Review and Herald, Vol. 40, No. 12. (9/3/1872)

Review and Herald

Sep 3, 1872

Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Sep 3, 1872

WE MUST AWAKE.

By B. F. Merritt

BY B. F. MERRITT.

TEXT: “Therefore let us not sleep, as do others: but let us watch and be sober.” 1 Thess. 5: 6.

My brethren, I must lay before you some things concerning our condition, danger, and duty, as a church. I want to show,

That we have fallen into a deep sleep.
The cause of it.
The means of awakening.
The awful consequences of sleeping now.

I have feared that words from me on this subject would avail but little, but as I am to do what I can to save myself and you, I shall, with the ability that God gives, speak what I have to say, and leave the result with the Master, praying his blessing upon us.

Understand I do not use the word sleep in the sense of taking rest when tired nature wants restoring, nor in that other sense in which it is so commonly used in the Bible, viz., of death, but to denote that stupor that comes over souls, causing them to be in a great measure unconscious of the danger they are in, and which frees them from desire to shun impending evil. Undoubtedly this is the sense in which the word is used in the text, and in such passages as, “Knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep.” Rom. 13: 11. “Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light.” Eph. 5: 14.

It was this state the prodigal son was in when he left his father's house, and spent his living in rioting, till poor and suffering, it is said, “He came to himself,” i. e., awaked out of sleep. He then sought his father's house.

Now, that we do not realize our condition, is evident from the course we pursue. We do not act consistent with our profession. We are poor, mortal beings. We are not certain of life one hour. We have all been poisoned by sin, and if we have not this virus purged before our eyes close in death, eternal destruction is surely our portion. There is now no condemnation to us if we are in Christ Jesus, and walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. But who of us can say that we are, and have been, so walking? Now we may be made free from sin. We may secure that great reward, if with all our hearts we seek it. We may be saved, and have an eternal home in the glorious city of God. Did we but see and realize what is at stake, and comprehend the great consequences that will follow our present course, would we not act differently? Ah, my brethren, were we awake, every moment of our time would be wisely employed, that we might be on safe ground.

Again, all Heaven is interested in our salvation. The Lord Jesus showed his interest in our welfare, by dying for us. Mercy yet lingers, and the Spirit calls. A certain amount of long-suffering, a certain amount of warnings, a certain amount of opportunities, and the Lord will say, “It is enough. Let him alone.” The grieved Spirit will then forever cease its gentle promptings, and we will be left to hardness of heart. Were we sensible of our danger in this respect, would we not act differently?

Time is almost past. We are in the closing scenes of human probation. The door of mercy will soon be closed. Satan is with mighty power pressing us with darkness and a spirit of slumber, and we are not active in the strife. We must be on enchanted ground.

I saw the picture of the man with the muck-rake, on his knees in the filth, raking up the filthy rags, and esteeming them as treasures, while just above him stood a bright angel offering him a glorious crown. As the poor man did not seem to hear or heed the kind offer, I could but think he was asleep. So it is with us when we so grasp for the fading things of earth, and have our minds and hearts set on them, while our eternal interests so little concern us. We are asleep.

Once more, our dying fellow-mortals about us, who kindly greet us when we meet, are many of them in the way of death. Did we really understand these things, would we not try to warn them of their danger, and tell them of the better way?

It is needless for me to talk more upon this point. The message to the Laodiceans is that they are lukewarm, miserable, blind and naked, and know it not. Such are we, my brethren. I will try to point out the cause.

Said the Lord, by Solomon, “Slothfulness casteth into a deep sleep.” I believe our great difficulty has been inactivity. When duty has been presented before us, we have not discharged it. When the light of present truth first gladdened our hearts, and we made our vows to God, we were blessed. We felt like consecrating all our powers to the service of the Lord, and were glad to speak a word for Jesus at any time; and to bear a cross for him was to us a delight. While thus we tried to live, our hearts were full of love and praise. But opportunities for doing good were presented, and we neglected to act. Perhaps it was a kind deed to the poor; perhaps it was an act to suppress pride, or to confess the truth before scoffing men and women, or to resist a strong temptation of the devil. Whatever it was, we neglected duty. I appeal to you, my brethren, was it not a failure on your part to act in the good cause, that has caused you barrenness of soul?

We have had the example of nominal professors about us, who have not realized the importance of walking circumspectly before the Lord. Unconsciously have we patterned after them. We too have not walked circumspectly, and where are we? “Where art thou,” Adam? Where art thou, my brother? my sister? and what has brought thee there? “Slothfulness casteth into a deep sleep.”

We have not followed the injunction of the apostle, “Leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, . . . go on unto perfection” (Heb. 6:1), but, holding the theory, we have neglected the practice of the Christian, and have not become transformed, that we might “prove [or show] what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.” Rom. 12: 2.

Now we read of the glorious church of God, in which all the parts, working in harmony, do show forth the excellency of the gospel, to the praise of God. God would have intelligent worshipers, in whom the gifts and graces of the apostolic church would be manifested. But how can he bestow those gifts upon us? We have been exhorted to “grow in grace and the knowledge of the truth,” which, if we had striven to do, as the importance of the case demands, we might have been vessels fitted for these gifts.

We have had too little faith in God. We have forgotten, to a great degree, our mission. We have not pressed forward, improving ourselves by the performance of present duties, that we might be instruments to accomplish a greater work for God. Through inactivity we have fallen asleep. This is no idle tale. The Bible means what it says about Christ's people. If we had not folded our hands in sleep, we would view things far differently.

Oh! that our eyes may be opened, and we be made to realize that life is real, and be awakened to a practical sense of duty. I will speak of the way we may become awake. You may think it necessary for a work to be accomplished for us, and that there is no use of our trying to arouse ourselves. My brethren, if we wait for a miracle to be wrought to make us sensible of our condition, and to cause us to feel like putting forth such efforts as are necessary to secure salvation, we will never be saved.

“Be zealous, and repent,” was said to the church in Laodicea. “Repent and do the first works,” was said to the church in Ephesus, which had departed from its first love. If inactivity has caused our decline, activity will cause new life. If the muscles of the body are inactive, they will become small and weak; but if properly exercised, they will grow and become strong. So with the Christian and his work.

What greater motives could be placed before us, to cause us to be energetic in the cause of God, than those held out in the Bible. I call attention to the parable of the talents (Matt. 25), also the parable of the ten pieces of money. Luke 19.

Solomon saw how men would sleep over important and eternal things, and sought to awaken them by referring to things in nature. Prov. 6, also 24. If it is late, the Lord yet says, “Go ye also into my vineyard.” If we stand idly waiting for a greater work to do, we do wrong. “Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might,” &c. Eccl. 9:10. If you want a field of labor, you can find it anywhere. Those duties which you consider small are the very ones that will prepare you, and open the way, for a more extended field of labor. It is not for doing no harm, nor for great acts in the sight of men, that Christ commends the heirs of the kingdom. Matt. 25. It is activity—work in the vineyard of the Lord—that will revive us. And it is the only thing. I have thought much on this subject, and am convinced of this truth.

We may come before the Lord with songs of praise, and bow and plaintively plead for God to refresh us, but this will not avail. God will do his part, never fear. Don't act as though he was an unfeeling sovereign, and his mercies and blessings could only be obtained by exciting his pity. By so doing, I believe you sin. Do your duty, and he is ready, and will bless.

Our work is to bring our being into obedience to the will of God, and to show to our neighbors and all that we can, that we truly fear God and tremble at his word, and that the religion we profess has a sanctifying influence upon us. We are to do all in our power to let the light that has shone upon us, shine upon others. I have often said how I thought we should act toward others; but, oh! how I have failed; how we all have failed. Our neighbors hardly know what we profess, as we have kept our light so under a bushel, and they hardly think we believe what we appear to profess, since our lives have been so inconsistent.

Now I want to speak a few words about the consequences of going on, neglecting duty. Tongue cannot tell the whole.

We can never be happy and enjoy the smiles of God while we neglect duty. “He that knoweth his master's will, and doeth it not, shall be beaten with many stripes,” will ever, while our hearts are susceptible of being full of love and peace, be sounding in our ears and leave us in distress.
We will be sure to decline spiritually. There is no standing still on ground gained in the Christian course. To stop is to go back. A habit of neglecting present duty is sure ruin, unless it be broken.
It follows then that unless we awake to life and duty, certain destruction is our lot. Oh! that we could see it as it is. Oh! that we could feel. With Heaven's bright gates open before us, will we dream of rest and glide down to death? Oh! Heaven forbid. My brother, in the name of Israel's God, arouse and gird on the armor, and struggle for life, or you will lose it. Let the world talk. Let them consider us wild. They surely will if we act consistent, but eternal life is at stake, and what shall we care for the jeers of a godless world if we can but gain it.
But our own destruction is not only inevitable if we do not arouse, but we know not how many souls will go to destruction because of our neglect. Oh! my soul, it is a fearful thing to live. Only by being in the hands of God can we be safe. Dream not of peace, and a flowery road to Heaven. Arouse, awake, “escape for thy life.”

Now is the accepted time. The strong bands with which the foe has bound us are easier broken to-day than ever they will be in the future. The longer we neglect to arouse, the deeper will be our sleep. The Spirit, that calls to-day may be doing its last work. It may be grieved, and we no more feel its gentle promptings, but be left to sleep. Now is the time to yield to its power and cast ourselves into the hands of God.

We know not the day nor the hour when the great day of the Lord will be ushered in. “In such an hour as ye think not,” said Jesus, “the Son of man cometh.” That voice which will not only shake the earth, but also heaven, will soon be heard from on high, saying, “It is done.” Alas! then, for sinful men. Said the blessed Jesus, “Watch, lest coming suddenly he find you sleeping.”

My brethren, let these words sink into your hearts. Now is the accepted time. Oh! delay no longer. May the blessing of the Lord attend. Amen.

Political Romanism.

By H. H. Fairall

It is conceded by a large proportion of our intelligent, patriotic citizens that Romanism, politically, is a dangerous element in our population. If it were a strictly religious system, its growth in this country would not excite alarm, because its errors and superstitions can never supplant the truths of Protestant Christianity. Indeed, prominent Romish periodicals and priests already complain that the children of Catholic parents are departing from the faith, and as comparatively few converts are made from the heretical churches, the prospect of mere numerical superiority in our land is not very encouraging. The preponderance of numbers, however, is not absolutely essential to secure political power. The Romanists conquer by policy. For centuries they have been celebrated for intrigue in the successful manipulation of public men. History reveals the fact that papal authority has controlled the thrones of Europe, and enacted the most astounding deeds of

crime, in order that its rule might be perpetuated. Believing that the civil power is subordinate to the ecclesiastical, this corrupt Church has always sought to govern the State, and has been remarkably successful. For wisdom in preparation and boldness in execution, the diplomacy of the Vatican cannot be surpassed.

The increasing numerical strength of Romanism in this country gives it the balance of power at the ballot-box, and enables it to dictate terms to political parties. It votes as a unit and marches in solid columns. Hence our politicians are anxious to secure its support, and will present inducements of the most flattering character to the priests. After these negotiations at headquarters, resulting in the transfer of the votes to the favored party, the designing priests demand, as a compensation, special legislation for the benefit of their Church. In return for their valuable services in New York, they have received from the public treasury thousands of dollars to build up their sectarian institutions.

Our politicians are so completely under the control of this foreign Jesuit element, that they fear to offend it. Several weeks ago, Senator Stewart, of Nevada, offered the following amendment to the Constitution of the United States: “Sec. 1. There shall be maintained in each State or Territory a system of free common schools, but neither the United States, State, Territory, or municipal corporation, shall aid in the support of any school wherein the peculiar tenets of any denomination shall be taught. Sec. 2. Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.” It is a significant fact that the politicians and papers of a certain class ridiculed and denounced this proposition.

The Romanists are not satisfied with these enormous appropriations of public funds for the benefit of their institutions, but after receiving the money of Protestant taxpayers, they now demand the exclusion of the Bible from our free schools. Of course, these unscrupulous politicians are ready to support the claims of their persecuted fellow-citizens, and talk eloquently about religious liberty. And yet these same demagogues who desire to exclude the Bible from the schools, because it is, in their opinion, a sectarian book, favored the appropriation of public money to sectarian institutions because they were Roman Catholic. It may be that “circumstances alter cases,” but in this case they do not hide inconsistency and treachery.

The boldest step of the Jesuits is their opposition to our public-school system; but can they expect the sympathy of any politician in this crusade against our educational interests? We would think not, and yet facts must testify. As far back as 1839, Governor Seward, of New York, in his annual message to the Legislature, favored the division of the school fund to accommodate our fellow-citizens of foreign birth. He said: “We must secure to them, as largely as we ourselves enjoy, the immunities of religious worship. And we should act no less wisely for ourselves than generously toward them, by establishing schools in which their children shall enjoy advantages of education equal to our own, with free toleration of their peculiar creeds and instructions.” In his message of 1840, the same recommendation was urged: “The children of foreigners are too often deprived of the advantages of our system of public education in consequence of prejudices arising from difference of language or religion. I do not hesitate, therefore, to recommend the establishment of schools in which they may be instructed by teachers speaking the same language and professing the same faith.”

When the above official suggestions were made by Mr. Seward, both political parties eagerly sought the Roman Catholic vote, especially in New York, where it was a power. Politicians would promise anything, and even sacrifice principles for success. Such a truckling policy soon disgusted the people, and the result was a wonderful reaction in the popular mind, which swept like a mighty wave over the land, completely disintegrating one party and almost annihilating the other. This political reformation rapidly accomplished its work and then ceased, leaving the country purer and stronger than ever. But it is evident that we are approaching another crisis, which will again require the united efforts of all patriots of every party and sect. Unimportant political issues will be abandoned, and good men, forgetful of past differences, will combine against the enemies of our institutions.

Never in the history of the nation has there been such a violent crusade against the Christian Sabbath as at the present time. At a large mass-meeting of Germans and others, recently held in Baltimore, resolutions were adopted, protesting against the Sunday laws of Maryland, and requesting the Legislature to modify or repeal them, so as to allow every place of amusement to be opened after one o’clock on Sunday afternoon, including inns, restaurants, concert-gardens, and saloons, cigar and confectionery stores, mineral-water stands, theaters, and the like.

This same foreign element is arraying itself against the temperance cause. Several States have recently enacted stringent but just laws, which make liquor-sellers responsible for damages resulting from their traffic. This wholesome legislation has aroused our “foreign brethren,” and in their mass-meetings and State conventions, they threaten to defeat any political party that favors the enforcement of these laws. Some of our timid, unprincipled politicians may be intimidated, but the moral, law-abiding citizens are combining to defend the right, and prevent the institutions of Continental Europe from being established in America.

It is evident, then, that the “coming” party will be one of moral as well as of civil reform, and, of course, will encounter the opposition of our professional party leaders. We shall find a powerful enemy. Romanism is a political organization with ecclesiastical forms, and as such is the best disciplined force in the land. They are confident of success. Father Hecker says: “If our membership shall increase for the next thirty years as it has for the thirty years past, in 1900, Rome will have a majority, and be bound to take this country and keep it.”

The present effort of the Romish Church to control the colored people of the South is too apparent to be misunderstood. Why this sudden zeal for the conversion of this class? The Romanists favored slavery and opposed the enfranchisement of the slaves when emancipated. But now that they are voters, the priests regard them as “men and brethren.” This movement is a political one to secure the colored vote. Let us defeat it by educating the freedmen, and thus counteract the efforts of Rome to overthrow our liberties, civil and religious.—H. H. FAIRALL, A. M., in Methodist.

BE OF GOOD CHEER.

By Mary Bradford

Christian pilgrims, Oh! look upward, Jesus calls us to rejoice. Time draws nigh for our redemption, Soon we'll hear our Saviour's voice Saying, Loved ones, come up hither, From this world of pain and woe; Come and reign with me forever: Christian pilgrims, onward go.

Onward, upward, let us hasten; Faint not! we shall soon receive Palms of victory, crowns of glory, Harps of gold with perfect peace. Christians, on! with heads uplifted, Fear not troubles, pain, or strife, Fear no sorrow; if we faint not We shall reap eternal life.

O be cheerful, O be prayerful, Watch the coming of the Lord; For we see the signs fulfilling Spoken in his holy word. For the Lord shall roar from Zion, And the heavens and earth shall shake. Soon will come the King of Heaven, And his saints to glory take.

Help us, Lord, while now preparing For that great and trying hour, May our lamps be bright and shining, Waiting, watching unto prayer, Oh! that happy, happy meeting, When the Lord receives his guests, Oh! shall I receive the greeting, And with him forever rest?

MARY BRADFORD.

West Ridge, N. H., July 11, 1872.

Will my Name Be There?

By E. R. Dewey

“And another book was opened, which is the book of life.”

WILL my name be in that long list of redeemed souls who have been washed in the precious fountain of Jesus’ blood? There will be the names of many worthies, and of fathers, mothers, and children, whose robes have been washed and made white in the blood of the Lamb; those who were enabled by faith to lay hold on the promises of God, and become the heirs of an eternal inheritance. But in the long list will mine appear? As the voice of Jesus proclaims, “Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world,” shall I go with them into everlasting life, and sing with them the song of redeeming love? None can enter in through the gates into the city except those whose names are found written there. “And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.”

One sin unrepented of and found against our names at last will be enough to blot them from that book. Oh, solemn thought! Why are we so slow to put away everything that separates us from God when the consequences to ourselves are so great? Can we bear the thought that some cherished sin shall cheat us of eternal life? “Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts: and see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.” Soon the solemn decree will go forth, “He that is unjust, let him be unjust still; and he which is filthy, let him be filthy still; and he that is righteous, let him be righteous still; and he that is holy, let him be holy still.” Rev. 22:11.

Of which class shall we be? We have now a short time to prepare for that day. We know not how soon our cases will come up in review, and if once judgment is passed and our names are crossed out, our tears and prayers will then be of no avail. Oh! what anguish will fill our hearts if such should be our lot, but it need not be; by the help of the Lord we can overcome, and to “him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne.” E. R. DEWEY.

The First Blow in Conversion.

THE work of the law in the process of conversion is well set forth by T. DeWitt Talmage in the following article:—

Men must have their sins cut down, or you can do nothing with them. In this day an attempt is made to popularize religion by taking out the repenting element. According to the notion of some, change of heart is only a “removal of the cloth” after the banquet is closed, and you are ready for “the toasts.” It has been a course of pride, and a course of worldliness, and a course of sinful indulgence. Now religion comes in, removes the ordinary viands, and puts on the table a little rarer wine, and calls out a little finer exhilaration. Now my idea is that the first thing religion does is to upset the table, and dash to pieces the poisoned cups, and tell the guests, “Away with this swine-trough and come to banquet with King Jesus!” A skeptic, after reading one of my sermons the other day, attempted to put upon me an extinguisher by telling me that those were the doctrines that he read forty years ago in Richard Baxter’s “Call to the Unconverted.” I did not feel at all insulted. The first thing to do with the grain is to cut it down. When revivals came in the time of Edwards and Wesley, it was after they had been preaching the law and its penalties. We have in this day a namby-pamby religion, manufactured to suit ourselves, instead of the faith that made the Christian heroes of other days. You could not make martyrs out of such stuff. Satan would not need to come at its professors with racks, and gibbets, and inquisitions, to overcome them. A swarm of mosquitoes would do the work. We seem to think that God has thrown overboard one-half of his Bible to please the humanitarian critics. We seem to say, “O Lord! we cannot stand this smell of brimstone! Give us musk. Give us cologne!” I believe from what I hear that there are hundreds of members in Calvinistic churches who are Universalists, but are too great cowards to say so. But unless you make the world feel its guilt and danger it will never repent. The first thing to do is to cut down the grain. Be kind, be gentle, be sympathetic in this presentation of truth, but be thorough, no mincing the matter. By the law is the knowledge of sin!

The next step is binding the sheaves. There is a vast amount of material around loose. It needs to be combined in Sabbath-schools, in prayer-meetings, in missionary associations, in churches. Let members of session be busy with their rakes and gather up this material into sheaves. There are, I think, attending our church three or four hundred people who are followers of Christ who have never been brought out. Men of God! go out and bind up these sheaves! The great lack of the church all over Christendom is organization. The army of God needs to be divided into companies, regiments, battalions, sharpshooters, artillerymen, infantry, sappers and miners. We have too many in the reserve corps. What is the use of saving these idle troops any longer? If we do not need them now we never will. If all the troops of God were in action we could take all the castles of sin, and sweep the earth for King Immanuel. It is not enough in the harvest-field of Boaz that some cut down the grain, there must be others to bind it.

The third thing to be done is gleaning. However careful the men of Boaz may be with the rake, at the corners of the field, and here and there behind the reapers, there will be handfuls of grain that were missed. They must not stay there to be pelted of the rain, or picked up by the fowls of the air. So here and there in the world you find those who have been missed. When the barns of the church in 1857 were filled, these persons were left on the field. They say, “No man careth for my soul!” Some of them are rich, and they have been missed. Some of them are poor, and they have been passed by. Some of them have shrunk back in shyness when any one approached. Where are the gleaners for my Lord’s harvest-field? Who is there willing to do small work for God? There are plenty who would be willing to preach at a Pentecost, plenty who would feel competent to speak on Mars’ Hill, plenty willing to drive a load of golden sheaves into the barn, but where are the Ruths who would consider it a privilege to gather up a handful of grain for the eternal garner?

I accost you to-night in the words of Naomi to Ruth as in the evening she came home with a sack full of barley, “Where hast thou gleaned to-day?” By what river of promise? By what poor man’s cot? By what troubled soul? What prayer hast thou offered? What good deed hast thou done? What inviting word hast thou spoken? May the God of Ruth bless thee! The God of the harvest-field reward thee! He that goeth forth bearing precious seed shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him!

Evidence of our Opponents—Baptist Testimony.

Extract from a Sermon Preached May 12th, 1872, by Rev. Justin D. Fulton, D. D., at Tremont Temple Church, Boston, Mass., published in the Examiner and Chronicle, June 6, 1872.

TEXT. “The Lord of hosts hath sworn, saying, Surely as I have thought, so shall it come to pass; and as I have purposed, so shall it stand.” Isa. 14: 24.

It becomes our duty to reassert our faith in the word of Scripture. When God created man in his own image, he created him to fulfill a purpose, which was to show forth his Maker’s glory by obedience to laws that would secure his continuance in life and happiness, if obeyed. Law and design necessarily precede the creating act. Law is defined to be a rule of conduct, enforced by an authority superior to that of the moral being to whom it is given. The laws of God are embodied in his word. The counsel of God is here set forth to all generations. To ignore it, or throw contempt upon it, is to repeat the sin, not only of our first parents, but to act the part of Satan, the tempter. * * * * Is not this being done? One declares, “I do not think we have received our Lord’s day on the ground of absolute command.” To assert that, gives up the Bible, and at one fell blow strikes out the corner-stone from the jurisprudence of the world. Blackstone, Kent, and Story, and other distinguished law-writers, declare the commands given to the world, amid the thunderings and lightnings of Sinai, is the foundation of law.

“To rob the decalogue of one of its brightest and most precious gems—to abase the fourth commandment from its lofty height as one of the great and immutable laws of God—and to treat the divine statute, ‘Remember the Sabbath day to sanctify it,’ as a mere ceremonial or ritual appointment, the observance of which has passed into desuetude with the types and shadows of the Mosaic dispensation—this has long been the desire of the ‘wise and prudent,’ in their own eyes, whose religious sensibilities, not being sufficiently spiritual to discern the true excellency of the design of the Sabbath and its sanctifying influence, wherever faithfully understood and used, have thus encouraged them to lower and dishonor God’s holy day, and by aiding the worldly and the dissolute with their false and specious arguments, have thereby given great occasion to the enemies of the Lord to blaspheme.

“Destroy the binding force of the command to observe the Sabbath ordinance, and you set aside every other part of the decalogue. We are forbidden to murder—to lie—to steal—or to commit any other crime against God or man, no more than we are forbidden to desecrate the Sabbath and the injunction ‘Try it’ in regard to any command of God, is but repeating and re-echoing the injunction by which the adversary of souls induced Eve to eat the forbidden fruit, and by which he tempts the untried to enter paths which lead down to hell.

“* * * * * Turn for a moment to the question of the observance of the Sabbath. By referring to the word of God, we find that it was God’s earliest gift to man. It was made for him. The mandate for its observance was addressed to the whole human species alike, and continues, unless repealed by some subsequent revelation, binding upon all who come to the knowledge of it. It marks the divisions of time for all generations and for all climes. The foot-prints of this Sabbath ordinance are seen in the ages before Abram was called, or Moses wrote, and are seen in lands where the authority of God is unrecognized.”

Here is high Baptist authority that the Sabbath of the decalogue is sacred and immutable, and that all propositions to class Sabbath observance with the ceremonial law are the promptings of Satan.

Why do Baptists refuse to commune with those who, refusing or neglecting to be baptized,

substitute sprinkling or pouring? Because, 1. It is not what God commanded when he gave the ordinance to man. 2. It was not so Christ obeyed the ordinance, and it is our bounden duty to follow his example. 3. The apostles did not so preach or practice. 4. There is no authority in the N. T. making any change from just what God commanded—Jesus taught and obeyed. These positions are uncontrovertible, because in strict accord with the word of God. Will our Baptist friends inform us why the very same reasons should not apply to the Sabbath as to baptism.

“The Lord hath sworn, saying, Surely as I have thought, so shall it come to pass, and as I have purposed, so shall it stand. Isa. 14: 24.

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