What Is the Use? by Ellet Joseph Waggoner

International Tract and Missionary Society · Oakland, California · Nov 5, 1885

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 11, No. 42.

What Is the Use?

By Ellet Joseph Waggoner

THIS is called a practical age. Men always ask, before engaging in any business, Will it pay? And this is correct. It is useless to work to no profit, and we have Scripture warrant for counting the cost before beginning any enterprise. But men are not always wise in their estimates. Sometimes, indeed in the majority of instances, the results will show that the entire cost has not been counted. Some factor has been omitted, or else the individual has not looked far enough ahead. We might cite a few instances:—

It is generally considered a prudent thing for a man to amass wealth. "Men will praise thee, when thou doest well to thyself." Ps. 49:18. Indeed, so fixed is the idea that to get rich is the one thing essential, that few, before praising the prosperous man, stop to inquire by what means he obtained his wealth. But according to the Bible standard, the gathering of great wealth may be the most foolish thing a man can do.

The wise man says: "He that by usury and unjust gain increaseth his substance, he shall gather it for him that will pity the poor." Prov. 28:8. If people knew that men who are toiling and planning night and day in order to accumulate property, were simply working for some one else, and that they themselves should enjoy none of their savings, they would say, "How foolish to work so hard for nothing!" Well, that is just what the Bible says. "He that getteth riches, and not by right, shall leave them in the midst of his days, and at his end shall be a fool." Jer. 17:11. How many foolish people there are, who by the world are accounted wise.

And this exposes another shortsighted calculation that is very common, viz., that it is safe to do anything which is done by the majority of people. Precedent is a thing that has great weight, both in courts and public opinion, oftentimes to the exclusion of justice. But numbers can never make wrong right, nor will the Lord remit the punishment due for the commission of crime, because very many are engaged in it. "Though hand join in hand, the wicked shall not be unpunished." Prov. 11:21. And the truth of this statement has often been demonstrated. In the days of Noah, "the earth was filled with violence," because "every imagination of the thoughts" of man's heart "was only evil continually." Gen. 6:5, 11. Only Noah was found righteous. Yet the Lord preserved Noah, and destroyed all the wicked, "bringing in the flood upon the world of the ungodly." 2 Pet. 2:5.

In the days of Lot, "the men of Sodom were wicked and sinners before the Lord exceedingly." Gen. 13:13. In all that city, careful search was made (Gen. 18:23-33; 19:12-14), and, besides Lot, not a righteous man was found. But the Lord had no respect to numbers, "and turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrha into ashes condemned them with an overthrow, making them an ensample unto those that after should live ungodly." 2 Pet. 2:6.

There was also a time when a single man, Elijah, stood out against the whole kingdom of Israel. He was not content with simply disagreeing with the majority, but he was earnest in reproving both monarch and subject. Baal-worship was popular, and was, moreover, the State religion. How presumptuous in that one man to attempt to teach the priests and rulers! How was it possible that he alone of all the people should have the truth? And even allowing his claims, what headway could one man hope to make against a nation? What was the use of his engaging in such an unprofitable task? Thus, no doubt, many reasoned at that time. But God vindicated the faithfulness of his servant. The prophets of Baal were slain; the wicked king and queen had the death of a dog; the apostate nation was carried into captivity; and Elijah, who was not afraid to engage in an unpopular and seemingly unprofitable work, was taken to Heaven in a chariot of fire. Who will now say that his work was to no profit? Not one.

But why is it that men can now approve Elijah's course? Simply because the sins which he particularly denounced are not now popular. For proof of this assertion, we quote from the Friend, a religious journal published at Honolulu, H. I. It says:—

"We have for a year or more had a couple of good brethren among us, who have been devoting their time and strength, and the means of the organization that sent them, to the task of disseminating the idea that Saturday instead of Sunday should be observed as the day holy unto the Lord. We have often wished that the two brethren might see their way clear to engage in a worthier and more promising enterprise. One of them, Brother Scott, we think has gone back to whence he came, and we wish him well. The other brother still tarries among us, and we would not have him depart; but we hope in his behalf for more useful employment."

And then it quotes as follows from an exchange, concerning those who are working in behalf of the Lord's Sabbath:—

"We are sorry to see such a waste of time and pains. If the past shows anything, it shows that the vast majority of Christendom always has been, and it is now, firmly persuaded that the first day of the week is the day of rest by divine appointment. Can this judgment be reversed? Is there the remotest possibility that it ever will be? It seems to us that there can be but one answer to these questions. If so, then all the good intentions and conscientious convictions of our brethren do not hinder their efforts from being thrown away. Besides, there is the injurious effect of turning men's thoughts away from the due observance of the day to the very subordinate question of its numerical designation."

Not one hint of a question do we find in the above as to whether those who advocate the observance of the seventh day are really in the right, but only the consideration of popularity. "The vast majority of Christendom has been, and is now, firmly persuaded that the first day of the week is the day of rest." "And since there is no probability that this verdict will ever be reversed, what is the use of trying to show its fallacy?" So the people might have talked in the days of Noah. "We are fully persuaded that the course which to us seems good is right, and you might as well quit your preaching. Better come and join us."

Likewise when Lot went out to warn the inhabitants of Sodom, "he seemed as one that mocked." No doubt he was called an old fool for his pains. And in both of these cases it was found that there was not any possibility of changing the universal verdict. Will the Friend say that they ought to have ceased preaching? What does the Lord say?

"Cry aloud, spare not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and show my people their transgression, and the house of Jacob their sins." Isa. 58:1. "Son of man, I send thee to the children of Israel, to a rebellious nation that hath rebelled against me; they and their fathers have transgressed against me, even unto this very day. . . . And thou shalt speak my words unto them, whether they will hear, or whether they will forbear; for they are most rebellious." Eze. 2:3-7.

The question to be asked, then, is not, "Is the prevailing sentiment favorable to my message?" or, "Is there any hope of changing the general opinion?" but, "What is truth?" As a matter of fact, the majority of people have never been in the right, in spite of all efforts to lead them in the right way, and there is indeed no hope that they ever will be. Let us cite two authorities.

Luther, as a reformer, was very much like Elijah. In reality he was more alone than was the prophet. One of the strongest arguments brought against his work was that the pope, bishops, divines, councils, and universities were against him, and that he could not hope to convince them that they were in error. The majority never were convinced. But Luther replied as follows:—

"Moses was alone when the Israelites were led out of Egypt; Elijah was alone in the time of King Ahab; Ezekiel was alone at Babylon. God has never chosen for his prophet either the high priest, or any other person of exalted rank; he has generally chosen men of a mean and low condition,—in the instance of Amos, even a simple shepherd. The saints in every age have been called upon to rebuke the great of this world,—kings and princes, priests and scholars,—and to fulfill the office at the peril of their lives. . . . I say not that I am a prophet; but I say that they have the more reason to fear because I am alone, and they are many. Of this I am sure, that the word of God is with me, and that it is not with them."

"But it is further objected that men high in station pursue me with their censures. What then! Do not the Scriptures clearly show . . . that the majority has always been on the side of falsehood, and the minority only on the side of truth? It is the fate of truth to occasion an outcry."—D'Aubigné's Hist. Reformation, Part 1, Book 7, par. 168, 173.

For the second authority, we have only to refer to the overwhelming wickedness in the times of Noah and Lot, and then read these words of Christ, which bring the matter home to our own day:—

"And as it was in the days of Noe, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of man. They did eat, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, and the flood came, and destroyed them all. Likewise also as it was in the days of Lot; they did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they builded; but the same day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them all. Even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of man is revealed." Luke 17:26-30.

These illustrations are sufficient to show us that instead of appealing to common custom for proof of the correctness of any practice, that very fact ought to cause us to doubt. "The customs of the people are vain." Jer. 10:3. And it will not do to say that, in the instances mentioned, those who were in the majority, and wrong, were heathen, while, in the matter of Sunday observance, the majority are Christians. In Elijah's time it was the house of Israel—the church—that had taken Baal in preference to Jehovah. Ezekiel was sent with his warnings to the church of God; and in order that he might perform his thankless task, it was necessary that his face should be made "harder than flint." Moreover, he was plainly told that the house of Israel would not listen to him. Eze. 3:4-9. Isaiah was commanded to show God's people their transgression. John the Baptist lifted up his voice in the wilderness against the sins of the very leaders of the church. And it was solely on account of the corruption of the church that Luther began to preach the reformation. Since our reverence for God is measured only by our obedience, and not by our profession, all those who persist in violating any of God's commandments are termed heathen. Throughout the Bible, the judgments of God are pronounced only against the heathen; and many who say, "Lord, Lord," will receive those judgments. So in this matter, if it can be shown that God has commanded us to keep the seventh day of the week, those who work to that end are engaged in a profitable business, even though the professed church will not hear. Those who do his commandments shall have right to the tree of life.

Next week we shall continue this subject, and show that the "numerical designation" of the day is not a "subordinate question," and that whatever "injurious effects" may follow the preaching of truth, no blame can be attached to the few who thus labor against the majority. E. J. W.