ISRAEL’S venture of conducting a kingdom, a State, like all the nations, was a complete, a deplorable, and a ruinous failure.AMS July 1, 1897, page 402.1

Israel was the church at that time: and this awful failure in her attempt to conduct a State was traced in full detail as an instruction to the church in all ages.AMS July 1, 1897, page 402.2

The essence of that instruction is that it is not possible for the church properly to conduct a State or to manage a kingdom.AMS July 1, 1897, page 402.3

The result of that attempt of the church to conduct a State and manage a kingdom, was the ruin of the kingdom and the annihilation of the State, which they had created, and the subjection of the church to heathen powers forever after.AMS July 1, 1897, page 402.4

Then from all this the plain lesson plainly and emphatically taught is, that the heathen are better qualified to conduct States and manage kingdoms than are the people of the church: that the people who are of this world are better qualified to perform the things that pertain to this world, than are the people whose calling and profession are those of another world.AMS July 1, 1897, page 402.5

If any one will say that this is not so, then let him tell why it was that when the State which the church of Israel had established, had failed and perished, and the people had risen to the dignity of a church once more, they were put by the Lord, and kept, in subjection to the heathen powers—Babylon, Medo-Persia, Grecia, and Rome—as long as they existed as a distinct people. And why He commanded the Christian church forever after, “Let every soul be subject to the higher powers.”AMS July 1, 1897, page 402.6

No, the church is not in the world to rule men; but by love to serve men. It is not the office of the church to govern States, but to serve the Lord. She is not here to compel men, but to persuade men. She has no commission to enforce the law, nor to preach the law, but to preach the gospel. She is not to condemn men, but to save men. This has ever been God’s will concerning his church: and whenever she has lost sight of this, and departed in any degree from it, she has only frustrated the grace of God, and spoiled herself.AMS July 1, 1897, page 402.7

It became necessary however for the Lord to reach the heathen nations and rulers that they could not of right exercise jurisdiction in religion.AMS July 1, 1897, page 402.8

Nebuchadnezzar set up a great image and commanded all to worship it.AMS July 1, 1897, page 402.9

Among the people present were three of the captives of the church of Israel, who refused to obey the commandment of the king.AMS July 1, 1897, page 402.10

He called the three men and repeated to them distinctly the command to worship his god, or else be cast into a furnace heated seven times hotter than usual, especially for them.AMS July 1, 1897, page 402.11

They replied that their God was able to deliver them, but that whether he would deliver them or not, they would not hearken to his decree nor worship the golden image which he had set up.AMS July 1, 1897, page 402.12

He therefore commanded that the three men should be cast into the roaring furnace. But immediately he was almost struck dumb with astonishment at what he saw.AMS July 1, 1897, page 402.13

He cried out to his counselors, “Did we not cast three men, bound, into the burning fiery furnace? They answered, True, O king. But lo! I see four men, loose, walking in the midst of the fire: and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God.” He then called them forth, and they were taken up out of the furnace, and there was not so much as the smell of fire upon them.AMS July 1, 1897, page 402.14

“Then Nebuchadnezzar spake and said: “Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, who hath sent his angel, and delivered his servants that trusted in him, and have changed the king’s word, and yielded their bodies, that they might not serve nor worship any god except their own God.”AMS July 1, 1897, page 402.15

This thing happened unto them for an ensample: and, it was written for the admonition of kings and people who should come after. It happened, and it was written to teach all kings and people, that though people be subject to the power of States and kingdoms, this power does not in any sense extend to the religion of the people. It tells all, that when the law of king or State to the religion of anybody, such law is to be disregarded by the people, and must be changed. The religious right of the people must stand, and king and State must yield. It happened and was written to teach all kings and people that there must be no union of religion and the State.AMS July 1, 1897, page 402.16

When the kingdom of Babylon had passed away, and the united powers of Media and Persia had come in, the same lesson had to be repeated for their benefit. A law was enacted by Darius the Mede and his counselors that for thirty days nobody should ask any petition of any god or king, but King Darius. Daniel was chief minister of the empire, and he paid no attention to the law; he went just as before, and presented his petition to God three times a day. He was arrested, prosecuted, convicted, and the penalty according to the law was executed: he was cast into a den of lions. But God sent an angel and shut the lions’ mouths, because that before God innocency was found in him; and also before the king had he done no hurt.AMS July 1, 1897, page 402.17

Thus God regards, and declares, the man innocent who knowingly and openly disregards any law touching his duty or relationship to God, who disregards any law touching religion. And this second example happened and was written to teach all kings and States that they never can rightly have anything whatever to do with any question of religion: to teach all kings, States, and people that God requires the absolute separation between religion and the State.AMS July 1, 1897, page 403.1

And that it was done twice, is significant: when God showed to Pharaoh, by the seven thin ears of corn, and by the seven thin kine, the seven years of famine that were coming on the land, it was said to him, “The dream is one.... And for that the dream was doubled unto Pharaoh twice; it is because the thing is established by God.” And when God has doubled unto kings and States for all time, the lesson upon the separation of religion and the State, it means that the lesson is one; and for that the lesson was doubled, it is because the thing is established by God.AMS July 1, 1897, page 403.2

And if kings and States, and churches, professing to know God, go directly contrary to this thing that has been established by God; if they will yet put forth edict and law touching religion, it can only be, because they are blinder than Pharaoh. For “the unjust knoweth no shame.”AMS July 1, 1897, page 403.3

THE SENTINEL is against every form of despotism,—religious or civil.AMS July 1, 1897, page 403.4

“The Declaration of Independence” American Sentinel 12, 26, pp. 403, 404.

ATJ

EVERY reader of the AMERICAN SENTINEL is doubtless familiar with the fact that on July 4, 1776, the representatives of the English colonies of America formally declared to the world their independence of all foreign rule, and in justification of their action asserted the doctrine that all men have the same unalienable rights, and that to secure these rights is the proper purpose of civil government.AMS July 1, 1897, page 403.1

The situation as it was in 1776, and that which exists to-day in the American nation, cannot however be properly appreciated without looking beyond the action which has made the fourth of July a national day, to the antecedent conditions out of which that action was evolved.AMS July 1, 1897, page 403.2

The Declaration of Independence was not simply the result of a determination on the part of the American colonies to separate themselves from British rule, for the sake of being independent. At the time when that Declaration went forth, the civilized world was just emerging from the long reign of civil and religious despotism which had characterized the Middle Ages. One by one, as the spirit of liberty developed and asserted itself in the minds of the people, the chains of that despotism had been broken; until in the Declaration of Independence the world heard a bold assertion of the doctrine of the right of all mankind to complete individual freedom.AMS July 1, 1897, page 403.3

This was not an accident of the times. It was a providence. It has been well said that “History is the progressive disclosure of the self-government of man as the providential design.” The Declaration of Independence appealed to the established decrees of Providence for its justification. “We hold these truths to be self-evident,” it says, “that all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness; that to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed.” It asserts this as the order of government which God himself has established.AMS July 1, 1897, page 403.4

It was by a religious power that this order of government was perverted. There was never a despotism on earth until men had established false religions. The religion of love which God set up is in perfect harmony with free government. It must be so, for otherwise He who endowed men with the unalienable rights of “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness” would antagonize Himself. And anything which antagonizes that religion—which is Christianity—antagonizes free government.AMS July 1, 1897, page 404.1

It was a religious despotism which antagonized free government in the Middle Ages. The papal church dominated the States of Europe, and the civil power was employed to enforce her decrees. By her the Inquisition was established, and the power of the civil arm was made to invade conscience, the most sacred temple of human liberty. Under the tutorship of the church, the civil powers learned to disregard one and all of those unalienable rights with which the Creator had endowed the humblest being who bears His image.AMS July 1, 1897, page 404.2

The Declaration of Independence asserted again these rights before the world. It asserted not the rights of governments, or of organizations, but of the individual. And against nothing did it strike more directly or forcibly than against that ecclesiastical despotism which had so long claimed the right to control the conscience, and put fetters on the wings of the mind. It asserted the eternal truth of God against the error which had long enslaved mankind.AMS July 1, 1897, page 404.3

The value of the Declaration of Independence lies not in the fact that it accomplished our separation from the empire of Great Britain and our independence as a nation. Indeed, it was only by hard fighting that these things were accomplished, and if these be the things to be commemorated, the anniversary of Cornwallis’ surrender at Yorktown would be a more fitting date than the fourth of July; for it was only then that our national independence had become, practically, an accomplished fact. But national independence means nothing to the slave. Personal liberty, the enjoyment of the unalienable rights of the individual, is the thing of value, and it is the assertion of these that gives its value to the immortal Declaration.AMS July 1, 1897, page 404.4

No one can justly appreciate this great document who views it merely in the light of its national significance. Whether this Government be a better one to live under than the government of Great Britain, or what benefits have resulted from our national independence, are questions to which we can find no definite answer. Concerning these there may exist must difference of opinion. But all know, from their own experience, the individual blessings which are secured by a free government. And these blessings are as valuable to the inhabitants of one country as to those of another. The providential design in the Declaration of Independence was not that this nation should be made the greatest nation on the earth, by being different from all the others; but that all the others should become like it, in securing to the people of other lands the enjoyment of their God-given, unalienable rights.AMS July 1, 1897, page 404.5

As the Charter of individual liberty, the Declaration of Independence is as appropriate to our own time as the year 1776. To-day, more fully perhaps than at any time in the past, it needs to be borne in mind that the proper purpose of civil governments is to secure to the individuals under them, the enjoyment of the unalienable rights bestowed upon them by the Creator. The crisis of 1776 was not greater than that which confronts the American people in 1897. The rights which were threatened then were not more sacred and valuable than those which are in jeopardy to-day. The Declaration of Independence asserts those rights, but it does not secure them against invasion, even in the very name of liberty.AMS July 1, 1897, page 404.6

As Independence day is celebrated, then, let it be with an appreciation of the blessing of individual independence—individual freedom from all despotic control, and a lively sense of the perils by which that independence is now threatened. Let it be remembered that religious apostosy [sic.], which has become a feature and sign of the the [sic.] times, will breed despotism in government to-day as surely as it did in the past; that already this evil work is far advanced, as seen in an ever-widening stream of religious legislation. And may there be many who, with these facts and reflections in mind, shall gather from the day new inspiration and zeal to do faithful duty as sentinels around the camp of freedom.AMS July 1, 1897, page 404.7

EVERY religion except the religion taught by Jesus Christ, is a despotism. There is no despotism in the gospel invitation.AMS July 1, 1897, page 404.8

“Note” American Sentinel 12, 26, p. 405.

ATJ

OUR forefathers repudiated the principle of taxation without representation; they refused to be taxed in money to support a government. A Sunday law is a tax of one day in every seven to support a religion—and not the Christian religion either. Let us repudiate the tax and declare our independence.AMS July 1, 1897, page 405.1

“God’s Service Not Compulsory” American Sentinel 12, 26, p. 405.

ATJ

A LETTER from Ticonderoga, N. Y., dated June 24, takes exception to a recent utterance in the SENTINEL, as follows:—AMS July 1, 1897, page 405.1

“Dear Sir: In the SENTINEL of this date and under the heading ‘Compulsory, Yet Free!’ you say that the divine command of Sabbath observance is not compulsory; at least you say that we are granted liberty in the matter by the Lord. Now I would like very much to have you show by the Bible where we are granted this liberty.AMS July 1, 1897, page 405.2

“The Sabbath observance is a divine command and not a divine permission.AMS July 1, 1897, page 405.3

“You might as well say that man has his liberty in regard to any of the commandments.AMS July 1, 1897, page 405.4

“WM. H. BROWNE.”AMS July 1, 1897, page 405.5

We reply that every person is at liberty to disregard the fourth commandment and every other precept of the Decalogue, just as he is at liberty to disregard the laws of health, which are no less truly God’s laws. In the end, of course, if he turns not from his disobedience, the consequence will be death; but he has perfect liberty meanwhile to obey or disobey, just as he may choose. And this is just as God has ordained that it should be.AMS July 1, 1897, page 405.6

“Choose ye this day,” says the Scripture,—“Choose ye this day whom ye will serve.” “To-day, if ye will heart His voice, harden not your hearts.” “Whosoever will, let him take of the water of life freely.” In every word and by every act, Jesus Christ invited sinners to turn from their sins and find life in him: but he never sought to compel anybody. And in his life as the man of Nazareth Jesus was a perfect revelation of his Father. He again and again expressly stated that he did nothing of himself, but that his Father who dwelt in him, did that which was manifested in his life. “God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto Himself.” Every invitation which Christ uttered, was from his Father. The Father would no more compel men to do anything, than would Christ.AMS July 1, 1897, page 405.7

And the reason of this is plain. “God is love,” and only love satisfies love. A forced service could not be acceptable to God; it is not even acceptable to one like ourselves. No father who was worthy the name would be satisfied to know that his children obeyed him because they were forced to do so. We recognize the service of love as the noblest, highest and best service; and can God be satisfied with anything short of the best? Will we dare offer Him anything but the best? Will we offer Him forced obedience, in place of the obedience of love?AMS July 1, 1897, page 405.8

Such a thing would be but a mockery in the sight of God, if not in our own sight. The whole purpose of God, as embraced in the plan of salvation, is to reveal Himself to mankind so that man shall be drawn and bound to Him by the cords of love. And therefore it is absolutely necessary that every one should be given perfect liberty to choose whether he will serve God or not. For the service must be of love to be acceptable, and love cannot be anything else than free choice.AMS July 1, 1897, page 405.9

And therefore any law of man which presumes to compel men to keep God’s commandments, is anti-Christian,—contrary to the gospel and against every interest of God and man. This is the real character of every human sabbath law.AMS July 1, 1897, page 405.10

God sets before all men life and death. The ten commandments are the way of life, and God wants every man to walk in that way. But He cannot compel any one to keep them; for only through love can they be kept at all. And love is always an expression of free will.AMS July 1, 1897, page 405.11

June 24, 1897

July 7, 1897