p. 3 | The Old Paths

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Washington, D. C. · Mar 22, 1906

The Old Paths

The prophet Jeremiah delivered his messages to the people of Jerusalem at a time when the downfall of the city was impending. Religion had degenerated into a formality with a large majority both of the leaders and of the people. Although they had lost vital union with heaven, and were walking in the sparks of their own kindling, yet they continued to say, as many are saying now, “The temple of the Lord, The temple of the Lord, The temple of the Lord, are these.” Desirous of saving them from the destruction which they were bringing upon themselves, the Lord sent messages of warning and reproof to his people by the mouth of Jeremiah. Here is one: “Thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, Amend your ways and your doings, and I will cause you to dwell in this place. Trust ye not in lying words, saying, The temple of the Lord, The temple of the Lord, The temple of the Lord, are these. For if ye thoroughly amend your ways and your doings; if ye thoroughly execute judgment between a man and his neighbor; if ye oppress not the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow, and shed not innocent blood in this place, neither walk after other gods to your hurt: then will I cause you to dwell in this place, in the land that I gave to your fathers, forever and ever.”

To the leaders and the people who had departed from the way of the Lord in sincerity may be known from the following indictment: “This people hath a revolting and a rebellious heart; they are revolted and gone. Neither say they in their heart, Let us now fear the Lord our God, that giveth rain, both the former and the latter, in his season: he reserveth unto us the appointed weeks of the harvest. Your iniquities have turned away these things, and your sins have withheld good things from you. For among my people are found wicked men: they lay wait, as he that setteth snares; they set a trap, they catch men. As a cage is full of birds, so are their houses full of deceit: therefore they are become great, and waxen rich. They are waxen fat, they shine: yea, they overpass the deeds of the wicked: they judge not the cause, the cause of the fatherless, yet they prosper; and the right of the needy do they not judge. Shall I not visit for these things? saith the Lord: shall not my soul be avenged on such a nation as this?”

The remedy pointed out for such a condition of things, and the only remedy in which there was any hope, was, “Ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein.” If this counsel had been heeded, both the people and the city might have been saved, and Nebuchadnezzar and his army could have been turned back in confusion, even as was Sennacherib’s army. But the message of warning was not received. The leaders and the people refused to return to the Lord. The judgments of the Lord were visited upon Jerusalem. The people were carried into captivity; and the heathen appeared to triumph.

There is a marked parallel between the times of Jeremiah and our times. Now, as then, there is a form of godliness, but the power thereof is denied. Now, as then, the cry is raised, “The temple of the Lord, The temple of the Lord, The temple of the Lord, are these.” And there has been such a departure from the fundamental truths of a Biblical Christianity that there is hardly an important doctrine of the Scriptures which has not been denied and rejected. Looking forward to the result of such a departure as this from the way of the Lord, the prophet Isaiah said: “Behold, the Lord maketh the earth empty, and maketh it waste, and turneth it upside down, and scattereth abroad the inhabitants thereof. . . . The

land shall be utterly emptied, and utterly spoiled: for the Lord hath spoken this word. . . . The earth also is defiled under the inhabitants thereof; because they have transgressed the laws, changed the ordinance, broken the everlasting covenant. Therefore hath the curse devoured the earth, and they that dwell therein are desolate: therefore the inhabitants of the earth are burned, and few men left.” Thus sure is it that the present wide-spread rejection of the message of salvation in the Word of God will bring destruction upon the world. Only those who ask for the old paths and walk in them will be saved in that day.

But this lesson has a still more specific application. It is not to be expected that this final message of reform would be left to do its work without an effort being made by the enemy of truth to pervert and nullify it. This effort has been made. “The enemy of souls has sought to bring in the supposition that a great reformation was to take place among Seventh-day Adventists, and that this reformation would consist in giving up the doctrines which stand as the pillars of our faith, and engaging in a process of reorganization. Were this reformation to take place, what would result?—The principles of truth that God in his wisdom has given to the remnant church would be discarded. Our religion would be changed. The fundamental principles that have sustained the work for the last fifty years would be accounted as error. A new organization would be established. Books of a new order would be written. A system of intellectual philosophy that would be introduced.”

It is therefore clear that instead of planning for “a new organization” and preparing “books of a new order,” we should be asking for the old paths of this third angel’s message and walking in them. “The past fifty years have not dimmed one jot or principle of our faith as we received the great and wonderful evidences that were made certain to us in 1844, after the passing of the time.”

The exhortation which was delivered to the church in the first century is applicable in a special sense to advent believers at the present time. “Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you, and exhort you that ye should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints.” “Ask for the old paths.”