PRIESTS AND RULERS.—"And found there none of the sons of Levi." Ezra viii, 15.
"Have any of the rulers or Pharisees believed?" John vii, 48. It is constantly objected to the doctrines of the Second Advent that ministers of the gospel, doctors, and rulers do not receive it. This argument is thought by many to be unanswerable, and we feel that it is our greatest stumbling block in the way of persuading sinners to escape the coming wrath. But let us not be discouraged, for when we look at history and Scripture testimony, we find that this class of men were not always the first in reformations and returns from captivity. In the days of Christ they were his most bitter opposers, and those of their number who believed came to him by night. Ezra also tells us that in his time, when he numbered the people who voluntarily set their faces to return to Jerusalem and the worship of their God, that he found "there none of the sons of Levi." We would not, as the manner of some is, "rebuke our elders, but we would entreat them;" and also rejoice that there are some noble exceptions to this charge.—Phil. Alarm.