p. 2 | Questions and Answers by Editor

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Jul 9, 1914

Questions and Answers

By Editor

In this department there will be considered from time to time helpful and practical questions relating to the various phases of this message, church government, Christian doctrine, duty, experience, etc. The editors reserve the right to consider only those questions which in their judgment will prove of benefit to the readers of the REVIEW. All questions should be addressed to the editor.

6. A brother raises the question as to whether it is proper to use the Sabbath service as an occasion for the announcement of classes, social gatherings, and questions of this character.

It would be difficult, of course, to lay down a rigid rule which could be applied in every church with reference to these matters. We believe, however, that there is a too liberal tendency creeping into some of our churches in the making of announcements of this character at the Sabbath service. On account of the scattered membership of some of our churches and the inability of the church officers to secure a general attendance outside of the Sabbath service, it has become customary to deal more or less with the business matters of the church on the Sabbath day. While we are not prepared to condemn in toto this practice, we believe that just as far as possible the Sabbath should be safeguarded from matters of this character. The tendency of the human heart is toward laxity. We do not see in the lives of some of our people that careful regard for the Sabbath of the Lord which once marked their Sabbath observance. Let us not lower the standard; rather, let us raise it the higher. Honoring God in the time which he has reserved for himself, in both our personal and family life as well as in the work of the church, will bring to us the Sabbath blessing which God has placed in the day, making it indeed a Sabbath not only of physical rest for our bodies, but of spiritual rest to our souls.

7. Should unbaptized believers be received into the church or take part in Communion service?

The instruction of the Scriptures, together with the practice of the early church as recorded in the inspired record, leads to the inevitable conclusion that in God's design baptism constitutes the door into the visible church of Christ. The commission to the church is, “Teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.” At the time of Pentecost, baptism following repentance, brought the infilling of the Holy Spirit, and those thus publicly manifesting their faith, numbering about three thousand, were said to be “added unto them”—the church. Acts 2:41. And in this manner “the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved.” Verse 47. This experience was duplicated many times in the early church. See Acts 8:12, 13; 10:48; 16:31-33, etc. This divine order has been recognized by every branch of the Christian church from the days of the apostles to the present time. With few exceptions, it has always been regarded by the Seventh-day Adventist Church. Under some circumstances, where conversions have occurred and no immediate opportunity was afforded for baptism, the believers have been voted into the church subject to the performance of such rite. While in very exceptional cases this possibly may be allowable, the practice is becoming, in some of our churches, altogether too common, and has an influence to create confusion and to break down gospel order. We believe fewer exceptions should be made to the gospel order of procedure in receiving members into the church.

The Lord’s Supper is an ordinance of the church of God. It is a means whereby, following his baptismal vows, the believer is afforded opportunity to show his faith in the sacrifice of his divine Lord. It appears quite inappropriate for one who has not taken the initial steps, who has not signified his purpose, by baptism; to dedicate his life henceforth to the service of his Master, to engage in the ordinances of the church. These ordinances were instituted for the church, and not for the outside world. And this is true, too, we believe, as applied to unconverted children and infants, who are sometimes permitted by their parents to partake of these sacred emblems. We can never bring people up to the true standard by lowering the standard. We need carefully to recognize the distinction which God has made between the holy and the profane.

8. A sister inquires if it would not be advisable for the officers of our churches to keep in close touch with nonresident members, so that these individuals may know where to send their tithe and donations.

This suggestion, we believe, is a good one. Many have drifted away from this movement, and been swallowed up by the worldly influences which surrounded them, because, in their isolation, they were not followed up by kindly interest on the part of their brethren and sisters. The officers of our churches should come into touch with these absent ones at least every quarter if possible. Let us remember by kindly, helpful words and in frequent prayer the lonely sheep of the fold.

9. A brother in Michigan asks us to explain Isa. 65:20.

The editor has never yet seen an explanation of this scripture which was satisfactory to his own mind. He has listened to many theories and speculations regarding its meaning. Some claim that the one hundred years brought to view in this scripture are identical with the little season spoken of in Rev. 20:3, when Satan is loosed,—the time between the resurrection of the wicked and their final destruction in the lake of fire. The scripture may have its application at that time. It is well, we believe, for all to reserve final judgment on the meaning, and seek by further study confirmation of present positions or further light which the Spirit of God may reveal.

There are some things in the Scriptures of Truth which are plainly revealed; we need not hesitate as to their meaning. We know that Jesus Christ is our Saviour from sin; we know that repentance of sin and confession on our part will bring to us God’s pardoning mercy; we know that immersion is the Bible method of baptism; that the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord; that Jesus is soon coming; that great lines of prophecy are fulfilling before our eyes; and many other plain, positive truths which make for salvation. On these we may take our position with positive assurance. But we need to avoid dogmatism. We need to hold our minds open, through study and prayer, for the Spirit’s revealings.

There is enough plainly revealed in the inspired record to bring to us the salvation of God if followed out in our lives, or to condemn us at the last great day if rejected by us. Let us give careful heed to these clearly revealed truths, while at the same time we follow on to know more perfectly the ways and meaning of the Lord in those scriptures not now clear to our understanding.

10. Does the Bible uphold slavery?

The teaching of the Scriptures is against the principle of slavery, whether applied to slavery of the conscience, mind, or body. In the laws which God provided through Moses for the government of Israel, slavery is recognized as an existing institution of that period, a practice common among nearly all the nations of antiquity. Lev. 25:39-46. But the slavery permitted in Israel partook more of the character of serfdom than of slavery as practiced by the heathen. It undoubtedly bestowed upon the captives many liberties and privileges which were in excess of those they enjoyed in their native state. The children of Israel were admonished to remember that they were bondmen in the land of Egypt, and that therefore they should treat their captive servants with the utmost consideration. Deut. 15:15. The bondage of Israelitish brethren was permitted for certain abuses, such as debt, etc. This bondage, however, appears to have been anything but rigorous, and continued only until the obligation was discharged or until the year of jubilee.

God’s dealings with his people of old, and with the heathen nations whom they supplanted, we may not be able clearly to reason out or fully to understand in detail. We must recognize, however, the superiority of his wisdom and the infinitude of his love, and that in all his dealings with the human family he works for the highest and eternal good of his creatures rather than for their temporal or material advantage. Doubtless many captives enslaved by the Israelites were brought to a saving knowledge of the true God, even as was Onesimus, the slave servant of Philemon. The truth of God in every age has taken men where they were, whether free or bond physically, and called them to be God’s free men spiritually. Christ, during his earthly ministry, did not seek to change social or political conditions. He sought as far as consistent and possible to mitigate the suffering caused by these evils. His appeal was for the enfranchisement of conscience and mind, rather than of the body. Physical bonds cannot shut out the freedom of the soul. The most terrible slavery, after all, is the slavery of sin, and freedom from its bondage should be the desire and purpose of all. “If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.”