The Advent Review and Sabbath Herald, vol. 75

May 10, 1898

“The Sermon. Christian Manliness” The Advent Review and Sabbath Herald 75, 18, pp. 296, 297.

ALONZO T. JONES

(Concluded).

IN that passage where Christians are spoken of as poor (2 Corinthians 6:8-10), it is said that they are chastened and not killed; sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; “as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, and yet possessing all things.” George Müller was more than a seven-times millionaire, yet he possessed nothing. That is just what the genuine Christian experience is. ARSH May 10, 1898, page 296.1

Read the first psalm. There it is said of the godly man, “And whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.” He will be a prosperous man in business, in work, everywhere. Of course it will take time, because his former training has been the other way; he must grow into the true way. We are to be merciful and kind to him, because he is poor. But at the same time we must be sure that he gets true Christianity in his soul. And when he has that grace, he will soon grow into a prosperous man; for “whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.” ARSH May 10, 1898, page 296.2

Now let me read from Job 22:21-25: “Acquaint now thyself with him, and be at peace: thereby good shall come unto thee. Receive, I pray thee, the law from his mouth, and lay up his words in thine heart. If thou return to the Almighty, thou shalt be built up, thou shalt put away iniquity far from thy tabernacles. Then shalt thou lay up gold as dust, and the gold of Ophir as the stones of the brooks. Yea, the Almighty shall be thy defense, and thou shalt have plenty of silver.” ARSH May 10, 1898, page 297.1

In these times of controversy over the question of money,—whether it shall be gold or silver,—you see that Christianity is what the people need. Whether the money shall be gold or silver is neither here nor there. Get genuine Christianity, and then the other will come; you will “lay up gold” and “have plenty of silver.” The message for Seventh-day Adventists to preach is neither gold nor silver, but Christianity, which means both gold and silver. All must be taught, however, and must be trained in, this kind of Christianity. Now do not get a wrong idea here of what is “plenty.” If I need nothing, even though I have nothing, I have plenty. If I need what costs a nickel, and have the nickel, have not I plenty? So it is with that which costs a dollar, or any amount. There is a misconception and a wrong education as to what is plenty, which comes from depending upon what is of the world. People of this world think that a certain amount is a plenty; but when they get that, they have not even enough,—they must have more and yet more, until the amount reaches thousands, and even millions, and yet they are not satisfied. The Christian has a plenty all the time, because his dependence is upon God. God is with him,—he is one with him,—they are joined together. God knows what his need it; and when his dependence is upon God, and his energies are springing from God, he will work the works of God, and the fruit will be to the glory of God. And though as poor, he will be making many rich; though as having nothing, he will be possessing all things. That is true prosperity. Again read the Word: “Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths. Be not wise in thine own eyes: fear the Lord, and depart from evil. It shall be health to thy navel, and marrow to thy bones. Honor the Lord with thy substance, and with the first-fruits of all thine increase: so shall thy barns be filled with plenty, and thy presses shall burst out with new wine.” Proverbs 3:5-10. ARSH May 10, 1898, page 297.2

What are all these verses in the Bible for?—They are there to tell to you and me that the man who is a Christian is all right. They are not intended to tell that he will be rich as the world calls rich, but he will have plenty, and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper. That is Christianity. ARSH May 10, 1898, page 297.3

The whole philosophy of Christianity is God manifest in the flesh. God says that he is our strength, he is our wisdom, his Spirit guides the mind. He himself is there. He is all in all to the Christian. When a man who has gone all his life without God, joins himself to God, and God’s life becomes his life, God’s strength becomes his strength, God’s wisdom becomes his wisdom, then has not he ability that he did not have before? and is not this ability given to him to use? When he has received God, and has Christ dwelling within, the very life of his life, his strength, his wisdom, has not he a power, a wisdom, an intellect,—ability of every sort,—that will make him more than he ever could have been without Christ? Then do you not see—it is as plain as A B C—that the man who professes to be a Christian, and does not make a better success in this life than before, has not Christianity? He is cheating himself by a mere outward profession of the thing, and is simply robbing himself of what belongs to him in this world and in the next. ARSH May 10, 1898, page 297.4

It is proper now to treat a matter of fact respecting the point I mentioned as to those people who say, “Well, if I can get a situation where I can keep the Sabbath, I will do so.” Just as certainly as they do that in order to be Christians, they will be babies right along. They will simply be baby Seventh-day Adventists. If one of them should get a position in the Review and Herald Office, or the Pacific Press, or the Conference, he would go to it because the institution or the Conference wants Sabbath-keepers or course forever; and as his Sabbath-keeping depends upon his having a position, it follows, logically enough, that he must have that place forever, as if it were an infirmary, and expect to remain there forever. And going there expecting that he will remain forever, and being a baby anyhow, his Christianity being only a form, he does not put forth divine energy so that his work is efficient, and does not pay for his keeping in whatever position he may be placed. It is a dead loss to keep him: and when the Conference or the institution decides that because of the loss, it can not keep him any longer, and finds a man who can work, and who has divine energy and application, and will put them into his work, and is a man who amounts to something,—when such a man is employed in the place of the other one, then the man who is dismissed is a bigger baby than ever; and he will make war against the institution and against the Conference, and enlist all his cousins and aunts and his first wife’s relations, and have them buzzing around the manager with the cry, “Why did you discharge such and such a one? Why should you throw him out of his employment? How is he to make a living, now that you have thrown him out? He will have to give up the truth, in order to make a living, and you will be responsible,” etc. ARSH May 10, 1898, page 297.5

That is just the way it works. And right here in Battle Creek this doctrine of Christian manliness needs to be preached, because here are situated these vast institutions that employ so many hands. Here is where there are more of our people than anywhere else, and in the very nature of the case, it is here that these baby Seventh-day Adventists are most likely to come. ARSH May 10, 1898, page 297.6

Now, these babyish people, when they see the truth and want to accept it, think if they can only get to Battle Creek, where they can get a position, or where they can mek a living off the rest, so that they “can keep the Sabbath,” they will accept it. That is so, and you know it. This present week I received a letter from a man who said he had a shoe store in which was a $5,000 stock of goods. He said he had heard the message preached last year, and said he was converted, but that he could not keep the Sabbath and carry on his business where he is, because he is obliged to keep his store open on the Sabbath. And he wanted to find a place where he could shut his store on the Sabbath, and “so keep the Sabbath.” He wanted to know if there was not an opening for a shoe store in the part of Battle Creek where the Adventists live, also what was the prospect for success with a grocery. I was obliged to tell him that in this part of town, there are two shoe stores; that between the Office and my home, four blocks away, there are six groceries, and that in a radius of five blocks there are six other groceries, making at least twelve groceries in a radius of five blocks; and therefore he might judge for himself as to the openings for either the shoe or the grocery business. ARSH May 10, 1898, page 297.7

And I told him more than this. I told him what I would tell to everybody,—that his whole idea as a mistaken one. I told him that if he could not keep the Sabbath where he is, he could not keep it if he were in Battle Creek; that if he should come here as he proposed, and set up a business, so that he “could keep the Sabbath,” he would not be keeping the Sabbath when it was done. His religion would be only a form, and his “Sabbath-keeping” only Saturday-keeping, with no Christianity and no virtue of any kind in it. ARSH May 10, 1898, page 297.8

I told him yet more than this, and still what I would tell to everybody of that kind,—that his letter showed that he was mistaken about his conversion. I told him that if he had been really converted last year, he would have closed his store rightly the first Sabbath after he was converted, and that it would have been closed every Sabbath since. I told him that if he was really converted, he would be keeping the Sabbath just where he is, and would not be looking around for some other place where he “could kept it;” and he would make his Sabbath-keeping regulate his business, and not his business regulate his “Sabbath-keeping,” which in that case would not be Sabbath-keeping at all. ARSH May 10, 1898, page 297.9

When people of this kind come to Battle Creek, or any other Seventh-day Adventist center, in order to keep the Sabbath, they come as babies, and they will remain babies as long as they stay. A good many of this class of people are here and at other centers already. Therefore I say that it is essential that this kind of Christianity—this true Christian manliness—be preached right here in Battle Creek. ARSH May 10, 1898, page 297.10

I state as a vital principle that no man is qualified for any position of any kind in any Conference or institution of Seventh-day Adventists until he is able to make his way prosperously outside ot it. when he can do that, he does not care whether he gets a position in Seventh-day Adventist institutions or not: he is independent of them,—he is independent of everybody and everything but Christ; and Christ within himself is his life, his strength, his wisdom, his all in all. He does not have to fawn and palaver, for fear he may not have the favor of the president of the Conference, and so lose his “place.” If he works in the office of publication, he will not always have his eye on the foreman, and swing this way or that way, in order to keep his favor, for fear of being discharged. No; he is there, and expects to remain there, solely because of the value of his services. He is just as independent of that place after he gets it as he was before, and just as independent out of it as in it. He does not care whether the president of the Conference, or the foreman, or the general manager looks askance at him or not. He is not working for the president of the Conference, nor for the foreman, nor for the general manager. He is working only for God, with the eye of God upon him. And he cares not whose eye may inspect is work. He will not be so jealous of his “place” that he is constantly apprehensive that some one else will get his “place.” The man who puts his dependence only in God, and serves God, and goes into Christianity because God is in it,—that man is never afraid of losing his place. His place is with God, and no man can take it. He is not afraid of losing his place; for wherever he is, he is with God, and that is his place. If God calls him to another part of his great workshop, and gives him another piece of work, he still has his place. He is where God has called him, he is where God wants him, and he can not lose his place. He does not get his place from any man, and no man can take it away from Him. ARSH May 10, 1898, page 297.11

Therefore, “Watch ye, stand fast in the faith, quit you like men, BE STRONG.” ARSH May 10, 1898, page 297.12

“Editorial” The Advent Review and Sabbath Herald 75, 18, p. 300.

GOD paid a mighty price for sinners. He paid the greatest price that could possibly be paid, even by him. ARSH May 10, 1898, page 300.1

“He gave his only begotten Son;” and “in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily.” ARSH May 10, 1898, page 300.2

Now why did he pay that awful price? ARSH May 10, 1898, page 300.3

Was it because man, of himself, was worth the price? or was it because that which man had lost was worth the price? ARSH May 10, 1898, page 300.4

It was not because man, in himself, was worth it; for “they are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one.” ARSH May 10, 1898, page 300.5

It could be, then, only because what man had lost was of such inestimable value that it was worth all it cost to restore it to him. ARSH May 10, 1898, page 300.6

Men are apt either to think that because they are worth nothing in themselves, the Lord could not have givfen so much for them, or else to think that in themselves they are worth all that the Lord paid for them, and therefore they are sufficient of themselves, without God. And Satan does not care which of these views is adopted, as either is effective for his purpose; that is, that they shall not accept the Price. ARSH May 10, 1898, page 300.7

But while it is true that men, in themselves, are not worth the price that God paid for them, that which man had lost is worth, to men, all that it cost; and God is so abundantly good, so perfectly generous, that he gave all that is is worth, which is the greatest possible price, in order to make it forever sure to men who, of themselves, are worth nothing. ARSH May 10, 1898, page 300.8

Therefore for men to accept the Price in all its fulness, that they may enjoy, in all its fulness, all that the Price has brought to them, is to do the greatest honor to God,—and the greatest honor to themselves by doing the greatest honor to God. ARSH May 10, 1898, page 300.9

O, “the love of God is broader
Than the measure of man’s mind.
And the heart of the Eternal
Is most wonderfully kind!” ARSH May 10, 1898, page 300.10

“He hath chosen us.” ARSH May 10, 1898, page 300.1

He hath chosen us in Christ. ARSH May 10, 1898, page 300.2

“He hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world.” ARSH May 10, 1898, page 300.3

“He hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love.” ARSH May 10, 1898, page 300.4

“Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you.” ARSH May 10, 1898, page 300.5

He has chosen all; for it is written, “Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth.” ARSH May 10, 1898, page 300.6

He chose all, simply because he wants all to have what is infinitely better than is this world, or anything that is of this world. ARSH May 10, 1898, page 300.7

And the only purpose for which God ever chooses anybody is that he should be holy and without blame before him in love. ARSH May 10, 1898, page 300.8

He has never chosen some to salvation and the rest to destruction. ARSH May 10, 1898, page 300.9

He has never chosen many to salvation and the rest to destruction. ARSH May 10, 1898, page 300.10

He has never chosen anybody for anything but salvation, for anything else than that he should be holy and without blame before him in love. ARSH May 10, 1898, page 300.11

He has said that this is what he chose us for, and it is eternally so. What blindness of unbelief it is, then, that men will not let the Lord have them, when he has chosen them for so good a purpose as that—and for no other purpose whatever! “Yield yourselves unto God.” ARSH May 10, 1898, page 300.12

“‘Sin Shall Not Have Dominion’” The Advent Review and Sabbath Herald 75, 18, p. 300.

“SIN shall not have dominion over you.” ARSH May 10, 1898, page 300.1

That is the faithful word of God, and it is the eternal truth. ARSH May 10, 1898, page 300.2

What is that promise worth to you? Is it worth its face value to you? or are you obliged to discount it? ARSH May 10, 1898, page 300.3

If sin does have dominion over you, then of what benefit is that word to you? And if that word is of no benefit to you, then, so far as you are concerned, why should it be in the Bible? ARSH May 10, 1898, page 300.4

And if sin does have dominion over you, then of what use is any part of the Bible, what use if the Bible itself, to you? In reality, what is salvation itself, what is Christ, to you, so long as sin has dominion over you? ARSH May 10, 1898, page 300.5

No, no! salvation is deliverance from the dominion of sin. ARSH May 10, 1898, page 300.6

Christ breaks the cruel power of sin, and sets the prisoner free. ARSH May 10, 1898, page 300.7

Christ, and in Christ, is the FULL-fill-ment of that glorious promise, “Sin shall not have dominion over you.” ARSH May 10, 1898, page 300.8

And that promise is worth its full face value, every hour of the day, to every believer in Jesus. ARSH May 10, 1898, page 300.9

Sin shall not have dominion over you, because you “are not under the law, but under grace.” ARSH May 10, 1898, page 300.10

Grace is able to deliver you from the dominion of sin, both because it is stronger than sin, and because there is much more of it than there is of sin. ARSH May 10, 1898, page 300.11

Grace is of God; sin is of the devil. Grace is therefore as much stronger than sin as God is stronger than the devil. ARSH May 10, 1898, page 300.12

Grace being of God, and sin being of the devil, there is as much more of grace than there is of sin as there is more of God than of the devil and all his works. ARSH May 10, 1898, page 300.13

Therefore “where sin abounded, grace did much more abound.” ARSH May 10, 1898, page 300.14

Grace much more abounds in order that “as sin hath reigned,” “even so might grace reign.” ARSH May 10, 1898, page 300.15

“Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof.” But let grace reign. ARSH May 10, 1898, page 300.16

If sin has the dominion, change sovereigns and realms this instant. Give grace the dominion. Then “sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace.” ARSH May 10, 1898, page 300.17

God does not want sin to have dominion over you. He wants grace to have the dominion. Will you let him have what he wants, to-day—even while it is called to-day? ARSH May 10, 1898, page 300.18

“Studies in the Book of Daniel” The Advent Review and Sabbath Herald 75, 18, pp. 300, 301.

“IN that night was Belshazzar the king of the Chaldeans slain. And Darius the Median took the kingdom.” ARSH May 10, 1898, page 300.1

Belshazzar had been associated with his father, Nabonadius, in the rulership of the kingdom. This is why it was that when Belshazzar would offer the highest possible position and reward to whoever would read for him the terrible writing on the wall, he could bestow only the position of “the third ruler in the kingdom.” ARSH May 10, 1898, page 300.2

This was next to the king himself. And if there had been but one king, Daniel, in the position to which he was raised, would have been the second ruler in the kingdom. Having been by the king exalted to the highest position, next to the throne, he was accordingly clothed “with scarlet,” and they “put a chain of gold about his neck, and made a proclamation concerning him, that he should be the third ruler in the kingdom.” ARSH May 10, 1898, page 300.3

And now the two kings being out of the way, when Darius the Median, and Cyrus the Persian, his general, came to inquire into the affairs of Babylon with respect to establishing order and reorganizing the realm, they found Daniel in his royal robe and the insignia of the highest office. And when they asked him about the affairs of the kingdom, its revenues, etc., they found him to be so thoroughly informed, and so able, that they took him into their council, and gave him the chief place in the reorganization of the kingdom. ARSH May 10, 1898, page 300.4

“It pleased Darius to set over the kingdom an hundred and twenty princes, which should be over the whole kingdom; and over these three presidents; of whom Daniel was first: that the princes might give accounts unto them, and the king should have no damage. Then this Daniel was preferred above the presidents and princes, because an excellent spirit was in him; and the king thought to set him over the whole realm.” Daniel 6:1-3. ARSH May 10, 1898, page 300.5

This arrangement of three chief officers, of whom one of the three was chief, corresponded to the governmental system established by David,—as any one can see by reading 1 Chronicles 11:6, 11, 12, 21,—and plainly could have been adopted only at the suggestion of Daniel himself. ARSH May 10, 1898, page 300.6

A new people had now come upon the scene of action. Another kingdom and other rulers were now called by the Most High, and given a charge concerning the world. These must be taught the knowledge of the true God and the principles of his truth. God would now further use his captive people to extend the knowledge of God and the principles of his truth to all peoples, nations, and languages. And he would make the wrath of man to praise him. ARSH May 10, 1898, page 300.7

When the other presidents and princes saw Daniel preferred before themselves, they were, like all politicians, dissatisfied. And when they saw that he was likely to be yet further promoted, they determined to break him down utterly. Accordingly, the whole company of them formed a conspiracy, and diligently “sought to find occasion against Daniel concerning the kingdom.” But with all their diligence, and with all their suspicious and prejudiced care, “they could find none occasion nor fault; forasmuch as he was faithful, neither was there any error or fault found in him.” ARSH May 10, 1898, page 300.8

What a commendation is that for a man of business in public affairs! Think what a test it was that was put upon Daniel. Everything that occurred in his daily business was watched and spied upon with the closest possible scrutiny, and with the definite purpose to find every fault that could be found. Every document that passed his hand, every item of business that arose in connection with his office, every direction that he gave, even the most jealous and suspicious prejudice. Yet these envious men exhausted every device and every means of information, only in vain. And such men were compelled to confess their complete failure. No fault, and not even an error, could be found in Daniel’s conduct of the business of the empire. ARSH May 10, 1898, page 301.1

There was, however, one last resource which, by a trick, they might employ. They knew that he feared God. They knew that his service of the Lord was actuated by such firm principle that, in rendering that service, he would not dodge, nor compromise, nor swerve one hair’s-breadth, upon any issue that might be raised. “Then said these men, We shall not find any occasion against this Daniel, except we find it against him concerning the law of his God.” ARSH May 10, 1898, page 301.2

But even in this, there was nothing upon which they might base an “occasion.” In order to find it, they would have to create it; and create it they did. Pretending to be great lovers of their country, and to have much and sincere concern for the honor of the king and the preservation of the state, they “assembled together to the king,” and proposed “to establish a royal statute, and to make a firm decree” that whosoever should ask any petition of any God or man for thirty days, save of King Darius, should be cast into the den of lions. ARSH May 10, 1898, page 301.3

They presented the matter in such a plausible way, and with such evident “care for the public good,” that Darius was completely deceived, and “signed the writing and the decree.” ARSH May 10, 1898, page 301.4

Daniel knew that the writing was signed. He knew that it was now the law,—and the law of the Medes and Persians, too, which altered not. Yet, knowing all this, “he went into his house,” and “kneeled upon his needs three times a day, and prayed, and gave thanks before his God, as he did aforetime.” He knew perfectly that no law of the Medes and Persians, nor of any other earthly power, could ever of right have anything to say or do with any man’s service to God. He went on just as he did aforetime, because, practically and in principle, all things were just as aforetime: so far as concerned the conduct of the man who feared God, any law on that subject was no more than no law at all on that subject. ARSH May 10, 1898, page 301.5

“Then these men assembled, and found Daniel praying and making supplication before his God.” Of course they found him doing so. They expected to find him doing so. That was precisely what they “assembled” for. And Daniel was not afraid that they would find him doing so. He did not go out and advertise that he would do so; neither did he dodge it when his regular time came to pray. He simply proceeded “as he did aforetime.” ARSH May 10, 1898, page 301.6

Then these men hurried away to the king, and asked him: “Hast thou not signed a decree, that every man that shall ask a petition of any God or man within thirty days, save of thee, O king, shall be cast into the den of lions? The king answered and said, The thing is true, according to the law of the Medes and Persians, which altereth not. Then answered they and said before the king, That Daniel, which is of the children of the captivity of Judah, regardeth not thee, O king, nor the decree that thou hast signed, but maketh his petition three times a day.” ARSH May 10, 1898, page 301.7

Then the king awoke to the fact that he had been trapped, and he “was sore displeased with himself, and set his heart on Daniel to deliver him: and he labored till the going down of the sun to deliver him.” But the conspirators were persistent to defeat every effort which the king could make. And they had a ready and unanswerable argument against everything that might be proposed. That argument was, The law, the law. “Know, O king, that the law of the Medes and Persians is, That no decree nor statute which the king establisheth may be changed.” ARSH May 10, 1898, page 301.8

There was no remedy; the law must be enforced. Daniel was cast to the lions. The king gave him the parting word of faith, “Thy God whom thou servest continually, he will deliver thee,” and went to his palace, and passed the night in fasting and sleeplessness. ARSH May 10, 1898, page 301.9

“Then the king arose very early in the morning, and went in haste unto the den of lions,” and “cried with a lamentable voice,” “O Daniel, servant of the living God, is thy God, whom thou servest continually, able to deliver thee from the lions?” ARSH May 10, 1898, page 301.10

And to the delight of the king, Daniel answered: “O king, live forever. My God hath sent his angel, and hath shut the lions’ mouths, that they have not hurt me: forasmuch as before him innocency was found in me; and also before thee, O king, have I done no hurt.” That is divine testimony that innocency before God is found in the man who disregards any law touching his service to God. It is also divine testimony that the man who disregards such laws, in doing so does “no hurt” to the king, to the state, or to the government. ARSH May 10, 1898, page 301.11

“Then king Darius wrote unto all people, nations, and languages, that dwell in all the earth; Peace be multiplied unto you. I make a decree, That in every dominion of my kingdom men tremble and fear before the God of Daniel: for he is the living God, and steadfast for ever, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed, and his dominion shall be even unto the end. He delivereth and rescueth, and he worketh signs and wonders in heaven and in earth, who hath delivered Daniel from the power of the lions.” Daniel 6:25-27. ARSH May 10, 1898, page 301.12