Review and Herald, Vol. 34, No. 15. (10/5/1869)

Review and Herald

Oct 5, 1869

Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Oct 5, 1869

ORIGIN OF THE DOCTRINE OF THE IMMORTALITY OF THE SOUL.

By Dudley Marvin Canright

That such a doctrine is now largely believed, is well known. That it is not taught in the Bible, has been fully shown many times; hence it did not originate there. Then where did it originate? All evidence, both ancient and modern, points to Egypt as the mother of this doctrine. Here are a few testimonies. The first is from Herodotus, than whom there could be no higher authority on this question. He was a Greek, born B. C. 484, and is regarded as the father of profane history. He traveled into Egypt, and many countries, and carefully studied the customs and doctrines of those ancient nations; hence he was well qualified to speak the truth on these points. He says, “The Egyptians were also the first who asserted the doctrine that the soul of man is immortal, and that when the body perishes, it enters into some other animal, constantly springing into existence; and when it has passed through the different kinds of terrestrial, marine, and aerial beings, it again enters into the body of a man that is born, and that this revolution is made in 3000 years.”

Here is a direct statement of the origin of this doctrine by an unquestionable author, and he is not alone in this statement. Bunsen, in his learned and elaborate work on Egypt, says, “The Egyptians were the first who taught the doctrine of the immortality of the soul, a fact mentioned by all Greek writers from Herodotus to Aristotle, and one brilliantly confirmed by the monuments.” This declaration from such high authority should be well considered by all lovers of truth. Bishop Warburton confirms these testimonies, thus: “The Egyptians, as we are assured by the concurrent testimony of antiquity, were amongst the first who taught that the soul survived the body and was immortal.” Egypt, then, and not the Bible, is the mother of this doctrine. So says the voice of all antiquity. Balbour bears this testimony: “Mr. Stanley says the Egyptians were the first who asserted that the soul of man was immortal, and cites in proof Eusebius, Diodorus Siculus, and Halicarnassus.”

That most, if not all, the ancient heathen nations borrowed their systems of religion, especially that relating to the soul, from Egypt, is abundantly proved. Enfield, in his well known History of Philosophy, says: “Egypt is unquestionably to be ranked amongst the most ancient civilized countries, and was very early famous for wisdom. Many eminent philosophers among the Greeks, such as Orpheus, Thales, Pythagoras, Democritus, and Plato, visited Egypt in search of knowledge.” St. Hippolytus says that the Egyptians “were the first to proclaim to all the rest of men the rites and orgies of, at the same time, all the gods.” Bishop Warburton, who has studied and written so largely upon this subject, says of the heathen mysteries, that they “all have their common original from Egypt.” Again: “It is very certain, they came first from Egypt.” He declares, and truly too, that “the Magi of Persia, the Druids of Gaul, and the Brahmins of India,” were all “the genuine offspring of the Egyptian priests.” Of the terrors of the infernal regions, Dr. Good says, “Egypt is generally said to have been the inventress of this important and valuable part of the common tradition.” Rollin, the historian, says: “It is to Egypt that Pythagoras owed his favorite doctrine of the metempsychosis, or transmigration of souls.” Mr. Watson also says, that it was from Egypt that the other nations borrowed many of their religious doctrines.

These testimonies might be multiplied indefinitely, but I consider the above sufficient to establish the fact that Egypt was the mother of the religious systems of Greece, Rome, India, &c., but especially was she the mother of the doctrine of the immortality of the soul. As in offering proof upon the different subjects which follow, I shall also confirm this point, I leave it for the present.

THE FIRST FORM IN WHICH THE DOCTRINE OF THE IMMORTALITY OF THE SOUL WAS TAUGHT.

Generally no error is born into the world fully grown and perfectly developed at once; but it has a gradual growth, and passes through different stages of development, till it becomes a regular system. Some truth, either natural or revealed, is always taken as the foundation on which to build up a system of error. The counterfeit must at first be very nearly like the genuine, or it would not be received, as all would detect the fraud. So we may expect to find this true of the doctrine under consideration. It is a doctrine relating to future life. So let us look a moment at the doctrine of a future life as revealed in the word of God. The Lord told man in the beginning, that, if he sinned, he should surely die. Gen. ii, 17. When man had sinned, God said to him, “Dust thou art, and

unto dust shalt thou return.” Gen. iii, 19. Christ came into the world, died, went into the grave, and rose again, that man also might have a resurrection from the dead. Rom. xiv, 9; 1 Cor. xv. A future life could only be had by a resurrection from the dead. For this resurrection all the ancient worthies from Abel to Paul, looked with earnest anticipation. Heb. xi, 4-13, 32-40; Phil. iii, 10, 11. This resurrection, the angel in the bush taught Moses. Luke xx, 37. Job, and David, and, in short, all the ancient people of God, rested all their hopes upon it. Job xix, 25-27; Ps. xvii, 15. This was the first and true doctrine of a future life as revealed by God to man.

Now it becomes an interesting inquiry to ascertain what was the first form in which the immortality of the soul was taught. Did it have any semblance to the resurrection of the dead? I think the facts will show that it did. It is a well-known fact that the ancient Egyptians were celebrated for embalming the dead. This they did at a great expense, and so effectually, that many bodies are preserved in quite a perfect condition to the present day. They are called mummies. What was their object in thus preserving their dead? After looking at the question carefully, and obtaining all the evidence I am able, I am fully satisfied that it was done with reference to the resurrection of the body. That I have not drawn this conclusion without evidence, will be seen by the following testimonies, which are from the very best authorities on such a question. The first is from “Calmet’s Great Dictionary of the Holy Bible.” He says: “The ancient Egyptians, and the Hebrews in imitation of them, embalmed the bodies of the dead. . . . The art of physic was by the Egyptians ascribed to Isis, and in particular the remedy which procured immortality, which, in my opinion, was no other than that of embalming bodies, and rendering them incorruptible.” This language is remarkable. Their first idea of immortality was to preserve the body from decay till it should live again, and thus become immortal. “That the custom of embalming was very ancient in Egypt, is shown from the practice of cutting the bodies with an Ethiopian stone. Some mummies also bear the date of the oldest kings.” The next witness on this point shall be from that celebrated work, “Kitto’s Biblical Cyclopedia.” He says, “The feeling which led the Egyptians to embalm the dead, probably sprung from their belief in the future re-union of the soul with the body. Such a re-union is distinctly spoken of in the ‘Book of the Dead,’ and obscure as is the subject, probably on account of the obscurity of the details of the Egyptian belief, the statements are sufficiently positive to make this general conclusion certain. This conviction would naturally make the Egyptians anxious to preserve the bodies of the dead, and occasion the invention of the famous art of embalming, which was applied, not only to men, but also to the sacred animals. While tracing the art to this feeling, we might suppose that it was more readily received by a people which probably shared the mysterious reverence for the dead which characterizes a certain portion of our race.” In a note on this, he says, “We must draw attention to the manner in which the Egyptian belief in this great doctrine confirms the supposition that many nations preserved some remains of a primeval revelation.”

Thus we see that this critical author states that it is certain that embalming was practiced to preserve the body from decay, till the re-union of the soul with it, or till it should live again. What more natural than this? and what could have been the object of embalming the dead bodies if this were not it? “In the mouth of two or three witnesses shall every word be established;” but as this is an important point in this inquiry, I shall bring forward an abundance of evidence to make it sure. Mr. Chambers says: “This art [embalming] seems to have derived its origin from the idea that the preservation of the body was necessary for the return of the soul to the human form, after it had completed its cycle of the existence of three or ten thousand years.”

I shall now introduce another witness, Mr. Bunsen, whose testimony on this subject should be decisive. No author could be better prepared to judge, than he. “The real meaning,” says he, “of the celebrated passage in Herodotus (ii, 135) about the reasons why the Egyptians bestowed so much care on the preservation of the body, and, as it were, on preventing it from passing away, must have been this: The belief in a resurrection of the body, so far, at least, that the aim of the soul was a new personal life as man, perhaps after having been doomed to undergo transmigration through animal bodies for 3000 years; the same period as was assumed by Plato for the wandering of the soul, and termed by him the Cycle of Necessity, according to Pythagoric usage. The soul, on the death of the body, might pass into some animal form or other, which came into existence at the very moment, before it returned again, into the human body, in a higher or lower state. Man justified is one with God, the eternal Creator, self-created. His bodily organ, therefore, is holy. This doctrine we may now read in every page of the sacred books. Thence the popular notion in Egypt, that unless its old human envelope was preserved, the soul would be subject to disturbances and hindrances in performing its destined course. . . . The Greeks and Romans had an equal faith in burial as necessary to insure the entry of the soul into the invisible world of spirits.” Again: “It is only by considering how very deeply this sense of immortality was engrafted on the Egyptian mind, that we can comprehend the passion for the monstrous and colossal proportions of the pyramids, and, at the same time, the glorious, emblematical, and artistic character of those works of the Old Empire. As animal worship is merely the Egyptianized African form of an early Asiatic conception, so is also the combination of the care for the preservation of the body, and, if possible, its protection from destruction, connected with the doctrine of immortality. The soul was immortal; but its happiness, if not the possibility of its continuing to live, depended on the preservation of the body. The destruction of the body, consequently, involved the destruction of the soul. We assuredly owe the stupendous fabric of the pyramids to a superstitious fear of the destruction of the body, rather than to the mere vanity or love of display on the part of the builders. . . . This inability, combined with the artistic impulses of the Egyptians, led to the colossal preservatories which arose out of a superstitious adherence to the notion of the value of the body, and which clung with a rigid gripe to the immaterialistic principle.”

There are several facts stated in the above, worthy of attention.

“The belief in a resurrection of the body” was what led the Egyptians to embalm the dead.
They believed that the soul would return to the body, and thus begin a new life as man. This shows that they connected the idea of a future life inseparably with the life of the body.
It was “a popular notion in Egypt, that unless the old human envelope was preserved,” the soul would not be happy. Here, again, the soul depends upon the body.
The preservation of the body from destruction was connected with the doctrine of immortality—no immortality without a preservation and re-living of the body. “The soul was immortal; but its happiness, if not the possibility of its continuing to live, depended on the preservation of the body. The destruction of the body, consequently, involved the destruction of the soul.” The

soul was immortal only as connected with an immortal body! This is so near the scriptural idea of immortality that we may easily recognize its origin. We have reason to thank God that in those early ages we can find so clear an idea still retained of the divine doctrine of a future life only by a resurrection of the body. 5. This writer thinks that the pyramids looked to the same object—a preservation of the dead. Other authors corroborate this statement. The “Encyclopædia Americana” has an article on the pyramids, in which it gives various opinions concerning their object; then it remarks: “Finally,—and this, is the most common opinion of the ancients,—for sepulchers, structures in burial places, symbolical representations of the world of shades, or as chambers for mummies.” Calmet gives his opinion thus: “It is thought they were intended for tombs for the ancient kings of Egypt.” When we remember, (1) Their great hight, (2) That they were built soon after the flood, and (3) That tombs were found in their extreme summits, this conclusion will appear probable, at least. 6. The old Egyptians in those early times were materialists.

Mr. Mitchell, in his “Ancient Geography,” confirms the above testimonies, and says that the common people believed that the soul would only endure as long as the body did; and hence their great care in embalming it. He also shows that the priests adopted the doctrine of the transmigration of souls, while as yet, the common people believed only as above. He uses this language: “The priests adopted the doctrine of the transmigration of the soul, while the belief that it will continue as long as the body endures, obtained with the people; whence the care displayed in the preservation of embalmed bodies, or mummies, and the vast expense of excavating tombs in the solid rocks.”

Here, then, we have the object of embalming, the object of the pyramids, and the first idea of the immortality of the soul as taught by the Egyptians,—quite different from the present doctrine of the soul’s immortality! To corroborate these facts a few more testimonies will be offered. Says Mr. Gibbon: “The doctrine of the resurrection was first entertained by the Egyptians, and their mummies were embalmed, their pyramids were constructed, to preserve the ancient mansion of the soul, during a period of three thousand years.” Gibbon agrees well with Bunsen. The “Union Bible Dictionary,” on embalming, says, “Others tell us it was to preserve the body for the dwelling place of the soul, after it had completed its various transmigrations.”

An article to the same effect is found in the “Bibliotheca Sacra,” by J. Richards, D. D. Showing how extensively the doctrine of the resurrection has been believed among all nations, he remarks, “The study of the Egyptians in the art of embalming, and in the time-defying character of their sepulchers, evinces an anxiety for the body, which we think it will be difficult to explain short of the hypothesis of a resurrection.” Again: “A deeper conviction of the same comes from the mummies of Egypt, whose date reaches back three thousand, and, perhaps, four thousand, years ago, and especially when we connect them with their complicated infoldings, their sarcophagi, and the colossal structures of catacombs and pyramids, built for their reception. Desire to perpetuate a name might be a sufficient motive among the great ones of the earth, the Pharaohs and their prime ministers; but we can hardly think so of the multitude. Again; respect and affection for friends, we should think, would be satisfied with obsequies which did not forecast for thousands of years. But here we see a whole nation, from the prince to the peasant, preserving with most careful solicitude the mortal part, and successfully too, as if in expectation of its living again. From the whole history of funeral rites that come to us from every source, we cannot avoid the conviction that the doctrine of a resurrection was entertained in the earliest ages, and has permeated the religious notions of every tribe.”

Embalming, then, was to preserve the body for a re-living—a resurrection. This was their first conception of immortality. How well this ancient notion corresponds with the Bible doctrine of a future life! But we shall soon see this greatly changed and perverted. D. M. CANRIGHT.

“PEACE, BE STILL.”

By C. P. A. W.

When waves of passion, rising high, Bring clouds to darken reason's sky, Ere we in our wild anger sin, Let's quickly pause, and think of Him, Who, on a night of storm so wild, In tones so sweetly, gently, mild, Bade harsh winds heed the guiding will, By firmly saying, “Peace, be still.”

To all who seek, he's ever near. We've but to hearken, would we hear Voice that can quell the wildest storm, From darkest night, bring fairest morn. Voice that can give the peace at heart; From dearest hopes, bid us not part. Heed, quickly heed, the rising will, Bid passion hear the “Peace, be still.”

More oft we need to find release, To know of quiet, rest, and peace, From storms that set on fire the brain, Than those that raging sweep the plain, Or, o’er the ocean broad and long, Revel in fearful fury, strong. Then, may we with an earnest will, Bid passion hear the “Peace, be still.” C. P. A. W.

New Bedford, Mass.

EARTH’S FIERY TREASURES.

Prof. Gaussen says that “when the Scriptures speak of the form of the earth, they term it a globe [Isa. xl, 22; Prov. viii, 27]; when they speak of the position of this globe in the bosom of the universe, they suspend it upon nothing (Job xxvi, 7), and in speaking of its solid covering, they teach us that, while its surface gives us bread, beneath, it is on fire [Job xxviii, 5], literally ‘beneath,’ it is overturned, and as on fire]; elsewhere, that it is reserved unto fire, and will be burned in the last times, with all the works that are found therein.” Dr. Cumming affirms that 2 Pet. iii, 7, “ought to be translated,” “The heavens and the earth which are now, by the same word are kept stored with fire against the day of Judgment and perdition of ungodly men.” While the correctness of this translation may be questioned, that the bosom of the earth is not solid, but has in it a vast quantity of liquid fire, need not be doubted. A correspondent of the Christian Standard of Oct. 31, has an article on this subject, from which we make the following extracts:

“Our theory, that the interior of the earth is filled with molten lava, on which the shell of the earth rests as it did before the deluge on the water, as a vast raft or body of wood rests on water, is susceptible of proof from several sources:

“1. In all parts of the world, where the surface of the earth has been penetrated to any depth—and the deepest mine is said to be about a mile in depth—after getting below the influence of the atmosphere on the surface, the heat is said to increase, as you descend, on an average of about a degree to every fifty feet. In descending, then, it would be but a few miles until you would come to where all would be fire, or everything would be in a melted state. The depth to this fire, varies, however, it being in some places nearer to, and in others further from, the surface of the earth. Here we have proof of the strongest character, that the interior of the earth is a great mass of melted matter—or of molten lava.

“2. The volcanoes. These are found in all parts of the world, north and south of the equator. Some of these, as Mount Vesuvius in Italy, and Mount Ætna in the island of Sicily, have, according to the accounts of authentic history, been burning for upward of three thousand years; and are now apparently no nearer becoming extinct than they were at first. This proves that they must be supplied from some great internal, inexhaustible source of molten matter; as had it been from materials within them, these would have been exhausted long ago! We will here remark that this lava is not a geological formation, like the rocks of the earth, but is peculiar to the interior of the earth, as it exists in all volcanoes, and is found only where thrown out by them; showing, too, that it is with this molten lava that the interior of the globe is filled, as we have affirmed. These volcanoes are the great ‘safety-valves’ of the earth; and are to the globe what these are to the steam boiler. As when the pressure of steam in the boiler becomes too great, these safety-valves let it escape, and thus prevent the boiler from bursting; so as to these volcanoes. It is the opinion of some—among them the late Alexander Campbell, as expressed in one of his letters from Europe to his daughter, published at the time in the Harbinger—that the under side of the earth, where it rests on this lava, is constantly melting off and uniting with it, and the crust of the earth constantly becoming thinner! As in doing this it expands with the heat, and by the change of its character in assimilating with the lava, the pressure of the lava increases, until it

finds vent in the eruption of a volcano, or occasions an earthquake. Hence earthquakes—and some of the greatest ones—take place at a distance from volcanoes where there is no vent for the lava; as the earthquake at Lisbon, Portugal; at New Madrid, Missouri; those in the West Indies, &c. As a proof of this, those observing earthquakes speak of them ‘often as being stopped on the opening of volcanic vents.’ Here, then, we have a second argument in favor of our theory.

“3. The thermal waters, or warm and hot springs. These, like the volcanoes, are found in all parts of the world; and as sometimes the water is scalding hot, they must derive their heat from the proximity of the water to these internal fires of the earth, at its source, or where it passes; these fires, as we have remarked, being in some places nearer the surface of the earth than in others. What are called the Geysers in Iceland, are known to derive their heat from these internal fires of the earth; while those in California, if anything more remarkable, must do the same. Hot steam frequently issues from the earth, in connection with these, which must be caused by the internal fire. Here we have a third argument in its favor.

“4. The undulating motion of the earth in an earthquake; or its motion like the waves of the ocean. This shows that the earth as a comparative shell, must rest on a soft mass—on this vast mass of molten lava—for were the globe entirely solid all through, or but partially filled with this melted lava, it could not have this undulating motion in an earthquake. This has not only been noticed by all persons who have felt and observed earthquakes (among them the writer), but it is said of the earthquake at New Madrid, Mo., that ‘over an extent of country 800 miles in length, from the mouth of the Ohio [river] to that of the St. Francis, the ground rose and sank in great undulations.’ The great distance at which earthquakes are felt goes to prove our theory. In the great Lisbon earthquake ‘the shock was felt on the one side as far as the southern shores of Finland, and on the other [side of the Atlantic 3,000 miles wide] reached beyond the St. Lawrence in Canada, and was observed in some of the West India islands—an area no less than 7,500,000 square miles.’ What is called the ‘tidal wave’ of the ocean, so observable and remarkable in the late great earthquake in South America, and said to have been 40 feet in height on the coast of Chili and Peru, is no doubt caused principally by this undulating motion of the earth. Here we have a fourth argument to sustain our theory.

“But be all this as it may, we have the assurance in the word of God, as already quoted—in one of those prophetic declarations made by an inspired apostle, which always have and always will meet their fulfillment—that the world and all it contains is to be consumed with fire; which will as certainly take place as the sun continues to rise and set! God can easily ‘break up the fountains of the great deep’ of internal fires, and cause a universal rain of fire and brimstone from heaven, as was partially the case in the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, and thus cause a deluge of fire, which will destroy the world, when each hill-top, in the language of a poet, ‘will outsmoke Vesuvius!’ Or, by withdrawing the nitrogen from the atmosphere, and leaving only the oxygen gas, everything would soon take fire; and the rocks and metals of the land and mountains would burn like wood, and the waters of the ocean, rivers, and streams, be consumed like oil!’”—Advent Herald.

THE HEAVENLY RACE.

By Adolphus Smith

“Know ye not that they which run in a race run all, but one receiveth the prize? So run that ye may obtain.” 1 Cor. ix, 24.

Games of different kinds were celebrated by the most enlightened nations of antiquity, in honor of their gods. A vast concourse of people from different countries usually attended these games, and did honor to the victors. Men occupying the highest ranks in society, renowned warriors, and statesman, thought it no dishonor to share in the combats, and esteemed it meritorious to bear away the prize.

The object of these games, however, was not exclusively to do honor to their gods, but also to confirm the health, and promote the strength, vigor, and activity, of the combatants. Those who designed to devote themselves to the profession of athletæ, began, in early youth, a system of training, to develop the powers of body and mind most needed to secure proficiency in the art.

How important that those who run in the heavenly race should, likewise, in early youth, accustom their feet to tread in the narrow way.

The diet of those who contended in the games, consisted of figs, nuts, soft cheese, and a very coarse kind of bread. They were not permitted to drink wine, and strict continence was enjoined upon them. It is in evident allusion to this that the apostle says, in the verse succeeding our text, “And every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things.” Those who contend for the mastery in heavenly things, should exhibit corresponding zeal in their adherence to the regulations upon which the prize will finally be awarded to the faithful. “Now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown; but we an incorruptible.” God has established a spiritual gymnasium (if I may be allowed the use of such a term), in the institution of the church of Christ upon earth, in which are trained candidates for eternal life. The Lord has given us a code of laws in the Bible, by which our conduct must be regulated, if we would win the prize. He has, moreover, set over the church his tried servants, whose duty it is to expound the law, and urge obedience to its claims, lest candidates be at last found to have striven unlawfully, and so be numbered with the castaways.

No man who was a criminal was allowed to contend in the Olympic games. If, however, by fraud, he obtained a place among the combatants, and won the game, yet he was not crowned because he did not strive lawfully.

The Lord has made provision to pardon every criminal who may present himself as a candidate in the spiritual contest for the crown of life, so that he is thereby placed on an equal footing with the most innocent. Those who seek to win in some other way than that appointed, are termed thieves and robbers, and will find at last that all their efforts, notwithstanding they made a loud profession of religion, will have been in vain.

As in the Olympic, so in the heavenly contest, strict temperance is enjoined. The servants of God urge this point upon the church, and for a time the people arouse, and exhibit commendable zeal in putting away the works of the flesh. But they become accustomed to hearing the note of warning, and become lax and careless in their lives, until the warnings cease to be given, when the careless suddenly awake to active consciousness, only to seek the word of the Lord in vain, receiving in themselves a fulfillment of Wisdom’s prophetic warnings, “Because I have called, and ye refused; I have stretched out my hand, and no man regarded; but ye have set at naught all my counsel, and would none of my reproof: I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when your fear cometh.” Prov. i, 24–26.

“And every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things.” The Olympic games were usually opened with foot races. On entering upon the race, the candidates laid aside every article of clothing that would impede the free exercise of their limbs. So the Christian must “lay aside every weight and the sin [unbelief] which doth so easily beset us.” Peter, in his first epistle, tells us what some of these weights are: “Wherefore laying aside all malice, and all guile, and hypocrisies, and envies, and all evil speakings.” 1 Pet. ii, 1. I fear that if all evil speaking were stricken out of the colloquial vocabulary of man, about three-fourths of the human race would be reduced to the condition of mutes. Compared with the present state of things, such were “a consummation devoutly to be wished.” Not only the tongue of man in general “is set on fire of hell,” but its withering, blighting curse is felt within the church of Christ, when its professed friends indulge in evil speaking, creating divisions, which the church must be occupied in settling, instead of bending all its energies in the work of preparing for her coming Lord. “The Lord shall cut off all flattering lips, and the tongue that speaketh proud things.” Ps. xii, 3.

On either side of the stadium, or race-course, were terraces, provided with seats for the accommodation of spectators. “Wherefore, seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race set before us.” Heb. xii, 1. The ancient worthies, and, to us, all who have gone before in the patience and faith of Christ, having obtained the victory, constitute the cloud of witnesses referred to above. By their success we are encouraged to press forward, as were the Roman athletæ by the cheers of the multitude that lined the stadium.

The prize for which the athletæ strove, was placed in a conspicuous position at the end of the race, that they might be animated at sight of it, to exert their utmost energies to win the game. So the Christian is animated by a view of the crown of life, to be given at the appearing of our Lord, to “press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.” Phil. iii, 14.

Paul, when the time of his departure was near, gave utterance to his unwavering faith in the following impressive language: “I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith; henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing.” 2 Tim. iv, 7, 8.

The race once ended, judgment was passed upon the athletæ. Those who were found to have striven unlawfully, were rejected, though otherwise they would have won the game. Doubtful cases were numbered with the castaways, though they had almost obtained the prize.

What a sad thought that many professing godliness all their lives, will at last be miserably disappointed at being rejected by the Lord, though they had almost been saved; and what a warning is given to ministers of the gospel, in the example of Paul, as testified by himself: “But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection; lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway.”

How important that the minister should be an example to the flock in all things, and especially on those points which he is called upon, in the stead of Christ, to announce as important to prepare the church for the coming of her Lord. How terrible must be the final judgment of those who prove unfaithful watchmen on the walls of Zion.

The prize awarded to the Roman athletic victor, consisted of a crown of wild olive, pine, or laurel, which quickly faded away. But the crown that is to deck the brow of him who successfully contends in the heavenly race, is to be fadeless, and enduring as eternity. “They that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament; and they that turn many to righteousness, as the stars forever and ever.” Dan. xii, 3.

No wonder that the hosts of the redeemed before the throne of God, when a sense of the dangers they have escaped, and the eternal bliss they have secured, shall be fully realized, are heard to exclaim in rapturous delight, “Blessing, and honor, and glory and power, be unto Him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb forever and ever.”

Oh! cold-hearted professor of religion, will you not awake from your slumber to active life in the service of God? If you do not, be assured that your doom will soon be fixed with the hypocrites, whose portion is wailing, and gnashing of the teeth.

Sinner, will you be persuaded to speedily begin the contest for the crown of life? There can be no uncertainty of your final triumph, if you strive lawfully. “To-day, if ye will hear His voice, harden not your heart.”

Lonely, faithful servant of Christ, strive on. Soon “he that shall come will come, and will not tarry.” Then you will have found your trials not to have been one too many, your conflicts none too severe.

That you and I, dear reader, may so run that we may obtain, and finally share in the triumph of the redeemed, is my prayer. ADOLPHUS SMITH.

The Closing Messages.—No. 8.

By R. F. Cottrell

The three angel messages were given in prophecy to describe the position and work of the people of God of the last generation just prior to the second coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Amid the perils, delusions, and false teachings, of the last days, these messages were intended to so clearly point out the true church, describing its position and work, that the humble believer might find the truth and get a preparation for that great event. One genuine message on time was to be given, and no more. Hence all other time messages are spurious. One time message we have had, answering the prophetic description precisely. “It found the nominal churches asleep upon the subject of the second advent, dreaming of the world’s conversion. But the truth was clear, and, in the hands of devoted men, powerful. Everywhere the message was proclaimed it produced general conviction. The Scriptures were searched as never before; a great revolution

in religious belief took place in a few short years; and at least fifty thousand in America alone, became decided believers.”

Prophecies and signs fulfilled tell us unmistakably that we are in the last days—in the time to look for these messages promised by the word of God. If they fail to come, the promise will prove a failure. A message has come, answering the description precisely. Is it from Heaven?—is it the fulfillment? If this is false, how shall we know the true?

What is the difficulty that men cannot believe? Adventists were mistaken and disappointed. We admit our error, and it is scripturally explained. But has not the prophecy of a message on time been fulfilled? If it has been given, and, as we have shown, at the right time, then the word of God stands verified, and unbelievers are unbelievers, no more nor less. Where is your faith in the Bible as the word of God? Why were the prophecies given, but that they might be understood, believed, acted upon, and thus prove a benefit to us?

The first angel’s message was a time message; the second and third are not. The first was to arouse men, the second to show them their danger, and the third to tell them what to do. The first was to awake men from delusive dreams of peace and safety and a long time of prosperity to the church on earth, by the startling fact that the Judgment is right before them; the second to show them that nominal Christianity is corrupt and cannot be relied on; and the third to show wherein it is corrupt, and what is necessary to be done to escape the impending wrath of God.

These messages have been announced in the order given in the “sure word of prophecy,” and light has increased at every step, and still is increasing.

We cannot be mistaken in believing that the Author of this prophecy is fulfilling it. If so, momentous consequences depend upon how we receive and act upon these messages from God.

May God help his honest children, and those who desire to be such, to believe when he thus speaks to them by his word and providence, learn what he requires of them—wherein they need reform—and do his bidding, keep his commandments, walk in the faith once delivered to the saints, and so be prepared to escape the seven last plagues and enter into the joy of the Lord at his coming, which is near, even at the door.

Men are dreaming of being saved by faith, while they disbelieve and reject the plainest teaching of the word of God. Let us be aroused and try ourselves whether we are in the faith—whether we do truly believe the word of God. Those whose faith is anchored on the word of God will stand in the time of trouble, which is before us, and finally stand with the Lamb on Mount Zion. But those who disbelieve, neglect, reject, and despise, that word, will suddenly be destroyed, and that without remedy.

R. F. Cottrell.

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