UNPOPULAR DOCTRINES by G.

Pacific Press Publishing Company · Mountain View, California · Jan 31, 1906

UNPOPULAR DOCTRINES.

By G.

THE coming of the Lord and the resurrection of the dead are plainly set forth in the Scriptures as the hope of the Gospel. Phil. 3:8-11; 2 Tim. 4:7, 8; Heb. 9:28; Rev. 22:12. Yet, so unpopular has the doctrine of the coming of Christ become in the popular churches, that to be known as an Adventist is to be deemed fanatical. The Scriptures also tell us that "there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts, and saying, Where is the promise of His coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation." 2 Peter 3:3, 4.

Yet these scoffers are proving to be the leaders and influential men of the great churches. Like those mentioned in 2 Timothy 3, as "despisers of those that are good," they have "a form of godliness" but are "reprobate concerning the faith." Their hostility to the doctrine of Christ's second personal advent, as announced by the angels to the disciples of Christ (Acts 1:9-11), is almost as bitter as it is toward the law of God, which Christ declared could not fail while heaven and earth should stand (Luke 16:17). An Adventist minister (not a Seventh-day Adventist either), reporting to the World's Crisis from Florida, gives the following straight testimony on this point:

"There is no danger of Advent churches joining the Alliance, for it is an impossibility to work in harmony and unity with it. The grand truths of eternal life through Jesus Christ, and the resurrection from the dead, are doctrines which can not be advocated in a union meeting. My experience is that a person who attempts to speak in a union meeting concerning the second coming of the Saviour, the saint's inheritance, the resurrection of the dead, or salvation by grace through faith, will not be allowed much time."

"Then we should remember that Adventists are a people fulfilling the prophetic mold; called out to proclaim the last message, with assurance that Jesus will keep us from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world. If we join a confederacy, our usefulness will cease."

"Let us stand by the truth, if we stand alone."

But the day is coming, is near at hand, when those who do not stand on both "the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus" will stand together. There will be virtual, if not nominal, alliance. Nothing short of a stand on both of said doctrines will enable one to fully "proclaim the last message." No one can pass through the experiences of giving the last message while walking on one leg, and come out victor. The last message is a proclamation against receiving the "mark of the beast," and this "beast" symbol represents a power that shall "think to change" the law of God. Therefore to reject the law of God is ultimately to accept "the mark of the beast."

The apostle Paul's argument in Romans 3 inseparably connects the law and the Gospel. He concludes with this emphatic statement: "Do we then make void the law through faith? God forbid; yea, we establish the law." And "the Revelation of Jesus Christ," given through His servant John, connects in a most essential manner the coming of the Lord and the recognition of His law. It is at His coming that His saints are rewarded with an entrance into the holy city. So, in connection with the declaration of His coming "quickly," it is said, "Blessed are they that do His commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city." Rev. 22:12-14.