The Caucasian. (Clinton, N.C.) 188?-1913, 1910-06-23


dering farther aud farther daily firm
the faith once delivered 10 fhs. Saints~
Jude iiia. We fault them Us msTe
than we fault Ourselves As wi.ole
we have been so-Es7eH aho ard TO
BE- ashamed We have dishoDured CD
through mixunderssa Bding and misrep
resenting his Wore AID his Character.
We hare driven a~av from Tod and
the Bible some Of the most intelligent
Of our fellows. by reason OF rte COO
tradictory nonsense OF our creedS
The Apostle urs~s. Study TO show
myself approved uato God" We are
not TO suppose. therefore. that the
highest OF all science. that which per
tains TO the Divine purpose and the
Divine plan. can he acquired without
study. We are not In this claiming
that study alone would bring the de-
sired results OF proper knowledge We
heartily agree In the Scriptural prop
osition that 1.-The world by wisdom
knows not God" We are not there
fore TO study along the lines Of world
! ~ wisdom. but along the lines OF that
wisdom that con.eth from above
along the lines of the inspired Scrip
/ lures. We must study. Whoever will
not study will not know. The secret
OF the Lord Is with them that rever-
ence Him" Ard reverencing him
means the giving OF our best thoughts
and talents to ths, study of his Word.
/ that We may XXI oE the things freely
/ given to Us Of God" q Corinthians II,
. ~.
( We should note further as Bible stu
dents that we must not study to be ap-
proved of men. bat 10 have the Divine
approval. This viii bring to US. as it
did to the Master and his apostles. the
disapprobation of the worldly-wise and
nominally religious. 1t was the Chief
Priests and Scribes and Pharisees. and
not the common people of the Jews, nor
the Roman soldiers. who were guilty
of the crucifixion of our Lord. Aad
we must expect similar conditions, be-
cause, as the Apostle says, las he was
so are we in this world" The class
who called the Master Beelzebub is the
same class which will oppose his foot
step followers
God permits all this with wise and
| loving foreintention. Nothing connect
ed with the opposing forces Is i'm any
sense of the word interfering with his
great Program. He set apart with Di-
vine wisdom this Gospel Age of nearly
nineteen centuries for the sole purpose
of selecting from the world the
(fhuroh Of Ino os,
ical Priests and Levites. The restrfc-
ton of his message. the darkening Of
counsel. the clashing Of creeds, the op-
position of the world, the flesh and the
Devil, are all wisely permitted with
the foreintention on Gods part that
thus all through the Age the way Of
the cross-in the footsteps of Jesus
should be narrow way" so that
comparatively few finding it would
care to walk in 1t.
1t Is those few, that little flock"
Jealous for God, for his Word, for
Righteousness, that he is now marking
out as the prospective joint-heirs with
Jesus in his glorious Kingdom. which
is to bless the world with full opportu-
mites for earthly salvation-"restitu-
ton" The trials Of the faith. the pa
tience. the love. the devotion of this
little flock" are all designed and not
accidental. Satan and his hosts may
think to thwart the Divine Plan and
may mislead and use humanity as their
tools, but it shall yet be seen that all
Of the Divine purposes shall be ac-
complished. The Word that has gone
forth out Of Jehovah's mouth shall
prosper in the thing whereto be
sent 1t.
st. Paul declared of earthly Israel,
that they enjoyed much advantage
every way, because to them were COM
mitted the Oracles of Cod So now,
dear friends. it seems to me that YOU
and / and all sincere Christians the
world around enjoy much advantage
every way. Looking to the past we
find great excuse for our dear forefa-
theirs who, with sincerity of heart, so
misunderstood the Divine Word and
so misinterpreted the spirit of the
Master that they burned one another
at the stake. We should not think so
harshly Of them for this-as though
they lived today under the greater ad-
vantages which we possess. We
should sympathize with them. We
should consider them as blinded by
the great Adversary rs was Saul of
Tarsus, when he. as a member of the
Sanhedrin. authorized the stoning of
st. Stephen We should think of them
sympathetically-as ST. Peter spoke Of
the Jews who crucified the Lord He
said, Il wot. brethren. that in igno-
rance We did 1t, as did also your rul-
ers." SO also we should kindly, low
ingly cast a mantle of benevoence
over similar conduct on the part of
John Calvin and others of our forefa- |
theirs. But as we would not go to the
Jewish rulers. nor to Saul of Tarsus
for religious instruction, neither should
we go to Brother Calvin or others of |
our forefathers who were blinded. as
he was, respecting the true character
OF God and the true Spirit of his !