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BEGGARLY ELEMENTS

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Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Oct 1, 1901

FromReview and Herald, Vol. 78, No. 40.

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BEGGARLY ELEMENTS.

By Elder J. M. Ellis

ELDER J. M. ELLIS. (Columbus, Ind.)
THERE are many strange things in this world; and one thing which appeals to me as particularly strange is to hear men of intelligence lay down a premise, and then reject its logical deduction. For instance, some time ago while I was pitching a tent for the purpose of conducting a series of religious meetings, a minister of a popular denomination, and himself no less popular, having been a United States Minister of State to Turkey, under President Harrison’s administration, walked up, and without an introduction or any preliminaries whatever, began in language about as follows:—
“Well, here you are, to teach the people, I suppose that they should turn back again to the weak and beggarly elements of the world, whereunto you desire that they should be in bondage in the observance of days, the Jewish Sabbath, etc.”
“What!” said the writer, “do you mean to say that the worldly people of this city [Columbus] at one time kept the seventh-day Sabbath?”
Minister: “No; not that, but——”
Writer: “If there were signs of my turning them ‘back again,’ I supposed that they must have observed the day at some time in the past.”
Minister: “None of your jugglery here, for you know that Paul said that the Galatians had gone into the weak and beggarly elements of the world, in that they were observing days, and so on.”
Writer: “Well, it strikes me as somewhat singular that the world does not keep the Sabbath when it is of such a ‘worldly element.’ Candidly, my friend, it does seem to me that the world would be right in its element in keeping the Sabbath if the Sabbath is such a worldly element.”
Minister: “I told you that I wanted none of your juggling of words; for you ought to know that we are not under the law, but under grace, and——”
Writer: “Don’t be in too great haste to dodge the point; for we are not yet done with the ‘beggarly element’ question. If the Sabbath was the beggarly element to which Paul had reference, then it would do the Fourth Commandment no violence to read it thus: Remember the beggarly element, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labor, and do all thy work: but the seventh day is the beggarly element of the world: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates: for in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested on the beggarly element of the world: wherefore the Lord blessed this beggarly, worldly element, and hallowed it.”
Minister: “You Adventists outdo the Methodists, the Presbyterians, and other denominations that take the position that the law is still binding; but you can’t catch us Christian ministers that way, for we take the position that the whole system of laws that was binding in the old dispensation ceased at the cross.”
Writer: “Well, but how about that beggarly element of the world, the Sabbath?”
Minister: “Why, do as Paul said—don’t turn to it. You need not think you can catch us fellows; for we deny the binding obligation of the entire law, as such.”
Writer: “Well, my brother, we may not be able to catch you in such a way that you will begin the observance of the Sabbath; but it looks to me as if a man has been caught when, after taking a position and being answered, he tries so hard to get away from it as you have been doing in your beggarly-element argument. Now, my brother, instead of the Sabbath being one of the beggarly elements of the world, it was given by the Lord to His people as a ‘sign’ that they were having nothing to do with the beggarly elements of the world; and it is a fact that the Galatians were idol worshipers before their conversion, and in ‘going back,’ they were becoming idolaters again. See Gal. 4:8, 9. And this idolatry was the beggarly elements whereunto they were returning. Now it is an everlasting fact that a man begins the pollution of the Sabbath before he can go back into idolatry. See Eze. 20:24. And since idolatry is shown to be the beggarly elements of the world, it follows that a man, instead of beginning the observance of the Sabbath upon going to the beggarly elements of the world, as you claim, the reverse is true; he gives up the observance of the Sabbath upon going to the beggarly elements of the world, as has been shown from Eze. 20:24.”
Minister: “You are a regular juggler. Now it is a fact that you fellows can thrash the ground with these other denominations, but you can’t handle us fellows.”
Writer: “That is so; for if calling a man a juggler is evidence that you are not ‘caught,’ then it is not worth while for me to try to catch you, for you can cry out ‘jugglery’ faster than I can make points.”
Minister: “If it is not jugglery, then I don’t know what it is.”
Writer: “If it is jugglery, then I am in good company; for I have used only the Lord’s words in support of what I have said; and if that’s jugglery, then the Lord is a juggler; but to be with Him is to be in good company.”
Minister: “Well, I’ll come to hear you some of these nights when you get your meetings started.”
Writer: “All right, my brother, we should be glad to have you come.”
Minister: “Good afternoon.”