Review and Herald, Vol. 51, No. 4. (1/24/1878)

Review and Herald

Jan 24, 1878

Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Jan 24, 1878

MINISTERS AND SMALL CONGREGATIONS.

By W. H. Littlejohn

BY ELD. W. H. LITTLEJOHN.

One of the greatest mysteries in the plan of redemption is found in the fact that the salvation of men is made to depend so largely upon the preaching of the word by human instrumentalities. When we reflect for a moment upon the varied, and apparently more potent, resources which God ever has at his command, we wonder that he has intrusted so grave a mission to the sons of men, encompassed, as they are on every hand, with infirmity. How easy, for example, it would have been for him to commission the holy angels to do this work; and—from our standpoint—how much more readily and satisfactorily they might have accomplished the task in question.

We speak with stammering tongues; they with a fluency which belongs to their higher nature. Our voices are weak; theirs can be made as strong as the deep-toned thunder, or as sweet and soft as the symphonies of Heaven. We go slowly and laboriously from point to point, on foot, or over rough and almost impassable roads, in vehicles drawn by horses, or, at best, in the cars, at great expense, and, at times, in jeopardy of our lives; they, without cost, or hazard, or wearisome labor, pass from continent to continent as the lightning flashes across the horizon. Not only so, but it seems as if the mere presence of these heavenly messengers, when recognized as such, would be enough to carry conviction of such power to every heart that all doubt concerning the authenticity of the gospel would be instantly removed.

But be these things in appearance as they may, we may safely conclude that our view is a superficial one, and that a deeper insight into the nature of things would satisfy us that, after all, God’s plan is the best plan.

Furthermore, a little reflection will show that it would ill become us to complain at the present arrangement; since if the labor which we are called upon to perform is very great, the reward which it brings is infinitely greater still, and would be lost by us altogether were the angels exclusively made co-workers with God in the promulgation of truth, while we were allowed to remain in idleness, always receiving, and never dispensing, the blessings of Heaven.

Accepting, then, the situation, it becomes us to meet its requirements with humility and alacrity, as well as with such wisdom as will make our labors as successful as it is possible to have them.

In order that this may be done, it is not enough that the minister should be thoroughly furnished with the heavenly graces, and fully equipped with that knowledge of the word which will enable him to perform well his part in the grand scheme; but he will need also the active co-operation in prayer and labor of his brethren in Christ. Their duty will not be discharged, and their opportunity for usefulness will not be fully met, by simply gathering punctually and regularly at the house of worship and listening to the preaching of the word.

Such a course might go far toward sustaining the hands and comforting the heart of the minister, but it would not afford him the largest opportunity for usefulness possible under the circumstances.

The preacher who is compelled, week in and week out, month in and month out, to address an audience composed altogether of professing Christians, is accomplishing but half the work of the ministry. He is feeding, it may be, the flock of God; but the thousands of sheep scattered and torn upon the mountains are never permitted to hear through him the voice of the Good Shepherd calling them to the fold. As a consequence of this fact, he is compelled to ignore altogether those scriptures which have especial application to the unconverted world. His very soul longs for an opportunity to break the bread of life to the hundreds who are famishing for the want of it, just beyond, it may be, the range of his voice. At times, it seems to him that his ministry is almost a failure, because of the long intervals which elapse between the conversion of souls. He looks over the congregation which he is addressing, and the face of nearly every one is that of an individual who long since became a child of God. With the exception of a few children incapable of appreciating what he says, and now and then a youth who has hopelessly hardened even under the invitations of the Spirit of God, every person has his name enrolled on the church book.

Not only so, but even the ample space in the commodious church is, perhaps, three-fourths of it altogether unoccupied. Here and there, scattered through the room, are pews wholly or partially filled, and the remainder of the seats, being empty, seem to suggest to him a doubt as to whether he has really been called to the place which he is trying to fill. Is it not possible, he says to himself, that the emptiness of these slips is wholly attributable to some neglect or incapacity of mine? He decides that it cannot be neglect, because he has strained every nerve to meet the responsibilities of his position. As to incapacity for the work, however, he is not so sure.

He turns the matter over and over in his own mind, he looks again and again at the half-filled house, and gradually settles into the conviction that the lesson of experience proves that he is not adapted to his work. His heart sinks within him; his appeals become less earnest; his zeal flags; the point of his testimony is dulled; he accepts what seems to him to be the verdict of his fellow-men, he steps down and out, and leaves the work which he had loved so much in the earlier days of his ministry, to those whom he hopes will be more successful than he has been.

Such, reader, is the experience of many a good man, who, with more favorable surroundings, would have developed capabilities which would have secured to him high rank among the most useful of his profession.

Nor does it avail us to say that he has no occasion for discouragement. He, assuredly, is not a modest man, who would venture to place a higher estimate upon himself, than that entertained of him by others. Judging, therefore, of their conception of his usefulness in the light of the fact that the larger portion of the community are not sufficiently interested in what he has to say, or in the manner in which he says it, to think it worth their while to give him a hearing, he presumes that the fault is in himself, and meekly decides that it would be safer to rely upon the instincts or wisdom of others concerning himself, than it would be to conclude that they were all wrong, and that he, after all, deserved to be regarded as a most acceptable preacher of the word.

If his logic is at fault in any respect, it is, perhaps, in the direction of over-charity for his brethren. He takes it for granted that they have done their whole duty in the premises. He infers, either that they have done their part in trying to prevail on others to come to the house of God and listen to the preaching of sound gospel truth, or else that they have refrained from putting forth the effort necessary to the accomplishment of this end, because of the recognition of the fact that their minister was incapable of instructing those whom they might bring within the sound of his voice. Had he gone a step further, and examined more fully into the reasons of their inactivity, it is barely possible that he might have discovered that their inaction, and the consequent diminutiveness of his congregation, and the scarcity of unbelievers among his hearers, was not so much the fault of his style, or the lack of appreciation on the part of his brethren, as it was their neglect to perform a manifest duty. Had they taken especial pains to invite their friends and neighbors to the house of God, they might have succeeded in furnishing congregations, both respectable in point of numbers, and composed partly of believers and partly of unbelievers.

In so doing, they would not only have enlarged the usefulness of the preacher, but they would also have accomplished a work which naturally devolved upon them, and which they could have performed most successfully because of their numbers, and of the fact that they were daily brought in contact with men of the world who would have appreciated the interest shown in their welfare by those who should solicit their presence in the house of worship. It was never more true than it is at the present time that special effort is required on the part of laymen in the matter of bringing men under the sound of the gospel.

The age is peculiar. On every side of us are the evidences that those things which move at all, move because they are pushed. Houses, fences, barns, and all available places, are covered with placards, bills, and posters of every name and description, calculated to attract the attention of the people, and either draw them to places of amusement and instruction, or lead them to give their attention to some modern invention or source of profit. They live in a whirl of business activity, and they find so much to attract their attention without, that they need to be jogged lest they forget the interests of the soul within them. They are solicited so much by others to give their attention to this, that, and the other thing, that they have come to conclude that if anything arises that is worthy of their attention, it will be brought to their notice by special effort on the part of some one.

This being the case, they give themselves up to the consideration of those subjects and themes that are pressed upon them, and become indifferent to those that are not.

Such men as Mr. Moody, perceiving the situation, adapt themselves to the peculiarities of the times in which they live, and availing themselves of the press, the telegraph, and all the facilities of the advertising world, unite with them personal effort in the work of calling out the masses.

It is said of Mr. Moody, that, in the early part of his career, he might have been seen on the streets of Chicago, giving, in person, to the passers-by, printed special invitations to attend the services of such and such churches. By this course, he proved at once his humility and his zeal.

His efforts were successful. Following on in the same line, and employing the same resources,—only more enlarged,—he has had the privilege of addressing tens of thousands, where otherwise he might have spoken simply to hundreds.

It may be that in some particulars he has in this matter transcended the bounds of propriety; but he cannot be charged with apathy in the cause of God. Would that at least a portion of his spirit of activity might rest upon all the followers of Christ. Would that his example might kindle a like enthusiasm, especially in those of us who hold, in common with him, the precious faith of the soon-coming of our Lord.

If, with his indefinite conception of that glorious event, he is impelled by the energy of one who feels that he has at his command a life-boat with which it is his duty to rescue what he may of the passengers of a rapidly sinking wreck, how much stronger should the impulse to labor for the salvation of men be in us, who make the near coming of our Lord, not a secondary consideration, but the grand, overwhelming thought in connection with our religious duties to the world.

With us the advent of Christ is proved to be near, not only by reasons general in their nature, but also by the fulfilling of lines of definite and specific prophecy. The time that we have in which to work is short; the field is as vast as the world; the laborers are few. In view of these facts, every facility available should be employed, so as to economize both strength and time. Whenever we have a general meeting, it should be made to reach as widely as possible in its influence. Whenever we have a smaller convocation, where preaching is expected, every member of the church in that vicinity should earnestly engage in the work of personally inviting friends and neighbors to be present.

Let this be done thoroughly and uniformly, and the following results will be secured:—

1. The community will, in the briefest time possible, be brought face to face with the great and stirring truths which it is our mission to proclaim.

2. As these truths are timely, when they

are uttered in the fear of God they will reach hearts and result in the conversion of many honest souls.

3. The direct effect of these conversions will be an increase in the spirituality as well as the membership of the church which has been instrumental in bringing them about.

4. Ministers will very soon learn the characteristic energy of such a church, and they will readily visit them because of the enlarged opportunities for usefulness which they offer over those localities where, through the listlessness and inaction of church members, the community are left in ignorance even of the fact that meetings are to be held, and preaching is expected.

5. In the final day of reward, He who takes into account the efforts of the feeblest one when laboring patiently and lovingly for the salvation of others, will place stars in the crowns of those men who, by personal appeals and kindly invitations, have succeeded in bringing others within the range of influences which have proved instrumental in their salvation.

Should any apprehend danger from a resort to a system of advertising, and should they feel that enough had already been done in that direction, we reply, first, that the danger will be found, if at all, in the style, rather than in the extent, of the system employed. Let, therefore, the style be guarded, and the danger is removed, i. e., let the advertisements be modest and sober, and they can do no harm. Secondly, as to the matter of overdoing the thing, we, as a people, certainly are in no danger in that direction until, at least, such a paper as the Congregationalist shall be made so fully aware of our existence as a denomination that it shall not again, as it has recently done, charge the Independent with a blunder in having spoken of the “Seventh-day Adventist denomination,” whereas there is, they say, no such denomination in existence.

THE CITY SAINTLY.

By D. DeVRIES

I see afar the pearly gates On golden hinges swinging, And porticoes of emerald hue Where purple vines are clinging: I see the mansion turrets faintly In the city of the saintly.

I hear sweet music from the mansions Of the bright angelic throng, Pealing forth from happy harpers, Blending into heavenly song: Yet I only hear them faintly From the city of the saintly.

I feel the heavenly zephyrs stealing O’er my heart so cold and bare, Upper trade-winds, always bringing Precious seeds to scatter there: Yet it comes to me but faintly From the city of the saintly.

I catch sweet perfume from the flowers In the garden of the Lord, Coming o’er the walls of jasper, Past the angels standing guard: Yet their odors come but faintly From the city of the saintly.

I can taste the hidden manna, Oh, how sweet its taste to me! Never olive orchard yieldeth Rich and goodly fruit like thee: ’Tis by faith, and so but faintly, In the city of the saintly,

Well I know that land is nearing Where these realms, these riches be; Endless life, eternal glories, Wait me o’er the crystal sea: Yet I realize but faintly Thy sweet joys, O city saintly.

City fair, how oft I’m dreaming Of thy glories yet unseen, Fruits and flowers and verdant meadows Watered by thy crystal stream, Shining river, sparkling fountain, “Tossing pearl drops in the air,” Golden steps and golden pathway Leading to the mansions fair; How I long thy gates to pass, And stand upon the sea of glass! Then I’ll taste and hear and see All that Christ has bought for me: Not by faith, so far and faintly, But then within that city saintly.

By D. DeVRIES.

J. P. THOMPSON, D. D., LL. D., ON THE SABBATH.

This writer, in his work entitled “Man in Genesis and in Geology,” uses the following language:—

“God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it.”

Obviously this could not have been for himself, but for man in relation to his Maker. To bless a day was to set it apart to be a blessing; but there was no sense in which God could make any one portion of duration more of a blessing to himself than another, he being always self-contained, and infinite in his blessings. To “hallow” the day was to dedicate it to some sacred, moral, and beneficial use; but of course God could not have made one period of time more holy than another to himself. The sanctifying must have had reference to its use by and for others.

This sacred day is God’s day, which man should devote to him in some special or uncommon way, turning aside from the common occupations to a separate and peculiar observance of this portion of time. Hence this grand day of the Almighty, this on-going day, which, dating from the creation of man as an intellectual creature, shall continue till the world and the present course of time shall close, is the type of the Sabbath, the rest-day for the creatures of God. The blessing and the hallowing was the solemn establishing of the institution, since such a formality would hardly have been entered upon for a mere passing occasion. It was with reference to an institution to be continued through after-times; and the proof of this appears all along in the early history of the race. For instance, we trace the division of time into weeks in the account of the flood, where Noah is said to have sent forth the dove at intervals of seven days. Again, in the life of Jacob, we find mention of a week as a recognized division of time, and so in other portions of the early history of the world.

Some have supposed that this division was suggested by the phases of the moon, the lunar month being subdivided into four equal periods. But the phases of the moon, at the point of transition from one to another, are too obscure to have suggested this as a division of time so early in the history of the race. This would imply a knowledge of astronomy which we can hardly suppose to have been then attained. The year and the month are marked off on the great dial of the firmament, as is the shortest division of the day and night. The lights in heaven are for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years; but there is nothing in the phenomena of nature which corresponds to the seventh-day division in a manner so striking as to have impressed upon an unscientific observer such a measurement of time. This would require much nicety of astronomical observation; and hence we must regard the week as an arbitrary division, and look for its explanation in some other quarter.

The week was a wide-spread usage among the nations of antiquity. The Egyptians and the Hebrews had it, and so had the early people of the East. It was well known, also, far back in Hindoo and Chinese history. This general consent of antiquity to a division of time which is not strongly marked as a division of nature, can best be accounted for upon the supposition of some common tradition as its source; and what more reasonable than the statement of the text, the designation by Jehovah of a sacred day to be observed by man from the beginning of the world? The exceptions to this seven-days period in the history of nations are just enough to prove the rule; for the usage prevailed among those nations that were connected most nearly by language and emigration with that part of Asia which was the cradle of the human family.

Again: the fourth commandment treats of the Sabbath as an institution already known: “Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy.” This is not merely an emphasis for the future. It does not mean simply: Keep in mind hereafter this day with a view to its sacred observance; the word remember recalls the past. An institution entirely new would have required a different phraseology. For instance, it would have been enjoined in some such language as this: Thou shalt keep a holy rest every seventh day. But the Sabbath day was recalled as an institution known to their fathers and formerly to themselves, to be “remembered,” as something that ought to be known, but had been allowed to slip out of mind.

We find mention of this day in the history of the Israelites in the wilderness before the giving of the law at Sinai. When the manna appeared, it is recorded that “on the sixth day they gathered twice as much bread, two omers for one man; and all the rulers of the congregation came and told Moses. And he said unto them, This is that which the Lord hath said, To-morrow is the rest of the holy Sabbath unto the Lord.” On the following morning Moses said, “To-day is a Sabbath unto the Lord; to-day ye shall not find it in the field. Six days ye shall gather it; but on the seventh day, which is the Sabbath, in it there shall be none.” Ex. 16: 22, 23, 25, 26. From this it is evident that the institution of the Sabbath had long been known, although its observance may have pretty much died out among the children of Israel during their sojourn in Egypt. Now it was revived with the memory of the patriarchal times and the history of creation, and reinforced by specific command, as an institution to be remembered.

Furthermore: the primary reason for keeping holy the Sabbath does not at all pertain to the Jewish commonwealth, but belongs to the history of humanity. It existed from the day of the first man, and is perpetual in its nature and obligation. “In six days the Lord made heaven and earth, and the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day; wherefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day, and hallowed it.” This was the primitive reason, and it is still a prominent reason. Other reasons supplementary to this have, from time to time, been given for the observance of this day; for instance, the deliverance of the children of Israel from their bondage in Egypt; and since the Christian era, the resurrection of Christ; for the resurrection of Christ includes within itself, as an antitype, both of the preceding grounds for the observance of this day; that resurrection symbolizes our deliverance from bondage, and our new creation into a higher spiritual life; and so grandly expressive is this symbol, that the day of the week has been changed to correspond with it. But the period of time to be observed as a Sabbath is altogether secondary; whether it be the seventh day or the first day is of minor importance. The essential point is the setting apart for sacred observance of a seventh portion of time; and the prime

Sabbath as God's Sacred Day, Not a Type

By Wm. Penniman

reason is as old as man, and as universal as mankind.

Most of the preceding is a very good argument for the Sabbath. “This sacred day is God’s day.” This is a strong point and a truthful one. What sacred day is God’s day? If any or every day is sacred, or if the sanctity can be placed upon any day at man’s option, then where is the force of the language: “This sacred day is God’s day”? No other day but the seventh, the day on which God rested, has been sanctified; therefore this day is the one to be observed by man as a holy day.

Again, it is an “on-going day,” and is to continue till the close of time. Truly, it is to go on forever. Isa. 66:23. It has been an “on-going day” for nearly six thousand years, yet it has never yet reached, traveled to, or changed itself into, first-day. No man can take the sanctity off from this day, and put it on to another, and then prove that the same day is going on.

In calling it the type of the Sabbath, he robs it of its true glory; for it is not a type, it is the Sabbath itself. It is impossible for a moral principle to be typical. What is there typical in the command against idolatry or the making of graven images, or in the law against profanity? And further, in respect to our duties to man, what is there typical in the law requiring us to honor our parents, and to avoid murder, adultery, theft, bearing false witness, and covetousness? It is plain to be seen that all these commands are founded upon immutable moral principles. Is the law of the Sabbath, which requires us to observe God’s sacred day, any less a moral principle, or any less enduring than the rest? Nothing but sophistical reasoning can make it appear so. Then where is the type? But mark, he does not attempt to prove that it is a type, but only asserts that it is one.

“The blessing and hallowing was the solemn establishing of the institution.” The meaning of establish is to make permanent. Now the question is, What kind of an institution was it? It was not one making holy any or every day, but the seventh day, which is the Sabbath, or rest-day. Then it is sheer nonsense to talk of perpetuating the institution on any other day but the right one.

His ideas in regard to the division of time into the week are very good; yet we cannot regard the division as “arbitrary” only so far as it is not founded upon the motion of the heavenly bodies, as it can be traced to nothing else but to the six days of creation and to the rest of the Sabbath. It is no wonder that Mr. Thompson considers the division arbitrary, as in his work (from which we have quoted) he holds to the six indefinite or thousand-year periods of creation. Those who hold to this position, to be consistent, must think that we are now in the rest-day, or seventh indefinite period. We can see how this will work. “Six thousand years shalt thou labor, and do all thy work; but the seventh thousand years is the Sabbath,” &c. To go through with the whole command in this way makes nonsense of it. Those who advocate this theory cannot consistently believe in any twenty-four hour Sabbath. But the Bible says God created the earth in six days, not in six indefinite periods. God “spake, and it was done; he commanded, and it stood fast.” How much better to take the word of God as it reads.

“The Sabbath is perpetual in its nature and obligation.” As the Sabbath, or rest-day, naturally comes on the seventh day, why attempt to change that which is founded in nature and in the immutable law of God?

The assertion that the resurrection of Christ is an antitype of first-day observance is entirely without foundation. We have shown already that the Sabbath is not a type; therefore it is a waste of words to show that the first day is not an antitype.

“So grandly does the resurrection of Christ symbolize our deliverance from bondage, and our new creation into a higher life, that the day has been changed to correspond with it.” To support this imaginary change he settles down into the exploded position that the keeping of a seventh part of time will do. This position would give a father the privilege, if he had six children, of allowing each one to keep a different day of the week from himself. Could he thus “command his household after him,” and would he thus keep the law?

Those who would commemorate the burial and resurrection of Christ need not keep the first day of the week. Has not the Lord ordained a much different, far better, and more appropriate memorial?

“Know ye not that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death; that like as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection.” Rom. 6:3–5. “Buried with him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with him through the faith of the operation of God, who hath raised him from the dead.” Col. 2:12.

In respect to the change in the ordinance of baptism, and of the change of the Sabbath, Eld. J. N. Andrews, in his examination of “Seven Reasons for Sunday Keeping,” truthfully says: “It is true that the professed church have changed this ordinance to sprinkling, so that this divine memorial of the Lord’s resurrection is destroyed. And that they may add sin to sin, they lay hold of the Lord’s Sabbath and change it to the first day of the week, thus destroying the sacred memorial of the Creator’s rest, that they may have a memorial of Christ’s resurrection!”

“The earth also is defiled under the inhabitants thereof; because they have transgressed the laws, changed the ordinance, broken the everlasting covenant.” When will the professed church cease to pervert the right ways of the Lord? Not until the “inhabitants of the earth are burned, and few men left.” Isa. 24:5, 6.

Wm. Penniman.

PRAYER

By G. V. Kilgore

Prayer is to the child of God as food is to the hungry, and none can live a godly life without it. If we neglect to pray, or even grow careless about praying, we soon grow cold and lifeless in the cause of God. Therefore prayer is a very important duty, and one which is frequently enjoined in the Bible. It is also a very great privilege to those who hunger and thirst after righteousness. But there are some who never pray, because they think that if God knows what we need before we pray, if he notices the sparrow, and numbers the hairs of our heads, he will also see to our wants without being told what to do, or asked for favors. Those who reason in this way do not look at the subject in the right light. The Bible tells us to “pray without ceasing,” and declares that “the effectual fervent prayer of the righteous man availeth much.” If this is the truth, then all who do not pray are losing “much” that they will wish they had when that kingdom comes for which Christ teaches us to pray (Matt. 6), when all who never prayed before will “cry there bitterly,” calling to rocks and mountains instead of God, to whom they might have prayed and been saved.

Why does God require us to pray to him? Is it for his own benefit, to have his mind attracted to things he would fail to notice without it? Here is the trouble with those above mentioned. They cannot see what use God makes of our feeble prayers. But if they would turn their minds to man’s position, they could see more light on the question. It is for man’s benefit that prayer is required—for man’s good, and not for God’s convenience.

Man is wholly dependent on God for life and its blessings, and he can never be saved without the grace of God. But he must feel that he is thus dependent before God can bestow special favors on him without injuring him. If the Lord would bless people as much when they do not pray, thus acknowledging their dependence, as he does when they call upon him in truth, they would soon feel that their wisdom and power brought such blessings. They would then trust in the arm of flesh, which can never save, or in riches, that will not be able to deliver them in the day of wrath. Ps. 49:6–8; Zeph. 1:18. But God will not thus lead man to ruin. It is not his will that any should perish; therefore he cannot pour out his rich blessings on those who do not call on his name. He will have them realize and acknowledge the truth that they are entirely dependent on him, that they are lost without him. But as soon as men feel that this is their condition, they will most assuredly want to cry to him for help. And God has given men the privilege of praying to him. He has promised to hear their cry, and save them. Ps. 145:18, 19. Isaiah says, “Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on Thee; because he trusteth in Thee.” Yes; it is because men trust in God that they are blessed of him. “Trust

ye in the Lord forever; for in the Lord Jehovah is everlasting strength.”

Are all that pray to God in a fit condition to receive answers to their prayers? By no means. “Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of Heaven, but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in Heaven,” says Christ. Obedience is the grand condition to be fulfilled before prayer can be answered. If the Lord should answer the willful transgressor as well as the obedient child, the transgressor would be encouraged in his transgression. This would also lead men to ruin; for the wages of sin is death. Therefore, the Lord cannot pour spiritual blessings upon those who willfully violate his law, which violation is sin. “Your iniquities have turned away these things, and your sins have withholden good things from you,” says the Lord. “If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me,” said the psalmist. Isaiah said: “Behold, the Lord’s hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; neither his ear heavy, that it cannot hear; but your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear.” Sin is the only thing that will keep back God’s blessings. We must stop sinning, if we want our prayers answered. “He that turneth away his ear from hearing the law, even his prayer shall be abomination.” Prov. 28:9.

It would lead men to disregard God’s government, if the prayers of those who willfully sin were answered, as well as the prayers of the sincere. This is seen very plainly by the course taken by people who oppose the Sabbath of God’s law. They talk as follows: “Our fathers were good people, and God heard their prayers, and blessed them; but they never kept the Sabbath. If we do as they did, God will hear our prayers, and bless us. The Sabbath does not amount to much,” etc. They never look at the difference between them and their fathers. Their fathers obeyed God to the best of their knowledge (if they were honest); but these willfully violate a plain command. They will see how God will bless them when the Judgment comes. And if they were awake to the times, they could see now why the Spirit of God has been withdrawn from the popular churches; why the churches are so much like the world; and why it has to be proclaimed that “Babylon is fallen.” It is not because men have neglected to pray, but because they have rejected God’s truth for this time, and violated his holy law. But these people do not see this condition of things, so they think God blessed men who did not keep the fourth commandment; and therefore they argue that “the Sabbath doesn’t amount to much.” Thus would all of God’s law be treated, if the prayers of willful transgressors were really answered. But the Lord will not thus lead men to disobey him. He said by the mouth of Samuel of old, “Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice;” and through Jeremiah, he declared that incense and sweet cane, burnt offerings and sacrifices, were to no purpose when his law was rejected. 1 Sam. 15:22; Jer. 6:19, 20. He is the same God to-day, and all that would receive his blessings must obey him. All that want their prayers answered, must do his will.

Prayer is necessary to prepare man for the kingdom. When God required man to pray, he required the performance of an act that cannot be done without a knowledge of God. That knowledge comes by studying the Bible (for faith comes by hearing the word of God; Rom. 10:17); and the study of the Bible will purify the thoughts of men, and fit them for Heaven.

Prayer demands faith in God. “He that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.” Heb. 11:6. “How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed?”

Seeing all the conditions that must be complied with to secure answers to our prayers, should we doubt, if we fail to see them answered? No; but we should let that very failure lead us to examine our lives more closely, and put away sin. How precious, then, when the weights of sin are cut loose, and the clear conscience can appear before God, to commune with him. O, the sweet seasons of prayer! What would we be without them? We need them till the coming King shall change our vile bodies, and fashion them like unto his glorious body—till the carnal mind is wholly taken from us, and God’s law is indelibly written in our hearts. Then, and not till then, can the Christian live without prayer.

G. V. Kilgore.

S. B. WHITNEY

By S. B. Whitney

STRAWS.—NO. 3.

If the views of S. D. Adventists upon prophecy and its fulfillment are correct, and we are to see in the professed Christian church such opposition to God’s law, by means of legal enactment, and a virtual union of church and state, as will result in the persecution of those who are teaching and obeying that law, it is to be expected that there will exist, at the same time, a growing tendency to laxity in sentiment on the essential and vital principles of gospel doctrine, and a corresponding disregard of the authority of God’s word generally.

In illustration and confirmation of this thought the following case is in point: Recently the pastor of a Congregational church, composed largely of persons who had formerly been Scotch Presbyterians, after listening to a lecture on prophecy, made some remarks upon the subject of Scripture interpretation, in which he claimed that the language of the Bible was largely that of accommodation; that as God was to be seen and worshiped in nature as well as revelation, and the Bible was not designed to teach science, the wording of it must yield to the light of modern scientific research, in proof of which he stated that in all the attempts that have been made to harmonize the apparent discrepancies between science and the Bible, scientific men have not budged an inch, but the concessions have all been made by theologians.

On another occasion, after dissenting from the interpretation given of Matt. 24, he gave it as his opinion that there were three points involved in the chapter; viz., the destruction of Jerusalem, the general Judgment, and death, but Matthew, being the least erudite of all the evangelists, had “got things so jumbled up” that it is very difficult, if not impossible, to determine which portions of the chapter apply to each point.

In further attestation of the same point it may be said that the same minister recently preached a sermon on “Future Punishment,” in which he boldly advocated the final salvation of all men, and his church have published and are circulating it. It may be needless to add, although true, that he is the most popular man, as a minister, in the place where he resides.

S. B. WHITNEY

Temptation and the Way of Escape

The Saviour promised us no immunity from temptation, but the most ample support in it. We are to be tempted in all points like as he was; but in every temptation there is to be for us a way of escape. In the midst of the fire we shall be able to endure it. Without temptation we should never know the depths of evil within our hearts; without support in it, or deliverance from it, we should never have known the greatness and preciousness of the Lord’s grace. The Lord opens to us the gate of temptation, not because he is unable to control the elements of evil, but because he intends to use them to display the depths of sin and the unmeasured heights of redemption.—Zion’s Herald.

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