Polskojęzyczna strona poświęcona życiu i twórczości pastora Charlesa Taze Russella
Pastor Charles Taze Russell
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Babylon's Doom

"The Doom of Babylon which Isaiah . . . saw.-Lift ye up a standard upon the high mountain, raise high your Once unto them, motion with the hand that they may enter into the gates of the princes. " Isaiah 13:1 Compare Rev. 16:14.

 

“Judgment also will I lay to the line, and righteousness to the plummet; and the hail shall sweep away the refuge of lies, and the waters shall overflow the hiding place. " Isaiah 28:17

 

We stand today in a period which is the culmination of ages of experience which should be, and is, in some respects, greatly to the world's profit; especially to that part of the world which has been favored, directly and indirectly, with the light of divine truth-Christendom, Babylon-whose responsibility for this stewardship of advantage is consequently very great. God holds men accountable, not only for what they know, but for what they might know if they would apply their hearts unto instruction-for the lessons which experience (their own and others) is designed to teach; and if men fail to heed the lessons of experience, or willfully neglect or spurn its precepts, they must suffer the consequences.

 

Before so-called Christendom lies the open history of all past time, as well as the divinely inspired revelation. And what lessons they contain! lessons of experience, of wisdom, of knowledge, of grace, and of warning. By giving heed to the experiences of preceding generations along the various lines of human industry, political economy, etc., the world has made very commendable progress in material things. Many of the comforts and conveniences of our present civilization have come to us largely from applying the lessons observed in the experiences of past generations. The art of printing has brought these lessons within the range of every man. The present generation in this one point alone has much advantage every way:all the accumulated wisdom and experience of the past are added to its own. But the great moral lessons which men ought also to have been studying and learning have been very generally disregarded, even when they have been emphatically forced upon public attention. History is full of such lessons to thoughtful minds inclined to righteousness; and men of the present day have more such lessons than those of any previous generation.

 

CHRISTENDOM WARNED

 

The ecclesiastical powers of Christendom have also had line upon line and precept upon precept. They have been warned by the providential dealings of God with His people in the past and by occasional reformers. Yet few, very few, can read the handwriting on the wall and they are powerless to overcome, or even to stay, the popular current. Rev. T. DeWitt Talmage seemed to see and understand to some extent; for, in a timely discourse, he said:

 

"Unless the Church of Jesus Christ rises up and proves herself the friend of the people as the friend of God, and in sympathy with the great masses, who with their families at their backs are fighting this battle for bread, the church, as at present organized, will become a defunct institution, and Christ will go down again to the beach and invite plain, honest fishermen to come into an apostleship of righteousness-manward and Godward. The time has come when all classes of people shall have equal rights in the great struggle to get a livelihood.

 

And yet this man, with a stewardship of talent and influence which but few possess, did not seem in haste to follow his expressed convictions as to the duties of influential Christians in the hour of peril.

 

The warnings go forth, and convictions of duty and privilege fasten upon many minds; but alasl all is of no avail; they go unheeded. Great power has been, and to some extent still is, in the hands of ecclesiastics; but, in the name of Christ and His Gospel, it has been, and still is, selfishly used and abused. "Honor one of another," "chief seats in the synagogues," and "to be called Rabbi," Doctor, Reverend, etc., and seeking gain, each "from his own quarter or denomination" John 5:44; Matt. 23:6-12; Isa. 56:11), and "the fear of man which bringeth a snare"-these hinder some even of God's true servants from faithfulness, while apparently many of the under-shepherds never had any interest in the Lord's flock except to secure the golden fleece.

 

While we gladly acknowledge that many educated, cultivated, refined and pious gentlemen are, and have been, included among the clergy in all the various denominations of the nominal Church, which all through the Age has included both wheat and tares (Matt . 13:30), we are forced to admit that many who belong to the "tare" class have found their way into the pulpits as well as into the pews. Indeed the temptations to pride and vainglory, and in many cases to ease and affluence, presented to talented young men aspiring to the pulpit have been such as to guarantee that it must be so, and that to a large extent. Of all the professions, the Christian ministry has afforded the quickest and easiest route to fame, ease and general temporal prosperity, and often to wealth. The profession of law requires a lifetime of intellectual energy and business effort, and brings its weight of pressing care. The same may be said of the profession of medicine. And if men rise to wealth and distinction in these professions, it is not merely because they have quick wits and ready tongues, but because they have honestly won distinction by close and constant mental application and laborious effort. On the other hand, in the clerical profession, a refined, pleasant demeanor, moderate ability to address a public assembly twice a week on some theme taken from the Bible, together with a moderate education and good moral character, secure to any young man entering the profession the respect and reverence of his community, a comfortable salary and a quiet, undisturbed and easy life.

 

If he have superior talent, the people, who are admirers of oratory, soon discover it, and before long he is called to a more lucrative charge; and, almost before he knows it, he has become famous among men, who rarely stop to question whether his piety-his faith, humility and godliness-have kept pace in development with his intellectual and oratorical progress. In fact, if the latter be the case, he is less acceptable, especially to wealthy congregations, which, probably more frequently than very poor ones, are composed mostly of "tares." If his piety indeed survive the pressure of these circumstances, he will, too often for the good of his reputation, be obliged to run counter to the dispositions and prejudices of his hearers, and he will shortly find himself unpopular and undesired. These circumstances have thus brought into the pulpit a very large proportion of what the Scriptures designate "hireling shepherds." Isa. 56:11:Ezek. 34:2-16

 

RESPONSIBILITY OF MINISTERS

 

The responsibility of those who have undertaken the gospel ministry in the name of Christ is very great. They stand very prominently before the people as the representatives of Christ, as special exponents of His Spirit, and expounders of His Truth. And as a class, they have had advantages above other men for coming to a knowledge of the truth, and freely declaring it. They have been relieved from the burdens of toil and care in earning a livelihood which fetter other men, and, with their temporal wants supplied, have been granted time, quiet leisure, special education and numerous helps of association, etc., for this purpose.

 

Here, on the one hand, have been these great opportunities for pious zeal and devoted self-sacrifice for the cause of truth and righteousness; and, on the other, great temptations, either to indolent ease or to ambition for fame, wealth or power. Alas! the vast majority of the clergy have evidently succumbed to the temptations, rather than embraced and used the opportunities, of their positions; and, as a result, they are today "blind leaders of the blind," and together they and their flocks are fast stumbling into the ditch of skepticism. They have hidden the truth (because it is unpopular), advanced error (because it is popular), and taught for doctrine the precepts of men (because paid to do so). They have, in effect, and sometimes in so many words, said to the people, "Believe what we tell you on our authority," instead of directing them to "prove all things" by the divinely inspired words of the apostles and prophets, and "hold fast" only "that which is good." For long centuries the clergy of the Church of Rome kept the Word of God buried in dead languages, and would not permit its translation into the vernacular tongues, lest the people might search the Scriptures and thus prove the vanity of her pretensions. In the course of time a few godly reformers arose from the midst of her corruption, rescued the Bible from oblivion and brought it forth to the people; and a great Protestant movement, protesting against the false doctrines and evil practices of the Church of Rome, was the result.

 

But ere long Protestantism also became corrupt, and her clergy began to formulate creeds to which they have taught the people to look as the epitomized doctrines of the Bible, and of paramount importance. They have baptized and catechized them in infancy, before they had learned to think; then, as they grew to adult years, they have lulled them to sleep, and given them to understand that their safe course in religious matters is to commit all questions of doctrine to them, and to follow their instructions, intimating that they alone had the education, etc., necessary to the comprehension of divine truth, and that they, therefore, should be considered authorities in all such matters without further appeal to God's Word. And when any presumed to question this assumed authority and to think differently they were regarded as heretics and schismatics. The most learned and prominent among them have written massive volumes of what they term Systematic Theology, all of which, like the Talmud among the Jews, is calculated to a large extent to make void the Word of God, and to teach for doctrine the precepts of men (Matt. 15:6; Isa. 29:13); and others of the learned and prominent have accepted honorable and lucrative professorships in Theological Seminaries, established, ostensibly, to train young men for the Christi an ministry, but in fact to inculcate the ideas of the so-called "Systematic Theology" of their several schools-to fetter free thought and honest reverent investigation of the sacred Scriptures with a view to simple faith in their teachings, regardless of human traditions. In this way generation after generation of the "clergy" has pressed along the beaten track of traditional error. And only occasionally has one been sufficiently awake and loyal to the truth to discover error and cry out for reform. It has been so much easier to drift with the popular current, especially when great men led the way.

 

Thus the power and superior advantages of the clergy as a class have been misused, although in their ranks there have been (and still are) some earnest, devout souls who verily thought they were doing God service in upholding the false systems into which they had been led, and by whose errors they also had been in a great measure blinded.

 

While these reflections will doubtless seem offensive to many of the clergy, especially to the proud and self seeking, we have no fear that their candid presentation will give offense to any of the meek, who, if they recognize the truth, will be blessed by a humble confession of the same and a full determination to walk in the light of God as it shines from His Word, regardless of human traditions. We rejoice to say that thus far during the Harvest period we have come to know a few clergymen of this class, who, when the Harvest Truth dawned upon them, forsook the error and pursued and served the truth. But the majority of the clergy, alas! are not of the meek class, and again we are obliged to realize the force of the Master's words, "How hardly shall they that have riches enter into the kingdom of God!" whether those riches be of reputation, fame, learning, money, or even common ease.

 

The common people need not be surprised, therefore, that the clergy of Christendom, as a class, are blind to the truths now due, just as the recognized teachers and leaders in the end of the typical Jewish Age were blind and opposed to the truths due in that Harvest. Their blindness is indeed a recompense for their misused talents and opportunities, and therefore light and Truth cannot be expected from that quarter. In the end of the Jewish Age the religious leaders significantly suggested to the people the inquiry, "Have any of the rulers or of the Pharisees believed on Him?" (John 7:48), and in accepting their suggestion and blindly submitting to their leading, some missed their privilege, and failed to enter into the blessings of the New Dispensation. So it is with a similar class in these last days of the Gospel Dispensation: those who blindly follow the leading of the clergy will fall with them into the ditch of skepticism; and only those who faithfully walk with God, partaking of His spirit, and humbly relying upon all the testimonies of His precious Word, shall be able to discern and discard the "stubble" of error which has long been mixed with the truth, and boldly to stand fast in the faith of the gospel and in loyalty of heart to God, while the masses drift off in the popular current toward infidelity in its various forms; Evolution, Higher Criticism, Theosophy, Christian Science, Spiritism, or other theories denying the necessity and merit of the great Calvary Sacrifice. But those who successfully stand in this "evil day" (Eph. 6:13) will, in so doing, prove the metal of their Christian character; for so strong will be the current against them that only true Christian devotion to God, zeal, courage and fortitude will be able to endure to the end. These oncoming waves of infidelity will surely carry all others before them. It is written, "A thousand shall fall at thy side and ten thousand at thy right hand; but it shall not come nigh thee, because thou hast said, The Lord is my protection, and the Most High hast thou made thy refuge . . . He that dwelleth in the secret place [of consecration, communion and fellowship] of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. . . He shall cover thee with His feathers, and under His wings shall thou trust: His truth shall be thy shield and buckler. Psa. 91

 

DUTY OF CHRISTIANS

 

It is our duty as Christians individually to prove all things we accept, and to hold fast that which is good. "To the law and to the testimony; if they speak not according to this Word, it is because there is no light in them." Acts 17:11; 1 Thess. 5:21; Isa. 8:20

 

The great nominal church has long taught for doctrines the precepts of men; and, ignoring in great measure the Word of God as the only rule of faith and godly living, it has boldly announced many conflicting and God-dishonoring doctrines, and has been unfaithful to the measure of truth retained. It has failed to cultivate and manifest the spirit of Christ, and has freely imbibed the spirit of the world. It has let down the bars of the sheepfold and called in the goats, and has even encouraged the wolves to enter and do their wicked work. It has been pleased to let the Devil sow tares amongst the wheat, and now rejoices in the fruit of his sowing, in the flourishing field of tares. Of the comparatively few heads of "wheat" that still remain there is little appreciation, and there is almost no effort to prevent their being choked by the "tares." The "wheat" has lost its value in the markets of Christendom, and the humble, faithful child of God finds himself, like his Lord, despised and rejected of men, and wounded in the house of his supposed friends. Forms of godliness take place of its power and showy rituals largely supplant heart-worship.

 

Long ago conflicting doctrines divided the church nominal into numerous antagonistic sects, each claiming to be the one true church which the Lord and the apostles planted, and together they have succeeded in giving to the world such a distorted misrepresentation of our Heavenly Father's character and Plan that many intelligent men turn away with disgust, and despise their Creator, and even try to disbelieve His existence.

 

To build up and perpetuate these erroneous doctrinal systems of what they are pleased to call "Systematic Theology," time and talent have been freely given. Their learned men have written massive volumes for other men to study instead of the Word of God, for this purpose theological seminaries have been established and generously endowed; and from these young men, instructed in their errors, have gone out to teach and to confirm the people in them. And the people, taught to regard these men as God's appointed ministers, successors of the apostles, have accepted their dictum without searching the Scriptures as did the noble Bereans in Paul's day (Acts 17:11), to see if the things taught them were so.

 

But now the harvest of all this sowing has come, the Day of reckoning is here, and great is the confusion and perplexity of the whole nominal church of every denomination, and particularly of the clergy, upon whom devolves the responsibility of conducting the defense in this Day of Judgment in the presence of many accusers and witnesses, and, if possible, of devising some remedy to save from complete destruction what they regard as the true Church. Yet in their present confusion, and in the desire of all the sects from reasons of policy to fellowship one another, they have each almost ceased to regard their own particular sect as the only true Church, and now speak of each other as various "branches" of the one Church, not withstanding their contradictory creeds, which of necessity cannot all be true.

 

"ISM," WITHOUT THE PROTEST

 

In this critical hour it is, alas! a lamentable fact that the wholesome spirit of "The Great Reformation" is dead. Protestantism is no longer a protest against the spirit of antichrist, nor against the world, the flesh or the Devil. Its creeds, at war with the Word of God, with reason, and with each other, and inconsistent with themselves, they seek to hide from public scrutiny. Its massive theological works are but fuel for the fire of this day of Christendom's judgment. Its chief theological seminaries are hotbeds of infidelity, spreading the contagion everywhere. Its great men-its Bishops, Doctors of Divinity, Theological Professors, and its most prominent and influential clergymen in the large citiesare becoming the leaders into disguised infidelity. They seek to undermine and destroy the authority and inspiration of the sacred Scriptures, to supplant the plan of salvation therein revealed with the human theory of evolution. They seek a closer affiliation with, and imitation of, the Church of Rome, court her favor, praise her methods, conceal her crimes, and in so doing become confederate with her in spirit. They are also in close and increasing conformity-to the spirit of the world in everything, imitating the vain pomp and glory of the world which they claim to have renounced. Mark the extravagant display in church architecture, decorations and furnishments, the heavy indebtedness thereby incurred, and the constant begging and scheming for money thus necessitated.

 

Note, too, the arrangements in connection with some churches of billiard rooms; and some ministers have even gone so far as to recommend the introduction of light wines; and private theatricals and plays are freely indulged in some localities.

 

In much of this the masses of church members have become the willing tools of the clergy; and the clergy in turn have freely pandered to the tastes and preferences of worldly and influential members. The people have surrendered their right and duty of private judgment, and have ceased to search the

 

Scriptures to prove what is truth, and to meditate upon God's law to discern what is righteousness. They are indifferent, worldly, lovers of pleasure more than lovers of God; they are blinded by the god of this world and willing to be led into any schemes which minister to worldly desires and ambitions.

 

We would not be understood as including all Christians as "Babylonians." Quite to the contrary. As the Lord recognizes some in Babylon as true to Him and addresses them now, saying: "Come out of her, My people" (Rev. 18:4), so do we; and we rejoice to believe that there are today thousands who have not bowed the knee to the Baal of our day-Mammon, Pride and Ambition. Some of these have already obediently "Come out of her," and the remainder are now being tested on this point, before the plagues are poured out upon Babylon. Those who love self, popularity, worldly prosperity, honor of men more than they love the Lord, and who reverence human theories and systems more than the Word of the Lord, will not come out until Babylon falls and they come through the "great tribulation." (Rev. 7:9, 14) But such shall not be accounted worthy to share the Kingdom. Compare Rev. 2:26; 3:21; Matt. 10:37; Mark 8:34, 35; Luke 14:26, 27

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