(366-371) do it with all the ability which they possess, recognizing that the ability is God-given as well as the talent. These exhortations to truth and faithfulness in utterance and service are applicable first of all to believers (the church) amongst ourselves, but applicable also to all with whom they come in contact. We may be evil reported of and slandered, but all who know us, who have dealings with us, should find frem experience our loyalty to principle, our endeavor that the words of our mouths as well as the meditations of our hearts and the conduct of life should be pleasing to the Lord and an honor to his name and cause, that God may be glorified through Christ, to whom belongs the glory and the kingdom forever. His church alone, in the present time, recognizes fully and properly the right and dominion of the Lord as the King. We alone have the blessing that comes from this recognition and relationahip, but we look forward with joy to the time when his king ZION’S WATCH TOWER ALLEGHENY, Pa. dom shall be established amongst men; when the time shall come for which we are praying, “Thy kingdom come”; when the knowledge of the Lord shall be made to reach every creat ure, and when many shall come to know and to love and to obey him whom now we rejoice to honor as our Redeemer and ing. As is indicated by the Golden Text, this lesson was designed by those who selected it to be a temperance lesson. We have not dealt with it after the manner they intended, but according to the Apostle’s meaning. It certainly is a total abstinence lesson in one sense of the word, viz., in the sense that the class who have become dead to sin and alive toward God will desire to abstain from “every appearance of evil,” which certainly will include intemperance, concerning which the Lord’s Word is very explicit, in declaring that “No drunkard shall enter into the kingdom of heaven.”—-1 Cor. 6:10. “THE LORD IS MY LIGHT AND MY SALVATION” PsaLtM 27:1.—Sepr. 27. A review of the quarter 1: appointed for this date, and our caption is the Golden Text. The four characters brought to our attention by the lessons of the past quarter have been Samuel the Prophet, Saul—Israel’s first king,—Jonathan, his son, and David, successor to the kingdom. Three of these were grand characters, but one of them ignoble—Saul. The contrast before us has been chiefly as between Saul and David. Both were of good character in many respects; the differences between them we may safely credit to the fact that the one earl gave his heart to the Lord, and the other Kept his to himself. The secret of David’s greatness is the Golden Text of this lesson. The Lord was his light and salvation—guiding his heart and overruling his affairs for good. But we should never forget that David was not only a great and good man of himself, because he chose the Lord for his portion and was always loyal at heart to him, but additionally because the Lord chose David, whose name signifies beloved, to be a type of Christ, the well-beloved,—head and body. The grand lesson of this quarter to spiritual] Israel is reverence for the Lord, faith in him, courage, the result of that faith, and patient endurance, another fruit of the same. The members of the body of Christ cannot fail to be profited by studying closely and deeply the character of the man after God’s own heart, and learning from his experiences ;—always remembering, nevertheless, that King David belonged to the house of servants, that he lived at too early a date to belong to the house of sons, of which our Lord Jesus was the first-born and forerunner; that consequently David did not have the begetting of the holy Spirit, nor the privileges and advantages of the same; that he was not running in the race for the great prize, was not a member of the royal priesthood, consecrated to death.—Heb. 3:2, 5, 6; 11:40; Luke 7:28. For these reasons, although drawing valuable lessons from David’s experiences, we of this Gospel age, members of the house of sons (John 1:12) are not to regard David as our sample or pattern in consecrated living or self-sacrificing service. While we draw lessons from the experiences of David and other noble characters of the past, our patterns are Jesus and his apostles, whom we are to copy—walking in their footsteps in the narrow way of self-sacrifice even unto death, We commend to all a careful reading of Psalm 27 entire. It is profitable, capable of an application to every member of the body of Christ, the church, the house of sons. Vou. XXIV ALLEGHENY, PA., OCTOBER 1, 1903 No. 19 VIEWS FROM THE WATCH TOWER BAPTISTS BOUND AS TRULY AS OTHERS We quote from the Texas Baptist-Herald as follows:— “Prof, M’Glothlin of the Louisville Seminary, in an address at Savannah on ‘Ecclesiasticism,’ spoke these timely words: “ Hicclesiasticism tends constantly to increase the amount of machinery and centralize it in the hands of the clergy. Now the whole tendency of the times, among most other denominations as well as the Baptists, is to magnify the importance of the layman in the denominational life. We delight to make him moderator of our associations, our State conventions and even the Southern Baptist Convention. We are beginning to put him at the head of our denominational colleges, and the only reason he does not play even a larger part in our church affairs is our inability to induce him to do so. There 18 no disposition among our preachers to usurp authority or even to retain what they have. They labor to bring forward the layman. No ecclesiasticism here. “But what of the increase in machinery? Here we have a different tale to tell. The early churches were the only Christian organisations so far as we know. They were wholly andependent of each other, having no connection except that which comes through unity in faith and practice. The same was true of the Baptist churches in America for nearly a century. The first Baptist church in America was founded in 1639 and the first Association in 1707. The movement to organize the churches into associations met with determined opposition, but the work progressed, and by the beginning of the 19th century there were few churches which still stood outside the associations. The chief motives to these organizations had been the desire to better resist the State churches, to secure doctrinal agreement and to prosecute local missionary work, “With the 19th century came the great foreign mission movement and with it the need of larger organizations. In 1814 the first national organization, the present Missionary Union, was formed. Later two other national organizations, the Home Mission Society and the American Baptist Publi cation Society, were organized. As a result of this same movement, combined with the great educational movement, State organizations began to be formed about 1820. The present Baptist organization was completed by the formation of the Southern Baptist Convention in 1845. All or nearly all, these organizations met with the most determined opposition on the ground that they were not scriptural and endangered or destroyed the independence of the churches. It is not strange that there was fear. Never in the history of Christianity was there such rapid progress in organization as in the 138 years from 1707 to 1845. Baptists have existed in the United States for about 264 years, and it musi be admitted that we have far more ecclesiastical machinery than the Christians had 264 years after the death of Christ. Out of the simple Baptist church at Rome has grown the great Roman Catholic church which encloses the world in its embrace! Are we on the same road? We have gone at a very rapid pace so far; will we stop, or will the organizations go on increasing? We have rapidly increased our organizations, but two things are to be observed which make the situation less serious than it at first appears. Before the year 294 A. D., infant baptism had been introduced and the churches had been greatly corrupted; and in the second place the local church had lost its significance and independence. We Baptists, with all our increase of machinery, have stood true to the apostolic conception of an independent church of regenerate people. The New Testament ideal is our ideal. And herein is our safety for the future.’ ” * * We cannot agree with the editor of the Baptist-Herald that these words are timely. They are quite behind time. Our dear Baptist friends have already lost their liberty in ecclesiasticism. For all practical purposes they are now bound as much as the people of other denominations, but they do not realize it and love their chains. Is it asked, How so? We reply that the bondage came through the error of ministerial ordination. Instead of recognizing, as we do, that “all ye are brethren,” and that all anointed with the holy spirit are anointed to preach,—each to the extent of his talents and [3248]
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