p. 16 | Signs of the Times, Vol. 21, No. 39. (10/3/1895)

THE LORD'S DAY

By Milton C. Wilcox

THE TEST OF THE AGES.

By MILTON C. WILCOX.

A new publication on the all-important Sabbath question. It treats the subject in the light of the Dispensations. In fact, it is, in a nutshell

THE SABBATH FROM EDEN TO EDEN.

It presents, in a brief, simple way, the important portion of the Bible evidence on both sides of the Sabbath question.

New and Original Illustrations and Diagrams

The book contains 12 chapters, 128 pages, and is issued as No. 134 of the Bible Students' Library.

PRICE 15 CENTS

Address,

PACIFIC PRESS PUBLISHING CO., OAKLAND, CAL.

KANSAS CITY, MO. N. Y. CITY.

Religious Liberty Pamphlets Available from Pacific Press

RELIGIOUS LIBERTY PAMPHLETS.— “Religious Intolerance in the Republic,” price two cents. “Due Process of Law and the Divine Right of Dissent,” price 15 cents. “The Captivity of the Republic,” by A. T. Jones, price 15 cents, or the three postpaid for 30 cents. Address, Pacific Press, Oakland Cal.

Those Tent Meetings

By Editor

THOSE TENT MEETINGS.—We have a few more copies of “Those Tent Meetings,” a rhyming recital, by M. B. Duffie. Price, 25 cents, postpaid. Address this office.

CHURCH AND STATE IN THE PROHIBITION PARTY.

In the platform of the Prohibition party of the state of New York, adopted at Saratoga Springs, September 3 and 4, we find the following:—

“2. We accept as the expression of our political ideal the unanimous declaration of the Supreme Court that this is a Christian nation, and we call upon the people of the state to repudiate and consign to oblivion any political party that shall propose to submit a commandment of the Decalogue to the local option of corrupt cities.

“3. A Christian citizen’s ballot is his testimony and witness of his political righteousness, and should be and continue a slandering protest against all measures and candidates that are not in full accord and in perfect harmony with the highest official utterances of his church in regard to the liquor traffic.

“4. We are unqualifiedly opposed to all religious test of citizenship and to all appropriation of public funds to sectarian institutions.

“5. All men should be protected by law in their right of one day’s rest in seven.”

Notwithstanding the disclaimer in the fourth plank the others forcibly show that whoever did not come up to their idea of Christian citizenship would if possible be consigned to oblivion. Of the congregation 3,000 are said to have taken the following “vow,” proposed by John G. Woolley:—

“Believing that my ballot is my testimony, and that as a Christian citizen I should make it witness for political righteousness, I record my vow that I will never hereafter vote for any candidate, for any office, who does not stand upon a platform in full and positive harmony with the highest official utterances of my church in regard to the liquor traffic.”

It surely looks as though the fanaticism of the “roundheads,” as well as the gross looseness and wickedness of the cavaliers, was upon us. Religion is the thing in the air, and every time server will be a professor. Anything to buy votes or drive voters. We have no wish to discuss the principles of the various parties; but God is not in all this cant about religion.

We send no papers from this office to individuals without pay in advance

By Editor

When persons receive copies without ordering them, they are sent by other parties, and we can give no information in regard to them. Persons thus receiving copies of the “Signs” are not indebted to the office, and will not be called upon for pay. Please read the papers you may receive, and hand them to your friends to read.

In Chatham Jail for Conscience’ Sake

Note the article from the Toronto World, “In Chatham Jail for Conscience’ Sake,” in our Outlook department. There are papers outside the great religious organs which are not afraid to speak for freedom for all.

Blessed Are the Pure in Heart

READ the article “Blessed Are the Pure in Heart,” by Mrs. E. G. White. Here is a thought from its casket of instruction and comfort gems: “When you are betrayed into sin, do not despair. Do not delay and mourn in hopeless unbelief, but take your case at once to Jesus.”

Concluding Article on the Law and the Gospel

By Editor

THIS week we publish the last of the series of articles on the “Interrelation of the Law and the Gospel.” No more interesting, suggestive, and instructive series, we believe, has ever been published on this great subject. Those who have not read these articles would do well to read from the beginning.

Series of Articles by Elder Roderick S. Owen

By Editor

We shall begin next week an interesting series of articles, independent yet connected, the titles of which are as follows: A Personal God, Other Intelligences, Supreme Will and Harmony, Development of Character, Sin and Death, Character and Life. These are written by Elder Roderick S. Owen, an old and experienced Bible teacher in Healdsburg College.

Casting the First Stone.

—“He that is without sin among you, let him cast the first stone.” Thus Christ spoke to the scribes and Pharisees when they brought to him the woman taken in adultery; and thus would he say to-day to all attempts of men to punish for sin. And this clearly shows that it is wholly outside the province of the civil authority, or of any authority that men possess, to inflict penalties for the transgression of the law of God. God never leaves it for sinners to punish for sin. The apostle Paul exclaims, “Is God righteous who taketh vengeance? God forbid; for then how shall God judge the world?” Rom. 3: 5, 6. Judgment or condemnation, and its execution, must be in righteousness, and therefore can never be done by sinners; for all sinners are equally worthy of death. And he who assumes authority to cast a stone at the sinner, thereby claims to be without sin.

Call to Circulate The Rights of the People

By Editor

We call special attention to the advertisement of “The Rights of the People, or Civil Government and Religion,” which appeared in last week’s issue and also on page 12 of this paper. This new book, embodying as it does many of the underlying principles of religious liberty, should be in the hands of all your neighbors as soon as possible. You should also carefully peruse it yourself. It is a splendid help in the study of the Sabbath school lessons of the present quarter, to which we also invite the attention of every reader.

An Argument Against God's Law Examined

An “Argument.”—Here is a sample “argument” against God’s law which we clip from an exchange:—

“1. The old covenant was broken by the Israelites.

“2. The ten-commandment covenant was thus broken.

“3. Therefore the ten-commandment covenant is the old covenant and is done away with.”

And because men have transgressed God’s law, “therefore” the law is “done away with”! Strange logic. Men have transgressed the laws of California, they have broken the covenant which they made with the state when they became citizens thereof, and “therefore” the law of California “is done away with”! Every one knows such an argument to be nonsense when applied to human things. When Israel “broke” the “old covenant,” they were simply without hope, condemned as sinners, but the law of God which they transgressed was not affected. God does not fail because man does. By his new covenant he writes that same law upon the hearts of all who believe.

THE LAW OF THE LAND.

By Editor

This is the way the Nashville, Tenn., Christian Advocate closes an article on “Our Sunday Laws,” in which the persecution of Sabbath-keepers is discussed:—

“To remain awhile in jail rather than pay a small fine may arouse the sympathy of sentimentalists, but not of men who believe that Christians for conscience’ sake ought to obey the laws of the land in which they live. Under no circumstances do good Christians disturb the peace.”

And, therefore, Daniel, the Christian prophet, who spoke by the Spirit of Christ (1 Peter 1: 11), ought to have worshiped no god except Darius (Daniel 6); his three faithful companions should have bowed down to Nebuchadnezzar’s golden image (Daniel 3); Paul and John, and other early Christians, should have honored heathen gods, and so saved themselves from persecution, torture, banishment, and death. This “obedience to the law of the land” would have saved from death the millions of martyrs of the Dark Ages. By all means a Christian for conscience’ sake ought to obey the law of the land when it does not conflict with the law of God, but when it does, the Bible has given a rule, “We ought to obey God rather than men.”

We shall have more to say on the above, the Lord willing, next week.

Doing God's Will

Doing God's Will.— “He that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God;” but all the time Jesus was in the flesh, the will of the Father was perfectly done in him. It is not with the mouth alone that confession is made. “My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth.” 1 John 3:18. Of some it is written, “They profess that they know God; but in works they deny him.” Titus 1:16. It is from the heart that the true confession comes. “He that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God.” But Jesus Christ in the flesh always did and does the will of God; therefore we confess that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh,—our flesh,—when we yield to everything that the Scriptures reveal to us in his life. Whenever a new feature of his life appears, we are to say to him: “Live this in us also by thine own life. Keep the Sabbath in us, even as thou didst in the flesh in Judea and Galilee.” And this is true of every other precept or truth.

Gambling Is Evil Everywhere

In remarking upon the utterance of a Catholic paper that lotteries are “not essentially evil,” as, for instance, when used in “fairs” for churches, by both Protestants and Catholics, the Independent of September 12 well remarks:—

“A lottery is a lottery, whether under the sanction of the church or in entirely worldly hands. The principle is evil, as we contend, and no circumstances can make it right. So far as our observation extends, lotteries are but seldom used in Protestant churches. The sentiment is overwhelmingly against them. Where they are employed the police ought to step in. This is the spirit of the law, and the spirit of the law is the crystallized expression of the public conscience.”

True, and a parallel case is that of religious legislation. It also is evil everywhere, whether effected by Protestants or Catholics, whether in the tenth century or the nineteenth. It is evil and only evil.

OUR NEXT SYMPOSIUM NUMBER.

By Editor

Our next symposium number, for October, will be on the great subject of the “Second Advent of Our Lord Jesus Christ.” The subdivisions under which it will be treated will probably be as follows:

He Will Come Again.

The Manner of His Coming.

The Place of His Coming in the Scheme of Redemption.

What His Coming Means to the People of God and to Sinners.

What His Coming Means as Regards the Earth.

His Presence, Now and Then.

ADDRESS WANTED.

By Editor

The Signs of the Times would like the address, if living, of Harold Charles Palmer. If not living, we should be glad of what information could be given. Kindly address, Editor of Signs of Times, Oakland, Cal.