Untitled article by Eld. E. B. Saunders

The Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Third-day, October 29, 1867

THE LAST WORK OF THE TRUE CHURCH.

By Eld. E. B. Saunders

BY ELD. E. B. SAUNDERS.

TEXT. “Surely the Lord will do nothing but he revealeth his secret unto his servants, the prophets.” Amos iii, 7.

How may we discern the work of God, and the people upon whom his blessing rests, when all profess to be walking in the light, and to be living out the teachings of the word of God? Every church has its creed or articles of faith founded on the Bible; and all profess to enjoy the deep moving of the Spirit of God. One sect will believe that certain acts are necessary, while another sect requires certain other and different acts, and each claims evidence from the word of God to sustain its theory, till we have, instead of the one way, a multitude of conflicting creeds—a babel of confusion, receiving from the Holy Spirit the fitting name, “Babylon.” No wonder that many honest hearts are bewildered, and know not which way to turn, or how to escape the snare of Satan. The light of truth is progressive, and doctrines once obscure, in time, shine like the noonday sun, the Holy Spirit illuminating those Bible doctrines designed to become present truth to each generation, and testing their character as disciples of Christ.

Once, faith in Jesus Christ was the burden of apostolic preaching, and caused believers much persecution. To acknowledge Jesus was to forfeit their lives; yet multitudes believed; for the Spirit of God illuminated every text in the Old Testament bearing on this subject, till it seemed to them to be the grand truth upon which salvation depended.

Again, when Papal darkness covered the earth, and men were blindly trying to merit salvation by works, the Holy Spirit shone brightly on the doctrine of salvation by faith. The Lord, through Luther and others, tore off the mask of Papal works, and those scriptures teaching faith in the blood of Jesus, stood out in bold relief against their traditions. To them it was the evidence of truth, and they cherished it, though their lives were in danger, and many were put to death; yet it was the path of safety. The days of the Wesleys, of Roger Williams, and William Miller, might be mentioned, wherein the Spirit of God illuminated doctrines before dark or obscure. God blessed the efforts of these holy men, and owned them as his; but shall we stop where Luther did? shall we go only as far as Wesley went? The Holy Spirit, like the pillar of cloud, is going before the people of God and lighting up their pathway. This is the office of the Spirit. “Howbeit, when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth.” John xvi, 13. If we stop where Luther or Wesley stopped, the Spirit of light and truth will leave us to grope our way in darkness; so we find the only safe path for us is to walk in the advancing light of truth.

The great questions we may ask ourselves in order to find the people of God and the truths belonging to our day, are, first, In what portion of the time allotted to this fallen world are we living? Secondly, What is the faith of the people of God, as pointed out in the Bible, belonging to this time, and their present duty?

We will now consider the first inquiry, namely,

I. In what portion of the time allotted to this fallen world are we living? The apostles Peter, Paul, and others, lived about eighteen hundred years ago; if we find them speaking of their own times as the “last days,” “last times,” &c., we may justly conclude that we are living in the latter part of time. Thus Peter speaks of what Joel says shall come to pass in the last days, as receiving a fulfillment in his day. Acts ii, 16, 17; and Paul in speaking of the ministry of Christ and the apostles, says, “God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son.” Heb. i, 1, 2. Hence we understand that the last days had begun to draw near eighteen hundred years ago, and that we must be very much nearer the last day than was the apostolic church; but other scriptures point out our whereabouts with greater certainty.

The disciples greatly desired to understand these things, and came privately to our Lord, saying, “What shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world?” He graciously answers their questions, but first cautions them, in their eagerness for that day, against deception, false Christs and false prophets; also points them to tribulation, hatred and death, as yet before them; of a great apostasy, in which the love of many would grow cold; also of a tribulation so great that the people of God were well-nigh destroyed from the earth. Then follow the signs which betoken the near approach of the end; signs far beyond the reach of human agency, or for human wisdom and foresight to discover. “Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken; and then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven.” Have all or a portion of these signs been fulfilled? I do not expect in one short discourse to enter into the details of the fulfillment of the scriptures mentioned, but merely give a brief outline.

More than seventeen centuries passed before the church or the world acknowledged that they had seen the first sign fulfilled, namely, the darkening of the sun; and man had well-nigh forgotten that such a sign was to be given, but God never forgets; he designed to awaken Christians to a reality of his existence, and to startle them from their sleep. In May, 1780, in the time of full moon, when an eclipse of the sun could not take place, the sun suddenly refused to shine, and a pall of darkness covered the earth at midday; the fowls went to rest, and everything betokened the sudden approach of night. Then men with strange feelings of awe and fear looked into each other's faces to read, if possible, the meaning of the strange occurrence; and a feeling seemed to take possession of all that the day of judgment had come; solemnity rested upon every countenance, and men noted for holiness were thronged by their anxious neighbors to learn the way to God. The night following was one of intense darkness, though it was at a time of full moon, yet the moon refused to give its light. Such an event had never occurred before, and never has since; and it could be no other than the sign referred to by our Saviour.

Has the sign next in order, namely, the falling of the stars, been fulfilled? In November, 1833, people were startled by what appeared to be the stars falling in showers from the heavens, and they fell as described in the Revelation, like a fig-tree casting her untimely figs when shaken of a mighty wind. This has ever been regarded as a fulfillment of our Lord's words, and as a sign that the end of the world was near.

The shaking of the powers of the heavens will take place when the Lord shall roar out of Zion and utter his voice from Jerusalem, and the heavens and the

earth shall shake. Joel iii, 16. It will be in immediate connection with the coming of our Lord, hence the last sign given by our Saviour before his second coming, has been fulfilled. Our Lord told us that when we should see these things come to pass, then we might know that he is near, even at the doors.

But there are other events transpiring around us, which show us that we are near the end of time. The prophecy of Daniel has been opened to our understanding, so that we can trace the course of universal empire down through the Babylonian, Medo-Persian, Grecian and Roman empires. We have passed the division of the Roman empire into ten portions, spoken of in Dan. ii, 41; vii, 24, and have seen the rise of the little horn, which is the Papacy, Dan. viii, 8, coming up and exercising its power over the saints of God, and seeming to defy the God of Heaven by its acts of blasphemy, and trampling the holy law of God under foot, as though it originated with some earthly tyrant, and ought to be abhorred by Christians. We have seen this horn called by Paul, The Man of Sin, exercising its power for the long period of twelve hundred and sixty years; then we have seen it crippled and wasting from the effects of the deadly wound, Rev. xiii, 3, given it by Napoleon in 1798, and its reviving slightly afterwards, till now but a name remains. The authority of the Pope is confined to the walls of Rome, and men bid him defiance even there. Paul, speaking of this power, said that the Lord should consume him by the brightness of his coming, 2 Thess. ii, 8, and the prophet Daniel said, “They shall take away his dominion to consume and to destroy it unto the end.” Dan. vii, 26. The consumption has been going on till but a vestige remains. Hence we must be near the end.

Other signs we have seen fulfilled before our eyes, which the great apostle to the Gentiles said should transpire in the last days. Spiritualism, or spirit manifestations, commenced in 1848, and now they influence millions of our race, and lead them from God and his truth. “Now the Spirit speaketh expressly that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits and doctrines of devils.” 1 Tim. iv, 1. It is not our design to enter into a discussion of the merits of Spiritualism, but simply to mention it as one of the signs of the end. The wonders performed by the aid of spirits will increase, till they will, if possible, deceive the very elect, and will gather the kings of the earth to the battle of the great day of God Almighty. Rev. xvi, 14. Hence, the great day is not far off, and we are living when Satan is training and arming his subjects for the last great conflict. Yet time passes along, the sun rises and sets, the seasons come and go just as they did in the days of our fathers; and our eyes are not half open to discover our whereabouts on the ocean of time; our chart is neglected, our compass forgotten, and our anchor lost. Oh! how can we escape certain destruction?

We behold a popular church, professing to love God, yet hating his law; exalting the name of Jesus, but not loving his appearing; professing to be separate from the world, yet acting like the world, loving its pleasures, frivolities, and vain show, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men, while the precious truth of God is degraded and trampled under foot. Dan. viii, 12. Her watchmen are blind, Isa. lvi, 10; ignorant of the truth, seeing only peace and safety in the future. Religion is used as a cloak to cover the greatest crimes. Self-love and self-exaltation is the one desire of its ministers; all desire to be great, and many seek to be greatest. The desire of worldly gain also fills a large place in their hearts. To enjoy the good things of this life is their study. Paul has described the pleasure-seeking church of the last days, and we see it fulfilled in our own times; hence we must be in the last days. Let us read his description in 2 Tim. iii, 1-5: “This know also that in the last days perilous times shall come; for men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, without natural affection, truce-breakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, traitors, heady, high-minded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away.” Can we read this description of the churches and fail to see its fulfillment in our own time?

Other signs might be given, both in the heavens above and the earth beneath, but these are sufficient to lead us to the conclusion that we are near the close of time, and that Jesus' coming is nigh at hand, and corruption and darkness cover the earth and especially the church professing to be the church of Christ.

It being established, then, that we are living in the closing scenes of this world, it becomes us to inquire what is our duty and the duty of the church in this time. This leads us to the second inquiry, namely,

II. What is to be the faith of God's people, as pointed out in the Bible, belonging to this time, and their present duty? One office of the Holy Spirit is to guide believers into all truth; hence, if we are living in the last days, the true people of God will be led by the Spirit to know it, and they will be looking for the end of all things, for Jesus' coming, and will be trying to get ready to receive him. When Jesus went away, he left a little anxious company looking forward with bright hope to the day when their Lord would come and take them to his home in the kingdom of Heaven. The coming day seemed to be the theme of conversation, and the longing desire of their hearts; such a people our Lord will come to save; such a people he will expect to find at his second advent; hence the faith of the remnant church will be the same as that taught by the apostles; and we now turn to the writings of chosen men of God to learn their faith in regard to the second coming of Christ.

Paul commends the church at Thessalonica for their readiness to receive them (Paul, Silvanus, and Timotheus), and to turn from “idols to serve the living God, and to wait for his Son from Heaven.” 1 Thess. i, 10. This church had been founded by these apostolic teachers, and had been brought from the service of dumb idols, up to that high degree of faith evinced by their waiting for the coming of Jesus. Such was the earnest zeal of this church that they were likely to be deceived by false teachers; so in his second letter he beseeches them that they “be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter, as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand.” Here we may learn that this church were looking for Jesus, and were liable to be deceived, so Paul writes to inform them of their danger. He does not tell them that they had departed from the faith or were cherishing a heresy, but gives them a scriptural reason for not expecting the day of Christ immediately; namely, the falling away in the church and the development of the Man of Sin. But this reason will not apply to us; for the Man of Sin is in the past. And even Paul himself had hope in the appearing of Jesus, that in that day he should receive a crown of righteousness which the Lord would give not only to him, but to all who love his appearing. Hence, love for the appearing of Jesus will be a characteristic of the people of God in the last days.

The same apostle writing to Titus, says, “The grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, teaching us that denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world.” All are ready to acknowledge that these words are for us, and that we ought to heed them; but how do all feel about the next verse? “Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ.” Are these things to be spoken of privately only, as a mere matter of opinion, or publicly and openly? “These things speak, and exhort and rebuke with all authority.”

The apostle James does not condemn the brethren for looking for Jesus, but comforts them in their affliction with the thought that “the coming of the Lord draweth nigh;” and Peter warns all who “have obtained a like precious faith with us” against scoffers, who will come in the last days, saying, “Where is the promise of his coming?” If scoffers mock at his coming, believers will be doing the opposite, that is, looking for him. None can read the writings of the beloved John without feeling that he had an intense longing for the coming of Jesus; and nearly the last sentence of the Bible from his pen indicates his desire: “Even so, come, Lord Jesus.”

We have seen that Spiritualism is a manifestation of Satanic power belonging to our own times, and that they teach a doctrine concerning demons. They have spread over the earth with wonderful rapidity, and the prophet has said, “When the enemy shall come in like a flood, the Spirit of the Lord shall lift up a standard against him.” Isa. lix, 19. Satan, the great enemy of our race, has come in like a flood with his rapping, writing, and wonder-working delusion; and now the Spirit of the Lord, through his chosen servants, will lift up a standard in opposition. The manifestation of the unclean spirits, according to their own testimony, is designed to convince men of the immortality of the soul. This being their design, the church of God will be teaching the truth in respect to immortality; they will bring out the Bible doctrine on this point.

In the Bible, the dead are represented as asleep, unconscious of anything transpiring on earth, it being plainly stated that the “dead know not anything;” that their “love, and their hatred, and their envy is now perished;” that “there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in the grave, whither thou goest;” and that in death a man “hath no pre-eminence above a beast;” for “all go to one place; all are of the dust, and all turn to dust again;” that in the day of his death “his thoughts perish;” that “the dead praise not the Lord, neither any that go down into silence;” that in this state a man's sons “come to honor, and he knoweth it not, and they are brought low, but he perceiveth it not of them.” The whole hope of a future is, in the Bible, based upon a resurrection from the dead; and this life being the gift of God through Jesus Christ our Lord, Rom. vi, 23, “he that hath the Son hath life, and he that hath not the Son of God, hath not life.” “For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God. When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory.”

With such promises as this, it is no wonder that the church cling to the word of God, instead of to the fables of Spiritualism or nominal christendom. It is no wonder they looked forward to Jesus' coming with such intense anxiety. The news of Jesus near was music in their ears; and their hearts thrilled with emotion in hope of a blissful immortality in the city of our God. Oh! precious hope! preserved for us! handed down through eighteen centuries of Pagan and Papal oppression and darkness to quicken the faith and courage of the little remnant, and hold them, like an anchor, till the last terrible storm of Satanic darkness shall pass by! Doubly precious now, are these promises of life as we draw near the glorious day. Doubly precious hope! Doubly precious truth! May thy holy light beam into the farthest recesses of our heart, and the renewing Spirit of God make thee still more dear.

Satan has sinned with a high hand against Heaven, but he does not rest satisfied here. He will, if possible, lead poor, fallen man to the same depths of iniquity. He would fain lead them to cast away the Bible as a book of fables. He does this effectually by means of spirit manifestations; and all that he can influence into this channel of devils are securely his. But all will not believe his lying deception. His great masterpiece was too overdrawn to deceive all; hence some milder deception must be used; something savoring of Christianity to quiet the consciences of the naturally religious. He has therefore caused division and distraction among the professed people of God, till they hardly know what they do believe; but with a confused idea that their particular sect must be right, they are led on by blind guides till they will all fall into the ditch of bigotry and superstition. Traditions, handed down from heathen times, are regarded with greater sanctity than the commandments of God. Satan is well pleased with such worship, knowing it is in vain. Matt. xv, 9. Satan has struck directly at the government of God, by leading the minds of his willing victims away from the perfect law of God—away from the perfect rule by which all mankind will be tried in the judgment—to regard as holy a counterfeit, never accepted at the bar of God. Man teaches his fellow-man to trample under foot the authority of the Most High. The Sabbath which holy men delighted to honor, has been degraded

to a level with the common days, while Sunday, a common day, not sanctified, not blessed, not commanded, has been elevated to the honorable position belonging to the Sabbath of the Lord. God will not save his people with all this error and superstition darkening their minds; but will first purify them of these errors and bring them up to that enlightened state where they can worship God understandingly. He will “purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.” Titus ii, 14. The prophet has spoken of the work of the true church in the last days as engaging in the restoration of the Sabbath. “Thus saith the Lord, keep ye judgment, and do justice; for my salvation is near to come, and my righteousness to be revealed. Blessed is the man that doeth this, and the son of man that layeth hold on it; that keepeth the Sabbath from polluting it, and keepeth his hand from doing any evil.” Isa. lvi, 1, 2. We have the time given when the blessing will rest upon those who keep the Sabbath: it is when salvation is near to come, and salvation will come when Jesus comes the second time. Heb. ix, 28. The same prophet speaking of the time when men are waiting for the Lord, and looking for him, commands them to “bind up the testimony, seal the law among my disciples.” Isa. viii, 16, 17. The testimony, or law, has been crushed by the iron heel of Rome (Dan. vii, 25), till that power, in its decline, loses its control over the minds of men; and now while men are looking for their Lord, they are called upon to bind up the law among his disciples or Christians. Hence the true church will engage in this work of restoration.

The last great work of the remnant church, some of the main features of which have been mentioned, will not be done in a corner. By these things mankind will be tested; hence the warning will be faithfully given. Numbers are of no advantage in the work of the Lord. He can use many or few. A few consecrated servants are better than an army of half-hearted professors. The faithful few will cry aloud and spare not; they will lift up their voice like a trumpet and show the people their transgression and the house of Jacob their sins.

We tremble and hesitate when we find the fourth commandment binding upon us; the cross appears too heavy for us to take up; and we wait, making one excuse and another, till we grieve the tender Spirit of God, and our minds grow dark, and Satan catches away the good seed. Poor, fallen humanity hates to humble itself before God, praying for pardon and strength to confess the truth. When we believe that Jesus is soon coming, and are ashamed to confess this truth before others, we deny our Lord. When we are ashamed of the law of God and the Sabbath, we virtually deny our Lord who died to magnify the law and make it honorable. When we are ashamed of any point of present truth, we are virtually ashamed of the great Author of it, and of such he will be ashamed before his Father and the angels.

God calls upon us to love him, to honor him, saying that such he will honor. And shall we expect exaltation and honor from God while we trample under foot one of his commandments, or evade one of his ordinances? Nothing but a joyful obedience to all the Lord requires, will be accepted when our cases come up before God. The church in the last days will be found without spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; not like the world, walking in all the pride of their abominations, well described by Isaiah, as walking “with stretched-forth necks, and wanton eyes;” but humble, obedient, poor, afflicted, seeking righteousness and meekness, in hope of final acceptance and pardon through Jesus Christ our Lord.

The Lord could send angels to warn the inhabitants of earth and get the light of truth before them; but then they would believe without faith; the dignity and glory of angels would compel belief. But God has seen fit to require faith, simple faith in him and his word, and has chosen poor, frail man to declare his word to his perishing fellow-men. The last message is one of great solemnity; for soon probation will end, and the affairs of this world will forever close; besides, eternal interests are at stake, and only a moment, as it were, of time in which to prepare to meet the Lord. Jesus is performing the closing work of his priestly office, making the last plea for us. Oh! shall we be merry? shall we seek pleasure, hilarity and glee, while we have eternal interests at stake? Can we deny our Lord, or refuse to bear his reproach in such a time as this? Will we treat the warning of the messengers of God with the utmost unconcern, or what is worse, mock them in their earnest, faithful efforts to save us? A merciful God has reached down his hand to raise us up. He graciously invites us to come; he pleads his own, undying love, and his great compassion on us; he tells us of the agony of his dear Son, of his blood like sweat, and the hours of mortal agony he endured for us while hanging between the heavens and the earth, when angels refused to behold the dreadful sight and veiled their faces, and even the sun refused to shine on such a scene.

Such things has he told us, that we may know the infinite cost of our redemption. But God does not stop here; he not only invites and pleads, but he has portrayed before us in beautiful language the unseen glories of the world to come—its hills and vales, its rivers of water of life, its beautiful trees of golden fruit, its peaceful, loving inhabitants—of the golden city with its pearly gates, its streets of gold and jasper walls, to encourage the rebellious people of earth to throw down their weapons of rebellion and accept of pardon.

But God is still more condescending toward us. He even sends his messengers to us personally, to entreat of us to be reconciled to God. They faithfully point out our danger, tell us of Jesus' coming, open our minds to understand the Scriptures, and do all they can to encourage us to obedience. But if we refuse, oh! if we refuse, our condemnation will be just, and our blood will be upon our own heads.