1891 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



103 



Your adversary the devil, as a roaring- lion, walk- 

 eth about, seeking whom he may devour.— 1. Petek 

 .5:8. 



We read in the Holy Scriptures, that " the 

 fool saith in his heart, there is no God;" and I 

 believe that all mankind, as a rule, assent to 

 this proposition. It is only the foolish, or those 

 who are stubborn and contrary, who absolutely 

 deny the existence of any overruling power: 

 and the attitude of the leading minds of the 

 present age, if I am correct, is toward a more 

 general belief in God than they ever have had 

 before in any age. I believe the tendency is 

 greater, also, to respect and reverence the 

 Maker of all things in a way the world has nev- 

 er done before. It is true, there are tlio.se who 

 talve God"s name in vain: and one is often 

 pained to hear men of culture and learning use 

 profane oaths. But I believe a reform is com- 

 ing, and tliat speedily, right along in this line. 

 Well, I have been thinking that it is not only 

 wise to accept the Bible statement in regard to 

 God, but that it is also wise and well for us to 

 recognize and believe in one who " goes about 

 as a roaring lion, seeking whom he may de- 

 vour." The world is fully aroused in regard to 

 dangers of different kinds that threaten hu- 

 manity. Societies without number array them- 

 selves against intemperance: and some who de- 

 clare they do not believe in the Scriptures at all 

 ai'e still energetic workers in the cause. It 

 seems to me, however, through it all we should 

 recognize that sin is really the one thing to 

 fight against. The Bible is peculiar, inasmuch 

 as it lumps all sorts of evil and iniquity under 

 the one term — sin — and plainly designates Satan 

 himself as the father of siii. I believe it is a 

 good thing to recognize Satan as the adversary. 

 I believe it is a good thing to recognize at once, 

 when some friend or neighbor has gone to tlie 

 bad, that he has come under the dominion of 

 Satan. Like the rest of you I often hear cer- 

 tain ones vehemently denounced for their vile 

 conduct. S(mieti]nes I try to check those harsh 

 words that come forth: and I then suggest: 



'• My friend, are you not sorry for this neigh- 

 bor of ours ?" 



■•Sorry? Why, no: I am not a bit sorry for 

 him. He did it of his own accord with his eyes 

 open." 



" But he is under the power of Satan — he is 

 not himself. He has been lead astray, and has 

 yielded. "While he may be greatly to blame, in 

 considering how we may do him most good is 

 it not laest to i-ecognize that it is Sdta )t's work?'' 



•'Satanl fiddlesticks! When one deliberate- 

 ly acts as he does, I do not think it is worth 

 while to waste pity on him." 



Now. these friends who reject my way of 

 putting it (that it is just simply Satan's woi'k). 

 it seems to me are not in an attitude to do the 

 most good: and we as Chr'u<ti.((n people often 

 entertain this wrong attitude. Satan gets hold 

 ■of somebody else, and leads him astray. In our 

 indignation with the brother or sister, we let a 

 wrong spirit get into our hearts, and Satan gets 

 hold of us all if we do not look out. If he can 

 get us to fighting intemperance or gambling, or 

 lying and theft, he is much better satisfied than 

 when he linds out that we recognize the cloven 

 hoof in the whole matter, and denounce him as 

 the father and author of all sin. 



Only a few hours ago a good friend of mine, 

 and a devoted Christian, dictated an answer to 

 some one who showed a wrong spirit in discuss- 

 ing accounts. 1 carried the letter back to her 

 and said: 



" You know this good friend of ours who 

 writes this letter, do you not?" 



She assented. 



•'Well, you do not wish this answer sent to 

 her. do you ?" 



••But indeed I do. It is just exactly what 

 she deserves.''' 



" But is it the kind of answer that will do her 

 the most good, and be most likely to get her otit 

 of the wrong position she seems to have ta- 

 ken ?" 



" No, Mr. Root." hesitatingly, " I do not sup- 

 pose it is. I do know tliat the best way in an- 

 swering anybody is to strive to use such words 

 as will do them the most good." 



An answer was then dictated in quite a dif- 

 ferent spirit. 



Now. instead of blaming and censuring these 

 neighbors of ours when they do wrong things, 

 will it not be far better to lay at least a pntt of 

 the blame on Satan, the atith'or of all mischief? 

 And if we do this, will it not be easier for us to 

 make such a reply or take such action as will 

 be most likely to bring them to Christ Jesus? 

 for is it not true that our greatest work here on 

 earth— the most important work that any of us 

 have to do— is to get our friends and neighbors 

 out from under the dominion and control of the 

 evil one, and to bring them, by gentle words 

 and mild measures, under the power of Christ 

 Jesus. •• the Lamb of God that taketh away the 

 sin of the world '?" 



There is one special line of sin in which Sa- 

 tan is constantly at work. We seldom hear 

 much of it, however, until it bursts on us and 

 startles community with the suddenness of a 

 thunderclap or an earthquake: and yet the 

 steps that Satan takes to bring these victims to 

 ruin and despair are very simple, and of such a 

 nature that one might almost be excused for 

 not thinking or even suspecting that a cloven 

 hoof was anywhere concealed. It is a matter 

 about which we seldom hear much said, or of 

 which much gets into print, unless it is among 

 the sensational news of the newspapers. It has 

 often been said, that we. as a body of bee- 

 keepers, are especially upright and moral in 

 character and standing. While this is true, I 

 feel that it were well that a danger-signal were 

 raised aloft now and then, especially since, 

 within a short time, two prominent brothers 

 have fallen. When the papers came out with 

 the sad story of friend Betsinger. I thought 

 best to have as little said about the matter as 

 possible. But our silence in the matter has 

 troubled me some evei- since. It trouliled me 

 because he was a prominent official in one of 

 our universally recognized orthodox churches. 

 In fact, his awful crime became possible be- 

 cause he was a deacon in the church. Now. by 

 keeping silence we give scoffers good grounds 

 for saying because he was a member of the 

 church it was hushed up. I do not believe that 

 any thing should ever be hushed up— that is, 

 any thing in this line — because the guilty per- 

 son is a church - member. On the contrary, 

 church-members should be made to feel and to 

 pay the awful penalty and consequence of tak- 

 such a fearful step across the wide gulf be- 

 tween Christ Jesus and the evil one. If any- 

 body thinks that, because he is a church-merh- 

 ber. or even a menibei- of parliament, he can 

 overstep God's holy command, the sooner he 

 discovers his mistake the better: and I rejoice 

 that the world at large decided quickly on the 

 proper thing to do in the case of Parnell. Our 

 friend Betsinger went to an orphan-asylum, 

 and became constituted guardian of a" poor 

 homeless, friendless, and defenseless child, be- 

 cau,se he was a deacon in the church; and the 

 first offense was long kept from an unsuspect- 

 ing public, simply because he was a professor 

 of religion, and he was allowed to go on and 

 repeat a thing that fairly makes one shiver to 



