The American Sentinel 14
August 31, 1899
“Front Page” American Sentinel 14, 34, p. 529.
HE who leans upon the crowd for support, is likely to find himself sooner or later underneath its feet. AMS August 31, 1899, page 529.1
NO PERSON can be a follower of the Lord and a follower of the crowd at the same time. AMS August 31, 1899, page 529.2
A TRULY Christian government must be one which rules by love and not by force; but if any civil government now upon the earth should attempt to proceed upon this principle of love, it could not carry on its functions a single day. When it is possible for a truly Christian government to be set up on the earth, God will set it up, and all efforts of men to make such a government out of any of the existing governments must utterly fail. AMS August 31, 1899, page 529.3
AMS THE Bible is spiritual, and as spiritual truth must be spiritually discerned (1 Corinthians 2:14), it follows that without a spiritual agency the Bible cannot even be understood by the people, much less enforced upon them as “the supreme law” of the land. And as no civil government has a spiritual agency at its command, it is only supreme folly for it to concern itself with the enforcement of biblical rules of life. AMS August 31, 1899, page 529.4
NO MAN can be a citizen of two countries at the same time, he cannot give allegiance at one time to two different governments. A man cannot be a subject of Great Britain while he is the subject of the United States, or of Germany, etc. But as the difference between two governments of earth is far less than the difference between any earthly government and the government of heaven, much less can any person be at once a citizen of earth and a citizen of heaven. Christ’s kingdom is “not of this world.” AMS August 31, 1899, page 529.5
IT is not the power of the civil government that hinders the advance of the cause of righteousness in the earth, but the power of unbelief in the human heart. Overcome all the power of the government—put an acknowledgement of God in its constitution, frame all its legislation in harmony with the strictest rules of right—and unbelief would still bar the way of the cause of Christ. But overcome this unbelief, and all the governments on earth, whatever their laws, could not hinder that cause for a moment. The attack of the forces of Christianity upon unrighteousness must be directed at the enemy that is intrenched in the heart. AMS August 31, 1899, page 529.6
“The Deceptive Spirit of Politics” American Sentinel 14, 34, pp. 529-531.
A GREAT deception is upon the religious world, and this deception is steadily drawing the religious world towards the brink of irreparable disaster. To point out this impending danger which threatens at once both the church and the state, is a mission than which none could be greater or more urgent at the present time. AMS August 31, 1899, page 529.1
The professedly Christian churches are in politics. Through politics they are seeking to advance the kingdom of God. By this we do not mean that they have joined hands with any political party, but that they have adopted political principles and methods. The Spirit of politics has become diffused through their midst, and they see no conflict between this spirit and the Spirit of Christian piety. They hail it as the spirit of righteousness and the agency of salvation. This is the great deception. AMS August 31, 1899, page 529.2
An illustration of the working of this deception is seen in the commingling of the most sacred themes and themes that are purely political—the exaltation of the nation’s military heroes, the approval of war, the indorsement of the policy of the Administration, etc.—at the gatherings of the leading religious bodies. AMS August 31, 1899, page 530.1
The idea of all this is that the civil government—the political power in the nation—can go hand in hand with Jesus Christ in working out the world’s salvation and setting up the kingdom of God. AMS August 31, 1899, page 530.2
In order to get the truth upon this subject we must get down to first principles and clearly define the two leading agencies concerned,—the spirit of politics and the spirit of Christ. AMS August 31, 1899, page 530.3
Politics, always and everywhere, is a contest for the supremacy. It is a contest between men, which results in the uplifting, not of the divine, but of the human. It exalts and glorifies, not man, but a man. And wherever this is done, whether in a political party or in the church, whether for political purposes or for church purposes, whether by many or by few, the spirit of politics is there as the ruling spirit. AMS August 31, 1899, page 530.4
Anything which aims at the exaltation and glorification of something else than God, is political in its principles and nature. This is politics defined in its broadest sense. AMS August 31, 1899, page 530.5
Where did the spirit originate? Where first was the effort made to exalt and glorify something else than God? To this question there is a plain answer given by Scripture. It was Lucifer, the exalted one who stood by the throne of God in heaven, who first sought the exaltation of something else than God, which something was himself. Then he induced others to join with him in the effort for his exaltation. And there was formed the first political party that ever existed. AMS August 31, 1899, page 530.6
The leader sought to get himself in the supreme power in heaven. He sought to win the votes of all the beings in heaven, excepting of course, the One to whom he had made himself a rival. Heaven was divided; and finally, Satan with his party was cast out, and the movement to exalt and glorify some other being than God was forever banished from the celestial realm. AMS August 31, 1899, page 530.7
But being shut out of heaven, it came down to the earth, and here it has found a home ever since. Eve sought to exalt herself to a higher realm of knowledge, by eating of the tree in Eden, contrary to the command of God. Man fell, and there was implanted in the race the spirit of self-supremacy; and ever since that time, this spirit has dominated among men everywhere outside of the true people of the Lord. AMS August 31, 1899, page 530.8
But even in the Christian Church it has been continually showing itself, and a continual source of trouble and peril. In the gospel narratives it stands out very plainly as influencing the course pursued by the Saviour’s immediate followers, the twelve apostles. Even they were not free from it, although they were the most intimate associates of the spotless and perfect Pattern. So deceptive is the spirit, that it creeps into the most sacred sanctuaries undistinguished from the spirit of righteousness. If it was so marked among the very apostles of the Lord while there with him, small wonder is it that it should gain entrance to-day in the most select Christian circles, and should so distort the view of Christian truth as to influence powerfully movements which seem to have but one aim of advancing the cause of Christ. AMS August 31, 1899, page 530.9
Even when the most serious and solemn thoughts should have engrossed the minds of the disciples, this political spirit rose up and completely blinded them to the important truths the Saviour desired them to comprehend. It turned them completely aside from their proper course of action and left them unprepared for the crisis before them. The record tells us that near the close of his ministry, when Christ was going up to Jerusalem to be condemned and crucified, he took the twelve disciples and endeavored to open to their minds the truth pertaining to this trying experience awaiting them. Three separate times he endeavored to break through the earthly influence that darkened their understandings, and each time the spirit of politics within them shut off their view of the truth. They were contending among themselves as to which should be the greatest! AMS August 31, 1899, page 530.10
There it was—the spirit of self-exaltation, of self-supremacy, right among the twelve apostles themselves, doing its foul and fatal work. Notice how it is set forth in the following from the narrative by Matthew:— AMS August 31, 1899, page 530.11
“And Jesus going up to Jerusalem took the twelve disciples apart in the way, and said unto them, AMS August 31, 1899, page 530.12
“Behold, we go up to Jerusalem; and the Son of man shall be betrayed unto the chief priests and unto the scribes, and they shall condemn him to death, AMS August 31, 1899, page 530.13
“And shall deliver him to the Gentiles to mock, and to scourge, and to crucify him: and the third day he shall rise again. AMS August 31, 1899, page 530.14
“Then came to him the mother of Zebedee’s children with her sons, worshiping him, and desiring a certain thing of him. AMS August 31, 1899, page 530.15
“And he said unto her, What wilt thou? She saith unto him, Grant that these my two sons may sit, the one on thy right hand, and the other on the left, in thy kingdom. AMS August 31, 1899, page 530.16
“But Jesus answered and said, Ye know not what ye ask.” Matthew 20:17-22. AMS August 31, 1899, page 530.17
Then, pointing them to the trying experience that awaited him and them before they could attain the kingdom of glory, he told them it was not given to him to bestow offices upon his followers, but the positions desired should be given “to them for whom it is prepared of my Father.” AMS August 31, 1899, page 530.18
Note the following points:— AMS August 31, 1899, page 530.19
The mother of James and John (Zebedee’s children) came unto Jesus with them, worshiping him, and desiring a certain thing of him. Here was (1) a “cut and dried” plan between James and John and their mother to get themselves into the chief places in the kingdom of glory. (2) “Pull”—the all essential thing in politics. Jesus had always been so considerate of womankind, that surely the request would be more likely to be granted if made by their mother. (3) Hypocrisy—they came “worshiping him,” not in sincerity, but to further, as they thought, the chances of success for their selfish scheme. (4) Office-seeking, not as a reward of merit, but as a favor. This was the spirit of politics, through and through. And Jesus then and there put a rebuke upon it, which should be good for all time with those who profess to be guided by his example. AMS August 31, 1899, page 530.20
“And when the ten heard it, they were moved with indignation against the two brethren.” Verse 24. AMS August 31, 1899, page 531.1
Thus they showed that they were of the same spirit; for instead of pitying the two disciples for their blindness, as they would have done had their own eyes been open, they were angry with James and John for endeavoring to get honors they coveted for themselves. AMS August 31, 1899, page 531.2
The Saviour endeavored to enlighten them and lead them out of the great delusion in which they had become entangled. He set before them the contrast between the spirit that was actuating them and the spirit that must prevail among his followers; and it would be well if his professed followers to-day would keep in mind his plain instruction upon this point. He said to his disciples:— AMS August 31, 1899, page 531.3
“Ye know that the princes of the Gentiles exercise dominion over them, and they that are great exercise authority upon them. AMS August 31, 1899, page 531.4
“But it shall not be so among you; but whosoever will be great among you, let him be your minister; AMS August 31, 1899, page 531.5
“And whosoever will be chief among you, let him be your servant: AMS August 31, 1899, page 531.6
“Even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many.” Verses 25-28. AMS August 31, 1899, page 531.7
This is the spirit of Christ, the spirit of self-denial; the spirit not of serving self, but of serving others. And that is the spirit God; for God seeks not to serve himself, but to minister to all his creatures; to preserve them in life, to surround them with that which will conduce to their happiness and welfare. God’s infinite power flows out from him to all the universe, to give light, and life, and love, and happiness to the myriads of his creatures. Imagine for a moment the infinite One withdrawing his power from the universe, and turning it inward upon himself, to exalt serve himself. That very moment the universe would collapse, and only ruin and death would be the result. Yet in that God would be doing only what men are constantly doing in this world, under the control of the spirit of self-exaltation, the spirit of politics. But the spirit, that principle, is a principle of death and not of life. AMS August 31, 1899, page 531.8
Self-denial and the service of others, is the spirit of God; and that spirit had always ruled in the universe from the beginning until Lucifer introduced its opposite in seeking to exalt himself. AMS August 31, 1899, page 531.9
The spirit of Christ, therefore, the Christian spirit, the spirit which should rule in the Christian Church, is the spirit which seeks to serve others, and never to serve self; to exalt and glorify the Creator and never the creature. The opposite spirit is a spirit of self-exaltation and self-supremacy, the spirit of politics, the spirit of the devil. AMS August 31, 1899, page 531.10
The disciples, under the blinding influence of this deceptive spirit, failed to discern the most important truths of the teachings of Him whom they called their Lord and Master; they were let off into error and delusion, and entirely failed of the preparation they so much needed for the crisis before them. They came up to that crisis wholly unprepared; and when there Master spent hours of agony in Gethsemane, while they should have watched with Him, they slept. And when He was betrayed and delivered a prisoner into the hands of the Gentiles, they all “forsook him and fled.” And Peter, a little later, denied Him with cursing. AMS August 31, 1899, page 531.11
That was the result then of the deceptive spirit of politics—the spirit of strife for the supremacy, with its accompanying conception of an earthly, political kingdom of God—in their minds. And if the end of all things had come then, that deception would have involved them in final, eternal ruin. And it is because the like deception will bring just this result upon its victims in the generation when the end does come, that the study of this subject is of tremendous importance to-day. AMS August 31, 1899, page 531.12
“Precedents That May be ‘Catching’” American Sentinel 14, 34, pp. 531, 532.
THE Filipinos fought Spain for years to be freed from foreign control, and to have the government of their own. They had their purpose almost accomplished, when the United States, by the victories of Manila and Santiago, relieved them of any further opposition from Spain. AMS August 31, 1899, page 531.1
But the United States did not stop with that—she actually took the place of Spain; and now the Filipinos are fighting the United States for the same reasons and for the same things that they fought Spain. And a real substantial question is now, Will not the Filipinos fight the United States as long as they fought Spain? AMS August 31, 1899, page 531.2
It may be said that they can’t fight the United States as long as they fought Spain; because the United States is stronger than Spain was, and fights harder than Spain could. This may be true in substance; but will not fight the United States, if not actually as long as they fought Spain, yet as long as the predominance of strength and ability of the United States over Spain will allow? The United States began with 30,000 troops, and conducted one campaign. She proposes now to take sixty-two thousands and make another campaign will she win with sixty-two thousand and in only a second campaign? Spain, with many more than sixty-two thousand men in the Philippines as well as in Cuba, was obliged to stand far more than a second campaign. AMS August 31, 1899, page 531.3
Now another question is, If the Filipinos should be able to compel the United States to drag along for considerable time unsuccessful; if they should be able for considerable time to maintain such an unsettled condition of affairs as they have so far caused, thus materially interfering with the commerce of the great nations; is there not a possibility of the intervention there, of some of those great nations after the example of the intervention of the United States between Spain and Cuba? Is there not a possibility that the example set by the United States in intervention, may prove to be “catching”? AMS August 31, 1899, page 432.1
By her victories over Spain the United States has won a standing among the great nations of the earth, and has forced their recognition of her in such standing. Yet for all this the United States has no more of the love of the nations than she had before. Rather she has far less. And those nations will be glad of a chance—the first chance or any chance that offers—at which they can surely distress, perplex, or humble her. AMS August 31, 1899, page 432.2
There is another matter in which the United States has taken the initiative, and in which she has been also insistent, which may yet be taken advantage of by the European nations to distress, perplex, and even humble her: that is, International Arbitration. AMS August 31, 1899, page 432.3
Even at the very threshold of the establishing of the international arbitration principle and tribunal, the United States found it necessary to close an opening that might give entrance to this very thing; and the detection of this possible opening, by the United States delegates, was instantly proclaimed and lauded as not only a decisive diplomatic victory, but as a plainly served notice upon the European nations that although the United States was new in international proceedings, she was not a novice. AMS August 31, 1899, page 432.4
However all that may be, the point worthy to be considered is that when such observance and critical watchfulness must be maintained at the very threshold, what will be called for further on? and will the United States be able to save herself always, as she did in this initial instance? AMS August 31, 1899, page 432.5
If the course upon which the United States has entered in the world’s affairs, does not end in her being humbled to the very best, it will not be because the European nations do not desire it, nor even because she herself has not given to them cues which can easily lead them to hope that they may accomplish it. AMS August 31, 1899, page 432.6
A. T. J.
“Will the United States Maintain Polygamy and Slavery?” American Sentinel 14, 34, pp. 532, 533.
THE United States claims possession of the Philippine Islands by virtue of the treaty with Spain. To repudiate that would be to throw away the basis upon which the Government seeks to justify its course in the Philippines before the world. But to stand by the treaty, also involves the United States in a dilemma, for under it this Government is obliged to maintain the Sultan of Sulu, a Mohammedan polygamist, at a salary of $4,900 a year; and also the system of slavery which prevails in that island of the Philippines group. The facts of the situation are set out in the following narrative of an interview between the Sultan of Sulu and Philippine commissioner Jacob G. Schurman, just back from the Philippines, which we copy from The World, of the city:— AMS August 31, 1899, page 532.1
“‘He received us cordially. We went through two rooms and were then seated in the reception room. I sat on a lounge and the Sultan seated himself, while a score of his household guards stood behind him. They were big, muscular, brave-looking fellows, and each one had a big knife handle sticking out of his belt. AMS August 31, 1899, page 532.2
“‘I told him that Spain had ceded its rights in the Sulu group to the United States and that we could carry out the same treaty terms he had made with Spain. He said that was all right, but for one thing; he would like to have some customs revenues and increased pensions, and, therefore, he wanted an island of the group in which he could have a port to collect tariffs customs. The only port in the group is the city of Sulu and that is a free port. AMS August 31, 1899, page 532.3
“‘The reason the Sultan gave for wanting that port was that he had twelve wives and it took a good deal of money to support them. Already they were learning Occidental extravagance in dress and were pestering the life out of him for foreign finery. AMS August 31, 1899, page 532.4
“‘Another reason for wanting this port for its revenue was that he wished to go to Mecca to make his pilgrimages, and that, too, cost money. AMS August 31, 1899, page 532.5
“‘The treaty with the Sultan which the United States became a party to as Spain’s successor, provides that he and his chiefs shall receive about $5,000 annually. The Sultan has many subjects in Borneo also, and the North British Borneo Company pays him $5,000 a year to stay out of Borneo.’ AMS August 31, 1899, page 532.6
“Mr. Schurman was asked whether or not the system of slavery in the Sulu Islands is likely to be disturbed by the United States Government. AMS August 31, 1899, page 532.7
“‘I am not in a position that answer that question,’ he replied. ‘I assured the Sultan that all of his rights would be preserved as defined under the treaty with Spain, and he seemed contented. AMS August 31, 1899, page 532.8
“‘Slavery, as it is practiced in the Sulu Islands, is not the cruel, inhuman slavery. On the contrary, it is rather beneficent in form, and the relations between masters and slaves are, as a general thing, most friendly.’” AMS August 31, 1899, page 532.9
The treaty of Spain with the Sultan of Sulu provided for the maintenance of the Sultan at a salary of $5,000 yearly, with polygamy and slavery as carried on by him; and now the United States, “as Spain’s successor,” has “become a party to” this treaty. The United States is bound by this which was included in the treaty with Spain, the same as by any other part of that treaty. The Government can repudiate this part of the treaty, but it will not be very consistent to do this, while constantly holding up the treaty as the justification of its claim to the possession of the islands. AMS August 31, 1899, page 533.1
Spain never had any right in the islands, save such as the robber and the freebooter acquires to the ownership of the property he steals. This is one inequity recognized and sanctioned by the treaty with Spain. And even had Spain once possessed any rights there, she had forfeited them by her merciless oppression of the people. This is another iniquity; so that the treaty with Spain was only a justification of Spanish iniquity, and the iniquity of maintaining polygamy and slavery in one of the islands is only on a par with the rest that the treaty embodies. AMS August 31, 1899, page 533.2
Will the United States, then, unseat congressmen Roberts of Utah for polygamy, and maintain the Sultan of Sulu in polygamy at a salary of $5,000? Will it maintain slavery in Sulu against the express prohibition of the Constitution, that “neither slavery nor involuntary servitude... shall exist within the United States or any place subject to their jurisdiction”? AMS August 31, 1899, page 533.3
What right, anyway, had the treaty makers to make a treaty which recognized slavery as a lawful thing in a territory that was to come by virtue of that treaty under the jurisdiction of the United States? AMS August 31, 1899, page 533.4
“Back Page” American Sentinel 14, 34, p. 544.
THESE are stirring times; but it does not follow from this that you are stirred by the developments of the times. It has frequently happened in this world that the most stirring and momentous periods of history were undiscerned as such by the generations then living, and the people of those times were indifferent and unconcerned right at the time when they should have been aroused to the greatest activity. The forces of good and evil, of despotism and of liberty, are being marshaled for the final conflict, which will center around the principles of liberty of conscience. To compel the conscience, will be the effort made on the one hand; while to maintain it in full freedom as a guide of individual conduct, will be the resolution taken on the other. AMS August 31, 1899, page 544.1
Just now, there is a lull in those acts of religious persecution which were a mark of apostasy on the part of the church; and our attention is drawn to the spectacle of apostasy on the part of the state. We see the state renouncing the principles of free government, and the spectacle is no less significant than was the other, when the church was laying the hand of intolerance upon dissenters. Both these apostasies are preparatory steps to the union of church and state which the SENTINEL has foretold in this country. And apostate church could not join hands with any other than an apostate state. AMS August 31, 1899, page 544.2
In the industrial world, we see conditions arising which are the enemy of individual independence; and he who would retain that independence necessary to self-respecting manhood, must be prepared to contend for it against powerful opposition. This is the day of combinations and federations, every one of which is for the express purpose of carrying individualism out of sight, and of exalting the doctrine that human rights are inherent not in individuals, but only in majorities. AMS August 31, 1899, page 544.3
These are some of the developments that should engage the attention of people to-day and arouse them to the fact that they are facing a crisis. Now, the voice of duty calls every one who has understanding of the times, to bestir himself in seeking to enlighten others and to rally the people round the principles of truth and righteousness. We trust that among the readers of the SENTINEL, there may be many to whom this call of duty will not come in vain. AMS August 31, 1899, page 544.4