commentary widely used, and pastor of one of the leading churches in that
city, “stated that he had been in the ministry for twenty years, and
never, till the last communion, had he administered the ordinance without
receiving more or less into the church. But now there are _no awakenings,
no conversions_, not much apparent growth in grace in professors, and none
come to his study to converse about the salvation of their souls. With the
increase of business, and the brightening prospects of commerce and
manufacture, there is an increase of worldly-mindedness. _Thus it is with
all the denominations._”(620)
In the month of February of the same year, Professor Finney, of Oberlin
College, said: “We have had the fact before our minds, that, in general,
the Protestant churches of our country, as such, were either apathetic or
hostile to nearly all the moral reforms of the age. There are partial
exceptions, yet not enough to render the fact otherwise than general. We
have also another corroborated fact: the almost universal absence of
revival influence in the churches. The spiritual apathy is almost
all-pervading, and is fearfully deep; so the religious press of the whole
land testifies.... Very extensively, church-members are becoming devotees
of fashion,—join hands with the ungodly in parties of pleasure, in
dancing, in festivities, etc.... But we need not expand this painful
subject. Suffice it that the evidence thickens and rolls heavily upon us,
to show that the _churches generally are becoming sadly degenerate_. They
have gone very far from the Lord, and He has withdrawn Himself from them.”
And a writer in the _Religious Telescope_ testified: “We have never
witnessed such a general declension of religion as at the present. Truly,
the church should awake, and search into the cause of this affliction; for
as an affliction every one that loves Zion must view it. When we call to
mind how ‘few and far between’ cases of true conversion are, and the
almost unparalleled impertinence and hardness of sinners, we almost
involuntarily exclaim, ‘Has God forgotten to be gracious? or, Is the door
of mercy closed?’ ”
Such a condition never exists without cause in the church itself. The
spiritual darkness which falls upon nations, upon churches and
individuals, is due, not to an arbitrary withdrawal of the succors of
divine grace on the part of God, but to neglect or rejection of divine
light on the part of men. A striking illustration of this truth is
presented in the history of the Jewish people in the time of Christ. By
their devotion to the world and forgetfulness of God and His word, their
understanding had become darkened, their hearts earthly and sensual. Thus
they were in ignorance concerning Messiah’s advent, and in their pride and
unbelief they rejected the Redeemer. God did not even then cut off the
Jewish nation from a knowledge of, or a participation in, the blessings of
salvation. But those who rejected the truth lost all desire for the gift
of Heaven. They had “put darkness for light, and light for darkness,”
until the light which was in them became darkness; and how great was that
darkness!
It suits the policy of Satan, that men should retain the forms of
religion, if but the spirit of vital godliness is lacking. After their
rejection of the gospel, the Jews continued zealously to maintain their
ancient rites, they rigorously preserved their national exclusiveness,
while they themselves could not but admit that the presence of God was no
longer manifest among them. The prophecy of Daniel pointed so unmistakably
to the time of Messiah’s coming, and so directly foretold His death, that
they discouraged its study, and finally the rabbis pronounced a curse on
all who should attempt a computation of the time. In blindness and
impenitence, the people of Israel for eighteen hundred years have stood,
indifferent to the gracious offers of salvation, unmindful of the
blessings of the gospel, a solemn and fearful warning of the danger of
rejecting light from heaven.
Wherever the cause exists, the same results will follow. He who
deliberately stifles his convictions of duty because it interferes with
his inclinations, will finally lose the power to distinguish between truth
and error. The understanding becomes darkened, the conscience callous, the
heart hardened, and the soul is separated from God. Where the message of
divine truth is spurned or slighted, there the church will be enshrouded
in darkness; faith and love grow cold, and estrangement and dissension
enter. Church-members center their interests and energies in worldly
pursuits, and sinners become hardened in their impenitence.
The first angel’s message of Revelation 14, announcing the hour of God’s
judgment, and calling upon men to fear and worship Him, was designed to
separate the professed people of God from the corrupting influences of the
world, and to arouse them to see their true condition of worldliness and
backsliding. In this message, God had sent to the church a warning, which,
had it been accepted, would have corrected the evils that were shutting
them away from Him. Had they received the message from heaven, humbling
their hearts before the Lord, and seeking in sincerity a preparation to
stand in His presence, the Spirit and power of God would have been
manifested among them. The church would again have reached that blessed
state of unity, faith, and love, which existed in apostolic days, when the
believers “were of one heart and of one soul,” and “spake the word of God
with boldness,” when “the Lord added to the church daily such as should be
saved.”(621)
If God’s professed people would receive the light as it shines upon them
from His word, they would reach that unity for which Christ prayed, that
which the apostle describes, “the unity of the Spirit in the bond of
peace.” “There is,” he says, “_one_ body, and _one_ Spirit, even as ye are
called in _one_ hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one
baptism.”(622)
Such were the blessed results experienced by those who accepted the advent
message. They came from different denominations, and their denominational
barriers were hurled to the ground; conflicting creeds were shivered to
atoms; the unscriptural hope of a temporal millennium was abandoned, false
views of the second advent were corrected, pride and conformity to the
world were swept away; wrongs were made right; hearts were united in the
sweetest fellowship, and love and joy reigned supreme. If this doctrine
did this for the few who did receive it, it would have done the same for
all, if all had received it.
But the churches generally did not accept the warning. Their ministers,
who, as “watchmen unto the house of Israel,” should have been the first to
discern the tokens of Jesus’ coming, had failed to learn the truth, either
from the testimony of the prophets or from the signs of the times. As
worldly hopes and ambitions filled the heart, love for God and faith in
His word had grown cold; and when the advent doctrine was presented, it
only aroused their prejudice and unbelief. The fact that the message was,
to a great extent, preached by laymen, was urged as an argument against
it. As of old, the plain testimony of God’s word was met with the inquiry,
“Have any of the rulers or of the Pharisees believed?” And finding how
difficult a task it was to refute the arguments drawn from the prophetic
periods, many discouraged the study of the prophecies, teaching that the
prophetic books were sealed, and were not to be understood. Multitudes,
trusting implicitly to their pastors, refused to listen to the warning;
and others, though convinced of the truth, dared not confess it, lest they
should be “put out of the synagogue.” The message which God had sent for
the testing and purification of the church, revealed all too surely how
great was the number who had set their affections on this world rather
than upon Christ. The ties which bound them to earth were stronger than
the attractions heavenward. They chose to listen to the voice of worldly
wisdom, and turned away from the heart-searching message of truth.
In refusing the warning of the first angel, they rejected the means which
Heaven had provided for their restoration. They spurned the gracious
messenger that would have corrected the evils which separated them from
God, and with greater eagerness they turned to seek the friendship of the
world. Here was the cause of that fearful condition of worldliness,
backsliding, and spiritual death which existed in the churches in 1844.
In Revelation 14, the first angel is followed by a second, proclaiming,
“Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city, because she made all
nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication.”(623) The term
“Babylon” is derived from “Babel,” and signifies confusion. It is employed
in Scripture to designate the various forms of false or apostate religion.
In Revelation 17, Babylon is represented as a woman,—a figure which is
used in the Bible as the symbol of a church, a virtuous woman representing
a pure church, a vile woman an apostate church.
In the Bible the sacred and enduring character of the relation that exists
between Christ and His church is represented by the union of marriage. The
Lord has joined His people to Himself by a solemn covenant, He promising
to be their God, and they pledging themselves to be His, and His alone. He
declares, “I will betroth thee unto Me forever; yea, I will betroth thee
unto Me in righteousness, and in judgment, and in loving-kindness, and in
mercies.”(624) And again, “I am married unto you.”(625) And Paul employs
the same figure in the New Testament when he says, “I have espoused you to
one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ.”(626)
The unfaithfulness of the church to Christ in permitting her confidence
and affection to be turned from Him, and allowing the love of worldly
things to occupy the soul, is likened to the violation of the marriage
vow. The sin of Israel in departing from the Lord is presented under this
figure; and the wonderful love of God which they thus despised is
touchingly portrayed: “I sware unto thee, and entered into a covenant with
thee, saith the Lord God, and thou becamest Mine.” “And thou wast
exceeding beautiful, and thou didst prosper into a kingdom. And thy renown
went forth among the heathen for thy beauty: for it was perfect through My
comeliness, which I had put upon thee.... But thou didst trust in thine
own beauty, and playedst the harlot because of thy renown.” “As a wife
treacherously departeth from her husband, so have ye dealt treacherously
with Me, O house of Israel, saith the Lord;” “as a wife that committeth
adultery, which taketh strangers instead of her husband.”(627)
In the New Testament, language very similar is addressed to professed
Christians who seek the friendship of the world above the favor of God.
Says the apostle James: “Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that
the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will
be a friend of the world is the enemy of God.”
The woman (Babylon) of Revelation 17, is described as “arrayed in purple
and scarlet color, and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls,
having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and filthiness: ...
and upon her forehead was a name written, Mystery, Babylon the Great, the
mother of harlots.” Says the prophet, “I saw the woman drunken with the
blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus.” Babylon
is further declared to be “that great city, which reigneth over the kings
of the earth.”(628) The power that for so many centuries maintained
despotic sway over the monarchs of Christendom, is Rome. The purple and
scarlet color, the gold and precious stones and pearls, vividly picture
the magnificence and more than kingly pomp affected by the haughty see of
Rome. And no other power could be so truly declared “drunken with the
blood of the saints” as that church which has so cruelly persecuted the
followers of Christ. Babylon is also charged with the sin of unlawful
connection with “the kings of the earth.” It was by departure from the
Lord, and alliance with the heathen, that the Jewish church became a
harlot; and Rome, corrupting herself in like manner by seeking the support
of worldly powers, receives a like condemnation.
Babylon is said to be “the _mother_ of harlots.” By her _daughters_ must
be symbolized churches that cling to her doctrines and traditions, and
follow her example of sacrificing the truth and the approval of God, in
order to form an unlawful alliance with the world. The message of
Revelation 14, announcing the _fall_ of Babylon, must apply to religious
bodies that were once pure and have become corrupt. Since this message
follows the warning of the judgment, it must be given in the last days;
therefore it cannot refer to the Roman Church alone, for that church has
been in a fallen condition for many centuries. Furthermore, in the
eighteenth chapter of the Revelation, the people of God are called upon to
come out of Babylon. According to this scripture, many of God’s people
must still be in Babylon. And in what religious bodies are the greater
part of the followers of Christ now to be found? Without doubt, in the
various churches professing the Protestant faith. At the time of their
rise, these churches took a noble stand for God and the truth, and His
blessing was with them. Even the unbelieving world was constrained to
acknowledge the beneficent results that followed an acceptance of the
principles of the gospel. In the words of the prophet to Israel, “Thy
renown went forth among the heathen for thy beauty: for it was perfect
through My comeliness, which I had put upon thee, saith the Lord
God.”(629) But they fell by the same desire which was the curse and ruin
of Israel,—the desire of imitating the practices and courting the
friendship of the ungodly. “Thou didst trust in thine own beauty, and
playedst the harlot because of thy renown.”(630)
Many of the Protestant churches are following Rome’s example of iniquitous
connection with “the kings of the earth”—the state churches, by their
relation to secular governments; and other denominations, by seeking the
favor of the world. And the term “Babylon”—confusion—may be appropriately
applied to these bodies, all professing to derive their doctrines from the
Bible, yet divided into almost innumerable sects, with widely conflicting
creeds and theories.
Besides a sinful union with the world, the churches that separated from
Rome present other of her characteristics. A Roman Catholic work argues
that “if the Church of Rome were ever guilty of idolatry in relation to
the saints, her daughter, the Church of England, stands guilty of the
same, which has ten churches dedicated to Mary for one dedicated to
Christ.”(631)
And Dr. Hopkins, in “A Treatise on the Millennium,” declares: “There is no
reason to consider the antichristian spirit and practices to be confined
to that which is now called the Church of Rome. The Protestant churches
have much of antichrist in them, and are far from being wholly reformed
from ... corruptions and wickedness.”(632)
Concerning the separation of the Presbyterian Church from Rome, Dr.
Guthrie writes: “Three hundred years ago, our church, with an open Bible
on her banner, and this motto, ‘Search the Scriptures,’ on her scroll,
marched out from the gates of Rome.” Then he asks the significant
question, “Did they come _clean_ out of Babylon?”(633)
“The Church of England,” says Spurgeon, “seems to be eaten through and
through with sacramentarianism; but non-conformity appears to be almost as
badly riddled with philosophical infidelity. Those of whom we thought
better things are turning aside one by one from the fundamentals of the
faith. Through and through, I believe, the very heart of England is
honeycombed with a damnable infidelity which dares still go into the
pulpit and call itself Christian.”
What was the origin of the great apostasy? How did the church first depart
from the simplicity of the gospel? By conforming to the practices of
paganism, to facilitate the acceptance of Christianity by the heathen. The
apostle Paul declared, even in his day, “The mystery of iniquity doth
already work.”(634) During the lives of the apostles the church remained
comparatively pure. But “toward the latter end of the second century most
of the churches assumed a new form; the first simplicity disappeared, and
insensibly, as the old disciples retired to their graves, their children,
along with new converts, ... came forward and new-modeled the cause.”(635)
To secure converts, the exalted standard of the Christian faith was
lowered, and as the result “a pagan flood, flowing into the church,
carried with it its customs, practices, and idols.”(636) As the Christian
religion secured the favor and support of secular rulers, it was nominally
accepted by multitudes; but while in appearance Christians, many “remained
in substance pagans, especially worshiping in secret their idols.”(637)
Has not the same process been repeated in nearly every church calling
itself Protestant? As its founders, those who possessed the true spirit of
reform, pass away, their descendants come forward and “new-model the
cause.” While blindly clinging to the creed of their fathers and refusing
to accept any truth in advance of what they saw, the children of the
reformers depart widely from their example of humility, self-denial, and
renunciation of the world. Thus “the first simplicity disappears.” A
worldly flood, flowing into the church, “carries with it its customs,
practices, and idols.”
Alas, to what a fearful extent is that friendship of the world which is
“enmity with God,” now cherished among the professed followers of Christ!
How widely have the popular churches throughout Christendom departed from
the Bible standard of humility, self-denial, simplicity, and godliness!
Said John Wesley, in speaking of the right use of money: “Do not waste any
part of so precious a talent, merely in gratifying the desire of the eye,
by superfluous or expensive apparel, or by needless ornaments. Waste no
part of it in curiously adorning your houses; in superfluous or expensive
furniture; in costly pictures, painting, gilding.... Lay out nothing to
gratify the pride of life, to gain the admiration or praise of men.... ‘So
long as thou doest well unto thyself, men will speak good of thee.’ So
long as thou art ‘clothed in purple and fine linen, and farest sumptuously
every day,’ no doubt many will applaud thy elegance of taste, thy
generosity and hospitality. But do not buy their applause so dear. Rather
be content with the honor that cometh from God.”(638) But in many churches
of our time, such teaching is disregarded.
A profession of religion has become popular with the world. Rulers,
politicians, lawyers, doctors, merchants, join the church as a means of
securing the respect and confidence of society, and advancing their own
worldly interests. Thus they seek to cover all their unrighteous
transactions under a profession of Christianity. The various religious
bodies, re-enforced by the wealth and influence of these baptized
worldlings, make a still higher bid for popularity and patronage. Splendid
churches, embellished in the most extravagant manner, are erected on
popular avenues. The worshipers array themselves in costly and fashionable
attire. A high salary is paid for a talented minister to entertain and
attract the people. His sermons must not touch popular sins, but be made
smooth and pleasing for fashionable ears. Thus fashionable sinners are
enrolled on the church-records, and fashionable sins are concealed under a
pretense of godliness.
Commenting on the present attitude of professed Christians toward the
world, a leading secular journal says: “Insensibly the church has yielded
to the spirit of the age, and adapted its forms of worship to modern
wants.” “All things, indeed, that help to make religion attractive, the
church now employs as its instruments.” And a writer in the New York
_Independent_ speaks thus concerning Methodism as it is: “The line of
separation between the godly and the irreligious fades out into a kind of
penumbra, and zealous men on both sides are toiling to obliterate all
difference between their modes of action and enjoyment.” “The popularity
of religion tends vastly to increase the number of those who would secure
its benefits without squarely meeting its duties.”
Says Howard Crosby: “It is a matter of deep concern that we find Christ’s
church so little fulfilling the designs of its Lord. Just as the ancient
Jews let a familiar intercourse with the idolatrous nations steal away
their hearts from God, ... so the church of Jesus now is, by its false
partnerships with an unbelieving world, giving up the divine methods of
its true life, and yielding itself to the pernicious, though often
plausible, habits of a Christless society, using the arguments and
reaching the conclusions which are foreign to the revelation of God, and
directly antagonistic to all growth in grace.”(639)
In this tide of worldliness and pleasure-seeking, self-denial and
self-sacrifice for Christ’s sake are almost wholly lost. “Some of the men
and women now in active life in our churches were educated, when children,
to make sacrifices in order to be able to give or do something for
Christ.” But “if funds are wanted now, ... nobody must be called on to
give. Oh, no! have a fair, tableaux, mock trial, antiquarian supper, or
something to eat—anything to amuse the people.”
Governor Washburn, of Wisconsin, in his annual message, Jan. 9, 1873,
declared: “Some law seems to be required to break up the schools where
gamblers are made. These are everywhere. Even the church (unwittingly, no
doubt) is sometimes found doing the work of the devil. Gift concerts, gift
enterprises and raffles, sometimes in aid of religious or charitable
objects, but often for less worthy purposes, lotteries, prize packages,
etc., are all devices to obtain money without value received. Nothing is
so demoralizing or intoxicating, particularly to the young, as the
acquisition of money or property without labor. Respectable people
engaging in these chance enterprises, and easing their consciences with
the reflection that the money is to go to a good object, it is not strange
that the youth of the State should so often fall into the habits which the
excitement of games of hazard is almost certain to engender.”
The spirit of worldly conformity is invading the churches throughout
Christendom. Robert Atkins, in a sermon preached in London, draws a dark
picture of the spiritual declension that prevails in England: “The truly
righteous are diminished from the earth, and no man layeth it to heart.
The professors of religion of the present day, in every church, are lovers
of the world, conformers to the world, lovers of creature comfort, and
aspirers after respectability. They are called to suffer with Christ, but
they shrink from even reproach.... _apostasy, apostasy, apostasy_, is
engraven on the very front of every church; and did they know it, and did
they feel it, there might be hope; but, alas! they cry, ‘We are rich, and
increased in goods, and stand in need of nothing.’ ”(640)
The great sin charged against Babylon is, that she “made all nations drink
of the wine of the wrath of her fornication.” This cup of intoxication
which she presents to the world, represents the false doctrines that she
has accepted as the result of her unlawful connection with the great ones
of the earth. Friendship with the world corrupts her faith, and in her
turn she exerts a corrupting influence upon the world by teaching
doctrines which are opposed to the plainest statements of Holy Writ.