The Signs of the Times, vol. 14

June 29, 1888

“The Lord’s Day” The Signs of the Times, 14, 25.

E. J. Waggoner

An exchange having been asked to give its authority for calling Sunday the Lord’s day, and for the statement that in the Bible the first day of the week is so named, replies, in part, as follows:- SITI June 29, 1888, page 390.1

“In response to this, we say that (Revelation 1:10) we find that John was ‘in the Spirit on the Lord’s day.’ To find out what that day was, we do just as we do on the question of baptism, we go to the New Testament Greek lexicon and those times to find out what it means. We find that the term Lord, in this passage, comes from the Greek kuriakos. We find that in the New Testament the word is used in one other place only (1 Corinthians 11:20), when it speaks of ‘the Lord’s Supper.’ Now the question is, Can we settle clearly what supper that was? It appears that Paul tells us it was the supper instituted by the Lord, the night in which he was betrayed. Then we are clear and know surely that the term Lord’s Supper means, a supper that Jesus began or brought into existence. So when we find ‘the Lord’s day,’ we know just as certainly it was a day that began with Jesus, and that he brought into notice. We find that Jesus rose on the first day of the week, that he met with his disciples on that day after his resurrection, that he sent down the Holy Spirit on that day, that the disciples came together on that day to break bread, and thus we are as sure that the first day of the week is the Lord’s day as we are that immersion is baptism.” SITI June 29, 1888, page 390.2

Our neighbor is very easily satisfied in regard to some things. It is indeed amazing to see how much evidence may be brought forward in vain to convince a man of a thing which he is determined not to believe, and what an infinitesimal amount will speedily convince him on some other point when he has already made up his mind to believe it anyway. The Oracle, for that is the name of the paper from which we quote, would carry the idea that there is just as much reason for believing that Sunday is the Lord’s day, as for believing that baptism is immersion. Now note the difference: Baptism is defined to be immersion, and was never used in any other sense, either in Scripture or out. There is nothing to which the word can be applied, except to immersion. But the word Lord’s, or, to give an air of learning to the discussion, kuriakos, may be applied to anything which belongs to the Lord. The term “Lord’s day” does not of itself give any idea of the day referred to. The word “baptism” is in itself a description of a certain act; but in order to know what day the Lord’s day is, we must learn from some source other than the term itself. Now not only does the term Lord’s day fail to tell us what day is the Lord’s day, but there is no declaration in the Bible, nor even an intimation, that Sunday is that day. So there is by no means as much reason for believing that Sunday is the Lord’s day as there is for believing that baptism is immersion. SITI June 29, 1888, page 390.3

The Oracle seeks to make a comparison between the alleged Sunday Lord’s day and the Lord’s Supper. It says: “We are clear and know surely that the term ‘Lord’s Supper’ means a supper that Jesus began or brought into existence. So when we find ‘the Lord’s day,’ we know just as certainly that it was a day that began with Jesus, and that he brought it into notice.” Very good, barring a little looseness in statement. Now let us see if Sunday will stand the comparison. In four several places by four several inspired writers, we have a minute account of the institution of the Lord’s Supper, accompanied with the words of the Lord, “This do in remembrance of me,” or equivalent expressions. Is there anything of the kind in connection with Sunday? Nothing. Did the Lord ever command his followers to observe it in remembrance of him, or of anything in his life or death? Never. Then on what ground is it called the Lord’s day? On none at all. SITI June 29, 1888, page 390.4

But it is a fact that the Lord’s day must be a day intimately connected with the Lord Jesus Christ,-one which he specially set apart as his own, and commanded to be kept holy to him. These specifications are all met in the seventh day of the week, commonly call Saturday. Note carefully the following points:- SITI June 29, 1888, page 390.5

In the fourth commandment it is explicitly stated by the Lord himself: “The seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God.” The reason why the Lord chose that day for his own is thus stated in the latter part of the same commandment: “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.” That the Lord did not bless merely the Sabbath institution, which may be expanded to cover any day, is clearly evident from the following: “And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it; because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made.” Genesis 2:3. SITI June 29, 1888, page 390.6

Now when six days are given to man, and it is plainly declared that “the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord,” there can be no question but that the seventh day, and that alone, is the Lord’s day. And none can deny that it is the seventh day, and that alone, to which the Lord refers, when he calls the Sabbath “my holy day.” Isaiah 58:13. SITI June 29, 1888, page 390.7

But the Oracle will ask, “What had Jesus to do with that day?” That is, it must ask such a question, if it is consistent; for if it denies that the seventh day is the Lord’s day, then it must deny that Jesus had anything to do with that day. And to deny that is, as we shall show, equal to denying that divinity of Christ. For, according to the New Testament record, Jesus himself created the heavens and the earth. The writer to the Hebrews says that by him the worlds were made. Hebrews 1:2. John says that he is the Word which was in the beginning with God, and which was God, and that “all things were made by Him; and without him was not anything made that was made.” John 1:1, 3, 14. And Paul says to the Colossians, that “by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers; all things were created by him, and for him; and he is before all things.” Colossians 1:16, 17. This statement, that “by him all things consist,” is the same as the statement to the Hebrews, that he is “upholding all things by the word of his power.” Hebrews 1:3. That is, the same word by which he brought the worlds into existence, maintains them in their places. SITI June 29, 1888, page 390.8

To deny that Jesus created all things, is to deny his divinity, for creative power is an attribute of Deity alone; and since it is true that the Word was, and is, God, then the Word-Christ-must have created, for there cannot be divinity without creation. But it is useless to argue a point that is plainly declared in Scripture. Jesus is “the mighty God,” one with the Father, and he did create all things. SITI June 29, 1888, page 390.9

But the one who created the heavens and the earth must also have rested from that creation. The same one who in six days made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, also rested the seventh day, and afterward blessed and sanctified it, because that in it he had rested. And since Jesus created all things, the heavens and the earth included, it must have been he who rested on the seventh day, and blessed and hallowed it. Of course the Father and the Son were one in this, as in all things else; but we make mention of Jesus exclusively, because his agency in the matter is virtually denied. SITI June 29, 1888, page 390.10

Now who can deny that the seventh day is “a day that began with Jesus, and that he brought it into notice”? As the Oracle feebly puts it. Who, we ask more emphatically, can deny that the seventh day is the day which Jesus himself sanctified, and declared to be his day? In reply we say that nobody can deny it, except those who deny that “men should honor the Son even as they honor the Father,”-honor Him as God and Creator. SITI June 29, 1888, page 390.11

In the light of the facts above briefly noted, we now better understand the words of Christ, when speaking of the day which the Jews regarded as sacred, the seventh day of the week, he said: “For the Son of man is Lord even of the Sabbath day.” (Matthew 12:8), thus claiming the seventh day as his own day. SITI June 29, 1888, page 390.12

We should like to have someone show us how it can be denied that the seventh day is the Lord’s day, without denying that Jesus created the heaven and the earth, which is equivalent to denying that he is divine. It cannot be done. So we say that no matter how much people may claim to love Christ, it is a fact that when they refuse to recognize the Sabbath of the fourth commandment as his day, they in their own hearts degrade him from the high office as Creator. Such may well fear that he will say to them, as to some of old, “And why call ye me Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?” W. SITI June 29, 1888, page 390.13

“Conciliation and Controversy” The Signs of the Times, 14, 25.

E. J. Waggoner

God is love. It is not simply that he has love in large measure for his creatures, but he is love. He is the embodiment of love. To love is a part of his nature, and this love manifests itself in devising plans for the perfect happiness of all created beings, both in Heaven and on earth. It was shown in the garden of delights, paradise, which he planted upon the earth that was already exceedingly good, for the pleasure of the man whom he had made. And in infinite measure was his love manifested when he gave all that Heaven had to bestow for the reclaiming of fallen man. SITI June 29, 1888, page 390.14

But while God is love, it is a fact that between man and God there is not perfect harmony. Indeed, in man’s natural state there is not the least harmony between him and God. The apostle Paul puts this very emphatically when he says: “The carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.” Romans 8:7. It will be noticed from this that the enmity is all on the side of man; the carnal mind is enmity against God. And the cause of this enmity lies in the fact that the law of God, which is the law of love, is regarded by man as a yoke of bondage. God’s law is the verbal picture of his pure and holy character, it is an expression of the love that springs naturally from his heart. But “out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness.” Mark 7:21, 22. Hence the enmity against God. SITI June 29, 1888, page 390.15

The prophet Isaiah says, in language that will apply to all men as well as to ancient Israel: “Now go, write it before them in a table, and note it in a book, that it may be for the time to come for ever and ever; that this is a rebellious people, lying children, children that will not hear the law of the Lord.” Isaiah 30:8, 9. This is man’s position. “But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him. For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life.” Romans 5:8-10. SITI June 29, 1888, page 390.16

Throughout the Bible it will be found that the testimony is the same: the enmity is all on the side of man. This is shown by these words of the apostle: “To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation. Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us; we pray you in Christ’s stead, be ye reconciled to God.” 2 Corinthians 5:19, 20. This is very emphatic. Man is the enemy of God; God is the friend of mankind, entreating them to become reconciled to him. And the depths of God’s love for the sinful, rebellious world is shown in the next verse: “For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.” Although the offense was all on the part of man, God has made all the effort possible even to infinite power to have him become reconciled. On the part of man there is enmity; on the part of God there is an infinite tenderness, and a longing to have the rebellious children become reconciled to him. SITI June 29, 1888, page 390.17

The same truth concerning the enmity of man and the love of God, is brought out in Colossians 1:19-22. Speaking of Christ, the apostle says: “For it pleased [the Father] that in him should all fulness dwell; and, having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself; by him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven. And you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled in the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and unblameable and unreproveable in his sight.” Colossians 1:19-22. SITI June 29, 1888, page 391.1

After Christ had suffered for our sins which alienated us from God, he ascended into the Heavens, “there to appear in the presence of God for us,” and is now sitting upon his Father’s throne. Revelation 3:21. Of his work there, the prophet Zechariah thus speaks: “Thus speaketh the Lord of hosts, saying, Behold the man whose name is The BRANCH; and he shall grow up out of his place, and he shall build the temple of the Lord; even he shall build the temple of the Lord; and he shall bear the glory, and shall sit and rule upon his throne; and he shall be a priest upon his throne: and the counsel of peace shall be between them both.” Zechariah 6:12, 13. SITI June 29, 1888, page 391.2

This presents a wonderful scene,-the Father and the Son counseling together for the peace of mankind, the great mass of whom choose rebellion rather than peace. Instead of loving peace and happiness, they, after their hardness and impenitent hearts, not knowing that the goodness of God leads them to repentance, treasure up unto themselves wrath against the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God. SITI June 29, 1888, page 391.3

For a day of wrath will surely come. God is long-suffering, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance, but he will not force men to repent and become reconciled. His love draws men to him; but there are many who resist the movings of the Spirit, and will not be drawn. As the same sun that melts the wax also hardens the clay, so the same love that destroys the enmity in some hearts, only increase it in others. The simile is of course not perfect, for while it is natural for the clay to become hardened by the sun, it is unnatural for human hearts to be hardened by God’s grace. Hearts could not fail to be melted into tenderness by the tender, unfathomable love of God, if they did not steel themselves against it. And so when even infinite love fails to reconcile the rebellious subjects, there is nothing left but to cut them off as useless cumberers of the ground. SITI June 29, 1888, page 391.4

In the two passages of Scripture the long-suffering of God is represented by the figure of a husbandman trying to develop good fruit from his garden. Says Isaiah: “Now will I sing to my well-beloved a song of my beloved touching his vineyard. My well-beloved hath a vineyard in a very fruitful hill; and he fenced it, and gathered out the stones thereof, and planted it with the choicest vine, and built a tower in the midst of it, and also made a winepress therein; and he looked that it should bring forth grapes, and it brought forth wild grapes.” Isaiah 5:1, 2. SITI June 29, 1888, page 391.5

Christ speaks of a barren fig tree in the vineyard, and represents the owner as saying, “Behold, these three years I come seeking fruit on this fig tree, and find none; cut it down; why cumbereth it the ground?” And the reply is, “Let it alone this year also, till I shall dig about it, and dung it; and if it bear fruit, well; and if not, then after that thou shalt cut it down.” Luke 13:7-9. SITI June 29, 1888, page 391.6

Thus is shown God’s unwillingness to cut off even the most unfruitful plant, so that he can say: “Judge, I pray you, betwixt me and my vineyard. What could have been done more to my vineyard, that I have not done to it?” Isaiah 5:3, 4. The gnarled, crooked natures of some will resist all the efforts of the faithful husbandman to induce them to bear good fruit, or any fruit at all, and since they bear only thorns and briers, there is nothing to do with them but to burn them. So the Lord says of his unfruitful vineyard:- SITI June 29, 1888, page 391.7

“And now go to; I will tell you what I will do to my vineyard; I will take away the hedge thereof, and it shall be eaten up; and break down the wall thereof, and it shall be trodden down; and I will lay it waste; it shall not be pruned, nor digged; but there shall come up briers and thorns; I will also command the clouds that they rain no rain upon it.” Isaiah 5:5, 6. And of the unfruitful plants he says: “Therefore as the fire devoureth the stubble, and the flame consumeth the chaff, so their root shall be as rottenness, and their blossom shall go up as dust; because they have cast away the law of the Lord of hosts, and despised the word of the Holy One of Israel.” Verse 24. SITI June 29, 1888, page 391.8

At that time the counsel of peace between the Father and the Son will have ceased. The word of reconciliation will no longer be preached, because all will have become reconciled to God, who could by any possibility be reconciled. Reconciliation will then give place to controversy, for that time of burning will be “the year of recompenses for the controversy of Zion.” SITI June 29, 1888, page 391.9

The controversy is now between the Lord and Satan for the possession of the souls of men. In proportion as men resist the strivings of God’s Spirit they place themselves on the side of Satan, and become actuated by his spirit. And when by continued sin, and repeated resistance of the Spirit of God, they have finally driven it from them, have blotted out every thought of good, upon which the Holy Spirit could work, then they are wholly Satan’s, actuated solely by his wicked spirit. SITI June 29, 1888, page 391.10

Then when men shall have fully identified themselves with Satan, the Lord will have a controversy with them also. Says the prophet, speaking of that time: “A noise shall come even to the ends of the earth; for the Lord hath a controversy with the nations, he will plead with all flesh; he will give them that are wicked to the sword, saith the Lord. Thus saith the Lord of hosts, Behold, evil shall go forth from nation to nation, and a great whirlwind shall be raised up from the coasts of the earth. And the slain of the Lord shall be at that day from one end of the earth even unto the other end of the earth.” Jeremiah 25:31-33. “For, behold, the day cometh, that shall burn as an oven; and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble; and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the Lord of hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch.” Malachi 4:1. SITI June 29, 1888, page 391.11

Thus will the great controversy end. In that day those who have allied themselves fully with Satan, will find out what a hopeless thing it is to fight against God. They will realize that while God is love, his is not the love that is imbecile, but the love that protects. In love to his loyal subjects, who have placed confidence in the integrity of his Government, he must blot out the incorrigibly rebellious ones. SITI June 29, 1888, page 391.12

Says God: “I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing.” “A blessing, if ye obey the commandments of the Lord your God, ... and a curse, if ye will not obey the commandments of the Lord your God.” “Therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live.” Deuteronomy 30:19; 11:27, 28. Who will make the wise choice, and, through Christ, become reconciled to God and his law? “Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.” W. SITI June 29, 1888, page 391.13

“The Commentary. The Golden Calf” The Signs of the Times, 14, 25.

E. J. Waggoner

NOTES ON THE INTERNATIONAL LESSON.
(July 8.-Exodus 32:15-30.)

The making and worshiping of the golden calf by the Israelites forms a basis for a most interesting study of the form of heathen worship which has drawn the greatest number of the human race from the worship of the true God. There was a peculiar significance in the making of the calf at that special time, which will appear as we proceed with the study. The calf was a representation of the sacred bull called Apis, which the Egyptians worshiped, and with which the Jews had necessarily become very familiar in their long sojourn in Egypt. Concerning this god Apis, and what it signified, we find the following:- SITI June 29, 1888, page 393.1

“Apis, the bull worshiped by the ancient Egyptians, who regarded it as a symbol of Osiris, the god of the Nile, the husband of Isis, and the great divinity of Egypt.”-Chamber’s Encyclopedia. SITI June 29, 1888, page 393.2

The “Encyclopedia Britannica” (art. Apis), says:- SITI June 29, 1888, page 393.3

“According to the Greek writers Apis was the image of Osiris, and worshiped because Osiris was supposed to have passed into a bull, and to have been soon after manifested by a succession of these animals. The hierogryphic inscriptions identify the Apis with Osiris, adorned with horns or the head of a bull, and unite the two names as Hapi-Osor, or Apis Osiris. According to this view the Apis was the incarnation of Isiris manifested in the shape of a bull.” SITI June 29, 1888, page 393.4

Since Apis was considered as the visible manifestation of Osiris, we must learn what Osiris stood for, in order to understand the calf-worship of the Israelites. Again we quote from the “Encyclopedia Britannica,” art. “Egypt:”- SITI June 29, 1888, page 393.5

“Abydos was the great seat of the worship of Osiris, which spread all over Egypt, establishing itself in a remarkable manner at Memphis. All the mysteries of the Egyptians, and their whole doctrine of the future state, attach themselves to this worship. Osiris was identified with the sun.... Sun-worship was the primitive form of Egyptian religion, perhaps even pre-Egyptian.” SITI June 29, 1888, page 393.6

Rawlinson says:- SITI June 29, 1888, page 393.7

“Ra was the Egyptian sun-god, and was especially worshiped at Heliopolis. Obelisks, according to some, represented his rays, and were always, or usually, erected in his honor.... The kings for the most part considered Ra their special patron and protector; nay, they went so far as to identify themselves with him, to use his titles as their own, and to adopt his name as the ordinary prefix to their own names and titles. This is believed by many to have been the origin of the word Pharaoh, which was, it is thought, the Hebrew rendering of Ph’ Ra-‘the sun-god,’ ... Osiris was properly a form of Ra. He was the light of the lower world, the sun from the time that he sinks below the horizon in the west to the hour when he reappears above the eastern horizon in the morning. This physical idea was, however, at a later date modified, and Osiris was generally recognized as the perpetually presiding lord of the lower world, the king and the judge of Hades or Amenti. His worship was universal throughout Egypt, but his chief temples were at Abydos and Philae.”-American History. SITI June 29, 1888, page 393.8

Again we quote from the “Encyclopedia Briticannica:”- SITI June 29, 1888, page 394.1

“It was to Osiris that the prayers and offerings for the dead were made, and all sepulchral inscriptions, except those of the oldest period, are directly addressed to him. As Isis is a form of the female principle, Osiris, the sun and the Nile, was considered in one phase to be the made principle.” SITI June 29, 1888, page 394.2

“The three most famous of those more sacred animals which were worshiped as individuals, not as a class, were the bulls Apis and Mnevis, and the Mendesian goat. Of these, Apis and the Mendesian goat were connected with the worship of Osiris.... It is very characteristic of the Egyptian religion that the reverence for Osiris should have taken this grossly material form. SITI June 29, 1888, page 394.3

“The bull Apis, who bears in Egyptian the same name as the Nile, Hapi, was worshiped at Memphis.... Apis was considered to be the living emblem of Osiris, and was thus connected with the sun and the Nile, and the chronological aspect of both explains his being also connected with the moon.” SITI June 29, 1888, page 394.4

From these extracts it appears that the worship which the Israelites paid to the golden calf was really the Egyptian form of sun-worship-that form of idolatry which has always stood foremost as the antagonist of the true worship of God. It is indeed significant that just at the time when God manifested himself to the Israelites in a peculiar manner, and made known to them his Sabbath, they should have fallen back into the old sun-worship, whose chief festival day-the first day of the week-has always contended for supremacy with the day specially distinctive of the worship of the true God. SITI June 29, 1888, page 394.5

Note also that the sun-god Ra, Osiris, or Apis, was the patron god of the Egyptian kings, and stood for Egypt and its customs. So the worship of the calf signified that the Israelites, forgetful of the covenant that they had made with God, were sinking back to the level of Egyptian life. It was the very worst manifestation of the spirit which led them so often to long for the flesh-pots of Egypt. It is significant of the sensuality to which people naturally sink when they turn aside from the worship of the true God, who can be worshiped only in the beauty of holiness. SITI June 29, 1888, page 394.6

But we have not yet learned the full extent of the sin of the Israelites in the worship of the calf. The worship of Apis was accompanied with the grossest licentiousness, as is indicated by the ceremonies attendant upon the inauguration of a new Apis. There were certain definite marks which must always be present in an animal that was to occupy that position. As soon as a suitable animal was found, “he was led in triumphal procession to Nilopolis, at the time of the new moon, where he remained forty days, waited upon by nude women.” The “Encyclopedia Britannica” says: “When he had grown up he was conducted, at the time of the new moon, to a ship by the sacred scribes and prophets, and conducted to the Apeum at Memphis, where there were courts, places for him to walk in, and a drinking fountain. According to Diodorus, he was first led to Nilopolis, and kept there forty days, then shipped in a boat with a gilded cabin to Memphis, and he was there allowed to be seen for forty days only by women, who exposed themselves to him.” As to the significance of this, see the prohibitions recorded in Exodus 22:19; Leviticus 18:23; 20:16. SITI June 29, 1888, page 394.7

The Scripture record indicates that the calf worship by the Israelites on this occasion was accompanied with all the license usual in heathen worship. We read: “And they rose up early on the morrow, and offered burnt-offerings, and brought peace-offerings; and the people sat down to eat and to drink, and rose up to play.” Exodus 32:6. The Hebrew word rendered “to play,” signifies playing with leaping, singing, and dancing. This dancing, especially among the Egyptians, was sensual and indecent. The word rendered “corrupted,” in the next verse, where it is said, “Thy people, which thou broughtest out of the land of Egypt, have corrupted themselves,” is the same that is used in Genesis 6:11, 12, where we read that the earth was corrupt, “for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth.” This explains the terrible anger of the Lord, and why he desired to consume the people at once. SITI June 29, 1888, page 394.8

We have occupied all our space in simply intimating the signification of the worship of the golden calf. It is a line of study that may be followed to a great length, and to great profit. In closing, we merely note that the grinding of the calf to powder was a fitting emblem of the weakness of all that are called gods, when brought before the God of Heaven and earth. W. SITI June 29, 1888, page 394.9

“Back Page” The Signs of the Times, 14, 25.

E. J. Waggoner

Says President Seelye, of Amherst College: “I am often in doubt as to which is the more startling, the timidity which causes a preacher to suppose that the gospel needs to be defended, or the self-conceit which leads him to think he can defend it.” SITI June 29, 1888, page 400.1

In the SIGNS of June 1 it was stated that the General Assembly of the Southern Presbyterian Church had sustained Dr. Woodrow’s evolution teaching by a vote of 34 to 19, thus giving a practical indorsement of evolution. An error in the figures of the report misled us. There were 34 votes to sustain his teaching, and 109 against. This is very much better. SITI June 29, 1888, page 400.2

Men may theorize as they will about universal salvation, or, what is the same thing, the final restoration of all men, but their theories can avail nothing; for the unequivocal testimony of the word of God is ever the same: “For, behold, the day cometh, that shall burn as an oven; and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble; and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the Lord of hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch.” Malachi 4:1. SITI June 29, 1888, page 400.3

When the apostle says (Romans 3:28) that “a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law,” he does not imply that any are therefore free from obligation to obey the law; but his statement is made in the light of verse 20, in which he says: “By the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight; for by the law is the knowledge of sin.” Which is only saying that which, were it not for the blindness of mind engendered by sin, would not need to be said at all, namely, that the law which shows one to be a sinner cannot at the same time show him to be just: in other words, the law is consistent and does not stultify itself. SITI June 29, 1888, page 400.4

Elder S. N. Haskell writes encouragingly of the work in London. The work already done is of course insignificant as compared with the great amount to be done; but it is no small thing to get the work established in so large a city, on a basis where it can be carried forward with prospects of continued and increasing success. On the 9th inst., baptism was administered to fifteen candidates. About twenty from the Established Church have already begun to keep the Sabbath. Several canvassers for the Present Truth and for books are now at work in the city, and next winter a training school for canvassers will be held, which it is hoped will greatly add to the number and efficiency of the workers. SITI June 29, 1888, page 400.5

It is too bad that men like Dr. Field and Mr. Gladstone will gratify Ingersoll’s vanity by condescending to argue with him on the subject of Christianity. As a consequence of their entering the lists with him, he has become so insufferably puffed up that he imagines that he is a great reasoner. He is never at a loss for an argument, for he has a stock of witticisms on hand which he uses for everything. Let someone answer him, and he replies by repeating the same things over again, in a little different form. Moreover, like all professional debaters, he is not animated by a desire to ascertain the truth, but to win applause for his own sharp sayings. The Independent thus sets forth the reason why he receives so much applause from a certain class of people:- SITI June 29, 1888, page 400.6

“He argues for a laugh, not for conviction. He plays for points, not victory. It is all very brilliant, but is not war. Those who enter the lists with him can hardly expect to get the better of him, for what chance has the soldier with the circus acrobat? The crowd in the amphitheater will cheer the dexterity of the leaping, dodging clown, and will see nothing very amusing in the serious soldier’s attempt to fight.” SITI June 29, 1888, page 400.7

The Union Signal says that Rev. W. F. Crafts is working in Chicago in the interest of what is known as the Blair Sunday Bill. It says:- SITI June 29, 1888, page 400.8

“He met representatives of the labor organizations, and secured their co-operation in the effort to secure national laws against Sunday mails and Sunday trains. Thus these great organizations in New York City and Chicago are now working unitedly with the W.C.T.W. and the churches to secure a Christian Sabbath.” SITI June 29, 1888, page 400.9

But we thought it was only a chance for the workingman to rest, that they want. That’s what they say sometimes; but what they want is the enforced observance of Sunday as a day of rest and worship. Mr. Crafts secured many hundred signatures to the petitions to Congress. SITI June 29, 1888, page 400.10

The Chicago Advance says that churches and labor organizations East and West are adopting the following resolution:- SITI June 29, 1888, page 400.11

“Resolved, That we indorse the petition to Congress, asking it to stop Sunday work in its mail and military service, and in interstate commerce.” SITI June 29, 1888, page 400.12

The Advance says that the latest indorsements to this resolution are those of “the Central Labor Union and the Carriers’ Association of New York City, the Knights of Labor Council of Chicago and vicinity, the Presbyterian General Assembly, and the State Sunday-school Associations of Missouri and Kansas.” “The Congregational ministers’ meeting of Chicago has recommended that all Congregational Churches take action in this matter either by resolution or petition.” What are the friends of freedom of conscience doing to offset this pressure that is being brought to bear upon Congress? SITI June 29, 1888, page 400.13

That the Christian Sabbath so called was unknown in the days of the apostles is evident from the statement of the apostle James, recorded in Acts 15:21: “For Moses of old time hath in every city them that preach him, being read in the synagogues every Sabbath day.” This was true only of the seventh day, the day enjoined in the commandment, and the only day recognized at that time by either Jews or Christians as the Sabbath. If at that time any had regarded the first day as a Sabbath, the apostle would have been under the necessity of saying, “every seventh-day Sabbath,” or, as some delight to stigmatize it now, “every ‘Jewish’ Sabbath,” but he said, “every Sabbath,” showing to all who should come after that he knew but one Sabbath, namely, “the Sabbath of the Lord.” SITI June 29, 1888, page 400.14

When the Rev. W. F. Crafts was before the Senate Committee on Education and Labor, making a plea in behalf of the Sunday Rest Bill, senator Payne said to him: “I wish to know whether your reform contemplates the entire suspension of the transportation, distribution, and delivery of the mails on Sunday.” Mr. Crafts replied as follows: “We will take a quarter of a loaf, a half a loaf, or a whole loaf. If the Government should do nothing more than forbid the opening of the post-offices at church hours, it would be a national tribute to the value of religion that would lead to something more satisfactory.” SITI June 29, 1888, page 400.15

Yet in the face of such declarations as this; in the face of the fact that the Sunday Rest Bill does provide that whatever post-office work shall be necessary on Sunday shall be done at such time as will not interfere with public worship, the National Reformers tell us that the proposed Sunday law is to be merely a civil and not a religious enactment. If they expect to be believed, they must count very much on the blindness or ignorance of the people. Our readers can imagine what would be the “something more satisfactory” than a law forbidding work to be done during the hours of church service. What would be the use of compelling people to stop work during church service unless they went to church? As a general thing those who work on Sunday wouldn’t go to church if they had a chance; and so when the law should be found to effect the perceptible increase in church attendance, a law to compel people to attend church on Sunday would now follow. SITI June 29, 1888, page 400.16

The apostle Paul says that Christ “gave himself for our sins, that he might deliver us from this present evil world.” Galatians 1:4. The sacrifice that was made for sin shows its heinousness. It should also show us the futility of attempting to absolve sins by any works of our own. For any man who may think that by doing penance, afflicting his soul by doing any number of “good works,” he can make propitiation for his sins, is to imply that his life is as great as that of Christ. This is just the thing that constitutes the Roman Catholic Church penance-it turns men’s minds away from Christ from the only sacrifice for sin. But if anything besides the blood of Christ could cleanse a man from sin, then Christ would not have suffered. SITI June 29, 1888, page 400.17

“Not all our groans and tears,
Not works that we have done
Not vows, nor promises, nor prayers
Can e’er for sin atone. SITI June 29, 1888, page 400.18

“Relief alone is found
in Jesus’ precious blood;
‘Tis this that breaks the mortal wound
And reconciles to God.” SITI June 29, 1888, page 400.19

Christ gave himself “that he might deliver us from this present evil world.” That is the primary thing-it is all we have to look out for. We need not worry about being saved from eternal death, if we are but freed from this present evil world. That will follow in due time. This present evil work is “the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life.” To be delivered from this means to be saved from the love of sin, as well as from the guilt of it. It is to be redeemed “from all iniquity,” and purified and made “zealous of good works.” Titus 2:14. When one is delivered from the love of sin, zeal for good works manifests itself; the two things are identical. SITI June 29, 1888, page 400.20

“What Is this but Spiritualism?” The Signs of the Times, 14, 25.

E. J. Waggoner

At the Presbyterian General assembly, recently held in Philadelphia, Dr. T. L. Cuyler delivered the historical address commemorative of the Centennial of American Presbyterianism, in the presentation of which he said:- SITI June 29, 1888, page 400.21

“The spirits of the mighty dead, whose achievements we have rehearsed, seem to hover around us, and to join in our songs of thanksgiving. For amidst the entrancing splendors of Paradise, they cannot have lost the memories of the church to which they consecrated their earthly lives, or have lost their interest in its welfare.” SITI June 29, 1888, page 400.22

On Sunday, June 10, Rev. F. F. Jewell, pastor of the Methodist Episcopal Church at San Jose, Cal., delivered a sermon on the subject of “Our Neighbors, the Spiritualists,” in which he said:- SITI June 29, 1888, page 400.23

“On approaching this subject I am struck with the large quantity of truth there is in it. it largely rests on the principles on which our faith rests. With us, they believe in the existence of spiritual beings.... In agreement with us, they believe that the disembodied spirits of persons who have lived in this world, on passing into the other, retain an interest in things earthly, and continue to watch our lives.” SITI June 29, 1888, page 400.24

If this is not Spiritualism, what is it? SITI June 29, 1888, page 400.25