EJW
E. J. Waggoner
The highest hopes of the most unselfish philanthropist cannot embrace so much for mankind as is offered in the Gospel of Jesus Christ, which it is the mission of his church to proclaim. There is therefore no need for any such organization as a trade union, to bring men to love their neighbors as themselves. I can quite understand the call for something of the kind, by well-disposed men who do not know the Gospel; but when Christians enter into such organizations, for the reasons set forth in your statement, they thereby bring a charge of inefficiency against the Gospel which they profess. ARSH April 21, 1903, page 9.1
Moreover, however zealously men labor to spread the spirit of brotherly love, they can never accomplish it except through the preaching of Christ, in whom the love of God is revealed; for the first and great commandment is, “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; “and the commandment,” Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself is secondary to this, and grows out of it. “We love, because He first loved us.” It is only as the love of God is shed abroad in the heart by the Holy Spirit, that any man can love his neighbor as himself. ARSH April 21, 1903, page 9.2
You speak of the brotherhood of man. Very good; but that can exist only when God is recognized and honored as the Father. Men are born brothers, not made so by contract or agreement. It needs no argument to show that there is not a state of brotherhood now existing among men; therefore it is self-evident that this desirable state can be reached only through the new birth. The only solution of the labor problem, and of the unrighteous strife between capital and labor is found in the re-creating, regenerating cross of Him who cries, “Come unto Me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of Me; for I am meek and lowly in heart, and ye shall find rest unto your souls.” Matthew 11:28, 29. ARSH April 21, 1903, page 9.3