Conviction!—No man can preach convincingly without deep, strong, abiding conviction. He must have certainty in his own soul; else he cannot produce it in others. He must himself believe, before he can lead others to believe. When a preacher is uncertain as to some doctrinal or prophetic truth, how can he effectually present that truth to others? Occasionally, some preacher or teacher assumes a so-called scholarly or scientific attitude, holding everything in extreme reserve and "balance," in more or less tentative form. With such, nothing is settled, final, secure. Yet that is but pseudo scholarship. We need not vacillate between plausible alternatives when inspired counsel enables us to reach right conclusions from sound premises that exhaustive research will only confirm—as has been proved again and again until the principle is clearly established. God give us men of conviction, born of deep study and sure, reasoned conclusions.
Compromise!--Compromise concerning our 'fundamental teachings, principles, and standards will lead inevitably to spiritual disaster. Any toning down or hiding of the terms of our distinctive third angel's message for the world—pertaining to and identifying the beasts of Revelation 13, the image of the beast, and the Sabbath in relation thereto—involves .Faithless betrayal of our high trust and God's expectation. We must not shrink from declaring the whole counsel of God. We dare not capitulate in the task of explicitly warning, instructing, and appealing to mankind to heed God's full message for today. To do so would be to default in our commission. The terms of our trust are clear and explicit. We must face squarely the issues involved. We must not wabble or retrench.
Interpretation!—A true interpretation of prophecy is simple, direct, and obvious. It finds its fulfillment in great, epochal events, and in mighty, incontestable eras. It never forces or warps the testimony of history ; nor does it ever ignore, cramp, or suppress the recorded witness by which it roust be attested. True prophetic interpretation does not fix upon some minor, disputed episode for its proof—upon debatable evidence that the best informed must ever question—while at the same time blinding its eyes to the great massed facts of evidence that fairly shout the evidence of fulfillment. It does not comb the earth to support a preconceived notion or a predetermined pm ition while avoiding and ignoring modifying or nullifying evidence. Standing uncompromisingly upon the immovable foundations, it does not feel itself obligated to defend or cling to the past, traditional detail, simply because it may have been thoughtlessly held for years, but will yield a dozen errors for one genuine truth. It will, moreover, hold in abeyance certain difficult minor items till satisfying light clarifies seeming contradictions that now baffle, conscious of the fact that truth will triumph in the end, and harmonize with all the facts. It will, therefore, seek, seek until it finds them.
Secularism!—The work Of God should be conducted with sobriety. The spirit of levity and secularism that some are prone to inject into our councils—in order to carry a point or defeat a measure by witty thrust, clever argument, stinging sarcasm, appeal to prejudice, or descent to personalities —is decidedly out of place. Our council chambers are not party conventions, State legislatures, or halls of Congress. The methods of politicians have no rightful place in the legislation of the church. Their spirit and their processes are not ours, and have little in common with us. God's work is ever to be conducted in sobriety and candor, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit. Secular tricks have nothing in common with the sacred sphere and method of the church.
Evangelism!—Failure to recognize the distinctive gift of evangelism, as well as that of pastoralism, as set permanently in the church by the Holy Spirit, is a clear violation of the divine program and provision. It is wrong to merge all the gifts, contrary to New Testament provision, and make all ministers district leaders in a conference—despite financial and goal pressures that tend toward this expedient. It is wrong to take a young man just out of college and put him in charge of churches or districts, with their inescapable church problems, their church school and other administrative responsibilities. Thus he must deal with and instruct members who have been Adventists longer than he has been in the world. Such a procedure is unfair to the novice and unfair to the church. Let ministerial graduates and interns get their initial experience in direct evangelistic soul winning among those not of our faith. Then later, with experience and maturity, they can assume pastoral responsibility, if that gift manifests itself. We cannot improve the Holy Spirit's plan.
L. E. F
