A Great Fact Acknowledged.
By Editor
[The following article, over the initials S. S. W., appeared in the Advent Herald of March 16, 1870. It is headed “An Important Question;” and the question is, “Is there a difference in the conversions (so-called) of the present day, from those of former days? This question the writer answers in the affirmative; and one cause which he assigns for this, is the utter neglect by the churches of the day, of the great doctrine of the second advent. This neglect of course arises from their rejection of the doctrine in 1844. The fact, then, is plainly acknowledged that a change has taken place in the religious world, and, as one among others, for the reason already named. Now this is what we claim, and all we claim, as a fulfillment of the second message of the fourteenth chapter of Revelation. This, we think, is what the prophecy contemplated. And it matters not what terms are employed, so long as all the essential facts are acknowledged. The case is well stated in the article, to which we now invite the careful attention of the reader:] Is there a difference in the conversions (so-called) of the present day from those of former days? This is a serious and important question, and I think must be answered in the affirmative. A distinguished writer, some time since, thus remarked: “The great religious problem of the age seems to be, how one can be a Christian on the easiest terms, with the smallest amount of doctrine to be believed, and the smallest amount of experience to be passed through. Deep convictions of sin are not required and are not found. ‘The law work’ on which the Fathers laid so much stress, is a thing of the past. The gate is not very strait, or the way so narrow. The cross, too, is altogether changed. It is a thing of art or ornament. It is fashioned with skill, and covered with gold, and points the spire of the proud Christian temple; it is wreathed with flowers to win admiration among the adornments of a festive occasion; it is richly set with pearls and diamonds and on the neck of beauty. All its repulsiveness is gone. It suggests nothing of sacrifice, nothing of conflict with subtle foes, resistance to mighty forces of evil; nothing of the lingering and painful death of strong passions having their seat at the very center of the spiritual nature.” It may well be asked why is all this declension in religious experience? May not some, if not a great part, of it be owing to the preaching of the present day? What are the great motives set forth in the New Testament to induce men to repent? 1. The sinfulness and depravity of the human heart. 2. The holiness and spirituality of the law of God. For a want of a clear perception of these great truths, there are not witnessed in the relation of Christian experiences a deep conviction of sin and a hearty reception of the Lord Jesus Christ as the Saviour and Redeemer of men. Indeed, in many experiences of candidates’ coming forward to unite with the church, there is no mention of these great truths. The amount is, they felt bad, they thought they ought to be Christians, and they felt better, and wish to become members. 3. Another motive to induce sinners to repent, and to lead them to Christ, is the second personal coming of the Lord Jesus, to raise the bodies of the sleeping saints, to judge the quick and the dead, and to reward the righteous and punish the wicked. The doctrine of the second coming of Christ is the most prominent doctrine of the New Testament, that is to say, there are more texts that speak of, or allude to, it than to any other doctrine, not excepting that of the atonement; yet a person might attend the churches of our leading evangelical denominations for twenty years, and not hear a sermon on that subject. But I think there are something like 150 places in the New Testament which allude to that doctrine, and in the two epistles of Paul to the Thessalonians—which it will require only about twenty minutes to read—there are no less than thirteen texts which speak of the coming of Christ. Indeed, the three great points in the experience of the Thessalonian Christians were, (1) They turned from idols—showing their conviction of sin; (2) They turned to serve the living and true God—showing their conversion; and, (3) They waited for his Son from Heaven—showing their Christian hope; for the true hope of a Christian is the personal coming of the Saviour, the resurrection of the body, and eternal life in the kingdom of Christ. These great doctrines were preached faithfully and clearly by the primitive Christians, and by such men as Martin Luther, Richard Baxter, Increase and Cotton Mather, and by many others. Thus Rev. Albert Barnes, in his Notes on the New Testament, observes: “To believe in the second advent of the Lord Jesus to judge the world, and to desire his return, became a kind of criterion by which Christians were known. It is so now. [So he says. Would that it were so!] It is one of the characteristics of a true Christian, that he sincerely desires the return of his Saviour, and would welcome his appearing in the clouds of heaven.” If this is so, I confess I hear but little expression of such desires among Christians of my denomination [the writer is a Congregationalist deacon.—Ed. of Herald], either in their prayers or exhortations. Indeed the subject is scarcely ever mentioned. If, then, we want more genuine, old-fashioned, Christian experiences, let these great truths to which I have alluded be proclaimed in the ears of impenitent123men. Let them understand that God’s holy law is strict and heart-searching—that it is not to be trifled with; that Christ will come, and they must be brought to judgment; that eternal life is offered them if they will repent and believe in Christ; and that they must suffer everlasting punishment if they reject Christ and resist the strivings of the Holy Spirit. “God now commandeth all men everywhere to repent.” Why? Because they are going to die? Nay; for death is never presented in the Bible as a motive for repentance. Why then? Because “he hath appointed a day in which he will judge the world in righteousness by that Man whom he hath ordained.” Let us then speak to sinners as God speaks to them in his holy word, and as his servant, Richard Baxter, speaks in his “Call to the Unconverted,” and his “Saints’ Everlasting Rest.” A minister told me, some time since, his hearers would not bear such preaching. Is it so? Have men such itching ears that they want fables instead of truth? If so, we may well expect spurious conversions and strange experiences. But let the truth of God on all subjects be fearlessly and plainly proclaimed. Let candidates for admission to our churches be more thoroughly examined as to their conviction for sin and their trust for salvation in the atoning blood of Christ, and we may hope for firmer and more devoted men and women of God. I have written thus plainly because I desire most earnestly that ministers and Christians generally would more plainly set forth the great truths of God’s word, and especially those which I have spoken, that all Christian ministers may be able to say, with Paul, “I have not shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of God.”