It is not difficult to understand. Like all the other precepts of God’s law, it is addressed to the individual. The individual will be held responsible. He cannot hide behind the subterfuges of church or race or nation. God addresses the responsible “thou,” and the person must render account to God.
“Thou shalt not steal.” Stealing is unlawfully taking that which belongs to another, or without right appropriating that which belongs to another. It includes appropriating by force, or thrusts, which is robbery. Robbing is an intensive form of stealing. Highway robbery is another form of stealing. Burglary is another. Getting money under false pretense is still another method. It is hiding behind a deception for the purpose of taking property which belongs to another.
It is not less a transgression of God’s law if we steal from the rich, or from the government, or from the railway, or from some big corporation. He who steals from any one wrongs his own soul, perverts his own conscience. God will never ask in the judgment whether the victim was rich or poor. The motive, the deed, will be our accusers. To be a commandment keeper means that the soul can be intrusted equally well with a million dollars or a five-cent fare.
Slandering your neighbor or friend is stealing his good name. We do not recall the exact quotation, but the substance of it is this, that he who steals my purse steals trash, but he who robs me of my good name robs me of that which is of infinite worth. The truth of this is confirmed by Scripture. “A good name is rather to be chosen than great riches.” It follows, then, that the slanderer and the backbiter, the destroyer of reputations, is a thief, a transgressor of the eighth commandment. He robs those whom he slanders, of reputation.
The Sabbath is the Lord’s. It belongs to him. He who takes it for his own pleasure or profit is stealing God’s time. To Sabbath breaking he adds the sin of theft.
“The tithe is the Lord’s.” He who withholds the tithe robs God. So it is expressly declared in Mal. 3: 8, 9. “Will a man rob God? Yet ye have robbed me. But ye say, Wherein have we robbed thee? In tithes and offerings. Ye are cursed with a curse: for ye have robbed me, even this whole nation.” Thank God, there is bountiful promise to the souls who will give up their robbery, and bring to God the tithe. Verse 10.
Not infrequently God gives to some man good thoughts, or a splendid plan to meet difficulties or advance work. He tells it to Brother A, who on the first opportunity uses it as if it were original with himself. Anything of this kind holds within itself the very principle of theft.
There are many ways of violating the commandment, which we need not mention to the enlightened, sensitive soul that the Spirit can impress. May the Spirit of God through our Lord Jesus Christ write this law upon our hearts, that we may willingly, gladly, render to every one his own. In a fuller, larger sense may the injunction of the apostle come to the heart, “Let him that stole steal no more.”
* Mountain View, Cal.
Secret Societies
By Ellen G. White
Their Influence Not Conducive to Spirituality
(Concluded)
MRS. E. G. WHITE
Where are We Placing Our Treasures?
But the great study and ambition of the world is to obtain material, temporal advantages, to the neglect of spiritual good. Thus it is with some members of the church. When at last they shall be called to render their account to God, they will not only be ashamed, but astonished that they did not discern the true riches, and have not laid up treasure in the heavens. They have bestowed their gifts and offerings upon the enemies of truth, expecting a time to come in this life when they would receive returns for what they have invested. They could intrust their means to secret societies, but when the cause of God is in need of the means he has committed to his human agents, they feel no interest; they do not consider the gift that the Lord has made to them. They are blinded by the god of this world. They say, “I have nothing to give to this enterprise; for I shall receive no returns. In paying to the lodge, I am providing for the future, and, besides this, I must bear my share of expense for the entertainments that gratify my taste. I cannot give up these enjoyments. Why does the church look to me to help meet these constantly recurring demands? ‘Lord, I knew thee that thou art a hard man, reaping where thou hast not sown, and gathering where thou hast not strawed: and I was afraid, and went and hid thy talent in the earth,’ expecting that some time I would be benefited by it.”
The Saviour bids us, “Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: for where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.”
Many are laying up their treasure in these secret societies, and can we not see that their heart is there? However powerful may be the evidences of truth, little by little it loses its brightness, loses its force, heaven fades from the mind, the eternal weight of glory, the gift of God for a life of obedience, appears a matter unworthy of notice in comparison with the supposed benefits to be realized in laying up earthly treasure. Souls are starving for the bread and water of life; but what is that to him whose heart is set on this world? Many a man is saying by his actions, if not in words, “I cannot let go my interest in these earthly treasures, to secure that which is eternal. The life to come is too remote for me to count upon. I choose the earthly goods, and I will run the risk of the future. God is good and merciful.” Slothful servant! your portion is just as surely appointed with hypocrites and unbelievers as you continue to pursue this course. The fascination of the clubroom, the suppers, and the world-loving associates, has led, as did Belshazzar’s feast, to forgetfulness of God and dishonoring of his name.
Will You Cooperate with God?
There is a blindness upon human minds that is wilful. Jesus said, “This people’s heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed; lest at any time they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them.”
The work of God for the salvation of men is the one work of supreme importance to be carried forward in our world; but many do not see this, because their interest is more with the ranks of the enemy than with the loyal soldiers of Christ. They do not see the necessity of the cooperation of the human with the divine agency. The Lord has bidden us, “Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.” This is the plan which God has revealed to us to guide us in all the plans and purposes of life.
But while men pray, “Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven,” many reject the very means by which God would establish his kingdom. When they are willing to count all things but loss that they may win Christ, their eyes will be opened to see things as they really are. Then they will turn away from the earthly attractions to the heavenly. Then they will see the true nature of the worldly, selfish enjoyments that they now value so highly, and these things that they now hold so dear will be given up.8
All heaven is looking upon you who claim to believe the most sacred truth ever committed to mortals. Angels are waiting with longing desire to cooperate with you in working for the salvation of souls. Will you refuse this heavenly alliance in order to maintain your connection with society where God is not honored, where his commandments are trampled upon? How would the truth ever have been brought to you if others had felt so little interest in its advancement as some of you manifest?
The cause of God demands our help, that it may be established upon a proper basis, and that the truth may be carried forward into new fields, to those who are ready to perish. Can you who claim to be sons of God refuse to aid in this work? Will you, in order to receive an earthly return, withhold your means from the treasury of God, and let his work be shamefully neglected? It is grievous to consider what might have been accomplished in the saving of souls if the heart and service of all who profess to believe the truth had been undividedly given to God. Work has been negligently done. If self had been hid in Christ, sinners might, through wise, ingenious methods, have been won to the truth, and today be in cooperation with God.
Now, before the time comes when you must render up your account to God, I urge you to give heed to his word, “Lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven,” not in secret societies. Consider that there is only one Proprietor of the universe, and that every man, with his time, his intellect, his resources, belongs to the One who has paid the ransom for the soul. God has a righteous claim to constant service and supreme affection. God’s will, not your pleasure, is to be your criterion. And though you should accumulate a fortune less rapidly, you are laying up treasure in heaven. Who of the church is resolved to maintain his spirituality? Who will develop an experience that reveals Christian fervor, persevering energy? Who, like Jesus, will not fail nor be discouraged, not in grasping means for the service of self, but in laboring together with God?
All who are striving for the crown of everlasting life will be tempted as was their Master before them. He was proffered the kingdoms of the world if he would pay homage to Satan. Had Christ yielded to this temptation, the world would have passed forever under the sway of the wicked one. But, thank God, his divinity shone through humanity. He did that which every human being may do in the name and strength of Jesus. He said, “Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.” If this is the way you meet temptation, Satan will leave you, as he left Christ, and angels will minister unto you, as they ministered unto him.
To those who have thought and talked of the great advantages to be gained by worldly association, the Lord declares, through the prophet Malachi: “Your words have been stout against me, saith the Lord. Yet ye say, What have we spoken so much against thee? Ye have said, It is vain to serve God: and what profit is it that we have kept his ordinance, and that we have walked mournfully before the Lord of hosts? And now we call the proud happy; yea, they that work wickedness are set up; yea, they that tempt God are even delivered.” These are the thoughts of many, if the words are not spoken.
“Then they that feared the Lord spake often one to another: and the Lord harkened, and heard it, and a book of remembrance was written before him for them that feared the Lord, and that thought upon his name. And they shall be mine, saith the Lord of hosts, in that day when I make up my jewels; and I will spare them, as a man spareth his own son that serveth him. Then shall ye return, and discern between the righteous and the wicked, between him that serveth God and him that serveth him not. For, behold, the day cometh, that shall burn as an oven; and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble: and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the Lord of hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch.” Here are the people that in the world are judged to be greatly favored; but there comes a time when the children of God are distinguished as those who are honored of God because they have honored him.
“Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not. Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is. And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure.”
The Better Way
While temporal honor and riches and power are the great objects of ambition with the men of this world, the Lord points out something more worthy of our highest aspirations: “Thus saith the Lord, Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, neither let the mighty man glory in his might, let not the rich man glory in his riches: but let him that glorieth glory in this, that he understandeth and knoweth me, that I am the Lord which exercise loving-kindness, judgment, and righteousness, in the earth: for in these things I delight, saith the Lord. Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will punish all them which are circumcised with the uncircumcised.”
“Wherefore also it is contained in the Scripture, Behold, I lay in Sion a chief corner stone, elect, precious: and he that believeth on him shall not be confounded. Unto you therefore which believe he is precious: but unto them which be disobedient, the stone which the builders disallowed, the same is made the head of the corner, and a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offense, even to them which stumble at the word, being disobedient: whereunto also they were appointed. But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should show forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.” 1 Peter 2:6-9.
“Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ; as obedient children, not fashioning yourselves according to the former lusts in your ignorance; but as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation; because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy. And if ye call on the Father, who without respect of persons judgeth according to every man’s work, pass the time of your sojourning here in fear: forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers; but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot.” 1 Peter 1:13-19.—Bible Students’ Library.
The Man at the Top
By J. S. ROUSE
J. S. ROUSE
Every young man who possesses health of body and of mind, has ambitions to be at the top, or at least to succeed.
What is meant by being “at the top”? Is it to be president of a great financial corporation, railroad, or bank, governor of a great commonwealth, or president of the United States? We see men in these positions, and their places are coveted by many.
We have often heard it said, “There is room at the top.” This cannot apply to such positions as have been mentioned, because not all men can be president of the United States or of a bank.
But from the Lord’s viewpoint, all can be truly great. Many men who have reached the top in this life are not happy. They are deprived of many pleasures, such as being with their families, and do not have the opportunities for recreation and rest enjoyed by those who are not looked upon as great men. The man at the top has many burdens, difficulties, and perplexities from which he would like to be released.
The greatest Man who ever lived on earth was not looked upon by the world as a great man. He was not among the kings, presidents, bankers, or great financiers, but he did more for the upbuilding and salvation of humanity than has been done by all the world’s great men who ever lived. This great Man was of humble birth; his trade was of a humble nature. He was not found riding in kings’ chariots or walking in easy, grassy paths; but on the dusty roads of Judea, full of stones and obstacles. The man whom Jesus counts great is the man with the shovel, who first digs down to the solid rock and then begins to build. It is just as honorable to dig as it is to build.
Exclusiveness in Schools and Churches
By M. G. Conger
M. G. CONGER
BOUND by superstition, ignorance, and caste, the vast population of India are groping in darkness. For no reason are the members allowed to venture outside of the iron-clad rules of caste. In this country and in our Christian schools similar principles are working, which tend to segregate classes into exclusive circles. The well-to-do form a set by themselves; the brighter students, the unconverted students, the juniors, and the seniors, each form a distinct circle. It often seems that an entire school is divided into cliques, outside of which the members move only by necessity. If possible, they room together, eat together, walk arm in arm about the school, sit side by side in the classrooms, and in general act very much as Hindus, who are bound by superstition and caste, might act.
Those who are inclined to such exclusive associations do not stop the practice when their course in school is completed, but the same clannish ideas are likely to be taken with them to their homes, and shown in their choice of friends. If church members, their ideas are manifested in connection with the church. How often churches are broken into factions because of this element! Take divisions, factions, from the churches, and the problem of many church troubles will be solved. If persons who promote such divisions chance to be given larger positions of trust, they carry their exclusiveness with them, and may cause similar trouble in the conference or elsewhere. Instead of always striving to have one's personal ideas carried out; instead of seeking the highest position, whether it be in school, church, or conference; instead of using one's influence to secure positions of responsibility and honor for personal friends, not considering whether they are qualified to fill the position or whether they are the best that may be secured, instead of this, would it not be better to give God an opportunity to work, and allow him to carry out his own righteous plans?
Christian young people should beware of cliques, but this does not mean that they should have no intimate friends. As we have so often heard, “one may have intimate but not exclusive friends.” Deep-seated, hearty friendships have proved a great help to many. Friends point out one's mistakes, and help to overcome them. Friends encourage one in every good work. Sometimes the reason that a person has many oddities is because he has no friend. May God bless the friends, intimate friends! But do not allow yourself to have a certain select few who claim all your attention, with whom you live in a greater or less degree of constant exclusiveness, barring all others, or admitting others only by necessity.
There are many reasons why Christian young people should not sanction such a practice. Some of them are:—
1. Christians ought not to form cliques, because it is not right. “Caste is hateful to God. He ignores everything of this character. In his sight the souls of all men are of equal value.” See Acts 17:26. It is not right to be actuated by the spirit of exclusiveness, for it breeds pride and love of distinction. “Lucifer sought for himself the highest place, and every being who is actuated by his spirit will do the same.” One should not indulge a narrow, bigoted spirit, but rather manifest the all-inclusive spirit exemplified in the gospel.
2. Christians should not be actuated by the clique spirit, because it limits the sphere of one's usefulness and hinders one's influence for good. There is a wide field of usefulness outside of one's coterie of friends. There are souls bearing sorrows in the midst of perplexities and difficulties sometimes unknown to the more favored. There are hearts longing for help, groping for the light which we might give them. It is not in keeping with our profession to limit our influence to a select few. The gospel teaches a love for all the human family. It lifts men from the narrow circle which selfishness prescribes, and abolishes artificial distinctions of society.
3. Exclusiveness speaks ill of the religion of Christ, for it places likes and dislikes above the principles of the Bible. Jesus did not choose a favored few with whom to associate, and ignore all others. He chose intimate friends, to be sure, but never did he have exclusive friends. He did not mingle with men for the benefit he could secure, but he associated with those who needed his help. He taught that “the love which gives kindness to only a few is not love, but selfishness. Those who possess large affections are under obligations to God to bestow them not merely on their friends, but on all who need their help. Those who leave their Master's talents unimproved are even more guilty than the ones for whom they feel such contempt.”
If all would draw nearer the Perfect Man, distinctions of wealth, education, and attainments would be obliterated. Cliques would be unknown, and men would cease to separate themselves from their fellows. Like Jesus, who visited with the Samaritans and ate with the publicans, all would feel free to associate with rich and poor, learned and ignorant.
Says the apostle, “If ye have respect to persons, ye commit sin, and are convinced of the law as transgressors.” James 2:9. Again, “If ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? do not even the publicans the same? And if ye salute your brethren only, what do ye more than others? do not even the publicans so?” Matt. 5:46. Here it is plain that those who confine themselves to a set circle,—“love them which love you,”—and those who are narrow,—“salute your brethren only,”—are deserving of no praise or reward. Such action shows the actor to be selfish; not disinterested, not possessing a genuine regard for real worth and value or a love for character, but having a desire for the benefits he may secure. The basest of men, the publicans, the Saviour says will do as much. Christians ought to do more. Christians should not allow themselves to be won, nor seek to win others, to a small circle because of position, wealth, education, or any other attainment. Whether a person wears fine clothes, converses fluently, has as much education as I, or agrees with me in my oddities, hobbies, and opinions, matters little. What does matter is his real worth and character. These are the factors which one should consider when choosing friends and associates.
The Heights Great Men Reached
We have not wings, we cannot soar;
But we have feet to scale and climb
By slow degrees, by more and more,
The cloudy summits of our time.
The heights by great men reached and kept.
Were not attained by sudden flight.
But they, while their companions slept,
Were toiling upward in the night.
— Longfellow.
Watching unto Prayer
By Wm. Covert
WM. COVERT
WHEN we make a request of a friend, it is with a definite aim. We do it at a definite time, and it concerns a specified thing. We remember when it was, where it was, and what it was about. We desired a certain thing, and we entered our requisition in such a way as to be reasonably sure of getting what we wanted. We went at it in a business-like way, and felt confident that our request would receive the attention its importance demanded. We did not ramble about in an uncertain way and talk at random, but we arranged the contract with reference to the thing we wanted, and we got it because we made our desires understood. This is the only proper way to do business, and business people know it.
Then why should we not transact business with the Lord, in our prayers and in all other Christian matters, with confidence and dispatch, with the same definite trust that we use in doing business with a merchant or banker? Should we not commit our prayers into the care of the Lord as fully as we commit our letters to the postman?
Our Saviour went up into heaven that he might actually be there to appear in the presence of God for us. And being there for that purpose, he says to us, “Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find. For every one that asketh receiveth.” The good earthly father will not deceive his trusting child; nor will the heavenly Father disappoint the confident hopes of his trusting children.
When we pray, we should believe that we receive, and then we shall have what our instructed faith describes in the requisition.
Aurora, Ill.
The Publishing Work in China
By H. M. Blunden
H. M. BLUNDEN
THE publishing work has pioneered the way for the message in nearly all the mission fields of the world. Ever since the discovery of the art of printing, literature has been an indispensable factor in the spread of the gospel, because God intended that through this means a far-reaching power should attend the work of the missionary of truth. Through the printed page the influence of Christianity and the third angel's message can penetrate regions where the name of Christ has never been heard, and where the preacher cannot yet enter.
Thus it has been in China. About eight years ago, Dr. H. W. Miller in a very small way began to print the truth in old Honan, said to be the original territory of the Chinese people. Just as these people have spread to far-distant and widely separated regions, so it was destined that the glorious light of truth contained in our literature should follow them from this small beginning made in Honan, the cradle of the Chinese race.
Soon after the work was begun, Shanghai was made the headquarters of the work in China, and the publishing plant was removed to that great center. Our present commodious quarters were erected about three years ago. Even at this early stage in our development, the building is proving all too small for our rapidly growing work, and our equipment is wholly inadequate.
The chief work of our publishing house is to issue the monthly magazine, Signs of the Times. This is an attractive journal issued in the two great languages of China. To demonstrate the possibility of development with our monthly paper, I need only say that there are considerably more than 400,000,000 people with whom to work. Half our provinces are yet unentered, and the remainder of them have much territory which has never yet seen the colporteur.
At the present time our magazine has an average issue of 60,000 and upwards. At one time it ran as high as 100,000 in one month. It always has a good cover design, and so sells readily.
In addition to this, we print many of our tracts and books, including such standard works as “Daniel and the Revelation,” “Christ Our Saviour,” and “Bible Readings.” In fact, our various books and tracts make up quite a large catalogue when all are listed.
Many methods of circulation have been tried. For a long time the papers were given to the colporteur gratis, and he sold them for ten cash each, or one third of a cent gold. In this way he was expected to earn his living. It seemed to some that the colporteur could not make ends meet on this plan, and so a subsidy of three or four dollars Mexican was added. Other methods also have been experimented with, but there have always been men in the field who stood firmly for a commission policy in distributing our literature.
At the Shanghai general meeting held in May, last year, thorough consideration was given to the question of our literature work, and action was taken, which, if thoroughly carried out, will place our publishing work on a self-supporting basis, or at least almost so. The prices then set for our paper were two cents Mexican for a single copy, and fifty cents for an annual subscription, the colporteur returning to the publishing house fifty per cent of all his business. Two arguments were quite earnestly urged against this proposition. One was that the difference between the price for twelve single copies and the annual subscription was so great that the colporteur would be unable to secure subscriptions. The other was that in consequence of this the colporteur could not earn a living selling single copies, getting only one cent commission on each sale.
PLOWING, HARROWING, AND PLANTING AT SOLUSI MISSION
We believed that this plan would prove successful if, in institutes, we trained our colporteurs to make the taking of subscriptions their first business, and to sell single copies as an auxiliary business. This meant that if a man took two subscriptions a day, he would earn his living, as fifty cents a day is a good wage here.
We are more than pleased with the remarkable success which has attended the new plan. During the first month after this plan was put into operation, we received nearly 4,000 subscriptions, or almost as many as were taken during 1914. In the first five months of the plan our subscription list has grown so rapidly that it has more than doubled, being now about 28,000, and subscriptions are still coming in at the rate of thousands a month. It is beginning to be a problem at the Signs office how to deal with so great a mailing list with practically no facilities for such work; and it must be remembered that a Chinese mailing list, where there is no alphabetical arrangement, is a vastly different proposition from a mailing list at home.
Many of our colporteurs during the last few months have made a marked improvement in dress and appearance, resulting from increased earnings. One young man who went out from our Shanghai institute last July, has taken nearly 1,000 subscriptions in five months, thus earning about thirty-five dollars (Mexican) a month, or three times the salary of an evangelist. Others have done extremely well, although this case is an exception. But it is true that wherever faithful effort has been put forth under this new plan, the colporteur has done well, added materially to his income, and returned to the mission almost sufficient to cover the cost of producing the literature.
At the institute which I am now conducting, the men who attended the meeting of six months ago are in attendance, and without dissent they are wholehearted in their praise of our new plan. Some who were most strongly opposed to it are loudest in their praises.
At our general meeting, plans were also laid for the production of small subscription books, to suit the conditions of this field. Within three months we had the manuscript in hand for a small medical book, called “Health and Longevity,” by Dr. A. C. Selmon, who has been in China eleven years, and can write from a comparatively broad knowledge of Chinese conditions. This little book of about one hundred and fifty pages, will have a fine manikin, and will sell at from one to two dollars Mexican. We hope to produce this at a price which will give a good return to the publishing house. Plans are also on foot for another book of about three hundred and fifty pages, to follow this one. This will be after the style of “Heralds of the Morning.”
Altogether, we have everything to encourage us. We have a wonderful field to develop; the cooperation of our evangelistic brethren; several bookmen to lead out in the work, with others soon to enter the field; a growing Chinese church from which to recruit our colporteurs, and a great many applicants from whom to recruit. Traveling facilities and machinery for distributing are rapidly increasing, which is greatly to our advantage. We also have an ever-increasing11confidence in the efficacy of our literature as a soul-saving factor, and a growing determination to use all the facilities which God has given us for its circulation.
The future lies before us with its tremendous possibilities, and we crave your prayers that this department may become a mighty factor in China for the finishing of the work of the third angel's message.
