VIEWS
FROM THE WATCH TOWER.
“IN THE LAST
DAYS PERILOUS TIMES.”
“This know, also, that in the last days perilous times shall come, for men shall be lovers of their own
selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents,
unthankful, unholy, without natural affection, truce-breakers, false
accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good,
traitors, heady, high-minded, lovers of pleasure more than lovers of
God, having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from
such turn away.”-2 Tim. 3:1-5.
CLAIMING, as we do,
that we are now living in the closing days of the Gospel age, it is quite
proper that we should look about us to see whether or not present conditions
correspond to the Apostle’s inspired description of what must be expected in
the last days of this age. We are not to understand this description to relate
to the barbarous or half-civilized peoples of the end of the age, but to be a
description of the condition of “Christendom.” The Apostle explicitly states
that he refers to those who have a form of godliness-professedly
Christians,-for, since the Jewish age ended, the only godly form that the
Scriptures could recognize is Christianity. We see, then, that the foregoing
delineation represents “Christendom” in the close of this age.
The Apostle does not say that this description will apply to the saints in
the end of this age: quite to the contrary, the implication is that the saints
should “turn away” or separate themselves from all who thus have merely the
form of piety. (Vs. 5.) Nor are we to expect that the world, possessed of this
spirit, will recognize its own likeness in the Apostle’s words. Upon this, as
upon other subjects, we are rather to expect that, as the Prophet declares,
“None of the wicked shall understand, but the wise shall understand.” (Dan.
12:10.) The merely formalistic Christian, whose highest ideal of duty is to
abstain from secular employment on one day of the week, and to go to church, is
not to be expected to recognize his own likeness, and to note its deformities
and inconsistencies: to do these things would imply such a reformation of
sentiment as would transfer him from the lists of churchianity to the smaller
list of true Christianity.
We should not be understood as saying, or even implying, that the world is
growing worse in every respect day by day. We recognize as a fact that the
world in many respects is in better condition than it has ever been before.
The civilized nations to-day are better equipped with hospitals, orphanages,
asylums, etc., than ever before. All these are very directly traceable to the
influence of Christianity, and are neither to be despised nor ignored. We
confess with great appreciation and admiration that the spirit of our Master
has, during the past eighteen hundred years, so impressed itself upon the world
of mankind that the barbarities of olden time would no longer be endured, the
sensibilities of civilized man having reached a degree of development which
insists upon provision being made for the indigent and helpless; and we are
very glad of all these things.
At the same time, it should not be forgotten that mixed with all of these
benevolences is a considerable measure of selfishness-they are not all
monuments of pure disinterested benevolence. True, benevolence has had to do
with the founding of many of them, but as a rule those recently instituted, and
much of the support for all of them, is drawn from the tax-payer through
political channels, and the party-spoils system has much to do with their
maintenance-all feeding at such public cribs being expected to render more or
less of party service. However, whether or not these institutions supported at
public expense be considered as partially the outgrowth of selfishness, the
fact must be conceded that public sentiment favors them, and hence it must be
conceded that the principles laid down by the great Teacher eighteen centuries
ago have made a favorable impression upon civilized peoples.
But the question before us is not on this point- whether or not
Christianity has made any impression upon the world: the question is, What is
the real status of those professing to be Christians, now, in the end of this
age? We answer that, while benevolences inculcated in the gospel of Christ
have appealed to the better sentiments of mankind, and have resulted in a
general uplift of social conditions throughout so-called Christendom, yet this
uplift of the world of mankind has reacted in some respects against Christianity;
for in making Christianity popular it has induced multitudes to nominally adopt
Christianity and a form of godliness without appreciating the genuine article
or experiencing a true conversion of heart. Hence the necessity of separating
the “wheat” from the “tares,” the suitable fish from the unsuitable ones in the
Gospel net, now that the Gospel age is closing.-Matt. 13:24-30,36-43,47-50.
If we ask ourselves the question, What is the peculiar characteristic of
our day? almost every intelligent person could answer, Selfishness. And
this is the very item which the Apostle puts first in his descriptive list:
“Men shall be lovers of their own selves.” We do not mean to say that people
are more miserly than heretofore; on the contrary, there is probably less of
this evil; the tendency is rather to extravagance: but it is an extravagance
born of “love of their own selves,” love of dress, love of show, love of honor
and position. All who come in contact with present-day business, realize that
more than ever before it is a battle; not so much a battle for bread as a
battle for wealth and luxuries. True, business to-day is in some respects done
along more honorable lines and on a more honest basis than every before, yet
these are not so much signs of a greater honesty on the part of merchants, for
they are almost compulsory; because business competition has materially cut
down profits, and the enlarging of business much beyond the personal oversight
of the proprietors has almost compelled one-price arrangements. But all persons
associated with commercial business and manufacturing can attest that the
growth of business intelligence, the formation of trusts and combinations,
etc., have given selfishness great power to injure and even to destroy financially
whatever may resist it.
Covetousness is another of the charges. It is a mistake to think
of this quality as applicable only to the wealthy. It is just as possible for
the man with one dollar to be covetous as for the millionaire. Covetousness is
an inordinate desire, whether for wealth or luxuries or what-not. Elsewhere
the Apostle designates covetousness as idolatry, which gives us the thought of
false worship. (Col. 3:5.) It is not wrong for us to seek, in a reasonable,
moderate way, for the necessities and the comforts of life for ourselves and
those depending upon us; nor would it be wrong to avail ourselves of the
opportunities of securing wealth, if the same came to us in a reasonable and
honorable manner, not in conflict with our consecration to the Lord. But
wherever the love of money or honor or luxuries becomes the ruling
passion in those who are professedly God’s people it has usurped God’s
place,-such are idolaters. In other words, the covetous person is a
mammon-worshiper, and as such should realize that he has abandoned the proper
worship of God; and our Lord declared, “Ye cannot serve God and mammon.”-Matt.
6:24.
Boasting is the third charge which the Apostle brings against
nominal Christianity of “the last days.” Is it not true? Was there ever a time
when people were so boastful as to-day? Boastfulness is the opposite of
meekness and humility; boasting accompanies pride, which the Lord declares he
resists, showing his favors to the humble.-James 4:6.
Pride is the fourth charge, and, thinking of our fellow-creatures
as generously as possible, we cannot deny that the pride of our day is very
great, and continually increasing. In some it is the pride of wealth, in
others a sectarian pride, in others a family pride, in still others a personal
pride. Looking into the future, as revealed in the Lord’s Word, and seeing the
time of trouble toward which Christendom is hastening, we are reminded of the
statement, “Pride goeth before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a
fall.”-Prov. 16:18.
Blasphemy is the fifth charge: but this does not necessarily imply
that the professed Christians of the present day would be profane swearers more
than others of times past. The word “blasphemy” here we understand to be used
in its broad sense of slander, and the slandering or blasphemy may either be
against God, or against fellow-creatures. As a matter of fact, we find both
abounding to-day amongst Christian people. God’s character is blasphemed by
attributing to him evil deeds, evil motives and evil purposes toward the masses
of mankind. Never, more than at present, have nominal Christians been inclined
to charge the Almighty with the authorship of the evils that are in the world
and which cause the groaning of creation. In times past they were willing to
acknowledge that these evils had come in the line of justice because of sin;
now many self-complacently claim that God’s dealings are wholly unjust, and
that the unfavorable conditions of the present time are all chargeable to him,
and are injustices toward man. Moreover, the theories which prevail throughout
Christendom respecting God’s provision for the future (that it will be an
eternity of torment-in literal flames, or, say some, “torments of conscience which
will be worse”) are blasphemies, slanders upon God’s character and
government. These are worse slanders than were held during the Dark Ages, when
it was claimed, as Romanists still claim, that the vast majority went for a
time only to “Purgatory,” from which discipline and suffering they would
ultimately be released.
Ours is also a day of slander or blasphemy one against another, on the
part of those who have merely the form of godliness. Many who outwardly
claim to be governed by the law of the New Covenant, Love, seem to have a morbid
craving to speak evil one of another. This the Apostle elsewhere denominates
the spirit of murder. (1 John 3:15.) This murderous, slanderous, or
blasphemous tendency is manifest everywhere, in the home, in church-gatherings,
and in private; those who take no pleasure in speaking words of kindness,
approval and love, hunger and thirst for opportunities to speak evil. Nor are
they satisfied merely to give out their own evil surmisings, based upon their
own perverted view of their fellows; they love such slandering and blasphemy so
much that they are willing even to accept it at second-hand, and to retail it
out repeatedly.
Disobedience to parents is the sixth charge. How very marked is
this trait to-day! Not merely in the younger members of the family, who have
not come to years of discretion, but also in those who have even made an
outward profession of religion. False views of “liberty” and “rights” seem to
disturb the minds even of children, and the divinely arranged family order
seems to be entirely lost sight of with the vast majority.
Unthankfulness is the seventh charge. Thankfulness would seem to
be one of the least costly of the graces: it implies the reception of favors,
and is merely a proper acknowledgment of them. No one can be a true Christian
and be unthankful. With the Apostle he will soliloquize, “What hast thou that
thou didst not receive?” (1 Cor. 4:7), and the first response of his heart must
be gratitude, thankfulness. It is this thankfulness which leads on to service,
and to sacrifice in the Lord’s cause as a manifestation of gratitude. But with
the merely nominal Christian thankfulness to God seems scarcely to be thought
of. If he be prosperous, it is his ability or his “luck;” if not prosperous,
it is the fault of some one else or his “bad luck.” Divine providence scarcely
enters his mind in connection with his affairs. This same unthankfulness
extends manward, and not infrequently it will be found that one’s worst
enemies, perhaps indeed his only enemies, are those whom he has endeavored to
serve-those in whose interest he has made sacrifices. They do not feel
thankful; they do not wish to feel under any obligation of any kind; they fancy
that the one who has done them a kindness will consider them under some obligation,
and gradually they come to have enmitous and bitter feelings, instead of
gratitude, thankfulness.
Unholiness is the eighth charge. The ordinary Christian professor
will freely admit that he is unholy, not holy-not fully consecrated to the
Lord. Many will admit that their only reason for maintaining even an outward
semblance of Christianity is fear-fear of an eternity of torture; and some go
so far as to admit that if it were not for fear of eternal torment they would
indulge themselves in all manner of evil.
Without natural affection is the ninth charge. It is not the
province of true Christianity to destroy the natural affections, but rather to
deepen them and to lift them to a higher plane. It is therefore to be greatly
regretted that there are to-day, apparently, evidences of the loss of family
affection. In the days of the Apostle it was considered proper to exhort
Christians to “love the brethren,” but to-day this exhortation has
comparatively little weight, because of the general loss of natural affection.
Verily, “A man’s foes shall be they of his own household.”
Truce-breaking is the tenth charge. The Greek word here used
signifies not merely a breaker of a truce or agreement, but more especially an
unwillingness to make a truce or to live in harmony, and to abandon
hostilities. Combativeness seems to be considerably on the increase, and not
only are people willing to have a fracas for slight cause, but controlled by
this implacable disposition, they are less ready than of yore to drop the
matter-to forgive and be forgiven. Their hearts not having the spirit of love,
but the spirit of selfishness, are not peace-loving but contention-loving.
Hence, instead of being “easy to be entreated,” they are the reverse,
implacable.
False accusers is the eleventh charge. This corresponds closely to
the charge of blasphemy, but seems to signify a still more extreme step-a
willingness to accuse falsely, knowing that the charges or accusations are
false. This surely indicates a very evil condition of heart, and yet we are
compelled to admit that it is a very prevalent condition to-day. Let a person
of strong will, whose heart is not under control of grace, become your enemy,
and following the custom of our time he will probably not only misrepresent you
in the matters of which he has knowledge or hearsay, but not infrequently he
will deliberately concoct falsehoods. Such a course would not seem so strange
on the part of the professedly worldly. It has always been so; the natural
heart has always been full of evil, and ready to vilify when it considered
itself provoked. The point of the Apostle’s argument is that these conditions,
so foreign to the spirit of Christ, the spirit of love, will prevail in the end
of this age amongst those who profess his name and have a form of godliness.
Incontinency is the twelfth charge. This signifies, without
self-control, led of passion, rash, impulsive. The Apostle’s exhortation to the
Church, as its proper condition, is expressed in the words, “Let your moderation
be known unto all men”-your self-control. (Phil. 4:5.) Keep yourselves well in
hand, subject and obedient to the will of God, as expressed in his Word. But
to-day, and especially with the rising generation, self-control is little
practiced. Some of this is chargeable to the spirit of the times in which we
live, with its false conceptions of liberties and rights, and some of it is
doubtless attributable to lax training under conditions of comparative worldly
prosperity.
Fierceness is the thirteenth charge. This came forcibly to our
attention a few days ago, as we noticed a headline of a dispatch from Manila,
saying, “The Tenth Pennsylvania Regiment made a fierce charge upon the
Filipinos, uttering their terrible yell. The enemy fled, terrified, in all
directions.” It used to be that the savages pounced upon the civilized, with
fierce blood-curdling yells, but now it appears that the rising generation,
representatives of Christendom from one of the most civilized states of the
world can give so fierce a yell, and in every way manifest so much ferocity, as
to strike terror to the uncivilized. Undoubtedly this fierceness explains much
of the success of civilized men over the uncivilized in recent wars.
Civilization, the handmaid of religion, has given intelligence and courage; but
in those not having the power of godliness it inspires ferocity instead of
love, kindness, gentleness.
Despisers of those that are good is the fourteenth charge. We are
to distinguish between goodness from the standpoint of the Apostle and the
Lord’s word in general, and goodness from the world’s standpoint. The world
wants a man good enough to be honest, temperate, trustworthy, and faithful as a
servant or contractor; but the world despises the higher forms of goodness to
which the Apostle refers. The nominal Christian despises the “saint,” and
tries to believe that his professions of full consecration to the Lord, and his
desire to please the Lord in thought and word and deed, are simply
hypocrisies,-because his own heart is not in sympathy with such a condition of
consecration, with such ideals of goodness, and he does not desire to be in the
presence of so high a standard. As our Lord described the matter, “Everyone
that doeth evil hateth the light.”-John 3:20.
Treachery is the fifteenth charge. Because the mainspring of the
world’s efforts in every direction is selfishness, therefore treachery is its
inevitable adjunct. Love desires to be just; love may frequently approve of
self-sacrifice in the interests of others; but selfishness disapproves of
benevolences except where some self-interest attaches. Hence, the one who
might be willing to make a contract to-day, and who selfishly might be willing
to keep that contract so long as he believed that it would be to his own
advantage to do so, would often be willing to break that contract so soon as
selfishness indicated that it would be to his advantage to break it. Persons
controlled by the selfish spirit here described can never be trusted. Could we
think of God as being controlled by selfish motives we could not trust him,
except so long as it would be to his interest to fulfill his promises. Only
those controlled by the reverse spirit of love can be relied upon in times of
extreme trial. This is set forth as one of the special features of the great
time of trouble just before us: selfishness and distrust will become general
and the motto will be, “Every man for himself.” The prophetic declaration
shows the loss of confidence, general treachery, saying, There shall be no
peace to him that goeth out nor to him that cometh in; for I have set every
man’s hand against his neighbor.-Zech. 8:10.
Headiness is the sixteenth charge. How forceful this word, as
expressing self-will, impetuousness. Do we not see this quality everywhere
amongst those who have the form of godliness, but who lack its power? And we
believe that it, as well as these other evils, is steadily on the increase. The true Christian is not “heady;” on the contrary, his
consecration to the Lord figuratively decapitated him; he lost his head,
renounced his own will and self-rule, and submitted himself, as a member of
the body of Christ, to the absolute control of Jesus, the Head of
the Church. (Eph. 1:22,23.) Such, so long as they abide as members of the true
body of Christ, cannot be heady, cannot be self-willed. It is this very
self-will that first of all they reckoned dead, in order that they might have
the mind or will of Christ. To revive the self-will would be to lose the mind
of Christ. The true Christian therefore, in every
affair of life,-in respect to its pleasures as well as in respect to its
burdens and trials,-appeals to his Head for direction, to know how and what to
do or say-yea, to have even the very thoughts of his mind in full conformity to
the will of God in Christ.
The “heady” class are continually endeavoring to carry out their
own wills, and do not submit themselves to the will of God. Their headiness
continually brings them into difficulties, and yet, sometimes, with pride and boasting
and love of their own selves and fierceness and false accusations, they
endeavor to have their own heady way, and perhaps even claim, with forms of
godliness, that such a course is under divine leading. How sadly such are
deceived! “If any man have not the spirit of Christ he is none of his.”
Wherever headiness prevails it is an evidence that such are “not holding the
head” (Christ). If they have not already fallen utterly, their fall is
certainly near unless they reform.-Col. 2:19; Rom. 8:9.
High-mindedness is the seventeenth charge. Self-conceit is
naturally a virtue in the eyes of the class which the Apostle describes: and
how naturally this quality of a large opinion of one’s self and one’s own
talents, or of one’s favor with God, or what-not, is linked with pride,
boastfulness and self-love. There is no more dangerous form of high-mindedness
or self-conceit than that which attacks the Christian, and seeks to make him
think of himself more highly than he ought to think. Very many of the Lord’s
people have been ensnared along such lines, and stumbled into all the other
evils of this category by first of all getting the impression that for some
reason, or for no reason, the Lord had specially taken a fancy to them, and was
giving them private lessons and information not vouchsafed to others of his
consecrated ones. How appropriate the Apostle’s caution along this line, “I
say, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than
he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every
man the measure of faith.” (Rom. 12:3.) Not only is this quality of
self-conceit one of the most dangerous to Christians, but also it is one of the
most dangerous to the world, for probably more than one-half of the hopelessly
insane have lost their reason along this line of self-conceit. All true
Christians should be specially on their guard against this snare of the
Adversary.
Lovers of pleasure more than lovers of God is the eighteenth
charge. It is natural for every human being to prefer to be pleased, to be
happy, to have pleasure. It is not a sin to love things which minister to our
pleasure in proper ways. To be a Christian does not mean to have no pleasure:
but the Christian puts God higher than himself, loves God more than he loves
himself, consecrates himself to God, and consequently desires to please God
rather than to please himself. By such, any pleasure, no matter what, must be
sacrificed if it come in conflict with his still higher pleasure and duty and covenant
of service to the Lord. It is this that leads the true saints of God to
sacrifice: the world being out of harmony with God and his will is out of
harmony also with those who are in harmony with God. Hence, as our Lord says,
“If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you. If ye
were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the
world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth
you.”-John 15:18,19.
The contest, then, comes between serving God and doing those things which
would bring his approval, and serving self after the manner of the world, and
doing those things which would bring its approval. The true Christian must
invariably decide for the Lord, and thus he often crosses the will, the
preferences, the prejudices or the superstitions of those with whom he comes in
closest contact in the flesh, and it is in this that he is to be an “overcomer”
of the world and its spirit; and by so doing he is to gain ultimately the approval,
“Well done, good and faithful servant; enter into the joys of thy Lord.” “To
him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne.”-Matt. 25:21;
Rev. 3:21.
The class described by the Apostle, the mass of Christendom, in the
present time are not fully consecrated to the Lord, but are lovers of pleasure more
than lovers of God. In this sense of the word they are idolaters, rendering
love and service to self above God,-covetous of the world’s pleasures and
honors and emoluments of various kinds. Is it difficult for us to see this
very condition of things all about us, amongst those who have merely a form of
godliness? No, it is not difficult; it is the confessed condition of the vast
majority. Love of God above love of self is proved by our willingness to
sacrifice self-loves in order to do those things which would meet the Lord’s
approval.
Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof is
the nineteenth charge. It does not follow that this class, in so many words,
denies that there is any power to godliness. Rather, we are to understand that
their course in life denies or repudiates the power of God. Outwardly they
have a religious form; they know that churchianity is popular; they wish to be
known as identified with some denomination for decency’s sake, and as an entree
to good social and financial standing for themselves and their families. But
that is about all the use they have for Christianity. Their life as a whole
denies the power of the gospel of Christ to control the heart and regulate,
direct and guide the conduct.
“From such turn away.” True Christians are to reprove the false
Christians by turning away from them, and from their course or walk in life.
Whoever has the spirit of Christ, the spirit of Love, and is seeking to
cultivate its grace, and to walk according to its rule, will more and more find
his path turning away from the path of churchianity and general worldliness.
As they are guided by different spirits or dispositions, so they tend to
different directions or effort, different loves, different sympathies,
different experiences. The true sheep are to walk in the narrow way, led by
the true Shepherd, who has gone before, and who calls us to follow him. This
means that in this harvest-time in a most natural way a separation will be made
between the “wheat” class and the “tare” class, just as our Lord’s parable
illustrated. Whoever walks in the Lord’s way will receive the light that is
due in this harvest-time, and be enlightened thereby and led in the footsteps
of Jesus. Whoever walks in the evil way, described by the Apostle as the
prevalent way in the end of this age, is following Satan’s example. The
separation of these classes must eventually be thorough and complete. Thus the
Lord is by present truth and its spirit or influence calling to his people to
separate themselves, to turn away from others who are not really his people,
who have merely the form of godliness but not its power, saying, “Come out of
her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not
of her plagues.”-Rev. 18:4.
OUTSIDE CORROBORATIONS OF THE FOREGOING
It would be difficult to imagine a more striking corroboration of
these facts than is furnished by the recent proclamation of a Fast day by the Governor
of the State of New Hampshire. We quote the paper entire, as set forth in the
columns of The Boston Herald, without endorsing all of its provisions or
recommendations, as follows:-
GOVERNOR ROLLINS’ PROCLAMATION.
“Concord, N.H., April 6th, 1899.
“I hereby appoint Thursday, the 13th day of April, as Fast day.
“This custom was inaugurated at a time when all the people of our state
placed their trust in the hands of a Supreme Being, and believed firmly in the
efficacy of prayer. A goodly number of our people still hold this belief, I am
happy to say, and will assemble, as their ancestors have for generations, to
invoke the Deity. The decline of the Christian religion, particularly in our
rural communities, is a marked feature of the times, and steps should be taken
to remedy it.
“No matter what our belief may be in religious matters, every good citizen
knows that when the restraining influences of religion are withdrawn from a
community, its decay, moral, mental and financial, is swift and sure. To me
this is one of the strongest evidences of the fundamental truth of
Christianity.
“I suggest that, as far as possible, on Fast day union meetings be held,
made up of all shades of belief, including all who are interested in the
welfare of our state, and that in your prayers and other devotions, and in your
mutual counsels, you remember and consider the problem of the condition of
religion in the rural communities.
“There are towns where no church bell sends forth its solemn call from
January to January; there are villages where children grow to manhood
unchristened; there are communities where the dead are laid away without the
benison of the name of Christ, and where R2462 : page 104 marriages are
solemnized only by justices of the peace.
“This is a matter worthy of your thoughtful consideration, citizens of New
Hampshire. It does not augur well for the future. You can afford to devote
one day in the year to your fellow-men-to work and thought and prayer for your
children and your children’s children.”
* * *
That the Governor of New Hampshire is not greatly overstating the
situation is evidenced by the following clipping from the Boston Traveler
of March 8th:-
“As surely as two and two are four the Boston police are incompetent to
cope with the rogues, footpads and other outlaws infesting this city, and
citizens fear to walk the streets after nightfall in consequence of the
prevailing lawlessness. Crime has reached that stage that a citizen is not
safe on the street or in his own home after the shadow of evening has taken
possession of mother earth.”
A very similar statement was recently made respecting lawlessness in St.
Louis by one of its leading newspapers.
If we were in the midst of financial depression, and if thousands of
“out-of-works” were tramping the country as a few years ago, such statements
would excite much less surprise and be much less significant of a moral decline
such as the Apostle prophetically indicates must now be expected. But on the
contrary, we are in the very midst of “good times”-far better than can be
reasonably expected to continue long. And with the spirit of selfishness
described by the Apostle constantly increasing, we must expect that each
succeeding financial depression will manifest increasing lawlessness until the
final catastrophe of anarchy shall crumble present institutions and prepare the
way for the reign of Emmanuel.
OTHERS SEE IT.-JUDGE BURKE’S VIEW.
The Governor is not the only person whose eyes are open and who feels it
his duty to “cry aloud and spare not.” The Rev. Dr. Buckley, editor of the New
York Christian Advocate, the leading Methodist paper of the world,
recently felt called upon to point out the decadence of Methodism. And still
more recently at the session of the Rock River Methodist board of examinations
the same subject came up and was discussed very boldly by Prof. Small and
subsequently by Judge E. W. Burke, the published report of whose speech
follows:-
“SEES DARK SKIES.
“JUDGE
BURKE’S PESSIMISTIC TALK BEFORE-METHODISTS-“SOCIAL DISTURBANCE AHEAD. “THE JURIST CONTINUES IN THE
STRAIN ADOPTED BY HIS PREDECESSORS AND GAINS CONGRATULATIONS.
“The keynote of
the midyear session of the Rock River Methodist board of examination, now in
session at the Englewood First Church, continues to be social and religious
pessimism. Many of the papers read are directly on this subject, and the
discussion of the rest generally works around to the same point.
“Tuesday Prof. Small led off in this direction, and yesterday Judge E. W.
Burke, in a paper on ‘The Church of the Twentieth Century, From a Layman’s
Standpoint,’ went just as far. These sentiments are received by the large
congregation of ministers and others who hear them, not only without protest,
but with approval. Judge Burke could hardly leave the platform for the
handshaking and congratulations that beset him.
“Judge Burke dwelt on the tyranny of capital, the terrible impending
conflict between concentrated capital and labor, the decadence of the
Methodist Church, as depicted by Rev. Dr. Buckley in the New York Christian
Advocate, and the rumor that the wealthy laymen of the church were
threatening to withhold their contributions unless they were granted equal
representation in the general conference.
“Judge Burke spoke in part as follows:-
“‘The whole creation and all the manifestations of the spiritual,
intellectual and even the physical forces are now in a transitional period as
never before. Even trade and methods of business that have been pursuing their
customary ways for centuries are paralyzing individual effort and puzzling the
lawmakers of the earth. Storm centers of labor and capital are gathering over
against each other, threatening the very integrity of the industrial firmament
of man. The late appearances of the hitherto unsuspected intellectual and
physical forces but add Titans of unknown strength to the conflict toward which
all the world is consciously or unconsciously rushing. He who observes and
reflects on matters of church and state feels this condition in the very
pulsing ether, the like of which history does not disclose.
[We do not know that Judge Burke has read the WATCH TOWER publications
bearing on this subject, but thousands of thinking people are now awakening to
the truth respecting the great “Day of Vengeance” which for twenty years we
have been pointing out and seeking to bring to the attention of the Lord’s
people. The difficulty with many is, that, seeing these approaching troubles
from the outside, they are losing confidence in divine providence, and their
hearts are failing them for fear, as they look forward to those things coming
upon the earth. (Matt. 24; Luke 21:26.) On the contrary, all who learned of
the coming troubles from the Lord’s Word, before there were outward evidences
of them, are strengthened in their faith by every fresh development-for they by
the same Word know the object of the troubles and the grand results they are
outworking.]
“‘No human wisdom can say what mean the great and increasing aggregations
of capital, now sufficient to buy kingdoms. If these shall be arrayed against
the empty hands of labor, then shall mass collide with mass, and who can
predict the end thereof? I see no commanding spirit of compromise in these approaching
and threatening avalanches, which seem destined to involve the whole social
system in universal ruin before the young men of this audience become
three-score and ten years of age. So that the church, as it passes into the
twentieth century, meets a perfect whirlwind of world forces which overwhelm
the statesman, the philosopher and the historian, and drive them back into the
cave of Sinai, while the storms pass the bounds of known law and rush on to a
fate that makes the thoughtful tremble.
[As heretofore pointed out, these giant trusts of our day which
threaten the liberties and the very existence of the individual laborer,
correspond exactly to the giant men of renown of Noah’s day, on whose account
the flood came. And as those never arose from their watery graves to again
harass mankind, so the Lord promises that these giants of the present day,
falling in the great time of trouble impending, will never rise again.-Isa.
43:17.]
“DIFFICULTIES MUST COME.
“‘Now, my friends, after much reflection, I do not believe it is the
specific mission of the church to adjust men to the new conditions of life and
action, or, in a temporal sense, to safety them against the Atlantic storms of
capital and labor. These storms will be terrific, but they must come. They
are brewed in the selfishness of the human heart, and each succeeding one shall
prove more destructive than its predecessor, until the prince of darkness is
chained. I believe the new conditions which shall whirl us into the twentieth
century, uncorrected by the gospel, shall forge unbreakable chains for the
spirits, minds and bodies of men. I know there is a charm in the power of
union and in the exhibition of strength, but, unless it is a union of strength
uncemented with selfishness, it will crumble by whatsoever law it may have been
formed.
“‘It may be true that the task-master in these modern days attempts to
compel men to make brick without straw, not to punish men, but to save straw.
Formerly it was oppression to gratify the passion for cruelty, while now it is
oppression to gratify the passion for gold. Formerly the task-master was a
human being with whip in hand, but now he stands with the inexorable forces of
nature in his fist, against which no individual in his unaided strength seems
able to stand. But this modern task-master is destined to fall, and the David
who shall slay this modern Goliath is the church of the twentieth century, not
by matching force with force, but by using the weapons with which Christ has
armed his followers.
[How true this statement, and yet how untrue as the Judge meant it! It
will not be “Babylon,” “Christendom,” that will smite these giants and all sin
and selfishness and deliver the world. No; the same Scriptures declare that
“Babylon,” mother and daughters, the entire family or system of Churchianity
will go down in the general collapse. Yet it will be the Church-the true
Church,-the Church glorified, that will smite, and deliver the groaning
creation. Ah, how true! “There standeth one among you whom you know not!” The
King of kings has come! We are even now in the parousia of the Son of
Man! Soon the last members of his “elect” body, the Church, will be gathered
to him-glorified and invisible to men,-and then he will begin the rule of the
iron rod which shall break the world’s vaunted institutions as potters’
vessels. (Rev. 2:27.) He declares, I will “gather the nations, that I may
assemble the kingdoms, to pour upon them mine indignation, even all my fierce
anger: for all the earth shall be devoured with the fire of my jealousy.
And then will I turn unto the people a pure language, that they may all
call upon the name of the Lord, to serve him with one consent.” (Zeph. 3:8,9.)
This symbolic burning and breaking will be the new missionary method, by which
the Church glorified will, in the early part of the twentieth century, under
and with her glorious Head, “bring in everlasting righteousness.” “When the
judgments of the Lord are abroad in the earth, the inhabitants of the world
will learn righteousness.” (Isa. 26:9.) Thus, “The glory [majesty] of the Lord
will be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together.”-Isa. 40:5.]
“‘I deplore every worldly success of the church, whether it be the raising
of $20,000,000 with which to curse the twentieth century church, or the
building of many church edifices every time the earth revolves, if this success
shall in the least lead men to forget the springs of true power in the church.
We seem to be on times when the church may have money enough to convert the
world: forbid that it be enough to convert the church to the world. The church
should not want one dollar or money except it first be sanctified.
“MUST NOT BARGAIN WITH THE RICH.
“‘Why, recently I have noticed the threat from high sources that,
unless the rich laymen of the Methodist Church are admitted in equal
representation as delegates to the next general conference, they will withhold
the $20,000,000 which the ambition of the church seeks for the first years of
the coming century. Now, much as I favor equal representation in that august
lawmaking body, may it never be realized, and perish the money of the rich, in
the language of Peter, if it be given, even impliedly, as the consideration
price of place and power in the church, and not as the free-will offering of
grateful hearts purchased by the blood of Christ. The church, for many
reasons, cannot pay court to mere wealth or personal prestige. The poor do not
understand the mission of the church when they demand that it feed them and bitterly
rail because it does not. But they are half right when the church recognizes
men in the least degree because they possess wealth. The great masses of the
people stand yonder alienated from our churches because the wedge of gold is
hidden with us. It does the church no good; it empties our pews; it frosts our
air.
“‘One of the closest observers of church life in our land, and one who
weighs his words, has written this month for his widely read editorial column
that the moral tone of the church is unsatisfactory, and that many societies
would be reduced to a few pious women, aged persons and unsophisticated youth
if the discipline enforced in the primitive church, or in the earlier days of
English and American Methodism, were applied; that many official members never
participate actively in the aggressive spiritual work of the church; that this
religious and moral condition bodes no good; that in eighty-seven cities in the
United States Methodism is scarcely holding its own, regardless of the increase
of population and of the fact that so many accessions are received by letter
from country churches. He further states that diverse superficial explanations
are offered for this humiliating condition, but that whatever influence they
may have, it is absolutely certain that, if the laity and clergy were living
according to the teachings of the New Testament, it could not be so.
“‘When such an alarm as this is sounded with the hammer of facts, beware,
not of the rocks or the sea, but of the dangers on board. But in this very
alarm lies the hope of safety. It shows that thoughtful Christian men are
looking deeply into the causes of the present condition and that they will be
removed. This alarm is all the Lord wants, and in answer to prayer He will open
the windows of heaven and pour unnumbered blessings on the church of the
twentieth century.’“
It would appear, then, that the Judge after all sees that the church
nominal of to-day is sadly unprepared for the great work he declares is
absolutely necessary. He is prepared even to admit that, so far as Methodism
is concerned, it is less prepared (so far as personal piety is
concerned) than at the opening of the nineteenth century. The Judge hopes
great things, if everybody can be awakened, and if all “tares” or nominal
Christians (300,000,000) will but act as though they were “wheat” or real
Christians. We rejoice with the Judge in his own sincerity as witnessed by his
words (and for aught we know by his acts also) and we commend to him a further
study of the Word of God’s grace which is able to make him wise respecting the
divine plan for vanquishing all the foes of the groaning creation and
delivering them also from the bondage of corruption. But let him lay off
sectarian spectacles which magnify everything which glorifies sectarianism and
minimize the grace of our God and the power of his might.
We will submit another testimony, from a high source, going to show that
Methodism is far from prepared for the twentieth century work the Judge points
out is imperative,-if the world would be rescued from the calamity of
having its civilization blotted out. Nor are Methodists proportionately in
poorer spiritual condition than other sects, so far as we may be able to
judge. It just happens that the witnesses at hand are all of that persuasion.
There are undoubtedly many true, noble, warm hearts in this quarter of Babylon
who feel pressed in spirit to overcome their sectarian pride and in the
interest of vital godliness, to “Cry aloud and spare not.”
This witness is The Epworth Herald, the leading journal among the
Methodist “Young People;” it says:
“A CRISIS.
“Methodism is in a crucial place. A crisis has been reached. We need to
run up the danger signal. There never has been a time in our eventful history
when there was so great need for self-examination.
“Last year the whole denomination was startled by the smallness of our
numerical increase. This year [1898] promises to show no better results.
Revivals are less frequent and less fruitful. The doctrines which emphasize
the exceeding sinfulness of sin, the certainty of an eternal hell, the
necessity of repentance, the need of regeneration, and the far-reaching
importance of a definite spiritual experience are not preached in many of our
pulpits as faithfully as our fathers preached them. The demand for a less
heroic gospel is widespread. Sinners can sit in our churches without feeling
much discomfort. Formalism increases. The spirit of aggressiveness which so
dominated our church for a hundred years begins to wane.
“Multitudes of our people have lost the marks which once distinguished
us. They have adopted the social customs of the world. They patronize the
theater. They have become familiar with the card-table. The sound of dancing
echoes through their homes. Wealth is worshiped. Social position is accounted
the principal thing. No wonder that the children of some of our most
influential families are lost to Methodism. With their thoughtless and back-slidden
parents they are drawn into the whirlpool of social pleasure, and either drift
out into a line of infidelity or attach themselves to some church where
worldliness is no bar.
“Moreover, beneficence does not keep pace with our increasing wealth. The
fact that it required two long years, filled with pitiful pleading, for our
great church to raise a paltry missionary debt of $186,000 is one of the
saddest experiences of our denomination.
“This is not pessimism. It is fact. And the sooner we wake up to the
peril of the situation the better for Methodism to-day and to-morrow. A CRISIS
IS HERE. A crisis does not necessarily mean disaster. It will not if we will
only see the danger and escape.”
“AWAKE, O ZION,”
cries the Prophet. (Isa. 52:1.) He who sleeps now, not only neglects his duty
to the “brethren,” but puts himself in jeopardy-marks himself as deficient in
the very spirit of love which the Lord declares all-essential in his
estimation. We remind our readers again of the Call for Volunteers in our last
issue. Many responses are already at hand, but our hope is that many more may
share the privilege and blessing of this service.
INTROSPECTION NEXT IN ORDER.
Having satisfied ourselves respecting the fulfillment of the Apostle’s charges
against “Christendom” and having found his predictions fully corroborated by
facts well witnessed to, the question arises, Can the Lord’s truly consecrated
people learn any further valuable lessons and what are they?
We have already noted that all such are to “turn away” from those who have
merely the form of godliness. And we have seen that it is both our duty and
privilege to aid any true “brethren” yet in Babylon to attain the light and
liberty wherewith Christ makes free his true followers. But let us not forget
personal introspection-to look within our own hearts carefully and
frequently to make doubly sure that the world’s spirit of selfishness does not
poison us as it poisonously manifests itself in others.
We are to remember always that we have the treasure of the new mind, the
new spirit, in earthen vessels (2 Cor. 4:7), and that these earthen vessels are
continually surrounded by selfish tendencies and examples; and that
consequently they must be kept well filled with the Spirit of the Lord, the
spirit of love, that the evil spirit of selfishness does not in any of its many
forms gain access.
If in our introspections we find traces of self-love, of covetous
ambition, of a disposition to boast even of good things, or even a little
pride-perhaps “spiritual pride,” as some erroneously describe it, or even a
slight tendency to slander (blaspheme), or the least tendency to disrespect
parents, or any measure of ingratitude toward God or men (unthankfulness), or
the slightest sympathy with false accusations, or any lack of moderation
(incontinence), or any sympathy with fierce speeches or manners, or anything
else than fervent love for all who are “good,” or the slightest suggestion to
betray a trust or a confidence, or the least tendency to self-will and
self-consciousness, or any disposition to weigh our own wills or pleasure
against the Lord’s will, or the least tendency to mere formalism in worship, or
the slightest evidence that the power of the truth is not in full
control of our hearts and lives, it should arouse us to energetically seek help
from on high and to put away the unclean thing which taints our sacrifices.
Nevertheless let no one feel discouraged even though he should find traces
of all these evils in his flesh: for as the Apostle declares, so we must
all find, “In my flesh dwells no perfection.” (Rom. 7:18.) We are however to
expect no trace of these evils in our hearts-no sympathy, no cooperation
with any of these evils. As enemies of the Lord, and our enemies because we are
the Lord’s in spirit and in truth, these evils are to be hunted and shunned to
the best of our ability from every nook and corner of our beings. “Be ye holy
that bear the vessels of the Lord’s house.” As he who has called you is holy,
so be ye holy in all things.