OUR NEXT SPECIAL NUMBER
By Editor
THE general subject of our next Special is one of the most important Bible topics which it is possible to set before our readers. The term "sanctuary" to many may mean nothing; to many it may recall simply the ancient, ritual service of the Jews. But to the enlightened student of the Bible the sanctuary stands for the very center and core of the plan of salvation. Upon it and within it is focused every great truth of Christianity. It is the one view-point which harmonizes all others, and lightens up with divine radiance many passages of scripture which otherwise seem dark. "The Sanctuary; the Gospel in Type and Antitype"
What was the meaning of all the ancient sacrifices?—Our next Special will answer it. What is the meaning of the priestly service, the offering of incense, the Day of Atonement, the two goats, the solemn services, which to-day have a stronger hold upon even the liberal Jew than any other holy day of the year?—Our next Special will answer the question. What about that wonderful prophetic period spoken direct to Daniel as the representative of God's people: "Unto two thousand and three hundred days; then shall the sanctuary be cleansed" (Dan. 8:14)?—The next special issue of the SIGNS OF THE TIMES will tell you. And it will tell you much more than this. Here is a list of the chief articles it will contain: 1. The Gospel in Type, by Prof. J. A. L. Derby, a strikingly-interesting article. 2. The Sanctuary and Its Lessons, by Mrs. S. N. Haskell. Its worth is not measured by its brevity. 3. The Priesthood in Type and Antitype, by E. J. Hibbard, a Bible teacher and preacher for years. 4. Before the Supreme Court, by F. C. Gilbert, an "Israelite indeed," author of "Practical Lessons from the Experiences of Israel." In this article he presents the meaning of the great Day of Atonement. 5. A Wonderful Book, an exposition of the great prophecy of the Seven Seals of Revelation 6 and 7. 6. The Closing Work of Our High Priest, by W. N. Glenn. This is an exposition of the 2,300 days of Dan. 8:14, of which a diagram is given. 7. The Great Apostate Powers of Revelation 12 and 13, by Alonzo T. Jones, is an exposition of these wonderful prophecies. 8. Signs in the Heavens, by Prof. G. W. Rine. This continues the subject of our Lord's coming from the first Special, and shows the fulfilment of the signs predicted by Jesus. 9. A Message of Preparation, by L. A. Phippeny. For every great step in God's plan for saving men He has sent a special message to the world. This article clearly shows that God has such a preparation for to-day. 10. The Only Power That Can Save, by Mrs. E. G. White, a revelation of Christ as Saviour. What a wealth of information is given above! The illustrations are, we believe, in every way equal, if not superior, to those in our first Special. Read the little note on page 6 in connection with the heading. Read the scriptures cited in that note. Is it not of remarkable interest for you to know that from a score of years to a century God foretold the doom of these cities? And He told it in particular. Read of the doom of Tyre. The merchant city of earth was to be made a place for the spreading of nets. With a few miserable huts, that is all there is now, a place to spread fish nets. New Tyre is not built on the spot of the old city. Babylon and Nineveh! How mightily their ruins speak for God and His word! Well has Knowles phrased it: "Stately empires wax and wane,—
Babylon, Barbary, and Spain;
Only one thing, undefaced,
Lasts, tho all the worlds lie waste,
And the heavens are overturned." Christ has told us what that is: "It is easier for heaven and earth to pass than for one tittle of the law to fail." "Heaven and earth shall pass away, but My Word shall not pass away." God's prophecies concerning the things of to-day are as important as those of the cities of centuries agone. The Only Blessed Hope.—The resurrection of Christ and His second coming are the hope, the only hope, "the blessed hope" (Titus 2:13) of the children of God. If these great events do not occur man is forever lost. But they will take place. The Son of God will come with all the shining angelic host; the dead shall hear His voice, and those who sleep in Him shall come forth to everlasting life and immortality. This was the hope of the promise made by God unto the Fathers that God should raise the dead. Acts 26:6-8. It was the hope of the patient patriarch (Job 19:25-27; 14:15); it was the hope of David (Ps. 17:15); it was the hope of the prophets (Isa. 26:19; Jer. 31:15-17; Ezekiel 37; Dan. 12:1; Hosea 13:14), Christ taught it, and the same promise and hope and comfort were set before the church by His inspired apostles. Why, then, will so many Christians reject the plain teachings of the Word on so important and vital a subject, and accept a pagan theory of which the pagans were not certain. The Bible theory—eternal life only through our Lord Jesus Christ at His coming and the resurrection, through faith in Him—it is true, does not glorify or exalt man, but it does glorify our God and Christ Jesus our Lord. Days of Deception.—That the last days are noted in the Scriptures as days of deception is not surprising to those who discern "the signs of the times." When we see a newspaper that makes a special boast of cleanness and morality making note of "the latest new novel" as a "great book," we may conclude that the days of deception are fairly on. A novel is fiction, and fiction is falsehood, and falsehood is deception. So a person who loves fiction loves falsehood—loves to be deceived. The reader of fiction is deceived by the thought that he is learning something, when he is only poisoning and weakening his mind. The lover of falsehood can not be trusted; for he is liable to become addicted to deception, averse to the truth. He is putting up a barrier that will shut him out of the eternal city. "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. For without are dogs, and sorcerers, and whore-mongers, and murderers and idolaters, and whosoever loveth and maketh a lie." The predominance of fiction in present-day literature, and the predominant lust for that kind of reading, which creates the demand, is evidence of the awful deception which ensnares the people of the world to-day. See 2 Thess. 2:7-12, and take warning.