Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Jun 25, 1872
The Affections.
By M. E. Cornell
[The following article from the Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge, published in the Review in 1865, seems worthy of being re-published. The earnest, striving ones will read it carefully.
M. E. CORNELL.]
Affections. With many, says Buckminster, there is, perhaps, too much of a disposition to reduce Christianity to a barren system of rational truths. They are apt to make it a mere collection of specific statutes, like a civil or criminal code, in which the precise amount of obligation, and limit of transgression, may be clearly ascertained. Men of inquisitive and speculative minds, are in peculiar danger of preferring the exercise of the understanding to that of the heart, and thus of rendering the light of religion little more than a cold coruscation, which imparts no warmth to the region of the affections. But (he adds), when we consider how important a part of our constitution the affections are, and how much they do in ultimately determining the character of the man, you cannot suppose that religion is the only subject from which the exercise of them is to be excluded. When we consider, too, the infinite sublimity of religious truths, the influence they have on human happiness here, and on man's expectations for eternity, surely it cannot be that he, who is impassioned on every other subject, may be always lukewarm on this; that the affections, which glow in every other sphere, must lose all their warmth as soon as they touch the region of theology. If it were enough merely to believe, we might believe as well in a malevolent, as in a gracious, being. If it were enough to know the sanctions and admit the obligations of a law, the character of the lawgiver would be of no consideration. If it were enough to keep the commandments according to the barren letter of the moral code, surely the first commandment would have been more than superfluous—Thou shalt love the Lord thy God, with all thy heart, soul, mind, and strength. But it is not sufficient that the actions be merely admitted into religion. If they are allowed to enter it at all, they must enter it largely. If God is to be loved, he is to be loved supremely. If Jesus, though absent and invisible, is yet our Saviour and friend, he demands an attachment, on our part, stronger than death, which many waters cannot quench, nor floods drown. If the soul is worth anything, it is inestimable; you cannot love it too dearly. If the interest of any reaches beyond this earthly scene, it spreads throughout eternal duration. It should move our feelings, as well as our thoughts. There cannot be awakened too deep a sensibility for the immortal welfare of a being who is susceptible of innumerable gradations of bliss and wretchedness.
Let it be admitted that the Scriptures are written in the language of orientals, and abound in phrases and expressions of such passionate hyperbole, as seem, to the colder and more chastised imaginations of the western world, like the language of exaggerated feeling.
But, with all this allowance, and it is great, they cannot be made to describe a religion which exists only in the head. There is not a worthy passion, which silently pervades, or tumultuously agitates the breath of man, that has not been enlisted in the cause of God, and encouraged in the Scriptures. Hope, the most animated of the affections, is, in our religion the ruling spring of ineffable happiness. “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who, according to his abundant mercy, hath begotten us again unto a lively hope, by the resurrection of Jesus from the dead.” The most impatient desires of religious improvement are represented as a part of the Christian character: “Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness.” “Let him that is athirst come, and I will give unto him the waters of life freely.”
Joy enters largely into the Christian temper, “For the fruit of the Spirit is love and joy.” Sorrow, deep, piercing, and humiliating, is not excluded. “Blessed are they that mourn, for they shall be comforted;” “and the sacrifices of God are a broken spirit.” Gratitude is a vital principle of religious obedience; and compassion is a sentiment so essential to religion that it has even given a name to the righteous; and a merciful man is equivalent to a good man. “I will have mercy and not sacrifice,” was the passage so dear to our compassionate Saviour. Zeal, too, is not to be rejected for its abuses, if Christ, when he gave himself for us, intended, not only to redeem us from iniquity, but “to purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.” To these Christian affections need not be added the comprehensive one of love, for it is not only represented as the source, attendant, and result of true religion, but it is, in numerous passages, commended as the substance and epitome of duty, the fulfilling of the law, the end of the commandment. From this enumeration we may understand that religion is not a bare comprehension of truths, not the knowledge and remembrance of facts, not the confession of a faith, or the observation of duties formally defined; but it is a celestial spirit, which mingles with and informs us of all our duties, in secret and in public, which agitates the mass of our intellectual and moral faculties, which discovers itself in fears and hopes, joys and sorrows, gratitude and humiliation, earnestness and all-hallowed love.
And why is it that in religion alone, things spiritual and invisible are to have no command over the affections? Is not this theory perpetually disproved by every observation of man's ruling passion? The metaphysician becomes extravagantly fond of his obscure and lofty speculations. The mathematician is in raptures with the beauty of a theorem, of which the world sees nothing but the lines and angles. The artist glows with imaginations of ideal beauty. The man of taste has his fancies and his fondnesses, and discerns and loves a thousand inexpressible delicacies, impalpable to ordinary minds. And has religion nothing to elevate the soul, nothing to absorb the thought, to summon the passions, to make men feel? Because God cannot be seen, shall he be, therefore, excluded from our affections? The single circumstance, that God is not the object of any one of our senses, is abundantly compensated by the consideration that he is never absent from us; that he compasseth continually our path and our lying down, and that we cannot remove a step from the sphere of his presence; that every sigh which escapes us reaches his ear, and not an affectionate movement springs up in our hearts, to which he is not intuitively attentive. The faintest glow of gratitude, which lights up the countenance, shines before his eyes, and the least cloud of godly sorrow, which passes over the brow, sends its shade to the throne of God, encompassed as it is with “undiminished brightness.”
That man may well be suspected who takes an active interest in every event that transpires, is busy in every project that is ever undertaken, but in religion only is idle, inattentive, and incredulous. Such a man is not to plead that his feelings are not easily excited, or that his constitutional temperament is lukewarm; and one would think that, if he were dead to every other sentiment, the immense interest, which he himself has at stake in eternity, and the still greater interest of a whole world of living souls, to whom religion is all-important, would rouse every latent spark of passion in his breast, and suffer him not to rest in the cause of God till the affections themselves were quenched in the flood of death.
The causes that modify the exercise of the affections in different minds are extremely numerous, and some of them we proceed to consider. (1) The external exhibition of a man's religious feelings depends much on his religious temperament. (2) The religious affections are also considerably modified by the difference of the doctrines embraced. (3) The affections, also, are modified by the metaphysical direction of religious inquiries.
But there are pursuits of life and habits of mind which repress, and others which utterly destroy, the religious affections; which freeze the current of the soul's best feelings, and leave us but a name to live, while we are dead. Among these last must be reckoned worldly and avaricious pursuits. “If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.”
Another destroyer of the religious affections is the love of pleasure. There are two classes of men that are governed by the love of pleasure; the gay and fickle, who are ever lost in the rapid succession of amusements; and the sensual, who are forever plunged in gross and criminal enjoyments. But the love of pleasure and the love of God are irreconcilable. They are at continual war; and they never can divide the empire of the same breast. “She that liveth in pleasure is dead while she liveth.” 1 Tim. 5: 6.
II. In Rom. 8: 5, the apostle divides all mankind into two great classes, carnal and spiritual: “They that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit, the things of the Spirit.” Franck, in his Guide to the reading and study of the Scriptures, lays down the following characteristics:
CHARACTERISTICS OF SPIRITUAL AFFECTIONS.
1. A spiritual affection has for its source, the Holy Spirit, and is the fruit of its influence.
2. A spiritual affection tends to a holy end.
3. A spiritual affection is engaged on objects that are divine, eternal, spiritual, and invisible.
4. A spiritual affection, when engaged on sensible objects, is not employed on them as such; but only so far as they have relation to those which are unseen.
5. A spiritual affection is grounded on faith and love. When these do not operate, affections cease to be spiritual.
6. A spiritual affection influences the subject of it to seek, not himself nor his personal convenience, as such, but God and his glory.
7. A spiritual affection overcomes a carnal affection, though the latter be otherwise very violent.
8. A spiritual affection is always connected with humility. The instant the mind is elated, affections become carnal.
9. A spiritual affection excites no perturbation in the mind, nor does it leave behind it any bitterness. It rather assists in the regulation of the soul, receiving every dispensation with complacency, and acquiescing in God with joy.
10. A spiritual affection tends to the amelioration of nature, the increase of grace, and the edification of mankind; having no object but the glory of God.
CHARACTERISTICS OF CARNAL AFFECTIONS.
1. A carnal affection, as it is opposed to those which are spiritual, has nature for its source, and is destitute of grace.
2. A carnal affection has, for its end, the temporal preservation and amendment of nature, or it refers all things to pleasure; and, particularly, seeks such pleasures not in mental peace, but personal convenience, and this, often under a pretext of duty.
3. A carnal affection is engaged on objects that are corporeal, local, temporal, and sensitive.
4. A carnal affection, if engaged upon spiritual objects, does not dwell on them as such; neither with righteous views, nor in a consistent manner; but only so far as they have relation to private gratification or convenience.
5. A carnal affection receives its existence and support from perverse self-love.
6. A carnal affection gives the preference to things naturally pleasing, though others may approximate more nearly to real excellence.
7. A carnal affection gradually disturbs the mind when it is at all indulged, rendering it incapable of investigating truth, or performing righteous actions, and it leaves a degree of bitterness in the mind, proportioned to the strength of the affection. Cicero justly used to term them “the perturbations of the mind.”
8. A carnal affection has always a degree of pride in it, though it is oft very subtle. As long as this has place in the mind, carnal affections are not put off.
9. A carnal affection often induces a visible change of the body.
Although the carnal affections are, by these characteristics, separated from the spiritual affections, we are not thence to conclude that they are so separated in the heart of a renewed person, as that the former never mingles with the latter. On the contrary, the believer's daily strife is to be more and more delivered from the sinful affections of carnal nature. It is according to the reigning affection, that a man is denominated carnal or spiritual. It were impious to ascribe any mixture of good and bad affections to the Holy Spirit; though we cannot deny that sacred affections show themselves in a sanctified nature, by external and natural indications.
III. That an acquaintance with the doctrine of the affections is an essential requisite-10in the exposition of the Scriptures, may be proved from reason: for (1) the affections of love, hatred, desire, hope, fear, joy, sorrow, &c., are frequently to be met with in holy writ. It is evident, therefore, that were we ignorant of these affections, we should be inadequate to the exposition of no inconsiderable part of the sacred writings. (2) When no affections are expressed, we must necessarily consider them implied; and that every sentence is of their dictation. (3) Without a knowledge of these emotions, who can inspect the abyss of the human heart, and the depth of those feelings by which it is agitated? And without forming correct ideas of the affections which it is proposed to imitate, how shall man, who is carnal, “put them on”? (4) The nature of discourse confirms the position. The words of Christ in Matt. 12: 34, 35, decidedly evidence that unless some affection influenced the heart, language would not be uttered; so that a man's words are, in fact, the index of his feelings or affections.
Since then the affections are so intimately connected with all language, none will suppose that they are banished from the writings of the inspired penman; and, because they are closely united with the language of inspiration, it follows that the sacred records cannot be adequately expounded by those who are satisfied with the mere shell and contemn the precious kernel of Scripture; who watch the lips, but never enter into the feelings of the inspired penman.
It forms no solid objection to our views of the subject, that many commentators neglect this point of exposition, and pass it over in silence. This consideration is abundantly overruled, by opposing to it the high authorities that have advocated the study of the affections. Luther, for example, says, “Whoever adopts it, will, I am satisfied, learn more of himself than he can gather from all commentaries united. An expositor should, as it were, invest himself with the author's mind, in order that he may interpret him as another self.” It might be added, that those persons are usually but indifferent examiners of the Scriptures, who, in searching into their meaning, depend, partially, or entirely, on authority. It evidences, as Bernard has observed, that they do not read the word in the Spirit, under whose influence it was written.
Besides, a consequence deduced from the ignorance or negligence of commentators, can avail nothing against the doctrine. It is indeed to be lamented that very few are solicitous to ascertain the spiritual meaning of the sacred writings; but are anxious rather to be diffuse on critical, controverted, and difficult points, where there is a wider field for the range of natural intellect. This inattention to the affections is a main reason why some commentaries are so meager and unsatisfactory to spiritual readers, who, with a view to personal edification, search after the mind of the Spirit, and the revelation of the divine image. A comment, written without adverting to the affections, is so only in name and form.
THE BEAUTIFUL CITY.
Far, far away, amid realms of light,
Hid deep in the azure beyond our sight,
Stands a beautiful city so high and bright,
Where is known no sorrow nor death nor night:
Beautiful City!
O blest abode! O home of God!
Whose streets by the feet of the sinless are trod.
They roam through the gardens of endless spring;
They crowd all the portals on rushing wing;
While the echoing domes of the palace ring
With the hymns of the angels that shout and sing.
Beautiful City!
Hark! hark, again! the angelic strain,
As gleams through the crystal that burnished train.
There the life-fires brighten and burn and roll
Over diamonds that sparkle, o’er sands of gold;
Where to breathe the sweet air yields a bliss untold,
And the dwellers immortal shall never grow old.
Beautiful City!
We pierce the skies with longing eyes,
And yearn to inherit the golden prize.
It is said that the King in his power sublime,
When the last sands drop from the glass of Time,
And our world shall be robed in her Eden prime,
Will bring down that city to gladden earth’s clime:
Beautiful City!
Bright capital where saints will dwell,
And reign on the throne with Immanuel!
As jewels flash on the brow of a queen,
As the jasper and ruby in crowns are seen,
God’s city, wrapped in its silver sheen,
Will be set like a gem in the new earth’s green.
Beautiful City!
City of flowers and peaceful bowers!
Come down and illumine this dark world of ours!
I have heard in that city they wait for me;
That its gates stand open wide and free;
That the ransomed the King in his beauty may see,
And live in his presence eternally.
Beautiful City!
In royal state, blest mansions wait,
And beckon us on through the pearly gate.
I shall go where the summer will always bloom;
I shall walk no more amid silence and gloom;
I shall bid farewell to the withering tomb;
I shall deck my brow with the conqueror’s plume.
Beautiful city!
Let us enter in, a crown to win!
Our words but half tell of the glory within.
More Consecration.—No. 2.
By E. B. Saunders
The Bible plainly teaches that there is a divine power called the Holy Spirit, which can affect and control the believer, and lead him to a knowledge of the truth, and also give him power to overcome his faults, and to serve God in an acceptable manner. Again we are plainly taught that there is an evil spirit in the hearts of the children of disobedience, and that this spirit does influence, control, and lead some to hate God, his word, ways, people, and in fact everything that is pure and holy; while those under its influence sink lower than the brute creation in morality, both in precept and practice. And in the word of God, those the most completely under the control of this evil spirit are represented as being possessed of the devil.
Now, it used to be a great wonder to my boyish mind how evil spirits could enter into one and possess them, till the so-called sciences of mesmerism and psychology seemed to throw light on the subject. It is well known that some peculiar minds are subject to control by other minds, so that objects, desires, or impressions, in one mind will be seen or felt in the other. Now the fallen angels are far wiser than poor, fallen man. They doubtless have superior minds and can control weak man by an effort of the will, while they are unseen by mortal eyes, and more so if the angels of God do not interfere to prevent their power.
The inhabitants of this fallen world are Satan’s lawful subjects. They have rebelled against the government of God, and become the servants of Satan, the arch traitor of Heaven; and the dominion which God had given man passed into the hands of Satan, and he became the god of this world.
In mesmerism, the subject must yield the mind and will to the control of the will or mind of the operator; so in spiritualism, there must be a giving up of the will to the control of so-called spirits, till in some cases the mind is too much shattered to govern itself when it becomes really possessed of the evil spirit. Nothing but the wonderful power of God can break the strong fetters binding such an one, and when it is done, it should be called what it really is, a miracle.
Now all the unbelieving are in a great degree under the control of Satan. His powerful mind can mesmerize them, and lead them to any act of disobedience or cruelty he may devise, unless restrained by the Spirit of God. Any thus subject to the control of evil angels are regarded in the Bible as children of the devil; for they do works instigated by him.
The angels of God have a similar power to affect minds and control the saints, if they will yield themselves to obey fully all that God requires. The angels are called “ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation.” They are not to control the individual against his will, nor will they influence a person who loves sin and whose heart rises up in opposition to the will of God. But when there is perfect submission of the heart to do anything that God requires, be it ever so crossing, and a sincere prayer in our heart for aid from the Spirit of God, then the angels will come to our help, and our minds will be a reflection of their pure minds, and we can but feel that the dark stains of sin and love for evil are all taken away; and the same intense longing to please God, obey, love, and adore, him will be felt, that angels feel. And this feeling of harmony with God’s ways, and love to him, will increase with every act of self-denying consecration the child of God may perform.
And when the spirit of evil seems to cover the earth like a thick cloud, the Spirit of God will be poured out wonderfully upon his believing children, and signs and wonders will be wrought in the name of the Lord.
When the Spirit of God thus rests upon the saint of God, the peace and joy that fills the heart is inexpressible. Language utterly fails to fully express it. Perhaps it is similar to the joy angels feel in doing the will of God, and to the joy of the redeemed in glory. It elevates and ennobles the saint. He feels lifted above his besetments, and sins long fought against lie prostrate beneath his feet; and in grateful praise he gives glory to God for having given him the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
It may be objected that the Holy Spirit is a person, or one person, having the personal pronouns “he” and “him,” and consequently must be a personal being. But the obtaining of the Holy Spirit is an individual work; and an individual consecration is necessary to obtain it, and for this reason he or him may be used to designate it, or the angel of any person, through whose ministration it is received.
The power of Satan is such that no one can overcome his besetments, or get the victory over sin in his own strength. It can be obtained only by getting the help God may give through the angels, and it can only be obtained by yielding our wills and subjecting ourselves to the will of God.
When we thus yield our own stubborn wills to the will of God, to be led by his Spirit, and pure and holy affections have taken the place of the carnal or fleshly desires, we become the children of God. Having once been children of Satan, because the carnal mind, influenced by evil angels governed us, or led us, so now we become the children of God when our minds are renewed by the Holy Spirit, and through faith we are adopted into his family. Then it is, that the spirit of adoption will cause us to feel that we are his, and he is ours, and we with confidence can say, Abba, Father.
Dear brethren, my poor, feeble pen cannot do justice to this subject, and I leave it, hoping that you will ponder well upon these hints; and let us ever remember that unless we have the Spirit of God in our hearts, we are none of his. Our forms of religion will do us no good, unless we get out of this lukewarm state. We can never enter our Father’s house in Heaven if we live at this poor, dying rate. Be entreated to seek conversion. Seek the Spirit of God, and seek meekness, to be led by the angels of God.
E. B. SAUNDERS.
Locke, N. Y., June 13, 1872.
Whither Are they Drifting?
By Chas. Stratton
For more than twenty years, I was associated with the Christian denomination, attended their business meetings, and was therefore well acquainted with their principles and practices.
The founders were men of sterling worth. They would not yield the prominent points of doctrine on which their faith was built, though their lives should pay the forfeit.
The literal resurrection from the dead and baptism by immersion, were always strongly contested points with other sects who did not believe thus.
I have good reasons for believing that a lamentable change has taken place within a few years. I will state some of them. A popular minister, who has been preaching to a Christian church in a large village near by, was called out into the country to preach a funeral sermon. He attempted to tell us what man was, and in doing so said that the real man was moving about in this tenement, or vehicle, which he rode in, but when he changed this life for the higher life, he would leave this vehicle, because he would have no more use for it, and that he himself had long since got gloriously over the idea of a resurrection of these old bodies.
Another instance of departure from their faith, which I did not witness, but received from good authority, surprised me even more.
A lady, whom the Christian church wished to join them, and who, it seems, desired to do so, could not consent to be immersed. She preferred sprinkling. The minister said this was not their mode of baptism; but if sprinkling would satisfy the sister’s conscience, they ought be clever and administer it. He did so, and she united with the church.
I will here give an extract from a tract written by D. P. Pike, on baptism, who edited the Christian paper for a long time:
“Look at the brightness of the Father’s glory and the express image of his person, entering the river Jordan, and bowing beneath its waters, the emblem of his future grave. This should silence every objection to the practice of immersion. If the sight of Christ in Jordan is not sufficient, let us see the Holy Ghost descending, and hear the Father testify in approbation upon his submission to this sacred rite.
“Never was an ordinance so honored. Here is a dignity given to it infinitely exceeding any of the rites of the Old Testament. The blessed Redeemer submits to be baptized. The Father, at the instant of his rising from the water, calls him his beloved Son, in whose conduct he is well pleased; and the divine Spirit, at the same instant, descends upon him in a visible form.
How overwhelming to have witnessed this scene. Nothing since the commencement of time has equaled in sublimity and glory this wonderful event. Who that loves Christ can refuse to walk in his footsteps?”
Whether this extract is all truth or not, it shows his attachment to the right mode of baptism. How fast apostasy is creeping into the churches! We are led to inquire, What next? We do know that at length and at last the churches that reject the third angel’s message will be overwhelmed with error and sink to rise no more. I rejoice that the cry was ever heard, Come out of her, my people. It is a fearful thing to turn away from the last message of mercy. May the Lord help me to obey it.
CHAS. STRATTON.
The Coming of Christ.
By S. S. Griswold
BY S. S. GRISWOLD.
Do THE Scriptures teach the doctrine of the personal advent of Christ, or his bodily return to our earth? and if so, that such advent is near at hand?
The doctrine of the second coming of Christ is one which has agitated the world much during quite a portion of the Christian era. Like some other great questions, it has had its ebbings and flowings, its periods of agitation, and its times of rest. During the last thirty or more years, it has assumed large proportions, and laid claim to an importance second only to that of the final salvation of a greater or less number of mankind. Its behests, and those of its corresponding beliefs, have demanded the most implicit faith in its doctrines, so that many of its disciples have been paralyzed with respect to all efforts of a worldly character, and also to those of religion, except to be in readiness to meet the Lord in the air. Men have stood gazing up into heaven (the atmosphere surrounding our earth; for according to the theory, there is no other heaven on our earth), momentarily expecting to see the Lord coming in the clouds of heaven—literally in the condensed vapors of the atmosphere—while the most common phenomena of nature have been converted into signs of the divine epiphany. The Christian mind has been distracted, the church of Christ divided and rent asunder, and in the reaction, skepticism, infidelity, and atheism, have been increased. That such a doctrine demands thoughtful consideration, few will deny.
That the Scriptures abundantly speak of a “coming of the Son of man,” and a “coming of the Lord,” will not be questioned. Such a belief has ever been the faith of the church in all ages. Christ himself foretold his coming, and his apostles taught the same. The early Christians universally believed it, and modern Christians all firmly adhere to that belief.
On this fact all agree. But it is the manner of Christ's coming in which we disagree. By one class of Christians, it is maintained that Christ will return to this earth bodily, literally in the clouds of heaven—the atmosphere, that his advent will be announced by the sounding of a trumpet, literally, accompanied by the voice of an archangel, the resuscitation of the11actual bodies of the dead, the vaulting of a white throne, the sitting thereon of the Judge, the assembling of all that have lived on the earth, their final Judgment, the universal conflagration of this world, and the burning up of the wicked. All this is to transpire literally; and those events are near at hand. Such is a general outline of those doctrines which are now proposed to be considered, the first of which, viz., the second coming of Christ, is first in order to be considered.
The phrase, “the second coming of Christ,” is probably founded on a text in Hebrews 9: 28, the only place where a numeral is used in connection with Christ's coming, if we except John 21: 14, where a third appearance, or coming, of Christ is mentioned, which would go to show that his second coming, or appearance, had previously taken place. This fact seems to be overlooked by those who hold to what they call the second coming of Christ; for how could there have been the third appearance without a previous second appearance? The second coming of Christ, then, has already taken place, that event having transpired soon after his resurrection, during the forty days he was at times seen by chosen witnesses; for Christ was not seen by the people generally, but by such as were chosen of God before, to whom was vouchsafed the privilege, and whose spiritual eyes were couched expressly for that purpose. See Acts 10: 41.
Whatever, therefore, may be the manner or nature of any future advent of Christ, it cannot be the second in numerical order, nor the third, however it may be the fourth, or any following number.
Admitting, therefore (as we probably shall not), that the appearances of Christ after his resurrection were bona fide bodily appearances of real flesh, blood, and bones, it will follow that Christ's bodily return to our earth has already taken place, as his third is definitely mentioned in John 21: 14, and consequently his second must have preceded it. And it follows, further, that the appearing mentioned in Hebrews 9: 28, cannot therefore be his second coming in person, but the passage refers to another kind of appearing, or coming, a spiritual appearing, or coming, which is evidently the true meaning, as any one can see by reading the whole of the chapter, where it speaks of a holy place not made with hands, &c., spiritual places, and hence the appearing of Christ the second time, as mentioned there, was a spiritual appearing, which is the obvious sense of the passage.
If the above be true, then the second coming of Christ, numerically considered, as referring to his personal coming, is not taught in the Scriptures, and the parading of the numeral for the purpose of contrasting it with his first coming, viz., the incarnation, as indicating the manner of any future coming, is calculated to mislead, and hence should be dropped.
Before entering upon the direct examination of the proposition, it may be well to notice some expressions in the Old Testament which may aid us somewhat in our pursuit.
Reference is frequently made in the Old Testament to a coming of the Lord, where no personal appearance was meant; but an unfolding of some providential event more or less special. The phrases, “the day of the Lord,” “the coming of the Lord,” and like expressions, are never, I think, used in the Old Testament as indicating any personal appearance of Jehovah, but usually refer to some special judgments or mercies to be sent upon nations or individuals by the divine Providence. The burden of Babylon, described in the thirteenth chapter of Isaiah, is portrayed in language as equally graphic as any used in the New Testament, describing the coming of Christ, and yet there was no personal coming of the Lord. “Behold, the day of the Lord cometh, cruel both with wrath and fierce anger, to lay the land desolate; and he shall destroy the sinners out of it. For the stars of heaven and the constellations thereof shall not give their light; the sun shall be darkened in his going forth, and the moon shall not cause her light to shine.” “And I will shake the heavens, and the earth shall be removed out of her place.”
In the fulfillment of the above prophecy concerning Babylon, the Lord did not come in person, neither were the sun, moon, and stars, darkened, nor the earth removed out of her place. And yet who doubts the complete fulfillment of that prophecy on Babylon?
In the 34th chapter of Isaiah, there is still, if possible, a more terrible description of a judgment on Idumea. “Mountains shall be melted with their blood, . . . the host of heaven shall be dissolved, and the heavens shall be rolled together as a scroll; and all their hosts shall fall down. . . . The sword of the Lord is filled with blood, it is made fat with fatness.” It was to be bathed in heaven; for it was the day of the Lord's vengeance; the streams of the country were to be turned into pitch, and the dust into brimstone, and the land to become burning pitch—not to be quenched night nor day; the smoke was to go up forever. Such was the language used describing the destruction of Idumea, language as equally terrible as that used by Peter when foretelling the supposed conflagration of our earth.
In Joel 2: 28–32, we read: “And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions; and also upon the servants and upon the handmaids in those days will I pour out my Spirit. And I will show wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke. The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and the terrible day of the Lord come.”
Now we are assured by an inspired apostle, Peter, that the above prophecy had its fulfillment on the day of Pentecost. And yet the sun was not darkened, nor the moon turned into blood. No more terrible or alarming description of the supposed burning of the world is found in the New Testament.
I have selected the above from the Old Testament to show how the sacred writers used language when portraying the judgments of God upon nations, all of which found their fulfillment in the administration of the divine government on the earth. There was no personal appearance of God, no falling of stars, nor blotting out of the sun, nor was the earth removed out of her place. Many more similar expressions might be mentioned, but the above will suffice for the present. In my next, I shall come directly to the examination of the New Testament, respecting the supposed personal coming of Christ to our earth.
(To be continued.)
Our School.
By A. Smith
THE movement for the organization of a denominational school among us, as a people, is evidently well-timed, and will doubtless meet with the hearty approval and support of the church. I do not look upon the movement as a practical denial of our faith. Were the period of our Lord's advent deferred for a few years, the want of such an institution would be seriously felt. On the other hand, if his coming should occur within one year, I think there are still advantages to be reaped from such a movement that would compensate for all the forethought and labor it would impose.
Among these advantages, I would mention as the first, and perhaps the most important, the attention and inquiry it would elicit concerning the moral status of our public schools and seminaries, and the danger of intrusting our children and youth to the baneful influence of such associations. Any one at all acquainted with our common schools, is aware that the influence of its associations is terrible upon the morals of our children, and although home discipline and instruction may, in a measure, fortify their minds against its power, yet the evil cannot thus be fully met and overcome.
Attention having been called to this subject, plans will doubtless be devised and efforts made by all our people to shield their children from the corrupting influence of the profligate associations of the young of this generation.
The second advantage to be gained, will be the calling into use for a sacred purpose means that otherwise might be employed in worldly pursuits and speculations, and be finally consumed at the last day. If we come up nobly at every point, and put our shoulder to the burden, I do not think that the Lord will measure the merit of our efforts by the period he may call them into exercise.
Many, through the assistance such a school would afford, would be led to devote their lives to the Lord's work, who otherwise would not entertain the thought, through a sense of their incompetency.
Although the heart of the work will be at Battle Creek, I confidently expect it will quickly assume proportions that will enable it to extend branches into all our churches of large membership, for the instruction of children and such as cannot avail themselves of a course of study at Battle Creek.
Among the gifts to the church are not only apostles, prophets, &c., but also teachers. I do not know why young ladies could not qualify themselves, by a course of study at Battle Creek, to serve as teachers of select schools in our large churches, giving instruction in the common and higher branches of English, and in the principles of our faith and hope.
I have thus briefly expressed my thoughts upon the subject, and the matter is doubtless still open for discussion. From the mass of opinion thus collected, a plan may be formed that will carry with it the force of universal approval. A. SMITH.