"THE WISE SHALL UNDERSTAND."
By R. F. C.
I. WHAT SHALL THE WISE UNDERSTAND?
1. They will understand the prophecy of Daniel, especially those portions which were shut up and sealed till the time of the end. 2. They will understand other prophecies that mark the events of the same period. So that when certain signs appear, they will know that the coming of the Lord is near, even at the door. II. WHEN SHALL THE WISE UNDERSTAND?
At the time of the end. "And he said, Go thy way, Daniel; for the words are closed up and sealed till the time of the end." What shall take place then? "Many shall be purified, made white and tried; but the wicked shall do wickedly; and none of the wicked shall understand; but the wise shall understand." We are now in the time of the end. For that king that was to exalt himself, and magnify himself above every god, and speak marvelous things against the God of gods, was to persecute the saints till the time of the end. "And some of them of understanding shall fall, to try them, and to purge, and to make them white even to the time of the end." That persecution having passed, we are certainly living in the time of the end—the time when it is positively declared, "The wise shall understand." This fact will aid in answering our next question. 1. They are not those who, living in the time of the end, acknowledge that they do not understand, and claim that nobody can—those who say, Christ may come to-morrow, or next year, and perhaps not in hundreds, or even thousands of years—those who reject the Advent doctrine on the ground that the prophecies cannot be understood, and claim that it is wrong to try to understand them. As certain as we are in the time of the end, the time when the wise should understand, these are not the wise. Those who understand prophecy in the time of the end must be Advent believers. But professed Advent believers are divided into a number of large parties and little factions, and individuals who stand almost entirely alone, each claiming to understand, and yet understanding scarcely anything alike. Now those that really do understand prophecy will understand it alike; and, of course, they will be gathered to unity of faith. But the different views of those who profess the Advent faith form a perfect Babel. To suppose that the Lord will come and claim all these as the wise, is preposterously absurd. He might as well have gathered the nominal churches, without sending forth the Advent messages. The history of Advent believers might be compared to a flock of wild geese, which having started for a warmer climate, all agreed upon the course, have become divided and scattered, and are flying in every possible direction. Up to 1844 they were all united in their course. Since then a large portion have been dividing, and scattering, and though all profess to be bound to their proper destination, yet they disagree in the points of compass; mostly agreeing, however, that they were altogether mistaken in the waymarks by which, on setting out, they laid their course. But blessed be the Lord! a few kept on their original course, and have not denied their faith, and to them many of the bewildered, suspecting the sagacity of their leaders who were turning their backs to the Sun of righteousness, have been, and are gathering. But who are the wise? 2. They are not those individuals and small factions that stand by themselves, understanding the prophecies differently from everybody else. It is reasonable to look for more than one, or one hundred persons that God will account wise. It is time that the wise were being gathered to unity of faith. Consequently these isolated individuals and factions, that say the Lord is at hand, even at the door, and yet they alone have the truth, are not so wise as they imagine. They may be, and perhaps are, wise in their own conceit, but there is more hope of a fool than of such. The wise will understand, and understand alike, and, since the Lord is at hand, they must be gathering together. 3. They are not the wise who aid in sending two messages of a chain of prophecy, and then, rather than receive and proclaim the third message in the same chain, turn and give up all they had done as a mistake, still claiming to be in the Advent faith, but giving up and denying the fulfillment of every prophecy or sign that made them such. They are the wise that follow down the line of prophecy, and when the first and second of the Advent messages are fulfilled, proceed to the third. Such a company there is; and in that storm where others lost their compass and got bewildered, they pursued their original course, still acknowledging and steering by the land-marks in the past. "They've looked astern, and many a toil
The Lord has brought them through;
They're looking now ahead, and Lo!
The land appears in view."
4. The wicked are not the wise; for the two classes are put in contrast in the text. "None of the wicked shall understand; but the wise shall understand." The wicked are transgressors of the Commandments of God; the wise must be commandment-keepers. The Scriptures testify to this. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; a good understanding have all they that do his Commandments. The fulfillment of the third Advent message is developing a people of whom it will be said, "Here are they that keep the commandments of God." They hold to the ten Commandments of God, as originally given, without the abolition or change of any one of them. Not many wise men after the flesh will join this company; not many mighty, not many noble. But true wisdom consists in obeying God; and such as obey him will have an understanding of the truth. The pathway of the just is as the shining light, that shineth more and more unto the perfect day. But the way of the wicked is as darkness; they know not at what they stumble. Perhaps some will say, this writer is wise in his own esteem. I hope it is not so. I have nothing whereof to boast. But through the grace of God I have been enabled to learn that we are in the time of the end, and that at this time, the wise are to understand. And by the light of prophecy I have found the company that have not lost their compass; and I want to go with them. And the object of this writing is to assist others to find where the company of the wise are gathering. For just so certain as it is that the wise will understand the truth concerning the present time, so surely will they come together into unity of faith. And since the righteous are the only ones that God esteems wise, I would humbly endeavor to turn some to righteousness; for in the resurrection, "they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament; and they that turn many to righteousness, as the stars for ever and ever."
R. F. C.