Should Christians Be Members of Secret Societies?
115
body shall be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in thee be
darkness, how great is that darkness!” (
Matthew 6:22, 23
).
And when our light becomes darkness, how shall we be a light to
the world?
The work of our personal salvation also depends upon our cooper-
ation with the divine agencies. God has imparted to us moral powers
and religious susceptibilities. He has given His Son as a propitiation
for our sins, that we might be reconciled to God. Jesus lived a life
of self-denial and sacrifice, that we might follow His example. He
has given the Holy Spirit to be in Christ’s stead in every place where
help is needed. He employs the heavenly intelligences to bring divine
power to combine with our human efforts. But we must accept the gift
of God, we must repent, and believe in Christ. We must watch, we
must pray, we must obey the requirements of God. We must practice
self-denial and self-sacrifice for Christ’s sake. We must grow up into
Christ by constant connection with Him. Whatever turns the mind
away from God to trust in man, or conform to a human standard, will
[124]
prevent us from cooperating with God in the work of our own salva-
tion. This is why the Lord forbade His people to form any alliance
with the heathen, “lest it be for a snare in the midst of thee” (
Exodus
34:12
). He said, “They will turn away thy son from following me”
(
Deuteronomy 7:4
). And the same principle applies to the association
of Christians with the ungodly.
In Covenant Relation
When we accepted Christ as our Redeemer, we accepted the con-
dition of becoming laborers together with God. We made a covenant
with Him to be wholly for the Lord; as faithful stewards of the grace
of Christ, to labor for the upbuilding of His kingdom in the world.
Every follower of Christ stands pledged to dedicate all his powers of
mind and soul and body to Him who has paid the ransom money for
our souls. We engaged to be soldiers, to enter into active service, to
endure trials, shame, reproach, to fight the fight of faith, following the
Captain of our salvation.
In your connection with worldly societies are you keeping your
covenant with God? Do these associations tend to direct your own
mind or that of others to God, or are they diverting the interest and