Pacific Press Publishing Company · Oakland, California · Feb 19, 1894
All Sufficiency in Christ
IN Jesus Christ is all sufficiency. "It pleased the Father that in him should all fullness dwell." "In him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily." And the inspired prayer of his apostle is that Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith." Having him, we have all; for says the apostle, "Ye are complete in him." All that is needed to bring this completeness to every man is simple faith in the record which God has given of his Son.
FAITH in Christ connects man with God. He can then say, "I am crucified with Christ; nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me." Thus it is that the individual becomes united with Christ. The Spirit of God, Christ's representative, forms the bond of union, imparting life, vigor, and instruction through God's word. "If any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his."
THE many individuals thus united in Christ form the body, or church, of Christ. "For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit." This body is the church of Christ, of which Christ is the head in all things; for God "hath put all things under his [Christ's] feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church, which is his body." From him, therefore, will the church receive her all. All her instruction, all her aid, all her power, comes from him. To him she is betrothed; union with the world or with the State is spiritual fornication, or adultery, and this is death. Her weapon of aggressive warfare is the word of God; her shield is faith; her helmet, hope; her feet are shod with the sandals of peace, her heart covered with the breastplate of righteousness.
THE mission of such a church—and such a church only is the church of the New Testament—is not to compel men, but to win them. It is not to make law or enforce law, but to proclaim the gospel, or good news of liberty from the bondage of sin. It is not to enlist the State in her schemes, but to bring salvation to the individual soul. It is not to hold the wicked and the sinful away by the constant appeal to civil law to suppress them, but to seek the sinful and the lost, in the love of the Lord Jesus Christ. It is not to glorify and exalt the rich and wise of earth, but to lift up the Man of Calvary. This is the mission of the church of Christ; and this is the mission of every individual member of that church, or else he is not a part of it. Reader, are you a member of Christ's body? Are you living his life?
RELIGIOUS AMENDMENT TO THE CONSTITUTION.
By Editor
What It Is Meant to Mean; and What It Means.
JANUARY 25, 1894, Mr. Elijah W. Morse, congressman from Massachusetts, introduced, in the House of Representatives, the following joint resolution:—
JOINT RESOLUTION
Proposing an amendment to the preamble of the Constitution of the United States, "acknowledging the supreme authority and just government of Almighty God in all the affairs of men and nations."
Resolved, by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled (two-thirds of each House concurring therein), That the following amended form of the preamble of the United States be proposed for ratification by conventions in the several States, which, when ratified by conventions in three-fourths of the States, shall be valid as a part of the said Constitution, namely:—
PREAMBLE.
We, the people of the United States, devoutly acknowledging the supreme authority and just government of Almighty God in all the affairs of men and nations, grateful to Him for our civil and religious liberty, and encouraged by the assurances of His Word to invoke His guidance, as a Christian nation, according to His appointed way, through Jesus Christ, in order to form a more perfect Union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquillity, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution of the United States of America.
Upon this we wish to briefly comment, that our readers may see, if they so desire, something of what it means. But first of all let us say that we give the gentleman who introduced the measure, and the friends of the measure behind him, credit for sincerity in this matter. They doubtless believe that it would be for the best good of the country, would promote the Christian religion, and would honor God, to have such an amendment to our Constitution. They mean, doubtless, that it shall do all this, but intention counts for nothing toward the right when men are devotedly led by wrong principles. Belief in a counterfeit bill will not make it a genuine; Saul was no less a persecutor because he believed he was doing God's service. Nor will it save the United States from destruction to swallow the death potion, though her ill-instructed physicians believe it to be the antidote for all her ill.
But to the resolution.
Now for a nation, a government, to acknowledge "the supreme authority and just government of Almighty God in all the affairs of men and nations," sounds well; but to truly acknowledge such "authority" and "government" means to submit to God and obey his laws. And this evidently is what is designed; and if it could be done, it would be a blessing indeed. But, first of all, who shall decide what God's law is? What is the basis and rule of his government? Shall it be the revelation held by the Jews or the Christians? But the proposed amendment takes it for granted, basing it, probably, upon the Supreme Court decision of February 29, 1892, that this is a "Christian nation," and that our instruction and God's guidance must come in "His appointed way, through Jesus Christ."
But here another question will arise. There are two great bodies of "Christians" in this country, Roman Catholics and Protestants. The former consider that their view of God is the only "appointed way." God's word as interpreted by the Roman Catholic Church would be the "supreme authority" and "government of God," to which all men must bow or be considered traitors.
But this would not be, say our Protestant friends. Protestants are greatly in the majority, and would therefore be dominant, and they would rule according to God's word. But what Protestants? "In all the affairs of men and nations" would cover all moral duties and obligations, over some of which, so considered, Protestants seem hopelessly divided. Who would interpret God's word? Who would point out "his appointed way"? Whose dictum would be the "supreme authority"? Would it be Protestant Episcopal, Protestant Methodist, Protestant Presbyterian, Protestant Congregational, Protestant Disciple, or Protestant Baptist? Some of these hold to the Old Testament, and some reject it; some practice sprinkling and reject immersion, and some reject sprinkling and believe immersion only to be baptism. Who would decide? and what tribunal would adjust the claims242between the warring factions over the religious spoils of this "Christian nation"? And, further, what treatment would heretics who might be equally honest, more devoted to Christ, and much less ambitious of earthly power, receive at the hands of such a government? It was under Protestant governments that Sir Thomas More was beheaded, Servetus was burned, and "witches" were hung.
But we have no reason to believe that Protestants, though greatly in the majority, would hold the reins of government and be able to decide what is God's "appointed way." We have before shown in these columns how for several years the Roman Catholic Church has drawn more funds from the government for her Indian schools than all the Protestant churches combined, despite their most strenuous efforts. Rome holds the balance of power in America, and can dictate her terms to the majority of congressmen, and she knows it. Blind and ignorant indeed is that Protestant who cannot see it. What it would mean to "obdurate heretics" for a Roman tribunal to decide what was God's "appointed way through Jesus Christ," the history of more than a thousand years of blood and fire and flame sufficiently testifies.
And in either view of the case, reader, whether the interpretation of God's government were made by Roman Catholic or Protestant, how much would such a Constitution tend "to establish justice"? Are not the rights of the heretic as precious as those of the State religionist? In the majority of cases in the past the heretic has been in the right. How would such a government "insure domestic tranquillity," or "form a more perfect union"? Such language, though not so meant, is the very essence of irony; and such a government is the deathblow to all "civil and religious liberty."
Again: The government of God is spiritual; the religion of Jesus Christ is spiritual; the law of God is spiritual; Christianity is a spiritual force; and these can only operate upon men beneficially by voluntary submission on the part of the men, and the willing reception of the principles of God's truth in the heart. Civil governments never will—because they never can—become "Christian" governments; and every attempt to so become will—as it always has—result in division, strife, injustice, oppression, persecution, and every evil work.
The above is not a tithe of what might be said; but we hope under God that it may be sufficient to show to the reader the evil which is in every such measure, and to warn him of the fearful and rapid strides this nation is taking to her everlasting ruin.
THE SUNDAY-LAW SPIRIT.
By Editor
WHAT A "PROTESTANT" HAS TO SAY.
WITH all religious laws there is of necessity a persecuting spirit. It comes in the very nature of the case. Just as soon as men undertake by law and force to regulate the religious practices of others, they, by that very act, put themselves in the place of God, and, therefore, consider it not only their prerogative, but their solemn duty, to punish infractions of their will as they deem God would if in their place. They frame their laws after their conceptions of what God's law ought to be, and when they are told the simple fact that they are persecutors, they say that they are only executing righteous law, and that the persecuted are law breakers.
It is sufficient reply to this to say, in the words of Richard M. Johnson, in a report which the Senate of the United States in January, 1829, by adoption, made its own: "Among all the religious persecutions with which almost every page of history is stained, no victim ever suffered but for the violation of what government denominated the law of God." It was for transgressing a governmental decree that Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego were cast into the fiery furnace of Nebuchadnezzar. It was for transgression of statute law that Daniel was thrown into the lions' den. It was for transgression of law that the Christian Sabbath keepers of Maryland were cast into prison. But in all cases the laws were wrong, because they attempted to regulate the conduct of the individual with respect to his duty to God.
As a sample of the spirit which goes with this religious legislation and its enforcement, we present an article clipped from the Centerville (Md.) Observer of January 25, and credited by the Observer to the Methodist Protestant. The Methodist Protestant quotes from the Independent what we have once before set before our readers (see SIGNS of January 29), and comments thereon, and the opinions of both papers are quoted by the Centerville Observer as follows:—
What Two Religious Papers Think of the Adventists.
SIGNS OF THE TIMES, a Seventh-day Adventist paper, wants to know what we think of the fact that these men should now be lying in jail in the Commonwealth of Maryland for "doing bodily labor on Sunday" in obedience to the dictates of their own conscience and their religious faith—one of them having been discovered plowing in his own field, a second setting out tomato plants in his own garden, and a third chopping wood at his own door. We answer that if it be true, as our contemporary tells us, that these were men who conscientiously observed the seventh day as their Sabbath, and who, in doing this work, disturbed nobody else, and were discovered at it only by persons spying out for the purposes of Inquisition, then it is an outrageous injustice, an offense against freedom of worship, and ought not to be allowed by the laws of a reputable State.—Independent.
Our contemporary, after a good many "if's," expresses its opinion rather strongly. If these ignorant fanatics who go about the country abusing people for observing Sunday, and who work on Sunday with a boldness and ostentation that is irritating to their neighbors, are permitted to go on, they will accomplish after a while all the evil that was anticipated in the Sunday opening of the World's Fair. If these men can obtrude their opinions upon the community, and violate sabbath laws at their discretion, then the Jews, who observe Saturday, can do the same. They can open their stores, shops, saloons, and business places, and that ends our orderly and quiet sabbath, for which Maryland has ever been noted. That will turn our fair city of Baltimore—the most orderly, law-abiding and sabbath-observing city in the nation—into the sabbath-breaking, theater-going, baseball-playing, whisky-drinking character that now disgraces Cincinnati, Chicago, New Orleans, and most other cities.
These men were arrested by the proper officers of the law. They were tried before a court of justice, whose three judges have won the admiration and respect of all the citizens of Maryland, without regard to party or sect, for their impartiality and acumen, and, after a trial, in which they were ably defended, they were found guilty of violating law, and were fined. They refused to pay the fine, and went to jail, where they are now posing as martyrs. Even in prison they seek to attract attention, are bold and defiant, and make themselves as obnoxious to the public conscience as possible.
We think that a dignified religious paper, that gave its great influence to the closing of the World's Fair, puts itself into a very anomalous and inconsistent position by hypothecating a case for these fanatical Adventists, and charging "outrageous injustice" and "offense against the freedom of worship," against a State so conservative, law abiding, and orderly as Maryland. And none are more so than the people of Queen Anne's, where the offense was committed, and where these silly, ignorant, and offensive law breakers are now in jail.—Methodist Protestant.
It would be well for the reader to candidly inquire:—
1. What Sabbath laws of God have the Adventists violated? and what Sunday laws of the State even, which are not violated every week by professed first-day keepers? And what right has any State to make any Sabbath laws whatsoever?
2. What is Protestantism? The name of the above paper, which justifies the iniquitous and unconstitutional law, and condemns those who "obtrude their opinions upon the community," is the "Methodist Protestant." It certainly advocates a very different kind of Protestantism from what was advocated by the Reformers; and does the name design to express this? The "protest" which gave to those who made it the name of Protestants, was presented at the second Diet of Spires, in 1529. In giving a digest of the principles of the protest, D'Aubigne, the great Protestant historian, says:—
The principles contained in this celebrated protest of the 19th April, 1529, constituted the very essence of Protestantism. Now this protest opposes two abuses of man in matters of faith; the first is the intrusion of the civil magistrate, and the second is the arbitrary authority of the church. Instead of these two abuses, Protestantism sets up above the magistrate the power of conscience, and above the visible church the authority of the word of God. It declines, in the first place, the civil power in divine things, and says, with the prophets and apostles, "We must obey God rather than man." In presence of the crown of Charles the Fifth, it uplifts the crown of Jesus Christ. . . . Protestantism rejected the authority of man solely to place Jesus Christ on the throne of the church, and his word in the pulpit.
We submit to our readers if the above from the Methodist Protestant is not based on the very principles which called out the Protest of Spires. The fact of a few men spending a few weeks in prison is of small importance; great principles are at stake. It is the mystery of God or the mystery of iniquity; it is liberty or tyranny.
That the Methodist Protestant is honest and sincere and terribly in earnest does not affect the issue. Saul, the persecutor, was honest; and Jesus said to his disciples: "They shall put you out of the synagogues; yea, the time cometh, that whosoever killeth you will think that he doeth God service." John 16: 2. The reason why men will so persecute is stated in the next verse: "And these things will they do unto you, because they have not known the Father, nor me." He who knows Jesus Christ, the mystery of God, will never persecute. He knows God so well that he is willing to leave all judgment to him, and he knows human nature too well to know that it can be made righteous by law.
ROMANISM THE RELIGION OF HUMAN NATURE.
By Mrs. E. G. White
BY MRS. E. G. WHITE.
THERE is great need that all who claim to be Bible Christians should take the Scriptures as they read. There is need of arriving at right conclusions as to what the Scriptures mean in their reference to the man of sin, who thought to change times and laws. He had no real power to change the time and the law of God, but he thought himself able to do this work; for he "opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshiped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God." He is an imitator of the first great rebel, the originator of sin. In heaven Satan thought to change the laws of God, and for this purpose he changed his character and his position in the heavenly courts, and influenced others until they united with him in the work of rebellion against God; but he did not succeed in changing the law of God. God did not alter or change his form of government to suit Satan's ideas, but made it manifest that the foundation of his government in heaven and earth is as unchangeable as is the throne itself.
When Satan could not induce all the angels to revolt against the law of God, he made the earth the scene of his rebellion, and through the man of sin seeks to carry out his diabolical purpose. Through the Papacy, the Roman power, the man of sin, the purpose of Satan is carried out among men; the law and the time of God are set aside. In this we see that Protestantism is giving encouragement to popery; and false systems of worship, against which our fathers manfully opposed themselves, imperiling even property and life, are fostered and cherished and encouraged to extend and gain wide influence. Protestants do not search their Bibles as they should, and do not heed the warning that has been given concerning the work of the man of sin. The Roman Church claims that the pope is invested with supreme authority over all bishops and pastors, and this claim of supremacy was once denied by Protestants. They took the position that the Bible, and the Bible alone, constituted the rule of faith and doctrine, that the word of God is the only unerring guide for human souls, and that it is unnecessary and harmful to take the words of priests and prelates instead of the word of God.
To the Romanist the Bible is a forbidden book, because it plainly reveals the errors of the Roman system; and whoever searches the Bible with an enlightened understanding, cannot long be in harmony with Romanism. He who searches the Bible to understand the truth, will find no authority in the word of God for the assumption of power on the part of popes and cardinals. There is no word of God that sanctions their assumed superiority or supremacy over their people, as there is no word to sanction the claim that Lucifer made in heaven of superiority over Christ. The claim of the Papacy to superiority is made under the influence of the first great usurper, who so persistently urged his right to supremacy over the host of God. Through the Dark Ages,—that long night of ignorance and superstition,—the claim of the Papacy to superiority and supremacy was conceded by emperors and kings, although God had sanctioned no such concession, and raised up men to dispute the claim, and to break the Romish yoke from the church of God. Through his appointed agencies God summoned the church to reassert her independence, and in the strength of God she stood forth in the liberty wherewith Christ had made her free. She broke away from the papal yoke, and with the word of God in her hand, met the giant evil of Romanism, even as David met Goliath in the name of heaven, using his sling and a few pebblestones. The defier of Israel was slain before the man of faith; and while men cling to the word of the Lord, they cannot affiliate with the great system of error.
The Lord has pronounced a curse upon those who take from or add to the Scriptures. The great I AM has decided what shall constitute the rule of faith and doctrine, and he has designed that the Bible shall be a household book. The church that holds to the word of God is irreconcilably separated from Rome. Protestants were once thus apart from this great church of apostasy, but they have approached more nearly to her, and are still in the path of reconciliation to the Church of Rome. Rome never changes. Her principles have not altered in the least. She has not lessened the breach between herself and Protestants; they have done all the advancing. But what does this argue for the Protestantism of this day? It is the rejection of Bible truth which makes men approach to infidelity. It is a backsliding church that lessens the distance between itself and the Papacy.
It is souls like Luther, Cranmer, Ridley, Hooper, and the thousands of noble men who were martyrs for the truth's sake, who are the true Protestants. They stood as faithful sentinels of truth, declaring that Protestantism is incapable of union with Romanism, but must be as far separated from the principles of the Papacy as is the east from the west. Such advocates of truth could no more harmonize with "the man of sin" than could Christ and his apostles. In earlier ages the righteous felt that it was impossible to affiliate with Rome, and, though their antagonism to this system of error was maintained at risk of property and life, yet they had courage to maintain their separation, and manfully struggled for the truth. Bible truth was dearer to them than wealth, honor, or even life itself. They could not endure to see the truth buried under a mass of superstition and lying sophistry. They took the word of God in their hands, and raised the standard of truth before the people, boldly declaring that which God had revealed unto them through diligent searching of the Bible. They died the cruellest of deaths for their fidelity to God, but by their blood they purchased for us liberties and privileges that many who claim to be Protestants are easily yielding up to the power of evil. But shall we yield up these dearly bought privileges? Shall we offer insult to the God of heaven, and, after he has freed us from the Romish yoke, again place ourselves in bondage to this antichristian power? Shall we prove our degeneracy by signing away our religious liberty, our right to worship God according to the dictates of our own conscience?
The voice of Luther, that echoed in mountains and valleys, that shook Europe as with an earthquake, summoned forth an army of noble apostles of Jesus, and the truth they advocated could not be silenced by fagots, by tortures, by dungeons, by death; and still the voices of the noble army of martyrs are telling us that the Roman power is the predicted apostasy of the last days, the mystery of iniquity which Paul saw beginning to work even in his day. Roman Catholicism is rapidly gaining ground. Popery is on the increase, and those who have turned their ears away from hearing the truth are listening to her delusive fables. Papal chapels, papal colleges, nunneries, and monasteries are on the increase, and the Protestant world seems to be asleep. Protestants are losing the mark of distinction that distinguished them from the world, and they are lessening the distance between themselves and the Roman power. They have turned away their ears from hearing the truth; they have been unwilling to accept light which God shed upon their pathway, and are therefore going into darkness. They speak with contempt of the idea that there will be a revival of the past cruel persecution on the part of Romanists and those who affiliate with them. They do not recognize the fact that the word of God fully predicts such a revival, and will not concede that the people of God in the last days shall suffer persecution, although the Bible says, "The dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ."244
Popery is the religion of human nature, and the mass of humanity love a doctrine that permits them to commit sin, and yet frees them from its consequences. People must have some form of religion, and this religion, formed by human device, and yet claiming divine authority, suits the carnal mind. Men who think themselves wise and intelligent turn away in pride from the standard of righteousness, the ten commandments, and do not think it is in harmony with their dignity to inquire into the ways of God. Therefore they go into false ways, into forbidden paths, become self-sufficient, self-inflated, after the pattern of the pope, not after the pattern of Jesus Christ. They must have the form of religion that has the least requirement of spirituality and self-denial, and as unsanctified human wisdom will not lead them to loathe popery, they are naturally drawn toward its provisions and doctrines. They do not want to walk in the ways of the Lord. They are altogether too much enlightened to seek God prayerfully and humbly, with an intelligent knowledge of his word. Not caring to know the ways of the Lord, their minds are all open to delusions, all ready to accept and believe a lie. They are willing to have the most unreasonable, most inconsistent falsehoods palmed off upon them as truth.
Satan's masterpiece of deception is popery; and while it has been demonstrated that a day of great intellectual darkness was favorable to Romanism, it will also be demonstrated that a day of great intellectual light is also favorable to its power; for the minds of men are concentrated on their own superiority, and do not like to retain God in their knowledge. Rome claims infallibility, and Protestants are following in the same line. They do not desire to search for truth and go on from light to a greater light. They wall themselves in with prejudice, and seem willing to be deceived and to deceive others.
But though the attitude of the churches is discouraging, yet there is no need of being disheartened; for God has a people who will preserve their fidelity to his truth, who will make the Bible, and the Bible alone, their rule of faith and doctrine, who will elevate the standard, and hold aloft the banner on which is inscribed, "The commandments of God and the faith of Jesus." They will value a pure gospel, and make the Bible the foundation of their faith and doctrine.
For such a time as this, when men are casting aside the law of the Lord of hosts, the prayer of David is applicable,—"It is time for thee, Lord, to work; for they have made void thy law." We are coming to a time when almost universal scorn will be heaped upon the law of God, and God's commandment-keeping people will be severely tried; but will they lose their respect for the law of Jehovah because others do not see and realize its binding claims? Let God's commandment-keeping people, like David, reverence God's law in proportion as men cast it aside and heap upon it disrespect and contempt.
LUTHER'S GREAT HYMN.
[It has been said of Luther's words that they were "half battles," but the words of this tremendous outburst of a heroic faith, from the midst of the most threatening difficulties, are worthy of a still more decisive designation. We give below the translation by Carlyle, which is conceded to be the most perfect ever made, retaining all the spirit, the vigor, and the stirring power of the original.]
A SAFE stronghold our God is still,
A trusty shield and weapon;
He'll help us clear from all the ill
That has us now o'ertaken.
The ancient prince of hell
Hath risen with purpose fell;
Strong mail of craft and power
He weareth in this hour;
On earth is not his fellow.
With force of arms we nothing can;
Full soon were we down ridden;
But for us fights the proper Man,
Whom God himself hath bidden.
Ask ye, Who is this same?—
Christ Jesus is his name,
The Lord, Zebaoth's Son,
He and no other one
Shall conquer in the battle.
And were this world all devils o'er,
And watching to devour us,
We lay it not to heart so sore,
Not they can overpower us.
And let the prince of ill
Look grim as e'er he will,
He harms us not a whit,
For why?—His doom is writ,
A word shall quickly slay him.
God's word, for all their craft and force,
One moment will not linger,
But spite of hell shall have its course;
'Tis written by His finger;
And though they take our life,
Goods, honor, children, wife,
Yet is their profit small;
These things shall vanish all;
The city of God remaineth.
—Lutheran Observer.
THE WEAKNESS OF THE CHURCH.
THE church is strong in number, in learning, and intelligence, and strong in wealth and social influence. And yet the church is weak, unable to grapple successfully with the error, the immorality, and the sins of our country and the world. . . .
And why this weakness? What is the cause of this inability of the church to make itself felt as a powerful and dominant force in opposition to all these evils? Is it not the prevalence of a worldly spirit in the church? Because the church is so much conformed to the world, to its sentiments and customs, it cannot earnestly and consistently insist on reforms along lines where itself needs to be reformed.—United Presbyterian.