ADDING AND SUBTRACTING.
By Jos. Clarke
It is said in Rev. 22:18, 19, that if any one shall take from, or add to, the prophecy of this book, God will take away his part out of the book of life. Hearing a very incorrect comment on the prophecy of John, lately, it occurred to my mind that teaching wrong views of prophecy was really adding to, or subtracting from, this wonderful book. And as the same principle applies to all the books of the Bible, it follows that the same penalty will come as a consequence of error in interpreting the sacred books of God. A very devoted minister has discovered, he thinks, that there was no Sabbath from Adam to Moses. Now the Sabbath was given in the beginning; and it is said by our Saviour that it was made for man. If so, it was given for man's sake in the beginning. Now the man who thus wrests from the Bible the idea of a Sabbath, is truly taking from the word of God; and in trying to work in the Sunday, he is adding to that sacred word. Why do they not see it? So with other errors; each one adds to the Bible, or takes from it. It is really distressing and painful to witness the great boldness and audacity of Error, as she walks about in her saintly robes, declaring against the doctrines of her modest, humble sister, Truth. Such is her brazen face that she will defy the world, and Heaven itself, to contradict her fair-appearing doctrines; and the crowd take her effrontery for inspiration, and swallow the poison, while Truth is neglected and left alone, because she is so still, and coy, and hard to find. Truth does not come to us as Error does, with noise and force; but gently and sweetly she wins her conquests. She carefully interprets the Scriptures and gives the sense, weighing impartially the evidence and giving the result without adding to or subtracting from. Jos. CLARKE.