[Believing it would be of interest to our readers, the editor of the SIGNS OF THE TIMES has asked Sabbath-keeping ministers and evangelical workers to tell in a few words the scripture or scriptures, the truths and principles, which constrained them to accept the unpopular truth of the seventh-day Sabbath. These testimonies must not exceed 500 words. Let us hear from all.]
LXXVI.
I was born Nov. 7, 1833, six days before the great meteoric star shower of that month,—November 13.
I remember distinctly the proclamation of the coming of the Lord, in Michigan, in the spring of 1844. It caused a very solemn feeling on all who heard of it.
When about fourteen, my attention was called to the Sabbath change by my mother’s Bible, in the table of weights, measures and time, according to Jewish custom, between the Testaments. In the table on time, and its divisions, it said: “Saturday, the seventh day of the week, or Sabbath.” As she had not had the Bible long, I thought she had not seen that. So I went to her and said: “Mother, your Bible says that Saturday is the Sabbath.” “Yes,” she replied. “Saturday was the Sabbath of the Jews, till the crucifixion; then it was changed to the first day of the week, or Sunday. From that time till now, Christians have kept the Sunday, in commemoration of the resurrection.”
I believed what mother said, till I was twenty-seven years old.
In 1860 I read “Truth Found,” by J. H. Waggoner. Its clear and logical deductions led me to read the Scriptures with more care and attention. The Saviour’s words in Matthew 5:17, 18; and Luke 16:17, settled the question forever, from that time.
Jesus said: “Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil. For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in nowise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.” Matt. 5:17, 18. “It is easier for heaven and earth to pass, than one tittle of the law to fail.” Luke 16:17. I said: He did not destroy it, therefore His death and resurrection did not change the Sabbath. I saw the law was more enduring than the heavens and earth. I saw men trying to do the hardest thing first,—trying to get rid of the law.
This is how I became convinced. I am still convinced I was right then. Am still convinced I am right now.
“How firm a foundation, ye saints of the Lord,
Is laid up for you in His excellent Word.”
E. VAN DEUSEN.
Kingstown, St. Vincent, W. I.
LXXVII.
I was born in 1829, and had a good Presbyterian, Christian mother who walked in all the light that she had received at that time. My father, while holding to the Presbyterians, favored the Methodists more, for he said they did not put on so much style, and they sang with spirit. He called himself a nothingarian. The summer of 1841, as we were returning from Sunday-school, my father sat on the front stoop, reading an old-fashioned leather Bible. He remarked to my mother as she came in, that Saturday is the right day to keep instead of Sunday. “But it has been changed we are told,” was her reply. My father’s remark was the first impression, or seed thought, in my mind of God’s holy, Christian, seventh-day Sabbath. [And every Bible tells the same story as the “old-fashioned leather Bible.—Ed.]
JOHN FLOYD.
Lebeck, Mo.
PEACE
By Thomas
O, FIRST of human blessings! and supreme!
Fair peace! how lovely, how delightful thou!
By whose wide tie the kindred sons of men
Live, brothers like, in amity combined,
And unsuspicious faith; while honest toil
Gives every joy, and to those joys a right
Which idle, barbarous rapine but usurps.
—Thomas.
Unbelief and Forgetfulness
By Havergal
UNBELIEF and forgetfulness are the only shadows which can come between us and His presence; tho when they have once made the separation, there is room for all others.—Havergal.
Discovering God and Enthusiasm
By B. M. Adams
AS LONG as man is on the line of discovering God he will keep his enthusiasm, and not a moment longer.—B. M. Adams
THINGS TO KEEP.
By H. A. St. John
THE Lord has committed to His church and children some important, priceless things to keep, and their present and eternal salvation depends upon keeping faithfully and conscientiously all He has committed to their charge. Let us take a brief survey of some of the rich gifts He has placed in our keeping.
1. “Blessed are they that hear the Word of God, and keep it.” Luke 11:28.
2. “Endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.” Eph. 4:3.
7. “If thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments.” Matt. 19:17. “And hereby we do know that we know Him, if we keep His commandments.” 1 John 2:3. “By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God, and keep His commandments.” 1 John 5:2. “This is the love of God, that we keep His commandments.” Verse 3. “Here are they that keep the commandments of God.” Rev. 14:12.
8. “Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein; for the time is at hand.” Rev. 1:3.
If we have faithfully kept the things above enumerated, as enjoined and committed to our trust, we will at last be able to say with the apostle Paul, “I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith.” And then at the appearing of the Lord Jesus we will receive a crown of righteousness, of life, of glory, which will never fade away. Great are the blessings in keeping; greater are the blessings for keeping. H. A. ST. JOHN.
STUDIES IN EPHESIANS
CREATED ANEW.
Chapter 2: 1-10.
[Lesson Study for Sabbath, July 18, 1903.]
What does the apostle say that Christ the Head has done for us as Christians?—“And you did He make alive.”
When did He thus give life, and what was the necessity?—“When ye were dead through your trespasses and sins.”
According to what did we walk in our sinful condition?—“Wherein ye once walked according to the course of this world.”
According to what ruler did we serve?—“According to the prince of the powers of the air.”
Of what spirit was our conduct?—“Of the spirit that now worketh in the sons of disobedience.”
How many can be classed among the sons of disobedience?—“Among whom we also all once lived.”
In what did we live?—“In the lusts of our flesh.”
What did we do?—“Doing the desires of the flesh and of the mind.”
What were we by nature?—“And were by nature children of wrath.”
How did we differ from others?—“Even as the rest.”
What word expresses a change in condition and nature?—“But.”
What is said of God’s riches to meet our need?—“But God, being rich in mercy.”
What moved God to act?—“For His great love wherewith He loved us.”
When did He act?—“Even when we were dead through our trespasses.”
What did God do?—“But God . . . made us alive.”
With whom did He make us alive?—“Together with Christ.”
By virtue of what does He do this?—“By grace have ye been saved.”
What more has He done for us in Christ?—“And raised us up with Him.”
What exalted position has He given us?—“And made us to sit with Him in the heavenly places, in Christ Jesus.”
How much farther does His purpose for us extend?—“That in the ages to come.”
What will He do in those eternal ages?—“He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.”
Through what channel does the salvation come?—“By grace have ye been saved through faith.”
Is the salvation earned?—“And that not of yourselves.”
How is it furnished?—“It is the gift of God.”
Of what is that salvation not?—“Not of works.”
Why is it not of works?—“That no man should glory.”
Why is it impossible for Christians to glory?—“For we are His workmanship.”
What made us His workmanship?—“Created in Christ Jesus.”
For what are we created?—“For good works.”
Whose good works?—“Which God afore prepared that we should walk in them.”
Suggestions for Study
“Dead.”—Have you ever seen a little child with cheeks flushed with fever, eyes of an unnatural brightness? Have you heard people remark, How beautiful that child looks? Have you seen that child in a few days a pale, cold corpse? That was the fever finished. So death is ever ripened sin. “Sin, when it is fullgrown, bringeth forth death.” Transgression, disobedience, sin, are the perversions of God’s way of righteousness; and as “in the way of righteousness is life,” so out of that way is death. And mankind “have all turned aside, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not so much as one.” “For all have sinned, and fall short of the glory of God.” Rom. 3:12, 23. To use another term, mankind is sick with an incurable disease. “From the sole of the foot even unto the head there is no soundness in it; but wounds, and bruises, and putrefying sores.” Isa. 1:6. We may not see the repulsive forms of the leprosy of sin in the little child or the “moral” man or woman; but it is there, and, apart from divine grace, it will work out eternal death. The awfulness of this condition of the entire race ought to awaken within every heart the most intense hatred of sin, and pity for the sinner.
“Course of This World.”—When man came from the hand of his Maker, he was pure and holy. Righteousness dwelt in his flesh; it was incarnate; it belonged there, in perfect harmony with God’s creation. When man, the prince of earth, yielded his will to Satan, the prince of evil came in and took possession, not only of man’s mind, but man’s flesh. Sin became incarnate, infleshed. The earth, the dominion of man, passed to the control of Satan, the usurping prince. And as the result of Satan’s entrance, the world, and all connected with it, became perverted. Disease entered the very earth, manifest in earthquakes, pestilences, famines. Disease entered the air, manifest in storm and tempest, tornado and whirlwind. “The course of this world” is downward to destruction, and the guiding, controlling power, so far as God will permit, is Satan, “the prince of this world,” to whom man yielded the dominion in the beginning.
“Even As the Rest.”—The sooner man sees, appreciates, his utterly lost condition apart from God, the sooner, the more readily, will he grasp the salvation that God has for him. Note the many terms which the apostle uses to teach man this. Men are “dead,” tending to destruction, “according to the course of this world,” subject to “the prince of the power of the air,” of the spirit of disobedience, among the sons of disobedience, among whom all belong, living in and doing the lusts, the desires of the flesh, and “by nature children of wrath.” Wrath is therefore our heritage, whoever we are, of whatever race, or nation, or people, or tongue, or color. As the apostle asked for the Jews, comparing them with the gross, corrupt, idolatrous Gentiles, “Are we better than they?” and the answer of Inspiration is, No, in nowise; for we before laid to the charge of both Jews and Greeks that they are all under sin; as it is written, “There is none righteous, no, not one.” Sin may be developed in one more than in another, but the horrible blood-poisoning is in us, even as it is in “the rest.” We are utterly lost, hopeless, dying.
“But God.”—What is God that He should do for such poor wretches? Why did God do? When did God do? What did God do? God is rich in mercy. The sin abounds; judgment condemns us; “Mercy glorieth against judgment.” James 2:13. God is rich. It matters not how great the sin, how needy the sinner, the riches of God’s mercy are inexhaustible. He is “Jehovah, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abundant in lovingkindness and truth; keeping lovingkindness for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin.” Ex. 34:6, 7. “His mercy endureth forever.” Then let not the sense of the greatness of the sin keep us away from God; plead for forgiveness “according to the multitude” of His “tender mercies.” Ps. 51:1. God is rich in mercy, and “He delighteth in [bestowing] mercy.”
Why Did God Do?—Simply, solely, because of “His great love,” not because we were lovable. We sinned and lusted and disobeyed, because that was our nature. He loves, because it is the nature of Infinite Goodness to love.
When Did God Do?—When we were dead through trespasses. It was then He loved us, when we needed His love. It was then He was merciful, when we needed His mercy. “God commendeth His own love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” God wrought when we were helpless, without strength.
What Did God Do?—Made us alive. It is no figure of speech—the “dead” and the “alive.” Man in sin is separate from God, “alienated from the life of God,” knowing only animal life, fed only by the life indirectly from God through root and herb and plant and tree and flesh. All the higher, nobler part of man is literally “dead.” God makes alive. He gives actual life, not telling us that we already have it and do not know it, not telling us that it is a promise of a life to come; but He gives the life here and now to every soul who will grasp it by faith.
“With Christ.”—It all comes in and through and with Christ Jesus our Lord. He, the Righteous One, was made sin that we, the sinful ones, might become righteous. 2 Cor. 5:21. When He died, He died for our sins, and God saw us dying there “with Him.” When He was made alive, God saw us made alive together “with Him.” In Him God has brought us the forgiveness, the life, nay, more, when Jesus ascended up on high, and took His seat at the right hand of the Father, the Father saw us together with Christ, the elect number complete, sitting in the heavenly places at His right hand. And He gives us the inexpressible privilege of grasping it all, knowing it all, by simply believing His Word, taking the blessings He has already given. This is the exceeding great salvation that is the gift of God. Its fullness and wealth can never be realized; for throughout all “the ages to come” it will be a constantly unfolding gift, filled with infinite blessings of life and love.
“Not of Works.”—“But must not I do something to obtain it?” asks some poor soul who has struggled vainly all his life. No, a thousand times, no. It is “not of works.” Does God mean what His Spirit inspired? Do you mean to say that God did not bring all of this in Christ Jesus? that He does not give it all freely? If you could do one single, little thing to earn it, to make yourself worthy, you could glory, or boast, to that extent. But you can not. Christ Jesus is “made unto us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification, and redemption; that, according as it is written, He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord.”
“His Workmanship.”—There are works, but O, they are perfect works. It is the obedience of the One that makes us righteous. Rom. 5:18. He takes the sons of disobedience that yield themselves to Him and recreates them. The evil heart, the selfish spirit, He takes away, and gives a new heart, a new spirit, a new mind, new affections, like His own, in harmony with all His righteous will. By His life we are joined to Him to bring forth fruit unto God. Rom. 7:4. By His Spirit we do the works which He has wrought in Christ. And the freed soul sings: “O how love I Thy law! it is my meditation all the day.” Ps. 119:97. “This is the love of God, that we keep His commandments; and His commandments are not grievous.” 1 John 5:3.
Review the First Chapter. Note (1) the salutation, verses 1, 2; (2) God’s eternal purpose in Christ Jesus concerning man before man was, verses 3-5; (3) God’s purpose worked out in time in Christ Jesus through forgiveness, the gift of wisdom and prudence, the knowledge of His will, and the eternal inheritance, verses 7-12; (4) God’s purpose inwrought in believers by the Holy Spirit, verses 13, 14. Note how verses 3-14 divide into these three sections, each ending with the praise of His glory. (5) The prayer for the fulfillment of God’s purposes in Christ the Head and the church His body.
FORBIDDING TO BUY AND SELL.
By G.
Roger Williams a Case in Point.
It is remarkable how things deemed impossible eventually work out. It is remarkable how the doing of things that appear to be right will open the door to the accomplishment of things that are wrong. That is why processes set on foot as "reform" may lead to retrogressive results.
The prophecy of Revelation 13 reveals an earthly power—a "beast coming up out of the earth," having "two horns like unto a lamb" and that "spake as a dragon." It is also said that this beast causes the people to make and to worship a "beast," previously mentioned in the same chapter, and that they should receive a "mark," or sign, peculiar to that first-mentioned "beast," or power. Furthermore it is said that this two-horned beast shall cause that those who refuse to worship the first beast and to receive his mark shall be denied the right to buy or sell, and that they shall be put to death.
Now all Protestants agree that the "first beast" mentioned in that chapter is the Papacy. But when it is shown that the United States Government is the two-horned beast because only it, of all others, meets the specifications, we are met with the objection that such a thing would be impossible in a republican government, or in a free country. But in a country where the law can forbid the people to buy or sell on stated days, what is to hinder—when public sentiment is sufficiently inclined—the prohibition of certain classes from buying and selling at any time? When the precedent is already set, and the people who advocate the principles of the power in whose interest such laws are enacted shall have secured sufficient influence in the government, what is to hinder their procuring any law against their opponents that they may desire?
Now it is a well-established fact that the Sunday-sabbath institution is an ordinance of the Papacy. The Roman hierarchy holds it up as a mark of the authority of "the church" to ordain festivals, even in contravention of the law of God. Yea, more; they cite the Sunday institution as the mark which even Protestants quite generally recognize. It is also a prominent fact that professed Protestants all over the United States are strenuously urging the observance of this mark upon the people, and urging the law-making powers—national, State, and municipal—to enforce it upon the people. Then what is more logical, when they shall have secured the power, than that they should go further, and have the law declare that those who oppose the edict forbidding men to buy or sell on Sunday shall be prohibited from buying or selling at all? The general government, in some degree every State and territory, and many municipalities, are already committed to the recognition of the Church-and-State "image" and of the "mark" promulgated by the Roman Church as her special badge of authority.
The working of professed Protestants through political intrigue with the government—that is, on Roman Catholic lines—is no new thing. This was carried to the bitter end in the persecution of dissenters by the Covenanters of Scotland and the Protestant State Church of England. Also when the Puritan exiles came to America seeking "freedom to worship God," it was hardly a dozen years before they were themselves persecuting men for any disregard of this same Roman Catholic institution. It was for this very reason that Roger Williams was banished from Massachusetts in 1635, just fifteen years after the landing of the Pilgrim fathers at Plymouth Rock. The historian says: "He was censured by the court because he taught that magistrates should not punish the breach of the Sabbath or dictate on the subject of worship." And the colonial governments, with the possible exception of Rhode Island, were founded in the Church-and-State principle, by men who professed to be Protestants.
Thus it has been demonstrated that when professed Protestant "reformers" start out on the papal principle of setting up their ideals through government manipulation, it is but logical that their efforts should culminate in a full-fledged "image" and the enforcement by crucial penalties of the recognized "mark." And it is but reasonable, yea, to be expected, that the Spirit of prophecy would foresee and foretell the result.
That this government may go so far as to forbid men to buy and sell property that is of itself useful to them and to the public, is mooted by men of the world without reference to matters of religion. The great railroad "merger" case is familiar to most people in this country. A company known as the Northern Securities Company was formed for the purpose of buying and combining the stock of the Great Northern and Northern Pacific Railroads. Suit was instituted in a United States Court to prevent the "merger," on the ground that it was in violation of a law of Congress. The court decided that to buy and sell the stock of the two roads in that way was illegal. The people all over the country have been rejoicing because the formation of a great railroad "trust" is thus supposed to be foiled. But if the decision should be affirmed by the Supreme Court, it may prove a precedent that will be perverted or constrained to work prohibition not thought of by the framers of the Anti-trust Law. At least this is the opinion of a lawyer of national repute. One who has been Attorney-General of the United States says of the decision: "If this decision carries with it the broad principle it seems to, Congress will have power to tell a man what he shall buy, and forbid one man from purchasing what may be owned and used by another."
It is popular to talk glibly about the liberties guaranteed by the Constitution, but it is possible for the Constitution to be utterly ignored by "the powers that be." And the more they become imbued with the imperial Church-and-State idea, or the more they come to politically fear the element among the people that would enforce that principle under the pretext of "reform," the more liable they are to ignore the Constitution. When Congress and the Executive Department and the Supreme Court and a prevailing sentiment are agreed as to the political expediency of any measure, the Constitution is powerless to check them, or to remedy any evil that may accrue. That has been demonstrated. So when the Supreme Court becomes a little more Catholicized in its personnel, and the executive becomes a little more impressed with the expediency of placating Rome, and Congress becomes a little more fearful of the political influence of the Bureau of Reform, it will not be long until we shall hear of the decree that those who oppose the Church-and-State "image" and the Sunday "mark" shall neither buy nor sell. The prophecy will surely be fulfilled, and everything is shaping for a speedy fulfilment. G.
QUENCHING THE SPIRIT.
By G.
“Quench not the Spirit.” 1 Thess. 5:19. What is meant by quenching the Spirit? To quench means “to put out, as fire or a light, especially by water or smothering.” The Spirit itself can not be quenched, else it could be destroyed. But its influence on the mind can be quenched, or rejected, until it will finally withdraw. And this is the evident meaning of the text. God works by His Spirit to “convince the world of sin” (John 16:8, margin); but, as in the case of the antediluvians, it “shall not always strive with man.” Gen. 6:3.
But the text quoted at the beginning is addressed especially to the church. The Spirit is to the church a “comforter” and “guide” (John 16:7, 13). The Scriptures are given by the Spirit, the “inspiration of God” (2 Tim. 3:16), and these constitute the Word of life (John 6:63). Through the Scriptures the man of God is instructed in righteousness and “thoroughly furnished unto all good works.” By the Scriptures he is comforted in all trials and tribulation. They constitute his only “sword”—a weapon both offensive and defensive.
But the Scriptures are of no manner of use to us without the guidance of the Spirit. Hence the importance of the injunction to “quench not the Spirit” by neglecting or rejecting its testimony. As the world can not realize the enormity of sin and the need of a Saviour without the conviction of the Spirit, as sinners can not come to the Saviour without the drawing power of the Spirit, so the Christian can not continue in the way and become perfected in the Christian life without the constant aid of the Spirit. Thus it is plain that the loss to those who quench, or smother, or, by indifference or rebellion, render ineffective its good offices, is irreparable.
It is only by the Spirit that we can offer acceptable prayer to God (Rom. 8:26, 27). So, then, to quench the Spirit shuts up the only avenue of appeal to the “throne of grace.” Every word of real encouragement in the race, every needed reproof, or correction, or admonition, or exhortation, through whomsoever it may come, is of the Spirit. Every impulse to speak the truth in due season, or to do a righteous act, or to think on that which is holy and elevating and truly invigorating, is of the Spirit.
Then it is not only expedient, but absolutely essential to purity of life and eventual salvation, that we “quench not the spirit.” As the apostle says in another place, “Grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption.” Eph. 4:30. To “grieve” the Spirit is to drive it away, or “quench” it; and this would mean a cessation of the sealing process, and a loss of eternal life.
G.
Question Corner
NOTE.—We wish those who ask questions to take particular notice: (1) Only such questions will be answered here as we believe to be of general interest and information. (2) We can not undertake to explain from four to a dozen scriptures, as in one sentence we are often requested to do. (3) Do not ask to “explain” a certain text or passage. State clearly the point in question. (4) Give full name and address, not for publication unless desired, but as evidence of good faith, and to give us the privilege of replying by letter if deemed best. (5) Unsigned communications of any kind find the quickest way to the waste-basket. (6) It is always well to inclose stamp. (7) “Foolish and unlearned questions avoid,” also those that minister to mere curiosity. (8) Study the Scriptures yourselves.
1378.—Sabbatic Year.
Is the command of Lev. 25:3, 4, still binding? If not, why? A SUBSCRIBER.
We do not understand that it is. Conditions are vastly different now than then and there, when all the land was considered the Lord’s. The principles on which those laws were based in the care of the land and the poor are still obligatory.
The subject discussed by the apostle is the necessity of counting Christ all in all. That the Corinthians did not do this, showed them to be carnal. They still looked to men, dividing into parties over men, Paul and Apollos. The fifth verse simply states that Paul and Apollos were only ministers, instruments whom God used to carry the truth to others, and all that either possessed of ability to win souls was what God gave him.
1380.—The Hope of the Wicked.
Please explain Prov. 11:7. What kind of hope is it? A FRIEND.
Genuine faith is founded in God’s Word. Genuine hope is founded in God’s promise. Hope is desire coupled with expectancy. The hope of the righteous is for good in harmony with righteousness. The hope of the wicked is for good,—good sometimes promised of God,—but without yielding to the conditions of righteousness on which God’s promise is based. God reproves the false prophets for strengthening “the hands of the wicked, that he should not return from his wicked way, by promising him life.” Eze. 13:22. The hope of the wicked is the expectation which will not come; because God is not in it.
1381.—No Evil to the Righteous.
How shall we understand, as in Prov. 12:21, that no evil shall happen to the just? The apostle seems to teach differently. Yet Isa. 45:7 reads that God creates evil.
In Prov. 12:21 the wise man has reference to the end. The end of the just is not evil. He may be tempted, and tried, and persecuted, and even slain: all these are but light afflictions from which God will ultimately and eternally save. So Jesus, in telling His disciples of the troubles they would meet, persecuted, imprisoned, and put to death, declares, “There shall not an hair of your head perish.” Luke 21:12-18. These things are incidental and temporary; the end to the just will be without evil forever; while the wicked will be filled with evil; they shall “eat of the fruit of their own way, and be filled with their own devices.” Prov. 1:31; Gal. 6:7. In Isa. 45:7 the evil refers to the righteous judgments of God because of sin.
