home to dinner, and back after that meal, never, in fact, trusting myself to walk, or even take to the sidewalk for months. The cure was slow. I keep all the brakes hard set yet. A single glass of hard cider would undo the work of all these years, but that glass doesn't touch my lips while the memory of those little crawling black reptiles stays with me!

"And did your wife finally learn what became of the milk?" he was asked.

"Yes," and his voice broke, "I told her on her death-bed.

" 'Jim, dear,' she said, when I had finished, with her hand clasped in mine, 'Jim, dear, I knew it all the time.'"

UNITY THROUGH COMPROMISE.

By Editor

IN speaking of a union meeting in which certain truths of the word of God were ignored, a writer in the Good Way uses the following language, which, with the editor of that journal, we heartily indorse:—

Just how this unity was obtained is quite clearly stated: "Ordinance and anti-ordinance were perfectly ignored." That is the doctrine upon which these two classes of people differ, and the practices which result from a belief of the doctrines set aside by the anti-ordinance faction were ignored as non-essential.

Then the holy Sabbath, the baptism of water, the Lord's Supper, the essential character of the church of God, the resurrection, the second coming of Christ, and the general judgment, were treated as side issues, and with the contempt that parasites upon the great body of God's truth should be.

It is alarming to behold to what extent this hateful blasphemy has obtained a following. There is no better sign of the degeneracy of the times than that men professing godliness will presume to divide between the doctrines and institutions of God, presuming to judge which are essential and which are non-essential. Unity purchased at so great a price is too dearly paid for; and, worse still, its true character proves not to be the unity of the Spirit, but the unity of compromise—a sham. The hand of fellowship and co-operation are effective of good or evil just in proportion as they harmonize, or do not harmonize, with the word of God. The ground and guide of our co-operation are clearly stated: "I beseech you . . . . that ye all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you; but that ye be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment." "Let us walk by the same rule, let us mind the same thing." To speak the same thing, to be perfectly joined together in the same mind and the same judgment, to walk by the same rule, and mind the same things, is "keeping the unity of the Spirit." But this same rule which is to govern the whole of our doctrine and conduct is nothing less than the whole written word of God.

Then God says, "Have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them." Again: "If there come any unto you, and bring not this doctrine [the whole doctrine of Christ], receive him not into your house, neither bid him Godspeed; for he that biddeth him Godspeed is partaker of his evil deeds." "Mark them which cause divisions and offenses contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned; and avoid them." "Withdraw yourselves from every brother [or everyone who is called a brother] that walketh disorderly." Now, within view of these words of unerring Inspiration, it will be hard for those who are spiritual, and conversant with the heretical course of Sam Murry and his clan, to believe that any man can be made one with him and his sort, in spirit, without first suffering the total loss of his doctrinal integrity and spiritual life.

Besides this forfeiture of loyalty to the truth, and of the real unity of the Spirit, there are other inevitable and ruinous results from such a compromise as indicated in the report of the Hannibal meeting. When one agrees to ignore any part of God's truth upon any plea whatever, he puts himself upon the enemy's ground, and in harmony with his principles. He consents to fellowship that which God forbids. He backslides from God, becomes a full-fledged heretic and fanatic, a disgrace to humanity, a foul blot upon the fair page of the Christian religion. Such a course is a gross injustice to his brethren with whom he professes to be identified in the work, and upon whom he must depend for moral support and sympathy. Just in so far as his access and influence may obtain, he will work a grievous hardship upon the God-fearing, faithful, and toil-worn soldiers who have sacrificed all worldly gain and comforts for the truth. Where he compromises, they will be required to do the same, or else be refused a cordial welcome, hearty sympathy, and a respectful hearing. He forfeits the victory they gained by their sacrifice, toils, and care, to recover which they must fight the battles over again.

Holiness, nor any work of God, cannot prosper under such a management. If a few are saved under the dictum of such a compromise, the professed holiness preacher will scarcely be out of town before these fanatics will be practicing their Jesuitism, "privately bringing in their damnable heresies," among the converts. This is their universal habit, and Hannibal will form no exception to this rule. Then they have the advantage of having been indorsed, fellowshiped, and introduced by the compromised method. They gain the ear of the young convert, ply him with their heresies and fanaticisms, and ruin him. The fact is, this whole system of compromise is of the devil; its results must revert back to him.

The Footprints of Christ

ALL along on the battle-field of life, the Christian finds the foot-prints of Christ. He can see where he has fought with the enemy and thrown him upon the ground. In the valley of temptation, when the righteous man feels that he is standing alone, his eye falls upon the tracks of Jesus, who walked that way and fought, being tempted in all points. On the hill-side of sorrow, he sees where the Saviour has struggled, being alone yet not alone, and great drops of bloody sweat have fallen. Many a faint-hearted one, heart-sick and weary, has taken heart at the knowledge that the Saviour had been there before him. Blessed Leader! He never sends us anywhere he was unwilling to go himself, and where we may not take heart again at the sight of his princely foot-prints.—Herald of Truth.

Continue reading: REVISING HISTORY