The Watchtower, September 15, 1897

VOL. XVIII. SEPTEMBER 15, 1897. No. 18.

CONTENTS.

Millennial Dawn, Vol. IV..........................270

Views from the Watch Tower........................271

The Coal-Miner's Strike.......................271

"Zionism" Advocated...........................273

The Lambeth Conference........................274

Poem: Hear Thou My Prayer.........................275

Falling Away from Steadfastness...................275

Is Faith in Christ Necessary?.....................278

Paul's Heart Revealed.............................279

Paul's Last Journey to Jerusalem..................281

Interesting Letters...............................283

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VIEWS FROM THE WATCH TOWER.

WELL has the Prophet described our times, saying, "The great day of the Lord is near, it is near, and hasteth greatly, even the voice [sound] of the day of the Lord." (`Zeph. 1:14`.) He who cannot hear the "voice" to-day is deaf indeed: "He that hath an ear let him hear," saith the Lord. The "voice" of complaint for some time back has been from the farmers, "the reapers," who just now are temporarily pacified by large crops and good prices,--brought to them through the adversity of their fellow creatures in famine-stricken India, and a shortage elsewhere--a pacification which will probably not last more than another year or two, except as war or famine or other calamities may be permitted of the Lord to grant temporary respite.

But now the "voice" of woe comes from another quarter: from the miners of bituminous coal, who claim that they cannot possibly endure longer the strain of competition, which, through idleness and in other ways, reduces their wages sometimes as low as $3.00 per week. They have "struck," demanding reform measures and better pay. To make their "strike" successful, they claim it is necessary to induce all, or nearly all, miners to join them; and to this end they have formed "marching bands" to endeavor peaceably to induce miners still at work to join in the strike.

The coal-mine owners have ordered the marchers off their property, as they of course have a right to do; but in addition, by going before the courts and swearing that they believe these "marching bands" intend injury to their property and to the persons of their miners now employed they have induced the courts to issue Injunctions, commanding the "marching bands" to disperse and not to march on the roads within a certain radius of the mines. The strikers obeyed as respects "bands," but in groups of two or three and singly they walked along the highways and shouted to the miners at work to come out and join in the strike for living wages. But the law of injunction seems to have deprived the strikers from using even that liberty. It is not to be wondered at, that this feature of Injunction is criticized as contrary to the spirit of liberty and the Constitutional rights of the American people.

Nevertheless the majority of the well-to-do and wealthy seem to view the matter in the same light as do the courts, and to be willing to infringe the Constitutional rights of the laborer for the preservation of peace. But it will be found that such a peace is purchased at too high a cost. That the strikers have just cause for striking is generally admitted and even by some of the operators; and that generally they have conducted themselves with great moderation and patience is also conceded.

The groundwork for this moderation lay in the fact that they hoped to succeed by virtue of the justice of their cause: but now when they find that the Courts of Justice are prejudiced against them so as to deprive them, as criminals, of the liberty of their own highways, in anticipation that they may become criminals, can we wonder that their faith and hope for peaceable methods of redressing their grievances are blighted? No indeed. Do they not claim with justice that they have the right as freemen to assemble unarmed for the discussion of their welfare, as truly as the mine-owners may meet at hotels or other rendezvous for the discussion of their interests and to persuade each other pro or con?

Of course there are occasions when Court injunctions are both proper and necessary, and it may be difficult at times to decide where the line should be drawn; but surely the wealthy and the Courts, if not blind to

the true situation and deaf to "the voice of the day of the Lord," would avoid utterly discouraging the lower classes by destroying their confidence in the administration of justice: nothing else so quickly breeds the spirit of anarchy.

Hearken to the "Voice of the Day of the Lord" from St. Louis, sounding into the ears of the civilized world through the daily Press:--

"St. Louis, Aug. 31.--The conference of labor leaders of the country, which has been in session here two days, finished its work this evening. The meeting was productive of several sensational speeches and many resolutions. The platform as presented by the committee reads in part as follows:--

"The fear of the more watchful fathers of the republic has been justified. The judiciary has become supreme. We witness a political phenomenon absolutely new in the history of the world; a republic prostrate at the feet of judges appointed to administer its laws. They acknowledge no superior on earth, and their despotic deeds recall Milton's warning to his countrymen: 'Who bids a man rule over him above law, may bid as well a savage beast.'

"Under the cunning form of injunctions, courts have assumed to enact criminal laws, and, after thus drawing to themselves the power of legislation, have repealed the bill of rights, and for violation of those court made laws have denied the accused the right of trial by jury.

"The exercise of the commonest rights of freemen --the right of assembly, the right of free speech, the right of traveling the public highway--have by legislation, under the form of injunctions, been made a crime, and armed forces disperse as mobs people daring in company to exercise these rights.

Having drawn to themselves all the powers of the Federal Government until Congress and Presidents may act only by judicial permission, the Federal Judges have begun the subjugation of sovereign states, so that, unless a check is soon put upon the progress of usurpation, in a short time no government but the absolute despotism of federal judges will exist anywhere over any portion of American soil.

"Whereas, appeals to Congress and to the courts for relief are fruitless, since the legislative, as well as the executive and judicial powers are under the control of the capitalistic class, so that it has come to pass in this 'free country,' that while cattle and swine have a right to the public highways, Americans, so called freemen, have not.

"Whereas, our capitalistic class, as is again shown in the present strike, is armed, and has not only policemen, marshals, sheriffs and deputies, but also a regular army and militia, in order to enforce government by injunction, suppressing lawful assemblage, free speech and the right to the public highway; while, on the other hand, the laboring men of the country are unarmed and defenceless, contrary to the words and spirit of the Constitution of the United States; therefore, be it

"Resolved, That we hereby set apart Friday, the third day of September, 1897, as a 'Good Friday' for the cause of suffering labor in America and contribute the earnings of that day to the support of our struggling brothers, the miners, and appeal to every union man and every friend of labor throughout the country;" etc., etc., etc.

"Mr. Debs was then called for and said:

"I believe the gravity of the industrial situation in this country is well understood. It is quite evident the delegates to this convention are cognizant of the fact that civil liberty is dead in America. I have said and say again,--For the last time, I have appealed to the courts for justice, and shall appeal to them no more. The American Railway Union expended $45,000 to have the question of civil rights tested in the supreme courts of the United States, only to be told that we have no rights that capital is bound to respect. Shall we appeal to the supreme courts again? No. We appeal to this convention and to the country for an uprising of all the common people in every walk of life to beat back the courts and reenthrone the rights of the American people.

"From justice of the peace to justice of the supreme court of the United States, all the judicial powers of the United States are directed against labor. All the organized forces of society are against labor, and if labor expects to emancipate itself, labor itself must do it.

"The time has not quite come to incite the populace,' said Mr. Debs, shaking his fist vehemently."

But will "the voice of the day of the Lord," as it comes from various quarters and swells into a mighty roar of the sea class (`Luke 21:25`) be heard, and will it be heeded, and will relief be granted, and will the threatened crash and the wreck of present institutions be avoided? No; God's Word shows us that it will not be averted;--so strong is the power of selfishness in the world that it blinds those who should see, if only in self-interest. But we leave this subject for MILLENNIAL DAWN, VOL. IV.--"THE DAY OF VENGEANCE," which we expect to commence mailing Oct. 1, next,-- as and for the October and November issues of this journal.

INTERDENOMINATIONALISM VS. UNDENOMINATIONALISM.

We have pointed out from time to time that the Christian Endeavor movement is too liberal to be tolerated by sectarians; and that having no common basis of faith, and proposing to ignore doctrines, the Society would be at a loss as to any definite object and be apt to drift into Moralism, Christian-politics, etc. The following quotations show that three Presbyterian journals are waking up to the fact that Christian Endeavorers will soon reach the place where they cannot be

depended upon as sectarians, whatever they may gain or lose as Christians.

The Editor of the Michigan Presbyterian says:--

"For two weeks we have been hesitating to say just what we felt, because of love for the Christian Endeavor work and for our brethren: but we are ready now to confess what has been for years slowly taking shape in our mind, that we honestly believe that it would have been far better for the Presbyterian Church,

and especially for our young people, if twelve years ago we had put the same amount of energy into organizing Westminster Leagues as we did into organizing the Young People's Society of Christian Endeavor. In short, we believe that our Westminster League brethren have been right during all these years of controversy. The reasons for this opinion are so many and so fundamental that it would take half a dozen articles even to state them, and half a dozen more to meet the arguments on the other side, many of them being arguments which we have honestly made ourselves, in synods and presbyteries. Nor is there any practical use in dwelling upon them, for it is now too late to make the radical change that could have been made successfully ten years ago."

The Editor of The Presbyterian, commenting on the foregoing, adds:--

"But whatever opinion one has upon the points raised, there is a fact brought out by our Michigan contemporary which is worthy of special consideration, and which shows the existence of elements of conflict and disintegration, which will sooner or later assert themselves. Dr. Clark has insisted upon its being interdenominational, and he has done his best to make it so. But look at the facts: What denominations come next in numbers to our own in Christian Endeavor work? The Congregationalist and the Campbellist. Congregationalism is more and more standing for union work, making its plea on that basis, and making its doors wide to all kinds of religious ideas, in a loosely confederated sort of way. Campbellism, through its leading organ, the Christian Standard, declares that as far as that body of believers is concerned, they reject utterly Dr. Clark's interdenominational ideas, and they are in the Christian Endeavor work to abolish denominationalism altogether. They make no secret of their mission to substitute for interdenominationalism undenominationalism."

The Presbyterian Banner prints a comment on the matter, saying:--

"We do not forget that Dr. Clark and Mr. Baer, editors of the Golden Rule, who hold the reins of control [over Christian Endeavorers], have made much show of denominational loyalty on the part of church societies, subordinate, however, to supreme loyalty to the organization. This strategic movement was made by them after charges had been brought, that the whole tendency of Christian Endeavor was in the direction of church union, or more properly, independent churches."

The Editor of the Banner assents, saying:--

"That there has been a marked change in the views of many ministers and elders and a large number of members of the Presbyterian denomination since the last meeting of the General Assembly at Saratoga cannot be doubted by any one familiar with the trend of opinion in the church. What ought to be done, or what can be done in the circumstances, we do not pretend to know at present....We agree with the Michigan Presbyterian that 'there is a great deal that we can do. We can make continually more of our own history, doctrines and plan of work, and continually less of the undenominational character of this work.'"

THE DIVINE RIGHT OF KINGS.

At the unveiling of the equestrian statue of Emperor William I. at Coblentz, the present Emperor of Germany, in proposing a toast, made the following pointed statement of his conception of his office:--

"My grandfather went forth from Coblentz to mount the throne as the chosen instrument of the Lord, and as such he regarded himself. For all of us, more especially for us princes, he raised the throne once more on high, crowning it with the bright rays of the treasure which may we ever preserve in its sublimity and holiness. I mean the kingdom, by the grace of God, the kingdom with its heavy duties, its never ending, ever enduring toils and labors, with its awful responsibility to the Creator alone, from which no man, no minister, no house of parliament, no people can release the prince. For me it will be a sacred duty, following in the ways which the great ruler has shown us and in solicitude for my country to hold my protecting hand over this splendid jewel."

It is well that all persons in and out of public office should recognize every influence and opportunity as a stewardship from God; but it is very peculiar that the king of Prussia having acquired imperial authority over the other German states with and by their consent to be so governed, should now recognize his accountability as to the Creator alone. He, like all other men, owes fealty to God in all his acts: but his office came from the people and should be esteemed amenable to the people who gave it. His views are part of the leaven dispensed by Papacy, at the bottom of much of the world's superstition; which in this particular has done good as well as harm. By and by we shall have the true King and the reign of righteousness, whose only object will not be to fight for the maintenance of a throne,-- but to "bless all the families of the earth."

"ZIONISM" ADVOCATED AND DEFENDED.

The Jewish Conference respecting Zionism met at Basel, Switzerland, on August 30th as proposed;--to discuss the feasibility and advisability of Dr. Herzl's scheme for securing Palestine as a national home for the Jewish race, and assisting the poor and persecuted to return to the land of their fathers and to prosperity. The cable announces merely the fact that the Conference enthusiastically endorsed Dr. Herzl's suggestions, and sent to the Sultan of Turkey a telegram congratulating him upon the peace and prosperity of their race throughout his dominions. Hebrew was the language of the Convention: a very noteworthy indication.

Thus gradually, but surely, prophecy is fulfilling along this line also; keeping pace exactly with the developments along other lines--civil and religious--all rapidly approaching their foretold climaxes. Praise God!

Mr. Max Nordau, a Hebrew and a noted writer, expressed himself recently with great freedom in favor of the Zionist program and in opposition to those Jews who are opposing it. He suggests that "rabbis and idiots" who now raise against the movement a "senseless outcry" may some day rejoice at the success of Zionism, because of the refuge it will afford "from the Antisemitic storm gathering over their heads." (Antisemitism signifies opposition to the descendents of Shem; it includes all the races of Southwestern Asia-- Assyrians, Arabs, Abyssinians, Hebrews, etc., but it is here and most frequently used to signify opposition to Hebrews, the Jews.) Proceeding, Dr. Nordau said:--

"Zionism has been called into existence by the steady growth and encroachments of Antisemitism in its various forms--official Antisemitism in Russia, popular Antisemitism in Germany and Austria. Being a German myself I can only speak for my own country. There, I have no hesitation in saying, the Jew is not only not beloved, but he is positively hated and feared; and this aversion extends to all people having the faintest trace of Jewish blood in their veins.

"The Antisemitic propaganda has turned people mad in Germany and Austria, and there seems to be no prospect of a change for the better. Altho no one can accuse me certainly of being a parasite or a money-grabber --every penny I have earned has been the result of hard and conscientious labor--my mail is often weighed down with insulting anonymous letters from the other side of the Rhine....Seeing that this anti-Jewish feeling is pretty well universal, or rapidly becoming so, why should the Jew himself, we ask, be satisfied to continue living in a hostile camp? Why should he be reduced to effacing his nationality?...

"The Jew, figuratively speaking, is constantly holding his hand in front of his nose to hide its peculiar aquilinity, which peculiarity, by the way, he shares with the all-conquering Romans of old. Why be ashamed of our natural and, above all, national characteristics? No, let us develop them on the contrary, form them in the right molds. Let us be true to ourselves, to our traditions, to the genius of our race. Then, indeed, will great things come out of this disordered mass. Israel will be herself again. This is the true essence of Zionism!...The gentle rabbis in Germany and the United States who have been pooh-poohing our efforts may not be aware that at this moment hundreds of thousands of their coreligionists are living in the most awful squalor and misery conceivable within the confines of the Jewish pale of Russia or among the wild Kurdish tribes of Asia Minor."

Thus, the Jews themselves being the witnesses, God is forcing them back to the Promised Land for which many of them had lost all hope and all love.

Whether Palestine will be opened to the Jew by money, as they now propose, or whether it will be opened by war, we cannot say; but far more than the Zionists hope for will be attained by A.D. 1915. To permit all that God has promised that is due before that time, would demand that they be admitted to Palestine under the domination of some other Power or Powers very shortly.

Brother Kirkham tells us that when in Europe recently he was brought in contact with certain Jewish bankers to explain some inventions in tile making; and that incidentally he found an opportunity to explain God's plan of the ages, mentioning also that the due time had come for the restoration of divine favor to Israel. To his surprise his hearers manifested deep interest and said that what he had said was in many respects closely in harmony with their own views. They then voluntarily sent with him an escort and showed him at a private marble yard, kept secret from the general public, columns of very fine marble in preparation, they said, to form parts of a grand temple to be built at Jerusalem. The parts are being gotten ready according to draughted plans, and each stone is lettered and numbered to indicate the place for which it is intended.

THE DIVISION OF TURKEY ARRANGED.

It is now pretty generally agreed that Austria and Russia have reached an agreement respecting the division of Turkey when it shall be judged that the opportune moment has arrived. Austria is to have Salonica and all the territory west of it, while Russia is to have Constantinople and a good share of the territory surrounding it and northward. But it is not intended to force a war; merely the arrangement is made so that in the event of another war with Turkey each nation will know the portions to seize. It is said that Germany is very anxious to secure Syria, including Palestine, on the same terms; but that the other Powers would permit this is very doubtful, as they all covet Palestine.

Our chief interest in the Turkish question is the opening of Palestine to the returning Israelites: if it, or even liberty of settlement therein, be conveyed to the Jews for money, we shall feel comparatively little further interest in Turkey.

THE LAMBETH CONFERENCE.

The third Conference at Lambeth, near to London, has just been held, bishops of the Church of England being present "from divers parts of the earth." These Conferences have done much to instil and foster the idea of Protestant Federation, and meantime are endeavoring to hold together the Episcopal Church, doctrinally. To this end previous Conferences have advocated the appointment of a Primate, or Head Bishop, still higher than the Archbishop of Canterbury,--practically a pope, without claims for his infallibility.

A large conservative element has thus far hindered this proposal; and the friends of the measure, abandoning hope along that line, have at this Conference secured

the appointment of a "Central Consultative Committee" to assist and give advice on all theological points in controversy, with a view to holding in some kind of harmony the various branches of the Episcopal Church in various climes, on doctrinal subjects, which the present day awakening of thought makes very difficult.

The Committee was agreed to, and is to be appointed by the chief minister of that church--the Lord Archbishop of Canterbury, of whose installation in office we not long since gave an account, pointing out also that he is a Higher Criticism unbeliever and an avowed Evolutionist, which signifies that he denies the ransom, and is not in any sense a real Christian according to the New Testament standard. That he will appoint upon this committee such as are disbelievers in the Scriptures and in the ransom, like himself, goes without saying; and we may accordingly judge of the lines of error along which they will seek to harmonize the theological differences in the Church of England.

HEAR THOU MY PRAYER.

O Lord that pitiest all, hear thou my prayer:--

For gold I ask not, nor for transient wealth,

Nor e'en for richer gifts, nor power, nor health,

But only this--to nestle in thy care,

To rest supreme in thee, and feel that there

No harm can come that thou hast not foreseen.

To trust alway, and on thy strength to lean,

To feel thy guiding hand mid every snare.

I ask that strength that comes alone from thee,

To falter not, nor any trials shun;

And eyes of faith mid deepening gloom to see

My duty's path, and thus my course to run.

Beyond these years I look to that bright home.

Help thou my wavering step, O Lord, I come.

--Paul R. Wright.

FALLING AWAY FROM STEADFASTNESS.

"Ye therefore, beloved, seeing that ye know these things before, beware lest ye also, being led away with the error of the wicked, fall from your own steadfastness."--`2 Pet. 3:17`.

THIS exhortation applies to the Lord's consecrated people living at the present time. The proof of this is found in the context: the Apostle has just been portraying some of the events connected with the day of the Lord in which we are living--the "Day of Vengeance." In `verse ten` he has pointed out that the present age will end with the dissolution of the symbolic "heavens" and the symbolic "earth," which, as we have elsewhere shown, signifies the utter disruption of the present social and ecclesiastical order. In `verse thirteen` he points out that we are looking for a new order of things, and not hoping either to patch up the old order ourselves, or that others will succeed in patching what the Lord has declared "shall pass away." And now in our text he refers to "these things." In the `eleventh verse` he points out that those who have such expectations should be separate and distinct from all other people in the world, saying, "What manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness?" And then in our text and in the verse preceding it, he points out that at this particular time the Adversary will get advantage of certain ones, will beguile them, get them to wrest the Scriptures, and thus to deceive themselves to their own destruction;-- to their loss of present light at least.

Finding thus that the Apostle is particularly addressing ourselves, let us indeed give earnest heed to his counsel; for we well know that we live in what the Apostle Paul calls that "evil day."--`Eph. 6:13`.

We notice further that the Apostle is not addressing the worldly, nor even the average nominal Christian; but he specifies that his warning is to the "beloved," who already had attained to "steadfastness." This implies that they had become rooted and grounded and built up, both in the knowledge and in the love of God; for only such ever become steadfast. Does it surprise us that the Apostle should address such a developed class of Christians and warn them of their own personal danger of falling into the "error of the wicked?" It does strike us as peculiar, and we are inclined to think that there must be some hidden meaning in the expression--"error of the wicked."

It would be past comprehension that such a class as the Apostle has just described should be in great danger of falling into such errors of the wicked as blasphemy, or murder, or arson, or theft. We must look the matter up more carefully, and see whether or not the translators have given us a faithful rendering of the Apostle's words. We find that they have not, and that the word wicked is too strong: the Greek word is athemos; according to Prof. Young's Analytical Concordance (undisputed authority) it signifies "unsettled,"

or "lawless." Now, the passage seems more reasonable. There is danger, we can readily see, that those once established in the truth might be so led away as to become unsettled, and to wrest the Scriptures, "handle the word of God deceitfully," and thus become lawless in the sense that they would set aside the Word or Law of God, and take instead thereof a twisted interpretation which would the better suit some theory of their own. Such a wrong course the Apostle points out would surely unsettle them, and eventually mean the destruction of their spiritual interests; and that they would go into "outer darkness" in respect to "present truth." "Beware, lest ye also, being led away with the error of the unsettled, fall from your own steadfastness."

The Apostle's language not only points to the present time, but seems to imply that there would be previous fallings away or siftings, which he calls "the error of the wicked"--literally, "the delusions of the unsettled or lawless." The implication seems to be, that the not settled ones would first be shaken out, and that subsequently there would come a still more insidious trial which would test even the "steadfast." We inquire therefore, have there been, during this "harvest" time (whilst we are waiting for the dissolution of the present order of things and for the establishment of the new order of things)--have there been such siftings or fallings away by delusions which have affected those not settled?

We answer: Yes, there have been several: we might recount some of these. First of all came a shaking directly upon the subject of the ransom: Certain lawless ones, "heady," rejected the testimony of the Lord's Word, denying the Lord having "bought us" with his own precious blood. They would accept Christ as an example only, and claimed to be able to follow that example, and that they needed no sin-offering to compensate for their imperfections, inherited or personal. This the Adversary's first move was remarkably bold, yet it found adherents who were not rooted and grounded upon the testimony of the Lord's Word. Then came the "flat earth" theory, whose advocates strangely concluded that the shape of the earth is a part of the gospel; the result was that certain others of the unstable were "led away" in that delusion, by not settled leaders who wrested certain Scriptures to their own confusion and to the extinguishment of what light they had enjoyed.

Then came another delusion in effect teaching the old doctrine of Universalism,--that God would finally force eternal salvation upon all men and even upon Satan himself. This theory of course also denied the ransom; because to have admitted that the condemnation to death pronounced in Eden could not be set aside without a ransom, a corresponding price, would logically have implied that disobedience under the second trial, secured by the ransom, would similarly bring an everlasting punishment--everlasting death--from which there could be no resurrection. Hence, this theory boldly denied the ransom, wrested or twisted the Scriptures which speak of the Second death as "everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord," handling this and other Scriptures so deceitfully as to declare that the Second death would be a great blessing to all upon whom it would come. Of course none but unstable souls could be beguiled by such open and arrogant perversions of the Word of God.

But, still another sifting came for the "unlearned" and unsettled, not thoroughly furnished with the whole armor of God; this was the teaching that God is the author and instigator of all the sin, crime and wickedness there is in the world; and that after he shall become weary of evil doing he will reform, change his course and incite all mankind to righteousness and holiness, as he now (this theory claims) incites the majority to sin, etc. Of all the theories which the Adversary has brought out in this "evil day," this one seems to be the most blasphemous. So-called "orthodoxy" is certainly quite blasphemous enough, in claiming that God, after permitting his creatures to be "born in sin and shapen in iniquity" (which he had nothing to do with bringing upon them), claims that, as a punishment for sins which they could not avoid, the vast majority of the human family will be imprisoned in a flaming hell of unspeakable torture, and divinely provided with everlasting life, so that they shall never be able to escape those sufferings by death, and that the devil will be similarly supplied with eternal life (but free from pain) for the purpose of torturing them; and that fuel for the torture will to all eternity be provided by divine power. We say that this is extremely blasphemous of the divine character, yet it is as nothing at all in comparison to the teaching which claims that God is the instigator, the first cause, of all the sin and crime and wickedness in the world. This theory also wrested some Scriptures to its support, just as Spiritism and Christian Science do. Of course, only those who had never become thoroughly rooted and grounded in the truth could ever be "led away" by such a blasphemous delusion as this.

The Anglo-Israel question, and communistic and social questions, "led away" from the truth, and into more or less darkness and confusion, some others who were not well rooted and grounded in the knowledge of the fact that all present institutions will go down, and that the new order of things to be introduced will not be of human institution, but the work of God through the glorified Christ.

But the Apostle comes in our text to a time after such delusions had "led away" those not established or settled; and his warning is given to the steadfast. The implication seems to be that the Adversary has more subtle delusions before us than any of those in the past; and that the fully consecrated of the Lord's people may need to be more than ever on guard against "the wiles of the devil."--"Ye therefore, beloved, seeing ye know these things [that all of the affairs, reforms, etc., of the present time will avail nothing, and that all the present institutions will pass away, and that God is about to establish his own Kingdom in his own way;--and knowing further, that just at this particular time there will be a special sifting and testing of those who are in the light], beware lest ye ALSO, being led away with the error of the wicked [the unsettled or lawless who do not bow implicitly to the Lord's Word, but wrest it to establish theories of their own], fall from your own steadfastness."

(While the "siftings" specially affect those who have been brought by the Lord into the light of present truth, yet in a more general way and along different lines slightly different siftings are in progress with the nominal church as a whole. Each denomination is being shaken, and the theories of Evolution, Spiritism, Christian Science, Theosophy and Moralism are making great inroads upon all who have named the name of Christ, even if they have not come into the light of the "harvest" truth. Unsettled, lacking the knowledge of the divine Word and plan, necessary in this evil day, the whole nominal church is gradually losing its faith in the Bible, under the lead of its most able ministers, who, blinded to present truth, and unable to rightly divide the Word of truth, are generally coming to hold the opinion, that their own ideas respecting truth ("higher criticism") are superior to the Scripture presentations.)

The Apostle in our text cautions that we beware against being "led away." The word here rendered "led away" occurs in only one other place in the Scriptures (`Gal. 2:13`), where the Apostle Paul says, "Barnabas also was carried away with their dissimulation." The words "carried away" give the same thought as "led away" but a little more strongly: they imply that the danger to the steadfast will be along some line which would sweep away or carry away their judgments from the fixed statements of the divine Word, through personal preference, or sympathy, or through the influence of some one held in respect or esteem. Let us all therefore be on guard, that whoever may, consciously or unconsciously, become the instrument of the Adversary, and seek to lead us away from the sure testimonies of the Lord's Word (whether congenial to our natural tastes or uncongenial), we may not be "carried away" but that we may be more determined than ever that--

"To our Lord we will be true

Who bought us with his blood.

Only Jesus will we know,

And Jesus crucified."

While we see that the danger to the majority of God's people will be through being "carried away" by sympathy, influence, etc., we must remember that this implies that their will be certain leaders of thought whose conduct will tend to carry away the others. It is not necessary for us to suppose that these leaders into error will knowingly and intentionally get wrong themselves, and carry away numbers with them into their delusions and lawless disregard for the testimony of the Lord's Word, wresting its statements. We may rather assume that in a majority of instances these leaders will be themselves deceived; as the Apostle expresses it--"deceiving and being [themselves] deceived." --`2 Tim. 3:13`.

All who seek to teach the divine plan to others are exposed to peculiar temptations, so that the honor of serving the Lord and his people demands a correspondingly larger measure of the graces of the holy spirit, as well as of knowledge. The tendency of knowledge, as the Apostle points out, is merely to puff up, make vain and conceited, and to become a temptation of the Adversary, to draw away followers after them. (`Acts 20:30`.) Whoever therefore would be an instructor of others, a mouth-piece of the Lord, should cultivate all the various graces of the holy spirit, including meekness; that these combined (Love) with knowledge, may build up himself as well as build up those to whom he ministers. "Knowledge [alone] puffeth up, but Love buildeth up."--`1 Cor. 8:1`.

Let us not forget that there is a way, and one way only, whereby we may insure ourselves against falling into any of these traps of the Adversary. This insurance is not secured wholly by knowledge, altho knowledge is a very important element in it: it is secured chiefly by obedience to the principles laid down in the Lord's Word, and illustrated in the life and character of our Lord and his apostles. The same Apostle who addresses us this caution against falling from our own steadfastness, tells us in the same epistle (`1:5-12`), "If ye do these things, ye shall never fall: for so an entrance shall be ministered unto you abundantly, into the everlasting Kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ."

What things? Does he give us the particulars of this work of grace that will so insure us against falling that we shall receive the great prize? Yes. He tells us that it is by continually adding to our stock of the heavenly graces,--"Add to your faith fortitude,

and to fortitude knowledge, and to knowledge self-control, and to self-control patience, and to patience

piety, and to piety brotherly-kindness, and to brotherly-kindness Love; for these things being in you and abounding, they will not permit you to be inactive or unfruitful in the knowledge [personal intimacy, acquaintance] of our Lord Jesus Christ....Therefore, brethren, give the more earnest heed that you may make your calling and election sure, for if ye do these things ye shall never fall."

IS FAITH IN CHRIST NECESSARY?

REV. John H. Barrows, D.D., President of "The World's Parliament of Religions," held in Chicago in 1893, has returned from his visit to India. He recently wrote an account of his experiences there, in which he tells that he was asked by the Hindoos, whether or not he believed that "all men will finally be saved." He states the answer he made them, as follows, --"I replied, My Master does not encourage me to cherish such a hope. I do entertain a hope, however, for some who have never heard of the historic Christ. There are minds, like that of Socrates, naturally Christian. If I do not meet Socrates in heaven, I think it may be because I have not kept the right road myself."

Dr. Barrows' views are a fair sample of the views of a rapidly growing class of Christian people--all except those recognized as "old foggies;"--all the "learned" and "intelligent," both in pulpit and pew. What does it mean? It means that these people have repudiated the only gospel taught by our Lord and his inspired apostles and have made for themselves another gospel which omits all the prominent features of the New Testament good tidings.

(1) The center of the New Testament gospel is that, whereas Adam sinned and fell from the divine likeness, Christ Jesus died for man's sins, redeeming Adam and his posterity by the sacrifice of his own life as "a ransom [a corresponding price] for all." The new, false gospel denies this, declares that Adam never was in the divine image and could not fall from it; but that he was more nearly a monkey's image and has been constantly rising out of it for the past six thousand years: and from this basis it is forced to deny that our Lord's death was in any sense a ransom for man; for if man has been evolving grandly out of monkey conditions, the progress would not be a sin and would require no atonement. If original sin is denied, a sacrifice for that sin must be denied and is denied, logically, by all Evolutionists.

(2) The essence of the New Testament gospel is the offer of pardon and reconciliation to God, to all who will accept the blessings secured by the ransom. The new, false gospel, denying the ransom and all need of one, necessarily denies the offer of forgiveness and reconciliation, claiming that the race never was alienated from God, denying that we were born in sin, denying that father Adam ate the sour grape of sin, and that in consequence the teeth of all his children are set on edge. --`Ezek. 18:2`.

(3) The first requirement of the New Testament of all who would share its blessings is faith. God's grace provided the atonement, and Christ's death was the means or channel through which he provided it; but he most specifically declares that sinners may avail themselves of this grace only by the exercise of faith. As the Apostle declares, we are justified by faith, and by it also we enter into all other favors of the divine provision. (`Rom. 5:1,2`.) Nor is this required faith a general faith--a faith in anything we may please, or in nothing in particular: quite to the contrary, it is a faith in God and in Christ Jesus. It goes still farther and demands that the faith shall be in Jesus' death as the sin-offering and in his resurrection as the Savior from sin, and from death the wages of sin, through the Kingdom of God which he will establish at his second advent.

The new, false gospel plainly declares a union with Christ by living faith, or any other kind of faith, unnecessary. Mark the words of Dr. Barrows italicised above. Alas! we fear that, as the Doctor suggests, there is great danger that he has lost "the way, the truth and the life" now set before the overcoming Church. He certainly, and many in his company, "have not kept the right road" to the Kingdom, as marked out in the Scriptures.

But we are glad to hope that Dr. Barrows and some others, equally well intentioned and deluded, will by and by, after the Kingdom is set up, get the eyes of their understandings opened, and see and truly believe and be blessed. There, too, they will meet Socrates, for "all that are in the graves shall hear the voice of the Son of Man and come forth;" and there, under the blessings of the Millennial Kingdom, "all the blind eyes shall be opened," and then "the god of this world [Satan]" who now blinds "the minds of them which believe not." shall be bound for a thousand years "that he should deceive the nations no more." (`2 Cor. 4:4`; `Rev. 20:2,3`.) But the favor then opened to believers will be the earthly paradise restored, not the heavenly Kingdom and the divine nature now held before the Gospel Church as the prize of her high calling, to which, by faith and obedience, she is to make her calling and election sure. (`2 Pet. 1:10`.) Hear the word of the Lord:--

"The Scripture hath concluded all under sin, that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe. But before faith came we were kept under the Law, shut up unto [waiting for] the faith which should afterwards be revealed."--`Gal. 3:22,23`.

"It pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe....We preach Christ crucified, ...the power of God and the wisdom of God."-- `1 Cor. 1:21,23,24`.

"We believe that Jesus died and rose again."-- `1 Thess. 4:14`.

"These [testimonies of John's gospel] are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God: that believing ye might have life through his name." --`John 20:31`.

"Neither pray I [Jesus] for these [apostles] alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word."--`John 17:20`.

"He whom God raised again saw no corruption. Be it known unto you therefore, men and brethren, that through this man [Christ Jesus] is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins, and by him all that believe are justified from all things."--`Acts 13:37-39`.

"When they believed Philip preaching the things concerning the Kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized."--`Acts 8:12`.

"Ye were not redeemed with corruptible things,... but with the precious blood of Christ...manifest for you who by him do believe in God, that raised him from the dead and gave him glory."--`1 Pet. 1:18-23`.

"I have not shunned to declare unto you the whole counsel of God." "So we preach and so ye believe."-- `Acts 20:27`; `1 Cor. 15:11`.

"That is the word of faith which we preach; that if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved....The Scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed....For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved."

"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?"--`Rom. 10:8-14`.

PAUL'S HEART REVEALED.

--SEPT. 19.--`ACTS 20:22-35`.--

"Remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he said, It is more blessed to give than to receive."--`Acts 20:35`.

PERHAPS no other words give us a clearer insight into the heart of the Apostle Paul than his address to the elders of the Church at Ephesus. They show us what were the moving impulses of his active life. He sought not for ease or fame or worldly pleasure. He was thoroughly imbued with his Master's holy spirit which delighted in honoring God and doing good to all, regardless of earthly reward, persecutions, insults, slander and misrepresentations.

In our lesson for August 29th we saw how the Apostle "endured a great fight of affliction" at Ephesus, just as he was about to start for Macedonia. It is supposed that he spent about ten months in Macedonia and Greece, visiting the Churches of Philippi, Thessalonica, Berea and Corinth, besides extending his labors into other cities further north, not previously reached, but where some interest had been awakened by others. Having gone the rounds, he was now on his way to Jerusalem with the collections of the Churches of Macedonia and Corinth. His time was limited, if he would reach Jerusalem in season for the Passover, and hence instead of going overland and visiting the Churches of Asia-Minor, he continued his course by sea and sent word from Miletus, the seaport, to Ephesus, inviting the Elders of the Church there to

come to him: and this lesson is Luke's report of his discourse to them.

God made known to the Apostle the fact that something extraordinary was to befall him at Jerusalem, as a consequence of which he would never again have the privilege of meeting these dear brethren in the flesh. This made the present meeting with the elders or representatives of the Church a specially impressive one, and at the end of his talk his auditors were in tears.

Wishing to stimulate these dear brethren who, inasmuch as they were chosen as elders or special servants of the Church, may be regarded as amongst the most earnest and zealous of the Lord's people in Ephesus, the Apostle very briefly refreshes their minds on a subject already well known to them;--his own methods and course as a minister of Christ. He would impart to them some of his own spirit of consecration-- the Master's spirit--that they might be the more faithful as servants of the Lord and of his people. He reminds them, but not boastfully, of his own humility of mind in serving the Church; how he kept back nothing that was profitable to them, but on the contrary sought to impart to all the same knowledge of the divine character and plan which he himself enjoyed, and how he had not affected a superior wisdom that made peculiar statements without submitting the proofs. The inference is left for his hearers that they would thenceforth have an increased responsibility and should seek to follow the same heaven directed course.

While telling them that his trials were not over, but that evidently worse things awaited him, he courageously declares, "But none of these things move me,

neither do I count my life dear unto myself, so that I may finish my course with joy and [fulfil] the ministry that I received of the Lord Jesus, to testify the gospel by the grace of God."

After calling their attention to his own faithfulness in keeping back nothing that would be profitable, and thus making sure that he was free from responsibility in respect to any that might fall away, he exhorts his hearers to take heed, to be careful (1) of themselves: that they might make their own calling and election sure; that they might so walk in the footsteps of the Master that they would be acceptable to him. And (2) they should remember that, having accepted special appointment as ministers, they had an added responsibility on behalf of the Lord's flock. Oh, that all the servants of the Lord's cause might take this exhortation to heart, and feel the responsibility that rests upon all who minister in holy things. (And this will apply in a still wider sense, for every brother and every sister is to some extent his brother's and sister's keeper, and is commissioned to help in watching over the Lord's flock.) The Apostle points out that their commission is not merely that of the Church which selected them to be its servants in holy things, but that they became representatives of the holy spirit, and are therefore not to think lightly of the responsibility which they have accepted. The whole Church of the consecrated are begotten of the spirit, and hence their conscientious action in selecting their Elders, according to divine direction, is to be considered the work and selection of the holy spirit.

The object of the appointment of these elders, as the Apostle points out, was to feed the Church of Christ; to bring to the attention of the flock the green pastures and still waters of divine truth. They are not commissioned to pen them up in human sects and thus hinder the sheep from pasturing upon the Lord's provision. Neither are they to consider the sheep as so much mutton whereoff they may feed themselves, and from whom they may shear the golden fleece for their own benefit: they are to remember that the Church is not theirs, but God's, which he purchased with the precious blood. They are therefore to conduct themselves as servants or ministers of the Lord's flock, and not as its lords and masters.

Speaking prophetically, the Apostle declares his knowledge of the fact that greedy wolves would get in amongst the flock, and full of selfishness would be reckless of the interests of the sheep, and careful only of their own interests. These are some of the "wolves" which deceptively present themselves "in sheep's clothing," for otherwise the sheep would be on guard against them. And still worse than this the Apostle prophesies, --there would arise amongst themselves certain "heady" ones who, desirous of name and fame, would preach errors in order to "draw away disciples after them." Alas, how true this prophecy has proved, applicable not only to the Church at Ephesus but to the Church all the way down, from then until now! How few like the Apostle seem willing to preach not themselves, but Christ, and not human philosophies (their own or those of other men) but the cross of Christ, the power of God and the wisdom of God to every one that believeth. And the Apostle points out that he had been guarding them and the whole Church along these lines for three years.

These, he says, will speak perverse things;--that is, they will distort the truth, to make it harmonize with some theory which they have accepted and which they wish to impress upon others, thereby exalting themselves as the discoverers of new light. No less than five of these false teachers who arose in the Church of Ephesus, some before and some after, are mentioned in the Apostle's epistles to Timothy,--Hymeneus, Alexander, Phygellus, Hermogenes and Philetus.-- `1 Tim. 1:20`; `2 Tim. 1:15`; `2:17`.

Under the circumstances, realizing the trials that were coming upon them, and that he would be unable to share these with them, what commendation would the Apostle give to these representatives of the Church? He gave them grand advice in these words, "I commend you to God, and to the word of his grace which is able to build you up, and to give you an inheritance among all them which are sanctified." Ah yes, there can be no better recommendation to any than this--to keep close to the divine Word, and to take heed lest they twist or wrest the Scriptures, and thus blind themselves and make ready for the Adversary to lead them further into darkness. The Apostle thus points out to them that they are not yet ready for the heavenly inheritance; that they must first be built up in sanctification; and that the spirit of the Lord's Word permeating them will more and more produce this sanctification of heart and life.

What a noble testimony by the grace of God Paul was enabled to give: "I have coveted no man's silver or gold or apparel." He not only had used his trade as a tent-maker for his own support, but also to help financially those who were associated with him in the gospel work. Praise God for so noble an example of devotion! For altho the Apostle could not and did not endure more, nor as much, as his Redeemer, and is not to be considered as a superior example, nevertheless the illustration of a full devotion which his life affords does us great good; for we remember that our Lord was perfect,--holy, harmless, separate from sinners; but the Apostle declares that he had "like passions" with ourselves;--he was imperfect, and obliged to keep

his "body under," in subjection to his new mind, the will of God in Christ.

And now we come to the grandest expression of the whole discourse: "I have showed you [illustrated to you, in] all things, how that so laboring ye ought to support the weak, and to remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he said, 'It is more blessed to give than to receive.'" Would that these words might be deeply graven upon all our memories. The world's rule, the general disposition of the fallen nature, is to give adherence or support to the strong, and expect weaker ones to rally around and support or uphold us. This is self-pleasing--the way of the fallen nature: but the method of the "new creatures" is to be the reverse of this--they are to be on the lookout for the welfare, interests and comforts of others, especially in their own families; and applying the Apostle's words to the Church they inculcate carefulness for the weaker members of the "household of faith." Each of the stronger should take pleasure in helping the weaker and the less learned, and so far as possible in bringing all up to the stature of manhood in Christ.

And the Apostle here shows that the secret of his success as a servant of the Lord, and the reason why his life could be pointed to as a pattern, was that he was remembering and putting into practice the words of the Great Teacher. The art of giving himself is one of the secrets of a happy Christian life. He first gives his will to the Lord, then his time, his energy, his talents, to the service of the Lord and for the Lord's people. He has pleasure in the giving and a blessing, whether others know and appreciate it or not; and by and by his time for receiving will come,--the Lord's time for giving. The Lord will give unto such eternal life, eternal glory and association with himself in his Kingdom.

SEPTEMBER 26.--REVIEW.

PAUL'S LAST JOURNEY TO JERUSALEM.

--OCTOBER 3.--`ACTS 21:1-15`.--

"I am ready not to be bound only, but also to die at Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus."--`Acts 21:13`.

THE date on which the Apostle Paul, after his interview with the elders of the Church at Ephesus at Miletus, resumed his journey toward Jerusalem, is calculated by those who have made a special study of the subject, to have been Monday, April 24, A.D. 58. He wished to reach Jerusalem about the time of the Passover, but apparently was somewhat delayed enroute, and it is supposed he did not reach there until May 17--Pentecost day, that year.

The expression "after we had gotten from them," would seem to refer to the affectionate parting between Paul and those who accompanied him, and the Elders of Ephesus with whom evidently Timothy remained. As noticed in the previous lesson, "they all wept sore, and fell on Paul's neck and kissed him, sorrowing:" so that they were finally obliged to break away from them, to get aboard their vessel. There is nothing very special in the account of the journey: it was in a sailing vessel, slow and tedious and rather uninteresting. Probably the master and crew of that small vessel had little idea how much the value of their ship's burden was enhanced by the addition of Paul and his company. Little did they know how honorable a servant and ambassador of the Most High was their guest and passenger, and how he and his associates carried with them the gospel of Divine grace, a pearl of great price. "The world knoweth us not, even as it knew him not." Paul's company seems to have consisted (1) of Luke, the writer of this account, who uses the pronoun we; (2) Trophimus (`verse 29`); (3) Aristarchus (`Acts 27:2`).

Paul's experience in the city of Tyre serves to show us the bond of sympathy and Christian love which prevailed in the early Church. Apparently Paul and his companions were unaware that there were believers at Tyre, but, no doubt providentially, they found some; and so close was the bond of Christian sympathy that the finding of them insured the finding of fast and loving friends. We may imagine the blessed experiences of the little group of believers during the seven days of the Apostle's stay with them. We are not told what was done, but from the character of the Apostle we may judge with considerable accuracy, for "a good fountain sends forth sweet waters" only. He surely did not waste time in telling them of his many travels and the various scenes in foreign lands. We may be sure also that, having the spirit of love shed abroad in his heart he did not indulge in "gossip" in respect to the Lord's people in the various places he had visited: he had come under "the royal law" of Love, which neither thinketh nor speaketh ill of his neighbor; and we may be sure he would be doubly careful of what he would say to or about the Lord's "brethren." Paul had a grander mission than this, and a mind too noble to permit him to be either a "busybody in other men's matters" or a gossiper. He had more important business: As he elsewhere expressed himself, "This one thing I do," --the Father's business. Forgetting the things which

were behind, and pressing forward to those things which were before, he ran with patience the race set before him in the gospel, for the prize of the high calling; looking unto Jesus as both the Author and Finisher of his faith.

We may therefore know assuredly that those seven days were profitably employed by the Apostle in talking over with the Church at Tyre the gracious plan of God, his precepts and his promises to those who love and obey him. The impression made indicates that the Apostle had become a lifelong friend of the Tyre believers, so much so that they were all loth to part, and husbands, wives and children accompanied Paul and his associates clear outside the city limits, and they parted with prayer. Where such holiness of heart, singleness of purpose and devotion to the Lord are found, there cannot be found in the same individual a contrary spirit; and all who are in close company with such a Christian will be profitted and helped and kept thereby.

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