Signs of the Times, Vol. 11, No. 32. (8/20/1885)

Signs of the Times

Aug 20, 1885

International Tract and Missionary Society · Oakland, California · Aug 20, 1885

General Articles.

By Ellen G. White

Protestantism and Catholicism Uniting.

BY MRS. E. G. WHITE.

ROMANISM is now regarded by Protestants with far greater favor than in former years. There is an increasing indifference concerning the doctrines that separate the reformed churches from the papal hierarchy; the opinion is gaining ground that, after all, we do not differ so widely upon vital points as has been supposed, and that a little concession on our part will bring us into a better understanding with Rome. The time was when Protestants placed a high value upon the liberty of conscience which has been so dearly purchased. They taught their children to abhor popery, and held that to remain at peace with Rome would be disloyalty to God. But how widely different are the sentiments now expressed.

The defenders of popery declare that she has been maligned; and the Protestant world is inclined to accept the statement. Many urge that it is unjust to judge the Romish Church of to-day by the abominations and absurdities that marked her reign during the centuries of ignorance and darkness. They excuse her horrible cruelty as the result of the barbarism of the times, and plead that civilization has changed her sentiments.

Have these persons forgotten the claim of infallibility, for eight hundred years put forth by this haughty power? So far from relinquishing this claim, the church in the nineteenth century has affirmed it with greater positiveness than ever before. As Rome asserts that she has never erred, and never can err, how can she renounce the principles which governed her course in past ages?

Romanism as a system is no more in harmony with the gospel of Christ now than at any former period in her history. The Protestant churches are in great darkness, or they would discern the signs of the times. The Roman Church is far-reaching in her plans and modes of operation. She is employing every device to extend her influence and increase her power in preparation for a fierce and determined conflict to regain control of the world, to re-establish persecution, and to undo all that Protestantism has done. Catholicism is gaining ground in our country upon every side. Look at the number of her churches and chapels. Look at her colleges and seminaries, so widely patronized by Protestants. These things should awaken the anxiety of all who prize the pure principles of the gospel.

Protestants have tampered with and patronized popery; they have made compromises and concessions which papists themselves are surprised to see, and fail to understand. Men are closing their eyes to the real character of Romanism, and the dangers to be apprehended from her supremacy. The people of our land need to be aroused to resist the advances of this most dangerous foe to civil and religious liberty.

In the days of Rome's supremacy there were instruments of torture to compel assent to her doctrines. There was the stake for those who would not concede to her claims. There were massacres on a scale that will never be known to mortals. Dignitaries of the church studied, under Satan their master, to invent means to cause the greatest possible torture, and not end the life of their victim. The infernal process was repeated to the utmost limit of human endurance, until nature gave up the struggle, and the sufferer hailed death as a sweet release.

Such was the fate of Rome's opponents. For her adherents she had the discipline of the scourge, of famishing hunger, of bodily austerities in every conceivable, heart-sickening form. To secure the favor of Heaven, penitents violated the laws of God by violating the laws of nature. They were taught to sunder every tie which he has formed to bless and gladden man's earthly sojourn. The churchyard contains millions of victims who spent their lives in vain endeavors to subdue their natural affections, to repress, as offensive to God, every thought and feeling of sympathy with their fellow-creatures.

The Romish Church now presents a fair front to the world, covering with apologies her record of horrible cruelties. She has clothed herself in Christlike garments; but she is unchanged. Every principle of popery that existed in ages past exists to-day. The doctrines devised in the darkest ages are still held. Let none deceive themselves. The popery that Protestants are now so ready to embrace and honor is the same that ruled the world in the days of the Reformation, when men of God stood up at the peril of their lives to expose her iniquity. She possesses the same pride and arrogant assumption that lorded it over kings and princes, and claimed the prerogatives of God. Her spirit is no less cruel and despotic now than when she crushed out human liberty, and slew the saints of the Most High.

Popery is just what prophecy declared that she would be,—the apostasy of the latter times.

It is a part of her policy to assume the character which will best accomplish her purpose; but beneath the variable appearance of the chameleon, she conceals the invariable venom of the serpent. "We are not bound to keep faith and promises to heretics," she declares. Shall this power, whose record for a thousand years is written in the blood of the saints, be now acknowledged as a part of the church of Christ?

It is not without reason that the claim has been put forth that Catholicism is now almost like Protestantism. There has been a change; but the change is in Protestants, not in Romanists. Catholicism indeed resembles the Protestantism that now exists; but it is far removed from Protestantism as it was in the days of Cranmer, Ridley, Knox, and other reformers.

As the Protestant churches have been seeking the favor of the world, false charity has blinded their eyes. They do not see but that it is right to believe good of all evil; and as the inevitable result, they will finally believe evil of all good. Instead of standing in defense of the faith once delivered to the saints, they are now, as it were, apologizing to Rome for their uncharitable opinion of her, begging pardon for their bigotry.

A large class, even of those who look upon Romanism with no favor, apprehend little danger from her power and influence. Many urge that the intellectual and moral darkness prevailing during the Middle Ages favored the spread of her dogmas, superstitions, and oppression, and that the greater intelligence of modern times, the general diffusion of knowledge, and the increasing liberality in matters of religion, forbid a revival of intolerance and tyranny. The very thought that such a state of things will exist in this enlightened age is ridiculed. It is true that great light, intellectual, moral, and religious, is shining upon this generation. In the open pages of God's holy word, light from Heaven has been shed upon the world. But it should be remembered that the greater the light bestowed, the greater the darkness of those who pervert or reject it.

A prayerful study of the Bible would show Protestants the real character of the papacy, and would cause them to abhor and to shun it; but men are so wise in their own conceit that they feel no need of humbly seeking God that they may be led into the truth. Although priding themselves on their enlightenment, they are ignorant both of the Scriptures and of the power of God. They must have some means of quieting their consciences; and they seek that which is least spiritual and humiliating. What they desire is a method of forgetting God which shall pass as a method of remembering him. The papacy is well adapted to meet the wants of all these. It is prepared for two classes of mankind, embracing nearly the whole world,—those who would be saved by their merits, and those who would be saved in their sins. Here is the secret of its power.

A day of great intellectual darkness has been shown to be favorable to the success of popery. It will yet be demonstrated that a day of great intellectual light is equally favorable for its success. In past ages, when men were without God's word, and without the knowledge of the truth, their eyes were blindfolded, and thousands were ensnared, not seeing the net spread for their feet. In this generation there are many whose eyes become dazzled by the glare

of human speculations, "science falsely so called;" they discern not the net, and walk into it as readily as if blindfolded. God designed that man's intellectual powers should be held as a gift from his Maker, and employed in the service of truth and righteousness; but when they are idolized, and laid upon the shrine of Satan to be employed in the service of a false religion, then intelligence can accomplish greater harm than ignorance.

In the movements now in progress in this country to secure for the institutions and usages of the church the support of the State, Protestants are following in the steps of papists. Nay, more, they are opening the door for popery to regain in Protestant America the supremacy which she has lost in the Old World. And that which gives greater significance to this movement is the fact that the principal object contemplated is the enforcement of Sunday observance,—a custom which originated with Rome, and which she claims as the sign of her authority.

The spirit of the papacy,—the spirit of conformity to worldly customs, the veneration for human traditions above the commands of God,—is permeating the Protestant churches, and leading them on to do the same work of Sunday exaltation which the papacy has done before them. Would the reader understand the agencies to be employed in the soon-coming contest? He has but to trace the record of the means which Rome employed for the same object in ages past. Would he know how papists and Protestants united will deal with those who reject their dogmas? Let him see the spirit which Rome manifested toward the Sabbath and its defenders.

The records of the past clearly reveal the enmity of Rome toward the true Sabbath, and the means which she employs to honor the institution of her creating. The word of God teaches that these scenes are to be repeated as papists and Protestants shall unite for the exaltation of the Sunday. For nearly forty years Sabbath reformers have presented this testimony to the world. In the events now taking place is seen a rapid advance toward the fulfillment of the prediction. There is the same claim of divine authority for Sunday-keeping, and the same lack of scriptural evidence, as in the days of papal supremacy. The assertion that God's judgments are visited upon men for their violation of the Sunday-Sabbath, will be repeated. Already it is beginning to be urged.

Marvelous in her shrewdness and cunning is the Romish Church. She can read what is to be. She bides her time, seeing that the Protestant churches are paying her homage in their acceptance of the false Sabbath, and that they are preparing to employ the very means which she herself employed in by-gone days. Those who reject the light of truth will yet seek the aid of this self-styled infallible power to exalt an institution that originated with her. How readily she will come to the help of Protestants in this work, it is not difficult to conjecture. Who understands better than popery how to deal with those who are disobedient to the church?

The Christian world will learn what Romanism really is, when it is too late to escape the snare. She is silently growing into power. Her doctrines are exerting their influence in legislative halls, in the churches, and in the hearts of men. Throughout the land she is piling up her lofty and massive structures, in the secret recesses of which her former persecutions will be repeated. She is stealthily and unsuspectedly strengthening her forces to further her own ends when the time shall come for her to strike. All that she desires is vantage ground, and this is soon to be given her. In the near future we shall see and feel what the purpose of the Roman element is. Whoever shall believe and obey the word of God will thereby incur reproach and persecution.

NEARER HOME.

A SWEET, sweet thought invades my mind This eve, and 'mid the fading light I feel the busy cares of day Subside before the peace of night. 'Tis this: as sure as speeds the ship Across the ocean's crested foam, By just the journey of a day, I'm nearer home, I'm nearer home.

And further from all pain or care, From every human fear or cross, Much less to know of woe and tears, Or taste the cup of earthly dross. Thro' many ills I've struggled on, And passed the wayside's dusty loam, By just the journey of a day I'm nearer home, I'm nearer home.

And, oh, the rapture that it brings To know I'm near my waiting crown, And closer to my Father's feet, Where all earth's burdens are laid down! And now the night shade drifts athwart The splendor of yon sunset dome, And by the journey of a day I'm nearer home, I'm nearer home. —Sel.

More Precious Than Gold.

WHETHER the apostle refers to our faith, or the trial of our faith, as being “more precious than gold that is tried in the fire,” is a little in doubt. Perhaps it includes both. Certainly the faith that is tried is more precious than gold; and, if the trial of our faith issues in the purification and strengthening of it, then we may safely and truly say that the trial is precious. Certainly it is not without reason that the apostle speaks of faith as being more precious than gold. A little attention to the passage in which this expression occurs (1 Peter 1:7), together with a comparison between it and refined gold, with which he brings it into competition, will reveal the correctness of the apostle’s characterization.

Among all the precious metals, gold is the most precious. It is the standard of value among them all. The same may be said of faith. It is the most precious of all the graces of which a Christian may be possessed. It is the standard grace. Indeed it is the one grace upon which all others depend. Without it nothing we may have or do or feel can avail us at all with God. “Without faith it is impossible to please him.” Into this grace all our works and other graces are to be mixed, in order that they may have currency. Gold among the precious metals is used to describe all the excellent things which are set forth for our contemplation.

So, if you want to characterize a man of God in the highest terms, you are only required to say that he is a man of faith. This was the one grace by which all the ancient worthies were designated. It was not the love which Abraham had which distinguished him, but the faith. It was not the love that made the Master marvel at the centurion, but the faith of the man. It is not our love that removes mountains, but our faith. It is not love that overcomes the world, but faith. It is the walk of faith that we are commended to, rather than the walk of love. It is not by love, but by faith, that the just live. We say this, not forgetting that, among the three graces Paul tells us of, love is “the greatest.” Love is the greatest only in that it is the surviving faith, and will endure after the time when faith and hope are laid aside for the lack of further use, when all is fruition with the believer.

It is more precious because of its origin. Gold is from the earth, while faith is from Heaven. The faith of the Christian is the transfiguration of the natural faculty, which all possess, by being fastened to Christ. It is more precious, because it procures more and better things for us. It is true that the man who has gold can provide himself with almost all earthly good things; but with faith man can live, and rejoice without the things which gold will buy. With faith, especially with faith that has been tried in the furnace of affliction, a man is contented with such things as he has; he can rejoice even when he is sick and hungry. He can triumph and rejoice when all things seem to be against him.

Gold will buy him food, raiment, and all earthly good things. It will surround him with friends, and give him place and power in the world. But faith will put him in possession of forgiveness, justification, regeneration, and eternal life. Faith secures for him an inheritance which will outlast this life, and make him rich throughout eternity. With gold man can only trade with this world; but with faith man can hold high commerce with Heaven. Gold will gain for man access into high places, and presence among the great ones on the earth; but the poorest man who has faith may secure for himself the “heavenly places in Christ,” and gain for himself audience and fellowship with the Father and with the Son and with the Holy Ghost. It will write his name among the worthies whose names are in the book of life, and on the roll of honor which God himself makes.

It is more precious than gold, because it is more enduring. Few men in this world have been successful in winning much gold, and fewer still have been enabled to keep it. At last it must perish with all things earthly and temporal; but faith endures so long as life lasts, and introduces us into place and surroundings where the eternal wealth of God is. A man with never so much gold must leave it at his death bed; but faith never forsakes a man until it has put him safely across the dark river and landed him over to God, a saved soul. The more we spend our gold, the less we have of it; but the more we expend of our faith, the more it increases.

Afflictions and trials diminish the value of gold, by rendering us incapable of enjoying what it might otherwise secure for us; but trial only makes faith to shine out with more resplendent beauty, and heightens its value. Gold often leads man into sin and death; but faith leads a man always away from sin and always into life. Gold will rust and corrode and drown men in perdition; but the tried faith of God’s people will be formed unto “praise, honor, and glory, at the appearing of Jesus Christ.” Rich in gold and a stranger to God, might be the brief biography of many a man in this world, while “rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom,” is the inspired biography of the poorest of this world who have sought and found Him who is revealed to, and made over to our faith. Let us covet this best gift, and increase it by using it, and rejoice in its purification by every trial which God sends upon us.—Independent.

A Strange Medley.

THE latest “Official Year Book of the Church of England,” which is issued “under the function of the archbishops and bishops of the Church of England,” whatever that may mean, gives a short record of the “church literature published during the past year.” A correspondent of an English church paper calls attention to the list, of which he disapproves, containing, as it does, the works of Father Benson, the head of the Cowley Fathers, the late Dr. Neale, founder and confessor of the East Grinstead Sisterhood, and the Roman Catholic Abbé Duquesne.

One of the books mentioned is the “Priests’ Prayer Book,” which contains forms for blessing holy salt, holy water, and holy ashes, in addition to which forms are supplied for blessing crosses, crucifixes, medals, monastic dresses, and many other articles.

An examination of many volumes on the list reveals that they teach nearly every false doctrine of the Church of Rome, including “auricular confession,” “priestly absolution,” the “real and objective presence,” the “sacrifice of the mass,” and “prayers for the dead.”

Of the “guilds,” which are said to be one of the modern developments of renewed spiritual activity within the church, there is a list, including a guild of all souls, which has for its special object the offering of masses and prayers for the dead.

Such a state of affairs as this signifies must be grievous indeed to the many hundreds of soundly evangelical clergymen and thousands of evangelical lay members of the Church of England. The church seems to be a great tree, large enough for all the birds of the air, which it appears to invite to build their nests upon its boughs.—Observer.

In Thee, O Lord, Do I Hope

"In thee, O Lord, do I hope." Ps. 38: 15.

Death Is but a Night’s Sleep

By Martin Luther

WHAT is death but a night’s sleep? For as through sleep all weariness and faintness pass away and cease, and the power of the spirit comes back again, so that in the morning we arise fresh and joyous, so at the last day we shall rise again, as if we had only slept a night, and shall be fresh and strong.—Martin Luther.

Will versus Reason.

By Epsilon

REASON is king of a properly ordered mind. It is natural and right that we have a will, and a strong will; but it must be kept in its proper place, and be always directed by king Reason; for will, however strong, must always be subordinate, never the ruler.

But what is the will? Simply the preference, the choice of the mind, the wish, the desire. In an excitement about a newly discovered copper mine, an old gentleman remarked, "I do not believe what I hear about it; for people tell things the way they want them to be." Sure enough, the copper mine turned out to be what the old gentleman expected, a creature of the will, and nothing more.

When the will has usurped the throne of reason, the working of the mind is something like this: "I want the pope to be infallible; therefore the pope is infallible." "I want what my church teaches, to be truth, therefore, my church teaches only truth." "I want what is called present truth to be error; therefore it is error." "I want the Bible to teach so and so; therefore the Bible does teach so and so."

The devil and his angels have from the beginning inspired men with perverse wills, and men have in all ages set up their wills against "the will of God." The truth may be presented to such will-trammeled minds in the clearest light, and the error may be exposed in all its hideous deformity. Still the stubborn will upon the throne will not yield. It will silence reason, stifle conscience, call folly evidence, and evidence folly.

The Jews in the days of Jesus enthroned their will upon the seat of reason. They erected splendid tombs in honor of prophets whom their forefathers had murdered, and lamented the wrong deeds of their ancestors, just as this generation looks back sadly on the bloody scenes of Rome and her daughters. History has condemned these wicked deeds, and even the same class of will-trammeled men accepts the decisions of history. But those very Jews mocked the truth and persecuted its lovers as this generation is now doing.

All that the Jews asked was "a sign from heaven." The Saviour, not wishing to make a mere showman of himself, did not repeat any of his miracles, nor perform a new miracle in answer to their temptation. But he referred them to his resurrection, as the climax of just such proof of his Messiahship as they demanded, "a sign from heaven."

But this generation does not ask a sign from heaven. If they did they would be pointed to a future event as the Jews were. Men now say, "Give us Bible proof, and we will believe." But when clear and forcible Bible proof is presented, and the error exposed in open daylight, the stubborn will usurps the place of reason and says, "No, I will not have it so: for it is not as I want it to be." This generation has as clearly gone back on its own word as the Jews did at the resurrection of Jesus. But will a future event to which we point, as did Jesus, work a general change of belief? No, for human nature is the same to-day that it ever was.

The proverb,—

"Convince a man against his will, He'll have the same opinion still,"

Is true only of will-trammeled minds. Convince an honest mind against its will, and that mind will acknowledge its conviction; for an honest man cannot allow his will to decide for him.

Says the prophet, "The heart is deceitful above all things." We need not go to the lunatic asylum to see that the mind deceives itself. We may go to a neighbor who reasons correctly on mathematics and all ordinary affairs of life, and present proof on proof that "the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord," and find that on that point the man violates every rule by which he acts in all other things. He allows his will, not his reason, to decide.

Says the psalmist, "I said in my haste, All men are liars." He had seen not only many willful liars, but many others who preferred a lie to the truth.

O poor fellow-man! Can you say more against the Bible than the Bible says against you? You ought to know that the Bible speaks the truth against you, however humbling the truth may be to your pride. But do not retaliate because the Bible speaks painful truth against you. Humble yourself "under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time." EPSILON.

Cleaving unto the Bible.

By Watchman

It was a sad confession made by king Josiah when he said: "Our fathers have not kept the book." Too many thus err, not cleaving unto the word of the Lord, to do all that is written in this the holy Scriptures, but virtually giving them up, if not openly renouncing or denouncing them. This is indeed a cause for lamentation, on account of consequences which must follow the surrender of what is so invaluable and indispensable as God's written revelation. By every possible consideration it should be held fast, and no hold upon it should be at all loosened. Some one has said concerning the Book of books: "Out of it have come all pure moralities. Forth from it have sprung all sweet charities. It has been the motive power of regeneration and reformation to millions of men. It has comforted the humble, consoled the mourning, sustained the suffering, and given trust and triumph to the dying. The wise old man has fallen asleep with it folded to his breast. The simple cottager has used it for his dying pillow; and even the innocent child has breathed his last happy sigh with his fingers between its promise-freighted leaves."

There is unchanging permanency in that which the Lord has spoken, so that there may be unhesitating adherence to it, with full assurance that it will eternally abide. The eminently evangelical prophet, Isaiah, could say: "The grass withereth, the flower fadeth; . . . but the word of our God shall stand forever." Jesus said: "Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my word shall not pass away." Nothing in the universe is more enduring than the truth set forth in the Bible. It is everlasting in that there is something to hold to which will remain when all pertaining to this world has ended.

Viewed also as a means of grace, the word of God should be closely adhered to, and never let go by those who would be partakers of the grace which will be crowned with glory. The psalmist said: "The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul." Jesus prayed for his disciples, saying: "Sanctify them through thy truth; thy word is truth." Paul said: "Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God." James exhorted those to whom he wrote: "Receive with meekness the ingrafted word which is able to save your souls." Whatever is so vitally serviceable as these expressions more than imply, should be firmly held, and never given up.—Watchman.

The Pope’s Strange Captivity

Recently a concourse of German pilgrims were at the vatican, and read an address to the pope. In this Leo XIII. was called Peter, and the faithful stated that he was now in the bondage of Herod. It is certainly a strange captivity, when the captor can be visited and addressed in this manner in his own resident city. When this address was read, the pope was surrounded by fifteen cardinals, thirty bishops and archbishops and a full royal pageant.—Independent.

Judge Me, O Lord

"Judge me, O Lord; for I have walked in mine integrity; I have trusted also in the Lord; therefore I shall not slide." Ps. 26:1.

Patient Waiting.

By Christian Union

It is the long fight which brings out character and educates men to make the best use of the victory when it is achieved. A sharp, short, brilliant campaign often results in a great waste of success and loss of opportunity because the victors have not gained the steadiness and wisdom to hold success with a strong, wise hand; the men who come out of the long campaign scarred and travel worn know the cost of victory, and spend their hard-won fortune temperately. In every man's affairs there come times of waiting; the problem cannot be solved, it must be worked out; the difficulties cannot be banished by energetic action, they must slowly fade as the mists roll away from the sky of one who has been anxiously watching for the sun through long and weary days of cloud and rain.

There are times when our affairs are taken out of our own hands and we are compelled to stand aside and wait patiently for the slow movement of progress. We have sown the seed, but we cannot force it to immediate harvest; we must let Nature set her shoulder to our work and do it for us. Growth is the most natural process in the world; the only really normal and healthy process; and yet it is the hardest for which to wait. When our projects move slowly, we chafe and fume in discontent; when our affairs get entangled, instead of quietly waiting for the unraveling of the snarl, we continually thrust our hands into the tangle, and make it tenfold worse. This is a world in which the best things are grown, not made; and he, who wants the best and most enduring things must be willing to pay the price of patience for them. Wait patiently, and rejoice that you have things worth waiting for.—Christian Union.

The Triumph of Universalism

By Plymouth Rock

In theology Dr. Miner, of Boston, is an aggressive Universalist; always ready to reply or attack where the claims of his particular theology are questioned. And without question there is room for the claim he and his co-workers make, that the theology of his church has carried the day in circles, sweeping all denominations. Preachers and theological professors in New England, who but a few years ago stoutly resisted the installation of pastors who in the smallest and lowest expression disputed the orthodox doctrine of future punishment, have now become open defenders or forbearing friends of a hope for such as die impenitent, that the offers of the gospel may be given them beyond the grave. Dr. Miner is very eloquent in maintaining that, so far as many of the evangelical ministers are concerned, they are Universalists, to all intents and purposes.—Plymouth Rock, in Christian at Work.

Plain, Pointed Preaching

The Cumberland Presbyterian has very decided views in regard to preaching. It says: 'If preachers do not denounce sin there is no use of preaching. The modern pulpit is emasculated for the want of courage to cry aloud and spare not. The preaching that is most popular is by no means most productive of good results. People that cannot stand plain, pointed, soul-searching preaching are generally living in some forbidden sin. The member who gets mad because the minister pours his anathemas upon dram drinking, gambling, dancing, and cheating, is usually himself guilty of some one or all of these sins. Preaching to please is not preaching; it is truckling, cringing, and fawning. Some ministers waste more time slaughtering the heretical sects or errorists than they spend preaching repentance and the forgiveness of sins.'—Sel.

Solitude and Society

A WISE man will use his hours of solitude for deepening his knowledge; and when he has won all that he can from solitude, he will turn to society, to receive the breadth and readiness which solitude never can give.

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