The American Sentinel 12
June 24, 1897
“Editorial” American Sentinel 12, 25, p. 386.
“NOW therefore, if ye have done truly and sincerely, in that ye have make Abimelech king, ... then rejoice ye in Abimelech, and let him also rejoice in you. But if not, let fire come out from Abimelech, and devour the men of Shechem, and the house of Millo; and let fire come out from the men of Shechem, and from the house of Millo, and devour Abimelech.” AMS June 24, 1897, page 386.1
And so it came to pass; for in three years the distrust and dissension had so grown between the parties to the transaction respecting the kingship, that open war broke out, which ended only with the death of Abimelech; and, with that, the end of their experiment at setting up a kingdom. AMS June 24, 1897, page 386.2
Now all this was held up before all Israel who should come after, as a solemn warning and a forcible admonition of what would inevitably be the result of any attempt at setting up a kingdom. And when, in disregard of all this, and against the Lord’s open protest, they did at last again set up a kingdom, this very result, though longer delayed, did inevitably come. AMS June 24, 1897, page 386.3
Almost all the reign of Saul, their first king, was spent by him in envy and jealousy of David and a steady seeking to kill him. The reign of David was marred by his own great sin, which he never could have carried out if he had not been king; and was also disturbed by the treason of his chief counselor, and the insurrection of his son Absalom. The latter half of the reign of Solomon was marked by his great apostasy, and was cursed by the abominable idolatries that came in with his heathen wives and oppression upon the people. AMS June 24, 1897, page 386.4
At the end of the reign of these three kings, the nation had been brought to a condition in which it was not well that they should continue as one; and they were therefore divided into two—the Ten Tribes forming the kingdom of Israel, and the two other tribes forming the kingdom of Judah. AMS June 24, 1897, page 386.5
And from that day, with the Ten Tribes there was continuous course of apostasy, of contention, and of regicide, till at last, from the terrors of anarchy, they were compelled to cry out, “We have no king.” Then the Lord offered Himself to them again, saying: “O Israel, thou hast fled from me. Thou hast destroyed thyself. Return unto me. I will be thy King.” But they would not return, and consequently were carried captive to Assyria, and were scattered and lost forever. AMS June 24, 1897, page 386.6
When this happened to the kingdom of Israel, it could yet be said of Judah, “Judah yet ruleth with God, and is faithful with the saints.” But this was only for a little while. Judah too went steadily step by step downward in the course of apostasy, until of her too the word had to be given, “Remove the diadem, take off the crown: exalt him that is low, and abase him that is high. I will overturn, overturn, overturn it; and it shall be no more, until he come whose right it is, and I will give it him.” AMS June 24, 1897, page 386.7
Thus Judah too was obliged to say, We have no king. And Judah had to go captive to Babylon, with her city and temple destroyed, and the land left desolate. Thereafter the Lord was obliged to govern his people by the heathen powers, until he himself should come. And even when he came, because he would not at once set himself up as a worldly king and sanction their political aspirations, they refused to recognize him at all. And when at last even Pilate appealed to them—“Shall I crucify your King?” they still, as in the days of Samuel, insisted on rejecting God, and cried out, “We have no king but Cesar.” AMS June 24, 1897, page 386.8
And this was but the direct outcome, and the inevitable logic, of the step that they took in the days of Samuel. When they rejected God and chose Saul, in that was wrapped up the rejection of the Lord and their choosing of Cesar. In rejecting God that they might be like all the nations, they became like all the nations that rejected God. AMS June 24, 1897, page 386.9
And such was the clear result of the union of Church and State among the people of Israel. And it is all written precisely as it was worked out in detail, for the instruction and warning of all people who should come after, and for the admonition of those upon whom the ends of the world are come. AMS June 24, 1897, page 386.10
“The Failure of ‘Civic Reform’” American Sentinel 12, 25, pp. 386, 387.
DR. PARKHURST, the noted apostle of civic reformation, has announced his retirement from active service in that line, on account of failing health. Upon is departure to seek its restoration in a foreign clime, he announced to his congregation that henceforth “my on devotion will be to my pulpit, to the life and work of this church, and to the interests of its families and individual members.” AMS June 24, 1897, page 386.1
In a review of the work accomplished by this prominent clergyman as a civic reformer, the Independent (N.Y.) says: “It has been a great thing for the city that our people have been taught that religion has a right to meddle with its politics, to fight with and to master it.” AMS June 24, 1897, page 386.2
A “great thing” it is, undoubtedly, for the chief city of this free commonwealth; but not a good thing. What religion is it that has this “right”? Is it the papal religion, or the Protestant? and if the Protestant, is it the Methodist, the Presbyterian, the Lutheran, Episcopalian, Quaker, or Adventist religion, or some other? When this point comes to be settled, will the controversy which must ensue be another “great thing” for this city? We are afraid it will. AMS June 24, 1897, page 386.3
But what religion has fought with and mastered the politics of New York City? Now a very good religion, evidently, if those politics are now obedient to their master. AMS June 24, 1897, page 386.4
In short, the result of this meddling of religion with city politics, is such as plainly to stamp the project of reform by such means as a total failure. “Tammany,” so far from being eliminated from New York’s politics, is as big a factor in them as ever. And while some changes have been made in the features of civic life in this city, there has been no real elimination of immorality. And the simple reason for this is that immorality cannot be eliminated in that way. That result can be accomplished only by the grace of God. AMS June 24, 1897, page 386.5
The earnest and no doubt sincere efforts of Dr. Parkhurst to inject Christianity into the civic life of a great city have failed, as all such efforts must fail. But Christianity has not failed. That is as powerful to-day as it ever was, to triumph over sin in the individual heart. AMS June 24, 1897, page 387.1
“The Religious World Adrift” American Sentinel 12, 25, pp. 387, 388.
IN its issue of June 16, the New York Herald gives expression to some feeling of solicitude concerning the outcome of the manifest drift in religious thought and teaching which is taking the masses into altogether new channels of belief. It says:— AMS June 24, 1897, page 387.1
“What is the drift of religious thought in these latter days, and where will the current take us? Is it true that the dogmas of our fathers are slowly falling in innocuous desuetude; that we their children have slipped the old-fashioned moorings; and, if so, there dangerous rocks ahead, or the open sea where we shall have plain sailing? AMS June 24, 1897, page 387.2
“This is a matter of very considerable consequence to us laymen. We have been brought up in certain ideas, and there is some solicitude among us to know whether the reverend clergy still cling to these ideas or whether their grasp on them is loosening. They certainly ought to be entirely frank with us, and if the basis of religious conviction is gradually shifting we ought to know it. It is not a subject in which concealment can be regarded as expedient. We don’t wish to believe what specialists have discovered to be untrue, and if any modification of the old faith has taken place the pulpit should make open confession thereof. AMS June 24, 1897, page 387.3
“Are we heading for the port of agnosticism? Is religion so far unlike the exact sciences that a large part of it consists of the unknowable, and have we reached that point when, if we are to be religious, we must regard all or not at all? What says the ripest scholarship of the age on this subject? The common people need some degree of bold speech by those who have the authority to speak. There should be no confusion in the public mind and it is not for the ultimate interest of the church universal that its teachers should hesitate to tell the truth, and the whole truth.” AMS June 24, 1897, page 387.4
The condition of the religious world in general at this day is well expressed by the word, drifting. They have lost sight of the well-defined faith of their fathers, and are drifting on, whether to dangerous rocks or an open sea they know not, neither do they care. But one thing is certain; namely, that the soul which drifts upon the sea of religious thought without chart or compass, is in far greater danger of shipwreck than is the mariner under similar conditions on the literal ocean. For nowhere do treacherous currents cross the path of safety and more swiftly or insensibly drawn the voyager away, or more surely bear him upon the rocks, than in that spiritual sea upon which every soul embarks to find its destiny. AMS June 24, 1897, page 387.5
There are two opposing currents in this great sea, which to-day are bearing their freight of human souls to different destinies. The one is that upon which the observer finds himself drifting away from the beliefs of his fathers, while he queries, as in the Herald quotation, whether he is moving toward the open sea or toward the rocks. And this current—and to say—bears the masses of the people,—those who look upon the revelations of the inspired Word as hidden mysteries, concerning which they must seek to the “ripest scholarship” for explanation. They are becoming more and more unsettled in faith, more and more uncertain whether any definite bearings can be taken by which to shape their course. AMS June 24, 1897, page 387.6
The other current, on the contrary, is bearing forward a class of people whose faith and hope are even more definite than were those of their fathers. There is no drifting in their course,—no speculation as to their whereabouts, or seeking to the “ripest scholarship,” to priest or pastor, for directions. They are following the plain directions given them by the Omniscient. More than fifty years ago God sent a message to the world which said, “Fear God and give glory to him, for the hour of his judgment is come.” Revelation 14:7. Those who received that message, as many did and are still doing, knew that they had reached the hour of that great investigation, the conclusion of which would mark the termination of God’s work for the salvation of men. Almost immediately following this message came another one, saying, “Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city, because she made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication.” And anon “the third angel followed them,“—a third message went forth,—saying, “If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand, the same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation.” This called attention to the apostate spiritual power which has presumed to change the Sabbath from the seventh to the first day of the week, and points to that change as the mark of its spiritual authority; and thus those who received it were led to return to the keeping of the true Sabbath. AMS June 24, 1897, page 387.7
Thus on the one hand are those who are drifting aimlessly on—a vast multitude—knowing only that they are getting farther and farther away from the faith of their fathers and that their course must be taking them toward agnosticism or something else; while on the other hand there are those—only a small company, alas—who rejoice in a still more definite faith than that of their fathers,—not a faith that sets aside the old paths, but which reveals more clearly and beautifully the wonderful wisdom and love of God in his great work for the redemption of mankind. They behold wondrous things out of the divine law, and with a hope based upon the definite assurances of the infallible Word, they are waiting for the glorious appearing of their God in the clouds of heaven, to purify the earth of sin and sinners. AMS June 24, 1897, page 387.8
To which of these companies, reader, do you belong? Are you drifting carelessly on into the unknown, or are you guided by the chart and compass of God’s Word? AMS June 24, 1897, page 388.1
“The Importance of a Theory” American Sentinel 12, 25, p. 388.
IN answer to the question, “Christian Citizenship: What Is It?” a writer, in the June Christian Endeavorer, says:— AMS June 24, 1897, page 388.1
“The world is sick unto death of theories. The demand of the times is for men of action—men who do something.... AMS June 24, 1897, page 388.2
“The strength of the great movement we call Christian citizenship lies largely in its being practical.” AMS June 24, 1897, page 388.3
This is very true; but the importance of a theory must not be overlooked; for all practice is shaped by some theory, and if the theory be bad, the practical results that come from it will be of the same character. And of this the “Christian citizenship” movement affords an illustration. For this movement is based upon the theory that righteousness is to be established on the earth by means of the good works which “Christian citizenship” aims to perform. And this theory is false, being contrary to the express teachings of the prophetic Word relative to the conditions which would prevail in the last days. See 2 Timothy 3:1-6, etc. The theory of a temporal millennium is luring vast numbers of people on to a stupendous disaster, to which their eyes will be opened only when there rmains no means of escaping from it. AMS June 24, 1897, page 388.4
It is true the world is sick of theories; but it will be still more sick of the practices which must come in the effort to realize the “Christian citizenship” theory. For the theory that righteousness can be set up by means of the ballot and human legislation, can only lead to religious controversy, persecution, and confusion. AMS June 24, 1897, page 388.5
“Saint-making at Rome” American Sentinel 12, 25, p. 388.
RECENTLY, as all the world has been informed, two additions were made to the Roman Catholic calendar of “saints,” with due ceremonials and announcement in St. Peter’s church, at Rome. The canonization ceremonies are said to have eclipsed in point of display anything that has been seen on like occasions since the pope lost his temporal power. Says a London journal, “There were the glittering uniforms of soldiers guards, robes of the clergy, jeweled mitres, waving banners, and swinging censers, all fitting accompaniments of the ceremony which blasphemously professes to exalt the dead to be objects of devotion.” AMS June 24, 1897, page 388.1
The same journal adds that “Before declaring the two new papal saints, to whom petitions may be addressed, the pope, according to the formula, twice deferred granting the request for canonization in order to consult with the Lord.” In what way he undertook this consultation it is not said; but evidently it was not by going to the Word of God, for that Word declares that dead men do not know anything, but are in their graves, oblivious to all that transpires in earth or heaven. See Ecclesiastes 9:5, 6; Psalm 146:3, 4, etc. According to that Word, there can be no occasion whatever for saint-making or saint worship. It is very certain, therefore, that the pope did not consult with the Author of that Word. AMS June 24, 1897, page 388.2
“Foreign Missionary Work” American Sentinel 12, 25, pp. 388, 389.
WHEN the Great Missionary left his disciples, he commissioned them to go “into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.” That was a gospel of religious liberty—not in its generally accepted sense, but liberty in Christ—freedom from sin. “The Lord hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the broken hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound.” AMS June 24, 1897, page 388.1
Never in the history of the world was there more need of this gospel being given in its simplicity than to-day. Hungry, burdened, discouraged, sin-sick souls are appealing for help; and not alone from our own shores, but from across the ocean, from the darkness of heathendom and from the islands of the sea comes the Macedonian cry, “Come over and help us.” These earnest pleas have touched the hearts of thousands of God-fearing, self-sacrificing men and women everywhere who have left their homes and taken their lives in their hands, as it were, to tell the people the good news of a Saviour who can save. The good they are accomplishing, the Judgment alone can reveal. AMS June 24, 1897, page 388.2
There are many whose hearts beat in union with this good work, to whom have been intrusted this world’s goods, and who would gladly contribute of their means to carry it forward, did they but know where to send their contributions. To all such, and others as well, we take pleasure in calling attention to the announcement in another column of the Foreign Missionary Board of Seventh-day Adventists, located at Philadelphia, Pa. This is headquarters of an aggressive gospel work that is being carried forward in foreign fields, and with remarkable results. Voluntary contributions will be thankfully received, and a cordial invitation is extended to those who desire to make such offerings to send them to the Treasurer of the Board, W. H. Edwards. We can assure our readers that every dollar sent there will be conscientiously expended in this great labor of love. AMS June 24, 1897, page 389.1
“Compulsory, Yet Free!” American Sentinel 12, 25, p. 389.
IN an article treating on “The First Day of the Week,” by Chas. Cuthbert Hall, printed in The Congregationalist and copied in organ of the “New England Sabbath Protective League,” we find the following:— AMS June 24, 1897, page 389.1
“As the day has become one of universal observance in many nations as a reset day, wherein large numbers of people are released from business, it has, of course, been necessary to have the civil government make suitable laws, which we must all obey, for maintaining the order and peace of society; but every Christian should joyfully remember that this institution of the Lord’s day sprang out of love, not out of law. It is not a grievous commandment; it is a joyous consecration. It is not compulsory; it is voluntary, and as such we believe it is especially dear to Christ.” AMS June 24, 1897, page 389.2
But if we “must obey” these “suitable laws” of civil government commanding the observance of the day, of what avail is it to us that in the divine economy the observance was not made compulsory, but voluntary? If we are compelled to observe it, what becomes of the liberty which we were granted in the matter by the Lord? AMS June 24, 1897, page 389.3
If the Lord made Sabbath observance free, will He uphold a law making it compulsory? Must He not be against any such law? AMS June 24, 1897, page 389.4