Earlier text: The Treasures of the SnowSEVERAL times the writers for the SIGNS have been requested to open their Bibles and copy from them, whenever they quote texts for publication. This is the only way to secure accuracy, and to save trouble to the editor, printer, and proof-reader. Our oldest speakers, who are most familiar with their Bibles, very seldom write a text from memory for the SIGNS. The Scriptures are so often misquoted that we all are in danger of following erroneous renderings; and sometimes, when we think our memory cannot fail us, we find, on examination, that we have made a mistake of some short word, which may materially change the reading. Let all who write for the SIGNS, either write from the open Bible, or compare their manuscript with the Bible before sending it to the office. There is one reason for doing as here suggested which has not, to our knowledge, been referred to directly. They who quote from memory, and therefore often follow popular renderings, are in danger of following popular errors, and of losing much of the beauty and benefit of the texts they aim to quote. Of this we were forcibly reminded, while examining an article in which Rom. 8:28 was given as follows: "And we know that all things shall work together for good to them that love God." Now that word "shall" is an addition to the text, and gives a meaning to the promise quite different from that contained in the Scripture, as written by the inspired apostle. It throws the work into the future; but the text has it in the present. The lesson we would try to enforce on this subject is this: Do not overlook present blessings. Many texts are unappreciated; many promises are suffered to lie concealed, because of a careless reading. We will notice a few. The text under consideration says, "All things work together for good." But, the general opinion on this subject is shown by inserting the word "shall;" that is to say, though it is bad for the present, it shall, at some future time, work for our good. But, with this view, it is difficult to maintain that spirit of confident submission which more naturally springs from a knowledge of the present care of our heavenly Father in our trials and afflictions. We are very prone to complain, and to think that God has no care for us, because we are suffered to fall into afflictions. And we need just such an assurance as is given in this text, when read correctly, to realize that our God is "a very present help in trouble." Ps. 46:1. Again, it is written, "Tribulation worketh patience; and patience, experience; and experience, hope." Here again a present benefit of tribulation is recognized. Rom. 5:3, 4. It is an undisputed truth that exercise gives strength; and how should patience be exercised, without crosses and tribulations? Some think they have much patience while everything goes to suit them; but when trials arise, they declare their patience is exhausted! But not so. The trial makes manifest their spirit, and proves that patience has not yet been developed in their experience. And this idea is presented again in 2 Cor. 4:17: "For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory." Here unbelief manifests itself, saying, My affliction is not light, nor momentary; it is very heavy, and of long continuance. My trials are so great that they overcome my faith and fill me with discouragement! Then, surely, your afflictions work against you, not for you. But this is not a Christian, but a worldly, experience. What is the matter? There is a qualifying declaration here of which we should not lose sight. The apostle continues, "While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen;" that is, while "we walk by faith, not by sight." Chap. 5:7. It is only when the eye of faith is fixed on the "far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory" that we can realize—can feel that our afflictions are light and but for a moment. When viewed alone, they seem almost past all endurance; when contrasted with a far more exceeding weight of glory, they are light; with eternal glory, they are but for a moment. Compared with eternity, "what is your life? it is even a vapor, that appeareth for a little time and then vanisheth away." But, "When we've been there ten thousand years,
Bright shining as the sun,
We've no less days to sing God's praise
Than when we first begun."
Can this be so? Why not? Thousands and millions of years of glory will leave all eternity yet before us! What a thought! or rather, whose thought can reach the greatness, the fullness of the promised glory? We shall need eternity to realize the wondrous love of God, and of his beloved Son, in bestowing such glory on sinful mortals. And eternity itself seems insufficient to recount all the wonders of his grace. And if God "spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?" James says, "My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations, knowing that the trying of your faith worketh patience." This, then, is also a necessity; and though it may be a "fiery trial," it will but consume the dross, and purify the silver. Were there no dross, no fire would be needed to refine. Were we all right, no correction would be required. But in our condition, with our surroundings and dispositions, we should never be fitted for the society of angels, for the purity of Heaven, without trials and crosses. Said the Saviour, "Blessed are they that mourn; for they shall be comforted." And the mourner says, "If I could feel the comfort, then I could believe in the blessing." But that is not faith. You need not wait till joy takes the place of mourning; "Blessed are they that mourn." The blessing is upon them while they are mourning, and "they shall be comforted." They who walk by sight will not trust the promise for the blessing; they must have the comfort of mind now or they will not believe. But faith is willing to trust and wait; it says:— "My rest is in Heaven, my rest is not here."
It finds consolation in doing the will of God, in crosses, in trials, in affliction, and in sorrow. Other texts might be mentioned to illustrate the idea herein taught. But why particularize? The whole scope of the Scriptures, the entire gospel plan, is but an evidence of God's willingness to help the weak, the helpless, and undeserving. "Like as a father pitieth his children, so the Lord pitieth them that fear him." And we know that a father pitieth his children most when they are in trouble and affliction. "So the Lord pitieth them that fear him." How easy to suffer and to bear "all things," when we know that they "work for" us, and are the means of making manifest our Father's care! "Ye fearful saints, fresh courage take;
The clouds ye so much dread
Are big with mercy, and shall break
With blessings on your head."
A Puzzled Correspondent.
By Ellet Joseph Waggoner
FROM a gentleman in Medina, Ohio, who has read a few copies of the SIGNS, we have received a letter which contains objections that are common to so many, and which seems to indicate a spirit of kindness and candor on the part of the writer, so that we are constrained to print it entire. It reads as follows:— "DEAR BRETHREN: I have just received a copy of the SIGNS, and have read it with great pleasure and profit, though the journal is not new to me. Your views of the second advent, immortality through Christ, etc., all meet my views exactly. I do not understand the Sunday question, however, as you do. You seem to imply that if we begin on Sabbath, Dec. 5, 1884, and go back by sevens, we should arrive at the Sabbath which God gave to Moses; but as no sane man pretends to tell the year the law was given, of course we cannot tell where to stop, and hence all is guess-work. I am just as sure that to-day [Dec. 7] is the true Sabbath, as you can be that Dec. 5 was. "But even if we did know this, what then? I profess to be a Christian, and hence I care no more for what Moses commanded, than I do for what Mohammed commanded. Christ is the end of the law to every one that believeth. He who follows Christ does more honor to Moses and the law than he does who worships the law only. Christ elaborated every one of the commandments in the decalogue except regarding Sunday, or the 'Sabbath,' and of that he speaks as though it were more for us than we for that. "If infidels care nothing for Sunday, how can you make them respect Saturday? Why not change their hearts instead of their calendar?" "Yours in Christ, W. P. R." Our brother has got things sorely confused in his mind, but we will endeavor to set him straight in regard to them. In the first place, we shall inform him that since December 5 fell on Friday, we do not count from that date either backward or forward, to find the Sabbath. We are Christians, not Mohammedans. He says, "I am just as sure that to-day [Dec. 7, the date of his letter] is the true Sabbath, as you can be that December 5 was." Granted; but unless his confidence exceeds that, he will not be likely to do much homage to the Sunday. We can say for ourselves that we also are "just as sure" that Sunday, December 7, was the Sabbath as we are that Friday, December 5, was, and not one particle more so. There is just the same Bible authority for keeping Sunday that there is for keeping Friday, and that is—just none at all. Of one thing we are just as certain as it is possible to be of anything, and that is that if, beginning with any Sabbath (Saturday), we should count back by sevens, we should find that we have the same seventh-day Sabbath which God commanded the Jews to keep, and upon which he rested in the beginning. It is not at all necessary that we should know the exact age of the world, nor the exact year in which the law was given. The following points establish the matter beyond all controversy: 1. The Sabbath of the fourth commandment is the one upon which God rested at creation. See Ex. 20:8-11; Gen. 2:2, 3. 2. It was this same day that was kept in the time of Christ, and of which he declared himself Lord (Mark 2:28), for the women who followed Jesus to the sepulcher returned and rested the Sabbath day "according to the commandment." Luke 23:56. 3. It is not possible that the reckoning of days since that time could have been lost, for the Jews, who as a nation have kept the Sabbath quite strictly ever since the Babylonian captivity, were dispersed to every nation under the heavens, and there is not the slightest disagreement among them as to which day is the true Sabbath, no matter how widely separated they may be. Moreover, within a comparatively short time after the days of Christ, his professed followers adopted the day of the heathen festival of the sun,—the first day of the week,—professing to do it in honor of Christ's resurrection on the first day of41 the week; now in whatever part of the world you go, you invariably find that the so-called 'Christian Sabbath' is the day following the Sabbath which the Jews observe. Thus we know that the day of the Sabbath has never been lost since the creation. On this point, Bishop E. O. Haven, of the M. E. Church, said:— 'There is no good reason for denying that the Jewish Sabbath is the true seventh day, reckoning from the creation of man, and that the Christian Sunday is the first day of the Hebrew week, or of the genuine week.'—Pillars of Truth, p. 89. And now that we know that we have the original seventh-day Sabbath, "what then?" Says our brother: "I profess to be a Christian, and hence I care no more for what Moses commanded than I do for what Mohammed commanded." Well, we profess to be Christians too, yet we care far more for Moses than we do for Mohammed, because "we know that God spake unto Moses" (see Num. 12:6-8; Deut. 34:10), and there is no evidence that God ever manifested himself in any way to Mohammed. Christ was the prophet whom the Lord was to raise up, like unto Moses (Deut. 18:18, 19; Acts 3:22-26); and he reproved the Jews because they did not really believe the words of Moses. Indeed Christ plainly says that they could not believe on him unless they first believed the words of Moses (John 5:46, 47); and therefore if our brother really cares no more for Moses than he does for Mohammed, he has the word of Christ for it that his profession of Christianity amounts to nothing; that without believing Moses he cannot be a Christian. We do not believe that he carefully considered what he was writing. But the Sabbath commandment does not rest on the authority of Moses. "And GOD spake all these words, saying, . . . Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labor, and do all thy work; but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God; in it thou shalt not do any work," etc. Ex. 20:1-11. "These words the Lord spake unto all your assembly in the mount out of the midst of the fire, of the cloud, and of the thick darkness, with a great voice; and he added no more. And he wrote them in two tables of stone." Deut. 5:22. Certainly our brother cares something for what the Lord commanded, even if he has no regard for Moses. "Christ is the end of the law to every one that believeth." True; but must we therefore conclude that with every believer in Christ there must be an end of keeping the law? Let us try a case, and see if our brother will agree with us. I believe in Christ, therefore I will curse and swear, because Christ is the end of the law which says, "Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain." Again, because I believe in Christ, who is the end of the law, I will shoot the next man I meet, and take his watch and purse. "No, no," our friend will surely say, "that would not do; if you believe in Christ you must forsake sin." Exactly; so say the Scriptures: "He that saith he abideth in him [Christ] ought himself also so to walk, even as he walked." 1 John 2:6. And he "did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth." 1 Peter 2:22. Sin is the transgression of the law (1 John 3:4); so then if we profess to abide in Christ we must cease transgressing the law, or, in other words, we must keep the law. Now by what rule does our brother decide that, because Christ is the end of the law, we are at liberty to violate the fourth commandment, and are not at liberty to violate the third, sixth, or eighth? "Are not your ways unequal?" Is the follower of Christ at liberty to break the law in any particular? Listen to the words of Jesus himself: "Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill. For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled. Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least [of no account] in the kingdom of Heaven; but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of Heaven." Matt. 5:17-19. "Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of Heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in Heaven." Matt. 7:21. The follower of Christ is not free to break the law, although Christ is the end of the law. Then in what sense is he the end of it? In the sense that in the present state of the world Christ is the object of the law; i. e., the law, having no power of itself to make sinful men perfect, drives them to Christ, in whom they may attain all the perfection which the law requires. Paul clearly expresses the case in few words: "For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh; that [in order that] the righteousness [requirement] of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit." Rom. 8:3, 4. "He who follows Christ does more honor to Moses and the law than he does who worships the law only." Very true; for if any one "worships the law only," he will make a miserable failure; "without me," says Christ, "ye can do nothing." Christ's office is to enable us to do, as well as to cleanse us from past transgression. One cannot be a follower of Christ without keeping the law. "Christ elaborated every one of the commandments of the decalogue, except regarding Sunday." Very much mixed. Christ said nothing about the second commandment, and did not elaborate the eighth, ninth, nor tenth; yet we do not feel at liberty to slight them on that account. And he certainly did not elaborate the commandment regarding Sunday, because no such commandment was in existence until the rise of the "man of sin," many years after the time of Christ's earthly ministry. "The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath." Mark 2:27. These are the expressed, not implied, words of Christ. It was made for man's use. Now if our brother wishes to know just how God designs that man shall use the Sabbath, let him read the fourth commandment, and he will find out. God made the Sabbath for man to keep holy. Will our brother keep it so, and thus use the Sabbath as God intended it should be used? The paragraph concerning infidels and the Sabbath will be noticed in another article. E. J. W. The Lord Speaks Righteousness
"I THE Lord speak righteousness, I declare things that are right." Isa. 45:19. Easy Conversion.
By Ellet Joseph Waggoner
MUCH ado has been made over the announcement that Mr. M. K. Schermerhorn, one of the most prominent of Unitarian preachers, has been admitted into the Episcopal Church, and has taken orders therein, and "the church" has been congratulated upon so valuable an accession. According to Mr. Schermerhorn's own statement, however, his "conversion" does not seem to have been prompted wholly by unselfish motives. He says:— "As to Unitarianism, I will say that it has been a constant disappointment to me, though I always tried to make the best of it. I have seen the Unitarian cause steadily declining. Out of fifteen societies in the New York and Hudson River Conferences, for instance, six have died outright during the past twelve years. No new ones have been started, and those remaining are, with three or four exceptions, just alive, and that is all. The same is more or less true all over America and England, too. In short, I lost all hope for any permanent growth of Unitarianism long before I left Newport, and this, in part, was what (providentially, as I now feel) caused me to turn my studies and thoughts in the direction of the older churches and faith." Even in politics such an avowal as that would not be considered a credit to any man. Much has been said, especially during the last campaign, about standing up for a principle, even though the party be in the minority; but here we find a clergyman openly announcing that he has left the church of which he was long a champion, solely because he had no hope that it would ever rival other denominations, and people do not think that there is anything out of the way in his course. Well, why should they? Isn't popularity getting to be the standard of orthodoxy? Of late the discussion between Catholics and Protestants has waxed hot, as to whether Catholicism has really made the progress that is claimed for it, as though its character were to be judged by its ability to gain converts. One of the most common objections we hear against the Sabbath of the Lord is, "Oh, there is only a mere handful of people that keep it, anyway." And the argument upon which Sunday advocates are willing to rest their cause is that "everybody keeps Sunday." When people can pass from one church to another, or from the world to the church, so easily, what is to hinder the whole world from being "converted"? and then the millennium will be ushered in. It is natural for men to love to be on the winning side; and as soon as the church can demonstrate that she is the strongest power in the world, people without number will feel "providentially" directed to join her communion. E. J. W. "Christian Consciousness" vs. the Bible.
By Ellet Joseph Waggoner
IN a recent number of the Independent, Prof. Francis L. Patton sharply criticizes the statement by Dr. Harris, in the Andover Review, that "Christian consciousness" must be recognized as the final authority in matters of faith and practice. In the course of his article he says:— "Common consciousness cannot be appealed to as the criterion of religious progress without danger of jeopardizing the Protestant principle that the Bible is the rule of faith. Dr. Harris admits that what he calls the 'obsolescent theology' agrees as well with the word of God as it ever did, but affirms that it does not agree with the Christian consciousness. Suppose, however, that the Bible should say one thing, and Christian consciousness should say something else; or suppose that Christian consciousness should undertake to supplement the Bible. What then? It is an old charge against those who have had an objective rule of faith, that they made the word of God of none effect through their traditions, and that they taught for doctrines the commandments of men. We know how the Roman Catholic Church followed the example of the scribes and Pharisees in this respect. Is there no danger that a party will arise in the Protestant churches, committing the same error? We think that there is great danger. And when, under the influence of a zeal that lacks both knowledge and discretion, the attempt is made to force upon the consciences of men the yoke of party fanaticism and popular clamor, there is little doubt but that an earnest, but at the same time ignorant, pietism will find great use for the phrase that is under discussion, and as a phrase, catchword, appealing to the sympathies of the unthinking, that Christian consciousness may become the 'organ' of what some will call religious progress." There is as little doubt that the state of things outlined by the Professor is imminent, as there is that "Christian consciousness" is superseding the Bible, as a test in matters of religion. We see this "Christian consciousness" manifested in that form of worship which mistakes feeling for faith, whose adherents know that they are right, because their hearts tell them so! And especially is it manifested in those who would enforce the observance of the Sunday because the majority of Christians have declared, by precept and practice, that Sunday is the Lord's day. The plain language of the fourth commandment is ignored by the Protestants and Catholics alike, for the custom and sentiment of "the church." Healdsburg College.
By J. N. Loughborough
Last week I spoke respecting the financial interests of our cause as related to the present hard times, calling particular attention to the publishing work, and showing how our people could render it efficient aid, if so disposed. I wish this week to speak of our school. It is called Healdsburg College, but it is in reality a Pacific Coast institution; for it is calculated to benefit all our Conferences on this coast. Our people in these Conferences should feel a deep solicitude for its prosperity. Already over thirty persons have gone forth from the College to engage as workers in different branches of the Master's cause. About sixty are already enrolled in the Biblical Class for this term. Most of these are from California and Nevada; but I see among them five from the North Pacific, and three from the Upper Columbia Conference. Our cause is one all over the world, and it should be especially our endeavor to move with unity of purpose and action in all these Conferences on the Pacific Coast. In order that we may move unitedly, in any matter, we should move understandingly. To do this, it is necessary that we acquaint ourselves with the relation the subject sustains to us. Healdsburg College is not a money-making institution, and from its very nature and workings it never can be. Many of its students are, and will be, those who, while they have ability that can be turned to account in the cause, have not money to enable them to obtain the education necessary to qualify them for the work. For this reason there will ever be a necessity that such should be helped from some source; and as we are not by any means a rich people, the terms of tuition, etc., must be made as low as possible for all. The price for board and tuition at this institution is only one-half that of other boarding schools on this coast. I refer, as samples, to McClure's Military Academy, Oakland; the Ladies' Seminary, Reno, Nevada, etc. The price for board and tuition at these institutions is $40 per month, while at Healdsburg College it is only $20 per month. Some have said, "If the students do a portion of the manual labor in the institution, why should not a deduction be made in their board and tuition?" That is just what is now being done. If persons were hired to do all that is now done by the students, it would be needful to add much more to the price charged; for at present prices, and with the students' labor free, the College but barely meets its running expenses. I fear there are those who greatly mistake the nature and standing of this institution. Some who have nothing to depend upon for a living but their daily labor, suppose that if they move to Healdsburg they can get work about the College grounds for a livelihood, and at the same time board their own children and educate them. Others presume on getting labor in the place to support them. To all such we say, Healdsburg is only a small country place, with poor chance for day labor, and the College employs no such labor. All those proposing to come to Healdsburg to have the benefit of the school or church, should first correspond with Prof. Brownsberger, asking the information they need, and reporting their financial condition. Those who are poor, and come without doing so, are quite likely to be disappointed, and to be tried themselves, if they do not become a trial and financial burden to the church, which, by the way, is a poor church as far as this world's goods is concerned. If a few brethren of means and financial ability would move to Healdsburg, letting the College have the use of their means and counsel, it would be an acceptable arrival just at this time, and a great help in the growth of the institution. The school needs our prayers, our sympathies, and our means. The professors, teachers, and the managers, need our encouragement in every possible way, while they, in the fear of God, are seeking to do all they can for the success of the work committed to them. We should not be satisfied with praying God to prosper the College, and giving it our good-will, but we should consider the finances of the institution, and see that we do our part to relieve it from financial burdens. To aid each in deciding as to his duty, I will make a statement of the situation as it appears upon the books of the College. The cost of land, recitation building, and the North College Hall (boarding-house), was a little over $40,000. To meet this there has been pledged, as College stock, $31,400. Of this stock, $17,000 has been paid. Of the remaining $14,400, there was $6,400 pledged last September and October, which will be due during this year. The balance of the pledges ($8,000) is all overdue since last October. If these overdue pledges could be paid, it would enable the College to pay off so much of its interest-bearing debt, and measurably stop that financial leak. If those who have pledges for this year, would pay them as rapidly as possible, it would render aid in this direction. I find the greatest economy is being practiced at the North College Hall, especially in utilizing all available room, so as to avoid, as long as possible, any outlay for additional buildings. Some eighteen months since, it was proposed to raise an "endowment fund" of $25,000, to be loaned to some of our institutions, the interest to be applied in support of the Bible Course, and in part payment for some of the students who were preparing to labor in the cause, but were not able to pay full price for board and tuition. Of this fund $13,000 has already been pledged, $9,000 of which has been paid and put out at interest. This interest will afford aid to some during the present term of school. The other $4,000 pledged, I hope will soon be paid, and enter upon its important financial mission. I trust the time may soon come when it can be said that the whole $25,000 is not only pledged but paid. Let all who should have a part in that fund prayerfully consider their duty and act accordingly. I hope none of us will rest easy with reference to our duty to this institution, making the plea that it is hard times. You may say, I designed to pay what I had pledged to the College stock this year, if I had made it out of my crops, fruit, etc. If you had acquired the means, over and above all expenses, to pay your pledge, would you have considered it a sacrifice to pay it? I fancy I hear you all say, No, I would have esteemed it a pleasure to pay it. I suppose, yes, I know with many, it would require some sacrifice to pay now. What are you going to do? Shall we, by our actions, say, Let the College pay interest? We know it is embarrassed, but we can't pay interest to help the College. Hard as the times are, if any of us had lost a horse by death, or a house by fire, we would not hesitate long before deciding to get another horse, or build another house, even if obliged to run in debt to do it, trusting Providence to open the way to pay for it. May it not be that the Lord has permitted hard times to come upon us as a people, while there are such strong financial demands upon us for our institutions, to try us whether we will really make sacrifices for the advancement of his cause? We get an impressive lesson concerning offerings made to God, in that answer of David to Araunah the Jebusite, when he offered to give to David the threshing-floor, the threshing instruments, for wood, and the oxen, that David might make an offering of the oxen to God. "The king said unto Araunah, Nay; but I will surely buy it of thee at a price; neither will I offer burnt offerings unto the Lord my God of that which doth cost me nothing." 2 Sam. 24: 24. We may feel that it costs us something to borrow individually, at interest, to meet our pledges, but will it not look more like seeking first the kingdom of God, than to drift along in a careless manner because it is hard times, waiting for some time to come when we can make our offerings to God of that which requires no special self-denial. Brethren and sisters, let us carefully and prayerfully consider this subject, and act according to our convictions.