Should Christians Be Members of Secret Societies?
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panions? Is that the object of your association with them? Do they
see and feel that there is in you a living embodiment of the Spirit
of Christ? Is it manifest that you are a witness for Christ, that you
belong to a peculiar people, zealous of good works? Is it manifest
that your life is governed by the divine precepts, “Thou shalt love the
Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all
thy mind” (
Matthew 22:37
), and, “Thou shalt love thy neighbour as
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thyself” (
Matthew 19:19
)? To speak to the hearts and consciences of
those that are ready to perish, is beyond the power of one who does
not himself surrender all for Christ. But where do your fluency and
warmth of speech show that your interest is centered?
In these societies what are the favorite subjects of conversation?
What are the themes that excite interest and give pleasure? Are they
not the gratification of the senses—eating and drinking and pleasure
seeking? The presence of Christ is unknown in these gatherings. No
reference is made to Him. His companionship is not desired. Where
and when is God honored by such associations? Wherein is the soul in
the least benefited? If you do not influence your companions for good,
are they not influencing you for evil? Will it do to lay aside the lamp of
life, God’s Word, and mingle freely with this class of associates, and
come to their level? Do you think you can find something to satisfy
the hunger of the soul apart from truth and the favor of God? Shall
those who profess to believe the truth for this time be at home in such
scenes, when God is not in all their thoughts?
In the same room where these societies have had their gatherings,
the congregations have met to worship God. Can you during the sacred
hour of divine service forget the scenes of merriment and feasting,
and indulgence in the wine cup? All this God writes in His book as
intemperance. How does it blend with eternal realities? Do you forget
that at all these pleasure gatherings there is a Witness present, as at
the feast of Belshazzar? Could the curtain that separates us from the
invisible world be rolled back, you would behold the Saviour grieved to
see men absorbed in the pleasures of the table, in hilarity and witticism,
that put Christ, the center of the world’s hope, out of their thoughts.
Those who cannot discern between him that serveth God and him
that serveth Him not, may be charmed with these societies that have
no connection with God, but no earnest Christian can prosper in such
an atmosphere. The vital air of heaven is not there. His soul is barren,