DEPARTING FROM THE FAITH.
Some, said Paul to Timothy, “shall depart from the faith.” By “the faith” he of course means the truth of God as preached in its purity, and as pertaining to the time to which the declaration applies. But he speaks this in reference to the last days. “In the latter times some shall depart from the faith.” Then some right in that critical and solemn period when the end is upon us, and all our eternal interests depend upon our being faithful to the truth, will depart from that faith which sets forth and enforces these solemn realities. This is no exception to what has happened throughout the whole gospel age. The net has always gathered in some bad fish. Some seed has always fallen upon wayside places, and upon thorny and stony ground, and come to naught. But it seems more strange that this should be so in the last days. Here the overshadowing approach of the great day, the concentration of the light of six thousand years of the church’s experience, the long lines of fulfillments of God’s word, and the unmistakable developments of his great plans, all conspire to produce the clearest convictions, and awaken the strongest motives to a continuance in a genuine Christian life. Yet even under these circumstances, some shall depart from the faith. It seems truly unexplainable that any, after having once embraced the truth of the Sabbath, and rejoiced in its blessed rest, should turn away from the holy commandment, and deliberately trample it under their feet. It seems strange that any having once come to see the evidences of the near coming of Christ, should shut their eyes to all the concurrent testimony of prophecy and history, and place themselves among the unbelieving. Yet this should not surprise us. When the Son of God himself was proclaiming his own truth in all its purity and power, and seconding the word by his gracious dealings with the children of men, and his own spotless life, men even turned away from him, and walked no more with him. If they could take this course then, in what generation since that time might we not look for them to do the same? But our wonder is in no wise lessened when we look at the excuses which some render for departing from the faith. Says one, I did not consider sufficiently the step I was taking; I moved hastily and now conclude that I was wrong. But we ask, How long should it take a man to consider the fourth commandment? When God commands us to keep his Sabbath in language so plain that any one who can count seven, and knows the meaning of the little words “remember,” and “rest,” and “work,” cannot fail to understand it, how long should it take us to decide whether we ought to obey it or not? Away with such excuses; they are all sham. Perhaps some of these persons, when they embraced the truth, gave up the use of tobacco, and with a great flourish of trumpets trampled the weed beneath their feet. That was well enough, if supported by the constancy of subsequent life. But do they now think this was wrong? Will any man deliberately pronounce this filthy and hurtful habit of tobacco using right? Then what does all this talk about having moved too hastily amount to? The man only shows that he lacks strength of character, and is still a helpless slave before his lust. He prefers his idol to the grace and truth of God. There are some persons in reference to whom, when they embrace the truth, all probabilities point to a short continuance therein. We generally know how it will be, as well as we know a few weeks later how it is, when their faith collapses, and they disappear like a bubble on the wave. Such generally make the most noise for the time being. Like a bundle of shavings they blaze up for an instant with great fury, and then are gone, leaving scarcely an appreciable residuum of ashes. They are mere creatures of influence. With Sabbath-keepers they keep the Sabbath; with opposers they do not. Like the little weather vane, they obsequiously follow the shifting wind; or like the chameleon, green on the leaf, and gray on the rock, they take the color of whatever object they happen to be in contact with. This vacillating, unequal, halting, shifting course in one who claims to be, and should be, a free moral agent, is truly a pitiable sight. Such persons might and should know, that their first lesson is to learn to be men, to have stamina in themselves, to be able to stand though there should be a gust of opposition now and then. And they will have to learn this, or never reach the kingdom of Heaven. Others stumble because they think that some do not set a good example, and have no religion; or at least such is their claim now. Dare they offer to the Master such a reason for disobeying him? Has he not indicated his will to us so far as the actions of others are concerned in the rebuke, “What is that to thee? follow thou me.” When God tells us to keep his Sabbath, and prepare for the coming of his Son from Heaven, we had better attend to that instruction whatever course others may take. Otherwise we show that we do not serve him from principle, and are rendering no acceptable obedience to him. Now and then one is shaken from his moorings on present truth by the idiotic frothings of such men as Ingersoll, or by the assumptions of science falsely so called, or by the pollutions of spiritualism. Departing from the faith, “giving heed to seducing spirits.” Any one who wants to depart, can find an excuse in the validity of which he can bring a perverted conscience to believe. And he can do it in one place as well as another; in Battle Creek, with all the advantages, and evidences, and light concentrated here, as well as in other places. If a person wants to depart, if his desires are in that direction, if the carnal mind which is not subject to the law of God, is allowed to control, he will depart in the very face of circumstances and influences best calculated to lead him Heavenward. Yes, even from the feet of Christ himself some turned away to the fellowship of darkness and error; and from the very gates of the Heavenly city some will turn away to the region of despair and death. But woe to these deceived unstable souls who thus make shipwreck of their faith. It were good for them in the end if they had not been born.