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Signs of the Times, Vol. 11, No. 27.

General Articles

Signs of the Times

Jul 16, 1885

International Tract and Missionary Society · Oakland, California · Jul 16, 1885

General Articles.

By Mrs. E. G. White

Life and Times of Wycliffe.

BY MRS. E. G. WHITE.
Except among the Waldenses, the word of God was for many centuries locked up in languages known only to the learned; and so bitter was the war waged upon it by papists, that at times there were very few copies in existence. But God did not suffer his word to be wholly destroyed. Its truths were not to be forever hidden. He could as easily unchain the words of life as he could open prison doors and unbolt iron gates to set his servants free. In the different countries of Europe, men were moved by the Spirit of God to search for the truth as for hidden treasure. Providentially guided to the Holy Scriptures, they studied the sacred pages with intense interest. They were willing to accept the light, at any cost to themselves. Though they did not see all things clearly, they were enabled to perceive many long-buried truths. As Heaven-sent messengers they went forth, rending asunder the chains of error and superstition, and calling upon those who had been so long enslaved to arise and assert their liberty.
In the fourteenth century arose in England the "morning star of the Reformation,"—John Wycliffe, the herald of reform, not for England alone, but for all Christendom. Wycliffe received a liberal education, and when he had mastered the learning of the schools, he entered upon the study of the Scriptures. Heretofore he had felt a great want, which neither his scholastic studies nor the teachings of the church could satisfy. In the Scriptures he found that which he had before sought in vain. Here he saw the plan of salvation revealed, and Christ set forth as the only advocate for man. He saw that Rome had forsaken the Biblical paths for human traditions. He gave himself to the service of Christ, and determined to proclaim the truths which he had discovered.
He commenced with great prudence, but as he discerned more clearly the errors of the papacy, he taught more earnestly the doctrine of faith. His knowledge of theology, his penetrating mind, the purity of his life, and his unbending courage and integrity, won for him general confidence and esteem. He was an able and earnest teacher, and an eloquent preacher, and his daily life was a demonstration of the truths he preached. He accused the clergy of having banished the Holy Scriptures, and demanded that the authority of the Bible be re-established in the church. Many of the people had become dissatisfied with their former faith as they saw the iniquity that prevailed in the Roman church, and they hailed with unconcealed joy the truths brought to view in those discussions; but the papist leaders trembled with rage when they perceived that this reformer was gaining an influence greater than their own.
Wycliffe was a clear thinker and a keen detector of error, and he struck boldly against many of the abuses sanctioned by the authority of Rome. Thus he brought upon himself the enmity of the pope and his supporters. Repeated attempts were made to condemn and execute him for heresy; but God had given him favor with princes, who stood in his defense. While acting as chaplain for the king, he had taken a bold stand against the payment of the tribute claimed by the pope from the English monarch, and had declared the papal assumption of authority over secular rulers to be contrary to both reason and revelation. A few years later, he ably defended the rights of the English crown against the encroachments of the Romish power. The people and the nobility of England sided with him, and his enemies could accomplish nothing against him. Upon one occasion, when he was brought to trial before a synod of bishops, the people surrounded the building where the synod met, and, rushing in, stood between him and all harm.
About this time, strife was caused in the church by the conflicting claims of two rival popes. Each professed infallibility, and demanded obedience. Each called upon the faithful to assist him to make war upon the other, enforcing his demand by terrible anathemas against his adversaries, and promises of rewards in Heaven to his supporters. This occurrence greatly weakened the power of the papacy, and saved Wycliffe from further persecution.
God had preserved his servant for more important labors. Wycliffe, like his Master, preached the gospel to the poor. As a professor of theology, he presented the truth to the students under his instruction, and received the title of "The Gospel Doctor." In his parish he addressed the people as a friend and pastor.
But the greatest work of his life was the translation of the Scriptures into the English language. This was the first complete English translation ever made. The art of printing being still unknown, it was only by slow and wearisome labor that copies of the work could be multiplied; yet this was done, and the people of England received the Bible in their own tongue. Thus the light of God's word began to shed its bright beams athwart the darkness. A divine hand was preparing the way for the Great Reformation.
The appeal to men's reason aroused them from their passive submission to papal dogmas. The Scriptures were received with favor by the higher classes, who alone in that age possessed a knowledge of letters. Wycliffe now taught the distinctive doctrines of Protestantism,—salvation through faith in Christ, and the sole infallibility of the Scriptures. Many priests joined him in circulating the Bible and in preaching the gospel; and so great was the effect of these labors and of Wycliffe's writings, that the new faith was accepted by nearly one-half of the people of England. The kingdom of darkness trembled. Mendicant friars, who swarmed in England, listened in anger and amazement to his bold, eloquent utterances. The hatred of Rome was kindled to greater intensity, and again she plotted to silence the reformer's voice. But the Lord covered with his shield the messenger of truth. The efforts of his enemies to stop his work and to destroy his life were alike unsuccessful, and in his sixty-first year he died in peace in the very service of the altar.
The doctrines which had been taught by Wycliffe continued for a time to spread; but soon the pitiless storm of persecution burst upon those who had dared to accept the Bible as their guide and standard. Martyrdom succeeded martyrdom. The advocates of truth, proscribed and tortured, could only pour their suffering cries into the ear of the Lord of Sabaoth. The hunted reformers found shelter as best they could among the lower classes, preaching in secret places, and hiding away even in dens and caves. Many bore fearless witness to the truth in massive dungeons and Lollard towers.
The papists had failed to work their will with Wycliffe during his life, and their hatred could not be satisfied while his body rested quietly in the grave. More than forty years after his death, his bones were disinterred and publicly burned, and the ashes were thrown into a neighboring brook. "The brook," says an old writer, "did convey his ashes into Avon, Avon into Severn, Severn into the narrow seas, and they into the main ocean, and thus the ashes of Wycliffe are the emblem of his doctrine, which now is dispersed all the world over." Little did his enemies realize the significance of their malicious act.
It was through the writings of Wycliffe that John Huss of Bohemia was led to renounce many of the errors of Romanism, and to enter upon the work of reform. Like Wycliffe, Huss was a noble Christian, a man of learning and of unswerving devotion to the truth. His appeals to the Scriptures and his bold denunciations of the scandalous and immoral lives of the clergy, awakened wide-spread interest, and thousands gladly accepted a purer faith. This excited the ire of pope and prelates, priests and friars, and Huss was summoned to appear before the Council of Constance to answer to the charge of heresy.
A safe-conduct was granted him by the German emperor, and upon his arrival at Constance he was personally assured by the pope that no injusticeshould be done him. In a short time, however, he was placed under arrest, by order of the pope and cardinals, and thrust into a loathsome dungeon. Some of the nobles and people of Bohemia addressed to the council earnest protests against this outrage. The emperor, who was loth to permit the violation of a safe-conduct, opposed the proceedings against him. But the enemies of the reformer were malignant and determined. They appealed to the emperor's prejudices, to his fears, to his zeal for the church. They brought forward arguments of great length to prove that he was perfectly at liberty not to keep faith with a heretic, and that the council, being above the emperor, could free him from his word. Thus they prevailed.
After a long trial, in which he firmly maintained the truth, Huss was required to choose whether he would recant his doctrines or suffer death. He chose the martyr's fate, and after seeing his books given to the flames, he was himself burned at the stake. In the presence of the assembled dignitaries of Church and State, the servant of God had uttered a solemn and faithful protest against the corruptions of the papal hierarchy. His execution, in shameless violation of the most solemn and public promise of protection, exhibited to the whole world the perfidious cruelty of Rome. The enemies of truth, though they knew it not, were furthering the cause which they vainly sought to destroy.
Soon after the death of Huss, his faithful friend Jerome, a man of the same fervent piety and of greater learning, was also condemned, and he met his fate in the same manner. So perished God's faithful light-bearers. But the light of the truths which they proclaimed,—the light of their heroic example,—could not be extinguished. As well might men attempt to turn back the sun in its course, as to prevent the dawning of that day which was even then breaking upon the world.
Notwithstanding the rage of persecution, a calm, devout, earnest, patient protest against the prevailing corruption of religious faith continued to be uttered after the death of Wycliffe. Like the believers in apostolic days, many freely sacrificed their worldly possessions for the cause of Christ. Those who were permitted to dwell in their homes, gladly received their brethren who had been banished from home and kindred. When they too were driven forth, they accepted the lot of the outcast, and rejoiced that they were permitted to suffer for the truth's sake.
Strenuous efforts were made to strengthen and extend the power of the papacy; but while the popes still claimed to be Christ's representatives, their lives were so corrupt as to disgust the people. By the aid of the invention of printing, the Scriptures were more widely circulated, and many were led to see that the papal doctrines were not sustained by the word of God.
When one witness was forced to let fall the torch of truth, another seized it from his hand, and with undaunted courage held it aloft. The struggle had opened that was to result in the emancipation, not only of individuals and churches, but of nations. Across the gulf of a hundred years, men stretched their hands to grasp the hands of the Lollards of the time of Wycliffe. Under Luther began the Reformation in Germany; Calvin preached the gospel in France, Zwingle in Switzerland. The world was awakened from the slumber of ages, as from land to land were sounded the magic words, "Religious Liberty."

THE RESTITUTION.

By W. D. Henry

EARTH waits to have the curse removed— Its Eden-life restored, And share again the smile of Him Who is her rightful Lord.
There is a balm ('tis found in Christ), That nature's wound can heal, And stamp on all, indelibly, Redemption's work and seal.
'Tis in the resurrection life The promised rest shall be! Oh, blessed state! creation waits The coming jubilee.
Sweet Eden-home, where all is peace! For thee the church doth yearn, Waiting in hope the promised hour, When Jesus shall return— And with his own forever dwell In the re-genesis, Sharing with her the glory-state Of rest and heavenly bliss. —W. D. Henry.

Controversy over the Law.

By Dudley Marvin Canright

MANY people honestly think that the battle we are waging for the law of God, is something new; but a little examination will show that almost every one of the ten commandments has at one time or another been the especial point of attack by the devil. Indeed, from first to last, it has been the especial object of his hatred. When he has failed on one point, he has taken another. Look at the fact for a moment.
When God placed Adam and Eve in Eden, he gave them everything in the garden except one tree which he reserved for himself. This one they were not to touch. But the tempter came, and persuaded them that the Lord was withholding from them some great good. He told Eve how great would be the benefit derived from partaking of the tree. Now see the result: "And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her, and he did eat." Gen. 3:6. Eve looked upon the tree, she saw that it was a tree to be desired, then she put forth her hand and took of it.
What was the very first sin of Eve? She was led to covet what did not belong to her, and thereby break the tenth commandment, "Thou shalt not covet." After having transgressed this, she broke another: "Thou shalt not steal." She took what did not belong to her. By doing this she lent herself to the service of Satan, and broke another: "Thou shalt have no other gods before me." This was what brought the curse upon the earth. The first attack of Satan was directed against the law of God. From that time to this he has been constantly inciting men to transgress this law.
But the most wonderful fact is, that he has succeeded, not only in persuading men to break the law of God, but to do it as a religious duty; to verily think that they are doing God's service when they are doing the very thing God forbids them to do. Take the case of Israel in the time of Elijah; nearly the whole nation had been led by the influence of Jezebel and Ahab to abandon the service and worship of Jehovah for the worship of Baal. Only Elijah and a few others were left faithful to the true God. Finally Ahab met with Elijah. "And it came to pass, when Ahab saw Elijah, that Ahab said unto him, Art thou he that troubleth Israel? And he answered, I have not troubled Israel; but thou, and thy father's house, in that ye have forsaken the commandments of the Lord, and thou hast followed Baalim." 1 Kings 18:17, 18.
Yes, Ahab accuses Elijah as a troubler of Israel, but Elijah tells Ahab that he is the real troubler. Says the bold prophet, "I have not troubled Israel; but thou, and thy father's house, in that ye have forsaken the commandments of the Lord [Jehovah], and thou hast followed Baalim."
The question was not whether they should worship God or not, for on this, Elijah, Ahab, and all Israel were agreed. It was not whether they should keep the first commandment, "Thou shalt have no other gods before me," but, who was the true god. Elijah said it was Jehovah; Jezebel said it was Baal. So all the people came together, "And Elijah came unto all the people, and said, How long halt ye between two opinions? if the Lord be God, follow him; but if Baal, then follow him. And the people answered him not a word." 1 Kings 18:21.
Yes, this was the point; if the Lord, or Jehovah, be God, then follow him; but if Baal, then follow him. Elijah asked them how long they would halt in choosing between these two gods? This was the question that was to be settled. In the test the god that answered by fire, should be the true God. So when Baal failed to answer, but Jehovah answered by fire from heaven, then, "when all the people saw it, they fell on their faces; and they said, The Lord, he is the God; the Lord, he is the God." 1 Kings 18:39. This decided the people that Jehovah and not Baal was God.
Here the devil had succeeded in drawing nearly the whole nation of Israel into the open violation of the first commandment, while at the very time they not only pretended to be keeping it, but they were very zealous in regard to it. They said, "Certainly we should worship God, certainly we should have no others except him. But the question is, Who is the true God?" The devil had so blinded them that they had displaced the true God, and placed Baal in his stead. Thus we see how well he had succeeded against the first commandment; but in the providence of God after this fierce struggle, he was defeated and Baal was put away.
After this he turned his forces against another commandment,—the fifth. It seems as though this commandment is so plain that no man could ever have been deceived into breaking it, thinking he was doing right. But it is a remarkable fact that when Christ was upon the earth, the devil had succeeded in leading the Jewish rabbis, and teachers in Israel to directly violate this commandment. It was their teaching, and their practice to do it as a religious duty towards God.
Notice the discussion between Christ and the Pharisees upon this very point: "Then came to Jesus scribes and Pharisees, which were of Jerusalem, saying, Why do thy disciples transgress the tradition of the elders? for they wash not their hands when they eat bread. But he answered and said unto them, Why do ye also transgress the commandment of God by your tradition? For God commanded, saying, Honor thy father and mother; and, He that curseth father or mother, let him die the death. But ye say, Whosoever shall say to his father or his mother, It is a gift, by whatsoever thou mightest be profited by me; and honor not his father or his mother, he shall be free. Thus have ye made the commandment of God of none effect by your tradition. Ye hypocrites, well did Esaias prophesy of you, saying, This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoreth me with their lips; but their heart is far from me. But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men." Matt. 15:1-9.
Here Jesus tells them plainly that they were violating one of God's plain commandments by their religious dogmas. God had said children should honor their parents, should care for them, and provide for them in their need; but these religious teachers had said that if a man should devote his substance to the service of the temple, it would be more acceptable to God than to care for his parents; that if he would do this, he would be under no obligation to do for his parents. The whole nation had come to believe that doctrine and many practiced it. Jesus said that in doing this they had made void the law of God; that such worship was vain.
Here then the devil had made a successful attack upon another commandment, and it took the authority of Jesus Christ to correct it.
D. M. CANRIGHT. (To be concluded.)

Philosophy and Religion

By Francis Bacon

A LITTLE philosophy inclineth a man's mind to atheism, but depth in philosophy bringeth men's minds about to religion.—Bacon.

God’s Frown and His Promises

Though God may seem to frown in his providences, yet he always smiles in his promises.

The Resurrection as Tomorrow Morning

By William M. Taylor

The resurrection is only the to-morrow morning of death, and when we think of the grave we should do so as in the happy days of our childhood we thought of our bed when we retired to it for the night, expecting an elder brother to call us in the morning and take us with him on a pleasant excursion.—Dr. William M. Taylor.

The Direction of Evil and Good

Evil for the most part works from above downward. Good most frequently begins low and works upward.—Sel.

The Church and the World.

WHILE the condition of things may change somewhat from age to age, the great leading features, the essential principles, remain the same. The forces of the world may be a little differently grouped, the dominancy may rest here or there, still the kingdom of God and the kingdom of the world are, in this generation, as in every preceding one, antagonistic to each other. Therefore, in any union which may be effected between the two bodies, there must, of necessity, be a radical change. Of course there is no question as to which ought to change. The church was established for the very purpose of making the world an entirely different body; indeed, it was so to act upon those outside of itself as to secure the introduction of a new spirit and then, by taking them into itself, carry forward the renovating work unto completeness. The church was to convert the world, and not the world the church.
But as we have seen, in Christ's day there was a party which had the name of being in the church of God. They had the sacred Scriptures, they were zealous in very many particulars; after all, though having the form of godliness, they very decidedly denied the power of it. The Pharisees had gone over to the world. As Christ said, they substituted the honor of each other for the honor of the Lord. They set up their interpretations above the plain import of the written word. They became partisan religionists. They really acted out from their own personality as a source, not as a messenger conveying from God, as a source, a knowledge of his will.
The Pharisees had modified the teaching of the law to suit themselves. They had, gone about to establish their own righteousness, refusing to submit themselves to the righteousness of God. In other words, they were in the line of those who had yielded to the temptation to introduce the worldly element into the church for the sake of making converts to their body. They came down from the high plane of being prophets and servants of God to the low level of catering to the ambitions and prejudices of fallen human nature. That is the line of temptation running all through the centuries. As the church faces the world there are, accompanying the desire for conquest, various suggestions as to the way, the most successful way, of doing it. If the prince of this world, as Christ calls him, could think of bringing to bear his influence upon the Son of God, as he did in the second of the temptations of the wilderness, to see if he would conform to worldly methods in the establishing of his kingdom, we certainly are to expect that he will do the same with his followers.
How sad the record which the history of the church gives us! Though holding itself separate from the spirit and methods of the world, for a while at first, it afterward sadly illustrated the folly of attempting a compromise. The corruptions of the early Catholic Church grew out of the willingness to make converts even at the expense of allowing the pagan and the barbarian to bring in with them into the church some of their superstitious practices. The Roman Catholic Church is properly named, for it is as its name imports, part Christian and part Roman. The union is the result of an unholy bargain. The pope has gone forth really in his own name, or his own chosen name, High Pontiff, adopted from the Roman high priest and emperor, and has acted accordingly, claiming the world as his empire, not hesitating to use the power of the sword and the ingenious subtleties of the Jesuits in political diplomacy.
But the Pharisees and papal hierarchy are not felt to be very near us. And yet they are—as near as heart is to another heart. Their temptations were unlike each other, and yet they sprang from the same generic source.
And the temptation of a Protestant church, however humble and obscure it may be, belongs to this same class. It is the temptation to act principally with a view to being acceptable to the world.
—B. A. Greene, in the Watchman.

Dead Professors.

By Independent

THERE have been dead professors in the church of God in all ages, as well as in the church at Sardis, where there were many who had "a name to live, and were dead." The Scriptures abound in suggestions and teachings with reference to this class. Our Lord told of the branches in him which bore no fruit, but were dead; of the barren fig-tree, upon which three years of patient labor and culture were expended without avail. The tares in the field of wheat teach the same lesson. The plant which "my heavenly Father hath not planted," is another case. The foolish virgins are also in point. James tells us of those who have "faith without works," which faith is a "dead faith;" and it follows that the professor with a dead faith is a dead professor. Paul, in his letter to Timothy, cites some women who "live in pleasure," and declared them to be dead while they lived.
These citations from the Scriptures might be multiplied; but surely these are enough to convince us that dead profession is not an unheard of thing in the living church. The conditions or characteristics of our age are such as to make dead profession easy. Wealth, worldliness, and pleasure-seeking are rife on every hand; and there is much of them in the church.
It is not, of course, our province to judge another man's servant, except in so far as one may do so upon the warrant of that scripture which teaches us that we may judge men by their fruits. That, by this rule, even charitably applied, there are many dead professors in our churches, we think few would deny.
Should our Lord come in person to the pulpit from which our readers or ourselves are wont to receive instruction, and himself declare that, among our number, there were many who had a name to live, but were dead, there would be some heart-searching going on among the living members; for we doubt whether the dead ones would take the words to themselves. But the passage in which these solemn words about dead professors occurs implies that there is a kind of death which is relative; for the Master warns such to repent, lest he come as a thief and take them unawares. Supposing, however, that this word is addressed to us, will it not be well for us to say, with our hearts opened towards him, "Lord, is it I?" nor rest until we are sure that the designation does not belong to us. We can think of nothing more terrible than to have a name to live, and yet be dead; professing a hope of eternal life, and perhaps indulging it, only to be cut off, and cast into the fire as fruitless, dead, and withered branches.
Apart from the dreadful fate that awaits the dead professor, there are serious consequences attending the church and the world by reason of their presence in the church. And this is especially so if the deadness is partially covered by a leafy profession. In the first place, they are cumberers of the ground, occupying a place and privileges which others might have. They absorb a great portion of the strength of the church's life. This may not appear to be so at first thought; but it is undoubtedly so. If it is needful to prune even those branches that are fruit-bearing, that there may be more fruit, and less wasted energy of life, how much more is it to cut off the branch which sucks the sap of the vine, bears no fruit, and is a useless absorber of life? Every one who knows anything about farm life knows that a good farmer cuts away, every year, not only the dead branches which appear in the fruit trees, but all those fruitless branches which are called suckers or the mere superfluous growth of wood; for every branch which bears no fruit hinders the fruit-bearing power of the bearing branches. Certain it is that the dead professors in the churches hinder the fruitfulness of the church to a mournful and distressing extent. They are a body of death about the living members, which it is impossible to shake off. They create an inertia which the living members are not able to overcome.
Who has not noticed the depressing and disastrous effects produced by the great inert mass of dead professors, in those times when the living members are seeking to revive the drooping life of a church? How discouraging it is to pastor and living members to come, week after week, to prayer-meeting, and meet a handful of members, when three or four times the number present are at home or out in the world seeking pleasure. They are a millstone about the neck of the church, and well-nigh drown it in the sea of discouragement. They are moreover a disfigurement to the church. Who has not been pained by seeing a lot of dead branches in a living tree, and longed to mount into it and cut them away? Again, they discredit religion, both by their false testimony, as well as by the fact that they make it difficult for the world to understand why a church, with several hundred members, has so little spiritual power in the community, does so little spiritual work, and produces so little spiritual fruit. Their presence in the congregation is a deceit and a sham. They appear to be worshipers, but they are so only in pretense and in form. Like the modern artificial flowers, they have color, but no fragrance; form, but no life. A near inspection shows that they are but shams. Beautiful they may be, but they are of no account whatever. They are the work of man and not of God.
There are several things, in view of the vast number of dead professors in the churches, which it seems to us is imperatively necessary to be done. First, a steadfast effort to strengthen the things which remain, that is that the spiritual members of the church draw yet more closely together and present themselves in yet more complete consecration to God and his work. Secondly, that this condition of dead formalism shall be dealt with lovingly but vigorously from the pulpit and by every living member, seeking to reclaim and restore the dead, or seemingly dead. Thirdly, if these two measures fail, then begin a thorough work of purging the church of dead professors. Clear the church roll and the church of the cumberers. It is not meet that the church should longer be made an asylum for dead professors of religion, who discourage and weaken the energies of the living, give forth a false testimony, and in every practical way discredit christianity. "If a man will not work neither shall he eat;" and we would add, if a man will not have life and bear fruit, remove him from among the living and pluck him up out of the vineyard of the Lord. Where and in what church will this good work begin?

Heaven Begins on Earth

HEAVEN begins on earth. We must have a foretaste of it here, to enjoy its fullness hereafter. The apostle calls it "the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession." To carry out the figure, it is a small amount of the same kind, paid in hand, to insure the full installment in due time. That soul that has been born from above, that has Christ formed in the heart the hope of glory, and that is filled with peace and joy in the Holy Ghost, has a little heaven in his soul, that, if he is faithful, will expand into the fullness of the heaven that is to come. Unless we have this beginning of heaven in our souls here, we need not expect to enjoy the heaven promised to the redeemed hereafter.—Sel.

What We Reveal of Ourselves

BEWARE what you say of others, because you only reveal yourself thereby. A man does not think to look behind the door unless he has some time stood there himself.
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