Earlier text: WALKING IN THE LIGHTTHE HOPE OF THE GOSPEL.
By James White
THE gospel of Jesus Christ presents to the church one great and glorious hope. But this hope is evidently eclipsed, and almost lost sight of by the popular churches in consequence of cherishing a plurality of false hopes. We may mention some of them. 1. The hope of the world's conversion. The Scriptures nowhere favor the sentiment that the world in this mortal state is to witness a period of universal happiness and holiness, such as is looked for by the churches of this day, when all shall know the Lord. The wheat and tares are to grow together till the harvest, and the harvest is the end of the world. Matt. 13. When the Son of man comes the second time he is to find the world as in the days of Noah. Wicked men and seducers are to wax worse and worse, not better. The Papal horn (Dan. 7) was to "make war with the saints, and prevail against them," until they take the kingdom; then they will possess it forever, even forever and ever. No place then for the temporal millennium. And those who expect it cherish a false hope. This holy state is supposed to exist in the seventh millennium, and, of course, in the last days; but read Paul's description of the condition of even those who have a form of godliness in the last days: "This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, without natural affection, truce-breakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, traitors, heady, high-minded, lovers of pleasure more than lovers of God." 2 Tim. 3:1-4. This is a perfect picture of the times, and the Scriptures hold out nothing better for this mortal state. 2. The hope of going to Heaven at death. This is the greatest light of the popular churches; this is their brightest hope. From their very infancy they have been taught it. On occasions when the finest feelings were stirred, and every sensibility aroused, this doctrine has been stamped upon the youthful mind. Fathers and mothers have taught it to the circle of little ones who, weeping, stood around the lifeless form of the Christian. And on funeral occasions ministers have set it home upon the softened feelings of the weeping congregation. It is almost impossible to remove this false hope from the mind. Nothing but the word of God, which is "like a fire," and "like a hammer that breaketh the rock in pieces," can erase those deep impressions made upon the mind in youth, and which have grown with growth, and strengthened with the strength of riper years. If we turn to the Old Testament we read the words of the wise man as follows: "The living know that they shall die; but the dead know not anything." Eccl. 9:5. Says David, "Let my soul live, and it shall praise thee." Ps. 119:175. Why, David, cannot your soul praise God when separated from the body, and you are dead and buried? Let him answer. "The dead praise not the Lord, neither any that go down into silence." Ps. 115:17. Instead of making death the gate of endless joys, the prophets of God looked through the telescope of faith, down to the resurrection of the just as the consummation of their hope. Says Isaiah, "Thy dead men shall live, together with my dead body shall they arise. Awake and sing, ye that dwell in dust." Others have borne similar testimony. We come to the New Testament. "I go to prepare a place for you," says Jesus. "And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also." John 14:2, 3. This is the sure promise of Christ, and the only real hope of the church. To sustain the hope of the churches, Christ should have said, "I go to prepare a place for you, and when you die, I will receive your immortal souls, that where I am, there your souls may be also." With this view, as a minister once said, "there seems no necessity for the second advent and the resurrection," for if the soul goes to Christ at death, in whose presence there is fullness of joy, and at his right hand pleasures forevermore, why come back for the body? Where is the need of it? But we return to the sweet, hope-inspiring promise of the Son of God, "I go to prepare a place for you." This is during his entire ministry in the heavenly sanctuary. "I will come again and receive you unto myself." He does not receive to himself his church until he prepares a place for them and comes for them. He does not take their immortal souls to an unprepared place. The Lord's order is perfect. He first goes and prepares a place for the church, then his second advent to earth to take his saints away to those mansions, that they may be ever with their Lord. The false hope of going to Heaven at death has taken the place of the second advent and the resurrection of the just, which is the only hope of the church. These themes are lost sight of by popular theologians of this day; for they make death the gate to endless joys and the consummation of the Christian's hope. Said a distinguished minister a few days since, when speaking of friends who have recently fallen asleep in Jesus, "My only hope is that they are now safe in Heaven." How unlike the hope of the gospel. Hear Paul: "Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ." Titus 2:13, 14. The blessed hope of the churches is, that at death the soul will separate from the body, and go where God and Christ now are. Again, hear Paul speak of his only hope. "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. 4:7, 8. The hope of the gospel hangs wholly on Christ, and its consummation is at his second coming. But those who make death the gate to endless joys, have made Christ's glorious appearing to be almost anything but what it really will be. Death is said to be the second229advent. Said a minister not long since on a funeral occasion, "By this dispensation of God's providence, we are all reminded of the importance of a preparation for the second coming of Christ at death." This would make as many second advents as there are deaths. But death is called an enemy (1 Cor. 15:26), and Christ is to destroy him which hath the power of death, that is the devil. Then it would be far more proper to say that death is the advent of Satan, than to assert that it is the second coming of Christ. We are also told by modern divines that the outpouring of the Holy Spirit and the conversion of sinners is the second coming of Christ. But this makes many second advents, which is a contradiction of terms. What saith the Scriptures on this point? Says Jesus: "They shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory." "Behold he cometh with clouds, and every eye shall see him." Said the angels to the men of Galilee who witnessed Christ's ascension: "This same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven." Not death, not conversion, not the Holy Spirit; but the "same Jesus" who left the disciples gazing after him in sadness, will come again in glory to the joy of those who are looking and waiting for him. Mark how the apostle has guarded the doctrine of the personal second advent of Christ: "For the Lord himself [not death, not the Holy Spirit] shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God; and the dead in Christ shall rise first." 1 Thess. 4:16. The personal second advent of Christ and the resurrection, then, is the only hope of the gospel. It is the "blessed hope" which is as "an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast." It is the helmet (armor of the head) of salvation. Without this helmet, the head, or mind, is exposed to the reception of the deadly fables of the times, of which modern Spiritualism is the masterpiece. Spiritualists deny the resurrection. They, believing that the spirit leaves the body at death to fill a higher office, see no necessity for the resurrection. —Elder James White, in Review and Herald, December, 1854. Is self-indulgence safer, as a rule, than self-denial? Most persons act as if they thought so. Ten persons will insist that they ought not to give up any personal gratification unless they can point to some good reason why they should give it up, where one person will insist that he ought not to follow his personal inclinations, without being able to suggest some good reason for his doing so. It obviously requires more character to deny one's self than to indulge one's self; yet people rather pride themselves on their refusal to deny themselves any gratification without a very good reason for their self-denial. Inclination is by no means identical with duty. And because it is so much easier to follow inclination than to resist it, a man ought to be even more rigorous in demanding of himself a good reason for doing what he wants to do, than for not doing what he would like to do. "Only convince me that it is my duty to give up wine or tobacco, and I will give it up at once," says one, who never for a moment thought of saying, with equal emphasis, "I would never use wine or tobacco, unless I were convinced that it is my duty to use it." And so of many another personal indulgence of the sort. What a difference it would make in the conduct of Christians generally, if they were as rigid in doing nothing but what they deem it their duty to do, as in refusing to surrender what they do not deem it their duty to surrender! But self-indulgence is so easy, and self-denial is so hard! There is the real pinch of the matter! —Selected. AN OPEN LETTER ON THE SABBATH QUESTION. NO. 2.
By C. P. Bollman
DEAR SIR: The next point in your letter is thus stated by yourself:— "Will you, or your church, dare the assertion that all the professed followers of Christ are sinners because they recognize the first day of the week instead of the seventh, as the day of rest and worship? I really can't think a people professing to be the followers of the blessed Jesus, can be so uncharitable. And if not, as you are so few in number, compared with the balance of Christendom, had you not better twist your consciences just a little, and join in the great procession of Christians, and unite your efforts in saving men's souls, instead of making so much ado about keeping the Sabbath?" We dare assert anything that the Bible asserts: no more no less. And the Bible teaches us that all men have sinned. But you ask if a certain class are sinners because they keep Sunday and do not keep the seventh day? That depends upon whether in so doing they obey the Sabbath law or not. Any transgression of the law of God is sin. Says the apostle John: "Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law; for sin is the transgression of the law." 1 John 3:4. It therefore matters not what the profession may be, if anyone disobeys the law of God he is a sinner. This law says: "Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy." "The seventh day is the Sabbath;" and the only question possible is, do those who "recognize the first day of the week instead of the seventh, as the Sabbath" obey that commandment? We say that they do not. But no Sabbath-keeper will affirm that all who keep Sunday are guilty of willful presumptuous sin, and that some of them are not the children of God by faith in Christ; nor does any Sabbath-keeper so believe. We can only look on the outward actions, but God looks at the heart; and while it is our privilege to know, and by the grace of God to obey the truth for ourselves, and as far as possible to teach it to others, we are not judges of evil thoughts. We may not decide just what the standing of A or B is in the sight of God, but we must certainly have decided convictions of truth and of duty. This was the case with Luther, who, when making his defense before the Diet said, "Here I stand; I cannot do otherwise." And so says every conscientious God-fearing soul. We have no right under any circumstances to compromise the truth in any particular. You intimate that we are uncharitable; but my friend, the charity of which you speak and the charity of the Bible are two entirely different things. The charity of the Scriptures is love. The apostle Paul never taught that people must be so loose in their views that they would have no clear-cut convictions of divine truth; or no strong convictions of duty. On the contrary he was so "uncharitable" as to write to the Galatians: "But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed. As we said before, so say I now again, If any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed." Gal. 1:9, 10. The apostle's position was that no one had any right to call in question the truth; and he knew that he had preached the truth to the Galatians, and he was not afraid to stake everything upon it. He knew nothing of the charity, falsely so called, which leaves every one at liberty to follow his own inclinations rather than obey the word of God. The word translated "charity" in the common English Bible, means "love," and in the Revised Version, it is so rendered. See 1 Cor. 13. Cruden defines the word as follows: "Charity is a principle of prevailing love to God and good-will to men, which effectually inclines one endued with it to glorify God, and to do good to others; to be patient, slow to anger, and ready to put up with wrongs; to show kindness to all, and seek the good of others, though with prejudice to himself. A person endued therewith does not interpret doubtful things to the worst sense, but the best; is sorry for the sins of others, but rejoices when any one does well, and is apt to bear with their failings and infirmities." A careful perusal of 1 Cor. 13, will justify this definition, I think in every particular. And it will be noticed that one who has this charity "Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth." Verse 6. Iniquity is sin and "sin is the transgression of the law." Therefore, Bible charity rejoices in keeping the law; while the charity you have in mind would rejoice in willful violation of the law, for you advise us to "twist" our consciences a little that we may cease to observe the day which God commands us to keep holy, and join in with the majority in keeping a day that we do not believe it right for us to keep. That you must know would be unchristian. Though not in itself a safe guide for it must be educated by the word of God, conscience is to be respected at all times. No man can be a Christian who persistently violates his conscience; for conscience is our honest convictions of right and wrong; and he who does that which he believes to be wrong, is to all intents and purposes guilty of sin, for in his heart he purposed to do a wrong act and he feels condemned for the act and this is necessarily true whether the thing is really bad or not. But how much greater must be the condemnation when the sin is willfully committed against a plain commandment of God! On this point the apostle John says: "My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth. And hereby we know that we are of the truth, and shall assure our hearts before him. For if our heart condemn us, God is greater than our heart, and knoweth all things. Beloved, if our heart condemn us not, then have we confidence toward God. And whatsoever we ask, we receive of him, because we keep his commandments, and do those things that are pleasing in his sight." 1 John 3:18-22. Your advice to twist our consciences a little, certainly does not savor of the spirit of the Master; and I sincerely hope that you are not as bad as your unfortunate utterance would indicate. I cannot think that you are; and am persuaded that you must have written without due consideration. But I find that this letter is already sufficiently long, I must therefore defer other points to a future time. C. P. BOLLMAN. Charity for Those Tempted
We do not always exercise enough charity for those who fall into temptation. We are apt to think that we would be strong enough to withstand the tempter; but how do we know that such would be the case? We might fall as well as they. Then let us have charity for others, “considering ourselves lest we also be tempted.”—Selected. THE UNPARDONABLE SIN.
By w.
"WHEREFORE I say unto you, All manner of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men; but the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost shall not be forgiven unto men. And whosoever speaketh a word against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him; but whosoever speaketh against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world, neither in the world to come." Matt. 12:31, 32. Probably no other text in the Bible has been the subject of more speculation, or has been more misunderstood, than this one. Many honest, conscientious people have gone well-nigh into despair over the thought that they were guilty of the sin here mentioned, and that simply because they had received erroneous ideas as to what that sin is. Although there is so much misunderstanding in regard to it, we think that an understanding of it may be gained quite readily by a consideration of the connection and of parallel texts. Every word which our Saviour uttered was timely, and applied to the circumstances then present; it is this feature which makes them practical in all ages. Therefore if we would get a full understanding of any of his words, we must consider the occasion which called them out. If we notice the context, we shall find that the words which we have quoted were called out by the position which the Pharisees took concerning a notable miracle which Jesus had performed. He had healed a demoniac who was both blind and dumb, so that the man was not only in his right mind, but "both spake and saw." The people were amazed, but the Pharisees contemptuously and blasphemously said: "This fellow does not cast out devils, but by Beelzebub the prince of the devils." Matt. 12:24. Instead of glorifying God, by whose Spirit this wonderful thing was done, they accused Christ of having a devil, by whose aid he performed miracles. That this accusation constituted, in that instance, the unpardonable sin, is evident from the parallel text in Mark. This evangelist gives our Saviour's words concerning the unpardonable nature of the sin against the Holy Spirit, and adds, "Because they said, He hath an unclean spirit." Mark 3:30. Thus we find, without any further investigation, that this sin consists in attributing the work of the Holy Spirit to the devil. But it is not by words alone that men may commit this, any more than any other sin. Paul speaks of some who "profess that they know God; but in works they deny him, being abominable, and disobedient, and unto every good work reprobate." Titus 1:16. A reprobate is one who is rejected, who has sinned beyond recovery; one who has rejected the Spirit of God by sinning until he is so corrupt that there is no good thing in him for the Spirit to work upon. This is indicated in the preceding verse, which says of these who are "unto every good work reprobate," that "even their mind and conscience is defiled." So Paul writes to Timothy concerning men in the last days, who are "men of corrupt-minds, reprobate concerning the faith." 2 Tim. 3:8. This was the condition of the antediluvian world. The record says: "And the Lord said, My Spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh; yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years." "And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually." Gen. 6:3, 5. There was a time when the antediluvians were not wholly bad; there was some trace of the law in their hearts (Rom. 2:15), and therefore there was something in them upon which the Spirit could work to convince them of sin; for the Spirit's sword is the word of God, and it can produce an impression upon men only when they possess some knowledge of truth and right. But the antediluvians resisted the strivings of the Spirit. The tendency of sin is to multiply itself and to choke out any sense of good; and so by repeated stiflings of every good impulse, those people became so corrupt that they had not a single good thought. They were cumberers of the ground; there was no possibility of their reformation, and so they were cut off. In every case where the judgments of God have been brought upon people, it was because there was no possibility of their reformation; they had, in short, committed the unpardonable sin. This was the case with the antediluvians, the Sodomites, the wicked inhabitants of Canaan (see Gen. 15:16), who were destroyed to make room for the Israelites, and finally with many of the people of Israel. Says the sacred historian:— "Moreover all the chief of the priests, and the people, transgressed very much after all the abominations of the heathen; and polluted the house of the Lord which he had hallowed in Jerusalem. And the Lord God of their fathers sent to them by his messengers, rising up betimes, and sending; because he had compassion on his people, and on his dwelling-place; but they mocked the messengers of God, and despised his words, and misused his prophets, until the wrath of the Lord arose against his people, till there was no remedy." 2 Chron. 36:14-16. "There was no remedy;" that is, their sin was unpardonable. Now since God's object in giving men this existence is solely that they may prepare for a better, and an eternal existence, it follows that when they utterly refuse to accept of God's plan for them, and devote themselves wholly to evil, there is no use to continue their existence longer. They are of no use to themselves or to anybody else. Like trees that bear only thorns instead of fruit, they are cut off as cumberers of the ground. Their continued existence would be only detrimental to the soil which might be yielding something useful. Here then is another way in which men may commit the unpardonable sin. Still another way is brought to view by Paul to the Hebrews. This pertains especially to those who have once made a profession. Says the apostle:— "For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost, and have tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come, if they shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame." Heb. 6:4-6. We have not space to enter into details, and to specify just how men crucify Christ afresh; but it is sufficient to know that the unpardonable sin is here brought to view, for it is a sin which cannot be repented of. We say "the unpardonable sin," for we understand that there is but one such although there may be many different ways of committing it. John says: "If any man see his brother sin a sin which is not unto death, he shall ask, and he [God] shall give him life for them that sin not unto death. There is a sin unto death; I do not say that he shall pray for it." 1 John 5:16. All sin, if not repented of, brings death; but there is one sin which cannot be repented of, and therefore there is no necessity to pray about it as about other sins. Now we may understand what the apostle means when he says to the Hebrews that it is impossible, if certain ones fall away, to renew them unto repentance. What does he mean by, "If they fall away"? Does he mean that if a Christian shall fall into sin he cannot be forgiven? No; for the verse just quoted from John teaches us that if a brother sins a sin not unto death we must pray for him. 1 John 2:1, 2; Gal. 6:1; Rev. 2:5, and scores of other texts show that men are not necessarily beyond hope, even though they be overtaken in faults after they have accepted Christ and have been pardoned. We must understand, then, that the "falling away" here brought to view means not simply the commission of a wrong act, or even a backslidden state, but a turning away from the gospel of Christ,—a rejection of Christ. Since the name of Christ is the only one under Heaven whereby men may be saved, it follows that if a man deliberately rejects that there is no hope for him. It was this fact which led Paul to use such vehement language in his epistle to the Galatians. See Gal. 1:8, 9. Any man who should preach a gospel which led the hearers to trust in something else besides Christ, would be deliberately leading them to eternal ruin, and so would be worthy of a curse. There is but one way of salvation; if a man deliberately rejects that, he cannot by any possibility be saved. "THE OLD IS BETTER."
By Editor
1. "PLEASE explain how you harmonize the 14th verse of Rev. 22, and the comments upon it, found in SIGNS, March 24, p. 186, with the same verse as given in the New Version, which reads, 'Blessed are they that wash their robes,' etc." There are some things that we don't try to harmonize; we try to follow the simple truth, and if anything differs from it, that is not a matter that troubles us. In this case we accept the reading of the Authorized Version as preferable to that of the New, and let the matter rest there. It may seem strange, however, that the two versions, each the work of men skilled in the languages, should have such widely different renderings of the same text. A little explanation will make the matter clear. The Greek of the text as rendered in the Authorized Version is, poiountes tas entolas autou. As given in the Revised Version it is, plunontes tas stolas auton. It will be seen that the difference in the words is very slight, so that a copyist might easily make the substitution of one for the other. If the reader has ever seen fac similes of some of the ancient manuscripts, he will the more readily understand how such a change might have taken place. As the result, some of the ancient manuscripts have it one way, and some another. The similar expression in Rev. 7:14 may have been in the mind of the ancient copyist, thus causing him unconsciously and mechanically to make the substitution. Griesbach regards the reading followed by the New Version as "not to be despised," but worthy of further examination, "though inferior to the received text." But while following the Authorized Version, we do not find, in this instance, the slightest lack of harmony between the two renderings. It is a fact that only those who keep the commandments of God, will be permitted to partake of the tree of life. Matt. 7:21; 19:17, and many other texts, settle this matter positively. It is also true that none will be saved, except those who wash their robes of character in the blood of the Lamb; for "the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin" (1 John 1:7); and Christ "was manifested to take away our sin." Now (1) no one can keep the commandments without the help of Christ, whose blood cleanses from sin; and (2) no one can stand, having his robes white, without being a doer of the commandments; for it is sin that defiles, and if one should break the commandments his robes would not be white. Thus they who have kept the commandments of God, and they whose robes are made white, are the same. A blessing pronounced upon those who have kept the commandments of God, is at the same time a blessing pronounced upon those who have washed their robes white. So there is harmony in the two renderings, after all. 2. "Also please state whether the New Version is correct in giving the word 'probation' where the Old Version has 'experience,' in Rom. 5:4." We think it is not, for the following reasons: The Greek word signifies both a test, a trial, and also that which results from such a test. Therefore "experience" is an allowable rendering. Now to render it "experience," as in the Authorized Version, makes good sense, for it comports with the facts in the case:231patient endurance of tribulation does work out rich experience. But "patience" indicates that the individual is undergoing a testing, a probation; and therefore it does not seem consistent to say that this tribulation and patience work probation, when they are themselves a probation. Therefore we decidedly prefer the old rendering, "tribulation worketh patience; and patience, experience; and experience, hope; and hope maketh not ashamed, because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts." The revisers have given us a good commentary, but they seem often to have been more intent on getting something new than on retaining the simplicity and directness of the sacred text. w.