By Arthur Vess
Of all which we have tried to say in this booklet, this is the sum:
1. The Bible nowhere hints of the wearing of jewelry for any reason, not even the wedding band. Its prohibitions against the wearing of jewelry are always to married omen, who are to be examples.
2. The most devout men and women, everywhere and for all time, have had definite convictions against wearing ornamental and symbolical jewelry.
3. All great spiritual awakenings have put special emphasis on the putting off of all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, and Christian separation.
4. All greater Churches which once linked spiritual power with simplicity of life and deportment, first began to drift in the outer conformities as they drifted in their inner life. The two are inseparable. Essentials become "non-essentials" when we begin to drift. Sheep and goats have different appetites and "essentials."
5. All the great, bold, outstanding preachers and leaders of all ages have demanded definite separation from the world along lines of earthly interest, jewelry, etc. Among these were Paul, Peter, Isaiah, Savonarola, Madame Guyon, Lady Huntington, John and Charles Wesley, Martin Luther, George Fox, Jonathan Edwards, Charles Finney, Dwight L. Moody, "and such like." The men who have let down the standards and spiritual power, have mocked at the separation of the Church from the world. This should make us think and act now. To which crowd do you belong?
6. The clamor in the present modern holiness movement for the "liberty of human judgment" rather than that of conscience, has come at a time when even those who demand the change, admit that we are drifting rapidly back to the world. Transforming revivals and spiritual power wane in proportion to the rising demand for compromise in jewelry, worldly adornment, associations and fellowship.
7. The preachers and other leaders who demand a shallow, chautauqua type of preaching, lean more and more to the world, and are demanding a let down in preaching and teaching against vanity and pride. They are seeking places of ecclesiastical power, where they can cut off the old fashioned persons and principles from among us. This has been the history of the Christian Church in all ages.
Of course our modernistic holiness leaders are not alone in their demand for more liberal terms for jewelry, immodesty, etc. There is plenty of room and plenty of company in the "broad way." On their side are arrayed all the modernistic preachers who deny the Virgin Birth, the Authority of the Holy Scriptures, the Blood Atonement, Regeneration, Sanctification, separation from the world, etc. But this is not all, for the millions of sinful, fashionable church members are on their side. On the outside of the modern popular churches are the multitudes of the harlots and flappers of the great sinner world who stand with those who demand compromise in jewelry, etc. If there is no reflection in having these on their side, it certainly gives them no spiritual distinction or saintly recommendations.
8. The most spiritual men and women of the Holiness movement have very definite convictions against wearing the wedding ring, etc. We challenge any man to dispute it. If we do not stand with the spiritual, where do we stand?
9. Those who do stand for the wedding rings, are silent on, or demand other forms of worldliness which go along with it, or follow in its train.
10. The same argument used for the wedding ring can be used for all other forms of vanity and sin in the churches. The wedding ring is the "loophole" through which all the rest of the tribe will later be let into our ranks with immunity. Let us stop it up now.
11. The arguments for all kinds of vanity are based on human judgment, human sympathy, human relations, etc. Those who oppose such are called narrow, fanatical, etc., by those who count themselves broad, wise, etc. Fear, vanity and love for the world, are at the bottom.
12. Neither the Church nor the state require the wedding band as a symbol of the marriage relation. It is the demand of the world.
13. The enormous cost of the wedding rings, running into the thousands and millions of dollars, while the world is lost, missionaries are away from their fields, and millions are dying of starvation, condemns the Church, and waste, in a world bankrupt financially and spiritually.
14. The Wedding Band is the loophole through which all other kinds of jewelry, vanity and waste will come in to drive God and the saints out, and establish the devil in the sanctuaries of the holiness movement. The tide has swept on until some of us are now becoming strangers in our own Churches which we have given our lives to build and preserve.
15. The standards of the denominational leaders will determine the final standards and destiny of the entire church. This should make them tremble under the dire responsibility. A leader of years of experience said the other day, The Church first rots at the head." This is not a reflection, but a warning. With all the weight, responsibilities, and cares involved, plus being the strategic object of the devil, every leader should keep humble and diligent in all holy conduct and example. If our top leaders fail, their example and deadly influence will encourage unholy men to destroy our standards, and discourage our holy men who are already fighting against great odds to hold up our holy standards. Our leaders, you had better get out than to sell out, for thus you barter all our souls. As the leaders go, so goes the Church; as the Church goes, so goes the world. If you become ambitious and self-seeking, you lose your grip on God, though you may hold it on our souls. If you are more anxious to hold your place than our standards, you are our traitors. Please, for the sake of souls, hold the fort while we hold up your hands in prayer and loving confidence. The rest of us are responsible for the selection and continuance of our leaders.
16. Among our most responsible leaders are those entrusted with our educational institutions who are to train our workers and leaders for the future. As go our schools, so goes the future church which is molded in our schools. If our school officials and faculties are not selected with utmost care and consideration for their spiritual and moral standards, what will become of those entrusted to their care? If our school officials and instructors are trained and molded in hot beds of atheism, how can they train and mold our students with faith in God and his holy truths and principles? If holy schools are demanded to save our students for true holy standards, why not demand the same for our teachers? If we do not awake to these molding principles in time, we shall in eternity. Why can we not see now?
17. Other Holiness denominations which have let the wedding ring in have been flooded by every form of worldliness. Why reproach them for their standards, as many of us do, and then follow their examples? Let us be consistent.
18. Finally, our officials and pastors all over are being faced and embarrassed by this matter. If we ever intend to make a definite ruling, now is the time, before those who favor the wedding ring gather enough influence to license it. It is no time for looseness, laxness and indifference. Let us act now and save future embarrassment and compromise.
