Signs of the Times, Vol. 21, No. 36. (9/12/1895)

Signs of the Times

Sep 12, 1895

Pacific Press Publishing Company · Oakland, California · Sep 12, 1895

The Sure Foundation.—

CHRIST is not a fountain from which we may only occasionally quaff on our pilgrim way, and by which we need to tarry in order to drink, and which we leave when we pursue our journey. He is a river by the way, streams of water in the desert; yea, more, he is a well of water springing up in the soul to everlasting life. He desires to go with us all the way.

The Sure Foundation.—

Build your character on a strong and broad foundation. There is no better than the rock of God's truth. Dig deep through the errors of Satan, through the traditions and rubbish of centuries, and find the truth as taught by Jesus Christ and his prophets and apostles. All other foundations will prove to be without foundation in the storms of the last days. The rubbish and the dry husks of tradition will be burned, the sand of error will be washed away by the flood, but the truth of God will stand forever. O, build on the word of God!

Leave It with the Lord.—

“Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord;” or, in other words, the Lord expressly declares that he will justly punish all evil doings. Then a cherished desire to avenge a wrong upon others is either a denial of faith and exaltation of self, or a doubt concerning the justice of our cause. If we doubt whether our cause is right, we know that we can not make God our counselor and arbiter in an unjust cause. If we feel it to be just, and that justice demands punishment, and seek to execute that punishment ourselves, we exalt ourselves above God, and say in effect that we could do better than can he. The cherished desire for revenge is based upon the supremest selfishness. The Supreme Unselfishness said, “Father, forgive them; they know not what they do.” Let this be our prayer. “Pray for them that despitefully use you and persecute you.” So will Christ be our Advocate and God our Judge. What do we want better?

From Munkacsy's Celebrated Painting. CHRIST BEFORE PILATE. From “Bible Readings.”

ON TRIAL.

By Ellet Joseph Waggoner

In last week’s issue we made brief mention of the appearance of the managing director of the International Tract Society—the missionary agency of the Seventh-day Adventists—before the Clerkenwell Police Court, London, Eng., to answer for Sunday work. In this we desire to show what is really involved in the case.

In the first place, let it be clearly understood that these facts and statements are not published for the sake of eliciting sympathy for the society. Much less is it for the purpose of arousing any feeling against the authorities, who are so courteous in the performance of what they conceive to be their duty. We would ask our readers to leave us and the amount of the fine entirely out of the question, and to think only of the truth involved, and of their own relation to it. It is not the International Tract Society, but the truth of God, that is called in question. But when truth is put upon trial, if it be indeed the truth, it becomes the judge, before whom even judges and kings, in common with the people, are called to render account.

When Jesus Christ, who is the Truth, was before Pontius Pilate, the question which that governor asked was, “What shall I do then with Jesus, which is called Christ?” Matt. 27:22. The people cried out, “Let him be crucified.” Thus the people, as well as Pilate, acted as judges in the case. Against Jesus, “both Herod, and Pontius Pilate, with the gentiles, and the people of Israel, were gathered together.” Acts 4:27.

Truth is the final judge of all. It is a trite saying that nothing is ever settled until it is settled right; but nothing is ever settled right until it is settled according to truth.

Every judgment, therefore, which is contrary to the truth will at last be reversed. In this life truth is on trial, not simply before civil courts, but before all the people. Each one for himself is called upon to decide what shall be done with the truth. But while the truth is thus on trial, it is in reality the people themselves who are on trial; for as they judge the truth, so will the truth judge them. The day of judgment will simply be the announcement of the judgment which people have in this life pronounced upon themselves in their dealing with the truth.

This case, therefore, instead of being the International Tract Society before the Clerkenwell Police Court, is the truth before the people, and it is before this court that the truth appears to plead. What then is the truth in the case?

Clearing the Way.

In order to get at the exact truth, it is necessary to clear away any mistaken ideas that may exist. Therefore let it be emphasized that there is no question of “sweating” employees, or in any way whatever infringing upon their rights. In making the charge before the court, the factory inspector said that the persons who were mentioned in the charges were “protected persons,” and that it was forbidden to employ them on Sunday. But the fact is that in this case, at least, it is Sunday alone that is sought to be protected.

The young women in question do work that is ordinarily done by women in a printing house. They work at their own desire. Like the women who followed Jesus to the cross and the tomb, they rest the Sabbath day according to the commandment (Luke 23:55, 56), and in harmony with the same commandment they labor on the first day of the week. If the society should refuse to employ them on that day, they would work upon it just the same, wherever they could find proper work to do. It is evident, therefore, that it is ridiculous to speak of such persons as being “protected” by the Factory Act.

What Is the True Rest Day?

The real question at issue is incidentally stated in the Chronicle’s comments upon the case. We quote from its issue of August 3:—

The managing director of the eccentric body known as the Seventh-day Adventists was again before Mr. Haden Corser yesterday for putting the peculiar principles of the body into practice by employing women on Sunday. It is the cherished faith of this particular sect that it is sinful to work on Saturday, and accordingly its employees make holiday on that day. This, of course, is purely a matter for the Adventists themselves; but when they seek to restore a balance which they conceive to be wrong by making Sunday an ordinary working day, Her Majesty’s inspectors would be neglecting their duty if they did not take note of the circumstance.

We have emphasized the words in the Chronicle’s statement which indicate the real question at issue. It is not primarily a question of whether or not certain individuals shall be employed at a given work, but it is whether or not Sunday shall be made “an ordinary working day.” This is the real case, and we will now proceed with the evidence, which is all upon one side.

The Commandment.

God came down from Mount Sinai “with ten thousands of saints,” and “Mount Sinai was altogether on a smoke because the Lord descended upon it in fire; and the smoke thereof ascended as the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mount quaked greatly.” “Out of the midst of the fire, of the cloud, and of the thick darkness,” God spoke the ten commandments “with a great voice.” Here is the fourth:—

“Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labor, and do all thy work; but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God; in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates; for in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day; wherefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day, and hallowed it.” Ex. 20:8–11.

Sanctifying the Sabbath.

God blessed the Sabbath day, the seventh day, and sanctified it. He made it holy, and he calls upon men to keep it holy. Not that men can by any act of theirs diminish its holiness, but by profaning it they bring sin upon themselves.

To sanctify is to set apart for a sacred use, and to distinguish the thing sanctified from everything else. By his own word God has distinguished the seventh day of the week from every other day of the week, and has said that cessation from secular labor on that day is to be the mark by which its sanctity is recognized.

It is evident, therefore, that the seventh day cannot be kept holy according to God’s command unless it is regularly observed as a rest day, and every other day of the week is habitually used as a working day. Work on Sunday is not for the purpose of restoring a balance conceived to be wrong, but in simple recognition of the explicit command of the God of the universe.

To Whom Given.

“The Sabbath was made for man.” Mark 2:27. The Sabbath commandment, therefore, is for every man, no matter what his position in this world.

Moreover, it was made at the creation, and given to the head of the human family. It is the memorial of the creation of the heavens and the earth, and consequently a mark of the power of the Creator, calling to mind his power to create man anew in Christ Jesus. The fourth commandment therefore demands the obedience of every soul on earth.

A Matter of Fact.

It should be noted that the question of the Sabbath is not one of somebody’s belief or interpretation, but of fact. Those who have the matter of the day of rest before them, whether they be lawmakers, judges, or workingmen, have not to take account of men’s opinions or beliefs, but of hard and plain facts. They have not to deal with what people may think, but with what God says. The commandment is so explicit that there is no chance for misunderstanding it. That this is so may be shown by some made by people of widely differing profession. None of them, however, observe the seventh day, which makes their statements all the more forcible.

THE “STANDARD.”

To begin with the latest that has come to our notice, we quote from the Evening Standard of August 3. In speaking of the case in question it said:—

The magistrate who has to deal with cases of this sort is not to be envied. It is indisputable that the seventh day, not the first, was set apart for rest and worship. There is nothing more than tradition to explain how or when or why the early Christians exchanged the seventh day for the first. Mr. Haden Corser did wisely to refuse all argument, insisting upon the law—so did Pilate, his victim might explain.

MR. GLADSTONE.

In his article on “The Lord’s Day,” in the March number of the Church Monthly, Mr. Gladstone said:—

The seventh day of the week has been deposed from its title to obligatory religious observance, and its prerogative has been carried over to the first, under no direct precept of Scripture.

THOMAS SCOTT.

In commenting on Acts 20:7, concerning the rest day, Mr. Scott wrote:—

The change from the seventh day to the first appears to have been gradually and silently introduced, by example rather than by express precept.

CANON EYTON.

In a series of sermons on “The Ten Commandments,” preached at Holy Trinity, Chelsea, and published in 1894 by Kegan Paul, Trench, Trübner & Co., Mr. Eyton, after having stated that “the Sabbath was the solemn recalling of God to the mind of the people,” said:—

The observance of Sunday in the Christian church comes to us with quite a different sanction, based on different grounds, from that of the Jewish Sabbath. It rests upon no direct divine command; no word is said about it in the New Testament. . . . There is no word, no hint, in the New Testament about abstaining from work on Sunday. —Pages 61, 62.

Again:—

Into the rest of Sunday no divine law enters.—Page 65.

Still further:—

The observance of Ash Wednesday or Lent stands on exactly the same footing as the observance of Sunday.—Page 65.

REV. ISAAC WILLIAMS, B.D.

In a book entitled “Plain Sermons on the Catechism,” published by Longman’s, Green & Co., 1894, the above-named churchman makes the following statements:—

Where are we told in Scripture that we are to keep the first day at all? We are commanded to keep the seventh; but we are nowhere commanded to keep the first day.—Page 334.

The reason why we keep the first day of the week holy instead of the seventh is for the same reason that we observe many other things, not because the Bible, but because the church, has enjoined it.—Page 336.

CANON KNOX-LITTLE.

This eminent churchman, in his book on “Sacerdotalism,” in which he pleads for certain customs not warranted by the example of Christ, says:—

It is certain that our Lord when on earth did observe Saturday, and did not observe Sunday; but no one, as far as I know, has ever been called a “sacerdotalist”

for departing from his undoubted habit of “resting on the seventh day.”—Page 75.

And again, referring to those who urged the example of Christ against the rites which the Canon upholds, he says:—

Their effort strictly to adhere to our Lord’s example to the letter, in spite of the usage of the church, implies that they know better what our Lord desired than his church. If they are consistent, as I have said, they must keep Saturday, not Sunday, as the day of rest.—Page 92.

THE LATE DR. R. W. DALE.

In 1871 a book entitled “The Ten Commandments,” written by this eminent Congregationalist, was published by Hodder & Stoughton, of whom it has been said that their imprint is a certificate of orthodoxy. In that we read:—

It is quite clear that, however rigidly or devotedly we may spend Sunday, we are not keeping Sabbath. The Sabbath was founded on a specific divine command. We can plead no such command for the obligation to observe Sunday.—Page 106.

There is no reason to believe that the apostles required their converts to keep the first day of the week as a day of rest.—Page 112.

As it was difficult to determine the exact time when Jewish Christians ceased to rest on the Sabbath, it is also difficult to determine the exact time when Christians generally began to rest on Sunday.—Page 110.

“Eccentricity.”

Time and space do not permit us to quote all the admissions of a similar nature which we have in hand. What is the evidence?—Simply this, that the Scriptures of God enjoin the observance of the seventh day of the week as a sacred day of rest, and the use of Sunday as an “ordinary working day.” And yet a body of Christians who follow the word of God and the example of Jesus Christ, are styled “eccentric” for so doing. Well, it is better to be eccentric than disobedient. Why these men from whom we have quoted do not observe the Sabbath of the Bible instead of a day for which there is no divine authority whatever, is for them to settle with the Lord. But the fact that they excuse themselves from obeying his plain command is no warrant for others to do likewise.

The Human against the Divine.

From what has preceded, it is very evident that the question to be settled is one of authority; it is a question of whether God or man is the source of authority.

It is as true as God’s word, that the seventh day of the week is the only rest day God ever appointed, and that by his command all other days of the week are ordinary working days.

It is also a fact that men, solely on their own motion, have presumed to substitute another day for the Sabbath of the Lord. It is not necessary just now to inquire into the origin of this change; it is enough to know that it was done by men, without any divine authority, and in the face of God’s commandment. The magistrate said that Parliament had made the Factory Act, which requires the recognition of Sunday as a rest day, and that he would not be doing his duty if he did not impose a penalty for the violation of it. The inspectors also say that they would not be doing their duty if they did not prosecute for the neglect to regard it. Now those men would be perfectly right if Parliament were supreme; but there is another side to the question.

God has sanctified the seventh day as the Sabbath, distinguishing it from all other days by making them ordinary working days. Now we say that we, including magistrate, officers, and people with ourselves, are not doing our duty if we do not obey the Lord. Parliament itself is composed only of men. They are not God but are subject to him. It is as much the duty of members of Parliament to obey the Lord as it is that of the humblest man. And no man is absolved from his duty to God because members of Parliament have been so unmindful of their duty to God as to enact laws in direct opposition to his law. With all respect to Parliament, we are bound to consider it as infinitely inferior to God, and its authority as nothing as compared with his. We say, therefore, “We ought to obey God rather than men.” And this duty rests upon magistrates and other officers of the law as much as it does upon us.

Defiance of the Law.

It has been said that the International Tract Society, in continuing Sunday work, notwithstanding the prohibition of the Factory Act, is defying the law. This comes from taking a very superficial and narrow view of the case. Let us look farther and deeper.

God is supreme. He is the Creator. His law existed before there was a man or a nation. It is the law for all mankind and the universe. Now, if it seems to the magistrate and to others that a simple failure to comply with a human law that prohibits labor on Sunday is defiance of that law, what will they say of the making of that law in open opposition to the law of God? Is not that where the defiance of the law comes in? The very existence of Sunday laws on the statute books is an open insult to God, and a defiance of his authority.

Let us make this matter clear by an illustration. Here is a family of a dozen children. Their father sets them all at work, giving express directions as to how the work shall be done. In order that no mistake may be made, he writes out the directions very plainly.

Very soon they become careless, and almost before they are aware of it they find themselves doing exactly contrary to the directions. Only one has been faithful. The rest say, “Well, our way is just as good, and we will continue it.” But this is not all. Not content with disobeying orders, they pass a formal vote that their way shall be followed by all, and then, because the one still clings to the original instructions, they accuse him of defying them. Any one can see that the fact is that he is not defying them, because they have no authority in the matter, but that they are guilty of the most daring act of defiance.

The application is easy, and the parallel perfect. God has made of one blood all nations of men. He is the Father of all, both high and low. All men, no matter what their birth or station, are alike subject to his authority. His law says that the seventh day is the Sabbath, and that the other days are laboring days. But certain men have taken it upon themselves (that is Mr. Gladstone’s language) to alter his ordinance, and to say to their fellows, “You must recognize another day as the Sabbath.” Some, however, continue quietly to obey the law of the Lord, and they are charged with defying the law.

But what are the facts?—Simply this, that the law which thrusts itself into the face of God’s law has no jurisdiction whatever. To disregard it is not to defy law, but is the only way in which one can be truly law-abiding.

When our fellow-mortals forget or despise the claims which God has upon them in common with us, and enact laws contrary to his, they are simply presuming to act where they have no jurisdiction. It is no one’s duty to obey such a law, and much less to enforce it upon others. On the contrary, it is the duty of all to obey God rather than man. When human law opposes the law of God, it is the solemn duty of every man to break that human law, since only by so doing can they obey God. Not England, but the God of the universe, expects every man to do his duty.

Guilty or Not Guilty.

It is stated in the papers that the managing director in behalf of the society pleaded guilty. Perhaps the court took it so, but it was not the case. He was not asked to state whether he was guilty or not. He was simply asked if he admitted the charge that certain persons had been allowed to work on Sunday, and as an honest man he could do no other than say that he did. But that was not an admission of guilt. He could not by any possibility have pleaded guilty, since no manner of guilt attached to Sunday work, or to the employment of willing laborers on Sunday.

But the great court day is fast approaching when the Judge of all shall sit, and all men, “small and great,” shall stand before him, to hear the decision of their cases. In that day no allowance will be made for the fact that a man held an office in civil government; for God “without respect of persons judgeth according to every man’s work.”

The law of God will be the sole standard in that judgment. As the result of what it says, every mouth is stopped, and all the world stand guilty before God. All have broken that holy law. Legislators, in passing laws, have simply been doing in a formal way what every man has done in his heart, for all have rebelled against God’s authority. “All have sinned and come short of the glory of God.” “Who then can be saved?”

With men it would be impossible, but God’s infinite love and wisdom make it possible for “whosoever will.” The case is thus: We are all guilty. If we, whether kings, judges, officers, or common people, continue until the judgment day to put human will and human authority above God’s will and authority, we shall have no power to plead,

for our mouths will be stopped. “Guilty” will be stamped upon our faces.

But if now we plead guilty, acknowledging our wicked rebellion against God, and our usurpation of his authority, we shall be guiltless in that day, for “if we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness,” “If any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous; and he is the propitiation for our sins; and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world,” for the sins of rulers and judges as well as for those of the most obscure in this world.

The invitation, therefore, which we extend to all in this time, when men are being tried to see on whose side they will elect to stand at last, is to come to Jesus, the Lord of the Sabbath day, and find in him true Sabbath rest, the sanctification from sin. E. J. W.

BLESSED ARE THE MERCIFUL.

By Ellen G. White

BY MRS. E. G. WHITE.

“BLESSED are the merciful; for they shall obtain mercy.” We are continually receiving rich mercies from the hands of God. “God so loved the world, that he gave his only-begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” Jesus has commanded, saying, “Be ye therefore merciful, as your Father also is merciful.” The merciful man does good to his own soul; for the merciful shall obtain mercy. The possession of this precious grace produces the fruit of kindliness and love. The hardness, the coldness of heart that many professing Christians cherish, is a characteristic of the great apostate. Were Christlike mercy exercised by all who profess to be Christ’s followers, the world would bear an altogether different aspect. Praise would ascend to God from many voices that are now silent. The love and tenderness of Christ revealed in the characters of those who are his followers, would beget love in others. It is impossible for us to represent Christ, and be cold, unsympathetic, and bound about by selfishness.

We are placed in this world, and surrounded by men and women who need our compassion, and we are responsible for putting into exercise the tender mercies of our God. He has richly bestowed upon us his love, and deposited with us his mercy, that we may become stewards of the same, in ministering his love to others. Paul writes: “If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am become as sounding brass, or a clanging cymbal. And if I have the gift of prophecy, and know all mysteries, and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing.” Suffering humanity continually surrounds us, and demands the exercise of mercy. “The poor ye have always with you.”

It is the duty of the children of God to be all light in the Lord, and scatter blessings upon the path of others. They are not to say, “Be ye warmed, and be ye fed,” and do nothing to relieve the necessities of those who are in want. The Lord would have his children actively engaged in works of mercy. There are broken-hearted ones who need the expression of kindly words, who need practical help to relieve their necessities. With many life is a painful struggle. They feel their deficiencies, and are miserable and unbelieving. They think they have nothing for which to be grateful. Let the sons and daughters of God reveal the Christlike attributes of character, administering to these needy souls. Let them show what a great debt of gratitude they owe to God as recipients of temporal and spiritual good.

We are the Lord’s purchased possession, and as his human agents it is our positive duty to administer in temporal and spiritual things from the store which God has given us. Love must be kept in constant exercise to inspire faith in God, that praise may be called forth from human hearts to God, and that the golden chain of love may bind the hearts of humanity together. Those who are recipients of the mercy, sympathy, and compassion of God should pass it along to others. But many who claim to love God and to be keepers of his commandments, are cold and unsympathetic and unchristlike. They have little love to exercise except for a few who are congenial to them, and their affection for these few whom they fancy does more harm than good. They do not manifest love towards those who would appreciate the least manifestation of affection. Those who are truly Christlike possess an underlying principle of love. But however closely related human beings may be, they are not to be idolized, they are not to be surrounded with superabundant affection, while other souls who are just as dear to the heart of infinite Love are not embraced within their circle. Selfish love is a snare to the souls of those who are entangled in it. The life and practice of Christ show that the circle for our love should be unlimited. Christ does not acknowledge that love as sanctified which is showered without stint upon a few favorites, while the heart is cold toward the very ones who need a manifestation of love.

The Son of the infinite God is our Pattern. Heaven is full of mercy, and it is constantly outflowing not only to a favored few, but for the blessing of those who need it most, for the benefit of those who have the least pleasantness and happiness brought into their lives. The life of God is bound up with the life of those for whom Christ died. He whose life is hid with Christ in God will possess the attributes of the divine character, and will be a partaker of the divine nature, making it manifest to the world that God is merciful, full of tender compassion, abundant in grace and truth. The severity which God manifests through his providences toward those who are rebellious and wicked, is manifested for the salvation of the wayward. O, how Christ yearned over the souls whom he came to save, with intense desire that they might understand eternal life! “And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.”

Satan is a vigilant watcher and worker, and seeks to intercept every ray of heaven’s light in order that it shall not come to the soul; but Christ is also working, and by mercies given, and by mercies withheld, he seeks to lead men and women to look above the

earthly to the heavenly and eternal. Every man is intrusted with capabilities, with a stewardship for the great Householder, and he is to look to the great Counselor for directions and for wisdom. Christ would have his servants work for those who understand him not; for he looks with infinite compassion upon the human family under the deceptive wiles of Satan. He sees them employing their God-given probationary time in seeking everything but the one thing essential. The voice of Jesus pleads with men, saying, “If any man thirst, let him come unto me and drink, and the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up unto everlasting life.” No creature that God has created is looked upon with indifference. God has an intense desire to relieve the woes of mankind and apply his balsam to their wounds. His love is ever exercised for the needy and oppressed. His heart is full of joy when the sinner breaks with Satan, and looks up to God as to a merciful, sympathizing, loving Father. Jesus declared, “My Father worketh hitherto, and I work.” The Lord is ever active in exercising his mercy; he would have every soul become acquainted with the paternal character of God. When men obtain a correct view of the unceasing mercy of God, they will be attracted, and by beholding will become changed into the same image. Those whom God has made stewards of capabilities and means, he commands, for their own interest, to lay up their treasure in heaven, and as he has given freely to them of his bountiful mercy, to give freely to others. Instead of living for themselves, Christ is to live in them, and his Holy Spirit is to lead them to dispense wisely their goods, being merciful to others even as he is merciful to all. No man can be a follower of Christ and live for himself. The Christian is to be an agent for God, dispensing his blessings to others, and thus laying up for themselves treasure in heaven. His treasure will thus never be lost, but will ever accumulate increasing interest, and a good foundation be laid against the time to come.

How much better it is to deposit uncertain riches in the bank of heaven, by rendering benefit to the Lord’s heritage, than to use up God-given wealth in the gratification of self by obtaining those things which perish in the using. In blessing others, they are made glad with the thought that God has not forgotten them, and gratitude springs up in the hearts of those who have been suffering and oppressed. It is thus we make friends with the mammon of unrighteousness, and the very wealth which we dispense to others is that which has been lent in trust to be used as the Householder shall direct, that his faithful servants shall use it in works of mercy and compassion. But in working on these lines a welcome is insured into the everlasting habitations. In proportion as goods are intrusted they should be dispensed to others. The humblest men and women are to trade upon the Lord’s talents, realizing that what has been lent to them should be returned with usury to God. Though we have but one talent, if it be faithfully consecrated to God, and employed in acts of mercy in temporal or spiritual things, we thus ministering to the wants of the needy, our talent will increase in value, and be noted upon the heavenly record as exceeding our powers of computation. Every merciful action, every sacrifice, every self-denial, will bring a sure requital, a hundred-fold in this time, and in the world to come everlasting life.

GOOD, LET THE “EDUCATIONAL CAMPAIGN” BEGIN.

In speaking of Sunday closing and its future in New York the Christian Work propounds this despairing question:—

Are we here in this year of 1895, in this Christian metropolis of a Christian land, to surrender a goodly portion of our divinely ordained Day of Rest to the demands of Beerdom, its rulers, and its subjects?

It closes its article in these words:—

If the issue must come, as it seems now that it will, let the believers in the sabbath day prepare themselves for the struggle, and make it an opportunity for such an educational campaign on the whole question of sabbath observance, as shall settle the matter, so far at least as Sunday saloons are concerned, for all time to come.

This is good if the education given is true. Let the people be told that saloons are wrong every day, just as bad on Monday or Tuesday as on Sunday. Let them be told also that the only “divinely ordained Day of Rest” is the seventh day, not Sunday. Tell them that the Christian Work itself has said (July 11, 1895):—

The Church has set apart Sunday; but it might have utilized another day had it chosen to. Certainly it is futile to attempt to place Sunday, as we now have it, on a New Testament basis. Sunday did not become the definite worship day in which all work was forbidden, until in the fourth century it was so made by government authority in conformity with the sentiment of the church.

In its issue of Jan. 8, 1885, the same paper says:—

The selection of Sunday, thus changing the particular day designated in the fourth commandment, was brought about by the gradual concurrence of the early Christian church, and on this basis, and none other, does the Christian sabbath, the first day of the week, rightly rest.

This is consistent with the quotation preceding. The same thing was stated by the same paper one year before. But these quotations hardly agree with the first two quoted above. Yet the latter are true. The Sunday Sabbath rests wholly on the tradition of an apostate church, enforced by civil law. It is therefore not “Christian” any more than this country is Christian or New York City is Christian. It is not a “divinely ordained Day of Rest” unless the voice of the apostasy is the voice of God. Let there be “an educational campaign on the whole question of sabbath observance” throughout the country, and let Christians use the great standard textbook, the Bible. It will be found that there is no Scripture authority for Sunday. The Christian Work is right on that question. Now what day ought to be observed?

MERCY

[The following is from Shakespeare’s “Merchant of Venice,” with the change of one word—the last in the sixth line from the bottom—to adapt it to our purpose.]

THE quality of mercy is not strained; It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven Upon the place beneath: it is twice blessed; It blesses him that gives and him that takes: ’Tis mightiest in the mightiest: it becomes The thronéd monarch better than his crown: His scepter shows the force of temporal power, The attribute to awe and majesty, Wherein doth sit the dread and fear of kings; But mercy is above this sceptered sway, It is enthronéd in the hearts of kings, It is an attribute of God himself, And earthly power doth then show likest God’s When mercy seasons justice. Therefore, man, Though justice be thy plea, consider this,— That in the course of justice none of us Should see salvation: we do pray for mercy, And that same prayer doth teach us all to render The deeds of mercy.

Continue reading: JESUS MADE LOWER THAN THE ANGELS