The Advent Review and Sabbath Herald, vol. 76
June 27, 1899
“The Sermon. Daniel and Revelation” 1 The Advent Review and Sabbath Herald 76, 26, p. 408.
The Great Subjects to be Preached—The Coming of the Lord—The Sanctuary—The Command ments of God and the Faith of Jesus.
A. T. JONES
NOW another thing: we are not doing justice to the sinner who is converted, until he sees the law God as the foundation of all. now I know, you know, that everywhere there are men who are so lost in sin, so overwhelmed with the enormity of it and the shame and the discouragement of it, that they are read to drown themselves. Well, they do not need a treatise on the law the first thing; they need a Saviour the first thing of all,—Christ and him alone just now. And they will receive Christ. But when such a man has received Christ, he does not know anything about the reality, the sincerity, and the spirituality of the law of God that condemns what he has been doing, and has given him the knowledge of sin. Now he has repented, and he has called upon Christ for salvation, and he has received salvation by believing in Jesus; but the basis of his repentance—I do not say that it is so in every case, but I give this merely as an illustration—the basis of his repentance is largely only his disgust and shame that he should be what he is. But that is not sufficient foundation to save a man, and keep him from sinning afterward. ARSH June 27, 1899, page 408.1
The Lord will meet that man where he is if he calls upon him, for the Lord will meet every man that calls upon him; and that shame that has been upon him, and that disgust at his own disgrace, that will lead a man to accept the salvation of Christ, and call for it,—the Lord will receive him upon that; but then I must tell him that that is not sufficient basis of repentance to keep him from sinning again; for if that is all he has, after he has left off that thing it will not seem so shameful, and some of these days he will do that thing again. So that is not foundation enough to keep him from sinning afterward. His repentance is not finished, has not reached its object, until he is sorry because his sin is sin against God, in its being a violation of the commandment of God. ARSH June 27, 1899, page 408.2
Until your sorrow reaches to God, your repentance has not gone far enough; for it is only godly sorrow that worketh repentance not to be repented of. Until your sorrow reaches away from yourself, and all of yourself; and until God alone, and his glory, and his majesty, and your having sinned against him, is the basis of your repentance,—until you reach that point, you never can be kept from sinning. I must take the salvation of Christ to the man who needs it, and is longing for it; and give it to him as a free gift. He accepts it. And then I must instruct him in Jesus Christ, and set him upon his feet, upon the foundation of the law of God; and have him find the commandments of God turned into promises that will keep him from sinning. So we can not preach the faith of Jesus in sincerity,—in its fulness, in its truth,—without the commandments of God as the basis, the whole foundation, and the structure too, of the faith of Jesus. ARSH June 27, 1899, page 408.3
Thus we preach the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus. Therefore I read: “All who shall unite to praise and honor and glorify those who have lifted the banner of Satan are fighting against God.” There must be no compromise whatever with anything that is against the commandments of God. “All who shall unite.” The Lord looks ahead and warns, Be careful! Look out! “All who shall unite to praise and honor and glorify those who have lifted the banner of Satan are fighting against God. Our work now is to enlighten the world, in the place of bearing a peace-and-safety message. A banner has been placed in our hands, upon which is inscribed, ‘Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.’ This is a distinct, SEPARATING MESSAGE,—a message that is to give no uncertain sound. It is to lead the people away from the broken cisterns that contain no water to the fountain of living waters. ARSH June 27, 1899, page 408.4
“One class in our world carry their banner high, upholding the spurious sabbath that has been created by the man of sin, and therefore possessing not one particle of sanctity. This position will eventually lead to their putting their neck under the Roman yoke. ‘Hath a nation changed their gods, which are yet no gods? but my people have changed their glory for that which doth not profit. Be astonished, O ye heavens, at this, and be horribly afraid, be ye very desolate, saith the Lord. For my people have committed two evils; they have forsaken me the fountain of living waters, and hewed them out cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water. Is Israel a servant? is he a home-born slave? why is he spoiled? ... Hast thou not procured this unto thyself, in that thou hast forsaken the Lord thy God, when he led thee by the way. And now what hast thou to do in the way of Egypt, to drink the waters of Sihor? or what hast thou to do in the way of Assyria, to drink the waters of the river? Thine own wickedness shall correct thee, and thy backslidings shall reprove thee: know therefore and see that it is an evil thing and bitter, that thou hast forsaken the Lord thy God, and that my fear is not in thee, saith the Lord God of hosts.’ ARSH June 27, 1899, page 408.5
“This representation is applicable to many who claim to be the people of God. In their blindness they know not at what they stumble. God, through his servant, says: ‘And yet for all this her treacherous sister Judah hath not turned unto me with her whole heart, but feignedly, saith the Lord. And the Lord said unto me, The backsliding Israel hath justified herself more than treacherous Judah. Go and proclaim these words toward the north, and say, Return, thou backsliding Israel, saith the Lord; and I will not cause mine anger to fall upon you: for I am merciful, saith the Lord, and I will not keep anger forever. Only acknowledge thine iniquity, that thou hast transgressed against the Lord thy God, and hast scattered thy ways to the strangers.’” ARSH June 27, 1899, page 408.6
In our message these three things come: The coming of the Lord, the sanctuary, and the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus; all in the books of Daniel and Revelation. But away back in “Early Writings,” the Spirit of the Lord said that “such subjects as the sanctuary, in connection with the twenty-three hundred days, the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus, are perfectly calculated to explain the past Advent movement and show what our present position is, establish the faith of the doubting, and give certainty to the glorious future. These, I have frequently seen, were the principal subjects on which the messengers should dwell.”—Pages 53, 54. ARSH June 27, 1899, page 408.7
And these are the great subjects of the books of Daniel and Revelation, which we are exhorted to study and set before all people. ARSH June 27, 1899, page 408.8
“Editorial” The Advent Review and Sabbath Herald 76, 26, p. 412.
POWER, even the power of God, is not only the one thing that mankind needs; but God holds out the promise to every soul, “Ye shall receive power.” ARSH June 27, 1899, page 412.1
To what extent, then, is power supplied to all people?—Read this: “Making mention of you in my prayers; that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him: the eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know... what is the exceeding greatness OF HIS POWER to us ward who believe.” ARSH June 27, 1899, page 412.2
Well, what is the exceeding greatness of that power? What illustration can we have as a basis of estimate?—Here it is: “According to the working of his mighty power, which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead, and set him at his own right hand... far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come.” Ephesians 1:16-21. ARSH June 27, 1899, page 412.3
Thus the power that was manifested in raising Christ from the dead, and setting him at the right hand of God far above all,—this is precisely the measure of the power that is freely given to every soul in the world, and that will be manifested in and upon every one who believes; in other words, it is power nothing short of resurrection power that is freely given to all, and that is to be manifested in and upon every one who believes. ARSH June 27, 1899, page 412.4
This, and this alone, is “the exceeding greatness of his power to us ward who believe:” as it is written, “That I might know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death; if by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead.” Philippians 3:10, 11. ARSH June 27, 1899, page 412.5
I must know “the power of his resurrection,” in order to “attain unto the resurrection” of the just. Whoever does not know the power of Christ’s resurrection, before he dies, can never, after he dies, know the power of a resurrection unto righteousness. ARSH June 27, 1899, page 412.6
Do you know the exceeding greatness of God’s power toward you who believe? Are you acquainted with resurrection power? Is resurrection power working in you, to-day, “while it is called to-day”? “Ye shall receive power.” Have you received it? Do you receive it? Do you believe? Where the promise of God is, believing is receiving. Do you believe? ARSH June 27, 1899, page 412.7
“Editorial Note” The Advent Review and Sabbath Herald 76, 26, p. 412.
A SIGNIFICANT token of how matters are prospering in the Peace Congress is seen in the fact that when the Dutch government was suggested as the central bureau of the proposed permanent tribunal of international arbitration, “the American delegates raised the curious objection that ‘as Holland is a monarchy, such arrangement would hurt the feelings of the citizens of a free republic.’” By the same token, to make a free republic the central bureau, would hurt the feelings of the people of a monarchy. And as all governments are either monarchies or republics, how will it be possible to escape hurting the feelings of somebody—unless, indeed, the papal government should be chosen? As the papal government is neither a republic nor a monarchy, neither civil nor religious, but is altogether nondescript, they might agree on it. Yet even then there would be a possibility of having their feelings hurt. And how can they have certain peace so long as they are afraid of having their feelings hurt? or even so long as their feelings can be hurt? Whoever in this world starts out expecting or fearing that his feelings will be hurt, will never know peace. The only person in this world who can have assured permanent peace is the true Christian: and he has it only because he is dead, crucified with Christ, and therefore his feelings can not be hurt. And even though he should yet be sufficiently alive to find his feelings hurt, he knows that this is his own fault, and thanks God for the further crucifixion; and so gains anew the victory, and goes on in assured permanent peace. But nations can never find this: it is only the individuals, and by faith in Christ Jesus. ARSH June 27, 1899, page 412.1
“‘The Principles of the Fathers’” The Advent Review and Sabbath Herald 76, 26, p. 412.
THE Outlook is one of the leading religious journals of the United States. Its editor is Lyman Abbott, one of the most influential clergyman in the United States, whether deservedly or not. This journal, with its editor, is also one of the leading influences in repudiating the principles of the Declaration of Independence. ARSH June 27, 1899, page 412.1
In the issue of the The Central Union Outlook, May 20, 1899, there is published an editorial expressly criticizing, explaining away, and therefore practically repudiating, the Declaration. Of course for anybody to do this, special pleading must be resorted to; yet this by no means deters the editor of the Outlook from sweeping away every principle of freedom upon which this nation was founded, and deliberately advocating the principles of despotism only. ARSH June 27, 1899, page 412.2
Under the title “The Principles of the Fathers,” the editor of the Outlook offers a discussion and an interpretation of the Declaration of Independence, which, it is safe to say, would have been positively resented and repudiated by the men of ‘76. Indeed, it is exceedingly difficult to conceive how he or any other, even to the school children, in the whole nation, would not know that it would have been repudiated by the men of ‘76, as being in any sense a just exposition of the principles of the Declaration. ARSH June 27, 1899, page 412.3
He begins with the following piece of supercilious special pleading:— ARSH June 27, 1899, page 412.4
A great deal of current discussion assumes that the Declaration of Independence is a declaration in favor of self-government, and that consistency requires that a republic initiated by such a statement of principles should recognize the right of self-government in all peoples. This supposed truism is applied to the solution of various political problems, and is supposed to necessitate woman suffrage, negro suffrage, Cuban suffrage, Filipino suffrage. Why it does not require childhood suffrage in the family is not clearly stated. ARSH June 27, 1899, page 412.5
If any grown person is so dull as really to need a statement as to why “childhood suffrage in the family” is not required, it is already given in the very fact of childhood itself, in the fact that, in the nature of things, every child is, and by mankind in all nations, every child up to a certain age is held to be, a child, an infant, and therefore incapable of either self-government or government by consent. ARSH June 27, 1899, page 412.6
It is further given in the fact that upon true principles, the principles of the Declaration, the state is not a family, government is not paternal. In the declaration of the equal and inalienable right of all men to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness; and that governments derive their just powers from the consent of the governed, there is declared not only the sovereignty of the people, but also the entire capability of the people. The Declaration itself, and in itself, presupposes that men are men indeed, and that as such they are capable of deciding for themselves as to what is best for their happiness, and how they shall pursue it, without a government setting itself up as a parent or guardian to deal with them as with children. ARSH June 27, 1899, page 412.7
The true principles of the Declaration do, and when announced they were intended to, annihilate the despotic doctrine that had become venerable, if not absolutely hallowed, by the precedents and practise of thousands of years,—the doctrine of the divine right of kings. And in the place of the old, false, and despotic theory of the sovereignty of the government and the subjection of the people, there was declared and put in operation the self-evident truth of the subjection of the government and the sovereignty of the people. ARSH June 27, 1899, page 412.8
In the declaration that governments are instituted by the governed, for certain ends; and that when any government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it, and to institute a new government in such form as to them shall seem most likely to effect their safety and happiness; it is likewise declared that instead of the people’s needing to be cared for by the government, the government must be cared for by THE PEOPLE. ARSH June 27, 1899, page 412.9
These are the true principles of the Declaration of Independence. And it can be only by a mind permeated with paternal ideas of government, as has been for years the mind of the editor of the Outlook, that there could be entertained the thought, and only from such a mind could come the suggestion, of “childhood suffrage in the family” in any discussion of the subject of governments of states or nations. And, consistently enough it is true, because true to the paternal government instinct, the editor of the Outlook perverts unto this pernicious doctrine the noble and inspiring truth of the Declaration. Here are his words:— ARSH June 27, 1899, page 412.10
What the Declaration of Independence affirms is that governments exist for the benefit of the governed; and this is very different from affirming that they must always be administered by the governed!! ARSH June 27, 1899, page 412.11
Indeed it is very different. It is as different as black is from white; as darkness is different from light; as despotism is different from freedom; as sovereignty of the government is different from sovereignty of the people; as divine right of kings is different from the individual rights of the people; as the principles of the self-styled patriots of 1899 are different from the principles of the Fathers of 1776; as the Declaration of Independence as interpreted by the imperialists of 1899, is different from the Declaration of Independence as written and adopted by the statesmen of 1776. Of this is must be said, as Abraham Lincoln said of the repudiators of the Declaration in his day, and it can be said in his own words, “These principles can not stand together. They are as opposite as God and Mammon; and whosever holds to the one must despise the other.” “Is there no danger to liberty itself in discarding the earliest practise and first precept of our ancient faith? In our greedy chase to make profit of the negro [and the Cuban, and the Filipino], let us beware lest we ‘cancel and tear in pieces’ even the white man’s charter of freedom.” ARSH June 27, 1899, page 412.12
That is exactly what is now constantly and diligently being done by these present-day repudiators of the Declaration of Independence. And it is high time now seriously to inquire, as did Lincoln in his day: “I ask you, in all soberness, if all these things, if indulged in, if ratified, if confirmed and indorsed, if taught to our children, and repeated to them, do not tend to rub out the sentiment of liberty in the country, and to transform this government into a government of some other form? Those arguments that are made [that “governments exist for the benefit of the governed”]; that the inferior race are to be treated with as much allowance as they are capable of enjoying; that as much is to be done for them as their condition will allow,—what are these arguments?—They are the arguments that kings have made for enslaving the people in all ages of the world. You will find that all the arguments in favor of kingcraft were of this class: they always bestrode the necks of the people—not that they wanted to do it, but because the people were better off for being ridden.” ARSH June 27, 1899, page 412.13
And when this government is turned into a government of some other form, in the repudiation of the principles of republicanism; and forms a union of religion and state, in repudiation of the principles of Protestantism; what then shall the governments of the world do for the light and example of liberty, either civil or religious?—They can do nothing: all is gone. Turned back finally to the old order of things, all that remains for them all is to wander for a little time in the mazes of despotism and distress with perplexity, till they end, and perish, just where government—the state—began,—in extremely impious rebellion against God. Apostasy, apostasy, is the only true word now. ARSH June 27, 1899, page 412.14
“Blow ye the trumpet in Zion, and sound an alarm in my holy mountain: let all the inhabitants of the land tremble: for the day of the Lord cometh, for it is night at hand; a day of darkness and of gloominess, a day of clouds and of thick darkness. Joel 2:1, 2. ARSH June 27, 1899, page 412.15
“‘Shall He Find Faith?’” The Advent Review and Sabbath Herald 76, 26, p. 413.
THE Presbyterian General Assembly held last month at Minneapolis, Minn., in a deliverance with respect to certain writings of a professor in one of the denominational colleges, states as “a fundamental doctrine” that the Holy Spirit so controlled the writers of the Bible “as to make their statements absolutely truthful; that is, free from error when interpreted in their natural and intended sense;” that “all seeming discrepancies and contradictions in the Bible are to be referred to the limitations upon human knowledge;” that it is contrary to the Confession of Faith “to hold that the Holy Scriptures are in any respect historically inaccurate;” and that it is “a fundamental doctrine of the word of God” that God justifies men “by imputing the obedience and satisfaction of Christ to them.” ARSH June 27, 1899, page 413.1
All this the religious editor of the Independent takes up, and vigorously disputes. He says that “to impose it upon Christian people is to drive them out of the church, and it may be out of the faith;” and that “it is just such deliverances as this that make infidels out of studious young men.” But the truth is that if such statements as those will drive people out of the church, and maybe out of the faith, then all such persons have not any faith to be driven out of, and so to be out of the church would be just as well for them, and better for the church. ARSH June 27, 1899, page 413.2
He declares that “the doctrine of the inspiration of the Scriptures is of but secondary importance as compared with that of the truth of the Christian religion.” But without the inspiration of the Scriptures, who is to decide, and how is he to decide, what is the Christian religion, as well as what is the truth of it? The special book of Christianity—the New Testament—invariably appeals to “the Scriptures” as evidence of the truth of the Christian religion. “The Scriptures” are given as evidence of the resurrection of Christ; indeed, they are appealed to by Jesus himself as such evidence. Who does not recall Christ’s walk to Emmaus with the two disciples, and the words, “O fools, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken: ought not Christ to have suffered these things, and to enter into his glory? And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded unto them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself”? And the same day at evening, when with the eleven, “then opened he their understanding, that they might understand the Scriptures, and said unto them, Thus it is written, and thus it behooved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day: and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.” Luke 24:25-27, 45-47. And Paul, in preaching the gospel, delivered “first of all” “how that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures; and that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the Scriptures.” 1 Corinthians 15:3, 4. It is true that the evidence of the eyesight of those who saw him after he was risen, is also cited; but the evidence of “the Scriptures” is put before that of the eyesight, and is counted stronger, “more sure,” than the eyesight. See 2 Peter 1:16-21. It is therefore certainly true by “the Scriptures” that instead of the inspiration of the Scriptures being secondary to that of the truth of the Christian religion, the inspiration of the Scriptures is the very truth itself of the Christian religion. ARSH June 27, 1899, page 413.3
Further: the writer in the Independent makes the surprising statement that “the doctrine of the imputation of Christ’s obedience is certainly not fundamental, and is not generally held by Christians to be true. They do not at all agree to accept that theory of justification, and those who reject it are as good Christians as those who accept it.” Now since the Scriptures plainly declare that “as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous” (Romans 5:19); and that men are justified only by “the righteousness of God without the law,” “even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference” (Romans 3:21, 22), it is rather startling to be told by such high authority that such doctrine “is not generally held by Christians to be true,” and that “those who reject it are as good Christians as those who accept it.” Surely that presents a queer phase of Christianity. ARSH June 27, 1899, page 413.4
Yet from beginning to end it is all perfectly consistent. For if the Scriptures are not absolutely truthful, and must be subjected to the judgment of man for what truthfulness they may have, and even then are secondary to something else that men must decide as to the truth of Christianity, then of course whether people believe or reject one thing or another, they are all alike equally good “Christians,” if they call themselves that. Nevertheless it is written, “When the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth?” ARSH June 27, 1899, page 413.5
“War—The True and the False Estimate” The Advent Review and Sabbath Herald 76, 26, pp. 413, 414.
VERESTCHAGIN is a Russian artist, who paints war scenes so horribly real that rulers and generals do not like to have either the soldiers or the people see the pictures, lest they refuse to go to war. This artist has been in battle himself, and fought so well as to be honored with the highest military decoration known to Russia. This man, who has been in it, who knows so well exactly what it is, and who can so powerfully reproduce it on canvas, thus defines war:— ARSH June 27, 1899, page 413.1
War is the loss of all human sense; under its influence men become animals entirely. The artist looks always for passion, and passion is seen at its height on the battle-field.... Every hour war brings something new, something never seen before, something outside the range of ordinary human life. It is the reversal of Christianity. ARSH June 27, 1899, page 413.2
And yet to-day in the United States, actually the great majority of professed ministers of the gospel hold war to be perfectly compatible with Christianity—that Christians can go to war and still be Christians! ARSH June 27, 1899, page 413.3
Read the following from a sermon on Sunday, April 30, by Rev. Frank C. Bruner, of Grace M. E. Church, Chicago, on “The Sword in American Civilization:“— ARSH June 27, 1899, page 413.4
The sword is a great history-maker. There is such a thing as a Christian war. Such to-day is the case in the Philippines. Nothing can check the advance in the Philippines. It is the hand of God in history. The pessimists may howl about the slaughter of the innocent, and hold their anti-expansion meetings. It will avail nothing. They mistake the signs of the times. God is marching on. Some of these timid souls forget the hero is the stuff out of which divine history is made. The thunder of George Dewey’s guns had the roar of a marked civilization in them. Manila, the Venice of the Orient, is to become the hub of a new civilization. It is to radiate the light of American intelligence to the uttermost rim of the twelve hundred islands. The crack of the rifles of General Otis’s advancing army has in it the music of the coming of the Son of Man. In a hundred years that territory, equal in English miles to Great Britain and Ireland, will be under the sway of the Son of God, the fruit of the triumph of the American sword. Nothing can change the sovereignty of human history. The purpose of God is ripe in the present conflict. He who opposes the struggle hits the providence of God in the face. ARSH June 27, 1899, page 413.5
Is it not high time that there were a revival of the preaching of the gospel of peace? Is there not a loud call for the message of that angel of the Revelation, flying “in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people”? ARSH June 27, 1899, page 414.1
Jesus Christ is the Prince of peace, not war. His gospel is the gospel of peace, not war. The preachers of his gospel are sent to preach “peace by Jesus Christ.” ARSH June 27, 1899, page 414.2
These preachers that preach war are not the ministers of Christ, whatever their profession may be. General Sherman, one of the greatest warriors of modern times, in the quiet of the times of peace, soberly declared that “war is hell.” How, then, can any Christian go to war? How can any Christian preach in favor of war? “Babylon is fallen, is fallen.” Apostasy, apostasy, apostasy, must not be written of the churches. ARSH June 27, 1899, page 414.3