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21 - A Warning Rejected - The Great Controversy · Sacred Texts Archive

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Chapter twenty one, a warning rejected. In preaching the Doctrine of the Second
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Advent, William Miller and his associates had labored with the sole purpose of arousing
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men to a preparation for the judgment. They had sought to awaken professors of
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religion to the true hope of the Church and to their need of a deeper
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Christian experience. And they labored also to awaken the unconverted to the duty of
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immediate repentance and conversion to God. They made no attempt to convert men to
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a sect or party in religion. Hence they labored among all parties and sects,
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without interfering with their organization or discipline. In all my labors, said
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Miller, I never had the desire or thought to establish any separate interest from
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that of existing denominations, or to benefit one at the expense of another.
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I thought to benefit all, supposing that all Christians would rejoice in the prospect
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of Christ's coming, and that those who could not see as I did would
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not love any the less those who should embrace this doctrine. I did not
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conceive there would ever be any necessity for separate meetings. My whole object was
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a desire to convert souls to God, to notify the world of a coming
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judgment, and to induce my fellow men to make that preparation of heart which
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will enable them to meet their God in peace. The great majority of those
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who were converted under my labors united with the various existing churches. As his
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work tended to build up the churches, it was for a time regarded with
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favor. But as ministers and religious leaders decided against the advent doctrine and desired
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to suppress all agitation of the subject, they not only opposed it from the
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pulpit, but denied their members the privilege of attending preaching upon the Second Advent,
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or even of speaking of their hope in the social meetings of the church.
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Thus the believers found themselves in a position of great trial and perplexity.
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They loved their churches and were loathed to separate from them, But as they
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saw the testimony of God's words oppressed and their right to investigate the prophecies denied,
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they felt that loyalty to God forbade them to submit those who sought to
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shut out the testimony of God's word. They could not regard as constituting the
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Church of Christ, the pillar and ground of the truth. Hence they felt
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themselves justified in separating from their former connection. In the summer of eighteen forty
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four, about fifty thousand withdrew from the churches. About this time, a
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marked change was apparent in most of the churches throughout the United States. There
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had been for many years a gradual but steadily increasing conformity to worldly practices and
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customs, and a corresponding decline in real spiritual life. But in that year
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there were evidences of a sudden and marked declension in nearly all the churches of
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the land. While none seemed able to suggest the cause, the fact itself
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was widely noted and commented upon by both the press and the pulpit. At
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a meeting of the Presbytery of Philadelphia, mister Barnes, author of a commentary
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widely used and pastor of one of the leading churches in that city, stated
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that he had been in the ministry for twenty years and never till the last
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Communion had he administered the ordinance without receiving more or less into the church.
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But now there are no awakenings, no conversions, not much apparent growth in
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grace, and professors and none come to his study to converse about the salvation
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of their souls. With the increase of business and the brightening prospects of commerce
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and manufacture, there is an increase of worldly mindedness. Thus it is with
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all the denominations. In the month of February of the same year, Professor
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Finney of Oberlin College said, we have had the fact before our minds that,
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in general, the Protestant churches of our country as such, were either
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apathetic or hostile to nearly all the moral reforms of the age. There are
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partial excepts, yet not enough to render the fact otherwise than general. We
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have also another corroborated fact, the almost universal absence of revival influence in the
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churches. The spiritual apathy is almost all pervading and is fearfully deep. So
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the religious press of the whole land testifies very extensively. Church members are becoming
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devotees of fashion, join hands with the ungodly, in parties of pleasure,
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in dancing, in festivities, et cetera. But we need not expand this
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painful subject, Suffice it that the evidence sickens and rolls heavily upon us to
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show that the churches generally are becoming sadly degenerate. They have gone very far
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from the Lord, and He has withdrawn himself from them. And a writer
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in the religious Telescope testified, we have never witnessed such a general declension of
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religion as at the present. Truly, the Church should awake and search into
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the cause of this affliction, For as an affliction, every one that loves
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Zion must view it. When we call to mind how few and far between
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cases of true conversion are, and the almost unparalleled impertinence and hardness of sinners,
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we almost involuntarily exclaim, has God forgotten to be gracious? Or is
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the door of mercy closed? Such a condition never exists without cause in the
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Church itself. The spiritual darkness which falls upon nations, upon churches, and
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individuals, is due not to an arbitrary withdrawal of the succors of divine grace
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on the part of God, but to neglect, a rejection of divine light
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on the part of men. A striking illustration of this truth is presented in
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the history of the Jewish people in the time of Christ, by their devotion
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to the world and forgetfulness of God and his word, their understanding had become
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darkened, their hearts earthly and sensual. Thus they were in ignorance concerning Messiah's
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advent, and in their pride and unbelief, they rejected the redeemer. God
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did not even then cut off the Jewish nation from a knowledge of or a
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participation in the blessings of salvation. But those who rejected the truth lost all
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desire for the gift of heaven. They had put darkness for light, and
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light for darkness, until the light which was in them became darkness. And
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how great was that darkness. It suits the policy of Satan that men should
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retain the forms of religion if but the spirit of vital godliness is lacking.
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After their rejection of the Gospel, the Jews continued zealously to maintain their ancient
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rights. They rigorously preserved their national exclusiveness, while they themselves could not but
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admit that the presence of God was no longer manifest among them. The prophecy
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of Daniel pointed so unmistakably to the time of Messiah's coming, and so directly
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foretold his death, that they discouraged its study. And finally the rabbis pronounced
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a curse on all who should attempt a computation of the time in blindness and
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impenitence. The people of Israel, for eighteen hundred years have stood indifferent to
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the gracious offers of salvation, unmindful of the blessings of the Gospel, a
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solemn and fearful warning of the danger of rejecting light from Heaven. Wherever the
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cause exists, the same results will follow. He who deliberately stifles his convictions
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of duty because it interferes with his inclinations will finally lose the power to distinguish
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between truth and error. The understanding becomes darkened, the conscience callous, the
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heart hardened, and the soul is separated from God. Where the message of
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divine truth is spurned or slighted, there the church will be enshrouded in darkness.
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Faith and love grow cold, and estrangement and dissension enter. Church members
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center their interests and energies in worldly pursuits, and sinners become hardened in their
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impenitence. The First Angel's message of Revelation fourteen, announcing the hour of God's
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judgment and calling upon men to fear and worship Him, was designed to separate
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the professed people of God from the corrupting influences of the world, and to
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arouse them to see their true condition of worldliness and backsliding. In this message,
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God had sent to the Church, a warning which, had it been
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accepted, would have corrected the evils that were shutting them away from Him.
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Had they received the message from Heaven, humbling their hearts before the Lord and
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seeking in sincerity a preparation to stand on his presence, the spirit and power
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of God would have been manifested among them. The Church would again have reached
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that blessed state of unity, faith and love which existed in Apostolic days,
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when the believers were of one heart and of one soul, and spake the
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word of God with boldness, when the Lord added to the church daily such
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as should be saved. If God's professed people would receive the light as it
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shines upon them from His word, they would reach that unity for which Christ
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prayed, that which the apostle describes the unity of the spirit in the bond
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of peace. There is, he says, one body and one spirit,
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even as year called in one hope of your calling, one Lord, one
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faith, one baptism. Such were the blessed results experienced by those who accepted
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the Advent message. They came from different denominations, and their denominational barriers were
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hurled to the ground. Conflicting creeds were shivered to atoms. The unscriptural hope
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of a temporal millennium was abandoned. False views of the Second Advent were corrected,
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Pride and conformity to the world were swept away, Wrongs were made right,
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hearts were united in the sweetest fellowship, and love and joy reigned supreme.
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If this doctrine did this for the few who did receive it, it
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would have done the same for all if all had received it. But the
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churches generally did not accept the warning. Their ministers, who, as watchmen
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unto the House of Israel, should have been the first to discern the tokens
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of Jesus coming, had failed to learn the truth, either from the testimony
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of the prophets or from the signs of the times. As worldly hopes and
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ambitions filled the heart, love for God and faith in his word had grown
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cold, and when the Advent doctrine was presented, it only aroused their prejudice
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and unbelief. The fact that the message was, to a great extent preached
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by layman, was urged as an argument against it. As of old,
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the plain testimony of God's word was met with the inquiry have any of the
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rulers or of the pharisees believed? And, finding how difficult a task it
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was to refute the arguments drawn from the prophetic periods, many discouraged the study
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of the prophecies, teaching that the prophetic books were sealed and were not to
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be understood. Multitudes, trusting implicitly to their pastors, refused to listen to
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the warning, and others, though convinced of the truth, dared not confess
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it lest they should be put out of the synagogue. The message which God
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had sent for testing and purification of the church, revealed all too shit.
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Surely, how great was the number who had set their affections on this world
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rather than upon Christ. The ties which bound them to earth were stronger than
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the attractions heavenward. They chose to listen to the voice of worldly wisdom and
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turned away from the heart searching message of truth. In refusing the warning of
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the First Angel, they rejected the means which Heaven had provided for their restoration.
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They spurned the gracious messenger that would have corrected the evils which separated them
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from God, and with greater eagerness they turned to seek the friendship of the
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world. Here was the cause of that fearful condition of worldliness, backsliding,
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and spiritual death which existed in the churches in eighteen forty four. In Revelation
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fourteen, the first angel is followed by a second proclaiming Babylon has fallen,
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is fallen that great city, because she made all nations drink of the wine
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of the wrath of her fornication. The term Babylon is derived from Babel and
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signifies confusion. It is employed in scripture to designate the various forms of false
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or apostate religion. In Revelation seventeen, Babylon is represented as a woman,
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a figure which is used in the Bible as the symbol of a church,
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a virtuous woman representing a pure church, a vile woman, and apostate church.
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In the Bible, the sacred and enduring character of the relation that exists
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between Christ and his Church is represented by the union of marriage. The Lord
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has joined his people to himself by a solemn covenant, He promising to be
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their God, and they pledging themselves to be his and His alone. He
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declares, I will betroth thee unto me forever. Yea, I will betroth
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thee unto me in righteousness and in judgment, and in loving kindness, and
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in mercies. And again I am married unto you. And Paul employs the
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same figure in the New Testament when he says, I have espoused you to
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one husband that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ. The
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unfaithfulness of the Church to Christ, in permitting her confidence and affection to be
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turned from Him and allowing the love of worldly things to occupy the soul,
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is likened to the violation of the marriage bell. The sin of Israel in
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departing from the Lord is presented under this figure, and the wonderful love of
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God which they thus despised, is touchingly portrayed. I swear unto thee and
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entered into a covenant with THEE, saith the Lord God, and thou becamest
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mine, and thou wast exceeding beautiful, and thou didst prosper into a kingdom,
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and thy renown went forth among the heathen for thy beauty, for it
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was perfect through my comeliness which I had put upon thee. But thou didst
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trust in thine own beauty and play'st the Harlot because of thy renown. As
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a wife treacherously departeth from her husband. So have ye dealt treacherously with me.
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O house of Israel, saith the Lord as a wife that committeth adultery,
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which taketh strangers instead of her husband. In the New Testament language,
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very similar is addressed to professed Christians who seek the friendship of the world above
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the favor of God, says the apostle James. Ye adulterers and adulteresses know
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ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God. Whosoever therefore
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will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God. The woman
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Babylon of Revelation seventeen is described as a rayed in purple and scarlet color and
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decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her
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hand, full of abominations and filthiness, and upon her forehead was a name
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written Mystery Babylon the Great, the mother of Harlot's, says the prophet,
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I saw the woman drunken with the blood of the saints and with the blood
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of the martyrs of Jesus. Babylon is further declared to be that great city
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which reigneth over the kings of the earth. The power that for so many
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centuries maintained despotic sway over the monarchs of Christendom is Rome. The purple and
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scarlet color, the gold and precious stones and pearls vividly picture the magnificence and
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more than kingly pomp affected by the haughty sea of Rome. And no other
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power could be so truly declared drunken with the blood of the saints as that
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church which has so cruelly persecuted the followers of Christ. Babylon is also charged
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with the sin of unlawful connection with the kings of the earth. It was
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by departure from the Lord and alliance with the Heathen that the Jewish Church became
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a Harlot, and Rome, corrupting herself in like manner by seeking the support
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of worldly powers, receives a like condemnation. Babylon is said to be the
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mother of Harlot's by her daughters must be symbolized churches that cling to her doctrines
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and traditions, and follow her example of sacrificing the truth and approval of God
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in order to form an unlawful alliance with the world. The message of Revelation
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fourteen, announcing the fall of Babylon, must apply to religious bodies that were
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once pure and have become corrupt. Since this message follows the warning of the
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Judgment, it must be given in the last days. Therefore, it cannot
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refer to the Roman Church alone, for that church has been in a fallen
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condition for many centuries. Furthermore, in the eighteenth chapter of the Revelation,
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the people of God are called upon to come out of Babylon. According to
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this scripture, many of God's people must still be in Babylon. And in
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what religious bodies are The greater part of the followers of Christ now to be
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found, without doubt in the various churches professing the Protestant faith. At the
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time of their rise, these churches took a noble stand for God and the
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truth, and His blessing was with them. Even the unbelieving world was constrained
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to acknowledge the beneficent results that followed an acceptance of the principles of the Gospel
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in the words of the Prophet to Israel, thy renown went forth among the
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heathen for thy beauty, for it was perfect through my comeliness which I had
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put upon thee saith the Lord God. But they fell by the same desire,
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which was the curse and ruin of Israel, the desire of imitating the
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practices and courting the friendship of the ungodly. Thou didst trust in thine own
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beauty and playe'st the herb it because of thy renown. Many of the Protestant
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churches are following Rome's example of iniquitous connection with the kings of the earth,
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the state churches by their relation to secular governments, and other denominations by seeking
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the favor of the world, and the term babylon confusion may be appropriately applied
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to these bodies, all professing to derive their doctrines from the Bible, yet
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divided into almost innumerable sects with widely conflicting creeds and theories. Besides a sinful
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union with the world, the churches that separated from Rome present other of her
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characteristics. A Roman Catholic work argues that if the Church of Rome were ever
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guilty of idolatry in relation to the saints her daughter. The Church of England
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stands guilty of the same, which has ten churches dedicated to Mary for one
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dedicated to Christ. And Doctor Hopkins, in a treatise on the Millennium,
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declares, there is no reason to consider the anti Christian spirit and practices to
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be confined to that which is now called the Church of Rome. The Protestant
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churches have much of Antichrist in them, and are far from being wholly reformed
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from corruptions and wickedness. Concerning the separation of the Presbyterian Church from Rome,
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doctor Guthrie writes, three hundred years ago our church with an open Bible on
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her banner, and this motto searched the scriptures on her scroll, marched out
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from the gates of Rome. Then he asks a significant question, did they
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come clean out of Babylon? The Church of England, says Spurgeon, seems
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to be eaten through and through with sacramentarianism, but nonconformity appears to be almost
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as badly riddled with philosophical infidelity. Those of whom we thought better things are
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turning aside one by one from the fundamentals of the faith through and through I
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believe the very heart of England as honeycombed with a damnable infidelity, which dares
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still go into the pulpit and call itself Christian. What was the origin of
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the Great Apostasy? How did the church first depart from the simplicity of the
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Gospel by conforming to the practices of paganism to facilitate the acceptance of Christianity by
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the heathen. The apostle Paul declared, even in his day, the mystery
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of iniquity doth already work. During the lives of the apostles, the church
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remained comparatively pure, but toward the latter end of the second century, most
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of the churches assumed a new form. The first simplicity disappeared, and insensibly
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as the old disciples retired to their graves, their children, along with new
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converts, came forward and new modeled Because to secure converts, the exalted standard
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of the Christian faith was lowered, and as the result, pagan flood flowing
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into the church carried with it its customs, practices, and idols. As
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the Christian religion secured the favor and support of secular rulers, it was nominally
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accepted by multitudes, but while in appearance Christians many remained in substance Pagans,
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especially worshiping in secret their idols. Has not the same process been repeated in
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nearly every church calling itself Protestant. As its founders those who possess the true
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spirit of reform pass away, their descendants come forward and new model the cause,
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while blindly clinging to the creed of their fathers and refusing to accept any
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truth in advance of what they saw. The children of the reformers depart widely
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from their example of humility, self denial, and renunciation of the world.
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Thus the first simplicity disappears, a worldly flood flowing into the church, carries
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with it its customs, practices, and idols. Alas to what a fearful
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extent is that friendship of the world, which is enmity with God now cherished
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among the professed followers of Christ. How widely have the popular churches throughout Christendom
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departed from the Bible standard of humility, self denial, simplicity and godliness.
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Said John Wesley in speaking of the right use of money, Do not waste
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any part of so precious a talent merely in gratifying the desire of the eye
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by superfluous or expensive apparel, or by needless ornaments. Waste no part of
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it In curiously adorning your houses, in superfluous or expensive furniture, in costly
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pictures, painting, guilding, lay out nothing to gratify the pride of life.
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To gain the admiration or praise of men. So long as thou doest
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well unto thyself, men will speak good of thee. So long as th
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ouurt clothed in purple and fine linen, and fairest sumptuously every day, no
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doubt many will applaud thy elegance of taste, thy generosity, and hospitality.
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But do not buy their applause. So dear rather be content with the honor
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that cometh from God. But in many churches of our time such teaching is
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disregarded. A profession of religion has become popular with the world. Rulers,
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politicians, lawyers, doctors, merchants join the Church as a means of securing
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the respect and confidence of society and advancing their own worldly interests. Thus they
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seek to cover all their unrighteous transactions under a profession of Christianity. The various
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religious bodies. Reinforced by the wealth and influence of these baptized worldlings, make
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a still higher bid for popularity and patronage. Splendid churches, embellished in the
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most extravagant manner, are erected on popular avenues. The worshipers array themselves in
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costly and fashionable attire. A high salary is paid for a talented minister to
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entertain and attract the people. His sermons must not touch popular sins, but
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be made smooth and pleasing for fashionable ears. Thus, fashionable sinners are enrolled
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on the church records, and fashionable sins are concealed under a pretense of godliness.
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Commenting on the present attitude of professed Christians toward the world, a leading
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secular journal says, insensibly, the church has yielded to the spirit of the
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age and adapted its forms of worship to modern wants, all things indeed that
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help to make religion attractive. The church now employs as its instruments and a
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writer in the New York Independence speaks thus concerning methodism, as it is,
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the line of separation between the godly and the irreligious fades out into a kind
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of penumber and zealous men on both sides are toiling to obliterate all difference between
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their modes of action and enjoyment. The popularity of religion tends vastly to increase
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the number of those who would secure its benefits without squarely meeting its duties.
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Says Howard Crosby, it is a matter of deep concern that we find Christ's
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Church so little fulfilling the designs of its Lord. Just as the ancient Jews
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let a familiar intercourse with the idolatrous nations steal away their hearts from God,
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so the Church of Jesus now is, by its false partnerships with an unbelieving
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world, giving up the divine methods of its true life and yielding itself to
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the pernicious, though often plausible habits of a christless society, using the arguments
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and reaching the conclusions which are foreign to the revelation of God and directly antagonistic
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to all growth and grace. In this tide of worldliness and pleasure, seeking,
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self denial and self sacrifice for Christ's sake are almost wholly lost. Some
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of the men and women now in active life in our churches were educated when
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children to make sacrifices in order to be able to give or do something for
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Christ. But if funds are wanted now nobody must be called on to give.
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Oh, no, have a fair tableau, mock trial, antiquarian supper,
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or something to eat, anything to amuse the people. Governor Washburn of
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Wisconsin, in his annual message January ninth, eighteen seventy three, declared,
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some law law seems to be required to break up the schools where gamblers are
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made. These are everywhere, even the Church. Unwittingly, no doubt,
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is sometimes found doing the work of the devil. Gift concerts, gift enterprises,
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and raffles, sometimes in aid of religious or charitable objects, but often
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for less worthy purposes. Lotteries, prize packages, et cetera. Are all
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devices to obtain money without value received. Nothing is so demoralizing or intoxicating,
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particularly to the young, as the acquisition of money or property without labor.
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Respectable people engaging in these chance enterprises and easing their consciences with the reflection that
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the money is to go to a good object. It is not strange that
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the youth of the States so often fall into the habits which the excitement of
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games of hazard is almost certain to engender the spirit of worldly conformity is invading
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the churches throughout Christendom. Robert Atkins, in a sermon preached in London,
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draws a dark picture of the spirit declension that prevails in England. The truly
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righteous are diminished from the earth, and no man layeth it to heart.
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The professors of religion of the present day in every church are lovers of the
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world, conformers to the world, lovers of creature, comfort, and aspirers
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after respectability. They are called to suffer with Christ, but they shrink from
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even reproach. Apostasy. Apostasy. Apostasy is engraved on the very front of
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every church. And did they know it? And did they feel that there
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might be hope? But alas they cry, we are rich and increased in
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goods, and stand in need of nothing. The great sin charged against Babylon
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is that she made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her
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fornication. This cup of intoxication which she presents to the world represents the false
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doctrines that she has accepted as the result of her unlawful connection with the great
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ones of the earth. Friendship with the world corrupts her faith, and in
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her turn, she exerts a corrupting influence of the world by teaching doctrines which
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are opposed to the plainest statements of Holy writ Rome withheld the Bible from the
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people and required all men to accept her teachings in its place. It was
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the work of the Reformation to restore to men the word of God. But
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is it not too true that in the churches of our time, men are
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taught to rest their faith upon their creed and the teachings of their church,
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rather than on the scriptures. Said Charles Beecher, speaking of the Protestant churches.
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They shrink from any rude word against creeds with the same sensitiveness with which
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those Holy Fathers would have shrunk from a rude word against the rising veneration of
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saints and martyrs which they were fostering. The Protestant Evangelical denominations have so tied
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up one another's hands and their own, that between them all a man cannot
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become a preacher at all anywhere without accepting some book besides the Bible. There
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is nothing imaginary in the statement that the creed power is now beginning to prohibit
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the Bible as really as Rome did, though in a subtler way. When
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faithful teachers expound the Word of God, there arise men of learning, ministers
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professing to understand the scriptures, who denounce sound doctrine as heresy and thus turn
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away inquirers after truth. Were it not that the world is hopelessly intoxicated with
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the wine of Babylon, multitudes would be convicted and converted by the plain cutting
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truths of the Word of God. But religious faith appears so confused and discordant
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that the people know not what to believe as truth. The sin of the
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world's impenitence lies at the door of the church. The Second Angel's message of
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Revelation fourteen was first preached in the summer of eighteen forty four, and it
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then had a more direct application to the churches of the United States, where
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the warning of the judgment had been most widely proclaimed and most generally rejected,
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and where the declension in the churches had been most rapid. But the message
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of the Second Angel did not reach its complete fulfillment in eighteen forty four.
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The churches then experienced a moral fall in consequence of their refusal of the light
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of the advent message. But that fall was not complete, as they have
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continued to reject the special truths for this time they have fallen lower and lower.
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Not yet, however, can it be said that Babylon has fallen because
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she made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication.
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She has not yet made all nations do this. The spirit of world conforming
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an indifference to the testing truths for our time exists and has been gaining ground
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in churches of the Protestant faith in all the countries of Christendom. And these
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churches are included in the Solemn and Terrible Denunciation of the Second Angel. But
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the work of apostasy has not yet reached its culmination. The Bible declares that
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before the coming of the Lord, Satan will work with all power and signs
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and lying wonders, and with all deceivableness of unrighteousness. And they that received
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not the love of the truth that they might be saved will be left to
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receive soar strong delusion that they should believe a lie. Not until this condition
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shall be reached, and the union of the Church with the world shall be
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fully accomplished throughout Christendom, will the fall of Babylon be complete. The change
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of the progressive One and the perfect fulfillment of Revelation fourteen eight is yet future.
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Notwithstanding the spiritual darkness and alienation from God that exist in the churches which
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constitute Babylon, the great body of Christ's true followers are still to be found
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in their communion. There are many of these who have never seen the special
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truths. For this time. Not a few are dissatisfied with their present condition
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and are longing for clearer light. They look in vain for the image of
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Christ in the churches with which they are connected. As these bodies depart farther
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and farther from the Truth and ally themselves more closely with the world, the
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difference between the two classes will widen, and it will finally result in separation.
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The time will come when those who love God supremely can know no longer
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remain in connection with such as are lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God,
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having a form of Godliness, but denying the power thereof Revelation eighteen points
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to the time when, as the result of rejecting the threefold warning of Revelation
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fourteen six through twelve. The Church will have fully reached the condition foretold by
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the Second Angel, and the people of God still in Babylon will be called
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upon to separate from her communion. This message is the last that will ever
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be given to the world, and it will accomplish its work when those that
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believe not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness shall be left to receive
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strong delusion and to believe a lie. Then the light of truth will shine
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upon all whose hearts are open to receive it, and all the children of
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the Lord that remain in Babylon will heed the call. Come out of her,
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my people. End of chapter twenty one.