The American Sentinel 14
October 26, 1899
“Front Page” American Sentinel 14, 42, p. 657.
THE government tolerates no counterfeit of a thing upon which it has placed its stamp. And if such a counterfeit be wrong, what must be said of a counterfeit of that which bears the stamp of heaven? AMS October 26, 1899, page 657.1
COUNTERFEIT money interferes seriously with the business of earthly governments; and a religious counterfeit works no less evil in the government of God. Recognizing this truth, the devil has ever sought to force as many religious counterfeits upon the world as was in his power to do. AMS October 26, 1899, page 657.2
THE Sabbath is institution bears the stamp of Heaven, being “the Sabbath of the Lord thy God.” What, then, must be said of a weekly day of rest which is not the Sabbath of the Lord? What must be said, for example, of the “civil sabbath,” which is confessedly something different from the divine institution, although to most people it is just the same in appearance? Or what must be said of a weekly sabbath in which there is any alteration, however slight, from the Sabbath instituted for the race by the Creator? And is not an institution which most nearly resembles the divine institution, without being that institution in fact, the most dangerous of sabbath counterfeits? AMS October 26, 1899, page 657.3
THERE is a counterfeit of the Holy Spirit in the world, and its effects have been very widespread and disastrous. When the Holy Spirit descended on the disciples of Pentecost, some who were in their company said, “these men are drunk with new wine.” The Holy Spirit is given to fill man with joy, to lift them above the fears, discouragements and trials of this life; but men have been led to the use of wine and strong drink to attain to this desirable condition. And this has been a terrible illusion, bringing physical and moral death upon countless numbers, and engaging to-day the earnest endeavors of upright men and women to stay its progress. AMS October 26, 1899, page 657.4
AND surely those who cry against the gigantic evil of intemperance, who demand legislation against it, cannot consistently favor any counterfeit of that which is divine, or demand that man’s substitute for a divine institution be forced by legislation upon the people. AMS October 26, 1899, page 657.5
“The Promise of Liberty” American Sentinel 14, 42, pp. 657, 658.
THE world is hearing much to-day, as it has always heard, of the promise of liberty made by one people to another. But can one people confer liberty upon other people? And if so, what people can do this? These were always important questions, and were never more so than just now. AMS October 26, 1899, page 657.1
The Apostle Peter wrote about a class of men who promised liberty; and we have therefore some information on the subject from an authority that church people at least will not question. He speaks of a class who while they promise liberty to others, are themselves the “servants of corruption.” 2 Peter 2:19. And this is equivalent to a plain statement that nobody who is himself in bondage can confer any true liberty upon another. And this is to say that the promise of liberty made by the servant of sin is an empty boast; for it is of the bondage of sin that the apostle is speaking. AMS October 26, 1899, page 657.2
We may set aside, then, as altogether vain and delusive, the promises of liberty made by any people who are not themselves free from the chains of sin. Such people do not know what real freedom is. And having the tyranny of sin upon themselves, they perforce have the spirit tyranny in their hearts, which seeks never to confer liberty, but always to restrict it. AMS October 26, 1899, page 657.3
To-day we hear the promise of liberty made by one people to another whom they are trying to overcome. Can such a promise of liberty be realized? The answer of Scripture to the question is, “Of whom a man is overcome, of the same is he brought in bondage;” and though a whole nation should with united voice deny the statement, it would still be true. AMS October 26, 1899, page 658.1
One man is not overcome by another man, or one people by another people, to be made free. And when the conqueror is himself the servant of corruption, it is doubly impossible that the conquered should be made more free. AMS October 26, 1899, page 658.2
The work of setting men free was undertaken by the Author of freedom, who came not to overcome any man, but to overcome the evils by which men are bound; not to get the victory over any man, but to give to every man a victory gained over the whole world. And only as men work with Him, will the cause of freedom be really advanced in the earth. His promise of liberty, and his only, will be gloriously fulfilled. AMS October 26, 1899, page 658.3
“The Needed Power” American Sentinel 14, 42, p. 658.
THE following stirring words from an address by Dr. W. A. Spencer, Secretary of the Church Extension Society of the M. E. Church, strike at the root of the problem of the means by which the church to-day can become equipped to grapple with prevalent evils and accomplish the reforms that are so urgently needed in society. Endued with the power of which this earnest man speaks, the church is prepared to do just that work that is needed in the nation to-day, and that God would have her do; but equipped with any other power, as the power of legislation or of the ballot, she is not prepared for her task, and the reforms accomplished by such means will be of the wrong kind, that can only make the situation worse:— AMS October 26, 1899, page 658.1
“In our pulpits to-day we have a multitude of preachers, too, who have lost their power, but, like Samson, they wist not that their power is departed from them, and try to make up for the old-time power by scholarship, polish, and dignity. Think, beloved, what times we have fallen upon, when the Board of Bishops of the Methodist Episcopal Church, with her revival history back of her, has to send out a piteous appeal to our people to pray for a revival of religion within our borders! It ought to be enough to send every one of us to our faces in the dust, crying out for a return of the old-time power! ... AMS October 26, 1899, page 658.2
“See how our D. D.’s have been trying to account for the depletion in the life-blood of Methodism! Oh, my God, why don’t they strike the true secret of it, and recognizing it, fall upon their faces all along the line and cry out for a return of Pentecost, instead of trying to blame it upon this and that that has no more to do with it than the wind blowing among these mountain pines! God help us! AMS October 26, 1899, page 658.3
“But then, if a man has a heart paralysis, you can’t blame the poor fellow if he doesn’t work as he did before he was afflicted. Neither can you expect a church member or a Christian, if he is devoid of power, to do much. Some things follow each other as a natural sequence, and this is one of them. A powerless Christian is a useless Christian. AMS October 26, 1899, page 658.4
“But you ask, how shall we have convincing, persuasive power in the pulpit and pew? I reply, get it down from heaven. It is there. God hasn’t died. Christ is on the throne. The Holy Ghost is alive. His power is at your command. Get it, for God’s sake, for your own sake, and for the sake of this old dying world!” AMS October 26, 1899, page 658.5
“A Baneful Progress” American Sentinel 14, 42, pp. 658, 659.
ABOUT two years ago, in this paper we gave some Bible Studies in Christian Citizenship in Church and State, for the especial benefit of the Christian Citizen. AMS October 26, 1899, page 658.1
At that the Christian Citizen was very diligently working for union of church and state in every relationship of man throughout this whole land; and at the same time was denying it, and even seemed not to be able to discern it. For this reason we printed in the SENTINEL, addressed to the Christian Citizen, the Bible Studies in Christian Citizenship and Church and State. AMS October 26, 1899, page 658.2
These lessons were all simply studies of the plain statements of the New Testament and of confessed fact. These scriptures just as they stand, with a study of simply what they say, showed plainly that there cannot be any such thing as Christian Citizenship of this world without a union of church and state. A candid study of confessed facts demonstrated the same thing. AMS October 26, 1899, page 658.3
It therefore appeared perfectly plain that, directly contrary to the plain word and principles of Christ, the Christian Citizen was definitely pushing a propaganda of the union of church and state in every relationship of men throughout this whole nation; and that this Christian Citizenship idea and the Christian Citizenship movement as a whole, and in each individual feature of it, is nothing else than a propaganda of the union of church and state after the very likeness of things in the Dark Ages. All this plainly appeared, whether or not it was discerned by the Christian Citizen and those who are engaged in the Christian Citizenship movement. AMS October 26, 1899, page 658.4
And now, as announced in last week’s SENTINEL, all this is acknowledged in the changing of the name of the Christian Citizen and now calling the same paper Church and State; because as stated by itself, “The name Church in State expresses the Christian Citizenship principles we wish to advocate better than the old name Christian Citizen did or could.” AMS October 26, 1899, page 658.5
It is acknowledged also in the very idea, and almost in the very words, of the Studies, that, “In the make up of individuals they are essentially one; for the same man may be both a Christian and a patriot.” And there can be no possible shadow of a doubt that when “the same man” proposes to “be both a Christian and a patriot,” at the same time both a member of the church and a member of the state, there is in the “same man” a positive union of church and state. AMS October 26, 1899, page 659.1
That Christian Citizenship and the union of church and State are one and the same thing, is acknowledged by Church and State, which was the Christian Citizen, also in the confession that “Clearly church and state are one in the individuals of which they are composed.” This is the very point upon which we insisted in the Studies with the Christian Citizen as making it absolutely certain that political Christian Citizenship is inevitably the union of church and state. The truth of that can never be escaped. Every candid mind, every honest soul, must knowledge that in every individual who proposes to be at the same time a member of the church and a member of the state, there is decidedly a union of church and state. AMS October 26, 1899, page 659.2
In one sense it is a distinct gain to have these people take their stand openly in favor of a union of church and state, when they advocate the principles of such a union. Yet it marks a deplorable apostasy when people who know the evils of a union of Church and State do openly take a stand in favor of it. And that they do know the thing to be unworthy of advocacy is evident from the fact that at first they professed to be opposed to a union of church and state, though they maintained the same identical principles that they now maintain. For what but apostasy can it possibly be for people to espouse that which they had professed to avoid, knowing it to be evil? AMS October 26, 1899, page 659.3
Yet this case of the Christian Citizen and those whom it represents, is only an item which illustrates a general tendency among the churches and religious organizations of this time. From the beginning of the organized form of the National Reform in 1863, day of every division and every phase of it have at first persisted that they were opposed to any union of church and state. Yet all the time they all advocated principles that meant nothing but a complete union of church and state. AMS October 26, 1899, page 659.4
Now, however, they have about all ceased making that plea, and some, like the Christian Citizen, openly acknowledge that they advocate a union of church and state. Religious journals which at first opposed the National Reform movement, because it meant only a union of church and state, now favor not only that movement but also a union of church and state. AMS October 26, 1899, page 659.5
All these things show a steady moving tide toward a recognized union of church and state in the United States. And the thing about it which is particularly to be remarked is that this union of church and state is recognized and promoted by the very people who at the first have invariably professed to oppose the union of church and state as an evil, and such an evil as to deserve the opposition of every true Christian—of every right-thinking person. This then reveals a steadily moving tide of apostasy. For again we ask, Without apostasy how can it be possible for people to advocate what they have long opposed as a confessed and well-known evil? AMS October 26, 1899, page 659.6
If in the beginning they were really opposed to a union of church and state, and honestly believe that what they were advocating was not in principle the union of church and state, then sincerity of purpose would have led them to abandon the whole scheme the moment that they discerned that their principles did involve the union of church and state. But the facts of experience demonstrate that when they are obliged to acknowledge that their principles do indeed mean a union of church and state, instead of abandoning they espouse it and definitely advocate it. And all this certifies either that they were not sincere in the beginning, or else that the tide of an acknowledged evil has proved too strong for them and has carried them away from their own sincerity to the espousal of a confessed evil. AMS October 26, 1899, page 659.7
A. T. J.
“Back Page” American Sentinel 14, 42, p. 672.
FROM a political point of view, from any worldly point of view, the prospect is not bright. But from the Christian point of view, the prospect is altogether glorious. The Christian has no cause for discouragement in what he sees around him: and while he may point out these things, he does not imply by that that he is a pessimist. It is from this standpoint that the SENTINEL would call attention to existing wrongs and dangers. AMS October 26, 1899, page 672.1
THE SENTINEL has appealed to the civil authorities in behalf of religious freedom, upon the basis of the Declaration of Independence, which affirms that all men have equal rights, and the government must be by consent of the governed. If this great American document is set aside, that basis for an appeal for religious freedom is gone; and if the SENTINEL allows it to be set aside without protest, it in effect surrenders the doctrine of rights which the Declaration affirms. But that doctrine is the only basis upon which a plea for religious liberty can be made that will stand against all the assaults of sophistry and worldly logic. We cannot surrender the basis of eternal truth. AMS October 26, 1899, page 672.2
THE New England Sabbath Protective League announces through its organ, The Defender, that its purpose is to defend “the Sabbath against the persistent encroachments upon its sacredness by business and pleasure” (Italics ours); and in the same connection adds “Therefore this League aims to defend and secure such legislation as will maintain a proper observance of the Lord’s day.” What is this, therefore, but a statement that the League wants legislation to maintain the sacredness of the Sabbath! And what power is there in legislation to preserve the sacredness of a divine institution? AMS October 26, 1899, page 672.3
The rest day which God instituted is sacred, and its sacredness is altogether independent of human legislation. No legislation can therefore affect the sacredness of the Sabbath day itself. The resting of God upon the seventh day, which remains a fact, and his blessing, which remains on the day, maintain its sacredness. AMS October 26, 1899, page 672.4
But may not legislation enforce sacred conduct on the part of the people in Sabbath observance, so that in this sense it may be said that legislation will preserve the sacredness of the day? The answer must still be, No. Legislation can affect only the outward conduct; and the outward conduct of the man who does not in his heart keep the Sabbath holy, amounts to nothing. It is not sacred at all, and if it appears to be such is only a pretense and a cloak for hypocrisy. AMS October 26, 1899, page 672.5
Having neither the power to make the day itself sacred, nor to compel any person to observe it sacredly, how can legislation possibly do anything to preserve the sacredness of the Sabbath. AMS October 26, 1899, page 672.6
A FRIEND of the SENTINEL advises us that we should be careful to say nothing against imperialism by name. But how can we talk against the thing so that people will know what we are talking about, and yet will not recognize the things by name? This requires a skill in which we confess to be lacking. And if people are not to recognize what you are talking about, what point will they see in what you say, and what use will there be in saying it? AMS October 26, 1899, page 672.7
THERE can be neither self-government nor religious freedom where the doctrine is denied that rightful government is by the consent of the governed. AMS October 26, 1899, page 672.8
IT is manifestly true that nothing can be forced upon the Lord; and therefore no individual can be brought to the Lord by force. When force is used upon an individual in religion, if he yields to it at all, he is always forced further away from God. AMS October 26, 1899, page 672.9