Speculative!—Let those who are governed by a curious, restless, inquisitive temperament spend their time and thought upon speculative questions that do not profit, but let the rest of us devote our energies, our resources and reserves to the things of profit,—the verities, the sureties, the things plainly revealed and designed for our learning and admonition.
Extremism!—Extremists usually press matters so far and stand so allegedly straight that they lean over backward, and they customarily judge all others by their own conceptions. When counterbalancing evidence overwhelms or untenable premises collapse, they swing to the other extreme, and lose confidence in everything and give up the faith, unless a happy balance and rational belief is found at last. May God keep us from extremes, and deliver us from extremists. , o|
Charity!—Christ's counsel to the disciples relative to calling fire down upon those who differed with them in their way of serving God, is not outdated. Our heavenly Father uses diverse personalities and varying methods to emphasize different truths. This is needed to win certain types of people who would be untouched by others. May the same gentle Jesus give us the spirit of tolerance and appreciation for a brother worker whose emphasis differs from ours. " He that is not with Me is agaiust Me."
Bound!—Following discovery and adoption of some precious truth of the word, the popular Protestant bodies have driven their credal stakes. They have drawn their lines and said, Thus far and no farther. It is the path of retrogression. It is the course of stagnation and death. It is the easy, the natural, the inviting way. Beset by apostasy, the natural defensive measure is to crystallize, to codify, to creedalize, to hold what has been gotten, and to resist perversion. It seems logical, but it is the way of death. Let us learn from them and profit by their disastrous mistakes. We are set not only for the defense of truth, but to keep it untrammeled. We are the divinely appointed custodians of the open channel.
Heart!—An accurate knowledge of truth alone will not keep one from apostasy. In other words, a technical orthodoxy will not hold. The final and classical example of time and eternity is that of Lucifer. His case is unanswerable. There must be a loving, loyal attitude of mind and heart toward God, a fellowship and spiritual relationship to Him, or ultimate break will come in some crisis. The outstanding apostates from this movement have not been uninformed men, but men as familiar with the teachings and prophecies and standard denominational positions as those who remained in the fold. Recently this writer had a conversation with one who used to be a member of the General Conference Committee, who is now one of our bitterest opposers. His break was not a question of head knowledge, but of heart attitude. May God give us a perfect heart toward Him.
