“Jehovah hath established His throne in the heavens; and His kingdom ruleth over all.” Ps. 103:19.
“The law of Jehovah is perfect, restoring the soul.” Ps. 19:7.
“It pleased Jehovah, for His righteousness’ sake, to magnify the law, and make it honorable.” Isa. 42:21.
“The secret things belong unto Jehovah our God; but the things that are revealed belong unto us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law.” Deut. 29:29.
“Surely the Lord Jehovah will do nothing, except He reveal His secret unto His servants the prophets.” Amos 3:7.
With Our Inquirers
By Editor
"If ye will inquire, inquire ye."
[All questions to this department will be answered which to the editors will seem to minister to the good of the readers and to the mission of the paper. The same question can not be answered repeatedly in the same volume. The name and address must accompany question, not for publication, but as an evidence of good faith, and that answer may be made by letter if deemed advisable. It is well always to enclose a stamp for reply.]
Note.—We hope all our inquirers and readers gave attention to the article in our last issue entitled, "Our Bible Band." The Bible Band will begin the first of January, 1908, on a journey together thru the Scriptures. We sincerely hope all our readers will join with us in this. Again we ask you to read the article there set forth, and early respond.
2265.—The Spirit of Christianity.
Of course you will say that the New Testament teaches humility, patience, forgiveness, brotherly love, the golden rule, but does not the article "Equality and Individuality," of July 17, contain a feeling of resentment and retaliation against those who oppose or withhold the rights of their fellows? In short, should not the Christian quietly submit in order to be Christ-like, tho it be hard for human nature to bear?
The article on "Equality and Individuality" is only asking that the government which professes to regard the equality of men shall live according to its profession. It is a discussion, not of individuals, nor is it a reflection upon individuals, but a discussion of principles. It was Jesus Himself who said, "If I have spoken evil, bear witness of the evil; but if well, why smitest thou Me?" It was He who again and again brought before the Pharisees the very principles which they professed, and appealed to them to follow those principles, and so with His apostles. We are endeavoring to do no more than that, but to call the minds of Americans everywhere, whatsoever their belief or condition, to the true principles of liberty and appeal to them to follow those principles. If they will not do it, if they utterly subvert them and set them aside, utterly disregarding the rights of those whose rights should be protected by law, of course the only thing that the Christian can do is to submit and suffer, if need be, but in justice to his fellows he must warn when he sees the evil coming, not for the sake of the Christian, but for the sake of the men who are doing the evil. There certainly is no spirit of resentment in the heart of the one who wrote the article. The man who stands in the right even tho he may be persecuted and cast out for doing right is in far better place than the man who reigns in the wrong.
2266.—The Ten Days of Prayer.
How is it known that the disciples of Christ spent ten days in preparation for the enduement of the Holy Spirit? Acts 2:4. Of what did the preparation consist, specifically?
Forty days after the resurrection of Jesus He ascended. Acts 1:3. Pentecost came on the fiftieth day. Between the time of Christ's ascension and the day of Pentecost, when the Spirit was poured out, was about ten days. During these ten days the disciples were together; from the 14th verse it would seem that they continued steadfastly in prayer. During this time they doubtless talked over all their mistakes, their sins, their failures, their strivings for the highest place, and these things were confessed and put away, until they were all of one accord. Their preparation consisted in getting into harmony with the Lord and putting away differences that might separate them. But it is a very sad mistake for us to make to say that if we seek the Lord together ten days that He will do for us just what He did for them, or that if we will follow any other course that God's children followed when they were blessed that we will be blessed just as they were. The only way for us to do is to do just what God demands of us. The encouragement for us in this experience is that as they sought God and came to be of one mind with Him, He poured out His Spirit upon them. If we will seek God and put away all that separates between us and Him, we certainly may receive of His Spirit. Nor is it necessary for us to wait ten days for that. If there were just exactly ten days spent by them in doing that work, the Lord would have told us; if it was a duty to follow them, He would have told us that. All these examples are given to encourage us, and the many instances of this character are given to encourage all classes. Is it not a good thing to know that our God does not work by mere precedent, but with living principles?
2267.—Unequally Yoked Together.
Admitting the truthfulness of 2 Cor. 6:14-16, does this, or other statements, include a positive assurance that the Christian will lose eternal life by so doing, unless the unbelieving companion become converted?
It is not for us to say how fully one can go contrary to the Scriptures of truth and still be safe. One who would ignore the instruction given in the above scripture is either presumptuous or does not fully understand; his heart has not been fully given to God. There must come a time in the experience of every professed Christian that his whole life is consecrated to God. The Lord will not give His glory to another. If one's life is so consecrated he will not willingly yoke himself with unbelievers. If he does this, sooner or later he must come to that place in his experience where God is everything and all else subsidiary to that. If in that final choice he chooses that with which he has yoked himself in this world instead of God, the outcome is plain. If he chooses God, and the unbeliever does not choose with him, of course that means suffering and trial. For the happiness and good of both, there certainly should not be marriages between Christians and unbelievers.
What is meant by the changing of times, and what was it that was thought to be changed? Also what is the beast, and what is the mark, and what would it be to worship the image?
For the beast, see SIGNS of September 4, page 5, where the beast and his image is set forth; and for the mark of the beast see the SIGNS of September 18, page 5. The change is in the law of God, and in the law of God respecting times; "and he shall think to change the times and the law," the Revised Version reads. The only part of God's law which pertains to time is the Sabbath commandment, and that also pertains to times in the plural, as regards the correct day of the week and as regards the beginning of the days. Both of these have been changed by the apostasy. See the articles referred to.
Please explain the above passage. What is meant by their having damnation because they have cast off their first faith?
The beginning of the passage refers to the widows who are to receive charity from the church. They should be those who are reported of for good works, who in their previous lives had shown themselves to be hospitable, humble in following the ordinances of the church, charitable in relieving the afflicted. Those who should be refused are those who had waxed wanton. The Revised Version reads, "Having condemnation, because they have rejected their first pledge," or faith; that is, when they gave themselves to Christ, they gave themselves to follow Him. Waxing wanton against Christ would indicate that they had turned again to the world, and that of course always brings condemnation. The term damnation in the Common Version carries with it many times a wrong idea. It simply means condemnation, usually eternal or hopeless. When one sins, he is condemned. As long as he abides in sin, he is under condemnation. And so with this class of widows of whom the apostle speaks. "They learn to be idle, . . . tattlers also and busy-bodies." For that very reason he advises that the very best thing they can do is to marry and bear children and tend to their own households. The 16th verse refers to those who have widows among their relatives and are able to care for them themselves, so that the burden shall not rest upon the church.
2270.—Weaker and Wiser.
Is there any place in the Bible which says people will get weaker and wiser?
There is no such scripture. The expression has grown out of two things: first, that the race is not so hardy as it used to be; and, secondly, that there has been a great increase of knowledge in mechanical things, but knowledge is not wisdom, and with the increased knowledge of mechanics and science there may be a deplorable lack of wisdom. The Scriptures define wisdom as the fear of God. Job declares in that wonderful 28th chapter:
"And unto man He said, Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom; And to depart from evil is understanding."
Those who possess such wisdom are ever stronger in the Lord.
2271.—Seed-time and Harvest.
Referring to Gen. 8:22, "Seed-time and harvest . . . shall not cease," how do you harmonize it with the facts in the case? Famines have prevailed and still prevail in many countries thru the failure of harvests, almost since the beginning of time, bringing death to millions upon millions.
And yet the statement is true in a general sense. The Lord did not say that there would be no place in the world where famines would exist. Even in the countries where famines have been the severest, there are nearly always some kinds of crops; the seed-time has been evident, and the harvest has been evident. The text does not speak of the abundance of the harvest, but that just as long as the earth should remain all those things would come, the seasons would follow their regular round; and such has been the case. In the very worst famine conditions there have been seed-time and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night.
2272.—What Is Done Away, or Abolished?
I can not understand 2 Cor. 3:7, 11. What is it that is done away? Is it the law or is it the commandments on stone which are to be written in the heart?
If our inquirer will read the chapter very carefully he will see that it is neither the stone nor the law that is to be done away. The first part of the chapter contrasts two ministrations, one a ministration of mere outward acts, which must always come by man; the other a ministration of the inward. The one a ministration which could only bring the law to the man outwardly as written upon the tables of stone; the other ministration that which writes the law upon the heart. So God had made Paul and the apostles ministers of the new testament in which the law was written by the Spirit of the living God. And yet Paul warns them that this must not come thru themselves, but thru God, that the letter killed even under the new covenant; it was the Spirit which gave life.
Then comes the contrast and the glory, and note that it is the glory that passes away, and the glory that is abolished, and not the thing which brought the glory. Note that the ministration of death, the coming of the law outwardly, that which revealed to man that he was a poor, wretched sinner, possessed glory; but to the poor sinner it was the glory of condemnation. The Spirit came with great glory and wrote that law which condemned on the heart; the glory of condemnation passed away in the glory of justification.
The ministry of condemnation had glory, but the3ministry of righteousness which wrote the law on the heart exceeded that in glory, so that the glory of the latter made the former without glory, because of the glory that surpasseth. And then he used the illustration of Moses and his experience. Moses had the greater glory, the glory of condemnation had been shined away by the glory of the law written in his heart, but the children of Israel saw simply the condemnation, and would not look thru the condemnation to the putting away of sin, consequently their hearts were hardened so that the very glory shining from Moses' face condemned them, and they asked that a veil be put before his face so as not to cause them to fear. That veil represented their unbelief. If we will come to God with unveiled faces, if we are willing to see the condemnation, put away the sin which brings the condemnation, and accept of the Lord Jesus Christ, He by His grace and righteousness will take away the condemnation and give us the greater glory of justification, writing upon our hearts that very law which condemned, so that it will no longer be without, but within.
2273.—Day in the Far North.
I am asked the question as to how the people of the far North, where the sun shines for days and is hidden for days, can keep account of the days of the week and observe the Sabbath.
We have conversed with people who have been as far north as it is possible for humans to live, who say there is no trouble whatever in keeping track of the days. There are Sabbath-keepers in the very north of Norway who have no trouble in observing the Sabbath, any more than others who are there have trouble in observing the Sunday.
2274.—The Millennium.
In your tract, "The Temporal Millennium," on page 4 you hold that the millennial reign with Christ, brought to view in Revelation 20, is not on earth, but in heaven. How do you explain Rev. 5:9, 10 and 21:2? Does it not say that the bride of Christ, His saints, represented in the New Jerusalem, being the seat of authority or capital of the Jews, the ruling class, comes down out of heaven, and is it not reasonable to suppose that it remains in the earth, there to reign with the Head and Husband, Christ Jesus?
The bride of Christ as set forth in Revelation 21 is not the saints, but the city, the capital of the kingdom, so in the 4th chapter of Galatians it is said that Jerusalem which is above is the mother of us all. Christ is the everlasting Father, the saints are the children. It is a highly proper figure to represent the glorious capital of that everlasting kingdom as the bride. When Christ comes the earth is desolated, as depicted in Isaiah 24. His saints are taken with Him to heaven, as shown in John 14:1-3; 1 Thess. 4:14-18. There John sees them before the throne. Rev. 14:1-5. The earth during this time lies desolate, enjoying the Sabbaths which sin has refused it during its habitation by man. At the end of that time, Christ and the saints and the city descend. The earth is beautified and fitted for the eternal home of man. Then Rev. 5:9, 10 will be fulfilled, that God's children shall reign in the earth, and all the other blessed promises that are given in the same line. But during that time of judgment of the wicked they are with Christ in the New Jerusalem above.
2275.—Birthday of Christ.
Could you give me any light on the subject as to whether Christ was born on the 9th of September? The Jews all around me celebrated that day as being the birthday of Christ, and the sixteenth of September as New Year's Day. I know that the 25th of December is not His birthday. It is also said that there is a peculiar star seen in the East at this very time of the year, the star that guided the wise men.
There must be some mistake on the part of the Jews celebrating the birth of Christ. That is something of which we never heard. No one knows when Christ's birthday was; it was probably some time in autumn. His ministry lasted three and one-half years, closing with the time of the Passover. He therefore ministered six months before the first Passover, mentioned in the second chapter of John. The Passover came in the spring of the year, March or April; His ministry began six months before that, when He was about thirty years of age. Six months previous to March would bring us into September sometime. It was probably in September or October that Jesus was born. But the very fact that the birthday is not revealed to us is an indication on the part of the Lord that He does not want us to observe a day in commemoration of the birth of Christ; it is the whole life that He asks.
2276.—"The Rest of the Dead Lived Not Again." Rev. 20:5.
Is it true that this expression from Rev. 20:5 is not in the oldest manuscripts, as is stated by the book called "The Millennial Dawn"?
This question has been answered by the SIGNS again and again. The Millennial Dawn has a case to make in endeavoring to show that probation extends after Christ comes, that the heathen world will be again given the opportunity of embracing Christ, and much more that is unscriptural. Among the scriptures which stand in the way of some of its erroneous teachings is that of Rev. 20:5, "The rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished." There are one or two of the old manuscripts that omit this text, the same as they omit others, in all probability by mistake; but none of the best Biblical critics so far as we are aware have ever questioned the text. It is also found in some of the oldest manuscripts, and no indication whatsoever that it came in as a gloss or was copied in. It is just as much a part of the text as any of the rest of the book of Revelation. We do not wonder that our correspondent writes that several of his acquaintances are in great darkness on account of the contents of that book. We would say that in the early part of the year there were five or six articles written in the Review and Herald on the Millennial-Dawn idea by Elder Thompson. It would do these souls good to read those articles. A right conception of God's character, of God's government, of the Gospel, of Christ's work as priest, would forever settle all these unscriptural theories which the Millennial Dawn writers have endeavored to make so enticing.
Please explain Isa. 45:7, "I make peace; and create evil."
The term evil is not always used in the sense of sin, but of judgment and calamity which follow wrong-doing. So Amos 3:6, "Shall evil befall a city, and Jehovah hath not done it?" It is used here in the sense of judgment which comes upon those who persist in sin.
2278.—Holy Kiss.
Was it a command from Christ to "greet one another with an holy kiss," as found in the New Testament in quite a number of places?
It was an injunction of Christ thru His apostles. If you will read John 14:15, 16, you will see that Christ gave authority to His apostles to teach, and told them that if the people would hear His words they would hear theirs also, that as the Father sent Him so He sent them.
Burousse von Sotterer, Who Is Frequently Mentioned in Reports from The Hague Peace Conference.
