Earlier text: Contents of the Earthquake SpecialChristianity in the Old Testament
In these days when so many are asserting that there was no Christianity in the Old Testament, it is helpful to read the following paragraph taken from the Lutheran Witness:— Professor Fiebig is altogether wrong when he says that the substance and essence of Judaism “as officially taught in the Old Testament” is legalism. The essence of Judaism as taught by the Talmud is legalism; but the doctrine of the Old Testament and the doctrine of the Talmud differ as the true from the false. He who reads the Old Testament so blindly as not to see that in promise, in ritual, in type, and in prophecy, the Messiah who should save his people from their sin is held up to the eye of faith of those who groaned and were heavy laden under a law that they could not keep—whoever does not find in the Old Testament the gospel message of the forgiveness of sin through the blood of the Lamb of God, needs illumination from the Spirit of God before he can pose as an interpreter of the Old Testament. Augustine was right when he said: “The New Testament lies concealed in the Old, and the Old Testament is revealed in the New.” “It is the unexpected that happens” even in the ordinary affairs of the world; and while in ordinary affairs this statement may not be strictly true, it is always true in the dealings of God with those who do not have faith in his Word. Those who set their own reason above faith are doomed to a grievous surprise. The antediluvian world did not believe the preaching of Noah that the earth would be overwhelmed by a flood. Such talk was nonsense to them. Their reason was against it; science, as they expounded it, was against it; history was against it. The wise men of that time demonstrated the impossibility of such a thing. The people rested secure in the belief that Noah was but a misguided fanatic. But there came a day when all their confidence suddenly vanished. “The flood came, and took them all away.” Lot went through the city of Sodom one night and warned his relatives there that the city was about to be destroyed by fire from heaven. To them his statements were but the hallucinations of a crazy man. “He seemed as one that mocked unto his sons-in-law.” The possibility of such an improbable event was not worth their consideration. But the destruction came, nevertheless. The seemingly impossible event was just the thing that happened. The words of God are foolishness to the person who does not exercise faith. The prophecies and warnings which are sent of God are to the unbeliever but a mere outburst of fanaticism. And when these prophecies are fulfilled, the unbeliever is always taken completely by surprise. It is only by faith that we can gain a knowledge of things to come. To residents of San Francisco, what could have seemed more improbable, on the seventeenth of April last, than the statement that on the following day many fine mansions of the wealthy people there would be deliberately and intentionally destroyed by the government troops? No one would have believed it for a moment. Yet it happened. And other things equally strange and unexpected are to happen. Upon the unbelieving, destruction is to come “suddenly.” No researches of science, no deductions of reason, can prepare an individual for the scenes that will attend the closing up of God’s controversy with sin in the world. Only by faith can such a preparation be obtained. “Now the just shall live by faith.” SIR OLIVER LODGE, “the great English physicist,” describes six kinds of Christianity, and then adds a seventh, his own, which he affirms embodies the essential truth of all pagan and of all other religions. One of his reviewers defines this latest kind of Christianity thus: “That seventh form of Christianity is the pantheistic, which recognizes Christ as divine, because it sees in him the highest point yet reached of the manifestation of the God who is immanent in all things.” Thus again does it appear that the doctrine of an immanent God is pantheistic in its nature and tendency. There is no place for such teaching in this message. Filled With the Fruits of Righteousness
By Ellen G. White
“And this I pray, that your love may abound yet more and more in knowledge and in all judgment; that ye may approve things that are excellent; that ye may be sincere and without offense till the day of Christ; being filled with the fruits of righteousness, which are by Jesus Christ, unto the glory and praise of God.” The Lord presents before his finite creatures no impossibilities. Our Heavenly Father claims not at our hands that which we can not perform. He desires his people to labor earnestly to carry out his purpose for them. They are to pray for power, expect power, and receive power, that they may grow up into the full stature of men and women in Christ Jesus. Not all the members of the church are cultivating personal piety; therefore they do not understand their personal responsibility. They do not realize that it is their privilege and duty to reach the high standard of Christian perfection. God is not well pleased when all the burden-bearing is done by a few members of the church, whose physical and spiritual powers are taxed to the utmost of their ability in their effort to counteract the influence of the worldly minded, halting, doubting ones. If those so lacking in piety and earnestness would seek to learn the lessons contained in God’s Word, and would feel it their duty to practise these lessons, there would be more power in the church. Every member would seek to improve his talents. The light would not be hidden under a bushel, but placed on a candlestick, and its clear, steady rays would shine forth to dispel the darkness. We are in great need of the pure, life-giving atmosphere that nurtures and invigorates the spiritual life. We need greater earnestness. The solemn message given us to give to the world is to be proclaimed with greater fervency, even with an intensity that will impress unbelievers, leading them to see that the Most High is working with us, that he is the source of our efficiency and strength. We are not accomplishing one third of what God desires us to accomplish, because careless, ease-loving church-members shirk responsibilities, leaving them to be borne by a few willing ones. But God has not appointed a few to do all the praying, all the watching, all the believing, all the warning and entreating, while the majority look on, taking no part in the great work. Many who claim to be children of God are only a burden to the church. God has given them capabilities which, if properly used, would enable them to be a great help in his work. He expects them to be colaborers with Christ. Their inexcusable indolence is causing them to be recorded in the books of heaven as unfaithful servants. The “well done” will be spoken to those only who are earnest, faithful workers. Shall this state of indifference continue from year to year? Are we looking forward to the latter rain, confidently hoping for a better day, when the church shall be endued with power from on high, and thus fitted for work? The latter rain will never refresh and invigorate the indolent, who do not use the powers God has given them. Is Christ always to be disappointed in the beings he has redeemed at an infinite cost? The power of a higher, purer, nobler life is our great need. God’s people are to be filled with holy joy, that its radiance may shine forth from them, brightening the pathway of others. What power, what peace, what joy, the soul may have that is united with Christ. The divine splendor is revealed to those who commune with him who is the source of power. We know little of the peace and happiness and joy of heaven. We need more efficiency. We need to receive from Christ the water of life, that it may be in us a well of water, refreshing all who come within the sphere of our influence. It is not spiritual laziness that will bring us near to God, but Christian devotion, personal piety, intelligent advancement in the knowledge of Christ. We shall be filled with the fruits of righteousness. There is a higher standard for us to reach. The world has too much of our thought, and the kingdom of heaven too little. God has given us talents to be used in the upbuilding of his kingdom. Are we betraying this solemn trust? Do we ask ourselves the question, How am I using the talents my Lord has given me? Have you given to earthly things strength of purpose, tact, and skill, and to God only a feeble, diseased service? Will he accept this at your hand? Shall the eternal be made secondary to the temporal? Are we doing our appointed work? Are we showing forth in our lives the praises of Him who has called us out of darkness into his marvelous light? Is Christ dwelling in our hearts? Are we not falling far short in our duty? If we are doers of the word, and not hearers only, we shall be whole-hearted in our efforts to make his name a praise in the earth. Christ tells us to pray with unshaken faith, “Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done on earth, as it is in heaven.” These words will surely be fulfilled. Work to the utmost of your ability to answer this prayer. You will then feel so weighty a responsibility resting upon you that you will put away from you all selfishness, all sloth, all indifference. You will rid yourselves of all that Satan could take advantage of in his efforts to defeat Christ’s prayer. We have no time to listen to the suggestions of the foe. At our baptism we pledged ourselves to break all connection with Satan and his agencies, and to put heart and mind and soul into the work of extending the kingdom of God. All heaven is working for this object. The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are pledged to co-operate with sanctified human instrumentalities. If we are true to our vow, there is opened to us a door of communication with heaven,—a door that no human hand or satanic agency can close. We are to despair at nothing in the line of progression. Moral and spiritual perfection, through the grace and power of Christ, is promised to all who believe. At every step we are to ask for the help of Christ. He is the model we are to follow in character building. He calls for deeds, not words, saying, “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.” “Do unto others as you would they should do unto you”—this is to be our rule of life. Christ is the source of light, the fountain of life. He brings us to his word, and from the tree of life presents to us leaves for the healing of the nations. It is his purpose that human beings, purified and sanctified, shall be his helping hand. He leads us to the throne of God, and gives us a prayer to offer to him. When we live this prayer, we are brought into close contact with Christ; at every step we touch his living power. In our behalf he sets in operation the all-powerful agencies of heaven. My brother, my sister, are you carrying a burden for the unsaved? Do you know what it means to be a Christian? Not ministers only, are to know what saith the Lord. All are permitted to enter the door opened by the sacrifice of Christ. Not ministers only, but all who9 take their stand under the blood-stained banner of Prince Emmanuel, are to work for the Master, presenting to the sin-sick the wonderful gospel remedy. Is your faith practical? Are you doing what the Bible tells you to do? Are you using all your powers in an effort to bring the lost sheep back to the fold? There are thousands upon thousands in ignorance who might be warned. Pray as you have never prayed before for the power of Christ. Pray for the inspiration of his Spirit, that you may be filled with a desire to save those who are perishing. Let the prayer ascend to heaven, “God be merciful unto us, and bless us; and cause his face to shine upon us; that thy way may be known upon earth, thy saving health among all nations.” The Pillar of the Cloud
By Priscilla Leonard
“ALL sunshine makes the desert,”
The Arab proverb says;
The verdure and the harvest
Come through the rainy days;
The flowers in their fragrance,
The forests in their pride,
Come through the clouds that darken,
The storm which rages wide. “All sunshine makes the desert.”
The soul that knows not pain
Lies in its careless blisses,
And barren must remain.
Not till the storm-clouds gather,
Not till the tempests break,
Can seeds of greatness quicken,
Can powers of good awake. “All sunshine makes the desert.”
The highest ends of life
Lie not within its raptures,
But on through stress and strife;
And all our noblest powers
Of faith and hope and love
Come with the falling showers
From out God's heaven above. —Priscilla Leonard, in Youth's Companion. The Great California Earthquake
By Adriel
A Sunday in Oakland and San Francisco — April 22, 1906 The streets of Oakland were like a holiday-celebration occasion—crowded. Special police and State militia were in evidence everywhere. Nearly every other man one met wore a badge, sometimes two and three and four—“Special Police,” “Relief Committee,” the “Red Cross,” and that of the particular order, perhaps, to which he belonged. And then there were many officials, some decidedly officious, others meeting the demands of the occasion with coolness and courtesy. Some of the streets were closed with ropes and special police. Buildings were dangerous, some of them much worse than they appeared to be. Great brick, stone, and wood cornices were in the streets, splendid plate-glass windows were shattered, and erstwhile solid brick and stone walls were broken and unsafe. All the fine school buildings of Oakland were greatly damaged. The church parlors of all houses of worship that were available were converted into soup kitchens and bedrooms for the refugees from San Francisco. Oakland, though wounded, was nobly forgetting her own injuries for the sake of others who had lost their all. Said the director of the Chabot Observatory, “I told them that the reception and assembly rooms of the observatory were open.” While walking a little way with two young men, each with a roll of blankets swung over his shoulder, we were met by a lady who said, “Excuse me, gentlemen, are you in need of dinner? If you are, there is a warm meal for you at the church right round the corner; and it is good, too, and perfectly free.” And such we met everywhere. Thank God, the mercenary spirit of the age has not wholly dried up the milk of human kindness. Yet there will be hundreds who will abuse the hospitality of Oakland and neighboring towns, and continue to stay and feed upon their generosity when they ought to be at work, and then these cities will be charged with niggardliness. Incidentally in this connection, San Jose suffered fearfully. Some of her finest buildings were ruined by the mighty trembler, yet thousands fled from San Francisco to that place, and the “Garden City” housed, tented, parked, and fed them, with none of the eastern supplies flowing to her. She ought to have a share in them. “How can I get from Oakland to San Francisco?” I asked of several. “Get a pass.” “How? Where? When?” “Go to the city hall, fall into line with those applying, and wait your turn. They may make you work, however. It is martial law over there; and they indiscriminately force men into service at the point of the bayonet, demanding from two to six hours’ work.” Hon. C. F. Curry, California’s secretary of state, was so conscripted, and made to labor, till an army official recognized him and ordered his release. The irresponsible soldier respected no one, and shot men with little or no provocation. Yet I concluded to go. I fell into line at 7:30 A. M. Men had already been there for two hours, and there were probably a thousand ahead of me. That line lasted all day nearly. After two hours more I reached the examiners; a fourth of the line, perhaps, were turned down; the rest were granted passes for the day only. After passing this examination, we were told to pass into a room and wait till our names were called. There were a hundred, more or less, waiting. I was getting impatient to go on. A new inspiration struck me. I broke from the ranks, sent my card to the governor, an old neighbor who knew me, and in five minutes received a personal, permanent pass in and out of the military lines of San Francisco, per order of the governor, signed by Adjutant-General Lauchs, and I was off. I had heard of the city’s desolation, of the work wrought by earthquake and fire. I had witnessed ruins and gazed upon pictures of more extensive ruins of the gray and olden past, but the terrible realities of San Francisco eclipsed them all. Those I had seen only as ruins. “The Queen City of the West” I had known in her glory and pride. The language of my heart was, “My God, what destruction, what desolation, what ruin, thou hast permitted to come!” Only the language of the prophets of old is adequate to tell of the awfulness of the scene. And yet when one had known the feel of the earthquake, he did not wonder. During the twenty-eight seconds—which to some measured minutes—it seemed as if no building could endure the strain. The gyratory twisting, the swift, beating waves, the up-and-down pounding, the commingling of every conceivable motion in swift and awful violence, blanched the stoutest heart, and caused strong men to cry like babies, women to scream and faint, and some persons to go stark, staring mad. Acres and acres of great ruined buildings loom before me through the smoky atmosphere, like specters of a forgotten past; square miles of a once populous city south of Market Street have been swept by the fire fiend, so that all that is left is a few chimney-stacks, iron telegraph poles, and now and then the broken walls of a building. The fire has burned down many buildings, dynamite has shattered many walls, but all the damage—estimated all the way from two hundred million to five hundred million dollars—was the result of that twenty-eight seconds. One church, St. Dominic’s, a huge structure on Steiner Street, seems to be utterly wrecked. One of its high towers stands a mere skeleton, stripped of everything, the other is also a skeleton surmounted only by the dome of the spire, like a parasol. Another part of the church has piled its tons of brick on a large rooming house adjacent, and crushed it to the ground. On the same street there are large three-story wood houses moved four or five feet off from their foundation, still standing. In some cases buildings sank one story. Streets were upheaved, car tracks were twisted, bent at sharp angles, or otherwise distorted. Great steel girders were broken like pipe-stems. The loss of life is probably not a unit less than one thousand. The San Francisco papers persistently minimize it, and the army officers give what is officially reported, about three hundred up to date. But we have been told of two hundred buried in one trench, very few of whom can be identified; one hundred and fifty or more were caught in the awful whirlwind of fire on Telegraph Hill and burned. This, that, and the other lodging-house went down with from scores to hundreds in them. The odor of burning flesh is still in evidence in many places, where no wholesale meat shops or horse stables existed. Sometime God’s books will tell the whole story. Till then we wait. So far as I am able to learn, none of our own people suffered serious physical injury. For this let us thank God. The extent of the earthquake in any kind of severity was from near San Luis Obispo on the south, where hot springs burst forth, to north of Ukiah. Its width was a narrow strip along the coast range; and yet it was recorded at Johns Hopkins University, at Baltimore. Professor Burckhalter, of Oakland, called it a great earthquake, ranking as the ninth in violence in a scale of ten. The earthquake has its usual number of freaks. It is common to find buildings utterly shattered, and close to them others no stronger unharmed. One part of a building is ruined, another part is uninjured. There is nothing which so clearly solves all these problems as the Word of the Lord, “The earth shall wax old as doth a garment.” One of the characteristics of old garments is their weak and strong places. Of course we know that the primal cause is sin; and sin is bearing its full fruitage. The feeling of many when it came was, “It is the last day;” “It is the10 judgment day;” “The end of the world has come.” And men prayed who had erstwhile cursed. Subsequent events show that much of this is from the impulse of fear. As soon as the danger is over, the spirit of selfish carelessness returns. The great majority ridicule the idea that God has aught to do with such things in any way. We are told that people are too far from superstition in this age to look upon such events as related in any way to divinity; and so solacing themselves, they grow defiant. One leading paper has voiced the sentiment that San Francisco has only one enemy, fire, but she would be made “as safe from fire as the bottom of the sea,” and when it is finished, “it will burn again only when the caves of the ocean burst into flame.” They forget that God can from the very caves of ocean send forth flame; and that when the withdrawal of his rejected mercy permits a sin-perverted nation to work out its own combinations, the very “elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also, and the works that are therein shall be burned up.” If the Bible means anything, it means that the same God reigns still who said to a city of old, “She shall be visited of Jehovah of hosts with thunder, and with earthquake, and great noise, with whirlwind and tempest, and the flame of a devouring fire.” It is so easy now in the “light” of higher criticism and pagan philosophy to reject God’s Book. Would to God that men might see or be made to see that these judgments are the fruitage of sin. Some do see it. I know a young Baptist and his wife who left the city two months ago, fearful of some such calamity because of the city’s wickedness. Shall we as a people be warned? Shall we as a people give God’s warning? Shall we make that our business? The Lack of Human Kindness
By T. E. Bowen
“The Lord hath appeared of old unto me, saying, Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love: therefore with loving-kindness have I drawn thee.” Jer. 31:3. This text reveals unto us the unfailing love of our God. His love is made known unto us through the multitude of his acts of loving-kindness. Loving-kindness is simply kindness prompted by love. Thus God draws us unto himself. What power there is in these loving acts! This was what drew men unto Christ. They felt that love. They saw it in every look, in every act. Every sufferer, burdened by disease, that came to Jesus for healing was restored by that touch of everlasting love. “And he healed them all,” the record says. No one came to Christ in vain. Every one felt at home in his presence. That unfailing spring of kindness beaming from his loving eyes, drew them. Here they forgot themselves, their petty trials, frictions at home, trouble, and care. In the circle of Christ’s loving presence they truly found “rest unto their souls.” There are some saints who seem to have remained so long in this inner circle of Christ’s presence to-day that to be with them is restful. But with many who profess to be followers of that loving Christ of Judea, this can not be truly said. If the loving-kindness of God drew people unto himself while the Lord was with us, as well as from everlasting of old, then it is certain that people destitute of this heavenly kindness will drive souls away from the Lord. And we believe that right here lies the greatest difficulty with us as a church to-day. We are permitting a cold, hard spirit to take possession of our souls. Here is a statement that should startle every Seventh-day Adventist. Ponder it thoughtfully; and do not give it away by saying it applies so very forcibly to “Brother —” or “Sister — in our church.” Let us say, “This means me.” “How little do we enter into sympathy with Christ on that which should be the strongest bond of union between us and him,—compassion for depraved, guilty, suffering souls, dead in trespasses and sins! The inhumanity of man toward man is our greatest sin. Many think that they are representing the justice of God, while they wholly fail of representing his tenderness and his great love. Often the ones whom they meet with sternness and severity are under the stress of temptation. Satan is wrestling with these souls, and harsh, unsympathetic words discourage them, and cause them to fall a prey to the tempter’s power.” — “Ministry of Healing,” page 163. Yes, this is our greatest sin. Think of it. Often the workers for God, who need the tender love and sympathy of their brethren, are almost driven to despair because they meet, instead, this cold spirit here referred to. This inhumanity must cease. And the love for speaking cold words of criticism will cease in the hearts of those who are born of the Spirit. Then we can feel for those fallen in sin, both without and within the church. We shall not have that spirit of “I am holier than thou.” This thing in the heart Jesus hates. He rebuked it while here. Christ was touched by the infirmities of men. Their imperfections drew on his sympathy and love. “We need more of Christlike sympathy; not merely sympathy for those who appear to us to be faultless, but sympathy for poor, suffering, struggling souls, who are often overtaken in fault, sinning and repenting, tempted and discouraged. We are to go to our fellow men, touched, like our merciful High Priest, with the feeling of their infirmities.” — Ibid., page 164. When this shall actually be the experience of all the truly loyal members of the church, we shall not be very far from what is known as the “loud cry of the third angel’s message.” The Gift of Prophecy
By GEO. O. STATES
It seems to me that our own people who passed through the terrible experience of the morning of April 18, 1906, ought to appreciate the gift of prophecy as never before. When we awoke and felt our bed heaving in such a frightful fashion, and found that the earth was rocking from north to south, we thought of those words in Isa. 2:19, “when he ariseth to shake terribly the earth.” As I read the various speculations as to the cause of earthquakes, my mind went back to what was published in Volume I of “Great Controversy” in 1870; and as it gives such a vivid picture, I will give a few extracts which ought to be read with great interest at this particular time: “Before the flood there were immense forests. The trees were many times larger than any trees which we now see. They were of great durability. They would know nothing of decay for hundreds of years. At the time of the flood, these forests were torn up or broken down and buried in the earth. In some places large quantities of these immense trees were thrown together and covered with stones and earth by the commotion of the flood. They have since petrified and become coal, which accounts for the large coal beds which are now found. This coal has produced oil. God causes large quantities of coal and oil to ignite and burn. Rocks are intensely heated, limestone is burned, and iron ore melted. Water and fire under the surface of the earth meet. The action of fire and water upon the limestone adds fury to the intense heat, and causes earthquakes, volcanoes, and fiery issues. The action of fire and water upon the ledges of rocks and ore causes loud explosions which sound like muffled thunder. These wonderful exhibitions will be more numerous and terrible just before the second coming of Christ and the end of the world, as signs of its speedy destruction.
“Coal and oil are generally to be found where there are no burning mountains or fiery issues. When fire and water under the surface of the earth meet, the fiery issues can not give sufficient vent to the heated elements beneath. The earth is convulsed, the ground heaves, and rises into swells or waves, and there are heavy sounds like thunder under ground. The air is heated, and suffocating. The earth quickly opens, and I saw villages, cities, and burning mountains carried down together into the earth. God controls all these elements; they are his instruments to do his will; he calls them into action to serve his purpose. These fiery issues have been, and will be, his agents to blot out from the earth very wicked cities. . . . These manifestations bear the special marks of God’s power, and are designed to cause the people of the earth to tremble before him, and to silence those who, like Pharaoh, would proudly say, ‘Who is the Lord, that I should obey his voice?’” While our city is forty miles from11 San Francisco, yet for three nights we could plainly see the fires lighting up the heavens, and I thought of these things that the Lord told us so long ago were coming. On page 85 of the same work we read: “The mountains will burn like a furnace, and will pour forth streams of lava, destroying gardens and fields, villages and cities; and as they pour their melted ore, rocks, and heated mud, into rivers, will cause them to boil like a pot, and send forth massive rocks, and scatter their broken fragments upon the land with indescribable violence. Whole rivers will be dried up. The earth will be convulsed, and there will be dreadful eruptions and earthquakes everywhere. God will plague the wicked inhabitants of the earth until they are destroyed from off it. The saints are preserved in the earth in the midst of these dreadful commotions, as Noah was preserved in the ark at the time of the flood.” Any person who has read the accounts of the late eruption of Mount Vesuvius can not fail to see how this is now literally being fulfilled. Towns and villages have been depopulated, and thousands of lives have been lost by the terrible eruptions. After breakfast on the morning of the eighteenth, as I looked over our beautiful city and saw so many fires, I went down into the main part, and as I passed along the streets and saw houses torn from their foundations, chimneys fallen through roofs, people with their household goods piled up in the yards, the thought came to me of how the Lord had preserved my family and myself amid all this devastation; and tears came to my eyes as I recalled the promise in his Word that he would give his angels charge over his people. As soon as we could get copies of the special Signs, I started out selling them, and have sold them to nearly every one to whom I have shown them. Now, dear brethren and sisters, we ought to take these Earthquake Specials and go to our neighbors and tell them what these things mean, and what is just before us. The Lord has given us light above any people on the earth, and will hold us responsible for the right use of this light. Evils of Religious Legislation
By H. W. Reed
Prof. Frederick J. Stanley, D. D., Secretary of the American Sabbath Union, gave two addresses at the Sparta convention last October. In one of these he made the following statement: “The Wisconsin Sunday Rest Day Association is the most efficient and best equipped of its kind in the United States, with the possible exception of the one in Pennsylvania.” I will now quote a resolution passed by this association at the Sparta convention last October:— “Whereas, President Roosevelt and several governors and other executive officers have so entered on the work of law enforcement as to arouse an unusual interest in this most important public issue and make this a most opportune time to arouse united action in this matter; therefore,— “Resolved, That we urge all organizations in each community that believe in law and order to unite in a ‘Federation of Christian Forces’ which shall,— “First, use every practicable effort to secure the enforcement of law, especially by inducing executive officers to do their full duty, and heartily upholding them and co-operating with them in every effort to prevent lawbreaking and punish lawbreakers. “Second, enter at once on a vigorous campaign of education to secure the nomination and election of honest, faithful citizens as city, village, and town officers, who will impartially enforce all laws, especially those that protect moral character.” I will now make one quotation from the report of the executive committee of the Wisconsin Sunday Rest Day Association rendered at the Sparta convention last October: “At our secretary’s suggestion at the Rochester meeting, it was agreed to petition the Interstate Commerce Commission to investigate the connection between the lack of weekly rest days of employees and railway accidents, and to unite in efforts to secure national and State legislation similar to that in force in Switzerland with great advantage to all parties, securing fifty-two full weekly rest days to all employees. Such a bill was introduced last winter in Madison, but was defeated. Vigorous measures should be taken the coming year to prepare such public sentiment as will secure its passage in the next legislature. The governor expressed a strong desire for its passage, and our labor commissioner worked vigorously in its behalf. Our new labor commissioner and railway commission promise co-operation in its behalf. As we started this most vital movement, we should push it to victory in State and nation. Professor Ely, of University, says that it is the most important movement for Sunday rest yet made.” Paul, speaking in 1 Cor. 2:8 of the wisdom of God, says: “Which none of the princes of this world knew: for had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.” If Paul were living to-day, he could just as truthfully write of this Sunday Rest Day Association: “If ye leaders of the people only knew the wisdom of God, ye would not crucify the Sabbath of the Lord of glory.” If they knew the wisdom of God, then there would be no need of any association of this kind and character. It never would have been born if they had fully understood the Constitution of the United States, and adhered to it. In the Declaration of Independence they as well as we all should recognize the principle of equal rights to all as the principle that would perpetuate this republic. If this were done, there would be no danger that religious liberty would ever be crushed to death by its foe—religious legislation. May the God who giveth wisdom and understanding unto the simple make us wise unto salvation through faith in Jesus Christ our Lord. Misuse of the Name “Sabbath”
Definitions are sources of power and influence. Many words are limited, by their nature and history, to a specific meaning. This is true of proper names. If a publisher were to put the name Longfellow on the title-page of a volume of Emerson’s Essays, and give it to the public, it would be an act of piracy. If John Smith were to write the name of Jay Gould on a business paper, and put it on the market, the courts would deem him a fit subject for the State prison. Proper names belong to specific individuals because the parents of those persons gave them their names. When God created the Sabbath, he named it. When he gave the decalogue, he repeated the name, and described the child to which the name belonged. Speaking of the days of the week as his children, we know that “Sabbath” was the name of the seventh child. This was the prince among the days. Each of the others was known by a simple numeral, this by a sacred name. The Bible does not give God’s Son a specific name—Jesus—any more than it does his day—the Sabbath. Other days have some things in common with the Sabbath; other men have some things in common with Jesus; but the respective names are not therefore interchangeable. Proper names are not transferable, either legally or morally. Historically, the Sabbath retained its name until the time of the Puritan Reformation. But more important is the fact that the Bible, which is the only source of authority on such a question, never applies the name Sabbath to any day except the seventh day of the week. Whenever Christ or the writers of the Bible speak of the Sabbath, it is always by its own name. In the few cases wherein the events of history make it necessary to refer to the “first day of the week,” it is always known by its own name, and no other. The Bible does not recognize that it has the power to change or transfer the names of the days of the week; much less does it delegate to men any such power. These simple facts of history are plain to everyone who will seek for them in the Bible; and no amount of guessing, or assuming, or manufacturing of chronology to fit theories, can explain the facts away. Christ treated the Sabbath as the fourth commandment required, and honored the name and character which his Father had given to it. He pruned away the false elements which Judaism had gathered around it, and left the Sabbath fitted to meet the wants of his church, under the gospel. His immediate followers accepted the Sabbath thus, and no trace of any question concerning its name or observance appears in the New Testament.—The Sabbath Recorder.