The American Sentinel 8
August 17, 1893
“Editorial” American Sentinel 8, 33, pp. 257, 258.
LAMST week, from a number of considerations of Scripture, we found that the Sabbath question is not a question merely of days as such; not a question merely as to whether we shall have one day or another. But it is a question as to whether we shall worship the one true God, or another; and whether we shall have him the one true Saviour, or another. It is a question as to whether we shall honor the one true Creator and have him for our Sanctifier, or another. AMS August 17, 1893, page 257.1
AND this, because the Sabbath of the Lord which he made, the seventh day which he appointed—this, the Lord has declared to be a sign between him and men that they might know that he is the Lord our God; and a sign by which they might know that he sanctifies us. This being the sign that he is the Lord, the true God, the Creator, and he being also the Saviour, it is also the sign by which men may know him as Saviour. The Sabbath of the Lord being the sign that men may know that he is God, and as no man can know him except in Jesus Christ, it is, when hallowed, the sign of what Jesus Christ is to man. AMS August 17, 1893, page 257.2
IT is by the power of God manifested in and through Jesus Christ alone, and by his Holy Spirit, that salvation is wrought. And this to every one that believeth. Therefore, “I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth.” Romans 1:16. “Neither is there salvation in any other.” Acts 4:19. “There is no God else beside me; a just God and a Saviour; there is none beside me. Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth; for I am God and there is none else.” Isaiah 45:21, 22. “And no man knoweth the Father, save the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal him.” Matthew 11:27. “Hallow my Sabbaths; and they shall be a sign between me and you, that you may know that I am the Lord your God.” And “I gave them my Sabbaths, to be a sign between me and them, that they might know that I am the Lord that sanctify them.” Ezekiel 20:20, 12. This is the meaning of the Sabbath of the Lord, as he made it and as he gave it. AMS August 17, 1893, page 257.3
BUT in the scriptures of the prophets, it is told that there would arise another power, putting itself above God and in the place of Jesus Christ, as the Commander and Saviour of men. Thus it is written: “That day [the day of the Lord’s coming] shall not come except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshiped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple [the place of worship] of God, showing himself that he is God. Remember ye not that when I was yet with you I told you these things?” 2 Thessalonians 2:3-5. This is in the letter addressed to the Thessalonians. When Paul was at Thessalonica, he had told them these same things. Now, of his visit to Thessalonica we read, “When they had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where was a synagogue of the Jews; and Paul, as his manner was, went in unto them, and three Sabbath days reasoned with them out of the Scriptures.... And some of them believed, and consorted with Paul and Silas; and of the devout Greeks a great multitude, and of the chief women not a few.” Acts 17:1-4. AMS August 17, 1893, page 257.4
REAMSONING with them out of the Scriptures he told them of the apostasy and of the development and exaltation of this man of sin above God, putting himself in the place of worship of God, showing himself that he is God. Now, the only Scriptures that they then had, and out of which he taught them, were what are now the Old Testament Scriptures. Where then in these Scriptures did he find this teaching concerning one who would set himself in opposition to God and above God? Read this: “And through his policy also he shall cause craft to prosper in his hand; and he shall magnify himself in his heart, and by peace shall destroy many; he shall also stand up against the Prince of princes.” “Yea, he magnified himself even to [even against—margin] the Prince of the host.” Daniel 8:25, 11. By comparing the phrase “stand up” in this verse, with the same phrase in verse 23, and Daniel 11:2, 3, 4, 7, it will be plain to all that in this verse “stand up” signifies “to reign,” as a king. It is seen, therefore, that there would appear in the world a power opposed to Christ, reigning in his stead, putting himself in his place, and even above God, showing himself off as God. AMS August 17, 1893, page 257.5
NOW, everybody knows that there has appeared, and that there still continues, in the world, just such a power as is here described. It is the Papacy. Everybody knows that the head and the embodiment of this power, calls himself before all the world, “Vicar of Jesus Christ.” A vicar is a substitute. He therefore poses as the substitute of Jesus Christ. While Christ is absent from the world he is his substitute to rule it, and to save or destroy it as his “infallible” will shall dictate. And as God is the Saviour and there is none else, and as this power puts itself in the place of God, and even above God, it follows in itself that this power—the Papacy—should, of necessity, put itself in the place of God and Jesus Christ as the only way of salvation. AMS August 17, 1893, page 257.6
Every one is obliged, under pain of eternal damnation, to become a member of the Catholic Church, to believe her doctrine, to use her means of grace, and to submit to her authority. AMS August 17, 1893, page 257.7
Hence the Catholic Church is justly called the only saving Church. To despise her is the same as to despise Christ; namely, his doctrine, his means of grace, and his powers; to separate from her is the same as to separate from Christ, and to forfeit eternal salvation. Therefore St. Augustine and the other bishops of Africa, pronounced, A.D. 412, at the Council of Zuria, this decision: “Whosoever is separated from the Catholic Church, however commendable in his own opinion his life may be, he shall, for this very reason, that he is at the same time separated from the unity of Christ, not see life, but the wrath of God abideth on him.”—De Harbe’s, Full Catechism of the Catholic Religion: Imprimatur, N. Card. Wiseman; Imprimatur, John, Card. McCloskey, Catholic Publication Society Co., 9 Barclay Street, New York, 1883: p. 238. Italics as in the book. AMS August 17, 1893, page 257.8
God in Jesus Christ being the only Saviour; his power being the only power unto salvation; and the Sabbath of the Lord being the sign of this; it follows of necessity that when another puts himself above God and in the place of God and another power is manifested unto a proposed salvation, if that other power is to have a sign by which it would be known and recognized as of authority, this sign would have to be a rival Sabbath. It is impossible that it should be otherwise. As he puts himself above God and in the place of God, and of the Saviour—as he is therefore the rival—the substitute indeed—of the true God and Saviour; as certainly as he sets up any sign by which he would be known, this sign, in order to mean anything in the case as it is, would have to be a rival, a substitute indeed, of the true Sabbath, the true sign of the true God and Saviour. AMS August 17, 1893, page 257.9
AND the case holds consistently throughout. The “man of sin,” “the son of perdition,” “the mystery of iniquity,” “that wicked,” the Papacy, this “vicar,” this substitute of Jesus Christ, has also substituted a sign of itself for the sign of Jesus Christ. It has substituted Sunday for the Sabbath of the Lord. AMS August 17, 1893, page 258.1
During the old law, Saturday was the day sanctified; but the Church, instructed by Jesus Christ, and directed by the Spirit of God, has substituted Sunday for Saturday; so now we sanctify the first, not the seventh day. Sunday means, and now is, the day of the Lord.—Catholic Catechism of the Christian Religion. AMS August 17, 1893, page 258.2
Ques.—How prove you that the Church has power to command feasts and holy days? AMS August 17, 1893, page 258.3
Ans.—By the very act of changing the Sabbath into Sunday, which Protestants allow of; and therefore they fondly contradict themselves by keeping Sunday strictly, and breaking most other feasts commanded by the same church. AMS August 17, 1893, page 258.4
Ques.—How prove you that? AMS August 17, 1893, page 258.5
Ans.—Because by keeping Sunday, they acknowledge the Church’s power to ordain feasts, and to command them under sin; and by not keeping the rest by her commanded, they again deny, in fact, the same power.—Abridgment of Christian Doctrine. AMS August 17, 1893, page 258.6
THUS clearly and easily is it demonstrated from the Scriptures that the Sabbath question, so far from being a question of merely one day or another as such, is a question as to whether we shall worship and serve one God or another, and whether we shall have one Saviour or another. It is a question of whether we shall worship the Lord or the Papacy; whether we shall look to Jesus Christ for salvation or to the Papacy; whether we shall honor the true God or his supplanter; whether we shall be saved by Christ or by this “substitute” for him. It is a question of whether we shall wear the badge of the Lord of Glory, or that of the man of sin; whether we shall bear the sign, which God has set, or the sign which the Papacy has substituted for it; whether we shall wear the signet of the Most High or the mark of “the mystery of iniquity,” “that wicked,” “the beast.” It is a question as to whether the Sabbath of the Lord shall be observed as he made it, and as he gave it; or whether the substitute, the Sunday, which has been set up by the Papacy shall take precedence of it and crush it out of the world—whether the Lord shall be God indeed, or whether the man of sin—the Papacy—shall indeed be exalted above him. AMS August 17, 1893, page 258.7
THIS is what the Sabbath question is, and this is precisely what is involved in it. And what the churches and Congress of the United States have done, in this Sunday legislation, is to fasten upon the Government of the United States this sign of papal authority, and to call upon all the people of the United States to receive and wear this badge of allegiance to the Papacy. In this Sunday legislation, by which the seventh day of the Sabbath of the Lord, was interpreted out of his law, and the first day the Sunday of the Papacy was interpreted into that law instead of God’s Sabbath, the churches and Congress of the United States have, so far as lies in their power, shut away form men the knowledge of the true God and Saviour, and have required that men shall receive and worship the Papacy instead. And it is an abominable piece of business. But they have done it. AMS August 17, 1893, page 258.8
THAT which now remains is for each person to decide for himself, whether he will do this which the churches and Congress have required. It is for each one to decide for himself whether he will honor the Papacy above God; whether he will worship the Papacy or the Lord, and whether he will wear this signet of the Papacy or the sign of what Jesus Christ is to men. And that this may be seen the more plainly, if need be, we set the two things here side by side:— AMS August 17, 1893, page 258.9
| Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labor, and do all thy work; but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God; in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates; for in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day; wherefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day, and hallowed it. Exodus 20:8-11. Therefore the Son of man is Lord also of the Sabbath. Mark 2:28. Moreover also I gave them my Sabbaths, to be a sign between me and them, that they might know that I am the LORD that sanctify them. And hallow my Sabbaths; and they shall be a sign between me and you, that ye may know that I am the LORD your God. Ezekiel 20:12, 20. | “The Catholic Church, instructed by Jesus Christ, and directed by the Spirit of God, has substituted Sunday for Saturday, so now we sanctify the first, not the seventh day. Sunday means and now is, the day of the Lord.” “Ques.—How prove you that the Church has power to command feasts and holy days? “Ans.—By the very act of changing the Sabbath into Sunday, which Protestants allow of; and therefore they fondly contradict themselves by keeping Sunday strictly, and breaking most other feasts Commanded by the same church. “Ques.—How prove you that? “Answ.—Because by keeping Sunday, they acknowledge the Church’s power to ordain feasts, and to command them under sin; and by not keeping the rest by her commanded, they again deny, in fact, the same power.”—Abridgment of Christian Doctrine. “It is worth while to remember that this observance of the Sabbath—in which, after all, the only Protestant worship Consists—not only has no foundation in the Bible, but it is in flagrant contradiction with its letter, which commands rest on the Sabbath, which is Saturday. It was the Catholic Church which, by the authority of Jesus Christ, has transferred this to the Sunday in remembrance of The resurrection of our Lord. Thus the observance of Sunday by the Protestants is an homage they pay, in spite of themselves, to the authority of the Church.”—Plain Talk About The Protestantism of To-day, p. 213. |
Which way do you take? Which do you choose? Which do you serve? Which sign do you bear? To which one of these do you look to be sanctified? To which one do you look for the power of salvation? Think seriously of this, and next week, from the doctrine and the history, we shall further consider the meaning of this substitution of Sunday for the Sabbath of the Lord. AMS August 17, 1893, page 258.10
A. T. J.
“Back Page” American Sentinel 8, 33, p. 264.
“ALL the great daily newspapers of this city now issue a Sunday edition,” says the Christian at Work. The statement is quite true; but will the Mail and Express take kindly to it? for that paper has no Sunday edition and is not therefore one of the great dailies. AMS August 17, 1893, page 264.1
THE Christian Statesman still insists that Seventh-day Adventists are parties to the Clingman injunction suit. Well that is not strange since the Statesman never misses an opportunity to excite prejudice against Adventists, regardless of the facts. The Statesman is as unscrupulous as a Jesuit or a ward politician. Suppose that Mr. Mason—Clingman’s attorney—had among his clients a single Adventist stockholder in the Fair, which however he has not, would the Statesman be justified in representing that “the Seventh-day Adventists” were parties to that suit? An honest man can give but one answer to the question. AMS August 17, 1893, page 264.2
THE Cleveland News and Herald is probably no worse than thousands of papers, but it is hard to believe that the following editorial note published by it on the 27th ult., was not inspired by malice:— AMS August 17, 1893, page 264.3
The legal warfare over the Sunday question in connection with the World’s Fair is not yet ended. The non-religious forces engaged have dropped out, but the Seventh-day Adventists, aided some what, it may be by a few Jews, are keeping up the fight against closing the gates on the first day of the week. Since it has been proved by experience that the financial interests of the Columbian Exposition Company would be best served by Sunday closing, the people who looked only at the money side of the question have been well content to let the latest decision of the directors be final, but the Adventists are not so ready to yield a point. They propose to stick out for their own ideas of the true time to observe the Christian day of rest and religious services, no matter what the result may be to the World’s Fair or any other interests, however great. It is such exhibitions of unreasonableness which make multitudes of men and women impatient of denominational and religious controversies. AMS August 17, 1893, page 264.4
The Adventists have had absolutely nothing to do with the litigation having for its purpose the opening of the World’s Fair on Sunday. Adventists have insisted from the first that the Government had no right to require the closing of the Fair on Sunday, and they have likewise insisted all along that the directors were the proper persons to decide whether the Fair should be open or closed on that day. They have made no appeal to any court on the subject, nor will they do so. It would be a good thing if the secular press would give the public a little less misinformation. We believe it was one of our great humorists who said he would rather not know so much than to know so many things that were not true. People who rely implicitly on the newspapers for information certainly have a good deal of the latter kind of “knowledge.” AMS August 17, 1893, page 264.5
SOME one has sent us a paper containing a marked article by the President of the American Sabbath Union in which the position is taker that polygamy is enjoined in the Old Testament, and that, therefore, the Morman [sic.] can as plausibly plead that he should be permitted to have several wives as the Sabbath keeper that he ought not to be molested for working on Sunday. For a complete refutation of this sophistry see No. 10 of the Religious Liberty Library, Review and Herald, Battle Creek, Mich. Price 3 cents single copy. AMS August 17, 1893, page 264.6
MR. CRAFTS, he of the “new method of petitioning,” by which men, women and children are counted again and again many times over as petitioners for his pet schemes, thinks that the reopening of the Fair on Sunday “is not to be feared, especially since Congress has been called for August. “It would,” he says, “inflict swift punishment if any second ‘contempt’ were put upon its authority and the people’s will.” So he would have Congress not only override the Constitution, by making an appropriation directly in the interests of a religious institution, but he would also have that body violate the charter of American liberty by passing an ex post facto law, that is a law imposing a penalty after the commission of the act. Moreover, he would have the legislative branch of the Government usurp the functions of the other two branches of the Government, namely, the judicial and the executive. There is nothing small about this gentleman except his ideas of other people’s rights. AMS August 17, 1893, page 264.7
WHEN an injunction was sought from Federal Judge Jenkins enjoining the World’s Fair Directors from keeping the Fair open on Sunday, on the ground that to do so would impose a financial loss upon the stockholders, because of the religious boycott, the judge held that he had no power to grant the relief prayed for because it was a question of policy to be decided by the directors, and with which the courts had no right to meddle. Some people have supposed that in granting an injunction forbidding the closing of the gates on Sunday, Judge Stein violated the rule thus stated by Judge Jenkins. This is a mistake. The Stein injunction was granted by a State court solely on the ground that Jackson Park in which the Fair is held, being dedicated to the city for a park “to be open to the people of Illinois for ever,” could not be closed to the public on any day of the week by anybody. This is a question over which a United States Court could not possibly have any jurisdiction, and is a very different matter from the question presented to Judge Jenkins. AMS August 17, 1893, page 264.8
IT now seems inevitable that the World’s Fair will be a financial failure. The latest estimate places its resources at $6,510,000, and its liabilities at $6,881,000, including the debenture bonds. The best calculations show a deficit of $71,200. These calculations take in $300,000 as an additional resource for certain material on the grounds not counted in the official figures. All calculations leave out the $11,000,000 of stock subscriptions and city bonds as items of liability. The idea of reimbursing the stockholders or taking up the bonds appears to have been abandoned. This is due in large measure to the general stringency of the times, but it is more than likely that as the Sunday people are claiming everything in sight, and counting it from two to six times, the whole gigantic failure will be charged up to Sunday opening. And in utter disregard of the fact that Sunday is not the Sabbath but is a fraud, the failure of the Fair will be cited as indisputable evidence of the divine displeasure AMS August 17, 1893, page 264.9
WE have received from the publishers, 28 Lafayette Place, this city, No. 33 of the “Truth Seeker Library,” the same being “Pen Pictures of the World’s Fair,” by Samuel P. Putnam. Mr. Putnam is a pleasant gentleman, and an excellent writer, and we cannot speak too highly of his “Pen Pictures,” except in one particular, namely, the hostility to Christianity which he plainly exhibits several times in this otherwise exceedingly meritorious pamphlet. “Pen Pictures” is well illustrated, is written in Mr. Putnam’s happiest descriptive style, and notwithstanding the objectionable feature which we have mentioned, is well worth the price asked for it (25 cents). It would not be a bad hand book for expectant visitors, who have sufficient stamina not to be influenced by what Mr. Putnam does not know about Christianity. AMS August 17, 1893, page 264.10