p. 136 | Signs of the Times, Vol. 37, No. 9. (3/1/1910)

The Future of the Earth — What It Is to Be

By Emma Hildreth Adams

By Mrs. Emma Hildreth Adams

This is a question of intense interest to every earnest, thoughtful Bible student, to every true child of God.

Of himself, man has no ability to reply to the momentous interrogation. No amount of devout study of the earth itself — on its surface or in its depths — can bring any response to his plea for light on the veiled subject.

No rapt investigation of the star-studded heavens by night, will win from one of their silent, speeding luminaries slightest answer to the absorbing inquiry.

It is safe to say that, aside from the Word of the living God, there can be obtained, in all the universe, no definite, reliable answer to this lofty, transcendent question.

Only the Creator of the earth can tell us what destiny awaits this strangely interesting orb — rushing around the sun at the rate of eighteen miles a second, without effort on its part, without friction, in absolute silence, threatening no other planet with appalling disaster.

Only the Creator of the earth can inform us what modifications and changes, if any, are to take place upon its surface, in its depths, in its relation to the great universe, and how these changes shall affect the life and interests of its present occupants.

Fortunately, for the guidance, comfort, and cheer of His children on the earth, God has revealed quite clearly, through His prophets and apostles, and through Christ His Son, what are His plan and purpose concerning the future of this sin-afflicted globe.

Let us try to ascertain what destiny awaits it, so far as the Scriptures turn light upon the important subject. A few days spent in gathering out their wonderful assertions and statements on this point will pay munificent interest, and may change the searcher's entire purpose of life.

But first a paragraph or two to define who is really the founder of this world, to whom it really belongs.

In that triumphant, inimitable citation to Job, that mighty demand upon him to answer, if he were able, recorded in chapters 33-41 of the book of Job, the Lord — Christ — makes irrefutable, illimitable claim to being the One who laid the foundations of the earth; the One who determined the “measures thereof;” who placed, figuratively speaking, its four corner-stones — into which sank its stable sockets; who shut up its ever-moving seas with doors, established His decree upon them, saying, “Hitherto shalt thou come, but no further: and here shall the pride of thy waves be stayed.” (Margin.)

In no other book of the Bible, probably, is

there set forth evidence more complete, more convincing and masterful, that God, through Christ, is the Creator of the earth, its seas, and all the varied and wonderful creatures thereon, therein, creatures astounding for variety, strength, power, intelligence, and beauty.

In 2 Sam. 7:13, 16, God instructed the prophet Nathan to inform His servant David that the throne of his kingdom should be established forever, on condition that his seed should keep God’s statutes and judgments, and should obey and serve Him faithfully.

We know that, because of Solomon’s departure from God, and because of the marvelous ill-doing of succeeding generations of David, the throne and kingdom of David were taken from them, when Zedekiah fell a captive into the hands of the king of Babylon; and for thousands of years no throne and kingdom of David have been possessed by his seed.

But that great promise — of wonderful solace and cheer to King David — holds firm and true to-day. Of David, centuries later, came One far greater than he, greater than Solomon — the Christ of God. It was to His throne and His kingdom that God had ultimate reference in His promise to David.

In Psalms 89 we read these exhilarating, infallible words: “I have made a covenant with My chosen, I have sworn unto David My servant, Thy seed will I establish forever, and build up thy throne to ALL generations. . . . I will make Him My first-born, higher than the kings of the earth. My mercy will I keep for Him forevermore, and My covenant shall stand fast with Him. “His seed also will I make to endure forever, and His throne as the days of heaven. . . . His seed shall endure forever, and His throne as the sun before Me. It shall be established forever as the moon.”

But the author of all these triumphant lines, possibly David himself, descends suddenly from his exultant strain to tones of deepest mourning. Hear him: “But Thou hast cast off and abhorred. . . . Thou hast made void Thy covenant with Thy servant: Thou hast profaned his crown by casting it to the ground. . . . Thou hast set up the right hand of his adversaries. Thou hast made his glory to cease, and cast his throne down to the ground.”

History confirms this pathetic picturing. Many centuries ago was David’s personal throne cast to the ground. Therefore the above inspiring promises can pertain only to Christ, his glorious antitype, and His blessed seed.

But who are this auspicious, this fortunate seed that shall possess the earth forever?

In Matt. 5:5 occur words from the lips of Him who spoke the earth into existence, who “commanded the morning” and “caused the dayspring to know its place:” “Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth.” David, in Ps. 37:9, declared, “Those that wait upon the Lord, they shall inherit the earth.” Verse 18: “The Lord knoweth the days of the upright; and their inheritance shall be forever.” Verse 29: “The righteous shall inherit the land, and dwell therein forever.”

In Isa. 57:13 the “God of the whole earth” proclaims: “He that putteth his trust in Me shall possess the land, and shall inherit My holy mountain.” Once more, in chapter 60: “Thy people also shall be all righteous: they shall inherit the land forever.” We copy also from chapter 45:18: “Thus saith the Lord that created the heavens; God Himself that formed the earth and made it; He hath established it, He created it not in vain, He formed it to be inhabited. I am the Lord.”

Other scriptures might be cited to prove that the earth, for a time to come called FOREVER, will be occupied by a race meek, upright, and righteous. But before that blissful day shall come, the planet is destined to experience a momentous, appalling transformation, on its surface, in its structure, a change which shall be equivalent to the creation of a new earth.

Indeed, the Bible actually calls this radical modification the making of a new earth. Attention is called to this remarkable work, in two scriptures, as follows: Isa. 65:17: “Behold, I create new heavens and a new earth: and the former shall not be remembered, nor come into mind.” Isa. 66:22: “For as the new heavens and the new earth, which I will make, shall REMAIN before Me, saith the Lord, so shall your seed and your name remain.”

Listen to an apostle: “But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also, and the works that are therein shall be burned up. . . . Nevertheless we, according to His promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness.” 2 Peter 3:10, 13.

“Be ye glad and rejoice FOREVER in that which I create.”

False Prophets

By James Stalker

SOME have doubted whether there were false prophets in the time of Jesus, or whether they belonged to a subsequent age. But there were multitudes of them long before the time of Christ, as we learn from the Old Testament; and they have never failed in any generation.

The badge of all the tribe has always been to make things easier in religion than God makes them, saying, Peace, peace, when there is no peace. The sheep’s clothing in which they appear may be a cultivated delivery or a polished style or an amiable disposition; and many references to them made in Scripture prove that for a time they may enjoy great popularity and exert vast influence.

Does this mean their conduct, or the moral results produced by their teaching among their disciples?—Perhaps both. At all events, time is the test. As a tree that is evil, if time be allowed, will show by its fruit what it is, and a good tree will do the same, so a good heart only requires time to exert a wholesome influence, and a character evil at the root always in the long run betrays itself. No doubt there is much seeming goodness in the world that is evil, as well as not a little seeming evil that is good; but all things are pressing forward toward revelation, and none can hide the truth except for a moment.— Prof. James Stalker, D.D.

The Church Triumphant

By Mrs. L. D. Avery-Stuttle

By Mrs. L. D. Avery-Stuttle

Methought I stood one summer night Upon a hoary mountainside. I'd journeyed far, on wings of light, A heavenly messenger my guide. Like favored seer, whose mortal sense Had gazed on mysteries sublime, With heaven-anointed eyes I looked Adown the changing stream of time.

Methought I saw the church of Christ Adrift upon the whelming flood; The hosts of hell beset her path, Her streaming banners dripped with blood, The fiery lightning hissed o'erhead, The noise of strife was in the air; Dark sin his poisonous arrows sped, And thunders drowned the voice of prayer.

And through the ages drear and long, I heard her sad and mournful cry, As 'mid the hosts of sin and wrong, She bore her blood-stained banners high, O church of Christ, why weepest thou Among the shadows dim and gray? “The night of sin is long,” she said, “And my Belov'd has gone away.”

“And still I hold, with aching grasp, Emmanuel's banner in my hand, And strain my weary eyes to catch The radiance of fair Beulah land. But still, but still He cometh not,— My long delayed and absent King. My streaming eyes are dim and hot, My trembling lips refuse to sing.”

I looked again; the scene had changed. I saw the church of Christ once more. A diadem was on her brow, A robe of righteousness she wore; Her cruel foes, no longer proud, Have fallen beneath her conquering feet; Fair as the sun she stands arrayed, Her triumph and her joy complete.

The din of war I hear no more,— Instead, fair Zion's glorious notes; The song of Moses and the Lamb, Through heaven's arches sweetly floats. Behold, the marriage feast is spread; I see the Bridegroom blest and fair; His church, in royal dress arrayed, An honored guest, is seated there.

Then loud and long, through endless space, Angelic heralds bear the word, Where suns and systems blaze and race, Till vast immensity has heard: “Lo! here are they who've spotless come Through tribulation's crimson flood, Who've washed their robes and made them clean And pure and white in Jesus' blood!” And through the ceaseless ages long, They shout redemption's wondrous song.

Battle Creek, Mich.

The Church

1. What is the church called?

“The church, which is His [Christ’s] body.” Eph. 1:22, 23.

2. Of what is the church composed?

“Now ye [“brethren,” “saints”] are the body of Christ, and members in particular.” 1 Cor. 12:27.

“He [Christ, “the image of the invisible God”] is the head of the body, the church.” Col. 1:18.

3. Is there room for any other head?

“The head of every man is Christ.” 1 Cor. 11:3.

“And gave Him to be head OVER ALL THINGS to the church, which is His body, the fulness of Him that filleth all in all.” Eph. 1:22, 23.

4. By what other term does He designate His church?

“Know ye not that ye [the “brethren,” the “saints”] are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?” 1 Cor. 3:16.

5. How does God’s Spirit or presence dwell in the church?

By dwelling in each individual. “If a man love Me, he will keep My Word: and My Father will love him, and We will come unto him, and make Our abode with him.” John 14:23.

“Know ye not that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit which is in you, which ye have from God?” 1 Cor. 6:19.

6. Whom did Christ represent to the world?

“No man hath seen God at any time; the only-begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He hath declared Him.” John 1:18.

“He that hath seen Me hath seen the Father. . . . The Father abiding in Me doeth His works.” John 14:9, 10.

7. Whom does the church represent?

“As Thou [Father] didst send Me [the Son] into the world, even so sent I them into the world.” John 17:18.

8. Out of what did He call them?

“Come ye out from among them [the unbelievers, the unrighteous, the idolaters], and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch no unclean thing; and I will receive you, and I will be to you a Father, and ye shall be to Me sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.” 2 Cor. 6:17, 18.

9. What is the church to be in the absence of the “Light of the world” (John 8:12)?

“Ye are the light of the world.” Matt. 5:14.

“Children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom ye are seen as LIGHTS IN THE WORLD, holding forth the Word of life.” Phil. 2:15, 16.

NOTE.—The church as a whole represents Christ her head. Her great light is made up of the individual lights of her members, all lighted at the same Source, fed with the same oil.

10. That His church may glorify Him, what has He bestowed upon her?

“When He ascended on high, He . . . gave GIFTS unto men.” Eph. 4:8; 1 Cor. 12:4-11.

11. What gifts did He bestow?

“And He gave some to be apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers.” Eph. 4:11. See also Rom. 12:3-5; and especially 1 Cor. 12:28.

12. For what purpose are the gifts?

“For the perfecting of the saints, unto the work of ministering, unto the building up of the body of Christ.” Eph. 4:12.

13. When the work of the church is complete, what purpose of Christ in sacrifice will be fulfilled?

“That He might present the church to Himself, a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish.” Eph. 5:27.

NOTE.—This reading, if it filled this whole paper, would be inadequate to set forth the riches of His grace, the promises, the honor and power, which God has bestowed upon His church, from the earliest ages to the present time. Read the articles in this issue on the subject, and then yield to God’s plan that you may be a member of Christ’s body.

Character Refined Through Affliction

By James Martineau

HUMAN character is never found “to enter into its glory,” except through the ordeal of affliction. Its force can not come forth without the offer of resistance, nor can the grandeur of its free will declare itself, except in the battle of fierce temptation. — James Martineau.

In 1910-1911

By Editor

OUR Special Series is about ended. What have we to offer when it is over? What is our plan for the coming months?

A paper better still—more instructive, more helpful, more soul-winning.

Listen to what we have to say and to give:

First, what one book of the sixty-six books of the Bible could we least afford to lose?

It must be that book which contains the most of the revelation of God’s Will, Plan, Purpose, Prophecies, Promises, concerning Man, his present and future.

The ideal of such a book would be that it was a summary of all the other books, and that it should come the very last in the Bible.

There is just such a book as this—fuller of the revelation of God, more comprehensive in its scope, richer and fuller in its prophecies and promises, than any other of the wonderful parts of the Bible.

That book is a Summary of all the Good Things in the other books, and it closes the marvelous Canon of Scripture.

Its name in Greek is “The Apocalypse.” It means the Revelation, the Disclosure, of Jesus Christ.

Do you know of the exceeding Richness of its Mines?

Have your eyes seen of its shining Hoard of spiritual Wealth?

Have you drunk at its Fountains?

Have you heard its Songs of Victory?

Have you studied this Divine Drama of the Ages?

It has its stage, its scenery, its settings; it has its plan, its plots; it has its heroes, its heroines; it has its kings and warriors; it has its romance, its marriage, its glorious, eternal hereafter.

We can not tell you its worth, its riches, its glories, in this little talk.

But we are going to try to tell you about it in the year to come, to reveal to our readers somewhat of its meaning,—the very fulness of God’s Truth and Message for this time.

We believe these articles alone will be worth far more than the price of the paper in the year to come.

But this is not all: Listen:

We will tell you of God’s love in Jesus Christ ever, preaching as God shall give us His Spirit the everlasting Gospel in the excellent articles on practical Godliness, by Mrs. E. G. White and others.

We will give you the blessed Life of the Master in story form, but not the less real tho it does come to us in a new and more sympathetic way.

We will give you great and mighty Truths and Lessons of the great pre-advent Reformation under Zerubbabel, Ezra, Nehemiah, Haggai, and Zechariah.

We will give you a fine series of articles on the Sanctuary question, the great study of Man’s Sin and Saviour, which meets the seductive theories of self-salvation so growingly prevalent.

We will give you a series of articles on the Coming of the Blessed Master; what that coming means to the sin-sad world, and what our Lord wants it to mean to you.

We will give you a series of studies on the great Sabbath question in both its negative and its positive phases, and its place in the great doctrine of Religious Liberty.

We will give you the great Truth, the Only Truth, which will effectually meet the mighty on-sweep of the dark wave of Spiritism, now engulfing the world,—the Truth as to Man’s Nature and Destiny.

We will give you the Only Truth which can give true Hope to the sinner and Comfort to those called upon to lay loved ones in the cold grave or to go themselves down into the Dark Valley—Life in Christ.

We will give you the great present truth of the Bible regarding the Outpouring of God’s Spirit in these days and its blessed manifestations in division of Spiritual Gifts to every one of God’s children.

We will give you the meaning of the great prophecies in the study of the book of the Revelation and the pre-advent studies as they have never been given before.

We will give you the great principles of true Religious and Civil Liberty, over which the world is agitated.

We will give you the meaning of Higher Criticism, and show how the Modern Infidelity is entering Church and World in the garb of Christianity.

We will show you how the great Black Hand of the father of lies is stretched out over the nations with its five mighty, restless, nervous, grasping digits of Autocratic Traditionalism, Religious Infidelity, Spiritism, War, and Greed, to gather in and crush the people of earth.

We will give you the ominous Signs of the Times as they weekly occur and multiply, in their Scripture setting, showing that the coming of the King draweth nigh.

We will tell you of the great Mission Fields, of their needs, and of the Victories of the Cross.

We will give you fifty live, strong Bible Readings on present, practical truth.

We will answer 300 questions more or less (314 last year) on Bible and history for our readers.

We will conduct a happy, hopeful, instructive journey with Our Bible Band through the vales and over and among the mountains of the blessed Book.

Much more we will give as God helps. O will not you, brother, sister, friend, help us in giving it to the great multitude who wait in their darkness and need? They desire to know Christ and His truth. God has made us their debtors. Help us to spread abroad these great and saving truths for this time.

The Church the Body of Christ

By R.

THE church is the body of Christ. Eph. 5:30. This does not cover mere profession. If a man joins the church, the visible church, purely for matters of business, or that he may get into society, this of itself does not make him a member of Christ’s body.

The union with Christ is an actual union—a vital connection. It is as close as between the human body and one of its members, as a hand, or a foot. 1 Cor. 12:20, 27. This is the statement of the Word itself. It is not the speculation of man. It is not merely an illustration to try to point a truth; but it is Inspiration’s representation of the living connection which the members of the real church of Christ have with Christ Himself.

Tried by this rule, how many churches—all its members—are really parts of the body of Christ? We see at once that the visible church embraces members who may belong to the body of Christ, and that there are also in this visible church those who in works, and therefore in fact, deny Christ, and are no part of His real invisible church.

In the time of the Flood only eight persons comprised the church of God,—Noah and those who were with him in the ark. All else were rejected; and no matter what their profession, they comprised no part whatever of the church of that day.

Later on in the history of the world the church, so far as the record goes, comprised only Abram and the few associated with him.

Still later on the church was represented by the Israelites in bondage. We know, however, from the experiences in the wilderness, that many of these were really not members of the body of Christ. They were no part of the real church of God. They were rejected.

But in each one of these examples we have given, God issued a call. Every one who accepted this call was given an opportunity. Noah and his associates made the proclamation of a coming Flood, and warned the world to prepare for the awful calamity. There were times, doubtless, when some were afraid, and listened to Noah and worked upon the ark, and seemed to identify themselves with the interests that were represented by the construction of that big boat. But when the final crash came, there were only eight persons.

Abraham and his attendants were called of God to leave the land of idolatry, to come out into service for the Lord. And there were some connected with him who had accepted the call, and yet who fell away, who left Abraham and the interests that were involved, and were no longer identified with the church of which he was a part.

When God called Israel out of Egypt, as we have seen, there were those who accepted the call who were given an opportunity to show their loyalty, who were really acting in all from selfish motives. They murmured and complained. They rose up in insurrection against the purposes and plans of God; and they were destroyed by fire, by earthquake, by pestilence, by serpents, and in war.

When the Lord called the Jews out of Babylon, there were those who came away from that land of the Chaldeans and came to Jerusalem merely for the temporal benefits that they would receive. Earnest work had to be done on account of the half-hearted efforts of those who compromised with sin and idolatry. Ezra, Nehemiah, Zachariah, Haggai, and Malachi, and others, bore their straight testimony to bring about a pure condition of the church of God of that day.

Again in the time of Christ we find that God’s church, His professed people, were many of them wandering in the maze of heathenism, and were farther away from God than the pagans and the idolaters of their time. There is a vast chasm between professing and actually being.

All these things point to the moral that we must not rest upon a mere profession. “My sheep,” says Christ, “hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me.” John 10:27. “I know Mine own, and Mine own know Me, even as the Father knoweth Me, and I know the Father.” John 10:14, 15.

This close connection of the believer with Christ is also represented by Him under the type of the vine and its branches. “I am the vine, ye are the branches: he that abideth in Me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without Me ye can do nothing.”

May God help us to search our hearts, to know if we be truly His. God forbid that we should be disappointed because we have been deceived by a profession that has not come up to the actuality. Trusting in visible membership we may be really cut off from Christ. “Many are called,” and many seem to accept the call, “but few are chosen.” Only a few really do the earnest work necessary to become really partakers with Christ.

God’s church is a called-out body. It is a separated body—separate from everything that pertains to this world. It is a body in which move life and purity, the impulses of holiness. Are you a member of Christ’s body? “Examine yourself, whether ye be in the faith.”

Public Unrest in Congress’s Mail

A special from Washington to the Chicago Tribune under date of January 24 declares that there has never been a time “when the people were writing so many letters about public affairs to the members of Congress. . . . Nobody ever saw the like of it. A member from a Nebraska district received recently 103 letters in one day from seventeen states. . . . Private secretaries, clerks, and stenographers are working day and night trying to keep up with the correspondence of the people. Post-offices at Senate and House have been crowded to their capacity. The phenomenon is set down by everybody as significant of something of the gravest political moment, but nobody is positive what it all means. An item in the Boston Herald declares that Representative Weeks received 400 letters in one day and 350 the next day.” These letters are on various questions,—high prices of food, suggested changes in postal rates, and other things which are interesting the people. In all this movement the Socialist organs are finding great hope. They are all typical of the unrest preceding the coming of the King as foretold in the Word of God.

OUR BIBLE BAND

Schedule for Week Ending March 12

Day	Date	Reading
Sunday	March 6	Num. 35, 36; Deut. 1
Monday	〃 7	〃 2-4
Tuesday	〃 8	〃 5-7
Wednesday	〃 9	〃 8-10
Thursday	〃 10	〃 11-13
Friday	〃 11	〃 14-17
Sabbath	〃 12	〃 18-21

Our readings for this week conclude Numbers, beginning with chapter 35, and extend to Deuteronomy 21. Numbers 35 and 36 are largely composed of instructions concerning the cities given to the tribe of Levi; laws concerning murder, and the marriage of heiresses.

The word “Deuteronomy” is from a Greek word meaning the repetition of the law. It is a rehearsal of the wonderful things that God had done for His people, and some of the chief laws connected with Israel. They were given by Moses before the Israelites crossed the Jordan River into the promised land. Picture to yourself the scene. Like a great and loving father Moses had cared for the often rebellious children during forty years of wandering in the wilderness. Provoked by their contumacy and rebellion, he had yielded in a fit of impatience to hasty words in which he was glorified instead of God. He could not go with them over into the promised land; but before he leaves them he must solemnly bring to their remembrance the wonderful lessons which God had taught them during the forty years, and impress upon them as solemnly as was possible the sacred import of God’s holy law, and the necessity of keeping it. Keep these great thoughts in mind as we pass over the record.

Moses does not assume to give these laws for the first time; he is but recalling them. As for instance in chapter 5; this is not the new giving of the Decalogue, it is but giving in substance that which Israel had with them and which was enshrined in the sacred ark. Now and then the man of God brings in an additional reason as to why they should observe it. The Decalogue contains duties incumbent upon all men, because God, the great Ruler of the universe, gives the law. That being true concerning all men, Israel were doubly bound to keep God’s statutes, because He had redeemed them from Egypt.

There is a thought thrown into the parenthesis of the second verse of the first chapter of Deuteronomy that is worthy of more than passing notice. The simple fact is stated that it is eleven days’ journey from Horeb by way of Mount Seir to Kadesh-barnea. Israel spent about two years around Horeb. It took them the rest of the thirty-eight years’ wandering to come to the Jordan River before they passed into the promised land. It need have taken them only eleven days. Kadesh-barnea was where the spies were sent in to search out the land, where God gave Israel the privilege of entering the land; but they would not, but turned back, and the eleven days cost them thirty-eight years of toilsome journey through a dread wilderness. Never until the judgment-day will it be revealed how many long, wearisome days we have because of neglect of simple duty. Then will we see how much shorter, easier way God had to accomplish things through us than our own way.

Try the Inside.

Some time ago we read of a man who was washing a large plate glass show-window. There was one soiled spot which he rubbed and rubbed but could not remove. A bystander looking on suggested to him, “Try the inside.” There he found the trouble. The incident is suggestive. There are thousands of people who are trying to put away sin by rubbing off the outside. They find it, however, continually breaking out, and the spot will not wash away. We suggest to them, “Try the inside.” Change from the chamois skin of respectable morality to the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ, which is able to cleanse from all sin.

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