Review and Herald, Vol. 46, No. 20. (11/18/1875)

Review and Herald

Nov 18, 1875

Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Nov 18, 1875

PERPETUITY OF SPIRITUAL GIFTS

By Joseph Harvey Waggoner

THE GIFTS AND OFFICES OF THE HOLY SPIRIT.—NO. 9.

BY ELD. J. H. WAGGONER.

PERPETUITY OF SPIRITUAL GIFTS.

No truth of the Bible can be more clearly proved than this, that the signs following the believers, spoken of by the Saviour in the great commission, are identical with the gift of the Holy Spirit which was promised by the apostles who first preached under that commission on the day of Pentecost; and these signs were designed to continue in the church as long as the commission is of force; or as long as the gospel is preached.

But some object that the commission itself was limited to the apostles, and expired with them, and, therefore, they say that promise is no longer extended to believers. Let us look at the result of this affirmation. The commission included two prominent points: a duty and a promise. The duty is baptism; the promise is of the signs or gift of the Holy Spirit. When the apostles first preached under this commission, these two were associated together. Now, if the promise is annulled by the expiration of the commission, then the duty enjoined has also expired. This cannot be controverted, that the apostles baptized under this commission, and by no other authority. Therefore, if the commission was for the apostles only, and expired with them, then there has existed no authority to baptize since their day; for no other authority in the gospel can be shown by which they or any others ever baptized. And it is a noteworthy fact that they who deny the perpetuity of the gifts, and of the commission under which they were promised to believers, yet go directly to Acts, to that day of Pentecost, for authority to baptize, both of precept and example. Such inconsistency on their part is evidence that they are in error. This thought should lead to more carefulness in taking their positions; for all can see that they are in error in regard to the commission and the gifts, or else the baptism they administer is unauthorized and unscriptural.

The perpetuity of the gifts is the subject of direct remark by another apostle who acted under this commission, in 1 Cor. 13:9, 10:—

“For we know in part, and we prophesy in part. But when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away.”

It is a truth to be deplored that men are sometimes so blinded as to rest their cause on the very texts which testify against them, as this has often been quoted by those who deny the perpetuity of the gifts. It is easy to catch at the sound of the words, “done away,” but quite another thing to point out the time when this shall be fulfilled. In regard to that we read further:—

“For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face; now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known.” Verse 12.

This shows that Paul looked forward to a time when he should know more and see more clearly than he then did by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. And when we consider that he had been caught up to the third heaven, and by “visions and revelations” had heard unspeakable words which it was not possible for a man to utter, and which, of course, exceeded in wisdom and glory all that he could speak or write, we see at a glance that the time is not yet in which that perfect is come, for the church has not yet attained unto wisdom and knowledge greater than that which the apostles possessed by inspiration. Therefore, “that which is in part” is not done away.

On this text, as on Eph. 4:8–11, an erroneous position is taken in reference to the object of the gifts. It has often been asserted that the gifts were conferred for the sole purpose of establishing the gospel in perfecting the canon of Scripture, and when the Revelation was completed they were withdrawn. But it is worthy of special notice that, when the apostles speak of the reasons of their being bestowed, that is never mentioned as being one of them. They are not given for the perfecting of a system of divinity, but, “for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry.” And so in 1 Cor. 13, Paul is not speaking of the establishment of a perfect system of theology by revelation, but of a time when the inspired ones shall see more clearly and know more perfectly than they could by that inspiration. Surely the church has not yet reached that time nor attained unto that position. We cannot know more nor see better by the aid of the revelation given than they could see and know who were inspired to give it. And especially is this true in regard to Paul, who saw and knew more than it was possible for him to write. And yet he knew only in part, and prophesied (for our instruction) only in part, and saw through a glass, darkly, by the spirit of prophecy, compared to the way we shall see and know when that which is perfect is come. Language could hardly be framed more clearly than 1 Cor. 13, to teach the perpetuity of the gifts, and to show that the time is not yet come for them to be done away.

The sum of all objections will be found to amount to this: They have ceased; therefore it was the design of the Lord that they should cease. But this is no reason at all; certainly it is no valid argument in favor of their having been abolished. In that manner a great declension of piety might be offered as proof that it was not designed that the spirit of piety should be perpetuated in the church. But where is the evidence that they have been done away? Where is the evidence that they have not been in existence since the days of the apostles? It does not exist. In favor of a position involving such consequences some clear and decisive evidence should be produced.

On the other hand, it is shown that the Scriptures contemplated their perpetuity. And in harmony with their teachings there is evidence clear and strong that they have existed since the days of the apostles. Moreover, there is proof that they exist even in our own generation. And why not? If they existed for a single century after the apostles, there is no reason, except the unbelief in the church, why they should not still exist. We call special attention to the following proposition: If a single well-attested instance of the manifestation of the spirit of prophecy, or of any gift of the Spirit, can be produced this side of the apostles, then the force of every argument and of every objection against their perpetuity throughout the Christian dispensation is entirely destroyed.

We have no sympathy with the course of those who quote history and offer the opinions of uninspired men to prove points of doctrine. But when we come to facts of existence we must appeal to history. And more especially are we warranted to do so in this case; for history attests the continued existence of that which the Scriptures inform us should continue to exist. Now we are brought to the question, Is there evidence that the gifts of the Spirit have existed and have been manifested in the church since the days of the apostles? The field is a very wide one. Testimony to almost any extent might be given; but we shall content ourselves with giving a few cases which we believe to be well authenticated.

Milner, speaking of the third century, says:—

“Though the miraculous dispensations attendant on Christianity form no part of the plan of this history, I cannot but observe on this occasion how strongly their continuance in the third century is here attested. Pionius affirms that devils were ejected by Christians in the name of Christ; and he does this in the face of enemies, who would have been glad of the shadow of an argument to justify their bitterness, resentment, and perfidy.”—Milner’s Church History, p. 143.

Cyprian speaks thus of the gifts of the Spirit:—

“Hence, an ability is given with sober chastity, uprightness of mind, and purity of language, to heal the sick, to extinguish the force of poison, to cleanse the filth of distempered minds, to speak peace to the hostile, to give tranquillity to the violent, and gentleness to the fierce, to compel, by menaces, unclean and wandering spirits, to quit their hold of men, to scourge the foe, and by torments bring him to confess what he is.”

Upon which Milner remarks:—

“The testimony here given to the ejection of evil spirits, as a common thing among Christians, even in the third century, deserves to be noticed as proof that miraculous influences had not ceased in the church. Indeed, the testimonies of the fathers in these times is so general and concurrent, that the fact itself cannot be denied without universally impeaching their veracity. We may safely, therefore, infer that such things were frequent among Christians.”—Church History*, Am. Ed., p. 254.

Mosheim, speaking of the progress of Christianity in the third century, says:—

“Among the causes which belong to the first of these classes we do not only reckon the intrinsic force of celestial truth, and the piety and fortitude of those who declare it to the world, but also that special and interposing Providence, which, by such dreams and visions as were presented to the minds of many who were inattentive to the Christian doctrine, or its professed enemies, touched their hearts with a conviction of its truth, and a sense of its importance, and engaged them without delay to confess themselves the disciples of Christ. To this may also be added the healing of diseases, and other miracles which many Christians were yet able to perform by invoking the name of the divine Saviour. The number of miracles, however, we find to have been much less in this, than in the preceding century; nor must this alteration be attributed only to the divine wisdom which rendered miraculous interpositions less frequent as they became less necessary, but also to that justice which was provoked to diminish the frequency of gifts, because some did not scruple to pervert them to mercenary purposes.”—History, vol. i. p. 78.

This diminution of the frequency of the gifts in the third century is just what might have been expected in view of the “falling away,” of which Paul prophesied, and which was then fully in progress; of the “grievous wolves” who should enter the church, the “false prophets” and the “damnable heresies,” of which Peter wrote, and whose “pernicious ways” so many followed by which the Spirit of God was grieved away. But we cannot see the reasonableness of the historian’s conclusion that the gifts were “less necessary” under such circumstances. Inasmuch as they were given “for the perfecting of the saints, for the edifying of the body of Christ,” they were really more necessary, but less frequent because of the unbelief and worldliness of the church.

Much more reasonable than the conclusion of Mosheim is the answer of Mr. Wesley to the question: “If you allow miracles before the empire became Christian, why not afterward?” He replied as follows:—

“Because after the empire became Christian, a general corruption both of faith and morals infected the Christian church; which, by that revolution, as St. Jerome says, ‘lost as much of her virtues as it had gained of wealth and power.’ And this very reason St. Chrysostom himself gave in the words you have afterward cited: ‘There are some who ask, Why are not miracles performed still? Why are there no persons who raise the dead, and cure diseases?’ To which he replies that it was owing to the want of faith, and virtue, and piety in those times.”—Wesley’s Works, p. 700.

Again, of the fourth century, Mosheim speaks thus:—

“But I cannot, on the other hand, assent to the opinions of those who maintain that, in this century, miracles had entirely ceased; and at this period the Christian church was not favored with any extraordinary or supernatural work of a divine power engaged in its cause.”—Church History, vol. i. p. 105.

In the time of the Reformation it was the belief that the Spirit of God was yet in the church, in its gifts, and in special answers to prayer. D’Aubigne says:—

“John Huss did more; prophetic words issued from the depths of his dungeon.”

Huss saw the Reformation about one hundred years before Luther came, and was, says D’Aubigne, “the John Baptist of the Reformation.”

Martin Luther not only believed in the direct interposition of God by the power of the Spirit, but he recorded the following remarkable case:—

“A woman at Isenack, lying very sick, had endured horrible paroxysms, which no physician was able to cure; for her indisposition was directly the work of the devil, and an unnatural thing, occasioned by devilish frightenings, insomuch that she fell into a faint swooning, and thereupon had four paroxysms, each enduring the space of three or four hours; her hands and feet bended in the manner of a horn. She was chill and cold, her tongue rough and dry; her body, by reason of the disease, was much swelled; she, seeing Luther, who came to visit her, was much rejoiced thereat, raised herself up and said, ‘Ah! my loving father in Christ, I have a heavy burden upon me. Pray to God for me;’ and so she fell down into her bed again—whereupon Luther fetched a deep sigh and said, ‘God rebuke and command thee, Satan, that thou suffer this his creature to be in peace!’ Then, turning himself to the standers-by, he said, ‘She is plagued of the devil in the body, but the soul is safe and shall be preserved. Therefore, let us give thanks to God and pray for her.’ And so they all repeated aloud the Lord’s prayer, after which Luther concluded with these words, ‘Lord God, Heavenly Father, who hast commanded us to pray for the sick, we beseech thee through thy only beloved Son, that thou wouldst deliver this, thy servant, from her sickness and from the hands of the devil. Spare, O Lord, her soul, which together with her body thou hast purchased and redeemed from the power of sin, of death, and of the devil.’ Whereupon the sick woman said, Amen. The night following she took good rest, and the next day was graciously delivered from her disease and sickness.”—Table Talk, p. 359.

Zuingle, of Switzerland, the great reformer, was seized by the plague called “great death,”

which was sweeping off its thousands; and he was so near gone that he was supposed by some to be dead; but he was miraculously restored in answer to prayer. D’Aubigne says:—

“The believers cried to God night and day, earnestly entreating that he would restore their faithful pastor. The prayer was answered and the news was soon flying everywhere that Zuingle had been snatched from the brink of the grave.”—Hist. Ref., vol. ii. p. 331.

Mr. Wesley records the following case of the healing of a Mrs. Jones, an eminently pious woman:—

“She had various physicians but still grew worse and worse; still perceiving herself to be no better, she left them off. She had a continual pain in her groin, with such a prolapsus uteri as soon confined her to her bed. There she lay two months helpless and hopeless; till a thought came one day into her mind, ‘Lord, if thou wilt, thou canst make me whole! Be it according to thy will!’ Immediately the pain and the distress ceased. Feeling herself well, she rose and dressed herself. Her husband coming in and seeing her in tears, asked, ‘Are these tears of serious joy?’ She said, ‘Of joy!’ On which they wept together. From that hour she felt no pain, but enjoyed perfect health. I think our Lord never wrought a plainer miracle, even in the days of his flesh.”—Wesley’s Journal, vol. iv. p. 748.

“WHAT THEY SAY.”

By Mrs. L. H. Sigourney

Wouldst thou know what troubles many, What annoys them night and day? Not a frightful myth or robber, But the spectre, “What they say.”

“What they say!” It haunts the maiden When the hat or dress she buys, Goads the matron till she maketh Husband’s purse a sacrifice.

To the orator it clingeth, Daunts the statesman in his dream, With the pulpit-teacher stealeth ’Tween him and his highest theme.

“What they say!” Well let them say it, Airy echo, fleet as dew, When they’ve breathed it, ’tis forgotten, They who hear, forget it too.

Wouldst thou know what rules the million? Themis, with her ancient sway? Pomp and tramp of banner’d legions? No—the bubble, “What they say?” —Mrs. L. H. Sigourney.

The Christian Sabbath.

By A. S. Hutchins

October 17, I listened to a sermon at Essex Junction, in vindication of the “Christian Sabbath,” delivered by the Methodist minister who preaches in this place. Considering the ability of the speaker, and his familiarity with our views on the Sabbath question, he certainly had the advantage of many who oppose us on this subject. The Sabbath question had been thoroughly investigated, the arguments from the word of God sustaining this ancient institution presented, and the objections to it candidly examined and answered by Eld. D. M. Canright, in a series of sermons delivered during our tent-meetings here.

These sermons by Eld. C. had awakened an interest in the subject and led to an investigation of it throughout this community, and deep and solemn conviction bore heavily upon the minds of many that the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Bible, and that its observance is binding upon Christians. Furthermore, some ten or more have, in this section, commenced to hallow the Sabbath of the fourth commandment since our camp-meeting last August, some of whom formerly held an honorable connection with the Methodist church.

Now it seems but just and reasonable if the flock of this pastor were being led into pernicious errors in doctrine and practice, that at this late date, he should be prepared to terribly shake the foundations of Sabbatarians, expose and refute their unwholesome doctrines, and present a scriptural basis for the Christian Sabbath. For in the Judgment, the watchman must not only meet those over whom he is set to watch, but he must meet the record of his warnings, of the truths or errors he has taught his people.

The text to which our minds were directed, called by the speaker “a golden text,” reads: “And when these days are expired, it shall be, that upon the eighth day, and so forward, the priests shall make your burnt offerings upon the altar, and your peace offerings; and I will accept you, saith the Lord God.” Eze. 43:27.

The help claimed from this text was that the term “eighth day,” fairly intimates a change of the Sabbath. The reader will observe that this vision of the prophet has reference to the temple, the altar, and the services connected therewith. The verse preceding the text reads, “Seven days shall they purge the altar and purify it; and they shall consecrate themselves.” And the eighth day in the text manifestly has allusion to the day succeeding these seven. And even if it could be proved that an eighth day can be forced into a cycle of seven days, and that that eighth day, so pressed into the cycle, should be, and is, constituted the first day of the seven, what any or all of these facts have to do in elevating the eighth day to the rank of the Christian Sabbath, theologians must explain; for the common people cannot comprehend it. And when explained and received, if received at all, it must be on the ground of the little boy’s great confidence in the declarations of his good mother, which led him to exclaim: “What my mother says is so, is so, if it is not so.”

Again, it was argued that the Sabbath might be changed from one day to another, and yet remain the Sabbath owned and approved of the Lord. This proposition was supported by reference to the fact that the church of God has passed through various forms of government, and passed from one dispensation to another, and yet remains the true church.

In connection with this, we were informed that the fourth commandment does not enjoin the observance of the seventh day, but of the Sabbath! “Why, then,” said he, “be such sticklers for a particular day?” We answer, Simply because the word of God enjoins a definite day, and that is the seventh day. “And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it; because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made.” “But the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God; . . . wherefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day, and hallowed it.”

It was the day that God rested upon, the day that he blessed, the day that he commanded to be kept holy. Remove from the fourth commandment of the decalogue the day, and the Sabbath institution at once disappears. Again we were informed that we cannot determine the true seventh day. That there is no certainty of arriving at the seventh day by commencing the count of days on Sunday more than by commencing the count on Monday.

Yet, it was affirmed that as Christ lay in the grave on the seventh day, that day could no longer be a day of joy and gladness to his people, but that the day of his resurrection was one of triumphant joy, and that this day had from that time forward been regarded by Christians as the Sabbath. The propriety of such a change was maintained on the ground that if the physical creation needed a memorial, much more did the redemption of the world. Now admitting, as was claimed, that the work of redemption far surpasses that of the creation of the world, where in the Bible is there one intimation given that the first day should be kept sacred for this reason? This point demands attention from the advocates of this theory.

But to return to the statement that the seventh day has been lost while the first day has been religiously observed from the resurrection. How can this be true, while we learn from inspiration, of a portion at least of Christ’s followers, that the Sabbath on which he lay in the tomb they rested “according to the commandment”? Luke 23:56. Can the first day be traced with certainty back to the resurrection? Why, then, can not the seventh day?

But in the very heart of the argument to prove the Sabbath changed to the first day, and that day clothed with all the distinguishing honors of the Sabbatic institution, the speaker waived the tenor of his reasoning, and summoned to his aid those texts of Scripture appealed to by the advocates of the no-Sabbath or no-law theory, in proof of the abolition of the holy Sabbath. Laboring as though sustained now by correct premises and logical conclusions, God’s memorial of his creative works seemed to sink away and pass out of existence with the Jewish rites, ceremonies, and shadows.

That the ceremonial law, with its numerous burdensome rites, was “abolished,” taken out of the way, nailed to the cross, the Scriptures do abundantly prove. But if the Sabbath of the Lord was abolished, with the types and shadows of the former dispensation, it seems the height of incongruity to talk of a change of the Sabbath. An intelligent audience cannot comprehend this mode of reasoning. If the Sabbath has been changed by divine authority, we ask for the proof from the word of God. If it has been abolished, having served its time and object, why speak of it as still living and binding upon saint or sinner?

Mr. Webster defines abolished to mean “annulled;” “repealed;” “abrogated, or destroyed.” Abolition, he defines, “utter destruction; as the abolition of laws, decrees, ordinances, rites, customs, debts, &c.” This morning I put this question to a very intelligent lawyer: If at the next session of our legislature some one of our statute laws should be repealed, could we with propriety speak of that law as having been changed? His answer was, “No, sir; a law that is repealed, is dead.”

I think the candid reader cannot fail to see that our friend in maintaining the abolition of the Sabbath, completely nullified his claim for its change to the Christian Sabbath. The Bible Sabbath, like its twin sister, marriage, comes down to us from the glory of Eden, before the fall of man; and on the earth made new, and “full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea,” it will be honored and observed, by the saved of all “nations, and kindreds, and people.”

Now, if it be claimed that under this dispensation another day is to be kept from that blessed and sanctified in the beginning, with another reason for its observance, to the advocates of this theory, we submit the following questions:— 1. Where and when was the Sabbath changed from the seventh to the first day? 2. Who made the change, and where is the record of it? 3. Why was this change made? 4. When, where, and by whom was the first day blessed and sanctified, so that it is now holy time? 5. Where is there one blessing pronounced upon Christians for observing the first day as the Sabbath, or one curse threatened for not keeping it holy, or one intimation given that man stands condemned as a sinner in the sight of God for its non-observance? “For where no law is, there is no transgression.” Rom. 4:15. “Sin is not imputed when there is no law.” Rom. 5:13. We do not ask for inferences in settling such important questions, nor a claim for apostolic example unaccompanied by plain precept. We want as direct and positive evidence for the change of the Sabbath to the first day, as we have of the institution of the Sabbath in the beginning. And we ask, If by divine authority the Sabbath has been changed, what event now commemorates God’s creative works, as does the Sabbath of the fourth commandment, by which his “eternal power and Godhead,” are made known?

A. S. HUTCHINS.

Irasburgh, Vt.

The Issue of the Near Future.

By J. O. Colliss

The Rev. L. L. Rogers, Vice President of the Methodist Educational Society, said in a recent speech:—

“It is my candid opinion that our common schools must eventually be Bibleless and prayerless. So long as all do not believe in Christ and the Scriptures, I do not see how we can stand by our principles as Americans, and yet force people to hear the Bible read as the word of God. In the interests of Christianity, I advise that Bible reading and prayer be discontinued in the public schools where persistent objection is made to them by lawful patrons.”

The above language called forth the following remarks from a writer in the San Francisco Weekly Post, in which he speaks the sentiment of many leading minds of to-day, and shows the position they may be expected to maintain in the coming conflict:—

“To analyze the opinion of the reverend gentleman, and weigh it by the old, the heroic, standard of American faith, we become more convinced than ever that Gladstone was correct when he lately announced that ‘the marked want of the church to-day is the want of great men as leaders’—men, we will add, who have a supreme faith in God, in his word, and in his providences—men who have the nerve to ‘stand by principle,’ though ‘all do not believe in Christ and the Scriptures’—men who, discerning the indissoluble relations between the Bible and free government, are ready to labor at any cost to interweave its ethics and its republican sentiments into the early education of the citizen.

“Our institutions to-day are mainly resting upon the moral credit of our republican ancestry—the credit of a period when the Bible was the text book of ethics in the public school, the sole volume of inspiration at the hearth-stone; when an American Congress did not deem it beneath its dignity to have the Scriptures printed and circulated as a moral and political necessity among the people. Ordained expositors of the divinity, the sublime philosophy, and the prepotent influence of the Bible, may practically ignore their professed faith in their recommendations to exclude the Sacred Writings from our schools as a reading book; but they may as well arouse themselves first as last to the overshadowing fact that a crisis is approaching on this very question, in which they must either advance and take a more consistent stand, or retreat and make a more consistent profession.

“The prophecy of a ‘coming revolution,’ uttered by the eloquent Rabbi at the Mason street synagogue on Saturday last, is no less inspired than were the words of the old Hebrew seers. He who cannot hear the tread of ‘coming revolution’ is deaf to the footsteps of the future. The foundations of free government with us are not yet securely laid, and will not be until out of the fires of another revolution—moral at least—there springs up a purer national faith—a faith that draws its inspiration from the Bible. The re-establishing of the early custom of reading and chanting portions of the Scriptures in the public schools, and the complete rescue of our system of municipal instruction from anti-republican influences, is the dominant question of the near future, destined to force to the front, unmasked, every element of our national life, and lead to a decisive and permanent solution of the American idea of government and of its auxiliaries. The Bible in the schools is a question we cannot evade if we would. It embodies a principle too vital for us to entirely ignore, and as a result it is gradually but irresistibly crowding upon us as if by divine necessity.”

“We, however, rest in the faith that every great emergency, involving sacred public interests calls up at the right hour its hero to inspire and to lead. So, in the coming conflict of Bible or no Bible in the public schools, of national loyalty to the revealed law of God, or national apostasy, we are sure that in the fullness of time, regardless of ecclesiastical opinion or decree, the hero will come who shall be instrumental in leading the Republic to a higher and a grander plane.”

Thus we hear the distant muttering of the elements, presaging the storm which is destined soon to break upon the inhabitants of this country with overwhelming force; at least to those who do not watch the gathering cloud. But the careful student of prophecy looks steadily forward with an eye of faith, calmly awaiting the issue which he knows is but one more of the numerous waymarks given as precursors of the coming reign.

J. O. COLLISS.

Things that Trouble Israel.

By Thos. J. Cross

“Art thou he that troubleth Israel?” was the language addressed to Elijah the prophet by Ahab, a wicked king in Israel. But Elijah answered, “I have not troubled Israel; but thou, and thy father’s house, in that ye have forsaken the commandments of the Lord, and thou hast followed Baalim.”

There was trouble in Israel, and there was a cause for the afflictions which they suffered. The chastening hand of God was heavy upon them. Three years and six months there had been neither dew nor rain. This was a fearful judgment, and Ahab ascribed it to the prophet of the Most High, and held him responsible. But the prophet met him boldly, “Thou and thy father’s house” have brought this calamity upon Israel, “in that ye have forsaken the commandments of the Lord.” The record of Ahab is that he exceeded all that were before him in wickedness. When the law of God has been set at naught there ever has been trouble, and such will ever be the result of its violation.

In this interesting portion of sacred history an important point is illustrated. It is that great and continued wickedness will be followed, sooner or later, by judgments. The destruction of the old world by the flood and the fearful doom of the cities of the plains, together with the fate of empires and cities that once flourished, and were notorious for their wickedness, but have now passed away, afford unmistakable evidence that sin will not go unpunished. Whatsoever is sowed that also must be reaped. Like causes produce like effects. If the curse of God at different periods has rested upon the world because of sin, is it strange that such should be the case now when the earth groans beneath her load of accumulated crime and moral pollution? And not only is Israel troubled, but the world at large is reaping the whirlwind and the storm. There are calamities by sea and by land, droughts and floods, famines and pestilences. Then come the armies of grasshoppers, leaving desolation, want, and ruin in their wake. Truly they are a burden, and men’s hearts fail for fear and for looking after the things that are coming on the earth.

What do these things portend? Has God ceased to be gracious? Are nature’s laws reversed? or do all these things happen by chance? Nothing of the kind. There is an almighty and gracious Ruler who holds the reins of universal government, and who does not permit even a sparrow to fall to the ground without his notice. He is long-suffering to us ward; but when mercies are slighted and trampled upon, when no just return is rendered, and when light is rejected until it becomes darkness, then in the end the judgments of God will overtake the guilty.

“Oh, that thou hadst hearkened to my commandments! then had thy peace been as a river, and thy righteousness as the waves of the sea.” Thus does God address his erring and rebellious people. And the mission of the church, is set forth in the following words of the infallible Teacher: “Ye are the light of the world;” “the salt of the earth.” The church, the Israel of God, were to receive and reflect the true light from the great Head. But the church has conformed to the world, to its spirit and practice, until the line of demarcation, once so clearly defined, is nearly faded out. And yet the church has increased in popularity until she feels that she has need of nothing. Not long ago, one of the eloquent, popular teachers of the day said, “Another hundred years of religious prosperity like the past, and this world will all be converted to Christ.” Oh, blind, indeed, to the teachings of the sure word of prophecy, and the signs of the times! The tares are taking deep root and ripening for the harvest of the last day. Iniquity abounds, and the love of many waxes cold. And yet the cry of “peace and safety” is heard on every side.

Teaching for doctrines the commandments and traditions of men, and thus making void

the law of God troubles Israel. As it was in the days of Elijah and Ahab, so it is now, in these latter times. Sin, which is the transgression of the law, and a reproach to any people, is the cause of all our trouble. Every pang that has ever wrung the human heart has been in consequence of the violation of law. Handling the word of the Lord deceitfully, putting darkness for light, and light for darkness, teaching that the law is abolished and fables for truth, these are what trouble Israel.

What, then, is truth? and where found but in the word of inspiration? Where, then, is the objection to that law which is holy, just, and good? The objection is found only in the carnal mind which is not subject to it, neither indeed can be. Let the old leaven of iniquity be purged out, and Christ formed within the hope of glory, and our eyes will be opened to behold wondrous things out of the law. It is to the obedient “the perfect law of liberty,” and their song while in the house of their pilgrimage. THOS. J. CROSS.

Continue reading: Arrangements for the Centennial