Earlier text: Sounding His PraiseSalvation by Faith Versus Salvation by Works
By Francis M. Wilcox
THE external forms of religion are necessary to the proper order and organization of the church of God, but they should never be regarded as a means of salvation. When they take the place in the mind of the believer of that inward work of grace which must be wrought in the heart, then they become a curse rather than a blessing. Formalism the Bane of the Church
The danger of trusting in the externals of religion has threatened the church in every age. It was the bane of the Jewish church. They trusted to the observance of ordinances and forms rather than to the operation of the Spirit of God in their lives. It was against these carnal ordinances, these traditions of men, these outward forms and ceremonies, that Christ and his apostles repeatedly warned the early Christian church. The baneful influence of this trust in the letter and form of religion is seen in some of the great churches of the present day. By their magnificent edifices, enchanting music, gorgeous processionals, formal ritualism and liturgies, and other external forms and ceremonies designed to attract the eye and enchant the ear, multitudes are drawn to these great religious organizations. But it must be confessed that in direct proportion as the external forms have been exalted, vital Christian piety has ebbed; and in the logical evolution of this decadence, substitutes have been provided for the exercise of that Christian activity which marked the lives of the early gospel believers. The church today makes much of its great philanthropies, its social service work. We read of the departmental church engaged in the carrying forward of great enterprises for the social, physical, political, and spiritual uplift of the world. But we find that these activities have largely supplanted that personal missionary activity which Christ designed should constitute the very life of every believer. It is easier to do missionary work by proxy than to engage in it personally. Icabod might be written over the door of many a professed Christian church at the present time. The glory is departed. The divine Shekinah has been withdrawn. The living, personal faith in the crucified and risen Lord has given place to trust in creeds and forms and externals. Will the Seventh-day Adventist Church succumb to these subtle influences which are operating in the great Christian world? Are we drifting away from simplicity into formalism? We do not apprehend, of course, any danger of this denomination’s ever patterning after the great churches around it in adopting their ritualistic rites and ceremonies. But, while rejecting some of these forms, and while even crying out against them as perversions of the gospel of Christ, will we violate the principle involved, by trusting in our own activities or in the material progress of this movement for salvation in place of the Lord Jesus Christ? We are doing much as a denomination in the evangelization of the world, but we cannot trust in these accomplishments for salvation. We are giving more per capita for foreign missions than any other denomination, and we ought to do it. If ever there was a movement in this world or a message of God in any age which should stir his people to activity and lead them to devote their all to his service, it is this work in which we are engaged. Instead of doing less we should do even more; but let us remember this, that in Christian benevolence we cannot find the salvation of God. We cannot buy a home in his kingdom by the payment of tithe nor by our gifts to foreign missions. If we could, then indeed were a premium set on the possession of worldly wealth rather than on the heavenly riches. We should scatter our books and tracts and papers like the leaves of autumn. We should engage in this work joyfully, as an expression of our love in being allowed to do something in the service of the One who has done so much for us. But let us remember at the same time that we cannot earn a home in the kingdom of God by the selling of books. Indeed, if that were true the talented worldly salesman could go out perchance and purchase a greater reward than the humble, faltering child of God. The Spirit of Commercialism
In dealing with some of our great enterprises, with our institutions involving such large investments, and particularly in struggling with the great debts which, by the help of the Lord, we are so successfully reducing at the present time, there is danger that a spirit of commercialism will enter our work, and we come to feel that religion consists in raising money, in putting through great financial enterprises, in material success. If we shall come to reason in this way, then will God blow upon our efforts, and this splendid organization established in his providence, and which he has given us for the orderly prosecution of this work, will become a curse rather than a blessing. Intellectualism Not to Supplant Spirituality
We are in hearty sympathy with the principles of true higher education. We believe that the educational standard of our workers in every department of this cause should be raised as fast as possible. We approve of the definite lines of instruction and of the set courses of study which are provided by our schools. We would that every young man who enters the ministry could complete a college course, but let him remember that, though he may receive the degree A. B. or Ph. D., this scholastic attainment will not insure his success. As a minister of Christ his sufficiency must be of God. God can use the consecrated training which the degree represents, but the conferring of the degree itself bestows upon him no added power, and to trust to it is only to trust to the form, the letter, the external, rather than to the Spirit of power. Scholasticism can never take the place of the endowment which must come from above. Intellectualism can never supplant spirituality; but education, if consecrated to God, may be used mightily of him in the accomplishment of his work. In every age of the church God has worked through men of high educational endowment. Moses, Paul, Luther, and scores of others were men of broad culture and learning, but they were humble men. They trusted, not in their native ability or acquired knowledge, but in the wisdom that cometh from above. As this message goes out into the highways of the earth, God will use men of talent and culture in its promulgation; but they will be men who have obtained such a vision of God and of his greatness and wisdom that they will count themselves as nothing in his sight — humble instruments of8 clay whom he may use to display his own wisdom and might. “Thus saith the Lord, Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, neither let the mighty man glory in his might, let not the rich man glory in his riches: but let him that glorieth glory in this, that he understandeth and knoweth me, that I am the Lord which exercise loving-kindness, judgment, and righteousness, in the earth: for in these things I delight, saith the Lord.” Jer. 9:23, 24. This movement has possessed few mighty men measured by the world’s standards. We may never reasonably expect that the great men of earth will give to it the support of their influence; but it deals with mighty truths, and with great, eternal principles. In our adherence to these will be our strength and safety. In the possession of the Spirit and its fruits — love, gentleness, meekness, simplicity, and humility — will be our power. This people is the special object of Satan’s attack. Subtly and insidiously will he seek to corrupt our simplicity of faith and experience. May God give us wisdom to be able to detect and to repel his first and slightest advances. We have but one hope of salvation, the merits and mercies of the Lord Jesus Christ. In a personal fellowship with him shall we find overcoming grace. The external forms should be employed only as the expression of this indwelling faith and experience. “The letter killeth, but the Spirit giveth life.” F. M. W. The Business of Amusement
By C. M. S.
ONE of the characteristics of the last days was to be the prevalence of amusements. “Lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God,” was to be such a distinctive feature of the last generation that the Bible specifies it as such so that men may have another evidence to help them in distinguishing the generation of our Lord’s return. At a meeting of the New York Theater Club held at the Hotel Astor, in New York City, on April 20, Commodore J. Stuart Blackton, president of the Vitagraph Company of America, stated that for the year 1913 the sum of $275,000,000 was paid by the general public for admission to various motion picture houses throughout the country. He further stated that eleven million persons visit moving picture theaters daily in this country; that during 1913 forty thousand miles of moving picture films were made. This is only one line in which this mania for amusement manifests itself. Anything that will amuse the people in these days will succeed as a business enterprise; anything that will amuse will draw the crowds. The prayer meeting is abandoned by the majority if there is anything taking place that will amuse or will tickle itching ears. The coldness of the majority of the church membership toward spiritual things is as much a sign of the times as is the mad race of masses after amusements. This condition ought to shock the members of our own churches into a realization of our own individual danger. We are traveling over Satan’s enchanted ground, and many are succumbing to its stupefying influences. Let us arouse and awake and break the spell, and then make most earnest efforts to help others to throw off the lethargy of death. Some will soon go out to meet the Bridegroom. We are individually deciding now whether or not we will be among them.
C. M. S. Synopsis of Present Truth
By W. A. S.
The Second Coming of Christ
“AND unto them that look for him it is shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation.” Heb. 9:28. Too often the second coming of Christ is looked upon merely as a doctrine. It is more than a doctrine merely to be believed. It is an impending event, something that is to take place on earth, and the most stupendous, all-transcendent event for the world since Christ came the first time to die on Calvary for the sins of men. This second coming of Christ, like his first coming, has been the theme of divine prophecy from the beginning. This was made clear by the apostle Peter in his second recorded sermon. He pressed upon the people of Jerusalem the fact that the things “which God before had showed by the mouth of all his prophets that Christ should suffer,” had been fulfilled to the letter, before their eyes. Not a word had failed. Just so, he said, all that the prophets had spoken of his second coming would be fulfilled:— “And he shall send Jesus Christ, which before was preached unto you; whom the heaven must receive until the time of restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began.” Acts 3:20, 21. The Promise of His Coming
As iniquity began to abound, God sent a message to the antediluvian world, declaring that Christ’s coming in glory would end the reign of sin:— “And Enoch also, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of these, saying, Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his saints, to execute judgment upon all.” Jude 14, 15. The promise of Christ’s coming was the “blessed hope” in the patriarchal age. In Job’s dark hour of trial his heart clung to the promise, and he was kept from despair:— “For I know that my Redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth: . . . whom I shall see for myself, and mine eyes shall behold, and not another.” Job 19:25-27. The psalmist sang of it:— “Our God shall come, and shall not keep silence: a fire shall devour before him, and it shall be very tempestuous round about him.” Ps. 50:3. And the prophets of later times were unceasingly moved upon to talk of the glory of that coming, of events preceding it, and of the preparation for it. “I have set watchmen upon thy walls, O Jerusalem, which shall never hold their peace day nor night: ye that make mention of the Lord, keep not silence.” “Behold, the Lord hath proclaimed unto the end of the world, Say ye to the daughter of Zion, Behold, thy salvation cometh; behold, his reward is with him, and his work before him.” Isa. 62:6, 11. The message of his coming is to be heralded to the ends of the earth; for it is good tidings of great joy to every one who will receive it. On that last night with his disciples, before the crucifixion, when his heart was sorrowful, even unto death, as the burden of all our iniquities was about to be laid upon him, Christ’s love for his own made precious to him the thought of his second coming to gather them home at last, safe beyond all sin and trouble, and he said:— “Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.” John 14:1-3. In that assurance the heart finds rest. O the preciousness of the promise, “I will come again”! “I am coming for you,” is the cheering message. “Yes, Lord,” we reply, “we will wait, and watch, and be ready, by thy grace.” Christ’s second coming is to be visible to all the world. There is to be nothing secret or mystical about it. The revelator says:— “Behold, he cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him.” Rev. 1:7. Christ himself described the scene to his disciples as it will appear to the eyes of all:— “For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.” Matt. 24:27. “And then shall they see the Son of man coming in the clouds with great power and glory.” Mark 13:26. The day of the Lord—the close of probation, the suddenness of the outpouring of the last judgments of God—will come “as a thief in the night,” but Christ’s coming is visible to all. The9 heavens are opened, the earth quakes, the trump of God resounds, and such glory as mortal eye has never seen bursts upon the world when he comes as King of kings and Lord of lords. “He comes not an infant in Bethlehem born,
He comes not to lie in a manger;
He comes not again to be treated with scorn,
He comes not a shelterless stranger;
He comes not to Gethsemane,
To weep and sweat blood in the garden;
He comes not to die on the tree,
To purchase for rebels a pardon.
Oh, no; glory, bright glory,
Environs him now.” The Lord would have his children understand that this One who comes in power and glory is the same Saviour of men who once walked by Galilee. As the disciples were watching their Saviour and ours ascending bodily into heaven from Olivet, until “a cloud received him out of their sight,” suddenly two angels stood by them, who said:— “Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven.” Acts 1:11. “This same Jesus”! It was the loving Friend and Elder Brother, Son of man as well as Son of God, who was passing from their sight. He will come back, the “same Jesus,” though in glory indescribable, having “all the holy angels with him.” The prophet Habakkuk thus described Christ’s glorious appearing, as it was represented to him in vision:— “His glory covered the heavens,
And the earth was full of his praise.
And his brightness was as the light;
He had rays coming forth from his hand;
And there was the hiding of his power.”
Hab. 3:3, 4, A. R. V. Surely it is the “same Jesus,” and the mark of the cruel nails is the shining badge of his power to save. “I shall know him
By the print of the nails in his hands.” As the redeemed see it, they will cry, “Lo, this is our God; we have waited for him, and he will save us: this is the Lord; we have waited for him, we will be glad and rejoice in his salvation.” Isa. 25:9. But that day is a day of darkness as well as of light. The unready, the unrepentant, will realize too late that in rejecting Christ’s love and pardon and sacrifice, they are all unprepared to meet the coming King, before whose face no sin can endure. “Every eye shall see him,” the apostle says, and he describes the terror of that day to the unprepared:— “And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every freeman, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains; and said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb: for the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?” Rev. 6:15-17. The scenes of that great day are so beyond human comprehension that it is difficult to realize that such a time is actually before us. “Then, O my Lord, prepare
My soul for that great day.” The Words We Speak
By C. M. S.
One of the most important admonitions of Paul to Timothy had to do with his personal conduct among men, especially among the believers. It reads:— “Be thou an ensample to them that believe, in word, in manner of life, in love, in faith, in purity.” 1 Tim. 4:12. The Authorized Version renders it: “in word, in conversation,” etc. Of all people on this earth at the present time Seventh-day Adventists ought to be most particular that their words, their conversation, their manner of life, shall be not only above reproach, but of a character that will win souls to the fold of Christ. The psalmist prays: “Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in thy sight, O Jehovah, my rock, and my Redeemer.” Ps. 19:14. How often we admire a person’s appearance before we become personally acquainted with him, but find him repulsive to us because of the character of his conversation. It would be difficult for him to win us to any cause he might advocate; for, while his argument endeavors to win, the indelicacy of his words, the slang, and the crudity, repel us and work against his own purpose. The wise man has expressed the thought in these words: “Dead flies cause the oil of the perfumer to send forth an evil odor; so doth a little folly outweigh wisdom and honor.” Eccl. 10:1. The purpose of the perfumer was to produce an ointment that would give forth a pleasing odor; but his purpose has been thwarted by the dead flies. In like manner will the most earnest endeavor to win souls for the Master be thwarted by the indelicate or injudicious use of our powers of speech. A soul is trembling in the balance; earnest prayers are being offered; the right word turns the balance for God; but the careless word, the slangy word, the indelicate word, may turn the feet of that wavering soul into the pathway of death. How much Christians have to account for in that particular only eternity will reveal. A minister or a Bible worker returning on a crowded car from a public effort may do more in a five-minute conversation to bind the shackles of doubt and indecision upon anxious souls than he can do in an hour’s public effort to break those shackles. The Saviour’s declaration, “By thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned,” has direct reference to this matter. It is a fearful thing so to use our powers of speech as to turn souls away from the pathway to the kingdom. The result of so doing is plainly set forth by our Saviour in these words:— “I say unto you, that every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment.” Matt. 12:36. We expect that God will call us to account for breaking the Sabbath, for withholding the Lord’s portion of our means, for taking that which belongs to another, for blaspheming, and for coveting; but many of us seem to forget that the very words we use will also enter into judgment against us. We might keep the Sabbath, but that would not exempt us from punishment if we permitted our hatred for another to culminate in murder. So we may keep the Sabbath, and refrain from murder and robbery, and yet merit God’s condemnation for such a careless use of words as would drive souls away from the kingdom. Let us be chaste in our conversation; and there is more to that than the mere avoidance of unchaste words. Moral men and women of the world are not vulgar in their speech, but we must stand for more than that. We have a pure message; it demands pure thinking; and pure thinking demands pure expression; and pure expression is impossible without pure, delicate, well-chosen words. Slang will not do. Cheap words presuppose cheap thoughts, and cheap thoughts a cheap purpose. If we use cheap words, our message will be judged a cheap message; and that would be a reflection upon its Author. Living in the light of eternity, let us not jeopardize the souls of our neighbors, and our own souls as well, by thoughtless words. C. M. S. The “Review” Campaign
By George B. Thompson
WE write especially to church officers. You have already learned that a campaign has been set on foot to place the REVIEW in the home of every Sabbath keeper in the Division Conference. The action of the Division Committee inaugurating this is expressed in the following recommendations:— Whereas, The REVIEW AND HERALD is our denominational family paper, and represents the work and policies of the General and North American Division Conferences; and,— Whereas, Its pages are filled each week, not only with articles from our leading men and most experienced and capable writers, but with interesting and10 stirring reports from our various departments and from our mission fields throughout the world; and,— Whereas, This weekly periodical is our most able minister, tending to establish our people in the great fundamental truths of the third angel’s message, and leading those who read its pages to a higher spiritual life; therefore, we recommend,— 1. That we urge every family of Seventh-day Adventists to become a yearly subscriber to this periodical. 2. That a special campaign, from this date, be inaugurated by the Home Missionary Department in the division, union, and local conferences, to place the REVIEW AND HERALD in the home of every Seventh-day Adventist family in the Division Conference. 3. That our camp meeting workers and all our general men throughout the field lend their influence, both in speaking and writing, to attain this object. 4. That we urge union and local conference officials to enter into this campaign, and use every possible endeavor to place the REVIEW AND HERALD in every Seventh-day Adventist home in their territory. We feel sure that this campaign will strike a responsive chord in the heart of every believer throughout the field. The circulation of the REVIEW ought to be not less than 20,000. We have made this our goal. It is none too high. Now we appeal personally to every church officer in the Division territory to help make this campaign a success. Can we not have a simultaneous movement started in every church by the officers in the interest of our church paper? If every church officer will spring into action at once, we can add thousands of names to the list of the REVIEW in a short time. Begin now. Find out who are subscribers and who are not. Appoint some one to visit every home. If the subscription of any has expired, or will soon expire, secure a renewal. If some are not taking it, secure their subscriptions, for a year if possible, but if not for a year, then for a shorter period. Correspond with the members and believers who may be absent, and have them subscribe. Do not rest until every family and every isolated member has the REVIEW. I do not need to speak of the value of the REVIEW. It fills a place no other periodical among us fills, or can fill. No other paper can take its place. It contains each week the very things we all need to read and understand. The thrilling weekly reports from our mission fields inspire those who read them with a deeper interest in the work of God. It tends indeed to establish its readers in the message. This appeal is to the officers of the church. The responsibility of making this campaign a success rests largely with you. Can you not begin at once in your church? You can do nothing better to strengthen and build up the church in which you carry a sacred responsibility than to place the REVIEW, “our most able minister,” in every home. We are depending on you. Do not disappoint us.