212 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



many of you, dear friends, would have me 

 do ; but you really need the whole of the 

 tract to get the writer's secret. The little 

 girl mentioned in Huber's letter had touch- 

 ed the point. I will give just one more 

 extract fi'om p. 13. 



What I mean is this : I had always known that 

 Christ was my Savior- but I had lool^ed upon him 

 as an external Savior, one who did a saving work 

 for me from the outside, as it were; one who was 

 ready to come close alongside and stay by me, help- 

 ing me in all that I needed, giving me power and 

 strength and salvation. But now I knew something 

 better than that. At last I realized that .Jesus Christ 

 was actually and literally within me; and even more 

 than that: that he had constituted himself my very 

 being (save only my resistance to him), my body, 

 mind, soul, and spirit. Was not this better than 

 having him as a helper, or even than having him as 

 an external Savior — to have him, Jesus Christ, God 

 the Son, as my own very life? It meant that I need 

 never ask him to help me again, as tho he were one 

 and I another; but, rather, simply to do his work, 

 his will, in me, and with me, and thru me. My 

 body was his, my mind his, my will his, my spirit 

 his ; and not merely his, but literally a part of him ; 

 all he asked me to say was, " I have been crucified 

 witih Christ, and it is no longer I that live, but 

 Christ liveth in me." Jesus Christ had constituted 

 himself my life. 



Now, here is something that took hold of 

 me more than almost anything else on the 

 whole 20 pages. Read below : 



Do not think that I am suggesting any mistaken, 

 unbalanced theory of perfection or sinlessness in 

 what I have been saying. The life that is Christ 

 leveals to a man a score of sins and failures in 

 himself where he saw only one before. He is still 

 left the free will to resist Christ; and my life, since 

 the new experience of which I speak, has recorded 

 shamefully many failures and sins of such resis- 

 tance. But I have learned that the restoration after 

 failure can be supernaturally blessed and complete. 



As I write on this 3d day of Feb., 1916, 

 I feel that 1 have made a little start on 

 " The life that wins," and the first revela- 

 tion that comes to me is, as expressed above, 

 where I saw only one sin before, there are 

 now "scores." Sheldon, in one of his books, 

 suggests, " What would Jesus do " were he 

 in your place? Dear friends, you have 

 given me scores of kind words. They are 

 coming all the time. As I think of it, the 

 chorus of the old hymn that the good wom- 

 an wrote comes to mind. 



Lord, lift me up and' let me stand. 

 By faith, on heaven's tableland, 

 A higher plane than I have found; 

 Lord, plant my feet on higher ground. 



NON-RESISTANCE AND LAW ENFORCEMENT. 



The two letters below explain themselves. 



Did A. I. Root ever consider that the plan of sal- 

 vation brought to us by Jesus Christ teaches us 

 non-resistance f He sufTered all patiently to redeem 

 mankind from their sins, and wishes his followers 

 to follow in his footsteps. L. A. R. 



I am a reader of Gleanings, and .am pleased 

 with the Home department, and have frequently 

 thanked God for the spirit of boldness he has given 



you to express your convictions on religious and 

 other important subjects. Of course, I do not 

 approve of all your ideas; but in such cases I turn 

 your idea over to the Lord and tell him to let the 

 light on you and also ask him to search me ; and, 

 if I am in the dark, let the light on me. I often 

 say, "Lord, do not let me be deceived on any line." 

 The psalmist prayed that way. He also prayed. 

 "Keep back thy servant from presumptuous sins; 

 let them not have dominion over me," etc. 



In looking over the Home papers of June 15, I 

 notice Bro. Bolster's admonition. Thank God for 

 such men. Now, I think that carries the spirit 

 of the Master. Brother Root, do not pass that 

 admonition lightly by. Paul says to the Romans, 

 "If any man have not the spirit of Christ he is 

 none of his." Now, if you find in any of Christ's 

 teaching the spirit of light or defense, use it. But 

 if you cannot find it, beware of your own ideas. 



I was surprised to notice that you regard the 

 scriptnre quotations the brother referred to are 

 merely for neighborhood differences. Are we to 

 understand you tiiat the Son of God left the 

 Father's throne and shed his blood merely for 

 neighborhood differences ? Was it not that he 

 came to save that which was lost ? Brother Root, 

 let us take the Lord Jesus for our example in 

 suffering in any shape or form, and I then am 

 '■ure we shall not miss the blessing. In conclusioji. 

 please take this in the sj>irit it was given — not in 

 raaliee or nuy ill feeling, but in love; and if you 

 want to defend yourself give us a "thus saith the 

 Lord." 



Abilene, Kan., June 20. N. G. Hershey. 



My good friends, I do not know but we 

 are all getting into " deep water" when we 

 undertake to discuss this question. Our 

 Lord and Master once drove the money- 

 changers out of the temple with a whip; 

 but it has been claimed that this whip was 

 only harmless cords. Again he says, " I 

 came not to bring peace on earth, but a 

 sword ;" and f suppose sermons have been 

 preached and books written on this very 

 passage. My opinion is that it refers par- 

 ticularly to tlie enforcement of law. Again, 

 Jesus came to earth on a special mission; 

 and that mission was summed up, I believe, 

 by the words *•' Peace on earth, good will 

 to men." And, once more, it is my impres- 

 sion that this refers to law enforcement. 

 How about making counterfeit money and 

 passing it? Counterfeiters almost always 

 tight with guns and pistols when their 

 gang is broken into. And, once more, in 

 regard to the liquor-traffic. Shall we ap- 

 ply non-resistance to this and let the busi- 

 ness go on? God forbid. Once more, it 

 is quite a different matter whether the sin 

 affects the individual alone or humanity 

 in general. When a blow comes to me in- 

 dividually on llie right cheek, I believe it 

 is my duty to turn the other cheek also. 

 But in case of a blow against all humanity, 

 like counterfeit money, or against suffer- 

 ing men and women and children in con- 

 sequence of file liquor-traffic, then I be- 

 lieve our Lord and Savior would have me 

 fight to the best of my ability for the suf- 

 fei'ing ones. 



