Earlier text: THE TIME IS FULFILLEDChristians and Grangers.
By John Matteson
Christians should not be Grangers. Christians should take the Bible alone as their rule of faith and practice in religious matters. This is the guide that Christ has given them. But the rules and principles of the Grange are not in harmony with the Bible, which will clearly appear when we compare the two. This article is not written to show that men should not belong to the Grange, but to show, that those who keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus cannot become Patrons of Husbandry (or Grangers) without violating the principles of the sacred truth of God. Many join them for the sole purpose of saving a little money in buying their farming tools and other necessary articles, being unacquainted with their principles and practices. Many things are kept secret. These people unite with something that is unknown to them. This is the first wrong step. The Bible tells us to prove things before we accept them. 1 Thess. 5:21. We present this for information. The following extracts and references are taken from books published for the Grange, and can thus be relied upon:— 1. The Constitution of the Grange conflicts with the duty of Christians. Art. 8, Primary Membership, reads as follows:— “Any person engaged in agricultural pursuits, and having no interest in conflict with our purposes, of the age of sixteen years, duly proposed, elected, and complying with the rules and regulations of the order, is entitled to membership and the benefits of the degrees taken.” This shows that every person above sixteen, engaged in farming, can be a member of the Grange, if he (or she) will comply with the rules. None of these rules demand that the person shall be a Christian. Wherefore many Grangers also state that their society is perfectly harmless and free from all sectarianism, so that unbelievers, infidels, Jews, and Gentiles, can all alike become members. Let us bear this in mind. The Bible does not teach us to unite with unbelievers, and join hands with infidels. “What concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel?” “Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, . . . and I will receive you.” 2 Cor. 6:15, 17. To come out from unbelievers and infidels cannot mean to unite with them in special, intimate membership, and to congregate with them evening after evening and participate in their folly. 2. The Grangers encourage music and dancing in their gatherings, which necessarily leads to lightness and trifling in a company of unbelievers and worldly men and women. Concerning the degree of Harvester at “G 3” we read in the “Patron’s Monitor,” p. 18:— “To crown the labors of the day in innocent recreation, the Steward calls off the harvest dance, and thus ends the ceremony.” “Songs for the Grange,” on p. 17, show how this dance is to be carried on, as follows:— “Harvest Dance. 1. Forward and back. 2. Cross over. 3. Chassez. 4. Back to places. 5. Grand circle round. 6. Balance. 7. All promenade. 8. First two down the center. Next, &c. 9. Cross over. 10. Swing. 11. Back to places. 12. Balance. 13. Swing. 14. All promenade. Seats.” Those who can unite in such proceedings (or encourage and uphold them by their membership) in a promiscuous crowd of worldlings and infidels, must certainly be backslidden from their love of Jesus—the man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. They cannot have much fellowship with the Holy Spirit if they can enjoy themselves in such company and proceedings. They certainly do not appear much to others as men waiting for the coming of their Lord. 3. The initiation of laborers is performed in a manner that is perfectly silly and unbecoming for a Christian. This is the same as taking the first degree. According to the “Manual of Subordinate Grangers,” issued by the National Grange, fourth edition, the room is arranged thus: A. (altar) is placed in the middle. O. (Overseer) in the end joining the preparation room and anteroom, with S. (Steward) on his left hand and A. S. (Assistant Steward) and L. A. S. (Lady Assistant Steward) on the right. In the opposite end of the room three ladies are placed—representative goddesses—named F. (Flora, the goddess of flowers), C. (Ceres, the goddess of the grain), and P. (Pomona, the goddess of fruit). The remaining four officers are M. (Master), Chaplain, Lecturer, and Secretary, who are seated, two on one side, and two on the other side of the room. Still G. K. (Gate keeper) remains, who stands by the door of the anteroom and leads candidates into this worthy assembly. The fee of admission is $5.00 for men, $2.00147 for women, and the regular contribution 10c. a month. We will now quote further from “The Patron’s Monitor,” p. 13:— “The furniture necessary in furnishing a room to confer the first degree, is a pair of steps three steps high. . . . The lower one is a platform 3 feet by 5, 8 in. rise, the second 3x3, the third 1x3. “On the floor and opposite the steps is placed the plowed ground, made of ten yards of cotton cloth, sewed up so that when the folds are filled with hay or shavings they will present ridges six or eight inches thick, running across the cloth. When not in use, roll up and keep out of sight. “The obstructions consist of six or eight round sticks of wood, placed so as to be passed over by candidates just before reaching the plowed ground. The narrow ditch is crossed by means of two boards four feet long, nailed on two pieces of 2x4 scantling at the ends, and placed just after the steps.” The book further states that the candidate is blindfolded closely in the preparation room and led out by the A. S. once fully around the Grange room and afterwards over the steps, narrow ditch, obstructions, and plowed ground. Then he takes the obligation (or oath, by the altar, repeating the words after the M., in the presence of the three representative goddesses, F., C. & P.) and is at last led back to the preparation room, where the blindfold is removed. Meanwhile S. clears the floor. When he is ready the candidate is again admitted. Now look for a moment at these silly proceedings. It takes four tools to make a young Granger. They consist of boards, sticks, scantling, cotton cloth and shavings. The silly candidate stumbles along blindfolded, led by A. S., while the whole company is looking at him, over these so-called steps, ditch, obstructions, and plowed ground, and when he returns with his eyes open, he sees nothing, but looks with astonishment, a new-born Granger, into this wonderful Granger-world, which is now open before him (or her). He must certainly feel grand—after having endured the examination and taken the oath—to be permitted to sit down among his brothers and sisters, all robed in regalia; that is, a small yellow apron, about the size of the bottom of a half-bushel measure—with nice red binding, and a broad piece of the same kind over the shoulder. The apron of the sisters is some larger. This looks to me more like children’s play than like the proceedings of sensible people. But, say they, these things are emblems of something higher. Yes, so they are, foolish emblems. And this leads me to consider another point:— 4. The proceedings of the Grange involve lying, hypocrisy, and blasphemy. After the candidate has stopped the second time at L., has been saluted from all by clapping of hands, received the card, heard Chaplain’s lecture, stopped half way between L. and O., where they are met by S., representing Ignorance, has passed to O. and been instructed from the M. S., he is finally addressed by M. as follows:— “As you no doubt discovered, it (the road) is rough and full of obstructions; but feeling confidence in your guide, you came safely through. This is but an example of faith, and emblematic of a higher confidence in a Supreme Being. We are constantly passing blindfold over obstacles in the field of life, confidently believing we shall ultimately arrive at the broad and pleasant fields of the paradise above.”—Supplement to Manual, p. 1. These so-called emblems and proceedings signify, then, according to their own exposition, that they have confidence in God, and a firm hope of arriving at the paradise above. This is, of course, stated concerning all candidates according to rules. Then worldlings, unbelievers, and infidels (for such are the majority of the members of the Grange), profess to have faith in God, and to be on their way to the paradise above. But infidels do not have confidence in God, neither are they on their way to that paradise which they utterly reject and despise. Then the candidate, standing at the altar, with the right hand over the heart, repeats the oath after M. The pledge or oath commences thus: “In the presence of the Heavenly Father and these witnesses, I do hereby pledge my sacred honor that I will never reveal any of the secrets of this order, or communicate them, or any part of them, to any person in the world, unless I am satisfied by strict test, or in some legal manner, that they are lawfully entitled to receive them,” &c. Finally, it is stated on p. 2:— “The sign of this degree signifies that ‘a good laborer places faith in God.’” The same is stated about the maid after she has gone through the performance, and a wreath of plain grass has been placed on her head:— “The sign signifies that we place faith in God.”—Page 4. When a woman is initiated, she is covered with a garment (or should be according to the printed rules of the Grange), called a cloak (a fit symbol of hypocrisy). Before this is removed, she is addressed by S. as follows:— “Sister, you entered here blindfolded and covered with that garment. Before you were placed ignorance and knowledge. You were allowed to choose for yourself; though in darkness, you chose wisely and found light. Wearing that garment is to teach you that those we admit into our circle are not chosen by outward appearance, and that we are not deceived by display in dress.” This language plainly indicates that display in dress is something calculated to deceive men, and that they consequently do not approve of it, nor of outward extravagant appearance. But who ever saw a woman becoming less extravagant in dress by turning Granger? They probably never thought of such a thing being involved in their own profession. Their regular songs and speeches contain frequent allusions to the disembodied-spirit doctrine, which a believer in immortality only through Christ and the resurrection can have no fellowship with. I quote a few lines from “Songs of the Grange,” p. 36:— “Forget not the dead, who have loved, who have left us,
Who bend o’er us now from their bright homes above;
But believe—never doubt—that God who bereft us,
Permits them to mingle with friends they still love.” “Then forget not the dead, who are evermore nigh us,
Still floating sometimes to our dream-haunted beds,
In the loneliest hour, in the crowd, they are by us;
Forget not the dead—O forget not the dead.” This is only second to spiritualism. We call attention, further, to the trifling manner in which the name of God is used and intermingled with the silliest ceremonies. Especially is this seen in the funeral ceremony. After many ceremonies and religious speeches, which we have not room for here, the coffin is lowered. M. makes a remark according to rule, and takes up a handful of earth and sprinkles it in the grave. Then comes the following:— “Chaplain. Almighty God, we give thee hearty thanks for the good examples of all those thy servants who, having finished their course in faith, do now rest from their labors. And we beseech thee, that we, with all those who are now departed in the true faith of thy holy name, may have our perfect consummation and bliss, both in body and soul, in thy eternal and everlasting glory, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
“All. Amen.
“Chaplain. May the grace of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ be with us all now and evermore.
“All. Amen.”—Manual, p. 63. Amen means verily. The people, by saying “amen,” agree to all that the Chaplain has said. When worldlings, unbelievers, and infidels thus call Jesus Christ their Lord, and are ordered to do so by the rules of their Grange, how much is that short of blasphemy? Many of these people will go away from the funeral and swear by the Lord, and ridicule the sacred name of Jesus. And the chaplain himself may be an infidel for aught that the rules of the Grange provide. What mock worship and hypocrisy? It is true that there is a great deal of such hypocrisy in the world, even among the churches; but this does not make it less sinful for the Grangers, nor for any one who participates in it for the sake of saving a little money in this world. When men and women who profess to be waiting for the coming of Christ run after such folly, it is evident that they have lost their first love, and that Christ and his truth can no longer satisfy them. They hanker after something else. May the Lord help all who have backslidden to return to him, and to believe that living near to the Lord brings more heavenly and earthly profit than all human inventions. Winter and Old Age: Looking Toward Eternity
Winter, that strips the leaves from around us, makes us see the distant regions they formerly concealed; so does old age rob us of our enjoyment only to exchange it for the prospect of eternity before us. Intoxicating Wine at the Lord's Supper.
By T. B. Welch, M. D.
LET me ask my brethren to ponder the following, to my mind, serious objections to the use of intoxicating wine at the celebration of the Lord's supper. I believe they will then earnestly seek to dispense with it, and use the simple, pure, unfermented “fruit of the vine”—the innocent, unvitiated, unintoxicating “blood of the grape.” 1. Intoxicating wine at the sacrament of the Lord's supper is certainly an offense to those whose taste is unperverted. How many I have heard complain of its disgusting taste and smell, and declare that they take it only as they take noxious medicine—because they think it a duty! Should we thus needlessly offend? 2. It perverts the taste, so that this repugnance to it is gradually overcome, till finally a liking is engendered that is abnormal, pernicious, unsafe, sometimes causing drunkenness and destroying body and soul. Brethren, is this wise? 3. It is imminently dangerous to the reformed inebriate—especially if he still locks arms with its bosom companion, tobacco—his appetite for alcohol is not destroyed; it sleeps. The very taste, or even smell, of this deadly poison will, therefore, sometimes irresistibly arouse the appetite, and lead the victim to destruction. We have sad instances of this, and also of many who, from fear of this, avoid the sacrament as a dangerous place. Brethren, is this right? 4. It tends to make intoxicating wine respectable. The association of whisky, rum, and gin, with bar-rooms and vulgar revelings, degrades these to the level of obscenity and crime, so that they are repulsive to the Christian's very instinct; but the association of wine (which is just as truly intoxicating) with the house of God and the holy sacrament elevates it to something akin to sacredness, and thus tends to give it respectability as a common beverage. Brethren, is not this so? 5. It cripples the influence of the church in the temperance cause; for it is inconsistent for Christians to exhort sinners to “abstain from all that can intoxicate,” upon the plea that all intoxicants are a poison and a curse, and yet, at the same time, invite every man, woman, and child of the church to drink one of the most popular and therefore the most dangerous of them all! and this as a religious duty! How can we meet this glaring inconsistency? 6. It is making a sacred use of a wine which God has cursed. It must be clear that there are two very distinct classes of wine described in the Bible, though both are translated by the same name; one unfermented, non-alcoholic, and therefore innocent and approved; and the other fermented, or alcoholic, and therefore poisonous and condemned—one used as the emblem of God's blessing, the other of his wrath. Brethren, is the latter the wine for the Lord's table? 7. Fermented wine, when used to typify the shed blood of the crucified One, is false in its character. The process of fermentation is the process of putrefaction; the result is the poisonous cup of death. It is not this, but the wine as taken from the fresh, ripe grape, that is made typical of the pure, living blood of the Lamb of God, the drinking of which imparts life eternal. Brethren, is it not revolting—nigh blasphemous—to give to him that would sup with his Lord “the cup of his wrath” in place of “the cup of his blessing?” 8. The use of fermented wine as commemorative of our Saviour's last passover supper, is inconsistent, both as to the nature of the wine and the character of the occasion it is used to celebrate. For fifteen hundred years the Jews had symbolized the eating the body and drinking the blood of the Lamb of God, using at this feast only that which was unleavened. How could Christ then have used any other than the unfermented, fresh “fruit of the vine?” Brethren, should we not now symbolize the fresh, flowing, life-giving blood of the Son of God by using the wine as handed us by his Father in the pure “blood of the grape,” unvitiated by the poisonous process of putrefaction? 9. It is unnecessary to use fermented wine. The approved, innocent, delicious wine, commended in the Scriptures, can be made now as well as in ancient times. Every housewife preserves the fruit—the same process will preserve the juice.—T. B. Welch, M. D.
Vineland, N. J. If everybody should do “to-morrow” all he promised to do, the millennium would commence at once. The world would then be a paradise. “Hell,” says an old proverb, “is paved with good intentions.” So is to-morrow—paved, and thickly paved, with them. We have never yet known a person who did not intend to do some good or great thing to-morrow. Not to-day, mind you—which is the best time to do nearly everything—but to-morrow. To-day is too near. To-day calls for immediate exertion. To-day suggests “indecent haste.” To-day precludes reflection. To-day we have something else to think of. To-day is no day at all. But to-morrow, we are ready, all of us, for anything. To-morrow we will work wonders. To-morrow we will do what ought to have been done yesterday, which might have been done to-day, but which to-morrow must be done. So hurrah for to-morrow! This is the cry of the world—Hurrah for to-morrow! We are all ready to leave off drinking to-morrow; to pay our debts to-morrow; to begin a new life to-morrow; everything to-morrow, but nothing to-day. To-day is too soon for anything; that is to say, for anything good. We will do our bad things to-day, and our good things to-morrow. We are all glib enough in quoting the Scripture text: “Now is the accepted time,” but putting it into practice is another matter. That we leave to our neighbors who, in turn, leave it to us. Thus it is, the great vice of communities and of all individuals is procrastination, which is not only the “thief of time,” as Dr. Young has it, but the thief of everything—the thief of thieves. The poet Dryden, reflecting on this tendency to put off everything till to-morrow, exclaims bitterly:— “When I consider life, ’tis all a cheat,
Yet fooled with hope, men favor the deceit,
Trust on and think to-morrow will repay;
To-morrow’s falser than the former day,
Dies worse, and while it says we shall be blest,
With some new joys, cuts off what we possess.” The same poet, writing in a more cheerful strain, expresses himself thus:— “Happy the man, and happy he alone,
He who can call to-day his own,
He who, secure within, can say,
To-morrow do thy worst! for I have lived to-day.” We might fill this whole column with extracts from poets, philosophers, and prophets, warning us against this terrible vice—this all but crime—of deferring our good deeds until to-morrow. The Bible is full of such warnings. Moreover, we have examples of its disastrous effects all around us—examples, not only in the moral world, but in the material world. Enough of the products of the soil, for instance, are destroyed every year by procrastination, to feed the whole human race. And so in all departments of life. The farmer neglects his farm; the merchant neglects his store; the lawyer neglects his clients; the doctor neglects his patients; the mechanic neglects his work; the house-wife, her house—and all from this insane idea that to-morrow will set everything right. But for weakening their faith in a future state, we should be tempted to teach our children that there is absolutely no such thing as to-morrow. We would blot the very word out of existence. In the large sense of things there is, in fact, no to-morrow. Our life on earth is but one long or short to-day. And in His eyes with whom a day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day, eternity itself is but an everlasting now. One thing, at any rate, is certain, namely, that, taking the common view of to-morrow, no one of us is sure ever to see another; and so long as— “To-morrow, and to-morrow, and to-morrow,
Creeps in this pretty pace from day to day,
To the last syllable of recorded time”— no living soul can be sure to see another. Wherefore saith Congreve:— “Defer not till to-morrow to be wise;
To-morrow’s sun to thee may never rise.” If children were brought up from their infancy with this lesson constantly before their eyes—in words, at least, if not in deeds—it would save the world a vast deal of trouble, pain, waste, and mischief. It is a lesson that should be inscribed on the walls of every nursery, every school-house, every work-shop, and every church, in the land. Dr. Young’s famous verse upon it—which seems hardly so familiar to the present generation as it was to the past—should be committed to memory, and cited and recited in all our families, and all our academies until its words are branded, as it were, on the brain. Just peruse them, now, good reader, and learn them by heart, if not by heart. They are not often quoted correctly, but here they are in authentic shape. They were written a hundred and thirty years ago, and are from the first part of “The Complaint, or Night Thoughts.” “Be wise to-day; ’tis madness to defer;
Next day, the fatal precedent will plead;
Thus on till wisdom is pushed out of life.
Procrastination is the thief of time;
Year after year it steals, till all are fled,
And to the mercies of a moment leaves
The vast concerns of an eternal scene.
If not so frequent, would not this be strange?
That ’tis so frequent, this is stranger still.”
—Seb. Leave Off Whining: A Word to Complainers
There is a class of persons whose peculiarity is whining. They whine because they are poor; or, if rich, because they have no health to enjoy their riches; they whine because it is too shiny; they whine because they have “no luck,” and others’ prosperity exceeds theirs; they whine because they have aches and pains, and they have aches and pains because they whine, and they whine no one can tell why. Now we would like to say a word to these whining persons: Leave off whining; it is no use. These habits are more exhausting to nervous vitality than almost any other violation of physiological law. And do you not know that life is pretty much as you make it and take it? You can make it bright and sunshiny, or you can make it dark and shadowy. This life is only meant to discipline us—to fit us for a higher and purer state of being. Then leave off whining and fretting, and go on your way rejoicing.