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Review and Herald, Vol. 93, No. 59.

The Struggle and the Victory

Review and Herald

Nov 30, 1916

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Nov 30, 1916

The Struggle and the Victory

By Phillips Brooks

Every earnest man grows to two strong convictions: one, of the victory to which a life may come; the other, of the obstacles and wounds which it must surely encounter in coming there.
Alas for him who gains only one of these convictions! Alas for him who learns only confidence in the result, and never catches sight of all that must come in between—the pains and blows and disappointments! How many times he will sink down and lose his hope! How many times some wayside cross will seem to be the end of everything to him! Alas also for him who only feels the wounds and sees no victory ahead! How often life will seem to him not worth the living!
There are multitudes of men of this last sort,—men with too much seriousness and perception to say that the world is easy, too clear-sighted not to see its obstacles, too pure not to be wounded and offended by its wickedness, but with no faith large enough to look beyond and see the end,—men with the wounded heel that hinders and disables them, but with no strength to set the wounded foot upon the head of the serpent and to claim their triumph.
—Phillips Brooks.

Current Mention

By L. L. C.

The Bible and the Newspaper

Progress of Prohibition

On the day following the election, the Anti-Saloon League claimed that five more States had been won for State-wide prohibition: Michigan, Montana, South Dakota, Utah, and Nebraska. Adding these States to those already in the prohibition columns, there are now twenty-four States, or one half of the Union, which have State-wide prohibition. Every reader of the Bible may rejoice at this advance of the prohibition movement, for as the wise man says, “Wine is a mocker, strong drink is raging: and whosoever is deceived thereby is not wise.” Prov. 20:1.

Universal Military Training

The Washington Post, in an editorial on military service, says:—
“One of the probable effects of the European war will be to end for all time dependence upon voluntary service in times of national stress. The voluntary military system was on trial in the early days of the European conflict, and was found wanting.”
Without doubt this editorial opinion is well founded. It seems strange, however, to think of a minister of the gospel urging universal military training from the pulpit of a Christian church, yet Dr. W. T. Manning, rector of Trinity Church, New York, did this recently. The Baltimore Sun of October 31 records his words as follows:—
“I advocate universal military training because of its military effectiveness; because it is the only military system that is truly democratic; because it will weld our nation together, and help to make of our many races one united people; because of its moral and spiritual value; and because we need among our people a great renewal of the spirit of true religion.”
Perhaps from the standpoint of the statesmen of this world, with the tendency on the part of the strong and prepared nation to take advantage of the weak and unprepared, preparation for war is the only wise thing. The student of prophecy, however, recognizes in this a sign of the times, and thinks of the words of the Scripture:—
“Proclaim ye this among the Gentiles: Prepare war, wake up the mighty men, let all the men of war draw near; let them come up: beat your plowshares into swords, and your pruning hooks into spears: let the weak say, I am strong. Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision: for the day of the Lord is near in the valley of decision.” Joel 4:9-14.

Financial Prosperity

All have noticed the great increase in the amount of gold held by the banks of this country. A detailed estimate of the gains made in the last three years (two of them during the European war) is given in the Washington Post of November 1. We can quote only a general statement:—
“The increase in resources, it is declared, is greater than the total resources of all the country’s national banks a little more than a decade ago. In New England the three years’ increase has been 21 per cent, in the Eastern States 12, in the South 12, in the Middle States 12, and in the West 31.
“Deposits since the Reserve Act went into force have made an unprecedented jump also. Their total increase is put at $6,250,000,000, or 31 per cent, nearly as great as the resource increase. In New England it was 23 per cent, in the East 39, the South 18, the Middle States 26, the West 37, and the Pacific States 19.
“Banks and trust companies are lending $3,250,000,000 more than they were three years ago.”
Some days later the same paper editorially predicted a still greater prosperity ahead, especially for the farmers of the United States. After giving reasons for this expected prosperity the editorial concludes with the words, “The year 1917 should be the most prosperous in the history of the United States.”
Again our minds turn to the Scriptures, to that statement which points out the time when great quantities of money should be piled up. Those who have made this accumulation are told: “Ye have heaped treasure together for the last days.” James 5:3.

A Big Railroad Strike

Evidently industrial peace for our country is not yet assured. The public press indicates that the railroads will contest the constitutionality of the recently passed Adamson law giving an eight-hour-day schedule to the railroad employees. On the other hand, the employees again threaten to strike if the railroads fail to put the law into effect on January 1. W. G. Lee, president of the Brotherhood of Railway Trainmen, is quoted to have said:—
“Any railroad which attempts to cancel the present schedule of hours and pay, or refuses to put the eight-hour law into effect, will find itself with a strike on its hands.”
There seems to be no prospect of a final solution of the industrial problem which will bring permanent peace between capital and labor. The apostle James, foreseeing this, warns the Christian:—
“Be ye also patient; stablish your hearts: for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh. Grudge not one against another, brethren, lest ye be condemned: behold, the Judge standeth before the door.” James 5:8, 9.

Radio Communication with Japan

One of the most recent developments in that most remarkable invention which makes it possible for communication to take place without wires, is recorded in the Washington Post of November 16. President Wilson opened the direct transpacific service between the United States and Japan by sending the following message to His Imperial Majesty the Emperor of Japan, at Tokio:—
“The government and people of the United States of America send greetings to Your Imperial Majesty and to the people of Japan, and rejoice in this triumph of science which enables the voice of America from the Far West to cross the silent spaces of the world and speak to Japan in the Far East, hailing the dawn of a new day. May this wonderful event confirm the unbroken friendship of our two nations, and give assurance of a never-ending interchange of messages of good will. May the day soon come when the voice of peace carried by these silent messengers shall go into all the world and its words to the end of the world.”
While we cannot believe, in the light of the Scripture, that the peace which President Wilson wishes will ever come to this present world, we can but recognize in these many inventions for the dissemination of knowledge God’s means for accomplishing his last work in the earth, as well as the fulfilment of the angel’s words to the prophet Daniel:—
“But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end: many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased.”
L. L. C.

Changes in Mail Service to China

As a means toward eliminating British interference with United States mails, post-office authorities recently announced that they would no longer allow any mails going from the United States to the United States postal agency at Shanghai, China, to be dispatched through Vancouver, British Columbia. Army transports will hereafter carry the mails to the Philippine Islands, they also said.

Monument to the Maine’s Crew

A MONUMENT in memory of the members of the crew of the United States battleship “Maine,” who were killed when the ship was blown up in the harbor at Havana, in 1898, was started at Havana recently, to cost $100,000. The principal feature of the memorial, which will stand on a base sixteen feet high and will have a total height of sixty-seven feet, will be one of the “Maine’s” turrets and two of her guns. These relics were presented to the Cuban government by the American Congress. A staff will be placed on either side of the monument. The American flag will be hoisted on one of these, and the flag of the Cuban Republic on the other.

Continuing the Week of Prayer Spirit

By William A. Spicer

OUGHT not every week of the coming year to be a week of prayer? We may not be able to meet together in public assembly; we may not go through the form of daily public service; but in our individual experience, every week and every day ought to be a season of special intercession on our part, and of special refreshing from the presence of the Lord. Our needs are manifold, greater this week than last week, greater today than yesterday; and those needs will increase with the days and months to come. In every life vital crises will arise. Perhaps on many of them, apparently trivial, hangs the course of our lives, the destiny of our souls.
Let us be faithful in our communion with the Source of all wisdom and strength. If in our homes the family altar has fallen down, let us erect it, and morning and night gather our loved ones around this altar, consecrate them to God and to his service, and seek him for divine guidance and protection. Let us be particularly faithful in our private devotions. At least three times daily should we go alone before God and confess to him our sins and seek his keeping power. We shall find that our growth in grace and in overcoming our besetments will be in proportion as we are faithful in observing these devotions. Continuing the spirit of this week throughout the year will bring us every week the special blessing which we enjoy during the week of prayer.

Week of Prayer Greetings

WRITING from a point just beyond the edge of the great whirlwind of war, Elder J. C. Raft, president of the Scandinavian Union Conference, sends a word of greeting to the believers for this week of prayer season. He says:—
“In spite of all difficulties, the threefold message is victoriously making its way in Scandinavia with greater power than ever before. God is working for us, removing every obstacle that confronts us. Never did we win so many souls in a year as now, and the tithes and offerings are increasing every quarter. And no wonder! for God is speaking in such plain terms to his people through this war that one might think even the most deaf must hear his voice.”
“We have great reason to be thankful to God. While the belligerent countries are being visited by destruction, death, and misery, we have been spared from it all. We know, however, that these great favors which we are enjoying carry with them responsibility and obligations. We must serve God with greater faithfulness, and work with greater power. This we may receive from God. By his help Scandinavia will take its place in the ranks, and do its share to finish the proclamation of the glorious message in this generation.”
Alluding to the dreadful accompaniments of this greatest war in history, Elder Raft adds:—
“We who are neighbors of the warring nations do well in following the instruction given by the prophet Amos (Amos 5: 13).”
The scripture referred to reads:—
“Therefore the prudent shall keep silence in that time; for it is an evil time.”
It surely is a word of wise counsel; and we know that our brother’s statement of the added responsibilities and obligations to service which the present time presses upon us, will meet a response in the hearts of all.
We may depend upon it, our brethren and sisters in the troubled areas will gather comfort this week of prayer from the thought that the believers in other lands are praying for them.
We hear encouraging reports concerning progress in many phases of the work, even in the countries involved in the struggle. Elder W. J. Fitzgerald, of the British Union, speaks of the faithfulness of the brethren and sisters in bringing in the tithes and offerings this year. He says:—
“We are expecting on the whole year a gain of about $12,000 in tithe, as compared with 1914 or 1913. The mission offerings are also coming up well. Our membership is growing, and the various institutions are doing well, considering that the war has now been raging for over two years. Our evangelistic laborers are all engaged in aggressive efforts, with good prospects. The publishing work is the hardest hit.”
From across in the central part of Europe, Elder Guy Dail writes that the last monthly report of their largest publishing house showed an increase in colporteur sales of nearly $3,000 over the same period in 1915. Thus even amid the sternest realities of war the gospel seed is being sown and souls are won.
But we cannot forget the sorrow and the desolations; and surely, as just now the news dispatches bring word that the general conviction in Europe is that the struggle will be greatly prolonged, it is a call to earnest prayer on the part of every Christian believer. As Elder Raft says in his message of greeting, the difficulties that war has brought to the gospel workers in the regions of conflict are the loudest of appeals to us to press the work in regions where the way is still open. Even desolating war has often in history been a plowshare that has broken open hard soil for the sowing of the gospel seed. As we pray for the restraining of the winds of strife yet again for a little time, we may well pray also for the opening of every closed door on earth, in order that the work of God may be finished ere the final storm breaks over the earth.
While not yet have the four winds of universal strife been loosed, in some regions where the line of conflict sways back and forth across the homes of many of our people, brethren and sisters of ours are passing through trials that must be little short of what our imagination pictures the coming time of trouble to be.
Just in time to reach us this week of prayer there comes a message from Elder O. T. Reinke, of Russia. He says:—
“We are still well and are doing our best under present severe circumstances. Patience is a great word at present, and the dear Lord knows best how to bring everything about. The Lord is our helper and strength in this time of need. Daily we have to approach the throne of grace with special and definite petitions. Two weeks ago we had a day of fasting and prayer, and felt a special freedom in it, and great peace came to our souls.”
Let us remember those in trial as though in trial with them. The prayers of Christian fellowship overleap every barrier.
W. A. S.

The Divine Physician

By F. M. W.

How comforting is the assurance that God knows all and understands all! He knows the end from the beginning, the outcome of every plan and purpose. No sudden or unexpected turn of affairs can surprise him. To man it may appear many times that God’s purposes have been thwarted, but with infinite patience the eternal Father calmly abides the outcome. And not only does the heavenly Father know the great problems, but he takes account of little details in the experience of every one of his children. He looks down upon this world, not as made up of one great mass of human beings, but he takes account of each individual composing the great multitude. He knows the experience of every man, woman, and child. He knows the measure of the strength which each possesses, the trials and handicaps, the weaknesses, spiritually, mentally, and physically. Declares the psalmist:—
“Like as a father pitieth his children, so the Lord pitieth them that fear him. For he knoweth our frame; he remembereth that we are dust.” Ps. 103: 13, 14.
In this scripture God couples his knowledge of the struggles of his children with his knowledge of their physical weakness. This same idea is expressed in verses 3-5, which declare that it is God “who forgiveth all thine iniquities; who healeth all thy diseases; who redeemeth thy life from destruction; who crowneth thee with loving-kindness and tender mercies; who satisfieth thy mouth with good things; so that thy youth is renewed like the eagle’s.” The Scriptures of truth recognize God as the Saviour, both of the soul and of the body, and he desires that his children shall possess health of both. The apostle John writes, “Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth.”
It is the privilege of the children of God to go to our divine Lord for healing both of body and of soul. James 5: 14, 15. In the healing of both body and soul there is the exercise of the same creative power. Indeed, in some of the miracles performed by Christ, the same word that carried comfort to the soul in the assurance of sins forgiven carried healing to the body of the sufferer. Mark 2: 1-12. The sinner who is converted from his evil ways is born again. John 3: 2. He becomes a new creature in Christ Jesus (2 Cor. 5: 17); a new life enters his soul (Gal. 2: 20); he is created unto good works (Eph. 2: 10). His purposes, his motives, his desires, his ambitions, his plans, are all changed. Only the power which created the worlds in the beginning could work such a change in his experience. That same miracle-working power which works the healing of the soul brought Lazarus from the tomb (John 11: 43), and raised to life the son of the widow of Nain (Luke 7: 14, 15). It brought restoration to the daughter of Jairus (Mark 5: 41), and transformed the poor leper from a decaying body of death to one of strength and physical power (Mark 1: 41, 42). It is the privilege of the child of God to claim today by faith this transforming, life-giving power for both soul and body.
“God is just as willing to restore the sick to health now as when the Holy Spirit spoke these words through the psalmist. And Christ is the same compassionate physician now that he was during his earthly ministry. In him there is healing balm for every disease, restoring power for every infirmity. His disciples in this time are to pray for the sick as verily as the disciples of old prayed. And recoveries will follow; for ‘the prayer of faith shall save the sick.’ We have the Holy Spirit’s power, the calm assurance of faith, that can claim God’s promises. The Lord’s promise, ‘They shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover,’ is just as trustworthy now as in the days of the apostles. It presents the privilege of God’s children, and our faith should lay hold of all that it embraces. Christ’s servants are the channel of his working, and through them he desires to exercise his healing power. It is our work to present the sick and suffering to God in the arms of our faith. We should teach them to believe in the Great Healer.”—Mrs. E. G. White, in “Ministry of Healing,” p. 226.
One can expect healing of the soul only as he complies with the conditions laid down in the Word of God. He must confess his sins and make right every wrong. This prepares the way for the exercise of the power of God in the healing of the body.
“If any who are seeking health have been guilty of evil-speaking, if they have sowed discord in the home, the neighborhood, or the church, and have stirred up alienation and dissension, if by any wrong practice they have led others into sin, these things should be confessed before God and before those who have been offended. ‘If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.’ When wrongs have been righted, we may present the needs of the sick to the Lord in calm faith, as his Spirit may indicate.”—Id., p. 229.
It should be borne in mind, however, that in prayer for the sick “we know not what we should pray for as we ought.” We should pray in submission to the divine will. God, who knows the end from the beginning, knows if those for whom prayer is being offered would be able to endure the trials of the last day, or if it would be safer for him to hide them in the tomb. We may pray as did the Lord Jesus in the hour of his terrible anguish, “O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me;” but let us also show the same spirit of submission which he manifested when he concluded his earnest request, “Nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt.” Matt. 26: 39.
The Lord works in direct and in indirect ways in the healing of his children. Sometimes he is pleased to respond at once to their cry. He sends forth his word, and heals them. (See Ps. 107: 20.) He sees that it will be for his glory to give immediate restoration. This is illustrated by many incidents in the divine record. Sometimes he works through human agencies. Hezekiah was restored through the application of a plaster of figs. 2 Kings 20: 7. Christ made clay and anointed the eyes of the blind man, and sent him to wash in the pool of Siloam. John 9: 6, 7.
These various methods through which God has wrought teach us that the Great Physician is not confined to any one way of working. He chooses his own way. He responds to the simple, trusting faith of his afflicted children. Oftentimes he delights to work where human means has failed, after the poor sufferer has found the wisdom of man of no avail. He healed the poor woman with an issue of blood after she had spent all her living upon physicians. Mark 5: 25-34. We doubt not but that scores of those who came to the Saviour for aid were men and women who had suffered for many years and had used many remedial agencies, but without finding relief.
But it is not for us to despise the use of means, nor is it a lack of faith on our part when we make use of the light which God has given us in the treatment of disease in connection with prayers for healing. Indeed, as we pray, it is the proper exercise of faith to make use of the natural agencies which God has placed within our hands. We believe that in the closing days of this message we shall see the mighty manifestation of God’s healing power among his people, but let us realize this, that the day of consecration must precede the day of power. We shall witness the mighty revelation of God in the church and in our own personal experience in the proportion that we rid ourselves of sin and consecrate without reserve soul, body, and spirit upon the altar of his service.
F. M. W.

The End Does Not Justify the Means

By L. L. C.

THE idea that “the end justifies the means” is commonly credited to the Jesuits, as if they were the originators of it. A study of the Bible, however, discloses the fact that this opinion swayed men's actions even in Bible times, often to the great harm of both individuals and God's people. It may be instructive to consider a few of these cases.
When Abraham was called out of his own country and sent to the Promised Land, the Lord told him that from him should spring a great nation. But time went on, and no child came to gladden his home. When Abraham was eighty-five and Sarah seventy-five years old, they thought they must do something to help God fulfil his promise. They therefore adopted what was a custom among their heathen neighbors under such circumstances,— Sarah gave her handmaid, Hagar, to be Abraham's wife. This endeavor to help God to fulfil his promise proved to be a great misfortune to all concerned. In due time God did fulfil his promise, and in his own way.
The Lord told Rebekah before the birth of Esau and Jacob that the elder should serve the younger; but their father, Isaac, when the time came that he expected soon to die, seemed determined to give Esau the birthright blessing. Therefore Rebekah and Jacob decided that they must practice deception on the blind old man in order that God's promise regarding Jacob might be fulfilled. How bitterly both were caused to repent of their action later! Jacob had to flee for his life, and Rebekah died before the return of her favorite son. Yet how long it took Jacob to unlearn the habit of gaining for himself by trickery and deceit the very blessings which God had promised him!
It was not until years of service for Laban, who seems to have been a man of even more artful tendencies, had shown Jacob the futility of depending on his own ingenuity to bring prosperity to himself, that he was prepared to learn the further lesson that not only his goods, but his very life and the lives of the members of his family, were safe in God's keeping alone. When Jacob and his fleeing family had been pursued and overtaken by Laban, they learned that they were to suffer no harm because of a dream which God had given Laban.
The supreme test for Jacob, however, came just before he met his brother Esau, who was coming against him with four hundred armed men. After doing all that human wisdom could suggest to appease Esau, or if that proved futile, to allow at least a part of his family to escape, Jacob went out by himself to pray. It was then that he gained the victory which brought the change of name from Jacob, a supplanter, to Israel, a prince of God.
In David's life we have a striking example of patient waiting for God to fulfil his promise in his own time and way. After the prophet Samuel had anointed David king, and had told him that God had rejected Saul, repeatedly opportunities presented themselves in which David could have taken action to remove Saul and to establish himself in the kingdom which God had given him. One time Saul, entering a cave where David was hiding, lay down and slept. David's followers, saying that God had delivered Saul into their hands, urged that they be allowed to seize him and thereby accomplish what God had said must occur. But David refused his consent; he waited long years for God to accomplish his purposes in his own way and at the time he saw fit. We cannot but believe that this was one of the traits of David's character which was commended when God called David a man after his own heart. (See Acts 13:22; 1 Sam. 13:14.)
It is not enough, then, to know that the end we have in view is in accord with God's will. We must be sure that the means by which that end is sought are themselves such as God can approve. Whether the action contemplated is one to be taken by ourselves alone or by others jointly with us, let us not only inquire whether it is what Jesus would do, but also whether it is the way Jesus would do it. If a question arises involving our duty to God or a question of right or wrong, we must take our stand firmly for the right, as did the three Hebrew worthies of old, who were “not careful to answer” the king. If, on the other hand, the question be one of carrying out what we believe are God's plans, we should be very careful to consider the interests of all who may be affected by our action. The golden rule should lead us, not only to do to others that which we would have them do to us if we could exchange places, but it should lead us to do it in the manner we ourselves would wish if we were in their places.
L. L. C.

The Sabbath

By G. B. T.

THERE is no doctrine of the Bible that stands out with greater clearness than the binding obligation of the seventh-day Sabbath. From the flaming, smoke-wreathed summit of Sinai Jehovah spoke the law of the Sabbath, saying to awe-stricken humanity assembled at the base of the mountain that “the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God.” With the rest of the precepts he traced this commandment on the imperishable stone. This great and only divine Sabbath law stands unrepealed. It reads, “The seventh day is the Sabbath.” Not that it was, but is, the Sabbath of Jehovah. Men may claim that the Sabbath has been abrogated, but they must face in the Word of God the statement handed down from Sinai that the seventh day is the Sabbath. This command is nowhere changed in the Scriptures. That devout worshipers of the Lord read this precept in the Bible, and repeat it in churches every week from catechisms, and then continue to transgress it, claiming some other day is the Sabbath, is a very remarkable inconsistency.
The immutability of the Sabbath law, and our duty to observe the Sabbath, have been very clearly and forcefully set forth by scholarly writers, though themselves observers of the first day of the week. I have before me a book entitled “The Sabbath for Man.” It is a prize essay, published by the Lord’s Day Observance Committee of the Wesleyan Methodist Conference in England. In the introduction the author says:—
“It will be our endeavor to show in the following pages that the Sabbath dates from the very dawn of man’s existence on the earth, and was an important feature in the Edenic dispensation; that its subsequent modifications, recognized and sanctioned in the Holy Scriptures, originated from him who is both Creator of the universe and Lord of the Sabbath; that its observance was enforced in the fourth commandment, which, although promulgated primarily with reference to the Jews, was yet not an exclusively Jewish law; that in after-ages the Sabbath ordinance was incorporated in the system of Christianity by divine authority; that the Lord’s day, kept from the earliest Christian times, is designed by its divine Author to represent the earlier seventh-day Sabbath, commemorating the creation of the world and its redemption; and that, as a part of God’s immutable law, as well as from its suitability to man’s condition and requirements, the ordinance of the Sabbath is binding on all mankind, bringing with it grave responsibilities, but fruitful of most beneficent results when cherished and hallowed in harmony with the precepts of the Lord.”—Pages 4, 5.
Again he says:—
“The Sabbath takes rank amongst the immutable rectitudes which no local or changing circumstances can affect. Edenic innocency, patriarchal simplicity, Levitical symbolism, rabbinical subtleties, the spiritual liberty of Christianity, may reflect varying hues upon it; but the principle involved in Sabbath keeping is not abrogated by any canonical or dispensational transitions. Dr. Hessey admits that ‘the occurrence of a commandment to keep the Sabbath in a table generally moral implies that there is a moral element in that commandment.’ And again he says: ‘If the church made the first day holy, she may make any other day holy instead. She may change the cycle, she may enlarge it indefinitely, she may get rid of it altogether.’”—Page 65.
The learned author quotes seemingly with approval the words of Dr. Hessey that “if the church made the first day holy, she may make any other day holy instead. She may change the cycle, she may enlarge it indefinitely, she may get rid of it altogether.” It seems hard to understand how one who had a vision as clear as this would continue to keep the first day of the week, and teach in this prize essay that others should keep it.
Concerning the immutability of the fourth commandment, he says:—
“The Sabbath law of the decalogue has never been repealed. All through the later developments of Jewish history it retained its vitality; and notwithstanding the abrogation of the ceremonial law, the decalogue in general, and the Sabbath in particular, were adopted and sanctioned by Jesus Christ.”—Page 85.
Speaking of the attitude of Jesus toward the Sabbath, he further says:—
“The sacredness of the Sabbath, and the obligation resting upon all mankind to observe it, are distinctly manifested by the example of Christ.”—Page 116.
That the author of this prize essay knows of no law authorizing a change of the Sabbath, is clear from the following:—
“It is not categorically asserted in the New Testament that the Lord’s day was specially set apart by Christ and ordained by him to be the memorial of creation and redemption.”—Page 52.
Yet without any command of the Saviour, whom he admits kept the Sabbath when on earth, he says:—
“The change from the seventh-day to the first-day Sabbath is an impressive testimony to the sovereignty and glory of the Messiah.”—Page 59.
He cites as inferential proof the usual texts found in the New Testament where it is said that Jesus rose from the dead on the first day of the week, etc. But none of the texts prove a change of the Sabbath. No command of God is given; no example of the Man of Calvary is cited, no text where he ever mentioned the day, no place where he referred to a change, no apostolic example. Nothing is given but mere assertion. The word of men, the practice of a church, is set up against the precept of God.
How blessed is the assurance as we keep the Sabbath that we have a “Thus saith the Lord” upon which to stand! There may be, and is, a sacrifice involved in keeping the true Sabbath, but it is worth all it costs even in this life to know that we are walking in the footsteps of the Saviour. It may be inconvenient to keep this day now, when all the arrangements of the world are against our doing so, at least along business lines; but it will be very convenient to be found a Sabbath keeper in the judgment, when every act and motive is weighed, and the hidden things come to light.
G. B. T.

“Some Shall Depart from the Faith”

By Ellen G. White

MRS. E. G. WHITE
Reprinted by request from the REVIEW of May 8, 1888.
We must put on the whole armor of God that we may be able to stand. There will be a constant conflict from the time of our determination to serve the God of heaven until we are delivered out of this present evil world. There is no release from this war.
The work of God for this time cannot be accomplished without arousing opposition, reproach, and calumny. Satan is at enmity with the truth, and he will instigate against its advocates every manner of warfare. His efforts to overthrow the Word of God will not be wholly confined to the ranks of its avowed enemies; but among those who claim to believe and practice it, “some shall depart from the faith.” The impression given by those who have turned away from the doctrines of the Bible, is that the work committed to men for this day will come to a speedy end, and thus they make it manifest that they have esteemed themselves as the very pillars of the truth. “Nevertheless the foundation of God standeth sure, having this seal, The Lord knoweth them that are his;” and the work goes on to accomplish the fulfilment of the sure word of prophecy. The infinite God is the originator and sustainer of his work and his people. The cause of Christ does not stand in the wisdom of man, and it cannot be overthrown by his power. “The Lord knoweth them that are his.” He can discern the steadfast souls who stand by faith, who will not be moved from their allegiance to him and his law. He reads the hearts of his children, and knows those, also, that believe not.
Our work is an aggressive one, and as faithful soldiers of Jesus, we must bear the blood-stained banner into the very strongholds of the enemy. “We wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.” If we will consent to lay down our arms, to lower the blood-stained banner, to become the captives and servants of Satan, we may be released from the conflict and the suffering. But this peace will be gained only at the loss of Christ and heaven. We cannot accept peace on such conditions. Let it be war, war to the end of earth’s history, rather than peace through apostasy and sin.
The work of apostasy begins in some secret rebellion of the heart against the requirements of God’s law. Unholy desires, unlawful ambitions, are cherished and indulged, and unbelief and darkness separate the soul from God. If we do not overcome these evils, they will overcome us. Men who have long been advancing in the path of truth, will be tested with trial and temptation. Those who listen to the suggestions of Satan and swerve from their integrity, begin the downward path, and some masterful temptation hastens them on in the way of apostasy till their descent is marked and rapid. Sins that were once most repugnant become attractive, and are welcomed and practiced by those who have cast off the fear of God and their allegiance to his law. But the most pleasurable beginning in transgression will end in misery, degradation, and ruin.
We need to be constantly on our guard, to watch and pray lest we enter into temptation. The indulgence of spiritual pride, of unholy desires, of evil thoughts, of anything that separates us from an intimate and sacred association with Jesus, imperils our souls. We must have living faith in God. We must “fight the good fight of faith,” if we would “lay hold on eternal life.” We are “kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation.” If the thought of apostasy is grievous to you, and you do not desire to become the enemies of the truth, the accusers of the brethren, then “abhor that which is evil; cleave to that which is good;” and believe in Him who is “able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy.”
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