The Signs of the Times, vol. 15

May 6, 1889

“Front Page” The Signs of the Times, 15, 17.

E. J. Waggoner

A Sunday paper announces that it will soon begin the publication of “a Bible novel of stirring and absorbing contemporaneous interest,” under the title, “Jephthah’s Daughter; or, the Vow, the Victim, and the Vengeance.” That paper is only following in the footsteps of the modern sensational preacher. SITI May 6, 1889, page 247.34

The National Liquor Dealers’ Association has, it is said, “appropriated $25,000 for the purpose of paying for the insertion of newspaper articles stating that prohibition is a failure in Kansas and Iowa.” If prohibition were indeed a failure would the liquor men spend so much money in fighting it? Verily they would not. SITI May 6, 1889, page 247.35

Speaking of Sunday, Mrs. J. C. Bateham says: “Statistics show that on this day, protected by law, the sales of liquor are two and one-fourth times the average for the other six days, and the mischief wrought is in still greater proportion.” SITI May 6, 1889, page 247.36

Then would it not be well for the organization to which Mrs. Bateham belongs to devote little less attention to the protection of a special day and a little more to the suppression of the liquor traffic on all days? SITI May 6, 1889, page 247.37

Much as we may desire to do so, we can offer God no equivalent for that which we receive of him; we can glorify him only by thankfully accepting his bounty. David, speaking by the Spirit, asks, “What shall I render unto the Lord for all his benefits toward me?” and under the influence of the same Spirit answers, “I will take the cup of salvation and call upon the name of the Lord.” And that is all that anyone can do to merit the favor of God. “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of Heaven.” SITI May 6, 1889, page 247.38

The Presbyterian synod recently in session at Syracuse, N.Y., appointed a committee to devise a plan to promote Sunday observance within its bounds. Among other things, they recommended “that on the second Sunday of May all our ministers be requested to present to their congregations the claims of the Lord’s day.” The committee also appeals to lay members of the various congregations in the synod, “whether in office as elders or trustees or not, to use all their private and official influence for the better observance of the Christian Sabbath.” SITI May 6, 1889, page 247.39

“This we do,” says the committee, “in the interests of that large and growing number of men in every community who are being robbed of the weekly day of rest, and of all their home and church blessings, by the demand for their Sabbath labor, or the loss of their places of employment.” SITI May 6, 1889, page 247.40

Of course it is the right of every man who desires to do so to keep Sunday, the so-called Lord’s day or a Christian Sabbath; but is it the duty of the State not only to remove all difficulties in the way of keeping that day, but also to make its keeping obligatory upon all in order that those who regard it as sacred may be compelled to do that which they now feel that they ought to do, but which, from fear of losing employment, they neglect to do? We think not. SITI May 6, 1889, page 247.41

The Denver Times says that the open saloons on Sunday “is not a sign of progress. It is not a mark of enlightenment. It is not an assurance of that strong, true morality on which alone are builded up a stable government, and pure and orderly society.” Very true. But is the open saloons on any day a sign of any of these things? Certainly not. And so far as they exist in any community where there are saloons, they exist, not because of open saloons, but in spite of them. SITI May 6, 1889, page 247.42

The majority against the prohibition amendment in Massachusetts was a surprise alike to friends and foes of the measure. The total vote for the amendment is 88,696, against 138,195, showing a majority against the amendment of 49,400. Many professed Christians, and even some religious papers, fought shoulder to shoulder with the rumsellers on the side of King Alcohol. It is safe to say that these same religionists are, however, in favor of strict Sunday laws in the interest of temperance. SITI May 6, 1889, page 247.43

Do you feel that you are a sinner? Thank God that he has enabled you to see your undone condition, and take courage, for “God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life.” And not only has God made ample provision for your salvation, but he pleads with you to accept his mercy. “Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord; though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.” Isaiah 1:18. Whosoever will may come. SITI May 6, 1889, page 247.44

No Christian ever yet had his pathway through life so overcast with shadow that some light did not appear. No hour of grief was ever so full of anguish that some cause of gratitude could not be found. If clouds gather round us, never mind; sooner or later they will have a silver lining. And although at times our ears can catch nothing but the clash and clangor of cross purposes in this life, we may rest assured that through all the discord of changing circumstances runs the sweet music of the voice of faith, assuring us that our destinies are in the hands of Him who doeth all things right. The alternation of light and shadow here will only make more glorious the eternally abiding sunshine of our Father’s smile, when we enter into his presence to rest forever. Let us only act well our part, and all will be right. SITI May 6, 1889, page 247.45

“The Church and the World” The Signs of the Times, 15, 17.

E. J. Waggoner

Seventh-day Adventists are often accused of preaching about the fallen condition of the churches; but they say no more than what is said by good men in the different churches, men who have the means of knowing. As an instance of this, take the following from the Standard, of January 3, a Baptist paper published in Chicago:- SITI May 6, 1889, page 247.46

Dr. Arthur T. Pierson, as he looks at the church exclaims: “Our Church life is undermined by worldliness. A worldly church prevents the conversion of sinners. More and more the eyes of men become blinded and sealed to the value of divine things. We thunder in the ears of men the terrible truths of God, but they are deaf and dead, and the very church itself so grieves and quenches the Spirit by fellowship with evil that there is no power in the Lord’s people to convert souls. Four-fifths of the nominal membership of our churches add nothing to their real power. They are either a dead weight or a positive hindrance to the advance of the gospel; they help to fill up the gulf between the truly religious, and the open enemies of Christ.” SITI May 6, 1889, page 247.47

Is this a true picture of the church as we view it as a whole? Is Dr. Pierson to be regarded as a pessimist? or does his consecrated life lead him to read or write “the signs of the times”? What calls for the Friday evening “lectures” in so many churches instead of the old-fashioned, God-honored prayer-meeting? Is it not an absence of that deep spiritual life which presses for utterance when God’s children assemble at the hour of prayer? In times of awakening how readily the people occupy the time! A long, formal address by the pastor is uncalled for and undesired. This is but a single illustration taken from scores with which every pastor is more or less familiar. SITI May 6, 1889, page 247.48

“‘By the Words’” The Signs of the Times, 15, 17.

E. J. Waggoner

The following from a letter in the S. S. Times, and the comments there on, are worth serious thoughts on the part of all:- SITI May 6, 1889, page 247.49

“A hollow wax cylinder, a few inches long, and marked with indentations that my eyes hardly noticed, was put on a machine, and touched in a certain way by a roller, when from a small empty funnel issued the notes of a song, sung weeks ago by one far away. I followed the melody, now soft and low, then high and intense. The words, the time, the expression, all were on that wax cylinder, to remain imprisoned in those dots and lines, unexhaling in the air, until summoned forth, and then sounding out upon the ear in perfect facsimile of the original voice. Of course, the exhibition preached its sermon to me on the text, ‘By thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned.’ How emphatically does Edison’s new discovery, as well as the ‘finds’ of the archeological societies, confirm the authority of holy writ! It may be that Edison will invent a thought register next; and then how righteously we shall all have to live! Meanwhile, as we listen to the photograph, we shall have no reason to doubt that God could frame an apparatus to lay up our words, so that all the world shall have to acknowledge to him: ‘Thou art clear when thou judgest.’” SITI May 6, 1889, page 247.50

It is true that the photograph simply illustrates the truth of the Bible suggestion of the preservation in God’s universe of a record of every idle word, and of the sure disclosure of all the sayings and doings of every soul brought into final judgment. And there is added force given by such disclosures as it makes, to the Bible question, “Seeing that these things are thus, ...what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy living and godliness?” SITI May 6, 1889, page 247.51

“The Bible the Word of God” The Signs of the Times, 15, 17.

E. J. Waggoner

The Christian Union of April 4 contains the following question and answer:- SITI May 6, 1889, page 247.52

“‘Will you please tell me what authority there is for believing the Gospels to be anything more than the honest narratives of men who had lived with Christ; also the Epistles to be anything more than the counsels of wise and good men, not inspired-that is, not having the words put into their mouths by the Holy Ghost?’ SITI May 6, 1889, page 247.53

“The Gospels themselves do not profess to be anything more. In the Epistles it is asserted that ‘we speak in words which the Spirit teacheth.’ 1 Corinthians 2:13. ‘Words’ here means ‘discourse’ rather than the grammatical parts of speech-that is, the ideal rather than the material element of language. To be inspired is not identical with having the words put into the mouth by the Spirit. That the Gospels and epistles are inspired is plain from the fact that they are inspiring. Their inspiration is seen in the moral and spiritual power which they exert upon the conscience, and attests the illumination of their own consciences by the Spirit of Truth. But that this illumination was such as to exclude all error in whatever they wrote, although it is a tenet of local and provincial belief, is no part of the faith of the church catholic.” SITI May 6, 1889, page 247.54

We do not propose to give a dissertation on inspiration, but we do want to protest against the passing of such theories as the above under the name of “Christian.” To say that the Scriptures are to be considered as inspired if they are inspiring, but that the illumination of the writers was not such as to exclude all error in what they wrote, is simply to place them on a level with the writings of Shakespeare, Scott, Milton, and Macaulay. Some people are never moved by the reading of the Scriptures; then, according to the theory of the Christian Union, the Scriptures are not inspired to such ones. “The natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God; for they are foolishness unto him; neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.” So then the Christian Union would have us believe that the Scriptures are not inspired to worldlings. Its theory by denying that they are indeed “the Scriptures of truth,” makes it useless to preach to sinners, for there is nothing to reach them with. SITI May 6, 1889, page 247.55

If only the Christian Union were concerned in this matter, we should not say anything; but there are God-fearing men who rest all their hope on the truthfulness of the Bible, who have been caught by this theory, which virtually undermines their hope. We say that the theory that men are to judge of the inspiration of the Bible by the impression which is makes upon them, is the foundation of heathenism. Thus, it makes man a judge of God. To be able to decide upon the kind and degree of inspiration in any given passage, is to be able to know the mind of the Spirit of God. And the man who measures the inspiration of the Bible by his own understanding of it, makes himself equal with God; indeed, he makes himself a god; for he virtually declares that his own mind is the rule for himself. When he pursues a certain course, he does so, not because the Bible says so, but because he wants to. He has no higher standard of right and wrong than himself. There are men who have held these loose views of inspiration who have yet been good Bible Christians, but only because they have not followed out their theories; but the effect of their teaching on others is often most disastrous. SITI May 6, 1889, page 247.56

To us it seems a terrible thing to sit in judgment upon God. The man who accepts as inspired only what commends itself to his judgment and understanding, either lifts himself up to the level of God, or else brings God down to his own level, which is the same thing. He says in effect that God cannot know any more than he does, and he really makes his own Bible. As we said before, men may hold such a theory as a theory which they have never, even in thought, followed to its end, and may remain earnest, God-fearing Christians; but what must be the effect of such a theory upon those whose Christian character is wholly unformed? We earnestly exhort every reader of the SIGNS OF THE TIMES to accept the following theory of the Bible as the only safe one, even if they do not comprehend to the full the mind of the Spirit of God:- SITI May 6, 1889, page 247.57

“All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness; that the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works.” 2 Timothy 3:16. SITI May 6, 1889, page 247.58

“Every word of God is pure; he is a shield unto them that put their trust in him. Add thou not unto his words, lest he reprove thee, and thou be found a liar.” Proverbs 30:5, 6. SITI May 6, 1889, page 247.59

“Yea, let God be true, but every man a liar.” Romans 3:4. E. J. W. SITI May 6, 1889, page 247.60

“Divinity of Christ. Lawgiver and Redeemer” The Signs of the Times, 15, 17.

E. J. Waggoner

LAWGIVER AND REDEEMER

We may take the fourth commandment, and show that what is true of the whole law is specially true of it. Thus; in that commandment we read that “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 20:11. Genesis 2:3 also says: “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.” SITI May 6, 1889, page 247.61

The One who made the heavens and the earth also made the Sabbath for man. He made it by resting at the close of his creative work, and by afterwards blessing and sanctifying the day upon which he rested-the seventh day. It was the same being who created, who rested on the seventh day, who blessed the seventh day, and who sanctified it, or set it apart for man to use, with instruction how he should use it. But it was Christ who created the heavens and the earth, for “by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible.” “All things were created by him.” Therefore it was Christ who made the Sabbath. He is Lord of all, even of the Sabbath-day. Matthew 12:8. Thus we identify the Sabbath,-the same day which the Jews professed to keep, and which they wickedly accused Christ of violating,-with the Lord’s day. So we have proved in general and in particular that Christ is the Lawgiver for all mankind. We must honor him, therefore, as Creator, and as Lawgiver, and now, lastly, as Redeemer. And in this we come to the comforting, encouraging part of all that has gone before. SITI May 6, 1889, page 247.62

A few texts will suffice on this point. We first quote John 3:16: “God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” But the giving was not all on the part of the Father. Both Father and Son shared equally in this, as in all things else. Paul says of Christ that he “gave himself for our sins, that he might deliver us from this present evil world, according to the will of God and our Father.” Galatians 1:4. See also Titus 2:13, 14. SITI May 6, 1889, page 247.63

But while the Father and the Son shared equally in this work, the Son was the one in whom the Father was revealed, as we have learned from John 1:18 and 14:7-9. Paul also expressly declares that “God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself.” 2 Corinthians 5:19. We can know the measure of God’s love for man only as we “know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge;” and we can learn this only from Calvary. So John says, “Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us.” 1 John 3:16. It is our God that is our Redeemer. SITI May 6, 1889, page 247.64

What a pledge this affords of the faithfulness of the “exceeding great and precious promises” of the gospel. The great law of the universe was broken by the inhabitants of this little planet, and the Lawgiver gave himself to redeem these rebels. If he had deputized an angel, we would have no surety of salvation; but he gave himself. No other life was of enough value. By giving himself he fulfilled the words of the prophet: “The Lord is well pleased for his righteousness’ sake; he will magnify the law, and make it honorable.” Isaiah 42:21. He magnified it by his death. By that he showed its worth, and how utterly impossible it is for the law to be changed or abrogated, or to swerve in the least from its rigidity. SITI May 6, 1889, page 247.65

This meets the infidel cavil of the injustice of having an innocent person suffer for a guilty one. That would be unjust, under ordinary circumstances; but when that innocent one is the Lawgiver himself, there is no injustice. God could no relax one jot of the claims of his law. To do that would have been to deny himself, to set aside his own righteousness. But he had a right to give himself for man, and in so doing he vindicated his law and justified believing sinners, and at the same time was perfectly just. SITI May 6, 1889, page 247.66

And if the Lawgiver gave himself for us, to redeem us from the transgression of his own law, what greater assurance could we ask that he will save to the uttermost all who come to him? Well might Paul say, “I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day.” 2 Timothy 1:12. When we remember also the wonderful power manifested in the creation, in bringing the worlds from nothing, how appropriate are the words of the apostle Peter: “Wherefore, let them that suffer according to the will of God commit the keeping of their souls to him I well-doing, as unto a faithful Creator.” 1 Peter 4:19. He who is able to take things that are not, to bring to naught things that are (1 Corinthians 1:28), is able to take our very weakness and turn it into strength; and for our further assurance we have the record of many who “out of weakness were made strong.” Hebrews 11:34. Well may the poet sing:- SITI May 6, 1889, page 247.67

“How firm a foundation, ye saints of the Lord,
Is laid for your faith in his excellent word!
What more can he say than to you he hath said,
Who unto the Saviour for refuge have fled?” E. J. W. SITI May 6, 1889, page 247.68

“Back Page” The Signs of the Times, 15, 17.

E. J. Waggoner

The First Congregational Church of this city celebrated Good Friday this year, “the first time,” says the Examiner, of San Francisco, “that Good Friday has ever been observed in Oakland by any sect except the Catholics and Episcopalians.” SITI May 6, 1889, page 247.69

This is only another straw which shows that the current is setting Romeward. Easter is generally observed, Good Friday is growing in favor, and many of the leading religious papers outside of the ritual churches are advocating a modified sort of Lent. And the end of the journey is Rome. She advocates to compromise. The compromise is all on the side of the Protestant churches, so-called. SITI May 6, 1889, page 247.70

A correspondent asks an explanation of the permission given in Deuteronomy 14:21 to the Hebrews to sell to the heathen that which died of itself. The solution to the matter lies in the fact that the “strangers” and “aliens” to which they were permitted to sell that which died of itself, were in the habit of using just such things for food. Some Indian tribes still eat that which “dieth of itself,” and they frequently buy or beg such carcasses from their civilized neighbors, and would feel that they were greatly injured if the owner of such animals should bury or burn their bodies instead of allowing them to have them for food. This was undoubtedly true of the heathen neighbors of the children of Israel, hence the permission given in Deuteronomy 14:21. SITI May 6, 1889, page 247.71

On the night of April 26, a man was killed in a prize fight in San Francisco. For reasons which it is unnecessary to state, none of the parties to a fight, which had been announced to take place, failed to put in an appearance, and as the secular papers tell the story, “bankers, brokers, lawyers, doctors, men from all the professions and fresh from the Jackson-Cardiff fight, crowded the café and boxes, and, flushed with wine, yelled lustily for a fight.” To meet the demand, the manager of the affair induced a young man to take the place of the absent pugilist, and in a few minutes the substitute was dead, killed instantly by a blow over the heart, to gratify the brutal instincts of “bankers, brokers, lawyers, men from all the professions,” in the city of San Francisco. In what respect is a civilization which tolerates such things better than that of Rome two thousand years ago? SITI May 6, 1889, page 247.72

“Those Tent Meetings,” by Malcolm B. Duffie, Battle Creek, Michigan. Address the author. Price, 25 cents. This little monograph is a “rhyming recital, founded on actual facts and every-day experiences,” as many of our laborers in tents will recognize. It is indeed novel, and he who begins to read will wish to finish. It takes up in rhyme the whole course of a tent-meeting, with its varied lights and shadows, true to life, with each point pressed home with appropriate texts from the Book of books. It is neatly printed, and the nine cuts which embellish the work are, on the whole, very natural. It is worth its price, and we do not see how it can fail to do good. SITI May 6, 1889, page 247.73

In reply to a question relative to the genealogy of Christ we would say that the lists of the ancestors of Jesus given by Matthew and Luke have been the ground of a great deal of controversy, and numerous theories have been advanced. According to one of these theories, both the lists are intended to present Jesus as the reputed or legal son of Joseph, that of Matthew being the royal and that of Luke the private genealogy of the heir to the crown and throne of David. With this theory is connected the supposition that Mary and Joseph were first cousins. SITI May 6, 1889, page 247.74

Another and more widely accepted theory is that Matthew gives Joseph’s genealogy, and Luke that of Mary. This view makes Joseph the son-in-law and Jesus the grandson of Heli, who, according to the Talmud, was Mary’s father. This includes Christ in the royal line of David in two ways: Legally, through Mary’s marriage with Joseph; and naturally, through Mary herself being a member of the royal family. SITI May 6, 1889, page 247.75

It is hoped that our readers and friends will not pass lightly over the report of the annual meeting of the Pacific Press Publishing Company, found on another page. There is much in it of interest. While the report does not show a large profit, it shows a greater work than any year previous. Over eleven million pages more of the truth have been given to the world from this office than in any previous year. The friends of the cause of present truth will note the evidences that the work is enlarging in the change that has been made in the American Sentinel from a monthly to a weekly; in the greater advantages which the Sentinel soon will have, and which are demanded by the increased agitation on the question of Church and State; in the services that has followed the establishment of the branch offices, especially in New York; and in the proposed establishment of an office in the great center of the commercial and literary world, London. All these enlargements and additions call for consecrated work and means. Some are going from us, Brethren Saunders, Gibson, Hope, and others to England, Brother Morrison and wife to Australasia. May God go with them, and may he help his people to consecrate themselves and their means to his work, that these new enterprises may be supported, and that other men may be found whom God can choose to go forth into the great harvest-field. It is too late to falter now. God has no place for laggards. He will choose the clean vessels that are nearest. He will honor those who honor him. SITI May 6, 1889, page 247.76

“‘Ten Lectures on Catarrh’” The Signs of the Times, 15, 17.

E. J. Waggoner

Of all diseases which drive away buoyancy of spirits and darken everything, next to dyspepsia is nasal catarrh; in fact, we do not know but the latter will bear off the palm as the destroyer of comfort and blighter of hope; and hopeful indeed is the individual who will rise above their combined attacks. Catarrh is almost a universal disease, and as harmful as universal. It is not alone the discomfort attending it which makes it so much dreaded, but its results are many times very serious. Blindness and deafness often result, and hoarseness, chronic inflammation of the tonsils, chronic sore throat, and other affections, are sure to follow if the disease is neglected. It present only in a mild form, it renders the one affect peculiarly susceptible to such diseases as diphtheria. Many have tried patent nostrums till they have become discouraged, and many others believe that either the disease does not amount to much or that it cannot be cured. SITI May 6, 1889, page 247.77

It is with satisfaction that we notice a pamphlet now before us treating on this very subject, entitled, “Ten Lectures on Nasal Catarrh.” The author, J. H. Kellogg, M.D., a thoroughly scientific physician of large experience, has demonstrated the truth of the principles and methods which he advocated. He contends that catarrh, can be cured, not by the much-advertised “catarrh remedies,” against which he warns his readers, but by means within the reach of all. He gives the hygiene of the disease, one of the most essential features in its successful treatment, and the best methods in use by experienced specialists, as well as his own experience in thousands of cases of catarrh. In ordinary cases, the patient with this book of instruction can trust himself, while the inexperienced physician can gain much by the study of this work. Valuable prescriptions are given for the disease, which can be made up of remedies to be found at any first-class drug store. It is a book which all ought to have and which, if followed, will be of great value. Price 25 cents. Address, Pacific Press, Oakland, Cal., or 43 Bond Street, New York. SITI May 6, 1889, page 247.78