The Signs of the Times, vol. 15

January 14, 1889

“Front Page” The Signs of the Times, 15, 2.

E. J. Waggoner

A message from the Pope to the people of Ireland was read in Dublin on the 1st inst. by Archbishop Walsh. Among other things the pretended successor of St. Peter said: “We have always held in special affection the Catholics of Ireland, who have been sorely tried by many afflictions, and have even cherished them with love which is the more intense because of their marvelous fortitude and their hereditary attachment to their religion.” SITI January 14, 1889, page 10.61

“What shall be done with our cities?” is a question which is troubling many of our contemporaries. “Preach the word,” brethren; “be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all long-suffering and doctrine.” The gospel of Christ has not lost its savor; it is still the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth. It is adapted to urban and suburban dwellers, to all nations, tongues, and people, and to every condition and station of life. SITI January 14, 1889, page 10.62

The Jewish Voice (St. Louis) says that after a two years’ trial to Judaism has gained “nothing by the Sunday lecture, the religious spirit among the young has not increased, and if anything the worm is slowly eating into the very core of our faith in the hearts of our sons and daughters.” This is just what the Jews or any other people might expect from a lowering of the standard of their faith in any particular. The willingness of many Hebrews to abandon the Sabbath of their fathers, the Sabbath divinely ordained in the beginning, and to accept in its stead the Sunday, marks but another step in apostasy. The claims of business are considered before the claims of the law of God, and when this is done in the case of one commandment, it is likely to be in the case of the entire decalogue. Hence it is not strange that “the worm is slowly eating into the very core” of their faith. SITI January 14, 1889, page 10.63

The Lutheran Observer of December 28 has an article against the continental Sunday, and says that “erroneous views of the apostolic institution of the Christian Sabbath, or Lord’s day, and of the proper manner of observing it, have generally prevailed on the continent of Europe.” By the “Christian Sabbath” the editor means Sunday. But it is only on the continent of Europe that we have Sunday kept as originally instituted. It was always regarded more as a holiday than a holy day. Down to within a few centuries, markets were held in the very churchyards, even in England, on Sunday. Luther and Calvin both regarded it as a holiday. So also did Tyndale, Zwingle, Cranmer, and others. It was to them a mere matter of human expediency. They knew that it could not be clothed with the sacred law of the fourth commandment. It has been reserved for the latter-day friends of Sunday to dress the institution in the garb of the rest-day of Jehovah. But the garb does not fit. The fourth commandment was given for one day alone, namely, the seventh. It cannot be made to fit any other. SITI January 14, 1889, page 10.64

The St. Louis Globe Democrat, though far from being a religious paper, thus fittingly rebukes the demand which has recently arisen in certain so-called Christian quarters for a new religion. The Democrat says: “Science has not provided a substitute for conscience, and has not yet furnished a plan of salvation.... The evidences of Christianity do not depend upon technical points of that kind.... The fundamental principles of that religion do not require a vindication according to the method, by which the scientists analyze and determine physical problems. They are their own vindication for the most part, and their results prove them to be sound and wholesome.... We do not need a new religion; but we do need more of the one that already exists, and that has been thoroughly and profitably tried. Science has its place and its beneficial use in the work; but it cannot supply material for another and better form of religion. It does not deal with spiritual truth in any definite sense, and its opportunities do not lie in the direction of the forgiveness of sin and the adjustment of man’s destiny beyond the grave.” SITI January 14, 1889, page 10.65

“Be still, and know that I am God,” is the injunction of the Lord through the psalmist. Here many fail to recognize the presence of God, and drive it away, simply by a failure to heed it. After the earthquake, the tempest, and the fire, it was the still, small voice that revealed God to the prophet. But often there is so much confusion, even in some assemblies for worship, that a still, small voice could not be heard. But then there is the sound of hilarity and earth, and the boisterous amusements in which young people, even those professing godliness, are wont to indulge, all of which drown the voice of God, and drive away the Spirit. Still worse than these are the voices of envy and strife, which grieve the Holy Spirit of God. It is in the quiet seclusion of the closet that the soul comes nearest to God; and the more of quietness one can have in his everyday life, the more perfect will be his communion with his Maker. This does not mean that a person should sit with folded hands, doing nothing. Daniel had all the affairs of the kingdom of Babylon in his hands, yet God came to him in the midst of his business, and gave him a wonderful vision. But we cannot imagine a vision being given to him if he had been rushing and fuming and fretting. No; the presence of God gives perfect peace, and the humble, quiet-minded person is the one with whom God will take up his abode. So when the apostle warns us against grieving the Spirit of God, he exhorts us especially to put clamor away from us. SITI January 14, 1889, page 10.66

“God’s Government” The Signs of the Times, 15, 2.

E. J. Waggoner

The character of Government is based on the perfection of its law; its permanency rests on its ability to vindicate and maintain that law. Therefore the Government of Jehovah shall stand forever; for “the law of Jehovah is perfect,” and in his “hand are power and might.” SITI January 14, 1889, page 10.67

“A Specimen of Human Wisdom” The Signs of the Times, 15, 2.

E. J. Waggoner

What must be expected of the common people, when so wise a paper as the Independent gets off such stuff as the following? SITI January 14, 1889, page 10.68

“The fact that a man is alive in the morning is a good ground for thinking that he will be so in the evening, unless there be a sufficient reason for thinking otherwise. So the fact that one is a living and conscious agent before death is a good ground for thinking that he will be so after death unless death be a sufficient reason for thinking otherwise.” SITI January 14, 1889, page 10.69

So we must conclude that the fact that a man is hungry before breakfast is a good ground for thinking that he will be hungry after breakfast, unless his breakfast “be a sufficient reason for thinking otherwise.” The fact that a man is very wealthy this morning is good ground for thinking that he will be just as wealthy after the collapse of the bank which holds all his funds, unless the breaking of the bank be a sufficient reason for thinking otherwise. Likewise the fact that a man is perfectly sound and whole before his head is taken off by a railroad engine is good ground for thinking that he will be sound and whole afterward, unless the little item of losing his head be a sufficient reason for thinking otherwise! SITI January 14, 1889, page 10.70

It is by such driveling nonsense, that would disgrace the reasoning power of a school-boy ten years of age, that the heathen dogma of the natural indestructibility of man is bolstered up. “Unless death be a sufficient cause for thinking otherwise,” a man will be just as much alive after death as before. Very true; but that saving clause is in itself a refutation of the proposition that preceded it. Just as the fact that a man has eaten a meal is sufficient reason for thinking that he is not so hungry as he was before; that the fact that a man’s wealth has all been swept away by the failure of a bank is sufficient reason for thinking that he is now a poor man; and that the cutting off of a man’s head is ample evidence that he is not so sound as he was; so the fact that a man is dead is all the evidence in the world that is needed to prove that he is not now a living, conscious agent. SITI January 14, 1889, page 10.71

The truth is, it is a most unwarrantable assumption to say that “the fact that a man is alive in the morning is a good ground for thinking that he will be so in the evening.” If a man is alive now, that is no ground for thinking that he will be alive an hour from now. But the whole thing is too puerile to be worthy of comment, except to show what worse than childish arguments wise men are forced to use when they are pledged to a cause that does not admit of argument. SITI January 14, 1889, page 10.72

The fact that I can see a man a mile away at midday is good reason for thinking that I can see him just as distinctly at midnight, unless the fact that it will then be dark is an objection. But that is so great an objection, that it exactly reverses the case, so that we say that although we can see a thing very distinctly in the day-time when the sun is shining, we know that it will be invisible on a moonless night. Why? Because darkness and light are directly opposite conditions. But darkness and light are no more opposed to each other than are death and life. Death and life are just as much opposite conditions as are evil and goodness; for death is to be the wages of the evil-doer, while life is to be the reward of the righteous. The man who says that the wicked man will live as long as the righteous man, virtually says that there is no difference between good and evil, and a terrible curse is pronounced upon the man who says that. See Isaiah 5:20-24. SITI January 14, 1889, page 10.73

But the word of God is that which above all things else brings to nothing the wisdom of the wise. That says: “Put not your trust in princes, nor in the son of man, in whom there is no help. His breath goeth forth, he returneth to his earth; in that very day his thoughts perish.” Psalm 146:3, 4. Again: “Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might; for there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in the grave, whither thou goest.” Ecclesiastes 9:10. To the man who claims that a dead man is just as good as a live man, the word of God’s wisdom says that even “a living dog is better than a dead lion,” and then it adds that “the living know that they shall die; but the dead know not anything.” Ecclesiastes 9:5, 6. SITI January 14, 1889, page 10.74

After reading the above, and much more might be added, will anyone be so foolish as to intimate that death is not a sufficient reason for thinking that a man does not know as much as he did before it occurred? SITI January 14, 1889, page 10.75

The bearing which the Independent’s statement has on Spiritualism, can only be referred to. That it places the writer of it squarely in the ranks of Spiritualism, must be evident to one who thinks at all. For if the fact that a man is a living and conscious agent before death is a good ground for thinking that he will be so after death, then the fact that a man can show himself to his friends, and talk with them, before death is a good ground for thinking that he can do the same after death. And that is where all human speculation concerning the natural immortality of the man ends. The editor of the Independent may revile Spiritualism and Spiritualists all he pleases, but unless he throws aside foolish speculation and accepts the plain truth of God’s word, he will be one of the leading Spiritualists in a very few years. One word of God’s wisdom is of more value than ten thousand volumes of man’s folly. W. SITI January 14, 1889, page 10.76

“The Gospel of God. Romans 1:1, 2” The Signs of the Times, 15, 2.

E. J. Waggoner

In his introduction to the epistle to the Romans, Paul declares himself to be “a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated unto the gospel of God, concerning his Son Jesus Christ our Lord,” and he throws in, by way of parenthesis, the statement that this gospel of God “he had promised afore by his prophets in the holy Scriptures.” These two verses bring out two points that are too often overlooked or denied, to which we wish to call attention. SITI January 14, 1889, page 10.77

First, the gospel is “the gospel of God, concerning his Son Jesus Christ.” It is not only a mistake, but a grievous error, and a grave charge against the goodness of God, to separate him from the gospel. To make God the Father the hard, vindictive, unyielding Judge, who is moved to compassion only by the entreaties of the Son, is as grievous a sin as is that of the Catholics in making Christ the angry Judge, and the virgin Mary the one who interposes to shield sinners from his wrath. That God the Father has the deepest interest in the salvation of sinners, and is filled with tender love and pity for them, is proved by the following most familiar words of Jesus:- SITI January 14, 1889, page 10.78

“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.” John 3:16. SITI January 14, 1889, page 10.79

Here is shown the depth of God’s love for us. It was so great that he allowed his Son to die that we might live. So fully was God concerned in the gospel plan, that the beloved disciple, without designating whether he referred to the Father or the Son, said: “Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us.” 1 John 3:16. “God did not selfishly send his Son to die. The Father was bound up in the Son, for they were one. The Father permitted the Son to come to earth to die, yea, he “delivered him up for us all,” but in so doing he gave all that Heaven had to bestow. Every sorrow and suffering that our Saviour bore for us pierced to an equal extent the great heart of God. SITI January 14, 1889, page 10.80

It is true that the apostle Paul, in writing to the Thessalonians, speaks of the final destruction of them “that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.” 2 Thessalonians 1:8. But this simply shows the unity of the Father and the Son in the work. The Father and the Son are one. In every act and thought they are united. “God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son,” yet of Christ it is said that “he gave himself for us.” Titus 2:14. And this agrees with the words of the prophet:- SITI January 14, 1889, page 10.81

“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 January 14, 1889, page 10.82

“The man whose name is The BRANCH,” is Jesus Christ. He sits upon his Father’s throne (Revelation 3:21) and both together are counseling for the peace of those who are enemies and alienated in their minds by wicked works. Still further, read those most expressive words of Paul, “To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself.” 2 Corinthians 5:19. The humble birth, the life of poverty, and want, and temptation, and suffering, the agony in the garden, the reproaches and insults in the judgment-hall, and the cruel death upon the cross, were all manifestations of God’s good-will to men, and desire for peace among them. SITI January 14, 1889, page 10.83

And this gospel was preached from the very beginning. Abel believed it, and by his faith he “offered unto God a more acceptable sacrifice than Cain, by which he obtained witness that he was righteous.” Hebrews 11:4. Noah believed it, and so “became heir of the righteousness which is by faith.” Verse 7. Likewise “the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith, preached before the gospel unto Abraham, saying, In thee shall all nations be blessed.” Galatians 3:8. This was when Abraham had no child, and when there was no human possibility that he ever could have one, yet “he believed in the Lord; and he counted it to him for righteousness.” Genesis 15:6. SITI January 14, 1889, page 10.84

So it was with the Israelites, the lineal descendants of Abraham. The apostle says, “For unto us was the gospel preached, as well as unto them.” Hebrews 4:2. “Unto us as well as unto them!” That seems a strange way of putting the things, doesn’t it? If he were asserting that the Jews had the gospel, he would have said that the gospel was preached unto them as well as unto us. But that is not his point. He has already shown that the gospel was preached to them. They had it first, and rejected it, and now we are warned lest we, having the same privileges that they had, should “fall after the same example of unbelief.” SITI January 14, 1889, page 10.85

This gospel of the death and resurrection of Christ for the deliverance of man from sin and death was promised through the prophets in the holy Scriptures. Time would fail to enumerate the prophecies concerning the Messiah, and we can only sum them up in a few New Testament statements. Peter, speaking of the salvation of our souls, says: “Of which salvation the prophets have inquired and searched diligently, who prophesied of the grace that should come unto you; searching what, or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did signify, when it testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should follow.” 1 Peter 1:10, 11. SITI January 14, 1889, page 10.86

Paul, when permitted to speak for himself before Agrippa, said: “Having therefore obtained help of God, I continue unto this day, witnessing both to small and great, saying none other things than those which the prophets and Moses did say should come; that Christ should suffer, and that he should be the first that should rise from the dead, and should show light unto the people, and to the Gentiles.” Acts 26:22, 23. This does not mean that Christ should be the first person, in point of time, that should rise from the dead, for the prophets themselves raised the dead, and Christ raised many before his death; but it meant that he should be the first in eminence. He is the first-fruits of them that slept. Among all that shall rise from the dead he is first, because it was his resurrection that made it possible for any others to be raised from the dead. SITI January 14, 1889, page 10.87

Peter also declared to the people who were astonished at a notable miracle: “But those things, which God before had showed by the mouth of all his prophets that Christ should suffer, he hath so fulfilled.” Acts 3:16. And then he added, “Yea, and all the prophets from Samuel and those that follow after, as many as have spoken, have likewise foretold of these days.” Verse 24. SITI January 14, 1889, page 23.1

Not only did the prophets foretell of these days, but they enjoyed them, not simply in anticipation, but in reality. Jesus said to the Jews, “Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day; and he saw it, and was glad.” John 8:56. And the prophet David said of the same day,-the day of salvation: “I will praise thee: for thou hast heard me, and art become my salvation. The stone which the builders refused is become the head stone of the corner. This is the Lord’s doing; it is marvelous in our eyes. This is the day which the Lord hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it.” Psalm 118:21-24. SITI January 14, 1889, page 23.2

How could they rejoice in the day of salvation, and be saved by Christ’s blood, hundreds of years before it was shed? Because God’s promise made it real before it took place. He “quickeneth the dead, and calleth those things which be not as though they were.” Romans 4:17. A thing which God has promised is just as sure as though it had actually taken place. There was not the slightest possibility that Christ should not suffer, after he had once been promised; and that Christ should redeem men by his blood “was foreordained before the foundation of the world.” 1 Peter 1:20. Then, since he is the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world, it follows, as a matter of course, that those who lived I the first year of the world could derive the same benefit from his sacrifice that we can. “O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out.” “Thanks be unto God for his unspeakable gift.” W. SITI January 14, 1889, page 23.3

“‘Surprising’” The Signs of the Times, 15, 2.

E. J. Waggoner

We clip the following from the California Prohibitionist of December 27:- SITI January 14, 1889, page 23.4

“A petition for a Sunday law being circulated in Santa Clara County is producing much agitation among the Seventh-day Advents, and they are actively at work with a counter petition. A small table has been placed at the principal street corner of San Jose for several days passed, and workers have been present soliciting signatures to their protest. The number of signatures obtained belonging to the class of men not in sympathy with Christianity or its measures is surprising, and excites much comment that any class of Christians could unite with some keepers, infidels, drinking men, and worthless characters generally, and breaking down a Christian institution.” SITI January 14, 1889, page 23.5

Is it “surprising” that man should love the liberty of conscience granted by the gospel of Christ? Is it “surprising” that any class of men should object to have thrust upon them an institution of another class? If a majority of the citizens of this country attempted to enforce Friday as the only weekly Sabbath, would not many first-day people find themselves opposing that institution by force of circumstances, with others whose characters otherwise they could not indorse? SITI January 14, 1889, page 23.6

But, on the other hand, is it not “surprising,” in the light of an open Bible, that Christians should call Sunday “a Christian institution”? Where is the authority? And is it not more “surprising” that they should try to compel those whom they do not consider Christians to observe “a Christian institution”? If it be right to do so, why not compel all to partake of the Lord’s supper and be baptized that other Christian institutions be not broken down? And is it not still more “surprising” that Christians should join hands with that class who have done more to pervert the gospel of Christ and all others,-Roman Catholics,-to force upon others an unchristian institution, the Sunday, for which there is no support in the word of God? Is it not because of this—because it has no support in the word of God-that its friends are so anxious for law in its behalf? The California Prohibitionist will please explain. SITI January 14, 1889, page 23.7

“Back Page” The Signs of the Times, 15, 2.

E. J. Waggoner

Our article on the Sabbath-school lessons for this week is, with other important matter, crowded out. But we believe our readers will not be disappointed in the excellent matter furnish this week, especially that which relates to our own times, and the dangers that threaten us. SITI January 14, 1889, page 23.8

The publishers wish us to announce that it has been decided to publish the American Sentinel weekly, instead of monthly, as heretofore. The present volume will consist of forty-eight numbers, the next number being dated January 30. The subscription price will be $1.00 a year; in clubs of ten or more to one name and address, seventy-five cents. By this change the Sentinel will contain nearly four times as much reading matter as now, for twice the money, and it is hoped that a large subscription list will be secured at once. SITI January 14, 1889, page 23.9

January 1 the Presbyterian ministers of Minneapolis, Minn., held a meeting and decided to inaugurate a Sunday crusade in that State, and also to join in urging Congressional action. It was decided to “wage war again Sunday breakers and to strike for an era of better laws, and for the better enforcement of existing statutes.” Sunday papers were denounced, and Congress was called upon to abstain from patronizing them. It was the sentiment of the clergymen that some more effective legislation was positively necessary, and a move will be made in that direction. The ministers of other denominations in Minneapolis have signified their intention of joining their Presbyterian brethren in this crusade against the Sunday papers. SITI January 14, 1889, page 23.10

In the report from one church of the week of prayer, it was stated that “confessions were made, and quite a goodly number were enabled to grasp by faith promises of God and appropriate them to themselves.” Appropriating God’s promises to ourselves is faith. We may believe God’s promise; that is, we may give to it our mental a cent, our judgment is convinced, we believe. Our neighbor we believe to be humble and true and honestly seeking God, and we believe God accepts him, because our neighbor has complied with the conditions. We believe God will accept us, if we so comply. But that is a mere mental assent, and it may never move to action, never profit us in the least. But faith lays hold of the promise and says, “It is mine; Christ as my Saviour; I am his child.” Belief assents; but faith appropriates. Faith is a vitalizing, force-infusing principle, fruitful always in good works. SITI January 14, 1889, page 23.11

In noticing editorially the Converted Catholic, published in New York by James A. O’Connor, formerly a priest of the Roman Catholic Church, the Jewish Times and Observer mentions the fact that he has been joined in his work by three other priests, and asks:— SITI January 14, 1889, page 23.12

“Are we to conclude from this that ‘the infallible’ head of the Catholic Church is destined to be overthrown in time by the very men it has educated to uphold and defend his alleged infallible authority?” SITI January 14, 1889, page 23.13

Were the editors of the Observer as familiar as they should be with their own Scriptures, to say nothing of the New Testament, they would not ask such a question. The Testaments are a unit in teaching that the Papal power is to stand until destroyed, not “by the very men it has educated to uphold and defend its alleged authority,” but by the coming of the Lord of glory. Says the prophet Daniel: “I beheld even till the beast was slain, and his body destroyed, and given to the burning flames.” Daniel 7:11. And the apostle testifies of the same power, that it shall be destroyed by the brightness of the Lord’s coming. 2 Thessalonians 2:8. The Scriptures, and they only, make known “what shall be in the latter days.” SITI January 14, 1889, page 23.14

If persistent assertion be made that which is asserted true it would certainly be a fact that wine drinking tends only to sobriety, for the whole wine subsidized press of California, parrot-like, have repeated this statement so frequently that it has not only become threadbare but the editors themselves seem almost to have come to believe it, notwithstanding the evidence to the contrary, which thickens on every side. Let us remember that even the light wines contain alcohol, and that alcohol taken habitually even in small quantities produces a demand for more. The fiction that wine-drinking countries are the most temperate countries has been exploited time and again. SITI January 14, 1889, page 23.15

It will be remembered by our readers that California has now in the East a paid “missionary” preaching the “gospel” of temperance reform by the wine-drinking method, which if it does not prove effective in reforming and elevating drunkards, may possibly secure the equality of those who embrace it by bringing all to the level of common tipplers. “Look not thou upon the wine when it is red, when it giveth his color in the cup, when it moveth itself aright. At the last it biteth like a serpent, and stingeth like an adder.” SITI January 14, 1889, page 23.16

Have we not reached that period spoken of by Paul in 2 Timothy 4:3: “For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but after their own lust shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching years”? In harmony with this, note the following from a writer in the Interior of December 27:- SITI January 14, 1889, page 23.17

“The English-speaking world is just now in the throes of an epidemic of sensationalism. We see the spots of the plague everywhere-in politics, in trade, in art, in literature, in religion.” This unhealthy craving for the extravagant and the extraordinary is not absent from the religious sphere. We see its results very palpably in the pulpit. The popular preacher is the man who affects the dramatic in his manner and the “spicy” in his speech, who seeks “to adorn his doctrine” by attitudinizing, pyrotechnics, and slang. The stronger the text or the more sensational the subject the better; the great desideratum is to tickle and hold the audience of all costs, even though it involves taking Scripture as a point of departure, and treading on the brink of the profane. Sensationalism is the basis of a great many people’s religion in these days.” SITI January 14, 1889, page 23.18

But the true minister of Christ should swerve not. It is still his duty to “preach the word,” to “be instant in season, out of season,” to “reprove, rebuke, exhort, with all long-suffering and doctrine,” till the appearing of the Lord Jesus Christ. SITI January 14, 1889, page 23.19

A writer in an Eastern exchange in an article against Christmas, reveals the characteristic ignorance of the age regarding so-called Christian institutions. He claims that there is nothing in the Scriptures to warrant the observance of Christmas, which is all true. It is a child of that “mystery of iniquity,” as he intimates. But the same writer in the same article refers to Sunday as “a commemorative day that returns to us once in every seven, a round which gathers, and in which, as historical and prophetic, centers all that is glorious in the mission and finished work of Jesus.” Any he closes thus: “And can I not assert with truth that the people who make so much of Christmas are not the people who make so much of the ‘Christian Sabbath’? All this about Sunday would be exceedingly good if it were true; but, unfortunately, like Christmas, it has nothing to sustain it but lying tradition. The Scriptures reveal naught of all this. Christmas and Sunday are both children of the Papacy. And no class, except Romanists, pays a higher regard to Christmas than those who are putting forth such efforts in behalf of the legal observance of Sunday. Reverence to either as a Christian institution is “will worship.” SITI January 14, 1889, page 23.20

The National Baptist of December 13 has the following, which shows the tendency of the Protestantism of to-day:- SITI January 14, 1889, page 23.21

“At a religious conference in New York last week, a minister, apparently a foreigner, indulged in a wholesale denunciation of the Roman Catholics, and was very properly checked by Dr. Josiah Strong and by Mr. Dodge, who was presiding. This sort of thing [denunciations of error], in our opinion, does no good. The best way to do away with error is to preach truth.” SITI January 14, 1889, page 23.22

Josiah Strong and all professed Protestants may “check” denunciations of Roman Catholicism; but no minister can faithfully “preach the word” without denouncing “the little horn” (Daniel 7), the “man of sin,” the “mystery of iniquity” (2 Thessalonians 2), the Apocalyptic scarlet-robed harlot, who has made all nations strong by the wine of her fornication. Revelation 17 and 18. These are the terms which Inspiration uses to characterize the Papacy, which is embodied in Roman Catholicism. It is a part of that word which is truth. John 17:17; 2 Peter 1:19, 20; Daniel 10:21. Did Luther and Zwingle and Calvin and Hooper and Ridley and hundreds of others labor and suffer and die for naught? Did they “suffer so great things in vain? If it be yet in vain?” Galatians 3:4, margin. Was and is the Reformation a failure? Are the words of the Lord vain words? Have not Drs. Strong, Dodge, and the editor of the National Baptist drank of the siren’s wine? SITI January 14, 1889, page 23.23

How much of comfort is expressed in these words of our Redeemer, “Follow me”! He does not ask us to go before him into untried paths, into unmet difficulties, into strange temptation; he does not ask us to turn aside from the oft rugged path into some untrod by-path, he only asks us to follow him, in the path which He has trodden before us, into the difficulties which he has met, into the temptations which he has overcome. Here he will cheer us by his Spirit. The fragrance of his life hallows the whole path. Is the way steep and rugged? Jesus has been here before us. Do the briers and thorns wound and tear flesh and garment? Even so they did those of the Master. Do the clouds hang heavily, and does darkness shut us in? A deeper darkness than we may know in full Jesus in this very path. Do we suffer weariness and pain? So did Jesus. Are we perplexed, tempted, tried? He was before we were. Do we meet scoffing and persecution? Jesus met more. His feet have taken every step of the journey which he calls upon us to take. In every trial, every difficulty, every temptation, every cruel assault, we can say with truth, Jesus was here. Jesus was here. And knowing this we can come with full confidence to One who can be “touched with the feeling of our infirmities,” who is “a merciful and faithful High Priest,” having been made “in all things” “like unto his brethren.” To Him we can come boldly and “obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” He will walk the path again with us by his Holy Spirit. He will make the roughest places smooth by his presence. The valley of weeping will become a well-spring of joy; the parched land, a fountain of life. And faith will not only say, “Jesus was here,” but, “Jesus is here.” SITI January 14, 1889, page 23.24