ITS AGITATION THROUGH THE PRESS, IN CONNECTION WITH THE TENT EFFORT IN KANKAKEE CITY, ILL.
When we had reached the height of the interest on the Sabbath question in our tent effort, we had the following published in two of the leading papers of the city:—
$3,500 REWARD.
EDITOR TIMES: We are in the midst of the investigation of the subject of the Bible Sabbath. Taking “the Bible and the Bible alone” as our rule of faith, we are shut up to the conclusion that the seventh-day Sabbath made by God in Eden, and observed by Christ and his apostles, Gen. 2:1–3; Luke 4:16; Matt. 24:30; Luke 23:26; Acts 13:42, 44; 16:13; 17:1, 2; 18:1–4, is still binding. We are highly gratified with the candor and respect with which we have been treated, and firmly believing we have the truth on the Sabbath, and can afford to be fair, we would call attention to the following points:—
1. We offer $500 for one text of scripture which states that God has changed the Sabbath of the fourth commandment from the seventh to the first day of the week.
2. $500 for one text of scripture that commands the first day to be kept in memory of the resurrection.
3. $500 for one text of scripture in which the first day is called the Sabbath or Lord’s day in this dispensation.
4. $500 for one text which says that God or Christ ever blessed or sanctified the first day.
5. $500 for a blessing pronounced by the Almighty in his word for keeping the first day as a Sabbath.
6. $500 for one curse or threatening from the Lord in his word against working on the first day.
7. $500 for one text of scripture which states that Christ or his apostles kept or rested the first day in memory of the resurrection.
What say you, Bible students, can such texts be found? If not, is it not clear that Sunday-keeping is a human tradition which makes void a commandment of God?
TENT PREACHERS.
Kankakee, Aug. 4, 1874.
As yet no reply to this article has appeared in the organs in which it was published. But an attempt at a reply appeared in the Danville Times, the fallacy of which will be seen by reading the following, which we clip from the Kankakee Times:—
THE SABBATH QUESTION.
Editor Kankakee Times:
It appears that the editor of the Danville Times has presented to his readers the offer that we made through your paper, of $3,500, for seven texts of scripture bearing on the Sabbath question, which has called forth a reply from one of his readers. On this reply we wish to make a few strictures.
He does not pretend to find any of the texts called for (another proof that they cannot be found), but condemns our “mode of reasoning,” saying he “will give $1,000 for texts authorizing the abrogation of many things that God demanded.” Paul says, Rom. 4:15, “Where no law is there is no transgression.” Now if the law for Sunday-keeping cannot be found, it is no sin to do common labor upon that day, or to regard it as secular. For the abolition of the feast days, new moons, yearly sabbaths and sabbaths of the land peculiar to the Jews, we cite our friend to Eph. 2:14–16 and Col. 2:14–17, and invite him to hand over his $1,000. The sabbaths spoken of in Col. 2:14–17, “were against us” and were “a shadow or type of things to come;” but the seventh-day Sabbath is “for man,” Mark 2:27, points back to God’s rest, and was made before the fall and before shadows and types were necessary.
He says he “will give $1,000 for any evidence to show that the term Sabbath was applied to the seventh day of the week.” Well, Luke declares that the followers of Christ, the day after his crucifixion, “rested the Sabbath day according to the commandment,” Luke 23:56, and he calls the day following, “the first day of the week.” Luke 24:1. Now as there are but seven days in a week, and the day after the Sabbath is declared to be the “first day of the week,” the day before the first must be the seventh day of the week. Here is decisive proof; so we claim his $1,000 here again.
He says, “The command is, ‘Remember the Sabbath day.’” Truth. “Sabbath means rest.” Agreed again. “Remember the rest-day to keep it holy.” This is also correct. But which day is the rest-day of the commandment? Is it any day of the seven we may have a mind to choose? Ans. “The seventh day is the Sabbath or rest of the Lord thy God,” the day which he blessed and sanctified because that in it he had rested, Ex. 20:8–11; Gen. 2:2, 3; “in it thou shalt not do any work.” Thus we see it is the very day that God rested upon that we are commanded to keep holy. According to the view of our friend, seven men might each keep a different day of the week for the Sabbath; for he says, “A people who choose Sunday, Monday, or Tuesday, as the day of rest—either would be the Sabbath.” Query: Did God rest on every day of the week?
He refers to our offer of $500 dollars for the text which says Christ blessed or sanctified the first day, and says he “will give $1,000 for one text that says he did not.” This is a convenient and easy way to prove (?) Sunday-keeping. He might have offered $1,000 apiece for texts saying that Christ did not bless and sanctify the crucifixion day, Ash Wednesday, St. Patrick’s day, and a host of other days, and they could not be found either. As the Scriptures nowhere state that Christ blessed or sanctified the first day, or made it the Sabbath instead of the ancient Sabbath, every text that speaks of the immutability of the law of God and that warns us against adding to the words of the Lord, Prov. 30:6, is positive proof that Christ did not bless and sanctify the first day. So you will please hand over that other $1,000.
He says we “have not a grain of evidence to show that Sunday was not set apart as the rest-day.” We have, for it is not once stated in Holy Writ that it was. Fortunately for our friend that he did not offer $1,000 here, for he would certainly have lost it. The first day of the week is mentioned but eight times in the New Testament, and it is never called the Sabbath or rest-day. But the seventh day is designated the Sabbath or rest-day fifty-nine times in the New Testament. Luke wrote under the direct influence of the Spirit of God, and speaking of events that happened between the years A. D. 45 and 56, he says the day the Jews met in their synagogues was the Sabbath day or rest-day. See Acts 13:14, 42, 44; 17:1–3; 18:4, 11. We hope our friend will not add to the word of the Lord here, and say this was the day that used to be the Sabbath. It was not simply to accommodate the Jews that the apostles made the Sabbath their regular day of religious worship, for they delighted to keep the law of God, and preached to the Gentiles as well as to the Jews on that day. Rom. 7:22; Acts 13:42, 44; 16:13. Read also Matt. 24:20.
He says, “The disciples of the apostles of Jesus set apart Sunday.” Then neither Christ nor his apostles did. And if they did not do it, had any one since that time any right to do it? We conclude they had not, and think it far safer and better to observe the same Sabbath that Christ and the apostles kept. But he informs us that he did not write “to convince or instruct” us, “but because there are so many who keep Sunday and do not know why.” If he has accomplished his purpose, those for whom he wrote must be easily convinced.
Christ says, “If thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments.” Matt. 19:17. “In vain do ye worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.” Matt. 15:9. “Full well ye reject the commandment of God that ye may keep your own tradition.” Mark 7:9. These burning words of Christ apply to the violation of the fourth commandment as directly as they did to that of the fifth commandment. Of course we speak of deliberate and willful transgression.
“What is the chaff to the wheat, saith the Lord?”—Tent Preachers.
D. T. BOURDEAU,
R. F. ANDREWS.
Kankakee, Ill., Sept. 25, 1874.
The Last Days.
By M. WOOD
“THIS know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come, for men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, traitors, heady, high-minded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof; from such turn away.” 2 Tim. 3:1–5.
The last days here alluded to by the apostle Paul, evidently include the very last day of probation and of time. And every thoughtful, candid reader must freely admit that the Scripture above quoted is a correct representation of the times in which we live. There never was a time when people loved the pleasures of this world more than at the present time, especially the professed followers of Jesus. Talk to them about the soon coming of Jesus, and they scout the idea of such a thing. Talk stocks to them and they know what you mean. Talk of parties, festivals, fashions, theaters, horse-racing, &c., and they are at home with you on these subjects. The real life of God in the soul is not there. They may have the form, but the power is wanting. They are strangers in very many cases, to the pure and undefiled religion. How much of self, and how little of God! How much of open infidelity, cheating, and lying one against another!
It is useless to deny these things, humbling as they may be to proud human nature. But facts are facts. Strange as it may appear to the pleasure-seeking people of this world, the end of all things is at hand. 1 Pet. 4:7. Scientific men promise them a thousand years of peace and safety, which is but another evidence of the soon coming of Christ. “For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them.” 1 Thess. 5:3. “They cry, Peace, peace, when there is no peace.”
Though our friends may ridicule the idea of the speedy advent of our absent Lord, it is nevertheless true; and mockings and scoffings are only additional evidences of the nearing Judgment. 2 Pet. 3:3. But the nearer the world are to God’s awful judgments, the more difficult it is to arouse them to a true sense of their condition. The nearer they are to the coming of the Lord, the less inclined are they to believe that he is near. Satan appears to control the mind, and men act as though bereft of reason in overlooking the riches and glories of the immortal kingdom, confining their interest to the things of time and sense.
The last days, here spoken of by the apostle, do not mean simply the last days of individual existence, but a thorough overturning of the whole earth. When it shall reel to and fro like a drunkard. Isa. 24:20. “Behold, the Lord maketh the earth empty, and maketh it waste, and turneth it upside down, and scattereth abroad the inhabitants thereof.” Isa. 24:1.
1. The privilege which we now enjoy of seeking God, and finding pardon for all our sins through the atoning blood of Jesus Christ, will soon be past. We shall be left to stand or fall upon the characters which we are now forming. Why will ye slumber and sleep upon the brink of eternity? Why parley with sin and iniquity? And why, dear brother, become lukewarm in the service of Christ, and drift back into the world, and finally be lost? Ask yourself these solemn questions as in the light of the Judgment. Is the word of God as reliable to-day as in former ages? Is your Heavenly Father less kind and gracious than when you first knew the Lord? Is your Saviour less needful? Is the divine Spirit less holy and comforting to the tried believer? Is sin less hateful in the sight of God, and less destructive to the soul? Is Satan less watchful and subtle against the church of Christ? Is the world less vain and deceitful? Is the heart less vile and treacherous in its inward workings? Is the home over there less glorious and desirable to the weary pilgrim? Has the third angel’s message lost its power, or changed its nature, since the light of God’s truth first broke in upon your mind? If not, why begin now to change your feelings respecting the work of the Lord? What says Paul? “But of the times and the seasons, brethren, ye have no need that I write unto you; for yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night. For when they shall say, Peace and safety, then sudden destruction cometh upon them. But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief. Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day; we are not of the night, nor of darkness. Therefore, let us not sleep as do others; but let us watch and be sober.” 1 Thess. 5:1–6. M. WOOD.
The Cross of Christ.
By N. S. G.
To bear the cross always is to do right always. It is no less than to fulfill the high commands of the Saviour under all circumstances. It is to deny, control, and conquer, self. It is to watch, pray, and have constant hold upon Christ. It is to glorify God before men by a holy walk and godly conversation—forgiving enemies, loving all men, aiming to do them good temporally and spiritually—in a word, it is to follow Christ as far as the disciple can follow his Lord, in piety toward God, in benevolence toward man. N. S. G.
The Bible
It is the star of eternity, whose mild rays come twinkling to the nether sphere; erring man's guide to wisdom, virtue, and Heaven. In comparison, Byron loses his fires, Milton, his soaring, Gray, his beauties, and Homer, his majesty.
There Can Be No Small Prayer-Meeting
So far as members are concerned, a meeting for prayer may be small; but there can be no such thing as a small prayer-meeting. “Where two or three are gathered together, there am I!”
SCENES OF CALVARY.
By Marcia S. Avery
Written on reading the tract, entitled, “The Sufferings of Christ.”
Bright morning dawned o’er Palestine,
As on Mount Calvary was seen
Jesus, the Son of God;
While oft, with imprecations loud,
The noisy rabble fiercely crowd,
And clamor for his blood.
They nail him to the shameful tree;
And there he dies for you and me,
Wearing the thorny crown!
While from his hands, and feet, and side,
There issues forth a crimson tide,
Behold it flowing down!
Oh! hear him groan on Calvary!
My God, hast thou forsaken me
In this dark, trying hour?
Oh! take away thy frowning face,
Uphold me by thy loving grace,
And vanquish Satan’s power!
The Innocent, the Crucified,
They pierced him, and they did deride,
And hail, as Jewish King!
His vesture parted here and there,
’Mong those who clamored for a share;
A recompense would bring.
Hark! hear his kind, his dying, prayer!
Borne out upon the darkening air,
In love and pity too,
Forgive them, Lord, the sufferer cries,
The murderous sin, that on them lies;
“They know not what they do!”
Father! and must I drink it up,
Drain to the dregs this bitter cup?
Thy will, not mine, be done!
Lo, it is finished! loud he cries,
And God accepts the sacrifice
Of his beloved Son.
The sun withdrew his face from sight,
The mob dispersed in dread affright,
The graves disclosed their dead;
The rocks were rent ’mid gathering gloom,
Nature seemed hast’ning to her doom,
When Jesus bowed his head.
Two holy men with sorrowing mien,
Robed him in linen white and clean,
And in a garden fair,
Joseph’s new sepulcher was made,
Where never man had yet been laid—
They placed the Saviour there.
’Twas he who healed the sick and lame,
And blessings flowed where’er He came
Who tasted death for man!
Entered the portals of the grave,
That those he bled and died to save,
Might learn salvation’s plan.
Yes; though he died, he lives again,
And soon will come on earth to reign!
And bring a sweet release;
Then sin, and death, shall be no more;
But righteousness, from shore to shore,
And everlasting peace.
MARCIA S. AVERY.
Locke, Mich., Sept., 1874.
The Second Coming of Christ.
By Uriah Smith
IMPORTANCE OF THE THEME.
Poets are wont, as they enter upon holy and lofty themes, to invoke the aid of more than mortal beings to unseal their eyes and inspire their hearts with wisdom and understanding. If ever such help could be appropriately sought, if there are circumstances under which it would be especially in place, it is when the inhabitants of a world under the guilt of revolt, and the blight of the curse, yet to be brought back to obedience and redemption, take up the contemplation of the glorious appearing of the Son of the Highest for the accomplishment of this object.
For where can thought find a subject more sublime! What event is freighted with so infinite a burden of joy or woe! What day more illustrious since the annals of time began! What movement with such accompaniments of awe and grandeur—the immediate rising to life of all the countless multitude of the righteous dead, which sixty generations, each of a hundred years, have slowly garnered to the tomb; the thrilling passage over that mysterious line which separates mortality and death, from immortality and endless life! It is more than a change of dispensations: it is the end and accomplishment of all dispensations. What revolution with such far-reaching results!
And has this earth such an event in store? Is the Lord of life and glory ever to appear again to mortal eyes? If so, how? why? and above all, when? With earnest solicitude the disciples put to our Lord himself the question, “When shall these things be?” And thus by precedent they established that as a legitimate inquiry which has ever since hung upon the lips of his waiting followers, When shall these things be?
That things are sadly out of order in this world, any one would be ashamed not to admit. That there is sin here, which God cannot countenance, and evils which could not have entered into his plan, is evident to all. Every human effort to bring order out of this moral chaos has proved a miserable failure. Is God to acknowledge himself baffled by the presence of sin in his universe? Is his original purpose that the earth should be inhabited by a race of holy and happy beings, Isa. 45: 18, to be abandoned? How is he to interpose to accomplish a predetermined end, which an enemy is attempting to hinder?
Cut off from all hope in human effort, from its six thousand years of failure, we must look to Heaven for help, if help is to be had. Who but God's own Son is sufficient for the work? He is called the Redeemer. Is he to come and bring a remedy for all our ills, and end all earth's misrule, by his own exalted reign of righteousness and peace?
No! says the skeptic, the chilling mist of whose unbelief hides from view not only the Redeemer, but even the Creator himself, such an event will never be. No! says the worldling, whose interests all cry out against the coming One, such an event will never be. No! says the popular church member, whose love for the world has banished from his heart all real love for Christ, he is never literally to appear; or if he is, his coming is far away, certainly not nigh at hand. And the preacher and the teacher, the professor and the student in theological lore, will take up the many texts that speak of the coming of the Son of man in the clouds of heaven, the descending of the Lord from Heaven with the trump of God, the revelation of the Lord Jesus in flaming fire, the riding forth of Him who comes as King of kings and Lord of lords, the opening of the great day of the Lord, and the end of all things, and tell us that these startling descriptions, these momentous events, mean only some national calamity, the destruction of Jerusalem, death, conversion, the outpouring of the Spirit, or some new religious movement. They can get along with these things very well; but they cannot tolerate the idea that these scriptures mean that the Lord himself is literally to appear within the atmosphere of our earth, visible to all eyes, to do so literal a thing as to arrest society in mid career of business, pleasure, or crime, to cause the dead to come up out of their graves and live once more, to pass the decisions of the Judgment upon all, to bring to its final doom the present order of things, and establish that divine dispensation, of which there shall be no end. This would interfere too much with their plans or pleasures.
Nevertheless we affirm that just this the Scriptures teach. Into the midst of all this unnecessary, unnatural, and unscriptural confusion upon this question, we launch this proposition: That Christ, the Son of God, in his own person, literally, visibly, is to come within our atmospheric heavens, to introduce a new order of things; that prophecy has mapped out the coming of this event with all the indications of its approach, so that we can determine approximately our nearness to it, just as well as the mariner by following his chart can tell when he is drawing near his destined haven; and we affirm that we have now reached the time when this event, with all its attendant changes, its wiping out of the old, and introduction of the new, its destruction of the wicked and salvation of the righteous, is at our very doors. If this is so, it should be known.
The bare possibility that such an event is near should arrest attention. The open probability that such is the case, should excite an absorbing interest. The clear evidences that it is certainly so, should cause all to act immediately in the work of preparation. This certainty can be shown. The world may oppose and disbelieve; but they must hear. U. S.
“They Shall See God.”
By J. H. Waggoner
This sentence is expressive not only of favor, but of honor. To be a citizen of the best and most glorious kingdom is a matter of pride and pleasure to all; to be received into the royal city as a favored inhabitant is a mark of respect prized by all who may enjoy it; but to be permitted to stand in the king’s presence, and to behold his face, is counted the very highest honor.
But such is the favor and the honor promised in the Bible to a certain class. Not to stand before the kings of this world, who in a day may be dethroned and dishonored; or who must die and return to the dust, even as the meanest of earth; but to stand before the King of kings, before the Eternal One, the Creator and Upholder of all things. They have, not only an abundant entrance into his everlasting kingdom; not only a right to the tree of life, a right to enter into the glorious city, but they shall see God; they shall behold his face, and be permitted to worship before his throne.
Who are they who shall thus be honored in Heaven? They are “the pure in heart.” And why is this peculiar blessing promised to that class? It is because God is pure. He is infinite in holiness, and nothing impure can possibly stand in his presence.
They must be pure in heart; not merely correct in outward deportment; not blameless only in the sight of man. They must be pure in the sight of God; pure in the light of infinite purity and perfection.
Their outward life must also be correct. They must be above reproach before the world. But they must be more than this. The world cannot behold the corruption within. We may throw a cloak over our wrongs, and the world may be deceived in regard to our real character. The world may forget the errors which they have known, and judge favorably on account of their own failures. But God is never deceived. He never forgets. Nothing is hid from his sight; nothing is lost from his remembrance.
If the heart is not pure the life cannot be pure. “For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts.” Many have grieved because they could not banish evil thoughts from their minds. They knew these were wrong, but they lacked the moral power to subdue them. Many have sunk in discouragement over the feebleness of their efforts, over their many failures to overcome, over the weakness of their resolutions or their inability to carry them out. The difficulty in all such cases is in the heart. Conversion without conviction is shallow and deficient. But with many conviction is deeper than conversion. They know and approve the good, but fail to reach it in their lives. When they would do good, evil is present with them.
Evil thoughts are odious in the sight of God, and are among the “secret things” which God will bring into judgment. They are evidences of a corrupt heart, and if indulged, lead to a corrupt life. In the Saviour’s catalogue of evils proceeding from the heart, evil thoughts are followed by “murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies.” The apostle says that he who hates is a murderer; and the Saviour shows that he who indulges impure desire is guilty of adultery. This will be the scale of judgment in the great day. Hatred and impure desire are murder and adultery in their first stages. So they are regarded of God, and so they will be condemned in the Judgment.
Not among the least of the evils of the heart is its deceitfulness. “The heart is deceitful above all things.” We are almost every day deceived by earthly hopes, earthly prospects, earthly pleasures, and earthly friends. But we are oftener and more terribly deceived by our own hearts. They lead us to feel secure when all around is danger. They cause us to feel self-complacent when all is darkness and corruption within. “Who can know it?” is the question of inspiration. It is impossible for any one to know his heart unless he is enlightened by divine wisdom; by the word and Spirit of God. So great is self-deception that many will not accept reproof, but insist that they are right even when their lives are grossly corrupt. And unwillingness to be reproved is one of the strongest evidences of self-deception and impurity of heart.
By this I do not mean merely an unwillingness to hear reproof or to be advised. Self-deception puts on more deceptive forms than that. Some will ask for advice, and court reproof in words, imagining that thereby they give strong proof of humility. But their invariable failure to act upon the advice given, and their neglect to reform the errors or habits reproved, show too clearly that their blindness is deep laid in their selfish hearts. All efforts to assist such seem unavailing.
To those who have grieved over their weaknesses, who have grown discouraged over their many failures, I would offer words of hope and courage. Our internal foes are our worst enemies, but we may say, in the words of the hymn:—
“Yet let nothing spoil your peace;
Christ will also conquer these.”
“The carnal mind,” the natural or unrenewed heart, “is enmity against God.” But this may be all removed, and we be “justified by faith,” so that we may have peace “with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” Says the Saviour, “Without me ye can do nothing.” Here is our fault. Our efforts are made in our own strength. We do not make a complete surrender. When we become fully sensible of our own weakness, and are willing to put away every idol, and can believe that God is willing to receive us to the strong arms of his love; when we so hunger and thirst after righteousness that we truly hate the sins which grieve the Spirit of God, and yield all to the Lord without any reserve, then will he clothe us with the power of his salvation. His grace will be found sufficient for us, and we may realize as well as know that “perfect love casteth out fear.”
A heart that is pure will have the love of God in it, and this will be manifested by complete submission to his will—cheerful obedience to his commandments. A pure heart will love to commune with God, and will daily gather strength from the “throne of grace.” Strength to do or to bear, to work or to wait, and to hide self behind the cross, and “do all to the glory of God.”
J. H. WAGGONER.
Church Government.—No. 8.
By George Ide Butler
(Concluded.)
WHAT do the Scriptures say concerning the duty of the church to wrong-doers? Of private trespasses we read: “If thy brother shall trespass against thee, go and tell him his fault between thee and him alone; if he shall hear thee, thou hast gained thy brother. But if he will not hear thee, then take with thee one or two more, that in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established. And if he shall neglect to hear them, tell it unto the church; but if he neglect to hear the church, let him be unto thee as an heathen man and a publican.” Matt. 18: 15–17. These are the words of the Son of God, the highest authority. Here a certain course is marked out to be taken, reasonable and consistent, which should be always pursued. After the individual has thus been properly warned of his wrong, and full opportunity given to make reparation, what then? Should the thing be left to drag along, create contention, give rise to false sympathy, and finally involve the whole church? Should the wrong-doer, who will not do right, still continue in the number? No. The loving Saviour says, “Let him be to thee as an heathen man and a publican.” Such are not to hold the fellowship of the church. That would lead them to think the wrong of small account; for, of course, if the church make no stir about it, they virtually say it is a matter of small moment. How are they then teaching the importance of morality and religion? They are really teaching the contrary. It is for the good of the individual himself that his wrong be made clear before him, and not overlooked, if it be really a matter of consequence. The decision of that church when acting in harmony with this instruction will be sanctioned in Heaven, and involve eternal consequences to the wrong-doer unless he changes his course, for the Saviour adds, “Whatsoever ye shall bind on earth shall be bound in Heaven.”
The apostle Paul says, “Now I beseech you, brethren, mark them which cause divisions and offenses contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned; and avoid them.” Rom. 16: 17. Again, “Now we command you, brethren, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye withdraw yourselves from every brother that walketh disorderly, and not after the tradition which he received of us.” “And if any man obey not our word by this epistle, note that man, and have no company with him, that he may be ashamed. Yet count him not as an enemy, but admonish him as a brother.” 2 Thess. 3: 6 and 14, 15. Here we have the plain and emphatic command of Scripture to not hold in Christian fellowship those who will not obey the word of God. We are commanded to “mark” such, and avoid them. This is not a matter of indifference, but a solemn duty of the church.
But perhaps there is no scripture where this duty is made plainer than in the fifth chapter of first Corinthians. Verse 1 declares there were those guilty of grievous sin in the church. Verse 2 informs us that the church did not feel humbled by this, but were puffed up, thinking themselves all right, just as many churches are to-day who have sins in their midst and yet mourn not over the fact, whereas they should feel that by it they are disgraced and the cause of God stained. The apostle proceeds, “For I verily, as absent in body, but present in spirit, have judged already, as though I were present, concerning him who hath so done this deed, in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, when ye are gathered together, and my spirit with the power of our Lord Jesus Christ, to deliver such an one to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus. Your glorying is not good. Know ye not that a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump? Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened. . . . I wrote unto you in an epistle not to company with fornicators; yet not altogether with the fornicators of this world, or with the covetous, or extortioners, or with idolaters; for then must ye needs go out of the world. But now I have written unto you not to keep company if any man that is called a brother be a fornicator, or covetous, or an idolater, or a railer, or a drunkard, or an extortioner, with such an one no not to eat. For what have I to do to judge them also that are without? Do ye not judge them that are within? But them that are without God judgeth. Therefore put away from yourselves that wicked person.” 1 Cor. 5: 3–13.
The expressions, “deliver such an one to Satan,” “purge out the old leaven,” “not to keep company,” “with such an one no not to eat,” and “put away from yourselves that wicked person,” all refer substantially to the same thing, the withdrawing of fellowship from wrong-doers. These show the course Paul would pursue when persons walk disorderly. This scripture also plainly speaks of what classes should be made subject to such discipline, fornicators, covetous, idolaters, railers, drunkards, and extortioners. With such we are not to eat. He evidently means eat the Lord’s supper, which is a token of fellowship, for when we eat that with persons, we show that we regard them as worthy members of Christ’s body.
Such cases we are to “deliver to Satan.” By this expression we understand the withdrawal of fellowship. When a person is in the church, sharing the watchcare of the church, holy angels watch over him. He is surrounded by influences which are calculated to preserve him from the influence of Satan. When he is guilty of wrongdoing, the church take cognizance of it, and he is expelled—he is left to the buffetings of Satan. The church show their abhorrence of his wicked course. God sanctions this course of the church when they move in harmony with his word. He binds what they bind in such cases, and the man125is left to come to himself. If he has any good principles in his heart, he will be apt to come to his senses.
I have known of many cases who have been thus dealt with in love and faithfulness, who, after time for reflection, humbly confessed their sin, and were again received into the fellowship of the church. Such an experience in extreme cases may be very profitable to some. If they have any love for the cause of God left, and if they have been dealt with justly by the church, they will think soberly of their course after being disfellowshiped. The members should always act kindly toward such cases, after this step has been taken; especially if they manifest a reasonable disposition. Thus the fleshly principles of the heart may be brought under subjection. Paul’s reference to leaven here is very striking. “Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump.” Sinning members in the church are here compared to leaven, communicating from one to another the disorganizing elements of sin. If nothing is done to hold in check such principles, the whole lump will be corrupted. Such cases should be purged out. Nothing can be made plainer than the duty of the church in such cases.
With certain classes we are not to keep company. And the apostle is very careful not to have us apply this to worldly associations, for then we “must needs go out of the world.” Such cases we cannot help meeting everywhere in this wicked world. But it is with those who are called brethren. With such we are not to walk in company or fellowship. We are to put away from ourselves such wicked persons. Here a solemn duty is made plain. The classes to be dealt with not only embrace “drunkards,” “fornicators,” and “idolaters,” but “railers,” “extortioners,” and “covetous” persons. Here we are forcibly reminded of the lax state of church discipline of the present day. If all extortioners or covetous persons were cast out, many churches would have a very large decrease of membership. The fact is, such sins are scarcely noticed in our age. As but few really believe the world is an enemy to grace, but think it the best friend they have, of course they make great efforts to get as much as possible of it. A “railer” is “one who uses abusive language.” That is contrary to religion; and with such we should not keep company as brethren. The covetous man is one who is “inordinately desirous to gain property.” Extortion is to “exact oppressively or unjustly” from another. The Christian church is full of those who do such things; so much so that these things are hardly thought to be sins worth noticing. But Paul teaches that such should be cast out from among them. Such wicked persons destroy the purity of the church, and must be cast out if the church retains its high character. We know very well that this doctrine is unpopular, and that to carry it out requires wisdom, decision, and much of the grace of God. We know it will stir up commotion and hatred with some, and that a false idea of love leads people to keep quiet, and permit all kinds of evil to accumulate in the church.
We know it is easier to talk much about doing something than actually to do it. But we think, nevertheless, that faithful dealing in love is the only thing that will keep the church pure, and that the best good of the sinner demands that his wicked course should be exposed and he censured and disfellowshiped unless he will repent and do right. We have plainly shown that this is the Bible course. It requires such a course.
In conclusion, we say that church government is a most important matter that is much neglected. We wish our people to consider the subject, and study to see what the Lord has said concerning it. If we do not drift into the same loose state of things as exists all around us, we must uphold the standard of righteousness in our churches. Our elders must be diligent. They must be men of God themselves. They must realize their responsibility before God for the flock over whom they are appointed overseers. The members must also feel that they have a responsibility for the welfare of those connected with them. Above all, the great principles of righteousness must be upheld or the church becomes worse than nothing, leading men to ruin.