The Advent Review and Sabbath Herald, vol. 76

July 11, 1899

“The Sermon. Christ and the Doctrine” ¹ The Advent Review and Sabbath Herald 76, 28, p. 440.

A. T. JONES
(Concluded.)

WE are to preach life only in Christ in such a way that those who preach what they see to be life in Christ will see that they come so far short of it that they will wonder that they ever thought they saw life in Christ; and we must do this by preaching a fuller and deeper life in Christ than they ever conceived of. ARSH July 11, 1899, page 440.1

We are to preach the coming of the Lord in such a way, and in such power and such earnestness, that they who believe it will see it more than they ever did before. ARSH July 11, 1899, page 440.2

We are to preach the Sabbath in such spirituality, in such power, with such fulness of Christ in it,—the very presence of Christ itself,—as no Seventh-day Baptist has ever thought of. You have seen some glimpses of this, and it will go on and on until the end of the world. ARSH July 11, 1899, page 440.3

Instead of throwing aside the doctrines, and coming upon “the grand basis of fundamental truth and federal union,” and thus representing Christ, which is simply Satan’s representation of Christ,—instead of that, we are to have, and to preach, Christ with every one of these things in him. That makes true unity in Christ, and the unity of all truth in Christ. And that makes the Seventh-day Adventist denomination. Every man who gets Christ that way, and the truth in Christ that way, will become a Seventh-day Adventist; and he will be glad of it, and he will not tell people that he is not. True, he will not go around advertising to everybody that he is a Seventh-day Adventist; yet he will never dodge the fact that he is. ARSH July 11, 1899, page 440.4

Sister Henry suggests he will not need to advertise it. That is true: the Christ-life that is in him will show to the world that he is a Seventh-day Adventist. ARSH July 11, 1899, page 440.5

So then we must preach Christ with all the doctrine in him, and that doctrine must be in the preaching, or else we can not preach Christ in his fulness. We are so to preach Christ that we shall preach doctrine that it is nothing but Christ. That is the point that I am particularly setting before you just now. ARSH July 11, 1899, page 440.6

Let me call your attention to an illustration of this: The other morning I talked for an hour about Rome, quoting nothing but Roman history: I used nothing but expressions that are used in the Roman history: and yet you saw the United States in it all the time. I did not mention the United States nor hint at it at all. ARSH July 11, 1899, page 440.7

Now why did you see the United States in that?—If I myself had not so fully seen the United States in what I was preaching that it fairly oozed from every part of my being, would you have seen it? You perhaps would not have seen anything in it at all, more than a dry, old—two-thousand-year-old—story. If I had seen in it nothing but the old Roman history, that is all that you would have seen. And if I had suggested at the close that perhaps there was something in this pertaining to the United States, you might have said, “Well, I do wonder whether that means the United States;” but you would not have seen it clearly. ARSH July 11, 1899, page 440.8

So when you and I preach doctrine, if we are thoroughly saturated with the doctrine, and have that in mind, and yet preach Christ all the time, can the people help seeing the doctrine?—No. We shall preach Christ, and Christ only, and yet be so overflowing about it, the people will see in Christ the sanctuary, the coming of the Lord, the Holy Spirit, holiness, predestination, the sovereignty of God, the Sabbath, life only in Christ, Christian perfection, yea, every doctrine of the Word, because it is in us. ARSH July 11, 1899, page 440.9

We have instances among us of those who have come among us, and accepted the whole truth, in just this way. ARSH July 11, 1899, page 440.10

[E. E. Andross: You do not mean to say by that that we are not to preach the Sabbath right straight out and out, or the United States in prophecy in the same way, do you?] ARSH July 11, 1899, page 440.11

Oh, no! I mean to say that we should preach Christ, and Christ only; and then when the people see things in Christ, we can instruct them in all these things plainly, and yet be preaching Christ to them continually; for Christ is in these things. ARSH July 11, 1899, page 440.12

[E. E. Franke: I have been preaching Christ in a large hall in New York City for some weeks, and the people see these doctrinal points in this preaching of Christ. They have asked me, “Are you not a Seventh-day Adventist?” and “Will you not preach on the United States in prophecy?” and, “Will you not preach on the Sabbath question?” I preach Christ. When a man asks me if I am a Seventh-day Adventist, I tell him that I am. Thank the Lord.] ARSH July 11, 1899, page 440.13

There is where lies our power,—to preach Christ, and Christ alone, so that the people will see more than simply our wording of it, and will ask. And when they do ask, we should be ready to give an answer to every man that asks us a reason of the hope that is in us. We can do this with a vim, because it is in us. ARSH July 11, 1899, page 440.14

You see the subject is worthy our careful and constant study, because when we preach Christ that way in the mission, on the street, in a tent, or wherever it may be, and have no other opportunity to meet the people who hear us, the man who receives what we preach will be ready to receive all that the next brother preaches; because it was all in what we preached. But if we separate from that, we may be able to preach a good sermon, as a Methodist, or a Baptist, or a Presbyterian, or a Congregationalist preaches a sermon; but the next man who comes is new and strange, just as another one of those would be. We are to be so entirely one in Christ—all of us are to be so entirely one in Christ—that our preaching will be the one Christ; and whether Brother B. or Brother J. follows, the people will know that we are one, and that we preach the same thing. Then the message will simply go on and on; and no matter which of our brethren preaches after us, those who hear will get something more of the truth; and thus God will lead the people away from that false unity unto the genuine, true unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace in Jesus Christ. That is how we are to preach Christ without mentioning doctrine, and above all, without slighting or despising doctrine. ARSH July 11, 1899, page 440.15

Do you not remember that it is said, in the eighteenth of Revelation, “I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people”? Brethren, we must not forget that it is a voice from heaven that calls the people out of Babylon. We must not set ourselves up so that the people will hear only our voice. We must preach this so that they will see, without our saying a word about it, that they must come out of her. The voice from heaven is always the “still small voice;” and though I may be speaking in the tone I am using this morning, and preaching on the fall of Babylon, and preaching of old Babylon in the days of Daniel, those who hear will all be thinking of what is right here around them, and will see that they must “come out of her,” that they may “be not partakers of her sins,” and “receive not of her plagues.” As the brother says, we must feel a great deal more than we tell; and when the truth is in us,—well, the Scripture tells it: “Now thanks be unto God, which always causeth us to triumph in Christ, and maketh manifest the savor of his knowledge by us in every place.” ARSH July 11, 1899, page 440.16

God causes us to triumph in Christ, and he makes the truth manifest by us in every place. It goes forth from us like the odor of the rose or the geranium. Wherever the rose goes, the odor goes, because it is in the rose. Where did it get its fragrance?—It is God manifest in the rose. By its fragrance it tells its character to the man who knows God. Now that is a fact. It is not imagery, it is something real. These things do speak to him who is in harmony with the voice of God that is in them. And when we are thus so filled with Christ, and so in harmony with the voice of God, that we are his voice indeed, he makes us triumph, and he makes the people know the fragrance of his knowledge by us; so that, literally, they will hear the voice from heaven saying, “Come out,” even when we are not speaking it in so many words. ARSH July 11, 1899, page 440.17

Only the other day a brother came in here when we were having a rather hard time; and if we had spoken to him about it, we would perhaps have apologized for not having a Bible study or something of that kind. But what did he find?—He found the void of God. He saw that the Lord was leading us, and that we were actuated by the Spirit. And it was so when Sister Henry came in. Once we were ready to apologize that we were not having a Bible meeting, but what did she hear but the voice of God? It was better for her to get it that way than for us to tell it to her; for through the fragrance, the odor, the sweet influence, that goes forth from the Christian, God can speak better and louder than the Christian can with his lips. ARSH July 11, 1899, page 440.18

There is where our power lies. It is not in our words themselves: there should be power there, that is true; but the power must be in us as the fragrance is in the rose, so it will issue forth as fragrance, or else it can not be in our words. ARSH July 11, 1899, page 440.19

Then prejudice will be allayed, rather than created; because wherever we go, and whatever we preach, whoever hears will know that there is something there that he has not, and he will want it. He may be a worldling altogether, and never have know Christ at all; but he will see that there is something about all this that he does not have,—something better than he has,—and he will want it. Brethren, that will make us such a denomination that all the world, all the nations in the world, will be glad that there is such a denomination in the world. Every honest man in the world will want to come to this body, like “doves to their windows.” You know that that is the promise. Thank the Lord. ARSH July 11, 1899, page 440.20

“Editorial” The Advent Review and Sabbath Herald 76, 28, p. 444.

POWER is the one only thing that people need; nothing less than the power of God will supply the need; and this power is freely supplied without limit to every soul in the world. ARSH July 11, 1899, page 444.1

This power is conveyed to men only by the Holy Spirit; for the prayer is that the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ “would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man.” Ephesians 3:16. ARSH July 11, 1899, page 444.2

And so it is written, “Ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you.” Acts 1:8. The coming of the Holy Spirit upon men is the only channel of true power to men; and only as the Holy Spirit comes, can they have even this power. ARSH July 11, 1899, page 444.3

That is to say, when the Holy Spirit is received by the believer the first time, he is not received that once for all time. ARSH July 11, 1899, page 444.4

Here is where thousands of people miss the mark; they long for the Holy Spirit; they seek for the Holy Spirit; and they receive the Holy Spirit. Then they think that the goal is reached, that now they are all right, and can rest easy, because they are supplied against all needs forever. But soon a severe test comes, and instead of receiving power for that present need by having the Holy Ghost come upon them just then, they depend altogether upon their past experience, and upon their having received the Holy Spirit at that past time, and so they inevitably fail. Then they are so disappointed and disconcerted that they begin to question whether they ever had the Holy Spirit. ARSH July 11, 1899, page 444.5

But there is no need of such questioning at all; it is simply the consequences of the original mistake of thinking that the Holy Spirit was received at first for all time. You did receive the Holy Spirit at that past time. But the Holy Spirit can not be received to-day for next year, nor for next week, nor for next day. He must be received to-day for to-day, now for just now. He must be received for the need, just when the need is. ARSH July 11, 1899, page 444.6

Whenever we find our need of power, we are to remember the promise, “Ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you.” Then ask and receive; for, “Every one that asketh receiveth.” ARSH July 11, 1899, page 444.7

The reason of this is that the power is never of ourselves, but always of God. The power never is possessed by us to be used by us; but is always to possess us and to use us. Thus we are taught always to pray, “Thine is ... the power.” Matthew 6:13. And it is written: “God hath spoken once; twice have I heard this; that power belongeth unto God.” Psalm 62:11. And again: “We have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power might be of God, and not of us.” 2 Corinthians 4:7. ARSH July 11, 1899, page 444.8

Look at a great street-car system, electric or cable, or a great factory. There are hundreds of cars or machines, each one running and doing its work separate from all the others; yet the power does not reside in any of these. The power resides only in the “power-house” or engine-room; and from there is supplied to each car or machine just as its needs require. And the need of power by each car or machine constantly varies, according to the work to be done at different times. Sometimes a car runs empty, again it is loaded full, again it is empty or only partly filled: a machine may be humming, ready for work, but not actually at work; then work is put on it, the work is done, and again it stands singing away, only ready for work. ARSH July 11, 1899, page 444.9

Now it is perfectly plain that the empty car, or the machine that is not working, does not need anything like as much power as does the loaded car or the working machine; and that to give to the empty car, or the machine that is not working, as much power as must be given to the loaded car or the working machine, would be both a total waste of power and an injury to the car or the machine. All the power that any car or machine needs at any time is only enough to do the work at that particular time, and it needs only that the power shall be supplied at that particular time. ARSH July 11, 1899, page 444.10

And so it is. At the source of power there is a little contrivance called a “governor,” because it governs the supply of power, and it supplies the power instantly to each car or machine according as the need is. If there is work to do by the car or machine, instantly the impulse of the demand is felt at the source of power, the “governor” opens the value sufficiently to supply the demand, and instantly power is received by the car or machine to do the work; if the work suddenly grows heavier, again the impulse of need of power is felt at the source of power, the “governor” instantly responds, instantly exactly the needed power is supplied, and the work is done; and when the work is done, and the special need is past, this also is detected at the source of power, the “governor” instantly checks the special flow of power, and supplies only what is needed just then. ARSH July 11, 1899, page 444.11

Thus it is with Christians—the intelligent “machines” of God’s work in the world. These intelligent “machines” all belong to God, each one set in the particular place where he is needed for the work of God. The work is all the work of God, and the power to do it is only the power of God. The source of all the power is God. The means of supply of the power is the Spirit of God; for, “Ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you.” And faith conveys to the Source of power the impulse that expresses the need of power. Then instantly there is response, and the Holy Spirit comes upon the believer, bestowing exactly the power then needed to perform the work at that time. And even if there comes a little time when there is no work to do, having received the Holy Ghost, the believer, clothed with power, stands, singing away, ready for work. ARSH July 11, 1899, page 444.12

“Ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you.” Remember that the Holy Ghost’s coming upon you is the only means of power to you. Remember that the power is supplied instantly only according to your instant need; always only by the Holy Ghost’s coming upon you; and always only as faith conveys the impulse of your need; for you “receive the promise of the Spirit” only “through faith.” Galatians 3:14. ARSH July 11, 1899, page 444.13

And this is why and how it is that in the book of Acts, which is the history of workers filled with the Holy Ghost, there is found so often, even after the day of Pentecost, the expressions, “Then Peter, filled with the Holy Ghost” (Acts 4:8); “they were all filled with the Holy Ghost” (verse 31); Stephen, “being full of the Holy Ghost” (Acts 7:55); “then Saul (who also is called Paul), filled with the Holy Ghost,” etc. Acts 13:9. Read the connection of each one of these references, and see how the need of power just at that time was supplied by the worker’s being filled with the Holy Ghost just at that time: and always in fulfilment of the promise, “Ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you.” All this is written for our learning. ARSH July 11, 1899, page 444.14

Thus the just live by faith, and the Holy Spirit abides with them forever. “Ask, and ye shall receive.” “Every one that asketh receiveth.” “Receive ye the Holy Ghost.” ARSH July 11, 1899, page 444.15

“Oppositions of Science Falsely So-called” The Advent Review and Sabbath Herald 76, 28, pp. 444, 445.

THE papers all over the country are making much ado over President Hyslop’s espousal of Spiritualism. Whole columns—two, three, or four—of the papers, daily or weekly, religious and secular alike, are devoted to this subject. This Professor Hyslop is professor of ethics and mental science in Columbia University, New York City, and he declares that “he has positively demonstrated the life after death of man and women, and this in the most rigorously scientific manner, using all the methods of the laboratory, and exercising that extreme caution and repetition of experiment so severely demanded by the inductive method.” ARSH July 11, 1899, page 444.1

And in what way, suppose ye, did he conduct this “most rigorously scientific” investigation?—Precisely as all such investigators have from the beginning of the world—simply through a Spiritualist medium. To what, suppose ye, did he apply “all the methods of the laboratory”?—Only to a Spiritualist medium. And all that was accomplished by these “most rigorously scientific... methods of the laboratory” was simply and only to discover that the medium herself was not a fraud; that she was honestly the channel of the communication of intelligences. That is all. And by this he satisfied himself that there are intelligences outside of humanity. The way it is stated in the report of the result of these “rigorously scientific” methods, is that the investigators “have been convinced that through the mechanism of Mrs. Piper’s body it has been proved that there is in man a subtle something which survives after death, preserving the intellectual faculties that manifest themselves through the organs of the body.” ARSH July 11, 1899, page 444.2

That is to say that, from all he was able to discover, he concludes that the manifestations of intelligences through this medium were by the spirits of men who had lived on the earth and died. But this is simply logic by a leap. It is the result merely of his own reasoning. It is a total forsaking of the inductive method; for it is sheer deduction; because when he finds indisputable evidence of intelligences beyond mankind, it does not necessarily follow that these are the spirits of men who have died; and this for the simple reason that there are multitudes of spirits who never were men. There are angels of God, and there are “angels that sinned,” and they are all spirits. So it is altogether a gratuitous conclusion that these scientific men express,—that the intelligences of which they have found evidence, and with whom they have communicated, are the spirits of dead men. And this simply illustrates the fact that the science that is applied and extolled as science in connection with Spiritualism and its manifestations is not science at all; that when it comes to the crucial point, the grounds of science are abandoned, and only the natural reasoning and credulity of the investigator are employed. ARSH July 11, 1899, page 444.3

And what did the professor find in his investigations? One thing particularly that he found is that one of the principal spirits who communicated “was frequently caught telling lies; and when confronted with proofs of his mendacity, would laugh, and say: ‘One must have one’s joke.’” And this was so common in the case of that particular influence that one professor investigator declared: “Whatever the medium is, I am convinced that this influence is a preposterous scoundrel.” And another professor said that “it by no means follows that the trance personality is a honest as the waking one. Indeed, all analogy would be against the assumption.” And the general statement of the whole subject is that “there are foolish as well as wise spirits, vain as well as humble ones; in a word, the spirits of men are no different from men themselves. Naturally, when such an excellent medium as Mrs. Piper is found, all spirits wish to communicate through her. Such direct communicators as Pellew and Phinuit were often overpowered by numerous others spirits, who interjected their own influences, thus producing an unintelligible jumble in the communications. Until the arrival of ‘Imperator,’ whose earthly name is known only to Mr. Myers, of London, the medium was the sport of every vagrant ghost flying hither and thither on the winds of the spirit world.” ARSH July 11, 1899, page 444.4

The case, therefore, stands thus: “Professor Hyslop and his fellow investigators, by their “rigidly scientific” methods, got into a nest of lying spirits; and these spirits told the investigators that those spirits were the spirits of certain men who had lived in the world; and these “rigidly scientific” investigators believe what the lying spirits say, and publish it to the world as “great discovery,” “positive demonstration,” etc., etc. ARSH July 11, 1899, page 445.1

Now, how do these investigators know that those spirits are the spirits of men, when they do know that the spirits are “preposterous scoundrels,” and inveterate liars? ARSH July 11, 1899, page 445.2

This again shows that the conclusions which these investigators have drawn “in the most rigorously scientific manner,” have no science about them. Scientific grounds are utterly abandoned, and their conclusions are drawn altogether from the statements of spirits of whom all that the investigators know is by what the spirits themselves say, except that the spirits lie. So that the sum of it all is that the two single results obtained from all their “rigorously scientific” investigation are, (1) that there are intelligences beyond mankind, and (2) that these intelligences do lie. ARSH July 11, 1899, page 445.3

The investigators, indeed, can know that, in certain instances, these intelligences tell the truth; for the investigators can test the statements, and discover whether they be statements of fact; but in all such instances the evidence that what the spirits said is true, rests not upon what the spirits said, but solely upon the existence of the facts themselves. But the crucial question, namely, Who are the intelligences that communicate?—this the investigators never can KNOW, because the persons whom these spirits profess to personate as having lived in the world are dead, and the investigators can not learn from these whether the spirits are telling the truth. Consequently, the only thing that the investigators can certainly know, upon the word of the spirits themselves, is that the spirits do lie. It is therefore literally true that when the investigators reach the crisis of the investigation, all scientific ground is abandoned, and only credulity and natural reasoning are followed—and this in the face of their own knowledge that the spirits are tricksters, liars, and “preposterous scoundrels.” ARSH July 11, 1899, page 445.4

And these deductions drawn by natural reasoning through credulity from such sources, are set forth as thoroughly competent scientific evidence and authority “so severely demanded by the inductive method.” ARSH July 11, 1899, page 445.5

So much is made known so far. Yet the world is promised more, and is asked “to wait for the startling report promised for a year hence by Professor Hyslop.” ARSH July 11, 1899, page 445.6

However, he is willing, while the world is waiting a year, to give “a few hints of what they have learned concerning the one subject that interests every one; that is, the nature of the spirit world.” And the first of these “hints” is that “the disclosures made by the spirits themselves of the sphere inhabited by them will shock all good Christians.” And what are these “disclosures,” for which all good Christians as well we all other persons are asked to wait a year for the full statement of, and to be shocked with? Here they are:— ARSH July 11, 1899, page 445.7

1. “The first revelation that comes to the spirit [after entering the other world] is that there is no hell, no heaven, no purgatory.” ARSH July 11, 1899, page 445.8

2. “Spirits do not know more of God than men on this earth know; but they seem to be conscious directly, in a general way, of the continual, imminent presence of a supreme, beneficent power, felt rather as light and warmth than as personality.” ARSH July 11, 1899, page 445.9

3. “The unjust are not punished for their sins committed on the earth. ‘There is no division there into goats and sheep,’ says the professor.” ARSH July 11, 1899, page 445.10

4. “What we call wickedness is usually mere ignorance of those higher laws which insure individual happiness even on earth.” ARSH July 11, 1899, page 445.11

5. “Men can not be held responsible for their ignorance.” ARSH July 11, 1899, page 445.12

6. “A knave simply has some defect of vision which makes him see awry, so that he can not recognize what is best for his own selfish interests.” ARSH July 11, 1899, page 445.13

7. “The law of the next life is progress.” ARSH July 11, 1899, page 445.14

8. “In the spirit world... they know that Christ was not God, but a great and a good man.” ARSH July 11, 1899, page 445.15

From all this it is perfectly plain that, although modern Spiritualism has made many changes in the phases of its manifestations, it has not changed a hair’s breadth in character. it is the same essentially immoral and atheistic thing that it was in its first manifestations more than fifty years ago. It denies the revelation of God, who is essentially good, and puts forth revelations of its own, which are essentially evil. It sets aside human responsibility and moral accountability, thus opening the way for all manner of evil to go unchecked. And all this is commended to the world as “the law of progress.” ARSH July 11, 1899, page 445.16

Now, by simply believing the Bible, all that has been discovered by this so-called “rigorously scientific” investigation of these high-standing university professors could have been learned by them without one hundredth part of all this trouble; without being obliged to trust to their own credulity, and to the deductions of their own natural reasoning through their credulity; and without being landed by it into a vortex of universal and essential deviltry. The Bible tells all people that there are intelligences beyond mankind; that there are “angels of God” and “angels that sinned;” that there are “God and his angels” and “Satan and his angels;” and that these lying, scoundrelly, atheistic, and essentially immoral spirits are the “spirits of devils, working miracles, which go forth unto the kings of the earth and of the whole world.” Revelation 16:14. ARSH July 11, 1899, page 445.17

But, lo, with all these “rigorously scientific” professors, the believing of the word of God, the Bible, and resting on what it says, is credulity, when, as a matter of fact, that word being the very ultimate truth itself, it is the highest possible science; and this because the evidence of its truth rests not upon something else, but is inherent in itself. Then, in the place of this ultimate truth, the highest possible science, which they count credulity, they put what they call science, even the most rigorously applied science, which, at the ultimate, is plainly only sheer credulity, the utter abandonment of science, and the certain launching out into a deep totally unknown except as to the questionable, and even degraded character of the spirits that inhabit it. It is not at all necessary for the world to wait a year for “disclosures” in this connection, “that will shock all good Christians.” What is already made known by Professor Hyslop and his fellow investigators is sufficient to shock not only all good Christians, but also all other people, good or bad. ARSH July 11, 1899, page 445.18

“And when they say to you: Consult the ghosts and the familiar spirits that cheep and that moan, give this answer, Should not a people rather consult its God? on behalf of the living should men consult the dead? [Polychrome translation.] To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them.” Isaiah 8:19, 20. ARSH July 11, 1899, page 445.19

“Keep that which is committed to thy trust, avoiding profane and vain babblings [“unintelligible jumbles”] and oppositions of science false so-called, which some professing have erred concerning the faith.” 1 Timothy 6:20, 21. ARSH July 11, 1899, page 445.20