THE ASSURANCE by E. Macomber

Publishing Committee · Battle Creek, Mich. · Jan 15, 1861

THE ASSURANCE.

By E. Macomber

We read in Acts xvii, 31, "Because he hath appointed a day in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained, whereof he hath given assurance unto all men in that he hath raised him from the dead."

We have the assurance then that he will thus do as he has raised Jesus Christ from the dead, for if Christ be not raised, then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain.

But he hath arisen, glory to God! and got the keys of hell and death, and is awaiting God's appointed time when he will unlock the prison-house of hell (hades) and death, and awake the sleeping millions and bring them forth." He has the power so to do. He once called Lazarus and he came forth bound in his grave clothes. He declared himself to be the resurrection and the life. Thus we have the assurance. Thank the Lord !

While meditating upon the great day of the Lord my mind was cited to this scripture: "He hath appointed a day," &c. This question suggested itself to my mind, Do mankind rightly understand this appointment? Do those that profess godliness understand the matter? Do those that look for the Lord from heaven understand it? Do I understand it?

We read in Amos iii, 7; "Surely the Lord God will do nothing but he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets." We read also in Jer. viii, 7, "Yea, the stork in the heavens knoweth her appointed times, and the turtle, and the crane, and the swallow, observe the time of their coming; but my people know not the judgment of the Lord. How do ye say, We are wise and the law of the Lord is with us? Lo, certainly in vain made he it; the pen of the scribes is in vain. The wise men are ashamed, they are dismayed and taken; lo, they have rejected the word of the Lord; and what wisdom is in them?"

Being carried back to the days of the Saviour's first advent, and examining the word on this subject we find those spoken of that rejected the appointment of his Son from heaven, as is recorded of him in Matt. xxi, 5. "Tell ye the daughter of Zion, Behold thy King cometh unto thee, meek and sitting upon an ass, and a colt the foal of an ass." The manner of his birth also was not suited to their taste and fancy; therefore they rejected him, and we hear him saying, "If thou hadst known, even thou at least in this thy day the things which belong unto thy peace, but now they are hid from thine eyes. For the days shall come upon thee, when thine enemies shall cast a trench about thee, and compass thee around and keep thee in on every side, and shall lay thee even with the ground, and thy children within thee, and they shall not leave in thee one stone upon another, because thou knewest not the time of thy visitation."

There were prophets also that spoke of his coming, and the manner of his coming. There was Stephen who spoke of these same things, as we read in Acts vii, 52. "Which of the prophets have not your fathers persecuted? And they have slain them which showed before the coming of the Just One of whom ye have been the betrayers and murderers, who have received the law by the disposition of angels, and have not kept it. When they heard these things they were cut to the heart, and they gnashed on him with their teeth."

I am more and more convinced that people in these days, even professors of the religion of Jesus Christ, have the same spirit of those wicked Jews at the time of Stephen's death. But I should not be surprised at this when I read in the word of the Lord of such people in the last days. Surely we are in perilous times.

But God's appointments will be fulfilled in every jot and tittle; and all God's children will be children of the light. But such as reject God's truth will be in darkness, such as reject his commandments and adhere to the commands of men and teach such for doctrines, must, according to God's word, be rejected in the day appointed for all men. For what reason did they put Stephen to death? Because he told them the truth. This raised their ire against him, and they put him to death. So now is the same spirit manifested toward God's dear children who dare to show Israel her transgression. We need much of the grace of God to endure all the things that are coming on the earth.

The Lord has appointed unto us a kingdom as his Father has appointed unto him. And that kingdom is about to be established according to the prophetic word. When all these things come to pass, then we may know that he is nigh, even at the doors. At this time the three unclean spirits are going forth unto the kings of the earth to gather them unto the great battle of God Almighty, and the last movement of the kings of the earth we find mentioned in Dan. xi, 45; xii, 1: "And he shall plant the tabernacles of his palace between the seas in the glorious holy mountain, yet he shall come to his end and none shall help him." Here Daniel is speaking of the king of the north. He continues: "At that time shall Michael stand up, the great Prince which standeth for the children of thy people, and there shall be a time of trouble such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time. And at that time thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book. And at that time shall the Prince of the kings of the earth take the kingdom under the whole heavens." Then let us pray, Thy kingdom come.

E. MACOMBER.

New Shoreham, R. I.