p. 4 | A Delusive Hope by C. M. S.

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Sep 30, 1909

A Delusive Hope

By C. M. S.

Closing Study on Principles of the National Reform Association Enunciated at the Recent Winona Lake Institute

Jesus Christ left us in his Word a plain statement as to the manner of his return and the nature of his kingdom. He said, “If I go . . . I will come again.” He went; therefore we believe he will come again. That Word declares he will come “in the clouds of heaven,” with “all the holy angels with him,” and that “every eye shall see him.” We must believe that if we are his and believe him. He is to come “in like manner as ye beheld him going into heaven.” Pressed by his followers to establish his kingship over nations, he replied, “My kingdom is not of this world.” In announcing the end of theocratic rule in the earth, God the Father declared that he himself would bestow upon his chosen One the rulership of this world. But this program, outlined by God himself, is entirely out of harmony with the program that is being so earnestly set forth by the National Reform organization. Said Dr. W. I. Wishart at this convention, on August 13, in emphasizing the importance of the success of that movement:—

Loyalty to Jesus Christ, the Prince of Peace, demands our favoring this movement. Nothing but the enthronement of Jesus Christ in national affairs will ever bring about the ultimate success of this great movement. Christ, the King of nations, is the only hope of true national success. Christ should be enthroned. He should be confessed by the nation as its King. This acknowledgment should be made in the nation’s confession of faith, the United States Constitution.

The principles thus set forth are very much like the principles held by many in the time of Jesus, regarding his kingdom. Such were emphatically rebuked by him when he declared that his kingdom was not of this world. To those who advocate the same thing now the same rebuke applies.

Says the Ruler of the universe, in speaking of Christ’s kingdom that was to be, “I will give it him.” Says the National Reform teacher, The Nations of the world must enthrone Christ as King. Thus we have the professed followers of Jesus declaring emphatically what he denies even more emphatically. Thus they are promulgating a system he repudiates.

A National Reform leader declares, “I do not believe that Jesus Christ will ever come to earth personally again.” This repudiation of the plain statements of the Bible in reference to Christ’s return has made necessary the invention of an entirely different program for the enthronement of Jesus Christ, a program which is entirely out of harmony with his purposes, contrary to his expressed declarations. And the adoption of this program, so out of harmony with Christ’s purposes, has made necessary another program, which is equally devoid of divine sanction. Said Dr. Wishart, in the same address:—

It [the confession of Christ as King of the nation] ought also to be made to furnish a legal basis for Christian teaching in all national life. Without such recognition we can have no fixed standard of morals.

To the true Christian the law of God is the standard of morals, and that was fixed by his own voice, and by the writing of his own hand on the tables of stone. The moral standard for the Christian came from that divine law, and not from the state. It is not rendering honor to our Lord Jesus Christ to claim that unless religion is established by human law, we have no fixed standard of morals.

Is it true, then, that the state is the author and finisher of our faith? Does the state establish moral principles? But if that be true, then the state is acting within its legitimate sphere when it sets itself up as the judge of morals, declares what is sin, and punishes for sin. But when it does that, it puts itself in the place of God, and merits the denunciation which he pronounces upon the power which does it. See 2 Thess. 2:2-8. God calls such an organization “the mystery of iniquity,” or “lawlessness;” and the leader in such a program he designates as “the man of sin,” “the son of perdition.”

It is a fearful denunciation; but an organization which would usurp the prerogatives of God is of necessity against God, and nothing that is against him can escape perdition. Any organization that attempts to make the stability of the great moral law of Jehovah dependent upon human legislation is attempting to unlaw the very law of God. As it is the very acme of lawlessness to destroy the law itself, this attack upon the dignity and perpetuity and sufficiency of the moral law of Jehovah can only properly be designated as the “mystery of lawlessness.” Primarily that term applies to that great system of religious tyranny which usurped the divine prerogatives and dominated the world during the Dark Ages; but it must apply also to every system that builds upon the same foundation, and works to the same end. That the National Reform Association does this is evidenced by these facts: It is working for the establishment of a hierarchy in America, which shall put the civil government under the dominance of the clergy and regulate religious practises by human law. This the Papacy did, and purposes to do again wherever and whenever she obtains the power. It proposes to make the stability and perpetuity of moral law dependent upon the sanction and support of human enactments, thus belittling the divine and glorifying the human. This the Papacy did, and still does.

The National Reform organization holds that the rule of the people must lead to “political despotism and religious intolerance,” and that “not the will of the majority of the people,” but the law of God as interpreted by the clergy, must be the supreme law of the land. The Papacy has held that position for hundreds of years, and still holds it.

Both these organizations, through their advocacy of laws that oppress conscience and take toll from conscientious Christians because of their religious convictions, do literally, as the revelator declares, make “merchandise” of the “souls of men.” Rev. 18:11-13. True, the National Reform leaders profess great antipathy toward the Pope of Rome; but they are, in truth, stepping

in his tracks. They berate the result of the Papacy’s work, but advocate the principles upon which the Papacy was working when it produced the results they deprecate. That two organizations can travel the same road at the same time toward the same goal and not eventually come together is not within the realm of probability; and the long experience and superior organization of the Papacy can leave no doubt as to which will dominate, when, as a result of the work of both, the nation shall have repudiated the principles of its founders, and submitted to the principle of church rule in civil things, and state dominance in religious affairs. That will be a sad day for America; for it will spell the ruin of popular and free government. It will be a sad day for the people; for it will mean that confused mingling of sacred and secular which spells Babylon, that premium on the performance of religious ceremonies which fosters hypocrisy, and that legal direction of individual consciences which always means bitter persecution.

When such things have been accomplished, such conditions brought about, it will then be the cry of that organization that Christ has come. He is not expected personally. His coming is to be the nations’ acknowledgment of his kingship. By that acknowledgment they crown him ruler of the world and usher in his reign. Vain and delusive hope! How unlike the program of the Almighty! Says the Word: “To you that are afflicted rest with us, at the revelation of the Lord Jesus from heaven with the angels of his power in flaming fire, rendering vengeance to them that know not God, and to them that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus: who shall suffer punishment, even eternal destruction from the face of the Lord and from the glory of his might, when he shall come to be glorified in his saints.” 2 Thess. 1:7-10. When he comes, the world will know it. The “voice of the archangel” and “the trump of God” will reverberate through the world, and every sentient creature in the world will know that beyond that day lies eternity; that the records of every soul are sealed forever. “The mighty man crieth there bitterly. That day is a day of wrath, a day of trouble and distress. . . . Neither their silver nor their gold shall be able to deliver them in the day of Jehovah’s wrath; but the whole land shall be devoured by the fire of his jealousy: for he will make an end, yea, a terrible end, of all them that dwell in the land.” Zeph. 1:14-18.

That is the day of the coming of the Lord Jesus. It will be a terrible and bitter disappointment to those who have arranged a program of their own for his coming and are not prepared for his program. Such will “say to the mountains and to the rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb: for the great day of their wrath is come; and who is able to stand?” Rev. 6: 16, 17.

Any hope built on a program of human devising that contradicts the word of God is a delusive hope, and only the bitterest sorrow can come to the one who builds upon it or trusts in it. The great day of God is nigh, and the consequences of our choice are too important to warrant us in putting our trust in anything save the unerring word of God. In that is safety.

C. M. S.