Earlier text: SERMON ON THE MOUNTSPIRITUALISM A SATANIC DELUSION.
ITS ORIGIN AND CHARACTER.
SPIRITUALISM, in its modern phases and manifestations, began in the Fox family, in Hydesville, N. Y., in 1848. The mediums were taken to Rochester and put to rigid tests, and it then took the name of “Rochester Knockings.” The manifestations have increased and spread, until now in every part of the world there are “rapping,” “writing,” “speaking,” and “healing” mediums. In the United States alone, Spiritualists number upward of ten millions. Only twenty-nine years have passed since its advent; yet their numbers are far greater than those of any religious sect. Who, then, will deny that it is a matter of importance, and that it demands attention? Every candid man, who has had a fair chance to witness its phenomena, is compelled to acknowledge that it must be the work of invisible spirits, that have both power and intelligence more than human. Judge Edmonds, in “Year-Book of Spiritualism,” for 1871, makes the following statement in regard to their numbers at that time:— “Preparatory to the Ecumenical Council, the Pope desired to learn the religious convictions of Christendom; and the Catholic hierarchy of this country took pains to obtain it through its numerous priesthood; and the result of inquiry was what I obtained and gave to the world; so that it was not our statement of our strength, but that of our adversaries, and they have never contradicted or in any way questioned it. “Within the last two or three months there has been at Baltimore a convocation of the Roman Catholic bishops and archbishops of this country. One of the most interesting subjects for their consideration was the statistical religious condition of our people. Each diocese brought its information; and the result was, that while Romanism and Protestantism combined numbered from eight to nine millions, with some forty-five thousand preachers, Spiritualism numbered between ten and eleven millions, with fifty thousand mediums. “Recollect, now, that this estimate comes not from us, but from our opponents; is not the product of our imaginations, but the result of the severe scrutiny of those who have no sympathy with us. I confess, however, that I believe it to be accurate; all my information goes to confirm it; and my error was in estimating the number too low, lest I might be accused of exaggeration.” BY WHAT STANDARD SHALL WE TRY THEM?
Spiritualists often appeal to the Bible, and quote Scripture, making free use of Bible phrases at least, so far as suits their purpose. We propose, therefore, to try them by the Bible. No Spiritualist ought to complain of this; for they say the prophets were mediums; and that Christ was one of the best men that ever lived. 1. The Bible is the truest and most harmonious standard to which we can appeal. 2. It contains the oldest record in existence. 3. It gives the only rational account of the creation, and of the fall of man. 4. Its system of morality and chain of prophecy prove it divine. 5. Those who sincerely love, and strive to obey, the teachings of the Bible, are the best people in the world. The best citizens, neighbors, husbands, and wives are those who take the Bible as their guide, and Christ as their example. 6. When we contrast those countries where the Bible is revered, with heathen lands, or with infidel France, when she had destroyed the Bible and put out its light, we are constrained to say, in the language of Jesus, “Thy word is truth.” What book on earth can compare with the Bible? “What is the chaff to the wheat? saith the Lord.” “Men’s books with heaps of chaff are stored;
God’s Book doth golden grains afford;
Then leave the chaff and spend your pains
In gathering up the golden grains.” “Nay, were the seas one chrysolite,
The earth a golden ball,
And diamonds all the stars of night,
This Book were worth them all.” THE WORKS OF SPIRITUALISM ARE POSITIVELY FORBIDDEN BY THE WORD OF GOD.
1. Necromancy is Forbidden.—“When thou art come into the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee, thou shalt not learn to do after the abominations of those nations. There shall not be found among you any one that maketh his son or his daughter to pass through the fire, or that useth divination, or an observer of times, or an enchanter, or a witch, or a charmer, or a consulter with familiar spirits, or a wizard, or a necromancer. For all that do these things are an abomination unto the Lord.”—Deut. 18: 9–12. Webster gives the definition of necromancy as “pretended communication with the dead.” And Spiritualists everywhere claim that their spiritual communications are from the spirits of the dead. 2. Familiar Spirits are Forbidden.—“Regard not them that have familiar spirits, neither seek after wizards, to be defiled by them; I am the Lord your God.” Lev. 19: 31. “Familiar spirit: A demon or evil spirit supposed to attend at a call.”—Webster. Spiritualists confess their spirits to be of the familiar kind. The following is from the Spiritual Telegraph, Dec. 20, 1856: “I must refer again to the ‘guardian spirit’ of our circle. He is always with us when we meet, and his language and deportment toward each one of us are those of a tried, intimate, and ‘familiar’ friend.” But why multiply proof on this head? Spiritualists do not deny that their mesmerizing, magnetizing, calling on the dead, etc., are what is called in the Bible, “charming,” “enchantment,” “sorcery,” “witchcraft,” “necromancy,” “divination,” “consulting with familiar spirits,” etc. And every Bible student knows that these are declared in numerous places to be “abomination,” and are strictly forbidden in both the Old and New Testaments. See 2 Kings 21: 2, 6, 9; Rev. 21: 8; Gal. 5: 19–21; Acts 16: 16–18. Those who embrace Spiritualism, therefore, have to give up the Bible. Both cannot be true. The Bible is true; and Spiritualism must be false. THEY ARE NOT SPIRITS OF THE DEAD.
1. In ancient times, when people supposed they were sacrificing to “the dead,” it is positively declared that they sacrificed “unto devils.” Ps. 106: 28, 37; 1 Cor. 10: 20. 2. The dead have no knowledge of things done in the world. Job says, “His sons come to honor, and he knoweth it not; and they are brought low, but he perceiveth it not of them.” Chap. 14: 21. “The breath goeth forth, he returneth to his earth; in that very day his thoughts perish.” Ps. 146: 4. “For the living know that they shall die; but the dead know not anything, neither have they any more a reward; for the memory of them is forgotten. Also their love, and their hatred, and their envy is now perished; neither have they any more a portion forever in anything that is done under the sun.” Eccl. 9: 5, 6. If Spiritualists are startled at the scriptural idea of unconsciousness in death, we call their attention to their own teachings on the subject:— “The man so killed—what was his sensation? It was for a time suspended. To him existence was nothing. . . . So Prof. Webster was eight days and a half unconscious.”—Death and the After-Life, by A. J. Davis, pp. 18, 19. The Kingdom at Hand.
By James White
John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea, and saying, “Repent ye, for the kingdom of Heaven is at hand.” Matt. 3: 1, 2. “Now, after that John was put in prison, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God, and saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent ye, and believe the gospel.” Mark 1: 14, 15. And as Jesus sent forth the twelve to the lost sheep of the house of Israel, he said to them, “And as ye go, preach, saying, The kingdom of heaven is at hand.” Matt. 10: 6–7. We have now reached a very important point in the discussion of this subject. Many will meet us here with the popular view that the kingdom was set up at the time of the first advent. They will use the phrase, “The kingdom of heaven is at hand,” expressed by John, Jesus, and the twelve, with force, upon the minds of those who do not study the subject in all its bearings. But, as we have shown, in no sense of the word whatever, was the kingdom set up at the time of the first advent of Christ. The words “kingdom of Heaven,” and “kingdom of God,” have but two significations: first, the plan to save men by grace; and, second, the future condition and reward of the saved. The plan of salvation, or the kingdom of grace, was instituted soon after the fall; and the reward of the saved, or the kingdom of glory, is future. The Greek word translated “at hand,” as used by Jesus, John, and the twelve, is enggizo, and is defined by Greenfield as follows: “To approach, draw near. By metonymy, to be at hand, to impend. Matt. 3: 2; 4: 17; 10: 7; Luke 10: 9, 11; Mark 1: 15.” The immortal kingdom was not at hand, according to this definition, or the obvious meaning of the phrase, in the days of John and of Jesus. In fact, Paul warned the church at Thessalonica against the idea that the day of Christ—the day to destroy earthly kingdoms, and establish the immortal kingdom—was even then at hand. “Be not soon shaken in mind,” says the apostle, “or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter, as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand.” 2 Thess. 2: 2. The Greek word translated “at hand” in this text, is enistemi, and signifies, according to Greenfield, “to place in, or upon; to stand near, be at hand, impend. 2 Thess. 2: 2.” In their bearing upon the subject of the kingdom, there is really no difference in the signification of these two Greek words. But, does Paul contradict John, Jesus, or the twelve? Certainly he does not. What, then, did John and Jesus mean in proclaiming the kingdom of Heaven at hand? Not, that the kingdom of grace was soon to be set up. No; that had been instituted more than four thousand years before that proclamation. Neither did they urge immediate repentance on the ground that the kingdom of Heaven was at hand in the sense of being the next universal kingdom! With this view, their fervent announcement would seem to lose its force. But their proclamation had direct reference to the wonderful manifestations of divine power and grace immediately to follow during the work of confirming the covenant; Dan. 9: 27; first, by Christ, for three and a half years, and by the apostles, Heb. 2: 3, the same period of time. John looked forward to the ministry of Jesus, which was approved of God “by miracles, and wonders, and signs which God did by him,” Acts 2: 22, and proclaimed the kingdom of Heaven at hand. And Jesus looked forward to his own ministry, and also to that of the apostles as they went forth and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them and confirming the word with signs following,” Mark 16: 20, and proclaimed the kingdom of Heaven at hand. This view of the subject is sustained by the commission given by our Lord to the seventy: “Go your ways. Behold, I send you forth as lambs among wolves. And into whatsoever city ye enter, and they receive you, eat such things as are set before you. And heal the sick that are therein, and say unto them, The kingdom of God is come nigh unto you.” Luke 10: 3, 8, 9. The kingdom of God in this connection can mean nothing more and nothing less than the manifestation of divine power and grace. And with this agree the words of Christ addressed to the worthy scribe: “And when Jesus saw that he answered discreetly, he said unto him, Thou art not far from the kingdom of God.” Mark 12: 34. This scribe was sound in the fundamental principles of God’s government. He only needed to know Christ and the power of his great salvation, in order to enjoy all the privileges and blessings of the kingdom of grace. The Pharisees supposed the kingdom of Israel would then be established with outward show. “And when he was demanded of the Pharisees, when the kingdom of God should come, he answered them and said, The kingdom of God cometh not with observation; neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for behold the kingdom of God is within you.” Luke 17: 20, 21. But was the kingdom within the unbelieving Pharisees? The marginal reading—“among you”—helps the case. What was then among them? Christ had just cleansed ten lepers who showed themselves to the priests, and one of them returned to give glory to God. In their midst were the wonderful manifestations of divine power and grace in the miracles of Christ; hence, he said to the Pharisees, “The kingdom of God is among you.” The work of divine grace was manifested among them. Deception has been the work of Satan ever since he so successfully deceived Eve. He led the Jews to expect in the Messiah a ruling monarch, instead of a meek and lowly teacher, and finally the sacrifice for sinners. At the time of the second advent, and the establishment of the eternal kingdom, the people will doubtless be under as great deception relative to the nature of the coming and kingdom of Christ, as the Jews were relative to his mission at his first advent. Then he came as the humble teacher of the people, closing his mission with giving himself a sacrifice for sinners. The Jews rejected Jesus because he did not meet their vain expectations. Satan led them to look for the coming of Messiah with outward show and grandeur, when he was to come in humility. And now that he is soon to appear the second time, in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory, to raise the righteous dead, and reign in his tangible kingdom forever, Satan has the delusion prepared for the people, that Christ’s coming is spiritual, at death, at conversion, or in the outpouring of the Spirit of God. Jesus anticipates the heresies of our time, and says: “The days will come when ye shall desire to see one of the days of the Son of man, and ye shall not see it. And they shall say to you, See here! or, see there! go not after them, nor follow them. For as the lightning that lighteneth out of the one part under heaven, shineth unto the other part under heaven, so shall also the Son of man be in his day.” Luke 17: 22–24. In close connection with the establishment of the future immortal kingdom will be the second coming of Christ with power and great glory. This prophetic event does not have its fulfillment in a plurality of ways each differing from all the rest, as in the popular applications of the destruction of Jerusalem by the Roman army, to conversion and to death. These mystical applications are expressed by the words of our Lord, “See here, or see there,” while the one grand event of the second advent is illustrated by the lightning that flashes across the entire heavens. Christ, the King of kings, and Lord of lords, in his own glory, and in the glory of the Father, attended by all the holy angels, will descend. The earth will tremble, and the heavens will blaze with glory. The voice of the Son of God will call the righteous dead from their graves, and the living righteous will be changed. These will be gathered from all parts of the earth, up to meet their descending Lord. “And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.” Matt. 24: 31. The saints of all ages and from all countries and nations, will be in that vast gathering. “Many shall come from the east and west, and shall sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of Heaven.” Matt. 8: 11. These will be the immortal subjects of the eternal kingdom. But if this kingdom is already set up in any one church, or in all the Christian churches of our time, where are these patriarchs? Search as closely as you please among the followers of Luther, Calvin, Wesley, or Alex. Campbell, and you positively cannot find Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. But when the righteous dead shall all be raised and gathered home to their everlasting rest, the prophets and saints of all ages will meet in the grand assemblage of the redeemed, and together sit down in the kingdom of God, with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in their midst. J. W. Thoughts on the Book of Daniel.
By Uriah Smith
Verse 7. After this I saw in the night visions, and behold a fourth beast, dreadful and terrible, and strong exceedingly; and it had great iron teeth; it devoured and brake in pieces, and stamped the residue with the feet of it; and it was diverse from all the beasts that were before it; and it had ten horns. Inspiration finds no beast in nature which it can make even the basis of a symbol to represent the power here illustrated. No addition of hoofs, heads, wings, scales or horns, to any beast found in nature would answer. The power was diverse from all others, and the symbol wholly nondescript. Verse 8. I considered the horns, and, behold, there came up among them another little horn, before whom there were three of the first horns plucked up by the roots; and, behold, in this horn were eyes like the eyes of a man, and a mouth speaking great things. The foundation for a volume is laid in verses 7 and 8 just quoted; and we are disposed to treat them the more briefly here because anything like a full exposition is entirely beyond the space that can be allowed in these brief thoughts. This beast of course corresponds to the fourth division of the great image, the legs of iron. Under chapter 2, verse 40, are given some reasons for supposing this power to be Rome. The same are applicable to the present case. How accurately Rome answered to the iron division of the image! How accurately it answers to the beast before us! In the dread and terror which it inspired, and in its exceeding strength, the world never has seen its equal. It devoured, as with iron teeth, and brake in pieces; and it ground the nations into the very dust, beneath its brazen feet. It had ten horns, which are explained in verse 24 to be ten kings or kingdoms which should arise out of this empire. As already noticed, Rome was divided into ten kingdoms, enumerated by Machiavel as follows: 1. The Huns. 2. The Ostrogoths. 3. The Visigoths. 4. The Franks. 5. The Vandals. 6. The Suevi. 7. The Burgundians. 8. The Heruli. 9. The Anglo-Saxons. 10. The Lombards. These divisions have ever since been spoken of as the ten kingdoms of the Roman Empire. Daniel considered the horns. Indications of a strange movement appeared among them. A little horn (at first little, but afterward more stout than its fellows), thrust itself up among them. It was not content to quietly find a place of its own, and fill it; it must thrust aside some of the others, and usurp their places. Three kingdoms were plucked up before it. This little horn, as we shall have occasion to notice more fully hereafter, was the Papacy. The three horns plucked up before it were the Heruli, the Ostrogoths, and the Vandals; not that these kingdoms were destroyed. This was not necessary; but they must retire from the field before the arrogant claims of the Papacy, and seek their territorial limits in other quarters. And “in this horn were eyes like the eyes of a man, and a mouth speaking great things”—fit emblem of the shrewdness, penetration, cunning, foresight, and arrogant claims of the bishop of Rome. Verses 9, 10. I beheld till the thrones were cast down, and the Ancient of Days did sit, whose garment was white as snow, and the hair of his head like the pure wool; his throne was like the fiery flame, and his wheels as burning fire. A fiery stream issued and came forth from before him; thousand thousands ministered unto him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him; the Judgment was set, and the books were opened. A sublime description of a sublime scene is not to be found in the English language. But not only on account of the grand and lofty imagery introduced should it arrest our attention; the nature of the scene itself is such as to demand most serious consideration. The Judgment is brought to view; and whenever the Judgment is mentioned, it ought to take an irresistible hold upon every mind; for all have an interest in its eternal issues. By an unfortunate translation in verse 9, a wrong idea is almost sure to be conveyed. The words “cast down” are from a word which in the original signifies just the opposite, namely, to set up. Dr. Clarke says “that it might be translated erected; so the Vulgate positi sunt [were placed], and so all the versions.” The Septuagint has etethesan, which is defined to mean “to set, put, place, to set up, to erect.” The thrones are not the thrones of earthly kingdoms which are to be thrown down at the last day, but thrones of Judgment which are to be set up, just before the end. The “Ancient of Days,” God the Father, takes the throne of Judgment. Mark the description of his person. Those who believe in the impersonality of God are obliged to admit that he is here described as a personal being; but they console themselves by saying that it is the only description of the kind in the Bible. We do not admit this latter assertion; but granting that it were true, is not one description of this kind as fatal to their theory as though it were repeated a score of times? The thousand thousands who minister unto him, and the ten thousand times ten thousand who stand before him, are not sinners arraigned before the Judgment-seat, but heavenly beings who wait before him attendant on his will. An understanding of these verses involves an understanding of the subject of the sanctuary, to works on which subject we refer the reader. The closing up of the ministration of Christ our great High Priest in the heavenly sanctuary is the work of the Judgment here introduced. It is an investigative Judgment. The books are opened, and the cases of all come up for examination before that great tribunal, that it may be determined beforehand who are to receive eternal life when the Lord shall come to confer it upon his people. John, as recorded in Rev. 5, had a view of this same place, and saw the same number of heavenly attendants engaged with Christ in the work of investigative judgment. Looking into the sanctuary (as we learn from Rev. 4 that he was), in chapter 5:11, he says, “And I beheld, and I heard the voice of many angels round about the throne, and the beasts, and the elders; and the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands.” It will appear from the testimony of chapter 8:14, that this solemn work is even now transpiring in the sanctuary above. Verses 11, 12. I beheld then, because of the voice of the great words which the horn spake; I beheld, even till the beast was slain, and his body destroyed, and given to the burning flame. As concerning the rest of the beasts, they had their dominion taken away; yet their lives were prolonged for a season and time. There are persons who believe in a thousand years' triumph of the gospel and reign of righteousness over all the world before the Lord comes; and there are others who believe in probation after the Lord comes, and a mixed millennium, the immortal righteous still proclaiming the gospel to mortal sinners, and turning them into the way of salvation. But both of these systems of error are completely demolished by the verses before us. 1. The fourth terrible beast continues without change of character, and the little horn continues to utter its blasphemies, and hold its millions of votaries in the bonds of a blind superstition, till the beast is given to the burning flame; and this is not its conversion, but its destruction. See 2 Thess. 2:8. 2. The life of the fourth beast is not prolonged after its dominion is gone, as were the lives of the preceding beasts. Their dominion was taken away, but their lives were prolonged for a season. The territory and subjects of the Babylonish kingdom still existed, though subjected to the Persians. So of the Persian kingdom in respect to Grecia, and of Grecia in respect to Rome. But what succeeds the fourth kingdom? No government or state in which mortals have any part. Its career ends in the lake of fire, and it has no existence beyond. The lion was merged into the bear; the bear into the leopard; the leopard into the fourth beast; and the fourth beast into what? Not into another beast, but into the lake of fire, which is its final destruction till the second death. Then let no one talk of probation or a mixed millennium after the Lord comes. The adverb then, in the sentence, “I beheld then because of the voice of the great words which the horn spake,” etc., seems to refer to some particular time. The work of investigative judgment is introduced in the verses before. And this verse would seem to imply that while this work is going forward, and just before this power is destroyed and given to the burning flame, the little horn utters its great words against the Most High. Have we not heard them, and that, too, within a few years? Look at the Vatican Council of 1870. What can be more blasphemous than to attribute infallibility125 to a mortal man? And here we have an Ecumenical Council assembled for the purpose of deliberately decreeing that the occupant of the papal throne, the man of sin, possesses this prerogative of God, and cannot err. Can anything be more presumptuous and blasphemous? Is not this the voice of the great words which the horn spake? and is not this power near to the burning flame? U. S. (Condensed from Review and Herald.) Eld. D. T. Bourdeau reports that he has obtained forty-eight subscribers for our French paper, Les Signes des Temps, in fifteen different communes, villages and cities in France, Switzerland and Germany, visited all the pastors in Valence, and had a long private discussion with one of the leading ministers and several of his most influential friends, on the Sabbath question. Truth triumphed, and they acknowledged the light. An English minister at Lausanne, is reading Les Signes and helping much in its circulation. NEW SWEDEN.—Bro. Sawyer is doing a good work here among the Swedes. He writes that he has just closed a very successful term of school among the Swedes. He began with seventeen pupils, and closed with thirty-five, mostly young ladies and gentlemen. Several were members of the Baptist church. An evening school was held twice a week at the same time two miles away. This began with twenty scholars, and ended with about sixty. These schools were effectual in removing much prejudice. He now lectures once a week in three districts, and he says: “I have heard of more than twenty who have accepted the truth since I came here.” He hopes to organize a church soon. May God bless his labors. QUITMAN.—Eld. C. O. Taylor who lately commenced to labor in this State rejoices to know that there is one person in the State beside himself and wife who is keeping the Sabbath. He has received a letter from a brother near the center of the State who says that he has been keeping it since the spring of 1872. Eld. C. is also corresponding with a brother in St. Augustine and with one in Jacksonville, Fla., in each of which places there are about six who have commenced to keep the Sabbath. CLEBURNE.—Brn. Clarke and Rust recently visited this place which is the county seat of Johnson county and is some fifty miles from Dallas, and found that several families had embraced the Sabbath from reading tracts which they obtained from a family to whom the brethren and sisters of Dallas had been sending reading matter. They tarried with them some days, and held several meetings which were a great encouragement to those who had just started. BLACK HAWK.—Eld. J. N. Ayers returned to this place the 21st, and held six meetings in private houses, baptized five, and organized a church of seventeen members. He says that the brethren are making clean work of putting away tobacco. One brother by the name of Dixon, seventy-two years old, who has been a slave to the filthy weed over fifty years, now rejoices in freedom. Four more have signed the covenant. We leave a company of thirty-five keeping the Sabbath. TOWANDA.—Eld. J. H. Cook has organized a church here to be known as the Whitewater church. As yet there are only six members in the organization, but others are soon to join. Bro. N. W. Allee was elected and ordained elder; Bro. H. C. Main, clerk and treasurer. OSAGE CITY.—As the result of Bro. Geo. Kennedy’s labors in this place, eight have signed the covenant to keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus. There are some fifteen Sabbath-keepers who meet together for worship, and a Sabbath-school has been organized. Eld. D. M. Canright gives a brief summary of news from several of the laborers in this State as follows: “A letter just received from Rome says, ‘We had a good meeting last Sabbath. About eighty present, and a good number bore testimony. Last evening our little prayer-meeting room was nearly filled. Had a lively meeting. All but three took part.’ Bro. Reynolds, just from Genoa, reports a good meeting. Seven young persons baptized, and two others united with the church, and all greatly encouraged. Bro. Buel Whitney writes that Bro. Morin has just brought out a company of ten firm in the truth. And Bro. Hall reports over twenty new Sabbath-keepers at Canasaraga.” EAST OTTO.—Elders Canright and Reynolds have organized a church in this place, of eighteen members. S. B., $245. Two other churches will be organized in the county. Much interest was manifested in the meetings, some coming sixty miles. Nine came forward for prayers. PARMA.—Eld. S. B. Whitney reports the cause as progressing finely here. A Baptist revivalist is helping materially by taking such a course as to confirm the old friends and add new ones. Fifteen subscribers were obtained for our papers, and a purse of $22.50 was made up in the community, and handed him as a token of appreciation of his labors. SIGOURNEY.—Eld. G. I. Butler reports a very interesting quarterly meeting at this place. He mentions three interesting cases of public laborers in the cause of God, who have embraced the truth by reading, and a company of eleven Swedes in Dakota who have come out by the same means. There is great call for help, and the prospects in the Iowa Conference are encouraging. HOOK’S POINT.—Eld. J. H. Morrison reports interesting meetings at this place. The efforts of revivalists in opposition have only served to ripen up the work, and over twenty have taken their stand upon the truth. The Sabbath—Its Observance.
By J. O. Corliss
PRACTICAL knowledge is indispensable to the Christian. Man has no well grounded hope of eternal life without obedience, nor can he have a well established rule for obedience without a clear and distinct knowledge of his duty. It has been truthfully asserted that knowledge may be found without practice, yet practice cannot be found without knowledge. It would seem necessary then, that in all things pertaining to godliness one should aim to illuminate the mind and inform the judgment. In order that all men may gain the requisite knowledge of duty, God has seen fit to impart wholesome laws by which to regulate their actions under all circumstances. These form a brief compendium of “the whole duty of man.” No sin is condemned, and no moral duty enjoined that is not summarily contained in the ten commandments. We may then safely say that they are the epitome of all good, and hence a knowledge of the duties enjoined by them is essential to the Christian life. It seems unfortunate, however, that some have come to consider moral duties nonessential, and try to excuse themselves and others from them; for in so doing they throw off that moral restraint which, if not maintained, opens the flood-gates of iniquity, not only upon the world, but also upon the church. Instead of placing the test of righteousness in its true position, and bringing men to it, the standard is lowered to meet their inert condition, and they are received into fellowship without any just sense of the obligations taken upon them. What are considered to be the more glaring sins, such as stealing, lying, swearing, etc., may not be indulged in, it is true, yet there seems to be nearly everywhere a deplorable lack of true veneration for God and his institutions. No doubt this is sometimes owing to a want of love and esteem for everything that bears the stamp of God's authority, yet in the majority of cases it is because they have not been thoroughly instructed in the ways of righteousness. Take, for example, the weekly rest-day which is conceded by all to be given for man's moral good, that he may rest from his labor and meditate on the works of God. How is it generally observed? Sunday is held in reserve as a day in which to do all odd jobs that could not be done during the week. Accordingly, after a late breakfast, the good farmer goes out to salt his cattle, making it in his way to go around and look at his wheat and corn, and lay up a rail here and there which was thrown from the fence during the week. On his way he sees his neighbor on a similar errand, and so he stops to chat with him about the prospect of crops, and the political aspect of the country. He returns home too late for meeting, so rests himself in his easy chair while the thrifty house-wife prepares a sumptuous dinner. After partaking heartily of this repast, there is nothing special on hand, so a visit to one of the neighbors is proposed, where the remainder of the day is spent in idle conversation. This is not a mere fancy sketch, but is of common occurrence. It should not, however, be the case with any who profess to keep all of God's commandments, the fourth not excepted. Having been separated from the world by a distinctive mark, they should not be satisfied with the common view of God's requirements. The apostle says: “But as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy.” Every one, then, should meditate upon the requirements of God, and view him through his attributes, which will beget within them a hungering for righteousness, and a corresponding degree of holiness. This when attained will be acceptable to God. That all may have time for this work, God has from the beginning set apart one day of each week as a sacred rest, and says: “Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy.” Not that man should take a day and make it holy by resting upon it, as some seem to think; for they say: “It makes no difference what day we keep if we only keep it right.” To keep a day “right” is to keep it as it was made. A day can not be kept holy that was never made holy, any more than an apple can be kept sound that never was sound. Neither is the Sabbath dependent upon our actions for its holiness, but God made it holy and commands us to keep it so. In the act of making it holy he rested from all his work. If we keep it holy shall we not do the same? Yes; for in the command itself he says: “Six days shalt thou labor and do all thy work. But the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God; in it thou shalt not do any work.” When the sun is sinking to rest, and the Sabbath draws on, all work should then be laid aside, and the entire family called together to usher in God's holy time with prayer and praise, and thus dedicate the day to him from its very commencement. But to do this, all must prepare for the Sabbath before it arrives. That is, take time to do up all the chores, such as chopping wood, feeding stock and milking cows, and not have these jobs to do after the Sabbath commences. It is true that some of these things are necessary to be done on the Sabbath, yet this is no excuse for leaving work to be done on the Sabbath that ought to be done on a working day. The first and last half-hour of the Sabbath is just as holy as the same length of time in the middle of the day. In the end of the Sabbath the family should again be assembled to return thanks to God for all his benefits, after which each one can go about the work of the farm or household. When the children of Israel were in the wilderness they were taught of God how they should observe the Sabbath. He gave them manna every working day, but that which fell on the sixth day was to be prepared by baking or boiling and laid up to be kept for the Sabbath. See Ex. 16. The same Sabbath law under which they lived is in existence now, and says distinctly, “Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy.” Then if we have any baking or cooking to do for the Sabbath, would it not be well to do it on the preparation day, which is the day before the Sabbath? Mark 15:42. No one has a right to use God's day for himself, not even in the most hurrying season of the year. “Six days thou shalt work, but on the seventh day thou shalt rest; in earing time and in harvest thou shalt rest.” Ex. 34:21. It is just as necessary, though perhaps not quite as easy, to make calculations and prepare for the Sabbath in summer as in winter. Neither is it in harmony with God's law to buy or sell on that day (Neh. 13:16–21), hence there is no necessity for going to the store where idlers congregate, or even visiting our neighbors to talk about the market price of cattle, and other things of a worldly nature, which only serve to draw our minds from God. See Isa. 58:13. Our Saviour taught that acts of mercy, such as rescuing a sheep from the pit (Matt. 12:11), leading the ox to water (Luke 13:15), and caring for the sick in our midst, should be performed on the Sabbath as on other days. See Luke 13:14–16; Matt. 12:10; Mark 3:1–5. It is lawful to visit the sick on the Sabbath, but I doubt the propriety of leaving them to suffer all the week because of a press of business, and then go on the Sabbath, simply because we cannot use it for our own work. No one is obliged to shut himself up all day and put on a long face as though mourning for some lost friend. Says the prophet: “If thou turn away thy foot from the Sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on my holy day, and call the Sabbath a delight, the holy of the Lord, honorable, * then shalt thou delight thyself in the Lord.” Isa. 58:13, 14. Have our eyes been opened to behold wondrous things out of God's law? Let us take heed then lest we forget the things our eyes have seen, and fail to teach them to our children. Deut. 4:9. With a pleasant, cheerful countenance, beaming with love to God, we may call our children around us upon his holy Sabbath, and instruct them from his holy Word in the manner best suited to their capacity and so exert a saving influence over them. Thus we may pass the day pleasantly in the service of God, whether in the public meeting or at home, and set before our families and friends examples of virtue and true piety, that will not soon be forgotten, and by so doing honor God and bring his blessing upon us. J. O. CORLISS. The Two Goats on the Narrow Path
If two goats meet each other on a narrow path above a river, what will they do? They cannot turn back nor pass each other. If they were to butt at each other both would fall into the water. What will they do? Nature has taught them, one to lie down and let the other pass over it. So should one man do to another, yield where he can conscientiously, rather than quarrel.