The Advent Review and Sabbath Herald, vol. 76

December 26, 1899

“Editorial” Advent Review and Sabbath Herald, 76, 52, p. 836.

LAST week we gave somewhat of the character of the National Reform Association. From its own records we gave evidence that the purpose of this association is only persecution, even to the death, upon all dissenters from their views of what is Christianity, and especially upon all dissenters from their views as to what is Sabbath-keeping; that is, upon all who refuse to keep Sunday. We stated that this association had, for the last fourteen years, been making use of every possible line of work of the N.W.T.C.U. to gain favor for their own schemes, and to make successful their own purposes. ARSH December 26, 1899, page 836.1

And now, lest our statement of this truth might not seem enough to satisfy the members of the N.W.T.C.U., we here set down, from the National Reform Association’s records, their own statements of the fact that they have for these fourteen years been making use of the N.W.T.C.U. If any of this shall prove to be surprising reading to any of the members of the N.W.T.C.U., please bear in mind that we are not to blame for that. We simply copy the history as it has been produced by these two organizations, and as it has been published in the official documents of the National Reform Association and of the N.W.T.C.U. ARSH December 26, 1899, page 836.2

In the published reports of the National Reform Association, for the years 1886 and 1887, there appears the following statement on the relationship between the W. C. T. U. and the National Reform Association in 1885:— ARSH December 26, 1899, page 836.3

Miss Frances E. Willard, president of the Woman’s Christian Temperance Union, suggested the creation of a special department of its already manifold work, for the promotion of Sabbath observance, co-operating with the National Reform Association. The suggestion was adopted at the national convention in St. Louis, and the department was placed in the charge of Mrs. J. C. Bateham, of Ohio, as national superintendent. Mrs. Bateham has since, with her own cordial assent, been made one of the vice-presidents of the National Reform Association. ARSH December 26, 1899, page 836.4

Thus, it is plain that in the very origin of the Sabbath Observance department of the N. W. T. C. U., that organization worked hand in hand with the National Reform Association. And if the original suggestion as to the organization of that Sabbath Observance department in the N. W. T. C. U. did not come from the National Reform Association, it is certain that the first steps taken in the creation of that department were taken in consultation with the National Reform Association; and from the very beginning the work of that department was to be in co-operation with that association. And, at the outset, the national superintendent of that department was made a vice-president of the National Reform Association; thus making that department entirely at one with the National Reform Association. ARSH December 26, 1899, page 836.5

In the year 1886, the report of the National Reform Association in this connection says:— ARSH December 26, 1899, page 836.6

It was your secretary’s privilege this year again to attend the national [W. C. T. U.] convention. A place was kindly given for an address in behalf of the National Reform Association, and thanks were returned by a vote of the convention. A resolution was adopted, expressing gratitude to the National Reform Association for its advocacy of a suitable acknowledgment of the Lord Jesus Christ in the fundamental law of this professedly Christian nation. ARSH December 26, 1899, page 836.7

And, further:— ARSH December 26, 1899, page 836.8

In the series of monthly readings for the use of local unions as a responsive exercise, prepared or edited by Miss Willard, the reading for last July (1886) was on “God in Government;” that for August, was “Sabbath Observance” (prepared by Mrs. Bateham), and that for September, “Our National Sins.” Touching the first- and last-named readings, your secretary had correspondence with their editor before they appeared. A letter has been prepared to Woman’s Christian Temperance Union workers and speakers, asking them in their public addresses to refer to and plead for the Christian principles of civil government. The president of the national union allows us to say that this letter is sent with her sanction, and by her desire. ARSH December 26, 1899, page 836.9

That same year—1886—at the Chautauqua (N. Y.) Assembly, Mrs. Mary A. Woodbridge, a national superintendent of the W. C. T. U., and a vice-president of the National Reform Association, spoke for both the National Reform Association and the N. W. C. T. U., pleading for the National Reform amendment to the Constitution of the United States. In her speech she said:— ARSH December 26, 1899, page 836.10

The National Reform Association makes this plea in the name of the Lord and his suffering ones. It asks the prayerful consideration of an amendment to the Constitution of the United States, by which, if adopted, we, the people, will crown Christ the Lord as our rightful sovereign. ARSH December 26, 1899, page 836.11

The Woman’s Christian Temperance Union, pursuing its work “for God, and home, and native land,” in thirty-nine departments of reform, can but see that were a nation to be thus aroused, were it to make such an acknowledgment at the ballot-box, the laws of our land would ere long be truly “founded on the old Mosaic ritual.” Then we could [italics hers] have no other God. ARSH December 26, 1899, page 836.12

To found the laws of our land on the old Mosaic ritual is the set and only purpose of the National Reform Association; and, accordingly, as declared in this month of December, 1899, in the National Reform Association’s annual convention, held in New York City, to “put to death” “those who persist in violating God’s Sabbath.” ARSH December 26, 1899, page 836.13

At the National Reform Association’s convention, held in Pittsburg, Pa., May 11, 12, 1887, a resolution was adopted, complimentary to the W. C. T. U.; and in the discussion of the resolution, one speaker declared:— ARSH December 26, 1899, page 836.14

This movement is bound to succeed through the influence of the Woman’s Christian Temperance Union. ARSH December 26, 1899, page 836.15

Another declared:— ARSH December 26, 1899, page 836.16

When we get woman and Christ in politics,—and they will both go in together,—we shall have every reform, and Christ will be proclaimed King of kings and Lord of lords. ARSH December 26, 1899, page 836.17

So much for the word, the wishes, and the purposes of the National Reform Association. Yet, in addition to this, there is the word and the work of the N. W. C. T. U. itself. In the annual convention of the national union in 1887, held at Nashville, Tenn., the president’s annual address, officially reported in the Union Signal of December 1, made the following declaration as to the purpose of the union:— ARSH December 26, 1899, page 836.18

The Woman’s Christian Temperance Union, local, State, national, and world-wide, has one vital, organic thought, one all-absorbing purpose, one undying enthusiasm, and that is that Christ shall be this world’s king,—yes, verily, THIS WORLD’S KING, in its realm of cause and effect,—king of its courts, its camps, its commerce,—and its constitutions.... The kingdom of Christ must enter the realm of law through the gateway of politics.... We pray Heaven to give them [the old parties] no rest... until they shall... swear an oath of allegiance to Christ in politics, and march in one great army up to the polls to worship Christ. ARSH December 26, 1899, page 836.19

And that is precisely, and in every respect, the doctrine and purpose of the National Reform Association. And that it is not Christian is made certain by the words of Jesus Christ himself: “My kingdom is not of this world.” ARSH December 26, 1899, page 836.20

Again, in the national convention of the union, held at the Metropolitan Opera House, New York City, Oct. 19-21, 1888, the first of the resolutions adopted in that convention, and officially reported in the Union Signal of November 8, reads thus—: ARSH December 26, 1899, page 836.21

Resolved, That Christ and his gospel, as universal king and code, should be sovereign in our government and political affairs. ARSH December 26, 1899, page 836.22

All this is exactly the National Reform scheme of union of church and state, which, when secured, the National Reform leaders by their own words are determined to use as persecutingly as was used the like thing in the Dark Ages. ARSH December 26, 1899, page 836.23

In view of such a record as this, and for so many years, was it not high time that the N. W. C. T. U., in its annual convention of 1899, at Seattle, Wash., should have protested “against any such interpretation or use of any lines of” their “work as shall give aid or comfort to those who, through ignorance, prejudice, or malice, would enact or enforce such laws as can be made to serve the purpose of persecution, or to in any manner interfere with the most perfect liberty of conscience concerning days, or the manner of their observance”? ARSH December 26, 1899, page 836.24

And since the union did there refuse to make this proper protest, then is it not high time that the N. W. T. C. U. should adopt, at its next annual convention, the following amendment to its constitution, which is inevitably to come before the convention for adoption in 1900?— ARSH December 26, 1899, page 836.25

ARTICLE VI.—PLANS OF WORK

Nothing shall ever be incorporated into any plan of N. W. T. C. U. work, by department or otherwise, which must of necessity become the occasion of sectarian controversy, or which can in any sense be made to interfere with perfect liberty of conscience. ARSH December 26, 1899, page 836.26

There is an issue before the N. W. T. C. U.—the most important one that was ever before it. Will the union meet the issue upon its merits, and consider it as its mighty importance deserves? Has the N. W. T. C. U. any regard for the rights of conscience? Does the union wish to avoid responsibility for persecution? The union is now at the point where, in less than a year, it will have to decide this matter: and how will it decide—for Christian liberty, or for persecution? ARSH December 26, 1899, page 836.27

“The ‘Return of the Jews’” Advent Review and Sabbath Herald, 76, 52, pp. 836, 837.

IN Matthew 21:33-44 Jesus spoke to the Jews the parable of the householder, who planted a vineyard, and hedged it about, and digged a winepress in it, and built a tower, and let it out to husbandmen, and went into a far country, expecting the husbandmen to render to him the fruits of the vineyard. But, lo! when he sent his servants to receive the fruits, instead of rendering the fruits to the master of the vineyard, the husbandmen took the servants, and beat one, and killed another, and stoned another, and continued so to do until at the last the owner of the vineyard sent unto them his son, saying, “They will reverence my son.” But instead of reverencing the son; and, even at the last, rendering the fruit of the vineyard to the owner, they said among themselves: “This is the heir; come, let us kill him, and let us seize on his inheritance. And they caught him, and cast him out of the vineyard, and slew him.” ARSH December 26, 1899, page 836.1

Now, though this is a parable, it is not by any means an imaginary story; for, from the very first word of it until the last, it is simply the report of actual occurrences. It was all, from first to last, simply gathered from what for ages had been written in the Scriptures, which those people were constantly studying, and which they pretended to reverence so highly as to make them above all things “the people of the Book.” ARSH December 26, 1899, page 836.2

The most of the scripture which is the basis of the story is in Psalm 80:8-16 and Isaiah 5:1-7. And in Isaiah the appeal is made: “And now, O inhabitants of Jerusalem, and men of Judah, judge, I pray you, betwixt me and my vineyard.” And when Jesus had recounted the story up to the point where they had caught the son, and cast him out of the vineyard, and had slain him, he said to them: “When the lord therefore of the vineyard cometh, what will he do unto those husbandmen?” Here now is the time for the decision and the judging; and the judging is submitted to those very husbandmen to whom had been committed the care of the vineyard. ARSH December 26, 1899, page 836.3

What, then, is the judgment which pronounced in this case, as between the master of the vineyard and the husbandmen to whom he had committed its care? Whatever it is, it is the judgment which they passed upon themselves. What judgment is it, then, which they passed now upon themselves?—“They say unto him, He will miserably destroy those wicked men, and will let out his vineyard unto other husbandmen, which shall ren- der him the fruits in their seasons.” Then said Jesus: “Therefore say I unto you, The kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof.” ARSH December 26, 1899, page 836.4

Thus it is certain, by the judgment of the nation of the Jews, which they pronounced between the Lord and themselves, and thus pronounced upon themselves; and by the word of God plainly spoken, that the kingdom of God was taken from the Jews and given to another nation. And there is no word that it should ever be taken from this other nation, and given back to the Jews. The only thing henceforth is that, whatever part the Jews shall have in that kingdom, they must get it exactly as do this other nation to whom the kingdom is now given. In other words, they must get it exactly as the Gentiles do. ARSH December 26, 1899, page 837.1

And that this is so, is plain from the word of the Lord in the passage in Isaiah, which is a principal part of this parable spoken by Jesus. There the Lord appeals to all, thus: “What could have been done more to my vineyard, that I have not done in it?” If there could have been another thing which could possibly have been done by the Lord for that people, it would have been done before they were scattered. But when the Lord had done everything that even he could do; and had so thoroughly done everything that he could appeal to the wide universe for anybody to tell him what more could have been done, then it is certain that there is nothing more that can possibly be done. ARSH December 26, 1899, page 837.2

From this appeal, it is plain that if anybody can suggest anything that can be done that has not been done, he will in that have discovered something that the Lord never could find out. But that never can be. Nobody can conceive of anything that could be done for the Jews that has not already been done for them by the Lord. And any Jew who is not brought to God and saved to the uttermost by that which God has already done, can never be brought to God at all; which is only to say again that since the kingdom of God, by their own judgment, has been justly and rightly taken from the Jews, and given to another nation, all of them that shall ever see the kingdom of God must find it exactly as do all those of this other nation who find it. ARSH December 26, 1899, page 837.3

“Studies in Galatians. Galatians 3:10-12” Advent Review and Sabbath Herald, 76, 52, p. 837.

“CHRIST hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is everyone that hangeth on a tree: that the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ; that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.” ARSH December 26, 1899, page 837.4

The curse of the law, all the curse that ever was or ever can be, is simply because of sin. This is powerfully illustrated in Zechariah 5:1-4. The prophet beheld a “flying role; the length thereof...twenty cubits, and the breadth thereof ten cubits.” Then the Lord said to him: “This is the curse that goeth forth over the face of the whole earth.” That is, this roll represents all the curse that is upon the face of the whole earth. ARSH December 26, 1899, page 837.5

And what is the cause of this curse over the face of the whole earth?—Here it is: “For every one that stealeth shall be cut off as on this side according to it; and every one that sweareth shall be cut off as on that side according to it.” That is, this roll is the law of God, and one commandment is cited from each table, showing that both tables of the law are included in the roll. Every one that stealeth—everyone that transgresseth the law in the things of the second table—shall be cut off as on this side of the law according to it; and every one that sweareth—everyone that transgresseth in the things of the first table of the law—shall be cut off as on that side of the law according to it. ARSH December 26, 1899, page 837.6

Thus the heavenly recorders do not need to write out a statement of each particular sin of every man; but simply to indicate on the roll that pertains to each man, the particular commandment which is violated in each transgression. That such a roll of law does go with every man wherever he goes and even abides in his house, is plain from the next words: “I will bring it forth, saith the Lord of hosts, and it shall enter into the house of the thief, and into the house of him that sweareth falsely by my name: and it shall remain in the midst of his house.” And unless a remedy shall be found, there that roll of the law will remain until the curse shall consume that man, and his house, “with timber thereof and the stones thereof;” that is, until the curse shall devour the earth in that great day when the very elements shall melt with fervent heat. For “the strength of sin” and the curse “is the law.” 1 Corinthians 15:56. ARSH December 26, 1899, page 837.7

But, thanks be to God, “Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us.” All the weight of the curse came upon him, for “the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.” He was made “to be sin for us, who knew no sin.” And whosoever receives him, receives freedom from all sin, and freedom from the curse because free from all sin. ARSH December 26, 1899, page 837.8

So entirely did Christ bear all the curse, that, whereas, when man sinned, the curse came upon the ground, and brought forth thorns and thistles (Genesis 3:17, 18), the Lord Jesus, in redeeming all things from the curse, wore the crown of thorns, and so redeemed both man and the earth from the curse. Bless his name. The work is done. “He hath redeemed us from the curse.” Thank the Lord. He was made a curse for us, because he did hang upon the tree. ARSH December 26, 1899, page 837.9

And since this is all an accomplished thing, freedom from the curse by the cross of Jesus Christ is the free gift of God to every soul on the earth. And when a man receives this free gift of redemption from all the curse, that roll still goes with him; yet, thank the Lord, not carrying a curse any more, but bearing witness to “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. For the very object of his redeeming us from the curse is “that the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ.” That blessing of Abraham is the righteousness of God, which, as we have already found in these studies, can come only from God as the free gift of God, received by faith. ARSH December 26, 1899, page 837.10

And as “as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse;” and as “Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law,” then he has also redeemed us from the works of the law, which, being only our own works, are only sin; and has, by the grace of God, bestowed upon us the works of God, which, being the works of faith, which is the gift of God, is only righteousness, as it is written: “This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent.” John 6:29. This is rest indeed—heavenly rest—the rest of God. And “he that is entered into his rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from his.” Hebrews 4:10. Thus, “Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law,” and from the curse of our own works, that the blessing of Abraham, which is the righteousness and the works of God, “might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ.” And all this in order “that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.” And “there is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death.” And “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 the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.” Romans 8:1-4. ARSH December 26, 1899, page 837.11

Thanks be unto God for the unspeakable gift of his own righteousness in place of our sins, and of his own works of faith in place of our works on the law, which had been brought to us in the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, who “hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us.” ARSH December 26, 1899, page 837.12

“Editorial Note” Advent Review and Sabbath Herald, 76, 52, p. 837.

THERE is not a single rule in the Bible. Not one. You are never to look for one there; and you are never to turn into a rule anything that is in the Bible. The Bible is simply a set of principles, which, when received into the heart, make our life. The Lord wishes you to live by principle, not by rule. ARSH December 26, 1899, page 837.13

“Editorial Notes” Advent Review and Sabbath Herald, 76, 52, p. 838.

THE New York Tribune says, “Wherever the doctrine of the ‘consent of the governed’ comes into conflict with that other doctrine of ‘the greatest good to the greatest number,’ the former is bound to come to grief. That may sometimes be pretty hard on the obstreperous minority; but so is the natural law of the survival of the fittest hard on the unfit.” ARSH December 26, 1899, page 838.1

That phrase, “the survival of the fittest,” is the term which is expressive of the Darwinian theory of the course of progress through the evolutionary cycles of “the struggle for existence,” from protoplasm to the animal, from the animal to the savage, and from the savage to the civilized man; and in the nature of things is only the doctrine of brute force. Might only is right; it rests only with might to decide who are the unfit; and so, naturally, it must be always “hard on the unfit.” But what an apostasy that is from the original position of this nation upon self-evident truth, and inalienable right by endowment from the Creator; and appeal to the Supreme Judge of the world! Or if it is not apostasy, what is it? ARSH December 26, 1899, page 838.2

“Editorial Bit” Advent Review and Sabbath Herald 76, 52, p. 838.

WOULD you like, are you longing, to work for the Lord—to be a worker in the cause? You can. And the Lord has told you where you can find your work. “Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might.” Not what your eye sees, but what your hands find—that is the work set for you, that is what you are to do. Your eye can see work, good work, important work, which is so far beyond you that you can not possibly do it, because you can not get to it. That work is not for you; you need not put any attention upon it. “Whatsoever thy hand findeth.” Simply put out your hands; and what they find, that is your work. This also tells you that your work is always within your reach. You need not therefore to be looking for work: put out your hands, and “whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it.” Your work is always where you are, within your reach from just where you are. Do it, and do it with your might. ARSH December 26, 1899, page 838.1

The true Christian life is simply principle manifesting itself—the principle that is within, working out. ARSH December 26, 1899, page 838.2