MONDAY afternoon, May 7, in the year of our Lord 1894, there flashed over the telegraph wires of the Australian colonies the following piece of intelligence:—
SEVENTH-DAY ADVENTISTS IN THE STOCKS.
SYDNEY, Monday.
At the Parramatta police court to-day Wm. and Henry Firth, Seventh-day Adventists, of Kellyville, were charged with exercising their worldly labors on the Sabbath day. The defendants pleaded justification, owing to their religious convictions. They were fined under statute 29 of the reign of Charles II., and were ordered to forfeit the sum of 5s., levy and distress; in default, to be set publicly in the stocks for two hours.—Melbourne Age, May 8, 1894.
Harry and William Firth are brothers, living about eight miles from Parramatta. Several years ago they came from England to Australia; to establish homes and spend the remainder of their lives in this country. After looking about for a short time, they decided to engage in farming and fruit culture. They selected a block of land in the country near Parramatta, cleared the timber off, broke up the soil, and placed the whole of the block under active cultivation. They have worked hard, and have been rewarded with a reasonable degree of success. Their fruit farm, of oranges, lemons, apples, passion fruit, etc., is a model of neatness and industry.
Until recently these men have had no particular interest in religion. In fact, they were rather skeptical as to the divine origin of the Scriptures. A little more than a year ago their attention was called in a special manner to the importance of Christianity, and they began to study the Bible with much care. This study resulted in a marked change in their views and lives. The Bible became to them an inspired book, and they gave their hearts to Jesus Christ, the Saviour of men.
As they examined the claims of God upon men, they became profoundly convinced that the seventh day of the week is still the Sabbath of the Lord. They were led to see that Christ, the Creator, rested on the seventh day533at the close of creation, and that the fourth commandment of the Decalogue says: "Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. 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," etc. Ex. 20:8-10. This commandment they believe is still binding, and it is read and taught in the various churches of the land. Believing this, they began to religiously observe the seventh day of the week; and, having rested the Sabbath day according to the commandment, they pursued their ordinary work on the first day. It was for this offense that they were arrested and fined.
AN OLD LAW REVIVED.
The statute under which these men were fined was enacted in the twenty-ninth year of the reign of Charles II. It reads as follows:—
AN ACT FOR THE BETTER OBSERVATION OF THE LORD'S DAY, COMMONLY CALLED SUNDAY.—29th CHARLES II., 1677.
. . . And that all and every person and persons whatsoever shall, on every Lord's day, apply themselves thereon in the duties of piety and true religion publically and privately, and that noe tradesman, artificer, workman, labourer, or other persons whatsoever shall soe or exercise any wourldly labour, business, or worke of their ordinary callings upon the Lord's day or any part thereof (workes of necessity and charity only excepted). And that every person being of the age of fourteen years or upwards offending in the premises shall for every such offense forfeit the sum of 5s., and that no person or persons whatsoever shall publically cry, show or expose to sale any wares, merchandise, fruit, herbs, goods, or chattalls whatsoever upon the Lord's day or any part thereof upon paine that every person so offending shall forfeit the same goods so cried or showed forth or exposed for sale.
This is a curious law to be revived and enforced in this country. It not only prohibits labor; it enjoins religious worship. It commands "that all and every person and persons whatsoever shall, on every Lord's day, apply themselves thereon in the duties of piety and true religion PUBLICLY AND PRIVATELY."
Thus it appears that those who have dragged the Firth brothers into court and caused them to be fined have only touched the fringe of the matter. They are "partial in the law." To carry out the work properly, that is, according to the letter of the Act, they must set the police on the track of the whole non-religious class of the colony. Every person whatsoever shall, on the Lord's day, apply himself to the duties of piety and true religion, publicly and privately. First, it must be authoritatively declared what the "true religion" is, whether Jewish, Catholic, or Protestant. In the next place, the proper duties of piety and true religion must be defined. And then the police force must be greatly augmented in order to watch the indifferent and irreligious, and drive them to church or drag them to court for punishment. That is what the Act requires, and that is what must be done now that it has been revived. It will not do to single out the smallest part of the Act, and seek to enforce that alone.
RELIGIOUS PERSECUTION.
But why has this old law been revived? Why have the Firth brothers been fined for working on Sunday? Are they the only men in the colony who have violated that law? What about the running of railway trains, trams, buses, cabs, etc.? It is well known that hundreds of people, both in the towns and in the country of New South Wales, engage in various kinds of labor on Sunday. Many of the farmers who live near the Firth brothers plow, hoe, pick fruit, etc., on the first day, at any time they choose to do so. They and the Firths have done this without molestation for years. Again we ask, Why are the Firths singled out from the thousands of Sunday workers, and fined, and, if they have not enough property to pay their fines, ordered to be set publicly in the stocks?
We believe that the whole thing is a piece of religious intolerance. It is not because they have worked on Sunday. It is because they rested on the seventh day, the Sabbath enjoined by the fourth commandment. If this is not the true explanation, why were they not arrested before they began to keep the seventh day? And why were not their neighbors, who work on Sunday, but do not rest on the seventh day, arrested with them?
The whole thing is malicious and wicked. The Firth brothers are temperate, industrious, honorable Christian men. They pay their debts, attend to their business, and worship God in sincerity and truth. They conscientiously and religiously observe the seventh day, and pursue their business quietly and inoffensively on their farm on the other six days. All this is their inalienable right.
But there are some who would rob them of these rights. They would invade the sacred precincts of their conscience, and seek to compel them by unjust laws to live according to the conscience of another. This prosecution is contrary to the spirit of the free institutions of this country. It is contrary to the will of our sovereign, the queen. It is not her wish that any of her subjects in any part of her dominions should be molested in the exercise of their religion, nor deprived of their natural rights. We commend to those who are behind this wicked work a careful reading of
THE CHARTER OF RELIGIOUS LIBERTY;
AS ASSURED BY HER MAJESTY'S ROYAL PROCLAMATION OF 1858.
PROCLAMATION: Firmly relying ourselves on the truth of Christianity, and acknowledging with gratitude the solace of religion, we disclaim alike the right and the desire to impose our convictions on any of our subjects. We declare it to be our royal will and pleasure that none be in anywise favored, none molested, or disquieted, by reason of their religious faith or observance, but that all shall alike enjoy the equal and impartial protection of the law; and we do strictly charge and enjoin all those who may be in authority under us that they abstain from all interference with the religious belief or worship of any of our subjects, on pain of our highest displeasure.—Cassell's History of England, vol. 8, chap. 52, p. 513.
This proclamation breathes the spirit of true liberty. Her majesty disclaims either the desire or the right to impose her religious convictions on any of her subjects. She declares it to be her royal will and pleasure that none be favored, none molested, by reason of their religious faith or observance, but that all shall enjoy alike the equal and impartial protection of the law.
We make no plea for liberty to trespass upon the rights of one of our fellows, but we do ask for the liberty to exercise the rights conferred upon us by our Creator. This liberty the State is in duty bound to insure to the weakest of its subjects.—A. G. D., in Bible Echo.
THE CURSE OF SIN UPON THE EARTH.
By William Covert
BY ELDER WM. COVERT.
LAST week we learned about the purpose of God concerning the earth in creation. It was shown that it was to be a habitation for man, and that there was perfect adaptation and agreement between all the works of God. The earth and all its products were perfectly suited to the wants of man. Man's nature was in perfect accord with all his environments. The physical conditions of the earth, and that of the creatures God placed upon it, were such that, if all had remained in operation according to the laws of their Creator, they would have moved eternally without any friction. Therefore, all the physical conditions essential to eternal life were provided in the beginning.
But the wicked cunning of Satan succeeded in bringing into man a dissatisfied mind. This mind turned man out of the course in which creation started him moving, and soon he had missed his way, and was found prostrate across the purposes of creation. This relation of things brought about friction; and friction and incompatibility would of itself bring disaster and death. This would have been the result even if there had been no judicial penalty inflicted for sin.
But there is an affliction which follows swiftly upon the trail of sin, which is too marked to be regarded as simply a consequence. In this affliction is seen the direct visitation of judgments. These judgments have been made necessary that obstructions may be removed out of the way of God's purposes. Accordingly, when man sinned, it became necessary to deal with him for his own good in a manner that some have regarded as unkind.
Quickly came the sentence of a curse upon the earth when its ruler had violated the law of God. In pronouncing this the Lord said:—
"Cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life; thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field; in the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken; for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return." Gen. 3:17-19.
Following this sentence came another, which expelled the transgressors from Paradise. This was done that they might not live forever in sin. Gen. 3:22, 23.
These steps placed man on the outside of Eden, with Paradise lost. A sinner upon a sin-cursed earth, toiling hard among thorns and thistles for the necessities of life. Yet it was better for man, since he had yielded to sin, that he should labor thus, than for him to remain in luxury and indolence. It is therefore evident that the Lord had not abandoned the earth, neither his purpose concerning it, when he pronounced this curse upon it. In fact, the exact contrary is seen when reading the penalty itself. The earth was cursed for man's sake.
The pricking of the thorns and the sterility of the soil were to be to man a constant reminder of his sins, and a continual appeal to him to seek again that which had been lost. Besides this, the labor of itself was designed to keep man honestly employed, and thus serve to keep him from running deeper into sin. Therefore, the deeper man went into sin, the heavier came the curse upon the earth. This was illustrated when Cain had murdered6his brother. Immediately following this wickedness the Lord pronounced a second curse upon the earth. This is found in the following sentence, pronounced against Cain: "When thou tillest the ground, it shall not henceforth yield unto thee her strength." Gen. 4:12.
As time rolled on and men increased in numbers, they grew worse and worse, with but a few exceptions:—
"And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually." "The earth also was corrupt before God; and the earth was filled with violence. And God looked upon the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth. And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come before me; for the earth is filled with violence through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth." Gen. 6: 5, 11-13.
From the Scripture it is seen that the sins of the people are represented as defiling the earth; and as the people are, so the earth is. This condition of things prepared the way for the flood. Through this agency the primeval arrangement of the earth was broken up, and it came forth from the flood with a threefold curse resting upon it. Paradise, with its tree of life and angel guard, had been transplanted to a peaceful and brighter clime, in "the third heaven," where God dwells. See Rev. 2:7; 22:1, 2, 14; 2 Cor. 12:2-4.
But little of Edenic beauty or fertility remained after the flood. All the works of man that had been placed upon the earth were inundated and buried forever out of sight in the breaking up of the earth in the deluge. So complete was this destruction that when the apostle wrote about the visitations which God sent upon the antediluvians, he said, "The world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished."
We now have the earth in its changed form. It is all awry with sin and sadness. A very large proportion of it is now covered with water, leaving but a small part for the habitation of man. Besides this, there is much which now stands out of the water that is covered with rugged hills and mountains. In other parts are waste deserts and burning sands, while still other parts are covered with perpetual snow and ice, and winter reigns in unbroken dominion.
This is the physical condition of the earth now, while its moral condition is much like that which prevailed just before the flood—a seething mass of pollution. What shall be its future?
WILL YOU NOT COME?
By Joel C. Rogers
BY JOEL C. ROGERS.
FRIEND, your heavenly Father gave you life (Acts 17:28); but you have forfeited that life (Rom. 3:23; 6:23).
Without the Saviour you must surely die (Acts 4:12); but Jesus wants you to live (John 10:10).
God has no pleasure in your death (Eze. 33:11); but he greatly desires to save you (1 Tim. 2:3, 4).
Your Father is not even willing for you to perish (2 Peter 3:9); therefore he has made to you the greatest gift of all the universe (John 3:16), because he is full of mercy and goodness (Ex. 34:6), and his very being is love (1 John 4:16).
This way leads to eternal life (John 10:28); every other way leads to eternal death (Prov. 14:12). The ways of the world do not satisfy (Eccl. 1:14); the Lord's way gives complete satisfaction (Acts 2:28). At the end of this way is a home (John 14:2, 3); will you spend eternity with me in that home?
Denmark, Mich.
A LOUD CRY.
By H. A. St. John
BY ELDER H. A. ST. JOHN.
PART ONE.
"And they brought the colt to Jesus, and cast their garments on him; and he sat upon him. And many spread their garments in the way; and others cut down branches of the trees, and strewed them in the way. And they that went before, and they that followed, cried, saying, Hosanna; blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord; blessed be the kingdom of our father David, that cometh in the name of the Lord; hosanna in the highest." Mark 11:7-10.
"And when he was come into Jerusalem, all the city was moved, saying, Who is this? And the multitude said, This is Jesus the prophet of Nazareth of Galilee." Matt. 21:10, 11.
"And some of the Pharisees from among the multitude said unto him, Master, rebuke the disciples. And he answered and said unto them, I tell you that, If these should hold their peace, the stones would immediately cry out." Luke 19:39, 40.
Here was a crying out, a loud cry, given by the disciples at the first advent of Christ, and given, too, in fulfillment of the prophetic word. It was a fitting tribute of praise, thanksgiving, and honor to Christ, the Christian's coming King, a glorious parting tribute to the Son of God just before he left this world, to go into a far country, to receive for himself a kingdom, and to return. This outburst of ecstatic joy had been accumulating in their hearts for years. Long had they thought upon and talked about the day when their Master would become a king. Long had they wanted to make him king, and to shout forth his high praises without let or hindrance. This was the sudden outgush of a long-accumulating reservoir of pent-up joy.
"Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord." True then, every word of it, "Blessed be the kingdom of our father David, that cometh in the name of the Lord." And this was true also. The rightful heir to the kingdom of David, the kingdom of Israel yet to come, was then extolled with shouts of praise. The kingdom of grace was necessary as a place to fit subjects for that glorious literal kingdom of Christ, which, when it comes, will stand forever.
"Hosanna!" That loud cry of the disciples of Christ at his first advent, began and ended with hosanna. To the ear of one who knows its meaning that word is full of joyful praise. It seems to be the one musical word that contains in itself every reason for gratitude and thanksgiving to God that can be conceived. It is praise God for his goodness, all his goodness, and for all his wonderful works to the children of men. Hosanna! How sweet the sound! How such praise from a full heart, and inspired by the Holy Spirit, must have glorified God! Hosanna, save now. Jesus was the one upon whom help had been laid, and who was able to save unto the uttermost then and now.
And the city was moved with that cry, and the inquiry went up from many hearts and lips, "Who is this?"
The disciples, filled with the spirit of inspiration, are heard above all the noise of the crowd, repeating in eloquent strains the prophecies which answered this question. Adam will tell you, It is the seed of the woman that shall bruise the serpent's head. Ask Abraham, he will tell you, It is Melchizedek, King of Salem, King of Peace. Jacob will tell you, He is Shiloh, of the tribe of Judah. Isaiah will tell you, Immanuel, Wonderful, Counselor, The mighty God, The Everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. Jeremiah will tell you, The Branch of David, the Lord, our Righteousness. Daniel will tell you, He is the Messiah. Hosea will tell you, He is the Lord of Hosts, the Lord is his memorial. John the Baptist will tell you, He is the Lamb of God who taketh away the sin of the world. The Great Jehovah has proclaimed from his throne, This is my beloved Son. We, his disciples, declare, This is Jesus, the Messiah; the Prince of Life, the Redeemer of the world. And even the prince of the powers of darkness acknowledges him, saying, "I know thee who thou art, the Holy One of God."
They spread their garments on the colt and in the way. Nothing was too good for Jesus to sit upon or to ride upon. Although the sharp hoofs of the colt might punch holes in their garments and ruin them, what cared they for such trifles when their souls were filled with hosanna, and their glorious Saviour King was in their midst?
And then there were conspicuous unbelievers in that day, persons of religious dignity and high standing, upon whose bigoted sensibilities that loud cry of hosanna grated like saw filing. So disturbed and infuriated were these religious sticklers for human traditions, that, after trying in vain to stop the cry themselves, they appealed to the Master himself to rebuke his disciples. Jesus replied that if these should hold their peace, even the very stones would cry out. This is a most convincing testimony that God was in that cry, for certainly only almighty power could give voice to stones; and the same power that could cause the stones to cry "Hosanna" inspired the people to make that cry. The very selfsame Spirit that could give a message to inanimate stones inspired the utterance of that scriptural message in that glad day.
The prophecy was fulfilled, that loud cry of hosanna was given, and, not long after, the King of Glory left this world, to go into a far country, to receive for himself a kingdom, and to return. The time is about fulfilled, and his triumphant return is at hand; and the true disciples of Jesus are already beginning to swell the loud cry of hosanna. Behold, our King cometh very soon, riding upon the clouds of heaven, in power and great glory!
The whole world will be moved by this loud cry, and thousands of anxious hearts and voices everywhere will be led to inquire, "Who is this?" And the multitude of disciples filled with the Spirit of God will again be heard in triumphant strains, giving utterance to the golden gems of divine truth that sparkle and shine upon the sacred pages of the Holy Bible, from its beginning to its close, prophetic of that event.
Life of Love Is Highest Prayer
ALL can comprehend that a man is praying when he kneels down. . . . But all cannot understand that the highest prayer or communion with God is a life of love.—Robertson.
Gospel Doctrine and Life
By Benjamin Whichcote
WHEN the doctrine of the gospel becomes the reason of our mind, it will be the principle of our life.—Benjamin Whichcote.
CHRISTIAN EDUCATION.
By William Warren Prescott
(Concluded.)
NOW THERE are a few thoughts that I wish to dwell upon in the little time that is left to us, in regard to the relation that should exist between the Bible and the subjects of study, that is, what part the revealed word of God should have in that scheme of study the purpose of which is to lead the student into a more complete knowledge of God as the personal God, Creator, and Redeemer. It is true that, in the first place, these things were written upon the face of nature in God's language just as plainly as they are now written upon the printed page in our language; but, just as the page of the Japanese Bible is really a closed book to me, just so when man lost the ability to read the language of God direct, the book of nature began to be closed to him, and it became necessary, as it were, to translate the language of God upon the leaf of nature to the language of man upon the printed leaf of God's word. How, then, shall we yet be able to understand what is printed in God's language upon this leaf? We must read it as translated into our language upon the printed leaf.
Now, supposing I, being unacquainted with the Japanese language, should take up the Japanese Bible and begin to read to you my idea of what ought to be there, do you suppose I would be very likely to read it correctly? No, the only way that I can know anything of what is printed on that page in the Japanese language is to have it translated into our language. How shall I learn to understand what is written on the leaf of nature in God's language?—It can only be by taking what he himself says is written there, and his saying it in a language that I can read; that is, he adapts it to my power to understand it. I having lost his language, in which there is that complete and perfect revelation of God, he has followed me and has revealed it to me in my language. Now I take my language, which is but the translation of his language, and put his leaf before me, and I read in my language what he says he has written in his language on his leaf, and then I understand the revelation of God in the face of nature. But when I close the written word, and lay that on one side, and attempt to read what God has revealed on the leaf of nature without observing what he himself has told me is there, then I go wrong; and that is the attempt of man to interpret science without the word of God. Now I will read a word upon that point:—
God has permitted a flood of light to be poured upon the world in both science and art; but when professedly scientific men treat upon these subjects from a merely human point of view, they will assuredly come to wrong conclusions. It may be innocent to speculate beyond what God has revealed, if our theories do not contradict facts found in the Scriptures; but those who leave the word of God, and seek to account for his created works upon scientific principles, are drifting, without chart or compass, upon an unknown ocean. The greatest minds, if not guided by the word of God in their research, become bewildered in their attempts to trace the relations of science and revelation. Because the Creator and his works are so far beyond their comprehension that they are unable to explain them by natural laws, they regard Bible history as unreliable. Those who doubt the reliability of the records of the Old and New Testaments, will be led to go a step farther, and doubt the existence of God; and then, having lost their anchor, they are left to beat about upon the rocks of infidelity. These persons have lost the simplicity of faith.
There should be a settled belief in the divine authority of God's holy word. The Bible is not to be tested by men's ideas of science.
In other words, it is like this. Taking God's language upon the leaf, the knowledge of which we have lost, we speculate as to what that is, and, having made up our minds what we think it is, then we require that the direct revelation of him in language that we can understand should be so explained, so adjusted, so modified, that it shall harmonize with our idea of what God has written on this leaf, and not with his own idea. And that, you see, is the difference between true science and false science. All true science is but the interpretation of the handwriting of God in the material universe; but how are we going to know his handwriting when we have lost the ability to read the language?—It must be through the translation. Then we must put that first, and read that leaf [exhibiting leaf of flower] through this leaf [exhibiting Bible]. Then we know we are right, because he has told us so. But when we lay aside this revelation, and seek only to guess, speculate, wonder, and advance as our belief the theories that we may evolve concerning this leaf and the language upon it, we are sure to go astray.
Then what place should the Bible occupy in a true scheme of Christian education?—It should be first, not merely in the fact that everyone should study direct the page of the Bible, not merely in the fact that the Bible should be used as a text-book in which there should be daily study, but in the fact that everything else that is taught in that school should be taught through that word.
I have been trying to present some of these ideas to our instructors at home, to get them to see, as I hope to get myself to see, more clearly how this should come, and we have spent hours and hours studying over these things. Not long since I asked one of them: "What do you think about it now? Do you see these things in any clearer light?" He said, "I think I do, and I want to tell you that you have not a man on your faculty who is educated enough to teach that way." And he was a graduate of a university, too.
It is a fact, too. No man can teach as God would have him teach if he is not acquainted with God in his word and his works, no matter what he teaches, because what he teaches is God all the time. The purpose is to obtain a knowledge of God, and he cannot lead the students to see God where he does not see him; and he cannot teach them to read the handwriting of God where he cannot read it.
MYSTERY OF GOD versus MYSTERY OF INIQUITY.
It is surprising, and it will surprise us more and more, too, as we study these things, to see how in every line of nature there is a revelation of God; and you will see if you study it that in this matter of education, just as in these matters that we have been teaching from the Book of God, there is the same mystery of iniquity, and that is the form without the thing itself. Now certain facts of science are taught, but God is left out. God is not taught in all these things. We have advanced courses of study; we have every facility that the ingenuity of man can invent to teach the rising generation; but while we have such an abundance of the form, the real life of the thing has been left out. God has been left out, and, instead of building one up in God, as true education ought to do, and
as true learning does, it builds one up in self, just as the mystery of iniquity does. It is the same idea, and it is the same devil that is doing it all.
Well, Christian education should be just as different from that kind of education as true religion with the power is different from the form of godliness without the power; and, just as only one who knows in his own soul the power of God can teach that to others, so only he who has himself learned to see God and to read God in everything can teach God in everything to others. And, instead of the idea going abroad that Seventh-day Adventist schools are to be merely a cheap missionary school, with a kind of slur cast upon it, instead of our sympathizing with that idea, and thinking that if we want a real complete education we must go to some renowned institution, Seventh-day Adventists ought to know that, if the schools which have been established among us in the order of God's providence are doing the work God designs them to do, they will there get the best education in the world; and if they are not doing it they are not meeting God's mind in the matter. That is the truth of it.
The point is just this, that, when it is put upon the right basis, it is the privilege of every Christian student in a Christian school to have the direct aid of the Spirit of God, and the aid of those "ministering spirits that are sent forth to minister to them who shall be heirs of salvation," in his daily study of God, as it is his privilege when listening to the presentation of the truth of God to have that Spirit to enlighten his mind there. What he is to learn in both places is the true knowledge of God,—to learn it on that basis that leads to an increased love and loyalty to God.
THE DESIRABLE THING.
And it is not massive buildings, although they are very desirable; it is not a wealth of apparatus, although that is very desirable; it is not extensive grounds, although they are very desirable, that necessarily gives to one a knowledge of God. He who sits down alone with this leaf, and that leaf, and God, can obtain more true education than he who sits down without that leaf at the feet of the most learned men in the world. But it requires some faith to believe that.536
Now it will require just as much of real faith in God for Seventh-day Adventist parents to say: "I would rather have my son or daughter taught in a school that does not have this world-wide reputation, I would rather have my son or daughter taught on that basis, even though it be in a school that has no worldly note, than that he should receive a diploma from the highest institution in the world where God and his goodness and his love are not taught on this basis." Now you know this is so. You know that there is a great drawing power in the idea that a son or a daughter shall be a graduate of some wealthy institution, with a world-wide reputation; and it requires faith in God to take his statement as to what constitutes a Christian education, and act upon it, just the same as it takes faith in God to accept the statement as to what constitutes the Christian Sabbath, and act upon it. And the reformation that God would have us conduct upon the line of education is just as distinct as the reform that he would have us conduct upon health principles, and the principles of the gospel.
They all go together; and it is because religion has been separated from the idea of education, and it is thought that we must send the children to the Sabbath school to learn of God, and to the schools to learn the sciences, that this trouble has come about in true education. And it is because they have been separated that so many have been led away from the real knowledge of God, and have lost him out of their minds and experience, while they have been building themselves up in their own selfish wisdom and self-righteousness.
Now I do not care to take anybody's time to find fault; but I would present the better way, and then you may choose; and, to my mind, true Christian education, and the education that we are responsible before God to give to our children, is that which every day and in every lesson presents directly the knowledge of God; and we cannot estimate the value of the character that grows up when built upon such material as this. Now the very reason why at the present time we see such a spirit of insubordination in the world, such a lawless spirit, such a disregard of constituted authority, is because the young people of the last generation have not been trained correctly concerning these things. It starts in the family with the children before they are old enough either to speak or to walk. But where has this begun?—It began clear back in that idea (and it is the old idea of Satan), Do away with the law of God, and when you have undermined respect for the authority of God, you have undermined respect for all authority, both human and divine. And it is that education of the last half century, in order to get rid of the authority of God, that has brought upon the world at the present time this spirit of lawlessness and insubordination, and this constitutional unwillingness to yield to any constituted authority. It is in the family, in the school, in the State, and in everything; and the root of the evil is in the wrong education.
You see that we have but just touched this subject. But there is the idea that I would like to have impressed, for you to carry with you, that all true education, all true teaching, is to bring to the mind the knowledge of God as the personal God, the Creator of all things, as revealed in Jesus Christ as our Saviour and Redeemer, and that we are to study him in the face of nature, and that we are to study him and find our interpretation of him in the Book of revelation which he has given us in our language, in order that we may be able to read what he has said to us in his language.
IMPORTANT TEMPERANCE TESTIMONY.
In a recent revision of their discipline the Society of Friends bears the following testimony relative to intoxicants, tobacco, and the acts of corporations:—
As the granting of licenses to sell intoxicants is contrary to the best interests of society, Friends are earnestly entreated to bear a faithful testimony, by precept and example, against a system which gives to individuals the sanction of government to engage in such a business.
As the use of tobacco is injurious in its effects, especially upon the young, it is earnestly advised that Friends abstain, and encourage their children and those under their care to abstain, from the use of this narcotic in any of its various forms, and also that Friends do not engage in its cultivation, manufacture, or sale. And, realizing that danger attends the use of all intoxicants, narcotics, and opiates, Friends are advised to be cautious in the use of them as a medicine, as the appetite acquired grows with the indulgence.
We desire to warn our members who are managers or stockholders of incorporated companies to be careful how they assume that acts which would be improper for them as individuals are allowable in such companies.