p. 238 | Untitled article by J. A. Gregory

The Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Third-day, March 24, 1868

FromReview and Herald, Vol. XXXI, No. 15

GOD'S PROMISES ARE SURE.

By J. A. Gregory

The promises of the Lord, though spoken under circumstances which would almost seem to preclude their accomplishment, will, nevertheless, be fulfilled. Take the case of the thief on the cross. He prayed, “Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom.” Will the compassionate Saviour hear his humble petition? Will he give him any words of consolation in his dying moments? In his own excruciating agony, he can still pray for his enemies, and answer the dying, penitent thief. Though about to bow his head, and commend his life to his Father, though he was about to pass away to the dark, cold tomb, yet ’mid all the darkness and gloom, there is a ray of hope. He will rise from the grave; he will break death’s strong bands; he will eventually let the prisoners go free; he is the Lord of glory. He replies, “Verily I say unto thee to-day, shalt thou be with me in Paradise.” Though earthly hopes are about to fail, though I am very soon to become subject to death, the King of terrors; yet in the agony of my expiring moments, I promise thee to-day that thou shalt be with me in Paradise. And though the promise made that day is now eighteen hundred years old, will it fail? Nay, verily; though heaven and earth pass away, Christ’s word shall not pass away.

We remember he made the same promise to his beloved disciples as recorded in Jno. xiv, 2, 3: “In my Father’s house are many mansions, if it were not so, I would have told you. . . . And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you unto myself, that where I am there ye may be also.” Though a long time has elapsed since the promise was made, will it fail? Faith says, No; Jesus will soon come; the Nobleman will return.

When our blessed Redeemer was on his journey to Jerusalem, where he laid down his life to purchase the kingdom, his followers thought that the kingdom was immediately to appear. Luke xix, 11. He taught them from the parable that he would go into a far country, to receive his kingdom, and to return. Verse 12. It is then when he shall return that he will reward his servants. Verse 13. It is then that the wicked servants who will not have him reign over them, shall be slain before him. Verse 27. And as we follow the record down to the time he came forth from the grave, a mighty conqueror, his beloved disciples asked him if he would at that time restore the kingdom to Israel. Acts i, 6. But they were at this time doomed to a sad and bitter disappointment, when it was made known unto them that he must leave them and go away, to receive the kingdom.

Therefore as he has instructed us that he had not received the kingdom before he went away, he must receive it somewhere between his first and second advents. This is brought to view in Dan. vii, 13, 14. “I saw in the night visions, and, behold, one like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of days, and they brought him near before him. And there was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages, should serve him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed.” The interpretation of verses 13 and 14 is given in verses 26 and 27. “But the judgment shall sit, and they shall take away his dominion (that is, the dominion of the little horn, or Papacy), to consume and to destroy it unto the end. And the kingdom, and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven, shall be given to the people of the saints of the Most High, whose kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey him.” This teaches us that it is yet future. As the judgment is now going on in the heavenly sanctuary, which shall decide who shall be the subjects of that kingdom, the kingdom itself must be yet future. But the time is near at hand when the saints shall possess it.

The kingdom has been overrun with violence; tares have grown thickly on its surface; but the time will soon come when the parable of Matt. xiii, 38-40, shall be fulfilled, when the tares shall be rooted out, when the Son of man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity, verse 41, and shall cast them into a furnace of fire. Then shall the righteous shine forth in the kingdom of their Father. Verse 43.

The Saviour has said that he would return. Matt. xix, 15. And then will he sit on the throne of his glory. Matt. xxv, 31. It is then that he will separate the sheep from the goats. Verse 32. It is then that the King shall say, “Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.” Verse 34.

Dear reader, are you lifting up your head and rejoicing that the kingdom is near at hand? Are you praying, “Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is done in Heaven”? Are you praying, “Lord Jesus, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom”? Are you keeping all God’s commandments, by which you shall have right to the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God, and shall enter in through the gates into the city? Are you striving for an inheritance in the kingdom that shall not pass away? The Lord is yet fitting up a company for that beautiful country, and you will soon decide whether you will be an inhabitant of that beautiful clime or not. Remember he is going to send his angels, to pluck out all that do iniquity. He will have a holy colony. It will be a country in which the inhabitants will be all righteous. If you are living for this, all will be well.

Sinner, far from the fold of Christ, what will be your condition in that day of trial? Remember that the kingdoms of this world are fast passing away. The head of gold, Babylon, has arisen to universal empire, and has long since passed away. The Medo-Persian kingdom, the arms and breast of silver, has conquered and fallen. The Grecian kingdom, the sides of brass, has arisen and conquered the world, and has also been numbered in the past. And the Roman kingdom, the last kingdom of universal empire, has arisen and broken in pieces and devoured the whole earth, and has itself crumbled and been divided into ten parts as symbolized by the ten toes of the image. The little horn, the Papacy, has governed and prevailed twelve hundred and sixty years, or a time, times, and dividing of time. And where are we now? In the time of the end, the time when many should run to and fro, and knowledge should be increased. Seek, then, for a knowledge of these things before the call of mercy shall forever cease. Seek an interest in the blood of Christ, which cleanseth from all sin, that you may be shielded in the day of his great wrath when he shall arise, to shake terribly the earth. Pray now, Lord, remember me, when thou comest into thy kingdom.

J. A. GREGORY.

Durand, Wis.