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Review and Herald, Vol. 86, No. 16.

THE WORK

Review and Herald

Apr 22, 1909

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Apr 22, 1909

THE WORK

By Editor

—AND— THE WORKERS
THE Maine Tract Society orders a club of 25 copies of the Protestant Magazine, one year, for its own use.
THE May number of Life and Health is now ready. Its new cover design is the most pleasing of all thus far produced. See full particulars on page 21.
WE can now furnish “New Testament Primer” in German, Danish, and Swedish, as well as in English. Prices in all three languages the same. Board, 35 cents; cloth, 60 cents.
OVER 91,000 copies of the Temperance number of the Youth’s Instructor have already been sold. They still sell well, and will continue to be popular all the year. How many have you sold?
OUR entire edition of the April Life and Health was more than called for by the orders received up to Wednesday morning, April 14. All subsequent orders must, therefore, be filled by sending the May issue.
“TESTIMONIES ON SABBATH-SCHOOL WORK” should be read by every teacher and officer in the Sabbath-school. It contains much valuable instruction on the best methods for organizing and conducting a successful Sabbath-school. Cloth, 25 cents; leather, 50 cents.
ANY one who invests one dollar in the new “Christ in Song” pays about one cent for every ten songs. Any of the songs is worth many times one cent. The half morocco book is supplied for one dollar. The cloth is only 60 cents. Better bindings for $2.50 and $3. Which shall we send you?
AN examination of the membership of the churches and the number of those engaged in the circulation of our literature, developed the astonishing fact that less than one half of one per cent are taking part in this work. Surely there is work enough and room enough for a larger per cent than this.
EVERY boy and girl will take a genuine delight in the stories found in “Elo, the Eagle.” The best part of it is that all the stories are true to life. They are about real animals which lived and acted, each one his interesting little part. Sent, post-paid, for $1. Boys and girls make good agents for this book, too.
“I WISH to congratulate you upon the name selected for your new quarterly, the Protestant Magazine,” writes Elder W. J. Stone, of Indiana. “No more appropriate name could have been selected. It surely is a timely magazine, and it is most appropriate for the only Protestant denomination in the world to publish it. One week ago yesterday I took the matter up in the Indianapolis church, and secured forty-three subscriptions. Am much interested in its success.” Remember that five or more copies, for one year, ordered at one time (cash with order), will cost but 15 cents each. Regular subscription price, 25 cents a year.
THE Western Oregon Tract Society has just ordered 1,000 more copies of the Temperance number of the Youth’s Instructor. Their previous order was for a like number.
“BOOK me for 500 copies of Life and Health each month,” writes a business woman not of our religious persuasion, “and I will try to make it a 1,000 order monthly soon.”
SIXTY-SEVEN per cent of the agents working in the Atlantic, Columbia, and Lake union conferences are using our large books. Think of the truth which is being scattered!
“CONFERENCE LABORER’S RECORD” is just the book for every conference worker to carry about with him. It is small, compact, and handy, with room enough to record a year’s work. Price, 50 cents.
“BIBLE LESSONS FOR THE CHURCH-SCHOOL,” No. 1, by Mrs. A. E. McKibbin, is just off the press. It takes up in simple, connected form the Old Testament record. A valuable book for parents who have children they wish to instruct at home. Price, 90 cents.
A HANDY pocket companion for every Seventh-day Adventist is found in the “Bible Text Book.” There are forty-nine Bible readings, covering all the principal points of our faith, besides numerous diagrams illuminating the text: 208 pages; cloth, 30 cents; leather, 50 cents, post-paid.
THE Maine Tract Society recently ordered 1,000 copies of the Temperance number of the Youth’s Instructor. It is still selling rapidly. Remember the prices: single copies, 10 cents each; 5 copies, 5 cents each; 25 copies, 4 cents; 100 copies, 3¾ cents; 500 copies, 3½ cents; 1,000 copies, 3 cents.
FOR general distribution, there are no better tracts than “Fundamental Principles of Seventh-day Adventists,” “We Would See Jesus,” “Signs of Our Times,” “Gospel Remedy for Present-day Isms,” “What Do These Things Mean?” “The Perpetuity of the Law of God,” and Words of Truth Series—Nos. 5, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40. One hundred of any one number, $1, post-paid; 100 of each number (600 in all), $6.
PRESIDENT ELLIOT says that the books which could be put upon a shelf five feet long, if read ten minutes a day, would give one a liberal education. Any Seventh-day Adventist can be very liberally educated in the third angel’s message through a careful reading of the books which could be placed on a shelf three feet long. We would suggest a good Bible, Cruden’s Concordance, “Patriarchs and Prophets,” “Great Controversy,” “Daniel and the Revelation,” “The Desire of Ages,” “Ministry of Healing,” “Education,” “Christ’s Object Lessons,” “Early Writings,” “Great Advent Movement,” “Heralds of the Morning,” “Here and Hereafter,” “Home and Health,” “Practical Guide to Health,” “Power for Witnessing,” “Speaker’s Manual,” “Story of Daniel,” “Seer of Patmos,” and “Testimonies for the Church.” Ask your tract society secretary for the prices.
THE Open-Flat Bible is the best value for the money which we have ever been able to offer. A liberal discount is allowed to agents. Write for description and prices.
THE Saskatchewan Tract Society has just sent in an order for 500 copies of that excellent Temperance number of the Youth’s Instructor. Canada has done well in the sale of this magazine.
ONE lady canvasser recently took $119.50 worth of orders for “Great Controversy” in thirty-one and three-fourths hours. The best record we have seen this year. Average, an hour, $3.76.
“GREAT CONTROVERSY,” library, $1.50, post-paid. Only a few left. These are the old edition without the scripture index. The reading-matter is just the same as in the new book. The binding is the full law sheep. Formerly sold for $3.50.
A LITTLE girl, scarcely fourteen years old (not a Seventh-day Adventist), has become interested in the canvassing work. Recently she went out one afternoon after school and took four orders for “Coming King.” The first one was taken from her public school teacher.
BROTHER T. G. JOHNSON, secretary of the Upper Columbia Tract Society, includes in his list of sixteen yearly subscriptions for the Protestant Magazine, the governor of Washington, a superintendent of public schools, and other prominent people. That is right! It is the thinkers we are after, with this new magazine.
“LET us show the people where we are in prophetic history, and seek to arouse the spirit of true Protestantism,” says the spirit of prophecy. (“Testimonies for the Church,” Vol. V, page 716.) In no better way can the much-needed, true Protestant zeal be kindled than by distributing to the homes of the people our two quarterlies, the Protestant Magazine (ready May 1) and Liberty magazine. Each 10 cents a copy, or 25 cents a year. Send 25 cents for five copies to sell or hand to your neighbors.
“I LIKE the magazine Liberty, very much,” says a Kansas gentleman not of our faith, “notwithstanding it contains some doctrines that I do not indorse. Enclosed find twenty-five cents, for which send me the Protestant Magazine one year. I do not believe in statecraft meddling with religious liberty, nor do I have confidence in Roman Catholicism. I want to know how you propose to ventilate that awful scourge of priestcraft. . . . Have studied all the phases of Adventist doctrine for the past sixty-five years. I was thirteen years old in 1843, when I heard about the coming of our Lord. Please accept my best wishes for you. Pull down the mask from the face of the hypocritical priests that have cursed the world for ages.” This letter shows that such a quarterly as the Protestant Magazine appeals to thinking men. Let the light shine. Put your friends on the subscription list. One dollar and a half will pay for ten yearly subscriptions to one or separate addresses, or seventy-five cents will pay for five subscriptions. Address the Protestant Magazine, Washington, D. C.

Two Great Crises: the End of the Jewish Nation and the End of the World

False Christs and Great Calamities

In his reply to the inquiry which his disciples made concerning future events, Jesus first uttered words of caution in view of the perilous nature of the approaching times:—
Matt. 24: 4, 5: “And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you. For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many.”
The coming of the true Messiah had been foretold in prophecy. The prophet Micah had declared the place of his birth: “But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel.” Micah 5: 2. So generally was the family of which the Messiah should be born known to be the family of David that the people of Jerusalem said, “Hath not the Scripture said, That Christ cometh of the seed of David, and out of the town of Bethlehem, where David was?” John 7: 42. His miraculous birth was mentioned by Isaiah: “Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.” Isa. 7: 14. The time of his manifestation was definitely revealed through Daniel the prophet: “Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince shall be seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks.” Dan. 9: 25. Other prophecies concerning the flight into Egypt, and indicating the name of the town in which he would dwell so that he might bear the name of a Nazarene, and concerning his removal to Capernaum in order that the people which sat in darkness might see a great light—all these prophecies, which were given to enable the people to recognize the true Messiah, were literally fulfilled, and yet he was rejected by his people.
This fatal mistake was not made by the Jewish people for lack of sufficient guidance in the Scriptures, but because they sought to read into the Scriptures their own views and desires, instead of submitting their minds to divine leading. Smarting under the oppressive rule of the Romans, a condition which they had brought upon themselves by repeated apostasy and the loss of that intimate union with God which would have given them protection from all their enemies, the Jewish people, under the instruction of the rabbis, were looking for a Messiah who should deliver them from the Roman yoke, a Leader who should restore the nation to its old-time independence,—a political Messiah. Jesus, foreseeing that ambitious adventurers would arise who would take advantage of this feeling of expectancy and would proclaim themselves as the long-looked-for deliverers, uttered words of warning concerning such pretenders. The prophecies having been once fulfilled, would not be fulfilled again. The true Messiah having been manifested, all others who afterward claimed that office would be deceivers; and yet so perverse is human nature, and so blind are those who reject the true light because it does not harmonize with their own ideas, that Jesus well knew that these false messiahs would “deceive many.”
In harmony with the declaration made to the disciples, false christs appeared in the time of the generation upon which the sevenfold woe had been pronounced. We quote some historical testimony in support of this statement:—
After the introduction of the new era, Judea continued a Roman province. The procurator generally lived in the coast town of Cæsarea, and stood aloof as much as possible from the interminable broils of the Jews. At Jerusalem, the capital, everything was as far as practicable left to the management of the nation, under the lead of the Sanhedrin, or Jewish senate. Never was a people so turbulent, so excited with expectation of a deliverer who should restore the ancient kingdom, so fired with bigotry and fanaticism, as were the wretched Jews of this period. One christ came after another. Revolt was succeeded by revolt, instigated by some pseudo-prophet or pretended king.—Ridpath’s “History of the World,” Vol. I, page 849.
Very soon after our Saviour’s decease appeared Simon Magus (Acts 8: 9, 10), “and bewitched the people of Samaria, giving out that himself was some great one: to whom they all gave heed, from the least to the greatest, saying, This man is the great power of God.” He boasted himself likewise among the Jews, as the Son of God. Of the same stamp and character was also Dositheus the Samaritan, who pretended that he was the Christ foretold by Moses.—“Dissertations on the Prophecies,” Bishop Newton, London, 1840, page 375.
Now [A. D. 46] it came to pass, while Fadus was procurator of Judea, that a certain magician, whose name was Theudas, persuaded a great part of the people to take their effects with them, and follow him to the River Jordan. For he told them he was a prophet; and that he would, by his own command, divide the river, and afford them an easy passage over it. And many were deluded by his words. However, Fadus did not permit him to make any advantage of his wild attempt, but sent a troop of horsemen out against them, who, falling upon them unexpectedly, slew many of them, and took many of them alive. They also took Theudas alive, and cut off his head, and carried it to Jerusalem.—Josephus’s “Antiquities of the Jews,” Book 20, chap. 5, par. 1.
There was also another body of wicked men gotten together [in the reign of Nero, A. D. 54-68], not so impure in their actions, but more wicked in their intentions; which laid waste the happy state of the city no less than did thesemurderers [the Sicarii]. These were such men as deceived and deluded the people, under pretense of divine inspiration, but were procuring innovations and changes of the government. And these prevailed with the multitude to act like madmen, and went before them into the wilderness, as pretending that God would there show them the signals of liberty [from the Roman yoke]. But Felix [the procurator] thought this procedure was the beginning of a revolt. So he sent some horsemen and footmen, both armed, who destroyed a great number of them.
But there was an Egyptian false prophet that did the Jews more mischief than the former. For he was a cheat, and pretended to be a prophet also; and got together thirty thousand men that were deluded by him. These he led round about from the wilderness to the mount which was called the mount of Olives, and was ready to break into Jerusalem by force from that place; and if he could but once conquer the Roman garrison and the people, he intended to domineer over them, by the assistance of those guards of his that were to break into the city with him.—Josephus’s “Wars of the Jews,” Book 2, chap. 13, pars. 4, 5.
Jesus also told his disciples that there would be “false christs,” who would appear long after the destruction of Jerusalem (verse 24); and this prediction was just as literally fulfilled as was his prophecy concerning the pretended messiahs to appear before the destruction of Jerusalem. Historical testimony to establish this fact will be introduced at the proper place.
Verse 6: “And ye shall hear of wars and rumors of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet.”
The disturbed condition of the Jewish nation, their restiveness under the rule of the Romans, and their vain hope of regaining their independence, led to constant outbreaks against Roman authority. “To relate the particulars,” wrote Bishop Newton, “would indeed be to transcribe a great part of his [Josephus’s] history of the Jewish wars.” A brief summary of these outbreaks is given by Albert Barnes in his note on this verse:—
It is recorded in the history of Rome that violent agitations prevailed in the Roman empire previous to the destruction of Jerusalem. Four emperors, Nero, Galba, Otho, and Vitellius, suffered violent deaths in the short space of eighteen months. In consequence of these changes in the government, there were commotions throughout the empire. Parties were formed; and bloody and violent wars were the consequence of attachment to particular emperors. This is the more remarkable, as at the time that the prophecy was made, the empire was in a state of peace.
It would be perfectly natural to believe that these public disturbances presaged the downfall of the Jewish nation, but Jesus assured his disciples that the extinction of the national existence of the chosen people would not immediately follow these times of trouble. “The end is not yet.”
Verses 7, 8: “For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places. All these are the beginning of sorrows.”
The historical facts which constitute the fulfilment of the political disturbances here foretold are thus stated by Bishop Newton:—
It is said, moreover, that “nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom.” Here, as Grotius well observes, “Christ declares that greater disturbances than those which happened under Caligula, should fall out in the latter times of Claudius and in the reign of Nero. That of ‘nation against nation’ [or race against race] portended the dissensions, insurrections, and mutual slaughter of the Jews and those of other nations who dwelt in the same cities together; as particularly at Cæsarea,” where the Jews and Syrians contended about the right of the city, which contention at length proceeded so far that above twenty thousand Jews were slain, and the city was cleared of the Jewish inhabitants. At this blow the whole nation of the Jews were exasperated and dividing themselves into parties, they burned and plundered the neighboring cities and villages of the Syrians, and made an immense slaughter of the people. The Syrians, in revenge, destroyed not a less number of the Jews, “and every city,” as Josephus expresseth it, “was divided into armies.” At Scythopolis the inhabitants compelled the Jews who resided among them to fight against their own countrymen, and after the victory, basely setting upon them by night, murdered above thirteen thousand of them, and spoiled their goods. At Ascalon they killed two thousand and five hundred, at Ptolemais two thousand, and made not a few prisoners. The Tyrians put many to death, and imprisoned more. The people of Gadara did likewise, and all the other cities of Syria, in proportion as they hated or feared the Jews. At Alexandria the old enmity was revived between the Jews and heathen, and many fell on both sides, but of the Jews to the number of fifty thousand. The people of Damascus, too, conspired against the Jews of the same city, and assaulting them unarmed, killed ten thousand of them. “That of ‘kingdom against kingdom’ portended the open wars of different tetrarchies and provinces against one another: as that of the Jews who dwelt in Peræa against the people of Philadelphia concerning their bounds, while Cuspius Fadus was procurator; and that of the Jews and Galileans against the Samaritans, for the murder of some Galileans going up to the feast at Jerusalem while Cumanus was procurator; and that of the whole nation of the Jews against the Romans and Agrippa and other allies of the Roman empire, which began while Gessius Florus was procurator.” But as Josephus saith, “There was not only sedition and civil war throughout Judea, but likewise in Italy,” Otho and Vitellius contending for the empire.—“Dissertations,” pages 377, 378.
The other calamities followed in due time. “In the reign of Claudius Cæsar,” says Dr. Keith, “there were different famines. They continued to be severe for several years throughout the land of Judea. Pestilence succeeded them.”
Josephus mentions a great famine at Jerusalem in his testimony to the benevolence of Helena, queen of Adiabene:—
Now her coming was of very great advantage to the people at Jerusalem: for whereas a famine did oppress them at that time, and many people died for want of what was necessary to procure food withal, Queen Helena sent some of her servants to Alexandria with money to buy a great quantity of corn, and others of them to Cyprus to bring a cargo of dried figs.—Josephus’s “Antiquities of the Jews,” Book 20, chap. 2, last par.
It is clear from reliable historical records that earthquakes were frequent in the period between the crucifixion of Christ and the destruction of Jerusalem. We quote:—
“‘And earthquakes, in divers places,’ as particularly that in Crete in the reign of Claudius, mentioned by Philostratus in the life of Apollonius, and those also mentioned by Philostratus at Smyrna, Miletus, Chios, Samos,” in all which places some Jews inhabited; “and those at Rome mentioned by Tacitus; and that at Laodicea, in the reign of Nero, mentioned by Tacitus, which city was overthrown, as were likewise Hierapolis and Colosse; and that in Campania, mentioned by Seneca; and that at Rome in the reign of Galba, mentioned by Suetonius.—Newton’s “Dissertations,” page 379.
Another earthquake which occurred in Judea is thus described by Josephus:—
For there broke out a prodigious storm in the night, with the utmost violence, and very strong winds, with the largest showers of rain, with continual lightnings, terrible thunderings, and amazing concussions and bellowings of the earth. These things were a manifest indication that some destruction was coming upon men, when the system of the world was put into this disorder; and any one would guess that these wonders foreshowed some grand calamities that were coming.—“Wars of the Jews,” Book 4, chap. 4, par. 5.
In Luke’s record of these troublous times, it is declared that “fearful sights and great signs shall there be from heaven.” Some of these “fearful sights and great signs” are recorded by Josephus: a star hung over the city like a sword, and a comet continued a whole year. The people being assembled at the feast of unleavened bread, at the ninth hour of the night a great light shone about the altar and the temple, and this continued for half an hour. At the same feast a cow led to sacrifice brought forth a lamb in the midst of the temple! The eastern gate of the temple, which was of solid brass, and very heavy, and could hardly be shut bytwenty men, and was fastened by strong bars and bolts, was seen at the sixth hour of the night to open of its own accord! Before sunset there were seen, over all the country, chariots and armies fighting in the clouds, and besieging cities. At the feast of pentecost, when the priests were going into the inner temple by night, to attend their service, they heard first a motion and noise, and then a voice, as of a multitude, saying, “Let us depart hence!”
The account given by Josephus of the long-continued warning of destruction in the streets of Jerusalem is of special interest.
Convincing testimony has thus been submitted to show that these words of Jesus recounting the nature of the calamities that would come upon the generation which rejected him had their primary fulfilment in that time preceding the end of the Jewish nation. It is hardly necessary to adduce any testimony to show that these experiences have been repeated in this generation. The “wars and rumors of wars,” and “famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places,” are all within the memory of those who read these lines. The experiences of that time were typical of the experiences of this time; and as they then foreshadowed the end of the Jewish nation, so now they foreshadow the end of the world.

Editorial

By Editor

The great underlying principle of the gospel is that of giving and diffusing. “God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son.” He is the Light that “lighteth every man that cometh into the world.” This great unselfish truth is taught the disciple: “Give, and it shall be given unto you.” “It is more blessed to give than to receive.” The controlling principle of the world is that of withholding. This is seen in selfish pleasure and aggrandizement, in the hoarding of wealth, in the concentration of power and population, and in other means whereby the principles of the gospel are set at naught.

The New Testament Church at Work

By William Ambrose Spicer

Gospel Order—No. 5

The New Testament Church at Work

The growth of the work brought increasing burdens of administrative detail. The whole body of believers were gathered about Jerusalem. There arose murmuring among the Grecians as to the distribution from the common treasury for the needy. Even with the twelve apostles looking after affairs there was chance for oversight or mistakes. But there was no suggestion that the systematic plan of work should be set aside, and that every one should manage independently and without co-operation. That was not the spirit in the church of Christ. Rather, the apostles saw the need of calling in other helpers to share responsibilities, and of strengthening the regular channels for carrying forward the financial side of the gospel work. They proposed the selection of a committee of brethren for this purpose:—
“Then the twelve called the multitude of the disciples unto them, and said, It is not reason that we should leave the word of God, and serve tables. Wherefore, brethren, look ye out among you seven men of honest report, full of the Holy Ghost and wisdom, whom we may appoint over this business.” Acts 6: 2, 3.
“The saying pleased the whole multitude,” and they chose this committee of seven. These were “set before the apostles: and when they had prayed, they laid their hands on them.” The Lord accepted the united decision of the believers, and Stephen, one of the seven, was the first martyr witness. As yet they were not called deacons, so far as the record goes. In the later development of organization we find the office of deacon a regular appointment in the churches.
In this emergency it was the need of the hour that led to the selection of men to the office and work. As conditions arose, the Spirit-guided church was alert to organize its work and appoint men to service as needs were recognized. It is for this that the offices or gifts of the Spirit are placed in the church. The plans agreed upon in the council of the apostles were laid before the believers, so that there was unity in the action taken. And those whom the Lord had ordained to the oversight of the work ordained the seven to their appointed office.
Of the lesson for our day in this record, the spirit of prophecy (with the church now, as in apostolic days, as a guiding voice) says:—
It is necessary that the same order and system should be maintained in the church now as in the days of the apostles. The prosperity of the cause depends very largely upon its various departments being conducted by men of ability, who are qualified for their positions. . . . It is proper for all matters of a temporal nature to come before the proper officers, and be by them adjusted. But if they are of so difficult a character as to baffle their wisdom, they should be carried into the council of those who have the oversight of the entire church.—“Redemption, or the Ministry of Peter and the Conversion of Saul,” pages 20, 30.
The call of Paul to the ministry and apostleship illustrates the Lord’s recognition of the organized body of believers as his representative. By special revelation Christ appeared to Paul, but from his baptism to his ordination to the ministry, and appointment to the work to which he was called, the Lord worked through his appointed agency, the church. The spirit of prophecy draws the lesson of church order in this experience of Paul in these words:—
The Redeemer of the world does not sanction experience and exercise in religious matters independent of his organized and acknowledged church. Many have an idea that they are responsible to Christ alone for their light and experience, independent of his recognized followers on earth. But in the history of the conversion of Saul, important principles are given us, which we should ever bear in mind. He was brought directly into the presence of Christ. . . . He arrested his course and converted him; but when asked by him, “What wilt thou have me to do?” the Saviour placed him in connection with his church, and let them direct him what to do. . . . In this case Ananias represents Christ, and also represents Christ’s ministers upon earth, who are appointed to act in his stead. . . . All is done in the name and by the authority of Christ; but the church is the channel of communication.—“Life of Paul,” pages 31, 32.
As believers sprang up in Antioch, the apostles and church in Jerusalem sent Barnabas to labor there, and Paul joined him. To a number of ministering prophets and teachers, laboring at Antioch, in association with Barnabas and Paul, the word of the Holy Spirit came:—
“Separate me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I have called them.And when they had fasted and prayed, and laid their hands on them, they sent them away. So they, being sent forth by the Holy Ghost, departed.” Acts 13: 1-4.
Thus the Holy Spirit worked through the church and the gifts of ministry set in it, to ordain and commission men to the gospel service. The spirit of prophecy again points the lesson in gospel order:—
Both Paul and Barnabas had been laboring as ministers of Christ, and God had abundantly blessed their efforts; but neither of them had previously been formally ordained to the gospel ministry by prayer and the laying on of hands. They are now authorized by the church, not only to teach the truth, but to baptize, and to organize churches, being invested with full ecclesiastical authority. . . . The brethren in Jerusalem and in Antioch were made thoroughly acquainted with all the particulars of this divine appointment, and the specific work of teaching the Gentiles, which the Lord had given to these apostles. Their ordination was an open recognition of their divine mission, as messengers specially chosen by the Holy Ghost for a special work.—“Life of Paul,” pages 42, 43.
Later, as churches were raised up among the Gentiles, there came in questionings as to teaching and practise, brought about by unauthorized and independent teachers, who went among the churches. This led to the first general conference of the churches to decide upon the matter.
W. A. S.

Our Imperishable Inheritance

By C. M. S.

On Trial for Eternity

A RIGHT conception of immortality should be one of the greatest concerns of our life. A right understanding of what is involved in that word opens to our vision a system of truth complete and glorious. A wrong understanding of it leads us into a system of error whose ramifications are infinite, and all alike lead away from God. From the standpoint of a misconception of immortality, the plainest and most vital truths of God’s Word are spiritualized away, and the mission and work of Christ are misinterpreted and made to appear null and void.
We have spoken of the fall of man through the deceit of the tempter. Two questions arise: From what did he fall? and, What was lost in the fall?
We learn from the first chapter of Genesis that man was made in the image, or likeness, of God. The dominion of the whole earth was given into his hands. Everything that moved upon the earth or in the sky or through the waters of the sea or grew out of the soil was placed under man’s jurisdiction. His commission as world ruler was conferred upon him not merely as a gift, but as a command. “Subdue it,” and “have dominion,” are the words of the Creator sent forth to the head of the human family. And that command carries with it no right to transfer that dominion to another.
Man was secure in the position given him of Heaven unless he should, by act of his own, relinquish it. It is not too much to assert that all the powers of heaven were at man’s service to protect him against the violent usurpation of his dominion by any hostile power. But God himself would not force man’s will. He constituted the soul of man a citadel which he, the Creator of all, would not invade. Man must decide what power was to rule in that citadel. If man chose the rule of his Creator, the dominion would be man’s forever; for the same power that gave the dominion would preserve it and maintain man’s title. But if man refused the rule of heaven and chose the rule of self, Satan, the fallen angel, the enemy of God and heaven, would overpower earth’s sovereign, make man his subject, and rule in his stead. On that choice hung the destiny, not of Adam only, but of the entire race at whose head he stood.
Inspiration, answering its own question as to the original position of man in the earth, says: “Thou madest him a little lower than the angels; thou crownedst him with glory and honor, and didst set him over the works of thy hands: thou didst put all things in subjection under his feet.” Heb. 2:7, 8. Having, therefore, been set over the earth and all things in the earth, it could fittingly be said that all things were gathered together in him, brought together under his control or dominion. “But now,” says the Word, “we see not yet all things subjected to him.” Heb. 2:8. We find that “the first dominion” has passed from under his control, and can be brought back only through the agency of another, as declared in Micah 4:8. And because man thus lost his dominion, it has become necessary to “gather together in one all things in Christ.” The things that were lost through the man Adam, flung outside the purpose of God, are brought back again through man’s Redeemer into the channel of the divine will.
For that work he must step in and succeed where man failed; he must obey where man disobeyed. When the work of creation was completed, God looked upon it all and pronounced it “very good.” That verdict included man. “This only have I found,” says Solomon, “that God made man upright; but they have sought out many inventions.” Eccl. 7:29. Those “inventions” were processes by which man, through the gratification of his own desires as opposed to God’s purpose, brought himself down from the plane upon which the Creator placed him. From being “very good,” he came to be very bad, so that “every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.” Gen. 6:5. Man, made in the likeness of God, through cherishing that evil imagination, lost the likeness of the divine, and became more like the one who tempted him than like the One who created him.
God gave man life, made him a living ruler over a living realm. Until man sinned, there was no declaration from the Creator that man’s life should ever cease. It was not in God’s purpose that it should ever cease; for he says, “I have no pleasure in the death of him that dieth.” Eze. 18:32. It is not conceivable that God should create something that was displeasing to himself. Death is not a child of God, nor a necessary adjunct of his purpose. The warning that God gave to the sinless pair further shows it to have been God’s purpose that man should live forever. He said: “Of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.” The necessary inference is that if they continue obedient forever, they will live forever. Their choice of obedience will necessarily result in everlasting life; while their choice of disobedience God declares will result in death. They were on trial for eternity.
Were they, then, created mortal? Mortal means “subject to death,” “appointed to die.” They were not “subject to death;” for as yet death had no valid claim upon them. They were not “appointed to die;” for they had not transgressed the divine command. They were therefore not created mortal. No judgment of death had been pronounced upon them.
If not created mortal, must they not, then, have been created immortal? Immortal means, “having unending existence; deathless; worthy or fitted to endure.” Its synonyms are “indestructible, incorruptible, indissoluble.” Man was given the right to choose whether he would have “unending existence.” He had not yet made his choice at the time of his creation. In view of the fact that God warned man of the death penalty for disobedience, man was not created “deathless.” Man must determine by his own course of life whether he was “worthy or fitted to endure.” He had not at the time of his creation made that demonstration. The possibility of death—the certainty of death if disobedient—makes it certain that man was not created “indestructible,” or “incorruptible,” or “indissoluble;” for none of those qualities are inherent in any organism that has in it the possibility of death.
It is demonstrated by the foregoing that man was not created either mortal or immortal. He was put upon a planewhere he could choose mortality or immortality. He was a probationer, but in a different sense from what we are, in that we are mortal through the choice he made, whereas he was not yet “appointed to die,” not yet mortal.
But Adam made his choice. Urged on by the tempter, he disobeyed God. Then came the pronouncement, “Dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.” Now, what is his condition? He is not “worthy or fitted to endure;” for in the test he has failed. He is therefore not immortal. Judgment of death has been pronounced upon him; he is “appointed to die.” He is therefore mortal. He has made his choice. The Word speaks of him now as mortal: “Shall mortal man be more just than God?” Job 4:17. “Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body.” Rom. 6:12. “This mortal must put on immortality.” 1 Cor. 15:53. As if to leave no occasion for any one to believe that man now possesses immortality, Inspiration makes this declaration concerning the King of kings and Lord of lords: “Who only hath immortality, dwelling in light unapproachable.”
We are ready now to answer the questions, From what did man fall? and, What was lost in the fall? Man fell from a state of innocency to a state of guilt; from the opportunity of endless living to the certainty of dying; from being the ruler of the world to being a subject of the great fallen angel; from a condition described by the Creator himself as being “very good” to a condition that reflects no credit upon his Maker. He lost the dominion of the world, the approbation of heaven, his own self-respect, and his life. He gained sorrow, misery, degradation, death, and that not only for himself, but for his posterity also as long as time shall last.
An understanding of these facts will enable us to apprehend what the work of Christ for man is and what it does, and will fortify us against the myriads of delusions now prevalent whose purpose is to eliminate Christ entirely from the work of man’s redemption, and leave man without a Saviour, lost in the wilderness of sin. C. M. S.
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