Earlier text: Results of the Superstitions of Popery in EuropeNOTES ON THE INTERNATIONAL LESSON.
By Alonzo T. Jones
[THE subject of this lesson is "True Wisdom." We have therefore thought it wise to allow Wisdom to tell her own story, and we have no hesitation in saying, and we are sure that all will agree, that it is the best set of Sunday-school notes that ever was written. "Wisdom crieth without; she uttereth her voice in the streets; she crieth in the chief place of concourse, in the openings of the gates; in the city she uttereth her words, saying, How long, ye simple ones, will ye love simplicity? and the scorners delight in their scorning, and fools hate knowledge?" Prov. 1:20-22. "Doth not wisdom cry? and understanding put forth her voice? She standeth in the top of high places, by the way in the places of the paths. She crieth at the gates, at the entry of the city, at the coming in at the doors: Unto you, O men, I call; and my voice is to the sons of man. O ye simple, understand wisdom; and, ye fools, be ye of an understanding heart. Hear; for I will speak of excellent things; and the opening of my lips shall be right things. For my mouth shall speak truth; and wickedness is an abomination to my lips. All the words of my mouth are in righteousness; there is nothing froward or perverse in them. They are all plain to him that understandeth, and right to them that find knowledge. Receive679my instruction, and not silver; and knowledge rather than choice gold." Prov. 8:1-10. "It cannot be valued with the gold of Ophir, with the precious onyx, or the sapphire. The gold and the crystal cannot equal it; and the exchange of it shall not be for jewels of fine gold. No mention shall be made of coral, or of pearls; for the price of wisdom is above rubies. The topaz of Ethiopia shall not equal it, neither shall it be valued with pure gold." Job 28:16-19. "For the merchandise of it is better than the merchandise of silver, and the gain thereof than fine gold. She is more precious than rubies; and all the things thou canst desire are not to be compared unto her. Length of days is in her right hand; and in her left hand riches and honor. Her ways are ways of pleasantness, and all her paths are peace. She is a tree of life to them that lay hold upon her; and happy is every one that retaineth her." Prov. 3:14-18. "For wisdom is better than rubies; and all the things that may be desired are not to be compared to it." Prov. 8:11. "My son, forget not my law; but let thine heart keep my commandments; for length of days, and long life, and peace, shall they add to thee. Let not mercy and truth forsake thee; bind them about thy neck; write them upon the table of thine heart; so shall thou find favor and good understanding in the sight of God and man." Prov. 3:1-4. "My son, let not them depart from thine eyes; keep sound wisdom and discretion; so shall they be life unto thy soul, and grace to thy neck. Then shalt thou walk in thy way safely, and thy foot shall not stumble. When thou liest down, thou shalt not be afraid; yea, thou shalt lie down, and thy sleep shall be sweet. Be not afraid of sudden fear, neither of the desolation of the wicked, when it cometh. For the Lord shall be thy confidence, and shall keep thy foot from being taken." Prov. 3:21-26. "Counsel is mine, and sound wisdom; I am understanding; I have strength. By me kings reign, and princes decree justice. By me princes rule, and nobles, even all the judges of the earth. I love them that love me; and those that seek me early shall find me. Riches and honor are with me; yea, durable riches and righteousness. My fruit is better than gold; yea, than fine gold; and my revenue than choice silver. I lead in the way of righteousness, in the midst of the paths of judgment; that I may cause those that love me to inherit substance; and I will fill their treasures." Prov. 8:14-21. "Now therefore hearken unto me, O ye children; for blessed are they that keep my ways. Hear instruction, and be wise, and refuse it not. Blessed is the man that heareth me, watching daily at my gates, waiting at the posts of my doors. For whoso findeth me findeth life, and shall obtain favor of the Lord." Prov. 8:32-35. "She shall give to thine head an ornament of grace; a crown of glory shall she deliver to thee." Prov. 4:9. "The Lord possessed me in the beginning of his way, before his works of old. I was set up from everlasting, from the beginning, or ever the earth was. When there were no depths, I was brought forth; when there were no fountains abounding with water. Before the mountains were settled, before the hills was I brought forth; while as yet he had not made the earth, nor the fields, nor the highest part of the dust of the world. When he prepared the heavens, I was there; when he set a compass upon the face of the depth; when he established the clouds above; when he strengthened the fountains of the deep; when he gave to the sea his decree, that the waters should not pass his commandment; when he appointed the foundations of the earth; then I was by him, as one brought up with him; and I was daily his delight, rejoicing always before him; rejoicing in the habitable part of his earth; and my delights were with the sons of men." Prov. 8:22-31. "And unto man he said, Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom; and to depart from evil is understanding." Job 28:28. "And by the fear of the Lord men depart from evil." "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; and the knowledge of the Holy is understanding." "The fear of the Lord is to hate evil, pride, and arrogance, and the evil way, and the froward mouth, do I hate." "The fear of the Lord prolongeth days." "In the fear of the Lord is strong confidence; and his children shall have a place of refuge. The fear of the Lord is a fountain of life to depart from the snares of death." "The fear of the Lord is the instruction of wisdom." "By humility and the fear of the Lord are riches, and honor, and life." "Be thou in the fear of the Lord all the day long." Prov. 16:6; 9:10; 8:13; 10:27; 14:26, 27; 15:13; 22:4; 23:17. "And wisdom and knowledge shall be the stability of thy times, and strength of salvation; the fear of the Lord is his treasure." Isa. 33:6. WHERE SHALL WISDOM BE FOUND?
"But where shall wisdom be found? and where is the place of understanding? Man knoweth not the price thereof; neither is it found in the land of the living. The depth saith, It is not in me; and the sea saith, It is not with me. It cannot be gotten for gold, neither shall silver be weighed for the price thereof." Job 28:12-15. "Destruction and death say, We have heard the fame thereof with our ears. God understandeth the way thereof, and he knoweth the place thereof. For he looketh to the ends of the earth, and seeth under the whole heaven; to make the weight for the winds, and he weigheth the waters by measure. When he made a decree for the rain, and a way for the lightning of the thunder; then did he see it and declare it; he prepared it, yea, and searched it out." Job 28:22-27. HOW SHALL WISDOM BE OBTAINED?
"If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him. But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering; for he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed. For let not that man think that he shall receive anything of the Lord." James 1:5-7. "If thou seekest her as silver, and searchest for her as for hid treasures;" "to the acknowledgment of the mystery of God, and of the Father, and of Christ; in whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge." "Then shalt thou understand the fear of the Lord, and find the knowledge of God. For the Lord giveth wisdom; out of his mouth cometh knowledge and understanding. He layeth up sound wisdom for the righteous; he is a buckler to them that walk uprightly. He keepeth the paths of judgment, and preserveth the way of his saints. Then shalt thou understand righteousness, and judgment, and equity; yea, every good path." Prov. 2:4; Col. 2:2, 3; Prov. 2:5-9. "WISDOM IS THE PRINCIPAL THING; THEREFORE GET WISDOM." Prov. 4:7. We frequently meet those who have been treated as infidels, but who revolted from tenets and systems rather than from the Bible. The great question Christianity now has to meet is whether it can actualize in social life the principles of the sermon on the mount.—Sel. Temperance.
By Bishop Ireland
THE need of the hour is a grand tidal wave of total abstinence sweeping over the land. The strongest protest possible must be made against intemperance. Total abstinence is the protest. Will it be made with sufficient force to save the people? This is the vital question for the future of America, and I might add for the future of religion. What is to be done? Anything. I speak to those who by position, influence, talent, or office, ought to take an interest in the people. In the name of humanity, of country, of religion, by all the most sacred ties that bind us to our fellow-men, for the love of him who died for souls, I beseech you, declare war against intemperance. Arrest its onward march! If total abstinence does not appear to you the remedy, adopt some other. If you differ from me in the means you propose, I will not complain. But I will complain in the bitterness of my soul if you stand by, arms folded, while this dreaded torrent is sweeping over the land, carrying with it ruin and misery. . . . All classes, high and low, offer holocausts upon the altar of intemperance. The brightest mind and the noblest heart are numbered among the victims. Human wrecks, whose fortune it has dissipated, whose intellect it has stifled, are strewn over the land as thick as autumnal leaves in the forest. Alcohol directly inflames the passions; it is oil poured on the burning fire. It fills the mouth with blasphemy, and arms the hand for murder. It turns man into an animal; it makes him the demon incarnate. One week’s perusal of the daily papers fills the mind with horror at the shocking accidents, the suicides, the murders, the ruin of innocence, and the crimes of all kinds, caused by intemperance.—Bishop Ireland. Sunday Closing of Dram-Shops in Ireland
Sunday closing of dram-shops in Ireland, which has been enforced in the greater part of the island since 1879, has worked well, and it is now proposed to include the five other towns and cities under its operation. The legislation of 1879 was a success from the beginning. The arrests for drunkenness on Sunday were as one to seventeen on week days. The magistrates are almost unanimous in saying that the law greatly promotes peace. Of course it does; and some day the British mind, which moves slowly in the direction of prohibition, will awake to the fact that the law which works so well on Sunday, will work just as well every day in the week.—N. Y. Independent. Whisky’s Rule in New York City
By Editor
We have before us some of the maps and figures of whisky’s rule in New York City. In 1883 there were in all 10,075 places where liquor is sold. Shops for the sale of food, including butchers, bakers, and grocers, number 7,197. That is, there are in the Empire City over two thousand more saloons than provision stores.—Standard. Increase of the Tobacco Crop.
By Editor
THE following, which we copy from a Springfield, Ill., paper, shows that there is great need of a tobacco reformation: “The tobacco crop of this country, which in 1864 was but 197,000,000 pounds, promises in 1884 to be between 600,000,000 and 700,000,000 pounds, or more than three times that of twenty years ago. The acreage, which in 1864 was 239,826, has jumped up to nearly 700,000; and the value of the crop, which in 1864 was $30,000,000, will probably reach $50,000,000 in 1884. Surely its cultivation has become a great and mighty business on the earth, when nearly 1,000,000 of acres in this country are devoted to it. Old Testament Ethics Vindicated.
By Editor
IN our paper of Oct. 2 we made some extracts from, and comments upon, Elder Jarrell's book of the above title. We then promised to notice it further, and now fulfill our promise. Other duties have prevented our doing this sooner. One of the most important statements of the whole book is found in the following paragraph, which we re-produce from our former article:— "The divine will must be what the divine nature is. That the will must be what the nature is, is one of the fundamental truths of all true moral philosophy. . . . While the law is not the nature of God, it is the effect and likeness of that nature; it is the perfect reflection of his infinite holiness and wisdom. It must, therefore, be as unchangeable as the infinite holiness of the divine nature. Law is the positive enactment of this nature; it is the expression of God's will." Parallel to these words are those which we use in our work on the Atonement, page 58. We there say: "To understand the attributes of God is to understand the nature or character of his law, as the latter necessarily springs from the former. This is too plainly evident to require proof, for his law is but the expression of his will, and his will must surely correspond to his attributes." Now to prove, as opponents of the law assert, that God's commandments are temporary, changeable, or merely suited to a carnal people in a sinful state, the above statements must be disproved. But who will undertake the task of disproving them? It were easier to move heaven and earth than to disprove these positions, for to invalidate them would invalidate the law, and the Saviour says that "it is easier for heaven and earth to pass than one tittle of the law to fail." Again Elder Jarrell says:— Law, then, being the expression of the holiness of the immutable, divine nature, it can never be relaxed or changed. As God's nature must forever will only moral right, his law can never be other than the expression of moral right. As Hooker expresses it: 'Of law there can be no less acknowledged than that her seat is in the bosom of God; her voice, the harmony of the world; all things in heaven and earth do her homage—the very least feeling her care, and the greatest as not exempt from her power; both angels, and men, and creatures of what condition soever, though each in different sort and manner, yet all with uniform consent, admiring her as the mother of their peace and joy.' These are weighty words; on these ideas we have dwelt much, but have not time to speak of them here. The following is a valuable comment on Matt. 5:38, 39:— "Some interpret our Saviour's words,—'Ye have heard that it hath been said, An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth; but I say unto you, That ye resist not evil,'—to teach that the Old Testament taught private revenge. They also so interpret, 'Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbor, and hate thine enemy. But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you.' Matt. 5:43, 44.
"But, first, this makes the Saviour contradict himself: 'Think not that I am come to destroy the law or the prophets; I came not to destroy, but to fulfill. For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled. Whosoever, therefore, shall break one of these least commandments [i. e., of Old Testament morals], and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven; but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.' Matt. 5:17-19. . . . Such an interpretation makes Jesus say that he would not destroy a shadow of the Old Testament; and then, in a few words after that, destroy its teachings on a great moral point. If the law was not perfect in righteousness, he could not have fulfilled it all; if he destroyed any part of it, that part could not have been perfectly holy.
"Second. It makes the great Lawgiver contradict his ethics in the Old Testament by a new ethics of the New Testament.
"Third. There is no such law in the Old Testament as hatred to enemies and private revenge. The correction of our Saviour is not a correction of the Old Testament, but a correction of the traditions and perversions of the Old Testament by the Pharisees and scribes.
"The 'eye for an eye, and tooth for a tooth' law was,' says Tholuck, 'given to the magistrates in the courts of justice. . . . This command of Moses is based on the jus talionis which lies at the foundation of the oldest code of law. This law of civil courts was not, however, a rule to guide the conduct of individuals. They, on the contrary, are forbidden to seek for compensation in so far as passion or revenge is their motive (Lev. 19:18; Prov. 29:29; Lam. 3:27, 30). 'Say not, I will do to him as he has done to me; I will render to the man according to his work.' 'It is good for a man that he bear the yoke in his youth; that he sit alone, and keep silence, because he hath laid it upon him; . . . that he give his cheek to him that smiteth him; he is filled full with reproach.' So says the Old Testament. The bad sense in which the command had been applied by the scribes, is to be learned from the contrast in the following passage. It seems that what is there spoken of is private intercourse. The majority of commentators have accordingly explained the false exposition of the scribes as consisting in this, that they applied in private intercourse a law which was given only for the administration of courts of justice; thus, Luther, Bucer, Piscator, Calov, Tirinus, Bengel, B. Crusius, and others.' Among the others are Maldonatus, Este, a Lapide, Grotius, Episcopius, G. W. Clarke, Adam Clarke, Comp. Commentary, Barnes, Stier, Ernesti, Meyer, De Witte—in fact, I know of no commentator who otherwise comments. Here are both infidel and Christian commentators agreed in interpreting our Saviour's words to be only a correction of a perversion of the law which made it apply to private conduct." All the civil laws and institutions of the Hebrews were based upon the moral; hence, the importance of the above exposition. In addition to that which we previously quoted from this book on the superiority of the ten commandments, we quote the following:— "The ten commandments sustain the relation to the statutes and regulations of Israel that the constitution of a State or of the United States sustains to its statutes and regulations. In other words, the ten commandments were the moral constitution of Israel; the other laws and regulations were the statutes. The reader will, from this fact, readily see that none of the laws and regulations of Israel can conflict with the ten commandments; and that their interpretation and ethics must be according to the ethics of this constitution." This is a just statement; the most rigid antinomians have, on consideration of the facts and statements of the Bible, been constrained to admit the same thing. Thus, a man who sometime stood quite high in the Disciple denomination, who argued that all law in the Old Testament was of the same nature, and all was alike abolished, when asked why God wrote only the ten commandments on the tables of stone, replied:— "I can easily account for God's writing only the ten commandments. They were the Jewish constitution, and constitutions are usually better cared for than other laws." "The decalogue is the constitution of the Mosaic laws, i. e., it sustains the same relation to the laws that the Constitution of the United States sustains to our laws." But our laws are frequently abolished without affecting the validity of the Constitution. And that was the highest law or constitution given by the Supreme Moral Governor to moral agents. And the relations of these agents—moral agents—to the Governor never change. Their local circumstances and conditions may change, but never their moral relations. How idle, then, to talk of the abolition of the rule of morality which God, "the Governor among the nations," "the Judge of all," has given for the formation of the character of moral agents. But in nothing is shown the value, the extent or universality, and the holiness of the law more than in the atonement made for man by the Son of God. And this is noticed to good effect by Elder Jarrell. Thus he speaks:— "The atonement is also the expression of the holiness of God, of the holiness of the law, and of the heinousness of sin.
"The atonement measures the holiness of the law by what is requisite for its satisfaction. Only the infinite value of 'the blood of Jesus Christ' was sufficient to meet the requirement of violated, insulted holiness. In the infinite value of the satisfaction, we, therefore, have the measure of the requirement of the infinite holiness of the law.
"The moral blackness, depth, and guilt of sin is measured by the atonement. Had sin been but an imperfection, or the infidel 'fall upward,' or the infidel 'justifying of everything,' man could not have been subject to the holy law of which he is the subject. . . .
"In the atonement appears the blessings of obedience to the moral law. The blessing of obedience must correspond to the extent of the curse of disobedience. In the extent of the curse of sin, measured by the atonement, we have the measure of the blessing of righteousness. . . .
"The atonement teaches that the moral law is universal. In the atonement [sacrifice] being for all mankind, we see the reign of the moral law over white and black—of every color, every kindred, tribe, nation, and tongue; of all ages and all lands." In view of these considerations—and in truth "the half has not been told," for who can measure the holiness of God, or the demerit of an insult to his majesty?—and in view of the fact thus stated in this book: "The Sabbath an essential part of Old Testament ethics," do we make too much of the Sabbath? Do we err in trying to rescue it from the degradation in which it is placed by the words and actions of gainsayers? We repeat the recommendation we made before: The book under consideration is worthy of a careful perusal by all, and ought to be in the library of all our ministers, because of its clear vindication of the law of God, and its valuable quotations from many eminent authorities. It is highly recommended by representative men in all parts of the land, and, with its testimonials, is a strong weapon against antinomianism, into which so many are now running to evade the force of the arguments being presented in favor of the Sabbath of the Lord God, the Creator of the heavens and the earth. Everlasting Punishment.
By Ellet Joseph Waggoner
IN our last article, based upon Matt. 25:41, we found that the "everlasting fire" into which the wicked are to be cast at the last day, will have the effect to "burn them up," so that they will "be ashes;" that the fire is "unquenchable," thus showing that there will be no hope of escape for those who are cast into it, but that it will continue to burn as long as there is anything left for it to feed upon. We now come to the forty-sixth verse, and here we are obliged to make another stand, for so firmly is the doctrine of eternal torment fastened on the minds of men, that simple proof to the contrary is not sufficient, unless every text bearing upon the subject is examined, and shown to be in harmony with that proof. In summing up his discourse, the Saviour marks the final disposition of both the righteous and the wicked in these words: "And these [the wicked] shall go away into everlasting punishment; but the righteous into life eternal." In order to a perfect agreement on this text, we will state that the two words "everlasting" and "eternal" mean in this place exactly the same thing. They are both translated from the same681Greek word. If, instead of two different words, the translators had rendered both by the same word, making it either "eternal punishment" and "eternal life," or "everlasting punishment" and "everlasting life," it would have saved much unnecessary controversy. We are taught, then, from this text, that the punishment of the wicked is to last as long as does the reward of the righteous. This we most firmly believe. But it must be borne in mind that this verse conveys no intimation of what that punishment shall be. To say that one who violates a certain statute shall receive the penalty of the law, does not determine how, nor to what extent, he is to be punished. It may be by fine, imprisonment, confiscation of goods, or death. In the text before us, however, we are told the length of the punishment; it is to be as long as the reward of the righteous. Now what is that punishment? Turn to Rom. 6:23 and read: "The wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord." The punishment, then, is to be death; and since that punishment is to be everlasting, we conclude that eternal death will be the portion of the wicked. This agrees exactly with our previous investigation. As corroborating this conclusion, we cite 2 Thess. 1:7-9: "And to you who are troubled [God will recompense] rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels, in flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ; who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power." This destruction comes "from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power," and this agrees with the eighth verse of the next chapter, which says: "And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming." And this again is in harmony with the statement in Revelation, concerning the wicked: "And they went up on the breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city; and fire came down from God out of heaven and devoured them." Rev. 20:9. That which has caused the misunderstanding in regard to Matt. 25:46, is the mistaken idea of the punishment. Because "indignation and wrath, tribulation and anguish," are threatened to "every soul of man that doeth evil" (Rom. 2:8, 9), men seem to think that tribulation and anguish constitute the sum of the punishment. While these things are threatened, they are nowhere declared to be eternal, as in the death which is "the wages of sin." Everywhere in the Bible, death and life are the alternatives set before the individual. He may believe and live, or he may do evil and die. "See, I have set before thee this day life and good, and death and evil; in that I command thee this day to love the Lord thy God, to walk in his ways, and to keep his commandments, and his statutes, and his judgments, that thou mayest live. . . . But if thine heart turn away, so that thou wilt not hear, but shalt be drawn away, and worship other gods, and serve them; I denounce unto you this day, that ye shall surely perish. . . . I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live." Deut. 30:15-19. Whatever of anguish may be accessory, the above language shows that so surely as life shall be given to the obedient, death shall be the portion of the sinner. If not, what force is there in the words of the prophet: "Cast away from you all your transgressions, whereby ye have transgressed; and make you a new heart and a new spirit; for why will ye die, O house of Israel?" Eze. 18:31. Here the prophet, like Paul, "knowing the terror of the Lord," persuades men to turn from sin. But his persuasion from that standpoint loses all its power if he has made a mistake as to what that "terror" is. Let it be borne in mind that the punishment—"the wages of sin"—is death. Until death has been inflicted upon the sinner, he has not been punished, however much he may suffer. Now the Saviour does not say that the wicked shall go into an everlasting condition of being punished, which would be everlasting dying, but into everlasting punishment, which is everlasting death. The wise man has said, "There is a way which seemeth right unto a man; but the end thereof are the ways of death." Prov. 14:12. And the apostle James only repeats this statement in another form when he says: "Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin; and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death." James 1:15. In short, throughout the inspired record, we find only a repetition of our Saviour’s words: "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." John 3:16. The death that was threatened to Adam, the execution of which was stayed that he might, by the aid of Christ, have another chance for life, still hangs over his posterity. They may escape from the "wrath to come" by believing in Christ, and thus becoming new creatures. If they do not accept this offer, the penalty will be allowed to fall upon their guilty heads. And to this end are the words of Christ: "He that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him." John 3:36. "But the wrath of God abideth on him." Let us see how much force there may be in this statement. The second psalm is devoted to a brief history of those presumptuous mortals who "take counsel together against the Lord and against his Anointed, saying, Let us break their bands asunder, and cast away their cords from us." Unto these the Lord shall speak in his wrath, and he will vex them in his sore displeasure, even giving them to the Son to be broken with a rod of iron, and dashed in pieces like a potter’s vessel. In view of this threatened punishment, they are exhorted to be instructed, and to repent, and believe on Christ; or, in the words of inspiration, to "kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and ye perish from the way, when his wrath is kindled but a little." Ps. 2:12. The wrath of God and of the Son is the same, for the Father hath "committed all judgment unto the Son," and has given him authority to execute it. John 5:22, 27. Now what is the result of the manifestation of this wrath? Even when it is "kindled but a little," its effect is to cause those against whom it is directed to "perish from the way." Then if a slight manifestation of God’s wrath will cause the sinner to "perish," i. e., "to die; to be blotted from existence," what will be the effect if the wrath of God abideth on him? It can be nothing less than to keep him in everlasting death. And thus we find, from whatever portion of the Scripture we approach the subject, that the verdict is the same. The Lord "reserveth wrath for his enemies" (Nahum 1:2); the effect of that wrath, when let fall upon them, is to blot them from existence (Ps. 2:12); and since that wrath "abideth" on them (John 3:36), they will never afterward, to all eternity, have any existence. “The Lord’s Day.”
By Ellet Joseph Waggoner
CONSIDERATION OF THE ARGUMENT FROM THE PRACTICE OF THE EARLY CHURCH.
It will be remembered that our articles on the “Teaching of the Apostles” were called out by an article that appeared in the Advance, making extravagant claims for that document, as forever settling the Sunday question. Its argument was as follows: The “Teaching” exhorts all to come together on the Lord’s day to break bread and give thanks; the disciples at Troas, with Paul, did on one occasion assemble on the first day of the week to break bread; and Justin Martyr said, in his first apology to the Roman Senate, that “on the day called Sunday, all who live in cities or in the country gather together to one place,” etc. From these they arrive at the conclusion that when the apostle John said, “I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day,” he intended by the term “the Lord’s day” to designate the first day of the week. This is a fair statement of the Sunday Lord’s-day position, which we design to candidly examine. In this examination we have nothing to do with the so-called “Teaching of the Apostles,” because (1) we have already shown that it has not the slightest degree of authority, being the uninspired production of some unknown person, and (2) the expression “Lord’s day” nowhere occurs in that document, whether it be good or bad. The term “Lord’s day” is used, however, by the apostle, and people have a right to demand that teachers of the Bible tell whether he referred to the seventh or the first day. The statement of Justin Martyr will be considered first. The reader will notice that even he does not say that the first day of the week was termed the Lord’s day, but uses the expression, “on the day called Sunday.” If that day had been regarded as sacred, some other title would have been bestowed. This, however, is of little consequence. The argument is that John speaks of the Lord’s day, and the fact that Christians of Justin Martyr’s time assembled on Sunday, proves that Sunday is the day which John had in mind. The reason why he spoke of it as “the day called Sunday” was, as is stated by the Advance, because it was called by the Romans “the day of the sun.” This argument for Sunday as the Lord’s day would be a good one, and indeed conclusive, if it could be shown that the practices of Christians in the early centuries were always in harmony with the Scriptures. In order to make the argument of any account whatever, it must be shown that their customs were necessarily correct. But how shall we know whether or not their practices were correct? Only by comparing them with the Bible, for that alone contains the rule of righteousness. Our Sunday friends, in their appeals to the practice of the early church, make the mistake of determining by the actions of men what the Bible teaches, when, instead of that, they ought to appeal to the Bible, to determine the correctness of those actions. We will give a few quotations to show how little we can depend on the practices of Christians, even in the first centuries, as exponents of true Christian doctrine. First we quote the words of Paul. To the elders of the church at Ephesus, he said:— “Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood. For I know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock. Also of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them.” Acts 20:28–30. Not only did he predict that there would be heresies taught in the church after his departing, but writing to the Thessalonians, he said, “For the mystery of iniquity doth already work.” Church history, written by first-day authors, bears witness682to the truth of Paul's words. Mosheim, writing concerning the second century, says:— “A large part, therefore, of the Christian observances and institutions, even in this century, had the aspect of pagan mysteries.”—Book I, Part II, chap. IV, sec. 5. “There is good reason to suppose that the Christian bishops purposely multiplied sacred rites for the sake of rendering the Jews and pagans more friendly to them.”—Book I, Cent. II, Part II, chap. IV, sec. 2. In a foot-note to the above passage, Mosheim says further:— “It will not be unsuitable to transcribe here a very opposite passage which I met with in Gregory Nyssa's life of Gregory Thaumaturgus: ‘When Gregory perceived that the ignorant and simple multitude persisted in their idolatry, on account of the sensitive pleasures and delights it afforded, he allowed them, in celebrating the memory of the martyrs, to indulge themselves, and give a loose to pleasure (i. e., as the thing itself and both what precedes and follows place beyond all controversy, he allowed them at the sepulchers of the martyrs, on their feast days, to dance, to use sports, to indulge conviviality, and to do all things that the worshipers of idols were accustomed to do in their temples on their festival days), hoping that in process of time they would spontaneously come over to a more becoming and more correct manner of life.’” Such was the policy of the leaders of the church, in the second century, the century in which Justin Martyr lived. Let any one read the last quotation, and then read the description of the abominations practiced at heathen festivals, and he will hardly be willing to adopt any custom whatever on the example of such Christians. Sunday was so called by the Romans, because it was dedicated to the worship of the sun. Its Latin name was Dies Solis, day of the sun. Now if the bishops of the church, in their desire for “converts” from among the heathen, allowed them to observe their festivals with the most abominable orgies, is it to be considered a strange thing if they allowed them to retain the very day of one of their festivals? If they did not scruple to multiply rites and ceremonies to suit the superstitions of the ignorant crowd, certainly they would not hesitate to accept one that was already in use. Thus far we have simply shown that we are not to be influenced in favor of any custom because it was practiced by the early Christians. Their course determines nothing for us. We will therefore leave them, and in our next article will allow the Bible to determine which day of the week is the Lord's day. E. J. W. Turning From Wickedness to Righteousness
“WHEN a righteous man turneth away from his righteousness, and committeth iniquity, and dieth in them; for his iniquity that he hath done shall he die. Again, when the wicked man turneth away from his wickedness that he hath committed, and doth that which is lawful and right, he shall save his soul alive. Because he considereth, and turneth away from all his transgressions that he hath committed, he shall surely live, he shall not die.” Eze. 18 : 27-28.