Signs of the Times, Vol. 16, No. 37. (9/22/1890)

Signs of the Times

Sep 22, 1890

Pacific Press Publishing Company · Oakland, Cal. · Sep 22, 1890

Amusements Have No Place in Church

By Editor

It is cheering whenever we find a voice raised against the tendency which so many churches manifest, to attempt to do gospel work according to worldly methods. The New York Witness having been appealed to decide as to the propriety of using a church edifice for popular amusements and games, so as to attract young men to the place, and thus perhaps get them into the habit of attending religious services, decides that it is proper. From this decision the Christian Advocate strongly dissents, and says, among other things:

"The hope of the young men that a gymnasium in the church will attract other young men to the place of worship is vain. The belief which they express, that the church cannot reach the masses without these accessories, is not sustained by past experience. These things have been tried and have failed. There is nothing so attractive to young men as young men. There is no instrument with which the church can work so effectively as the gospel. Amusements have no place in the church."

NOT A DEBT, BUT A GIFT.

By Ellet Joseph Waggoner

ROMANS 4: 1-8.

LET us take a very brief review of the first three chapters of Romans, that we may the better understand the force of the fourth, as we begin it. The first chapter, after the introduction, treats of the terrible depravity and blindness of the heathen, and how they lost the knowledge of God which they once had. It closes with the statement that they themselves know that for their deeds they deserve the condemnation to death, which God has pronounced upon them.

In the second chapter we have all men brought into the same condemnation with the heathen. There is no room in the writings of Paul for any of the modern speculation about future probation for the heathen. They are all shown to be justly condemned to death. To this sentence the Jews would give a cordial assent; but now he declares that all who know enough to judge the heathen, thereby condemn themselves, for they show that they know better, yet they do the same things.

Passing on through the second chapter, we find the truth stated that to every man God will render according to his deeds, whether good or evil, because he is no respecter of persons. Thus we learn that it is doing, and nothing less, that finds favor with God, and that the Gentiles, who are without the written law, really have the law, and will be judged by it at the last day. Next, the matter is brought home directly to the Jews, and they are shown to be guilty of transgressing the law, while making their boast in it; and thus he shows that in reality they are not Jews at all, for only those are Jews who keep the law. The man who has not received the outward sign of circumcision, but who keeps the righteousness of the law, is an Israelite indeed; while the man who has been circumcised, and who may be able to trace his genealogy to Abraham, is not a Jew at all, if he does not keep the law.

In the first nineteen verses of the third chapter the fact is emphasized that both Jews and Gentiles are in the same condemnation; all are within the sphere of the law; it speaks to all; and as a consequence, all are declared guilty before God. The conclusion from all this is that by the deeds of the law no flesh can be justified in the sight of God. The law is the perfect pattern of truth, therefore it must declare all men guilty and not righteous; and no one can hope to atone for his guilt by deeds of righteousness, because his best efforts come far short of the required standard, and so really add to the measure of his guilt.

In this extremity the righteousness of God without the law, in the person of Jesus Christ, is manifested. This righteousness is just that which the law demands, and it is put upon all who believe in Christ. Without money and without price, this righteousness is freely given to all who exercise faith in his blood. This righteousness put upon the sinner, takes the place of his sins, which are removed as far as the east is from the west, and he who before was a sinner now stands justified before God, his righteousness attested to by the law, although he has not done the law. He has been justified by faith, without the deeds of the law. This removes all ground for boasting, for no man has anything by his own merits. There is one God, both of Jews and Gentiles, and he justifies both Jew and Gentile in the same way, namely, by faith, for his own sake, through the merits of Christ. Thus it is by faith, and not by works, that the law is established in the hearts and lives of men.

And now the Jewish objector returns to the attack with a question very similar to that with which the fourth chapter opens: "What shall we say then that Abraham our father, as pertaining to the flesh, hath found?" Rom. 4: 1. He has nothing to say to the charge that the Jews as a class are guilty, and cannot be saved without the aid of a power outside of and greater than themselves; but certainly Abraham, the good old father of the nation, must have gained something by his good

works. Well, says the apostle, if Abraham was justified by works, he has something whereof to glory. He can boast that his own hand has wrought righteousness and salvation. But we read, "but not before God." That is equivalent to saying, "But Abraham was not justified by works, and has nothing whereof to glory before God;" and the proof is given in verse three: "For what saith the Scripture? Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness."

The scripture to which the apostle refers is Gen. 15: 6. God took Abraham out and told him to look at the stars and see if he could number them, and said that his seed should be as numerous. And the record is, "And he believed in the Lord; and he counted it to him for righteousness." Paul quotes this in the passive form, but without changing the sense. This scripture proves conclusively that Abraham was not justified by works, and therefore has nothing to boast of, as to the flesh, any more than any other man. His righteousness was not something of his own working out, but was freely given him by the Lord, because he simply believed what the Lord said.

"Now to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt." Rom. 4: 4. Righteousness is the thing under consideration, and so the expression, "to him that worketh," means, to him that works to secure righteousness. It is very evident that if a man works out his own righteousness, the reward which he gets is not a gift, but the payment of a debt. If he does it all himself, he puts God under obligation to him, to give him the reward of righteousness. He can then come to the Lord and demand his dues. But no man can put God under any obligation to him. The apostle writes: "Who hath first given to him, and it shall be recompensed unto him again?" Rom. 11: 35. The Lord himself said to Job: "Who hath prevented me, that I should repay him? whatsoever is under the whole heaven is mine." Job 41: 11. Whatever the Lord does for man, he does for his own sake. See Ps. 23: 3; Isa. 43: 25. Therefore the statement in Rom. 3: 24-27 stands unshaken. Even Abraham is no exception to the truth that righteousness—conformity to the law—comes alone through faith in Christ.

"But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness." Rom. 4: 5. "There," says the antinomian, "I knew there was nothing at all required of us." Not quite so fast. Remember that we have already learned from the same epistle that God "will render to every man according to his deeds." Rom. 2: 6. When the Lord Jesus comes, bringing his reward with him, it will be "to give every man according as his work shall be." Rev. 22: 12. Works can by no means be left out of the account.

But works are of no account in securing righteousness for the remission of sins, and that is what is under consideration in this chapter, as we learn very clearly from the next three verses:—

"Even as David also describeth the blessedness of the man, unto whom God imputeth righteousness without works, saying, Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin."

Here we learn that when the apostle speaks of one that worketh not, but believeth on Him that justifieth the ungodly, having his faith counted to him for righteousness, he means the forgiveness of sins, which is accomplished, not through any good works of the sinner, but by the imparting of Christ's righteousness to take the place of the sin. The simple process of bestowing righteousness for the remission of sins is set forth in Zech. 3: 1-5; Isa. 61: 10; Rom. 3: 22-25; Titus 3: 3-7.

E. J. W.

Christ’s Coming and Reward

"Behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be." Rev. 22:12.

Reproof and Wisdom

"The ear that heareth the reproof of life abideth among the wise," but "he that refuseth instruction despiseth his own soul."

European Cyclones and Prophecy

When the fearful storms, tempests, and cyclones have been pointed to as fulfilling prophecy, thereby indicating that we are in the last days, people have been wont to say, "Cyclones are peculiar to America and its prairies, and have always been prevalent through the centuries past." But will these same wise heads tell us the same of the European cyclones? Two severe ones of late have made havoc in Switzerland and Styria. These electric storms are certainly a latter-day innovation there. The fact is, as the Bible declares, the earth is waxed old as doth a garment.

Flippant Abuse of Prayer

By Editor

THE Lord said to Israel, "When ye make many prayers, I will not hear," and the same may be said of the present day. Max O'Rell, the French humorist, says: "The other day I was introduced to an audience with prayer, and in that prayer the Lord was asked to allow my audience to see through my jokes." Such is not prayer; it is flat blasphemy. Well does the Lutheran Witness say: "Such flippant abuse of prayer—so many sectarian reverends being ready to open any sort of meeting with prayer, and another 'brother' closing it with the benediction—and oh, what flippant praying!—is only too common."

Choosing the Right Course

If we are in doubt as regards the right or wrong of a certain course, it is always safe not to pursue it. Give right and God the benefit of every doubt. To do this may seem at the time to be loss in some way, but it only seems so. The better way is always the right. Fools look only to the present. The butterfly lives only for the present; but the child of God ought to measure circumstances and decisions by their eternal results, not by their present appearance.

IS IT PERSONAL RIGHTS OR SELFISHNESS?

By Editor

THE Young Men's Era, of Chicago, in an article relative to the opening of the World's Fair on Sunday, says:—

‘Much of the outcry against the enforcement of laws pertaining to Sabbath observance, the Bible in the public schools, etc., is based on the claim of interference with personal rights and religious convictions. Is it not about time the rights and religious convictions of the other side shall be taken into consideration? Shall there not be some assertion that the rights of the Christian people in this country, rights and privileges which we have inherited from our forefathers, and that are vouchsafed to us by the laws of the land, shall be respected?’

This is another instance of the prevailing ignorance of what constitutes personal rights. The idea seems to obtain quite generally that the rights of different people almost always clash, and that for one class of people to have their rights, another class must yield theirs. This is a great mistake. Human rights are equal. If no man grasps more than he has a right to, every man will have all that he has a right to. Take the case of Sunday rest. It is stated that every man has a right to it. That is true, if he wants it; and it is just as true that every man has a right not to rest if he doesn't want to. The right of choice implies the right of refusal. If a man has not the right to refuse to do a certain thing, then he has no right to choose to do it; it is then no longer a matter of right, but of compulsion, and in that case the rights of some are certain to be trampled upon.

Moreover, the right of one man to refuse to do a certain thing does not interfere with the right of another to do it. The fact that one man doesn't observe Sunday doesn't interfere in the least with the right of another man to keep it. The fact that one man objects to hearing the Bible read, or to having his children hear it read, does not in the least interfere with the right of another man to read it for himself, and to his children. So the opening of the fair on Sunday will not in the least degree interfere with the personal rights and religious convictions of those who regard Sunday as the Sabbath, since none will be compelled to visit it on that day. On the other hand, to refuse to have it opened on that day would seriously interfere with the right of thousands who have no conscientious scruples in regard to the day, and who cannot see the exhibition on any other day, yet who have as much right to see it as others have; and while these are being deprived of a right, those who regard Sunday religiously will not be having anything added to their rights and privileges, since the closing of the fair will not enable them to rest or go to church any better than if it were open.

In these days professed Christians have need to beware lest they confuse personal rights and selfishness, and while they deprive others of what is their right, add nothing to themselves.

THE WORST KIND OF CLASS LEGISLATION.

By M. C. W.

THE Voice, of New York, the leading prohibition paper in the country, in speaking of the political "platform of the future," in its impression of August 21, mentions as the second desirable point in that platform the following:—

"No class legislation. This would be a plank which, faithfully carried out, would of itself give glory enough to any party. If a government has any excuse whatever for its existence, it must have as its foundation-stone, equal rights—an equality of opportunity for all."

In this we agree with the Voice most heartily. It is good, sound political doctrine. But does the Voice believe this? In the same article, under number 4, they say:—

"American institutions for America. . . . The phrase 'American institutions' means a public-school system free from all sectarian bias. It means one rest-day in seven. It means the preservation of the home, the family, as the integral factor of American life. It means purity at the ballot-box, and swift condemnation for the briber and the bribed. It means free speech, an open forum for the discussion of public questions, and freedom of conscience. It means liberty, but not unbridled license."

We also agree with the above, with one exception, namely, "It means one rest-day in seven." This we interpret as meaning what so many Prohibitionists are contending for, and what has been expressed in so many platforms and resolutions. It means, in other words, the enforcement of Sunday by civil law. Now these things are true as regards Sunday:—

It is a religious institution.
It is not held by all Americans as a religious institution, but only a part, and is not in any sense peculiar to Americans.
It is not even observed by all as a day of rest merely.
There are others who are good citizens in every respect who not only do not observe Sunday, but who religiously observe another day, and therefore from economic as well as religious reasons cannot observe the first day of the week.

From a consideration of these facts, it seems to us that it must be plain to all that legislation enforcing Sunday as the Sabbath is "class legislation," for it elevates into the highest citizenship ostensibly the class who observe Sunday, while it proportionally degrades those who do not regard the day or who do not believe in such legislation.

But it is said that it is not as a sabbath that they wish Sunday enforced, but only as a civil rest-day. This, however, is only an evasion. Pass the law and call the day by what name we will, the effect, the result, will be the same. It is a religious sabbath still. "But," says one, "the workman needs protection, and so does worship on that day." And we reply, Both are protected. There is no law in the United States which will compel a man to work on Sunday. "He may lose his place." Well, men have lost more than that for conscience' sake, and if men believe and love the Sabbath, they will risk the loss of work for the blessing of conscience; and as far as public

worship is concerned, it is amply protected in every State in the Union on any day of the week. It is an obscure way of putting it, but "one day's rest in seven" always means Sunday laws, and Sunday laws mean "class legislation." And every one of these arguments is just as forcible against the seventh day as against the first day. Government has no right whatever to legislate concerning either day. Government has no right to thus draw distinctions between its citizens. Sabbath legislation is the worst kind of class legislation. Will the Voice show wherein it is not? M. C. W.

The Gift of Righteousness and Life

"THE gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord," Paul declares in Rom. 6: 23. But God does not give this irrespective of character. In fact, he can give eternal life only in one way, and that is the way of righteousness. He gives life by giving righteousness. They that "receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ." Rom. 5: 17. Man is a sinner. Being a sinner, he is subject to death, is condemned to death. If he had never sinned, he never would have died, for death is only the result, or wages, of sin. James 1: 15. Therefore when man becomes clothed, through faith in Christ, with the perfect righteousness of God, life comes with it as a consequence. "In the way of righteousness is life." Prov. 12: 28. Christ could not be holden of death because he was righteous (Acts 2: 24), and therefore those upon whom he has placed that righteousness are in possession of that life. Death cannot hold them. The gift of righteousness through grace is also the gift of life.

BIBLE TEMPERANCE.

By M. C. W.

INTERNATIONAL LESSON NOTES.

(Dan. 5:1-6; September 28, 1890.)

THE lesson given is the account of the feast of Belshazzar on the eventful night of the fall of Babylon. Briefly stated, the circumstances were these: For nearly two years previous to this time (538 B. C.), Cyrus had besieged the city of Babylon and subjugated most of the surrounding country. The king of Babylon was Nabonadius, who had associated with him on the throne his son Belshazzar. Nabonadius had left the city to meet the enemy, and had been conquered. Belshazzar had been left in sole command, king of Babylon.

HE thought that Babylon never could be taken. Its walls were eighty-seven feet thick, and two hundred and fifty feet high, surrounded by a moat of equal cubic capacity with the walls. The gates which led into the city were huge gates of brass, and of course in a time of war were closed. On either side of the river Euphrates, which ran through the city, were mighty walls and gates, of such strength as to render them an insurmountable barrier to any foe who might gain entrance to the river-bed.

BUT in the idolatrous feast the wine flowed freely, caution fled, king, officers, guards, became fools; and while they, in drunken revelry, were blaspheming the God of heaven and earth, the troops of Cyrus were marching down the bed of the Euphrates River, the water of which had been diverted for a time to a great artificial reservoir which had been excavated for that purpose. The gates which opened to the river were, according to the prophecy of two hundred years before, left open. See Isa. 45:1, 2.

THE king and after generations were not left to infer from circumstances alone the cause of this fall of Babylon. Right in the midst of the drunken revelry, the hand of a messenger of God was seen writing upon the wall of the palace. The king had just committed his crowning act of folly and sin. When his heart was lifted up with wine, he "commanded to bring the golden and silver vessels which his grandfather Nebuchadnezzar had taken out of the temple which was in Jerusalem; that the king, and his princes, his wives, and his concubines, might drink therein." "They drank wine, and praised the gods of gold, and of silver, of brass, of iron, of wood, and of stone." Then came the divine witness to his drunken blasphemy, which immediately sobered the wicked king. His guilty soul felt that it was some divine retribution.

THE wise men of the kingdom are baffled, even as they were in the days of Nebuchadnezzar; they cannot read the characters of fire. By the advice of the queen, presumably the mother of Belshazzar and daughter of Nebuchadnezzar, Daniel, the beloved of God, now supposed to be about eighty years old, is called. He tells the king of the faithful warnings God had given, of the disregard of those warnings on his part, even to the act of high blasphemy in which he had just indulged. And then he proceeds to read the writing: "MENE, MENE, TEKEL, UPHARSIN"—Numbered, Numbered, Weighed, Divided,—these were the words and their meaning; and the prophet interprets them thus: "And this is the writing that was written, Mene, Mene, Tekel, Upharsin. This is the interpretation of the thing: Mene: God hath numbered thy kingdom, and finished it. Tekel: Thou art weighed in the balances, and art found wanting. Peres: Thy kingdom is divided, and given to the Medes and Persians." And that very night it was fulfilled.

WHAT a contrast is here presented between the two chief characters of this lesson—Daniel the prophet, Belshazzar the king. We go back to the beginning of Daniel's career, and we learn one important part of the foundation on which he built—he had temperance and self-control. While he might have been fed on royal dainties and quaffed royal wine, he "purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with the portion of the king's meat [food], nor with the wine which he drank" (Dan. 1:8), but contented himself with "pulse to eat, and water to drink" (verse 12). God blessed the devotion to duty, and the principles which actuated the young prince—principles which governed him all through his life. Belshazzar was reared in all the luxury of an Eastern court. He had, unlike Cyrus, been a wine-drinker from his earliest days. He was luxurious, sensuous, unwise, just what intemperance always makes men. The one was filled with wisdom; the other with folly.

THERE is nothing that man can do which so preserves the finer sensibilities of the moral nature as does a life of temperance. The physical powers are preserved, the functions of the body are normal, no one part of the system is built up at the expense of the others; and if the individual is connected with God, he is in that condition where God can impress his mind, mould his character, and draw out his affections. The opposite of this is also true. He who indulges his appetite in things unhealthful, or overindulges in things which are good in reasonable quantities, soon becomes gross in body, gross and coarse in mind and heart. The drunkard cares for himself. He will see home become destitute, children become beggars, vagabonds, thieves, wife die of broken heart, and his benumbed senses appreciate it but little, if at all. Indulgence of appetite has brought him to that condition. And this is just as true in a measurable degree of indulgence in other things. Whatever enslaves a man benumbs his moral sensibilities.

IT is for these reasons that God has given directions at various times respecting the indulgence of appetite. In Lev. 10:9-11, the Lord gave the following instruction to those who ministered in holy things: "Do not drink wine nor strong drink, thou, nor thy sons with thee, when ye go into the tabernacle of the congregation, lest ye die; it shall be a statute forever throughout your generations; and that ye may put difference between holy and unholy, and between unclean and clean; and that ye may teach the children of Israel all the statutes which the Lord hath spoken unto them by the hand of Moses."

A DISREGARD of these injunctions always brought sure and sad results. Nadab and Abihu had evidently been indulging in appetite when they took the strange fire and died before the Lord in consequence. See Lev. 10:1-3, 9, 10. The man who was dedicated unto the Lord as a Nazarite was to drink no wine or strong drink. Num. 6:2, 3. John the Baptist was a total abstainer. Luke 1:15.

THE Bible rule of temperance is to be "temperate in all things" (1 Cor. 9:25), to eat and drink to the glory of God (1 Cor. 10:31), to do nothing which would defile the body and render it an unfit dwelling for the Spirit of God (1 Cor. 3:16, 17; 6:19, 20). Whatever benumbs, narcotizes, intoxicates, or in any way destroys the finer sensibilities of a man's nature, which makes him less a true man, less keenly alive to other's rights and feelings, is wrong, whether it be the use of alcohol, tobacco, opium, absinthe, tea, coffee, or cocoa. Said a Methodist brother one time: "If the Spirit of God had to choose between a tobacco-user and the open air, I believe it would choose the open air." And is it not true? The best rule, the only rule, is

Christ. Would he use intoxicants? Would he smoke? Would he indulge in appetite for the sake of appetite? We all know he would not. Our only true way, therefore, is to walk as he walked, and say, with his devoted servant: "It is good neither to eat flesh, nor to drink wine, nor anything whereby thy brother stumbleth, or is offended, or is made weak." Rom. 14:21. "Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God." Such a course will repay a thousand fold. Intemperance always yields evil results.

READING THE BIBLE.

By Editor

It is related of Thomas Carlyle that a gentleman at whose house he was stopping asked him to read for morning worship, when he began at the first chapter of Job and continued reading until he had completed the book, saying as he finished, "That is a wonderful poem, and to be understood needs to be read through at one sitting." The host, as might naturally be expected, never again asked Carlyle to read the Scriptures at morning worship.

But Carlyle had the correct idea of Scripture reading—the idea that should be applied not only to the book of Job but to many other books of the Bible, although we would by no means recommend such lengthy reading at family prayers. There, a few verses are often better than even an entire chapter. But it is a great mistake, especially in reading the minor prophets and the epistles, to take them in fragments. One who, in his rigid adherence to the rule of just so many chapters a day, reads the first chapter of the epistle to the Galatians, for instance, as the last of his chapters for one day, the second, third, and fourth the next day, and the fifth and sixth the third day, loses more of the force and beauty of the epistle than can be expressed.

We do not say that one should never read in one of the epistles without reading all, but we do say that everybody ought to make it a frequent practice to read an entire book at one sitting. Never mind if it does break into your course; better break that than lose the benefit of the connection. It won't hurt to read a little more. It is not a great thing to do. People will sit down and read in a newspaper more matter than is contained in any one of the epistles, and not think they have performed a great feat.

Read the Bible through by course as much as you please; but do not neglect reading by books, and studying by books, and you will find that you are beginning to know the Bible as never before.

PROGRESS OF ARBITRATION.

By Editor

THE London Daily News, commenting on the "Universal Peace Congress" that was recently held in London, says:—

"The agreement [for arbitration] between the States of the two Americas marks a stage in the history of civilization, from which there will be no retrogression. The inhabitants of barrack-ridden Europe may well derive some inspiration from the lesson of the New World. Arbitration has won the day among the States of the two Americas, because sixty millions of people in the great republic have been educated up to the idea."

This is news to us on this side of the water. The bloody revolutions now going on in the Central American States do not have much of the flavor of peace; and the men-of-war and the big guns which the United States is building do not look as though this country intended to put its trust in soft words. Never before in the history of the United States, except in time of actual war, has there been so much activity in the way of preparing ships and implements of war. The idea of arbitration has taken hold of but a very few of the sixty-four million people of this country, and with them it is only a dream that shows no signs of materializing. But the News continues:—

"The substitution of arbitration for the stupid crime (as it ordinarily is) of war will take place in Europe when the idea of it takes hold of the European mind."

A very just and wise remark,—one which shows more wisdom than is generally exhibited in connection with peace congresses, where the idea seems to obtain that good resolutions will bring about the result. Nations are composed of individuals, and before peace can reign when great provocation is given, the hearts of the people must be changed, and that is a work that is not done in mass. When men are "shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace," they will be peace-makers; but the word of God gives no warrant for hoping that any such universal change will be wrought. On the contrary, it says that in the last days perilous times will come, because men will be lovers of their own selves, without natural affection, truce-breakers, fierce, despisers of those that are good, and traitors. See 2 Tim. 3: 1-4. Surely there is no hope for arbitration among people of that description.

There will come a time, however, when peace will reign over all the earth, and there will be no need of arbitration, because there will be nothing to arbitrate. And that time is not far distant. But it will be brought about by such a war as the earth has never yet seen, even the battle of the great day of the Lord (see Rev. 16: 14; 19: 11-21; Jer. 25: 31-33); and when evil-doers shall have been cut off, and sin and sinners destroyed from the face of the earth, then "the meek shall inherit the earth; and shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace." Ps. 37: 11.

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