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THE FAITH OF JESUS

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Publishing Committee · Rochester, N. Y. · Mar 14, 1854

FromReview and Herald, Vol. 5, No. 8.

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THE FAITH OF JESUS.

"Here is the patience of the saints; here are they that keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus." Rev. xiv, 12. "And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ." Chap. xii, 17.
We stated in our last that it was our design in this series of articles to call attention to that portion of the faith of Jesus which relates to present duty.
The moral condition of the world and the apostate church is thus described:—"As it was in the days of Noah," "likewise as it was in the days of Lot," "even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of man is revealed." "When the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth?"—JESUS.
"This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, without natural affection, truce-breakers, false-accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, traitors, heady, high-minded, lovers of pleasure more than lovers of God; having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away. For of this sort are they which creep into houses, and lead captive silly women laden with sins, led away with divers lusts; ever learning and never able to come to a knowledge of the truth. Now as Jannes and Jambres withstood Moses, so do these also resist the truth; men of corrupt minds, reprobate concerning the faith."-Paul.
The standard of piety is lowered into the very dust, the church is united with an unbelieving world, in its pride, fashions, love of this present world, its lusts and sins, yet has a "form of godliness;" and it is almost impossible to make men feel the importance of coming up to the high standard of holiness set forth in the testimony of Christ and the apostles. Those who shall be ready for the coming of the day of the Lord, will have to feel the importance of this subject, and come up to the gospel rule of consecration to God, and carry out in their lives the plain teachings of Christ and the apostles. The perils of the last days are upon us. A strong current now sets downward to perdition—a thousand unhallowed influences surround the Christian, which if yielded to, will surely lead him from God and heaven. O, may God help his people to arouse and watch.
Says Jesus:—"And take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and so that day come upon you unawares. For as a snare shall it come on all them that dwell on the face of the whole earth. Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man." Luke xxi, 34-36.
The warning of this text is of thrilling importance to all who are looking for the day of the Lord. Their dangers as well as duties are pointed out. The Lord help them to "take heed."
SURFEIT. —"To feed with meat or drink, so as to oppress the stomach and derange the functions of the system; to overfeed and produce sickness."—N. Webster. Surfeiting is not one of the least sins of the age. It is a sin of sufficient magnitude to call forth the most solemn warning to his people from the Great Head of the church. It was one of the great sins of the days of Noah, and is classed among the damning sins of the world at the period of the Second Advent. Look at the numerous editions of cookbooks, the many new inventions for cooking rich food to suit an unhealthy and unnatural taste. In this there is not only a waste of golden moments and of means in preparing so many kinds of rich food with which most tables are set, but the constitution is impaired, and the powers of the mind, which should be employed in the service of God, are stupified, and, in many cases, much injured. How painful are the scenes connected with the tea-table of many professed Christians. After much toil and anxiety, with the determination to excel in preparing rich dishes, the social circle gather round the table, God's blessing is gravely asked, then follows a long catalogue of excuses and polite falsehoods relative to the meanness of the food. O, shame on such Christians.
"Two things," says the wise man, "have I required of thee; deny me them not before I die. Remove far from me vanity and lies; give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with food convenient for me; lest I be full, and deny thee, and say, Who is the Lord? or lest I be poor, and steal, and take the name of my God in vain." Prov. xxx. 7-9.
Brethren, measure yourselves, not by worldly, proud, self-gratifying and popular professors around you, but by the gospel rule, and then see how much short you come. "Whether therefore ye eat or drink or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God." 1 Cor. x, 31. He who uses the filthy weed, may say that tobacco is not forbidden by the scriptures. True, we may not find the word tobacco in the Bible, but no sinner will pretend that he chews tobacco or smokes the pipe to the glory of God. He knows better. And who would dare stand before the Great Refiner and Purifier, at his coming, with a pipe in his mouth, or the filthy weed about his person! When the Apostle says, "Let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God," he means "flesh" as well as "spirit." We confess that we have no confidence in a sort of inward holiness, while one at the same time is gratifying the lusts of the flesh which war against the Spirit.
"Lovers of pleasure, more than lovers of God," is one of the sins of the "last days" church, "having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof." Self-gratification is the great sin of the age. The soul buried up in selfish interests, and lusts of the flesh, God and his threatened judgments are forgotten.
"But as the days of Noah were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. For as in the days that were before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered into the ark, and knew not until the flood came, and took them all away: so shall also the coming of the Son of man be." Matt. xxiv, 37-39.
To eat and drink in the days of Noah was necessary and right. It is the manner, or excess, that our Lord would impress us with. On a careless world rested the sin of eating and drinking to excess, or gluttony, and they perished by the waters of the flood.
"Even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of man is revealed." Luke xvii, 30. To eat and drink will be necessary till the close of this mortal state, but one of the great sins of the generation that witness the coming of the Lord, is feasting.
"Marrying and giving in marriage." That the marriage covenant was holy in the days of Noah, we doubt not, and fully believe it will be binding in all its sacredness till the coming of the Lord, but it was the manner or object of marrying in the days of Noah that moved the anger of the Almighty. "And it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born unto them, that the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair; and they took them wives of all which they chose. And the Lord said, My Spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh: yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years." Gen. vi, 1-3.
It seems by this that self-gratification was the only motive that moved men to marry in the days of Noah. Impulse took the place of reason and the fear of God. And we ask, How much improved is the mass of the present generation? Many marriage contracts are formed that religion or reason never dictated, and they result miserably. Children marry at an early age, knowing nothing of the sacredness of the marriage vows—marry, perhaps, against the wishes and entreaties of pious parents. These things have a demoralizing influence, and call down the frown of God. If ever the children of the Most High should tread softly, and take every step in wisdom, it should be in that period just prior to the revelation of the Son of God from heaven. No one is safe, unless they give earnest heed to the word of God, and follow its plain teachings. "Here are they that keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus."