General Conference Bulletin, vol. 1

THE THIRD ANGEL’S MESSAGE — NO. 9

A. T. JONES

THERE is another very important thing that I must notice with this division of the subject. It is a thing that is going to force every Seventh-day Adventist and every other Christian to a decision between Christ and this world; and between allegiance to Christ and connection with the United States government. It is a proposition endorsed by all the governors of all the States and Territories of the United States, to drill in military tactics all the school-boys in the public schools. Some of the governors in the States where the legislatures are in session are already trying to get legislation enacting laws providing for it. A meeting in favor of the project was held in New York City the 25th of January, in which speeches were made. GCB February 13, 1895, page 139.11

Let the United States government and all the States undertake to drill in military drill, filling with the war spirit all the children of the country, and what Christian can allow his children to take any part in it? And if the evil thing shall be made compulsory, or shall be required by law, then what Christian can allow his children to be in the schools any more? The word that ushered Christ into the world was, “Peace on earth.” This thing is precisely what it says in Joel: “Prepare war.” Are you ready for the issue? The scheme is on foot, and has spread over all the country like a flash of wild fire. It has been taken up as though it were the grandest thing that ever was, from the day it was mentioned. It has been greedily grasped, and it is proposed at once to fix it in the law. GCB February 13, 1895, page 139.12

Whether this military drill, this inculcating the war spirit into all the children of the country, shall be made compulsory at the first or not, the doing of it at all is enough; for the simple introduction and practice will make the thing in a sense, compulsory, for the simple reason that any boy that would refuse to take part in it would be called a coward by those who did take part. He would be ostracized; his schoolmates would pass him by on the other side. For all this is to be done in the interests of “patriotism;” it is said to be all for the “inculcating of patriotism,” and “love of the flag.” Any boy that will refuse to take part in the military exercise will be declared “unpatriotic;” he will be “despising the flag;” it will be said he does not “love the country;” is “a traitor.” But no Christian parent can allow his child to be filled with the war spirit. It is with the Spirit of Christ, the Spirit of peace, that he must be filled. It is to Christ, that his allegiance is owed. GCB February 13, 1895, page 139.13

This is certainly true. And that being so, it brings a test that will separate every Christian child and every Christian parent from the government of the United States and every State. Then is it not time we began to be separated anyway? Were the lessons last week too extreme? Did they go too far when they said, Let us cut loose? Why, brethren, the very events from the side of the enemy are forcing us right up to the line where we have to decide between allegiance to Jesus Christ and this world. GCB February 13, 1895, page 140.1

But there stands that wicked thing right before every Seventh-day Adventist and every other Christian in the United States. It will be a test as to whether he will let every earthly thing go, and hold only to Christ, let them call him what they choose. That is the test. It is only another note sounded in the one universal call, “Come out of her my people.” GCB February 13, 1895, page 140.2

But where did the mischievous thing start? This particular phase of it as to putting it in the public schools started WITH THE PAPACY. Professed Protestant churches have been organizing what they call “Boys’ Brigades” for two summers. But the first step that I have found toward putting it into the public schools, and forcing it upon the people of the country, was by the Catholic Club of Jersey City, N. J., as reported by the Catholic Mirror of October 6, 1894:— GCB February 13, 1895, page 140.3

The Catholic Club of Newark (N. J.), at its meeting last Wednesday night, adopted a set of resolutions asking the Legislature to make provision for the introduction of military drill in the public, parochial, and other schools within this State, in which boys are taught. The resolutions are as follows:— GCB February 13, 1895, page 141.1

“Resolved, That in the judgment of the Catholic Club of Newark, N. J., the military resources of our country should not now be neglected, but should be developed as fully as a reasonable economy will allow; and be it, — GCB February 13, 1895, page 141.2

“REsolved, That we, therefore, suggest, respectfully, to the Legislature of our STate, that military instruction for the boys in our public schools ought to be provided for, and may without a doubt be secured very cheaply through the agency of the members of the Grand Army of the Republic, and of the National Guard of the State; and be it, — GCB February 13, 1895, page 141.3

“Resolved, That we also suggest to the Legislature the propriety of providing for similar instruction in all the other schools in this State in which boys are taught; and be it, — GCB February 13, 1895, page 141.4

“Resolved, That a copy of these resolutions be forwarded to the Clerk of the Senate, and another to the Clerk of the House of the Assembly.” GCB February 13, 1895, page 141.5

It is hoped that such a plan will come in vogue, as it will be of great benefit to the boys in many ways. GCB February 13, 1895, page 141.6

Lafayette Post of the Grand Army of the Republic, of New York City — the one which started the movement to put the flag on every school-house — has lately taken it up and has spread it abroad to the whole country. GCB February 13, 1895, page 141.7

Now look further at the situation: Every one that protests against that will be accused of being unpatriotic; and on the other hand, the papacy will simply crowd herself forward as the most patriotic of all, because she can endorse it to the fullest measure. She can show that she is the most prominent in the movement, and in favor of it. Thus this is simply another means by which the papacy will set herself at the head of everything, and will rule over all. GCB February 13, 1895, page 141.8

Here is a dispatch from the Detroit Evening News, of Feb 4, 1895, relating to military drill in the churches, which is an illustration of the evil thing, whether in the public schools or in the apostate churches:— GCB February 13, 1895, page 141.9

UNITED BOYS’ BRIGADES

No Authorcode

CHICAGO, Feb. 4. — The United Boys’ Brigade of America, composed of companies of youths organized under military discipline in the various Christian churches of the land, has just been incorporated, with headquarters in Chicago. The incorporators are the Rev. H. W. Bolton, representing the methodists; the Rev. P. S. Henson, the Baptists, and others. The brigade movement has for its object the development of patriotism and piety in boys, and its essential features are the drill, the study of the Bible, and missionary work. About ten years ago William A. Smith, A British soldier, organized the first brigade in Glasgow, Scotland. GCB February 13, 1895, page 141.10

Brother Robinson says it is all over England and Scotland. Are not these things near enough to us, and are they not clearly enough set before us to show where these things are driving us? They are forcing a separation of the Christian from everything on the earth. Then, is it not time that we should make that separation, brethren, from choice, and in heart, and with all the heart? GCB February 13, 1895, page 141.11

Babylon embraces the world, and separation from Babylon means nothing but separation from the world. And these things are so near to us, and the separation so near to be forced upon every one who will be loyal to Jesus Christ; all this proclaims the all-urgent necessity that we seek God with all the heart, and let our hearts be separated, and we separated in heart, unto God wholly. GCB February 13, 1895, page 141.12

Here are a few clippings in which this military movement is discussed, which are worth reading. One from the New York Recorder, endorsing it fully throughout, says:— GCB February 13, 1895, page 141.13

Military drill in the schools is evidently foreordained..... How much has been done already in this line, and how much more may be done, was amply demonstrated by the exhibition given in the Seventh Regiment Armory the other day, where not only the boys but the girls acquitted themselves with signal credit. GCB February 13, 1895, page 141.14

In the New York Sun, of February 8, a trustee of the Twenty-third Ward school of New York City, in noticing a resolution that had been passed by a meeting of Quakers, disapproving of this military movement, says, among other things:— GCB February 13, 1895, page 141.15

The Board of Education of our city has taken up the matter, with the result that in our own State a bill has just been introduced in the Senate asking for $100,000 for the equipment of scholars of eleven years of age and upward in the public schools. GCB February 13, 1895, page 141.16

That is military equipment, of course. That is, the Board of Education of New York City has attended to having a bill introduced in the legislature of New York to equip school-boys of eleven years and upward. He continues:— GCB February 13, 1895, page 141.17

But in addition to the benefit that the nation may and will derive from this military training in the public schools, I maintain that the scholar will also be benefited, in giving him a manly, erect, and graceful bearing, and in making him more self-respecting; in strengthening the body as well as improving the mind, for there is no better exercise than drilling and marching; in learning discipline, and therefore obedience and submission to lawful authority; in teaching to make him a good, loyal, and patriotic citizen, who loves his country, and if need be, ready to die in her defense; in giving him self-control and command of himself, and therefore not only valuable for its effect on the mind, but also on the body, and in fact, in making him strong, active, and brave. I am heartily in favor of the movement, and you may count me one of its most earnest supporters. GCB February 13, 1895, page 141.18

But it is not all that way; there are some opposing voices heard. One man, writing to the Chicago Herald February 3 or 4, speaks in this way:— GCB February 13, 1895, page 141.19

I notice in an evening paper of recent date an article concerning the enrollment of boys into a church military organization for the purpose of fostering the war spirit and the proverbial meekness of the lowly Nazarene. Can anything be more stultifying, contradictory or grotesque than this? When the boy’s education is finished in this new school, what a peculiar product he will be; what a laughable combination of saint and devil; what an impossible mixture of right and wrong; what a commentary on the Christian Church, whose mission is supposed to be the inauguration of a reign of universal peace; what a confession of weakness; what a despicable trick to fill empty pews; what an insult to the memory of that noblest of characters, Jesus, whose life, acts, and teachings were the exact reverse of this! If this is Christianity, what, in the name of religion, is paganism? ..... GCB February 13, 1895, page 141.20

These church military organizations, in their utter disregard for consistency, decency, genuine morality, real justice, and, in fact, all of the Christian virtues, have no parallel in history; and the men who engineer this game — for it is only that — are the worst enemies to true democracy and republican institutions possible to imagine. This may sound radical to come, but it is true, and truth is only radical to the person unacquainted with it, and there are many such, alas, too many. GCB February 13, 1895, page 141.21

Here is a paper in which is printed the annual address of Mrs. Marion H. Dunham, of Burlington, Iowa, of the Woman’s Christian Temperance Union; she has some excellent remarks upon this. Speaking of the increasing conflicts among the laboring classes, capital and labor, and so on, she says:— GCB February 13, 1895, page 141.22

One feature has developed which can well excite the alarm of all who love their country, and that is the cultivation of the military spirit and military training. GCB February 13, 1895, page 141.23

Then speaking of dangers enough in the regular course of governmental affairs, she continues:— GCB February 13, 1895, page 141.24

But far more serious than all of these is the fact that in a time of profound peace, threatened by no other nation, our position and power making us, in fact, impregnable to all attacks from any possible hostile power, our schools and our churches are turned into military camps, and our young boys are drilled with arms that have been used on the battle field, and the thirst for shedding the blood of their fellow-men aroused in their young hearts. In my own city [Burlington, Iowa] the girls who are serving as substitute teachers are called “cadets,” and their work “cadetting,” in order apparently to familiarize them with military terms and ideas, that even womanly influence shall not be exerted for peace. Our colleges are supplied with instructors by and at the expense of the government, and the Boys’ Brigade of the churches, which are supposed to be organized to spread the gospel of “peace on earth, good will to men,” numbers about 15,000, and the old Sunday school hymn of, “I want to be an angel, and with the angels stand,” changed to — GCB February 13, 1895, page 141.25

“I want to be a soldier,
And with the soldiers stand,
A cap upon my forehead,
A rifle in my hand.
I want to drill for service
With military skill,
And master modern tactics
The most approved to kill.” GCB February 13, 1895, page 141.26

Then it goes on and gives a revamping of that old hymn, and continues:— GCB February 13, 1895, page 141.27

“No foes from abroad menace us, that this preparation is needed, and whatever this movement means or portends, it is contrary to the spirit of Christianity; it is turning civilization backward to the time when might was right, and every man’s hand was raised against every other.” GCB February 13, 1895, page 141.28

From this we can learn another thing, and that is the real Christian minds of the country will turn away from this and protest against it, and that only opens wider the door for sounding aloud the cry, “Come out of her, my people.” Those who are favorable to Christianity even, and want to see the spirit of peace spread, you can see for yourself that this movement in itself repels them, and indeed shuts them out. It draws the line between them and the government. And just now God has a work in the earth, a message to be spread, calling upon all who would save their souls alive to separate utterly from all such evil things, to set themselves against it with all their hearts, and turning to God in the spirit of peace, they all, from the least to the greatest, may know Him who is our peace. GCB February 13, 1895, page 141.29

Here then is the situation as it is to-day on all sides: Every element of the world — whether in the papacy, in apostate Protestantism, or on the part of the government itself, — everything is driving us right to the point where we are compelled to decide, and separate from the world and all that is in it. Well, then, shall we not look at it from the side of God’s truth, and have his Spirit which will indeed separate us, and clothe us with such power as will awake the world to danger and save from the impending ruin every soul who will be saved. Here is the word: Isaiah 40:9, reading the margin:— GCB February 13, 1895, page 142.1

“O thou that tellest good tidings to Zion, get thee up into the high mountain; O thou that tellest good tidings to Jerusalem, lift up thy voice with strength; lift it up, be not afraid; say unto the cities of Judah, Behold your God!” GCB February 13, 1895, page 142.2

God wants us to find him now. And remember that this 40th chapter of Isaiah corresponds to the loud cry of Revelation 14 and 18. GCB February 13, 1895, page 142.3

“Behold, the Lord God will come with strong hand, and his arm shall rule for him: behold, his reward is with him, and his work before him. He shall feed his flock like a shepherd: he shall gather the lambs with his arm, and carry them in his bosom.” GCB February 13, 1895, page 142.4

Thus the Lord says to us in this time, Get up into the high mountains, and lift up your voice with all your strength, and do not be afraid. Tell to the people, Behold your God. He is your refuge; he is your salvation, he is your protection. GCB February 13, 1895, page 142.5

Now let us turn again to the study of what it is to come out of Babylon. Every one knows now that to come out of Babylon is to come out of the world, and to separate from Babylon is to separate from the world. What we want to know next is, What is it to come out of the world? what is it to separate from the world? Galatians 1:4 will answer that question in a word; we shall have to read the 3rd and 4th verses together, to get the connection, but the 4th verse is the one that has the point in it. GCB February 13, 1895, page 142.6

“Grace be to you, and peace, from God the Father, and from our Lord Jesus Christ, who gave himself for our sins, that he might deliver us from this present evil world.” GCB February 13, 1895, page 142.7

As he gave himself for our sins, in order to deliver us from this present evil world, it follows plainly enough that connection with the present evil world, and even the evil world itself, lies in our sinfulness. And therefore, to deliver from this world, we must be delivered from sin. Not from some particular sins, but from sin itself, the thing, the root, and the all, of it. The word of God does not take a man and find out how much of good there is in him, and how much bad there is in him, and then patch the good on in the place of the badness, and take him into heaven that way. You should not put a new patch on an old garment. Christ said so, and it is so. Then we are not to see how much good there is in us, how many good traits we have, and give ourselves credit for these, and then get enough goodness from the Lord to supply whatever we may lack. No; there is no goodness, not one good thing there at all. The whole head is sick, and the whole heart is faint. From the crown of the head to the feet there is no soundness in it; but instead there are wounds, and bruises, and putrefying sores. “Who shall deliver me from this body of death?” Romans 7:24. It is a body of death simply because it is a “body of sin.” Romans 6:6. To be delivered from sin, then, is to be delivered from ourselves. That is what it is to come out of Babylon. GCB February 13, 1895, page 142.8

Many people have been getting the idea that if they get out of the Methodist Church, or the Presbyterian Church, or the Catholic Church, and get into the Seventh-day Adventist church, then they are out of Babylon. No; that is not enough, unless you are converted; unless you are separated from this world; you are not out of Babylon, even though you are in the Seventh-day Adventist church, and in the Tabernacle in Battle Creek. This is not saying that the Seventh-day Adventist church is Babylon, that is not it at all; but the man who is connected with himself is connected with the world, to be out of Babylon. “Having a form of godliness; without the power,” is simply another expression which describes Babylon and her condition in the last days. That being so, if I, a Seventh-day Adventist, have the form of godliness without the power,” I belong to Babylon; no difference what I call myself, I am a Babylonian; I have on the Babylonish garment; I bring Babylon into the church wherever I go. GCB February 13, 1895, page 142.9

(To be continued.) GCB February 13, 1895, page 142.10