Pacific Press Publishing Company · Oakland, California · Aug 14, 1893
Editorial.
By Editor
"All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable."—2 Tim. 3:16.
THE life of the Christian is a momentary life—constant abiding in Christ. That which unites us with him is simple faith. If faith is gone, Christ is gone, life is gone. But abiding faith in Him who is abiding brings his abiding presence.
THE life of the Christian is the life of Christ. Says the apostle: "I am crucified with Christ; nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me." This presence, this life of Christ in us, is the Spirit of God, which was promised by him to his disciples. He said: "I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you forever, even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him; but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you." John 14: 16, 17. Through this Spirit the Father and Son take up their abode in the heart (verses 23-26), and that Spirit testifies of Christ (chap. 15: 26; 16: 13, 14). This is the Comforter, the representative of the Godhead in the world (Ps. 139: 7; Rev. 5: 6).
THE life of the Christian is therefore the Spirit of God within him; for "if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of His." Rom. 8: 9. Life is power; and if the Christian has no higher life than the world, he has no more power than the world. But the Christian has power, but it is the power of Christ. Says Paul, "I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me." Said Jesus to his disciples: "But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you." Acts 1: 8. And the apostle desires that the saints may know "what is the exceeding greatness of his power to usward, who believe, according to the working of his mighty power, which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead." Eph. 1: 19, 20. But this power is of the Spirit of God, the Holy Ghost, the life of Christ. It is a power of which the world knows not, because the world hath not faith.
THE Christian therefore works from life, not for life. That is, it is not by his own works that he expects to obtain the life of Christ, but he obtains—must obtain—by faith the life of Christ before he can do acceptable works. The thorn tree by the most diligent bearing can never become an apple tree. The soul must be in Christ before it can bear the fruits of Christ. It is first being, then doing. Man must be righteous before he can do righteousness. 1 John 3: 7. But God freely changes the heart. "A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit [life] will I put within you; and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them." Eze. 36: 26, 27. This is the secret of good works or right doing. The Spirit of God changes the heart and causes the converted man to "walk in," "keep," and do the statutes and judgments of God. And so Paul says that "the righteousness of the law" is "fulfilled" in those who "walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit." Rom. 8: 4.
THERE will be no objection to the commandments of God on the part of him who has the Spirit of God. The law is of God; the Spirit is of God; and God is one. Through faith in Christ the sins of the past are forgiven, and by the power of the Spirit the heart is cleansed. The sinner is forgiven, justified, made righteous (Rom. 4: 1-8); and this righteousness is in harmony with the law of God, for to the genuineness of that righteousness the law bears witness (Rom. 3: 21, 22). He who has not the Spirit or life of Christ is not spiritual but carnal; and the carnal mind is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. Rom. 8: 7. The spiritual man will say as did Christ, "I delight to do thy will, O my God; yea thy law is within my heart."
The Pope and Sunday
The Pope and Sunday.—One is expected to love his own; and so the Papacy would be expected to do all in its power to further Sunday interest, inasmuch as the day as a church day is wholly of papal origin. Therefore Leo XIII. in his recent Encyclical Letter on Labor to all of the powers of the world, says:—
The social question should be placed on a religious basis, if we would obtain at once a philosophical and practical solution of the difficulty. . . . It becomes an absolute necessity in human society that legislation in accordance with the commands of God and religion should follow and keep pace with the times for protection of those who obey the universal order of the Creator.
Hours of labor should be so arranged, giving due attention to a day of rest and abstention from labor.
It may be safely affirmed that the "religious basis" and the "day of rest" will be the religious basis and the day of rest of Roman Catholics. Apostate Protestantism in the New World and Romanism in the Old may both be reckoned upon as rallying to the standard of the rival of the Sabbath of the Lord, the memorial of creation and sign of redemption.
A MODERN "CHRISTIAN" PHILOSOPHER.
SUCH Prof. Henry Drummond, LL.D., F.R.S.E., F.G.S., is reputed to be. His addresses, "The Greatest Thing in the World," "Pax Vobiscum," "What Is a Christian?" and some others have been circulated by the millions and lauded to the skies. That he has in these short, well written, and concisely put talks, articles, booklets, and speeches, said over some good things we freely admit; but he has only said over the good things; and the good things are used unconsciously, perhaps, by the learned author, but purposely by the devil to undermine faith in the word of God and the truth as it is in Jesus. For instance, the book entitled "Drummond's Addresses" closes with a little chapter on "The Study of the Bible," in which the biblical facts of inspiration are diametrically opposed. We are told "that the Bible came out of religion and not religion out of the Bible," which is both truth and error; for religion is in the Bible, and the best and only saving religion the world knows is obtained from it daily by hearts of faith. "It is not the words that are inspired so much as the men," he tells us; but the Bible nowhere tells us that the men are inspired, but it does expressly say that "all Scripture," that is, the very writings, are "God-breathed," or "inspired; that holy men "spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost;" that the words were not "the words which man's wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth," etc., etc.
We are told that the Bible is not one book but many, and this has led to "endless mistakes in theology and practical life." Of course this would all be true if the books were of man alone, but the Spirit of God is the author, and not recognizing this is what has brought in endless mistakes. But Mr. Drummond will not even admit that the writer of the book meant what he said; for he speaks of626Paul having spent "three Sundays in Thessalonica [and] created a great disturbance by his preaching," but the Bible says "three Sabbath days." But let this pass.
Professor Drummond is an evolutionist, and has an article in the June number of McClure's Magazine, entitled "Where Man Got His Ears," in which this erudite doctor of the laws soberly, sagely, and learnedly tells us that they came by a process of evolution from the gills of a fish. He closes by wondering how through the centuries of the past the temple of the human body has been built up, and from what sources of lands, seas, climates, atmospheres its material has come, and what creatures, swimming, creeping, flying, climbing, contributed to its perfection, and then informs us, "How these things came to be biology is one long record." What is all this but a direct denial of the "Scriptures of truth" and of the record which they give concerning the origin of man, created in the image of God.
We do not know as Professor Drummond is so much to be blamed. He evidently learned "the wisdom of the world" first, and considers it divine; but what shall we say of those Christians who are giving the widest currency to such infidelity as this by the advocacy of Professor Drummond's works. They are of that wisdom by which the world knows not God; but we are grateful that it is yet true that "the foolishness of God is wiser than man."
TORMENTED.
“He shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb; and the smoke of their torment ascendeth up forever and ever; and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name.” Rev. 14 : 10, 11.
“And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are [or were cast], and shall be tormented day and night forever and ever.” Rev. 20 : 10. See also Rev. 19 : 3.
There are perhaps no passages in all the Bible which have a stronger bearing on the doctrine of the endless misery of the lost than these above quoted. They are both the premises and conclusion of the many who hold to man’s natural immortality and consequent endless misery. He is immortal, they say, or else he could not be punished to all eternity; and if he is punished to all eternity, he therefore must be immortal. Thus they reason in a circle. They assume the premises and draw a decided conclusion, forgetting that the truth of the premises must first be established.
That these texts speak of fearful punishment to the great arch rebel and to those who deny the last message of God’s mercy, we do not deny. The heart shudders to realize the sinner’s fearful doom. And yet we do not believe that these texts teach the endless, conscious torment of the unsaved, for the following reasons:—
1. It would be contrary to the general scope of the Bible, contrary to what God has revealed concerning man’s nature, and to specific and numerous texts which declare that “the wages of sin is death,” “the soul that sinneth it shall die,” and many other expressions of the same import in both the Old and the New Testaments. Certainly, these many plain, positive texts, in connection with other reasons, ought to decide the doctrine that the wages of sin is death. Rom. 6 : 23.
2. Therefore as God’s word is truth and no one text disagrees or is out of harmony with any other, Rev. 14 : 10, 11 and 20 : 10 must agree with Obad. 16; Ezek. 18 : 4, 20; Rom. 6 : 23; 2 Thess. 1 : 9, and others. The few and obscure expressions are certainly in harmony with the many plain, positive, unambiguous statements, which no fallacy can set aside, and should be so understood.
3. Those who hold to eternal misery, argue that the same Greek term, eis tous aiōnas tōn aiōnōn, forever and ever, is applied to God and to the righteous (Rev. 22 : 5 ; 4 : 9), and must there denote unending duration, or endlessness. The simple term aiōn, say they, may be limited, but not so with the compound term. And we readily acknowledge that the case seems a strong one.
But what is it that is eternal? The reply is, “The torment, the misery of the wicked.” Then may not the “forever and ever” have reference to the finality or completion of this torment—that it is final, that is to all eternity? They say, “No, for the torment is a continued process; they are tormented with fire and brimstone to all eternity.” But what is the nature of this torment? We may have imbibed erroneous views concerning it.
“Torment” and “torment” come from the Greek word basanos, which is defined in its various forms by “Bagster’s Analytical Greek Lexicon” as follows:—
“Basanos, properly lapis Lydius, a species of stone from Lydia, which, being applied to metals, was thought to indicate any alloy which might be mixed with them, and therefore used in the trial of metals; hence examination of a person, especially by torture, in New Testament torture, torment, severe pain. Matt. 4 : 24; Luke 16 : 23, 28.
“Basanicō, properly to apply the lapis Lydius, or touchstone; by metonymy, to examine, scrutinize, try, either by words or torture; in New Testament to afflict, torment; passive, to be afflicted, tormented, pained by diseases (Matt. 8 : 6, 29, et al.), to be tossed, agitated as by the waves (Matt. 14 : 24).”
“Basanismos, properly examination by the lapis Lydius, or by torture; torment, torture. Rev. 9 : 5 ; 14 : 11 ; 18 : 7, 10, 15.” We see from the above definitions, which are the same as given by Greenfield, Liddell and Scott, and others, that the literal meaning of the term is to test or try, by words or torture; for the idea of torment is not a necessary element in the original meaning, but is a derived sense. Test or trial is the primary significance; and the use of the word in the New Testament must have some correspondence to the original and proper use of the word. If torture alone was intended, why was not the word odunō used, which means “pain of body or mind,” or the verb odunō, meaning “to pain, either bodily or mentally; passive, to be in an agony, be tormented. Luke 16 : 24, 25”? —Bagster’s Analytical Lexicon. Why does Inspiration use the two words, each twice, in the same connection, in six verses, if torment alone was the idea designed to be conveyed, as is done in Luke 16 : 23-28. In verses 23 and 28 the word basanos is used, while in verses 24 and 25 the word odunō is used. We know no reason which can be assigned except that the former is used to indicate testing, while the latter is used to denote the anguish and torment alone. We do not see how it is possible to separate the idea of testing from the mode of testing. The main idea is that of testing; the mode is secondary. The idea of torment alone has been read into the word basanos to meet the exigencies of a false theology. “In the New Testament,” say the Lexicons, just as though its original and primary meaning then vanished. But it means to test in the New Testament also, as other scriptures will prove.
God’s lapis Lydius, or touchstone, with which he will try or test men is fire. Satan deceived our first parents into the belief that they could never die (Gen. 3 : 4), contrary to God’s express declaration that they should die (Gen. 2 : 17; Eze. 18 : 4). The vast mass of humanity have all along believed Satan, and have clothed themselves and the dead with the attributes of Deity, making of themselves demigods. They have believed the falsehood in its fullest sense, “ye shall not surely die;” “ye shall be as gods.” Gen. 3 : 4. And through the deceitfulness of sin, Satan has no doubt persuaded himself that he is immortal, that no material agency which Deity can use will bring him to naught.
But God in his infinite wisdom has decreed that none but the holy and righteous shall be immortalized; and the great final test will be the fire of his wrath. The world will be melted by fervent heat, at the end of the thousand years (2 Peter 3), and thus form the lake of fire (Rev. 20 : 10, 14). Upon this the holy city, with her holy children, will be borne upon the flaming sea, as was Noah’s ark upon the deluge of waters. Fire can no more harm them than were the Hebrew worthies harmed when the angel of God walked with them through the fiery furnace. To this fearful time the prophet refers in the following language:—
“The sinners in Zion are afraid; fearfulness hath surprised the hypocrites. Who among us shall dwell with the devouring fire? who among us shall dwell with everlasting [age-lasting] burnings? He that walketh righteously, and speaketh uprightly; he that despiseth the gain of oppressions [margin “deceits”], that shaketh his hands from holding of bribes, that stoppeth his ears from hearing of blood, and shutteth his eyes from seeing evil.”
The boastings of the earth dwellers have died on their lips; the hope of the hypocrites is gone; the power of the Deceiver to sway them is now perished. Each must stand in his own character, possessed of the life which he has chosen. The wicked claim life within themselves, inherent immortality. The righteous possess it only as they obtain it by faith in Christ Jesus. Through faith in him they obtain righteousness and life; in his righteousness and life alone they are trusting.
Again: Satan has deceived multitudes into believing that if they were united with the nominal Christian church in some way, their salvation would be assured. Millions of this character have been built up in the nominal churches by professed ambassadors of Christ. But their work must be tested by fire. “For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble;627every man’s work shall be made manifest; for the day [of God, 2 Peter 3:10] shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man’s work of what sort it is.” 1 Cor. 3 : 11-13. The precious jewels, or special treasure, of God are his people. Mal. 3 : 17, margin. The fires of trial and persecution have purged every dross. God has made them immortal; they are partakers of the divine nature; and the fires of the last day cannot hurt them. But those who would not accept Christ, who will not endure the fiery trials of this age, are found to be wood, hay, and stubble, when the fires of the day of God break forth upon the world. This is God’s last means of trial, that which ought to be satisfactory to those who have claimed to be possessed of a life which could not be harmed by material fires, but which runs parallel with that of God.
4. Just how long these fires continue, we do not know, but there will come a time when the wood, hay, and stubble are consumed, and then the fire will go out, just the same as the “eternal fire” which burned up Sodom and Gomorrah went out when the cities were destroyed. Compare Jude 7 with 2 Peter 2:6; Gen. 19:28. That smoke went up forever. Says the Psalmist of the wicked, “But the wicked shall perish, and the enemies of the Lord shall be as the fat of lambs; they shall consume; into smoke shall they consume away.” Ps. 37:20. The very figure indicates the totality of the destruction. The ashes on earth soon mingle with and become a part of the soil; the smoke dissipates forever, or forever and ever. The punishment, the test, the death, is eternal, is for the ages of ages; for from it there will never be a resurrection. Turning from the life and righteousness so freely offered by Christ, they have reaped the fruit of sin, which is death, or utter destruction.
5. What is the effect of this testing fire? —It burns the dross; it leaves uninjured the pure metal. (See Jer. 9:7; Isa. 1:25-31.) Those who have identified themselves with sin will perish with the sin. It is said of the great harlot Babylon, “Her smoke rose up forever and ever” (Rev. 19:3), and this fire utterly burns her up; for “she shall be utterly burned with fire; for strong is the Lord God who judgeth her.” Rev. 18:8.
Thus the wicked are tried, tested by fire, by that which in its very nature tortures, or causes pain and anguish. It is the last final test. The wicked were once slain by water, but men believe them still alive. Now all appear to be finally tested, eternally tried. And the test will be final. It will reveal the heavenly and the earthly. It will never be repeated. Its results are eternal. The fire of God has proved the ungodly perishable instead of imperishable, mortal instead of immortal. They are wood, hay, stubble; and day and night, as long as sun and moon shall endure, they shall never more live. The test proved them base metal. The fire has devoured them, for it is a “devouring fire.” Isa. 33:14. The precious jewels of God are unharmed by the mighty element, for they have immortality, not, however, by birth through sinful, fallen man; it is the gift of God through our Lord Jesus Christ.
THE GIFT OF PROPHECY.
By Elder J. O. Corliss
BY ELDER J. O. CORLISS.
EVERY gift to be exercised in the church, or in its behalf, is from God, through Jesus Christ. When the Son of God ascended to heaven, he "gave gifts unto men" for this very purpose. Eph. 4:7, 8. "And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying [building up] of the body of Christ." Verses 11, 12. All these gifts, as we see, are for the uplifting of humanity to the citizenship of heaven. That work is still in order. Are evangelists, pastors, and teachers necessary factors in its accomplishment? All are agreed that they are among the gifts of Christ, for this special purpose, and therefore cannot be dispensed with. Then by the same rule, the gift of prophecy, which is enumerated with them, is necessary also.
In the common mind, a prophet is held as an infallible being, with all the prescience of divinity, while a teacher in the church is simply regarded on a common level with all others of the same natural ability. A prophet, however, in the Bible sense, is a revealer of God's will to man. This may be done by either giving the sense of what has before been spoken by the Spirit, or in uncovering future events which affect the welfare of the church, though the latter may sometimes include the former. A teacher may also reveal God's will as given in his written word, but the gift of prophecy does more; it enables its possessor to utter, with the authority of inspiration, words of warning, exhortation, rebuke, or encouragement, and thus enforce the truths of the Bible with supernatural effect.
With this gift, the church not only has a constant guardian, but possesses also one of the most potent instruments for the conversion of sinners. This was true to such an extent in the early church, surrounded as it was with danger and perplexity, that the apostle exhorted all the members at Corinth to covet that gift. 1 Cor. 14:39. Indeed, there was good reason for this; for he said that if all the church were to prophesy, and an unbeliever were to happen in, he would be convinced of God's presence there, and fall on his face in worship, saying that God is in the believers of a truth. 1 Cor. 14:24, 25. So while the gift of prophecy may be superior to that of the teacher, it is but the operation of the same Spirit, in another degree, and is not necessarily separated from the other, since the work of each is in some respects identical.
In the seasons of its greatest peril the church needs the special protection of God. In the days of the apostles, the spirit of persecution ran high, and the power of God's Spirit was given in the measure needed to meet the exigencies of the times. The cause of persecution then was the revival of true piety in some of the members of the formal Jewish Church, which claimed to be the repository of God's truth. But instead of being what they professed to be, they were selfish, bigoted, and proud, and therefore deadly opposed to anyone whose life of humility and obedience to God was a standing rebuke to their Pharisaic hypocrisy.
The church which was then developed gave way to worldly policy, and the Dark Ages followed. When the Reformation of the sixteenth century again revived men to seek after God, the church of that day, as did the Jews in the days of Christ, claimed to have a monopoly of everything good. So when the light of truth began to shine out through the humble instruments whom God chose for that purpose, the professed church of Christ called loudly for a crusade against it all, and freely put to death those who were connected with the reform. But God was with them, and many were the instances of his interposition in behalf of his cause and people.
In spite of opposition, the Protestant church thrived and grew to such proportions that her own greatness has made her boastful and proud of the eminence attained. She has commingled with the world, and adopted its policy, until she, too, has ceased in a measure to walk with God. The apostle describes her condition when he says: "This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, without natural affection, truce breakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, traitors, heady, high minded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof." 2 Tim. 3:1-5.
This array of sins seems terrible enough to be confined to the very worst elements of society; but it will be noticed that the very ones here said to be guilty are those who have a form of godliness—church services—and yet deny the power of godliness. In consequence of this state of things, we are told that perilous times, that is, times full of danger, will come. It is easy to see that this will be but the history of early days repeated. Before the coming of the Lord Jesus to take his people to himself, he will send his reviving Spirit4abroad to draw to him those who "sigh and cry" for the abominations being done. As ever in the past, the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus will be the test of loyalty (Rev. 14:9-12), the keeping of which will cause the time-serving, ease-loving professors to look with hatred upon those who observe them (Rev. 12:17).
But amid all such surroundings, God has promised to be the hope of his people by dwelling among and in them by his Spirit, to instruct them in the way they should go. That time has now come, and the gifts of his Spirit are being manifested as in the days of old, pointing out the places where the danger lurks, giving words of heavenly wisdom, admonition, and counsel. This will continue till his people are brought safely through the perils, to stand with the Redeemer on Mount Zion, whom they shall see for themselves, and their eyes shall behold, and not a stranger. Job 19:27. Thank God that the crowning day is just at hand.
OUR COMING SAVIOUR.
By Joseph Rea
BY JOSEPH REA.
CHRIST, the Lamb of God, is coming,
'Midst a cloud of angels bright;
Oh! be ready to receive him,
All who have received the light.
He is coming for his people,
And his time is near at hand.
"Look ye up! redemption cometh;"
May we heed our Lord's command.
Satan now his snares is setting,
As the closing scenes draw near;
But our Advocate is coming,
And these snares we need not fear.
Revelation says he's near us,
He will shield his little flock,
From whose fold none will be missing;
They are built upon the Rock.
Praises to our God forever!
May our hearts with rapture sing;
Praise to him, for Christ is coming,
Who redeeming love doth bring;
All his mansions are now ready,
And his loving cry is, "Come,
Come and drink life's waters freely,"
In his never-ending home.
Christ, our Saviour, is soon coming;
His own word this truth has shown;
Coming with the holy angels,
To receive those sealed his own.
Glory be to God our Father,
Praises we'll repeat again;
Glory to the Son, our Saviour,
And the Holy Ghost—amen.
Lincoln, Oregon.
THE TIME OF CHRIST'S COMING.
WE have found thus far in our consideration of this important subject that Christ is literally, personally, visibly coming again; that he will at that time raise to immortality the righteous dead, destroy the living wicked, change the living righteous to incorruptibility, and gather his people home to the New Jerusalem, the capital city of his future kingdom. The destiny of every soul hangs upon that coming.
When will it take place? Surely it is not over-curious or irreverent to ask such a question. The importance of that event to us justifies it, and it is not rebuked of God. Such inquiry is not only not rebuked of God but it is encouraged; yea, the knowledge which such honest inquiry will bring is enjoined. But we must not be presumptuous. Faith is based on the word of God and goes no farther than that word reveals. He who goes beyond this is walking not in the path of faith but presumption. The word of God expressly declares that it is not for us to know the day or the hour of Christ's coming. Matt. 24:36. We have no scriptural right, therefore, to "set times" for that event. But at the same time we are to "know" when "it is near, even at the doors." Matt. 24:33. What are the evidences which God has given us upon which we may base such knowledge?
I. Upon the prophetic word. "Surely the Lord God will do nothing [will bring no judgment upon the earth, see context], but he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets." Amos 3:7. And this has been emphatically true from the beginning. Would God destroy the world by a flood?—He gave the people warning for one hundred and twenty years through Noah and his associates, among them doubtless being Lamech and Methuselah, the latter of whom died the year the flood came, the former a little before. Sodom and Gomorrah's doom was revealed to Abraham and Lot; and the latter warned the people. Doubtless there had been previous warnings. The wicked Canaanites were warned by the preaching and sojourn of Melchizedek, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, neither were the Israelites allowed to go thither till the Amorites had rejected every overture of Infinite Mercy, and the wretched inhabitants had filled up their cup of iniquity by so identifying themselves with the sin that they must be destroyed to destroy the sin. Gen. 15:13-16. The Hebrews were warned again and again of the judgments which would come upon them if they continued in sin. 2 Chron. 36:15-17. Nineveh was warned of its coming doom if it persisted in its wickedness and idolatry. God in his mercy has ever given faithful warning of approaching judgments, and pointed out the way whereby man might escape them.
Now the second coming of our Lord Jesus Christ is an event before which all others, great as some of them are, pale into insignificance. Surely if he has warned the world of these lesser judgments—these lesser days of evil to a sinful world or sinful nations or cities—he will warn the world of that great day of his wrath, of that greater event of the coming of the Son of Man in all the glory of the Father. And of this the word assures us. Prophecy was not given for ancient times alone. It "is a light that shineth in a dark place until the day dawn and the daystar" arises in the hearts of God's people. 2 Peter 1:19. Some of the evidences given in prophecy are as follows:—
1. The prophecy of Daniel 2, representing the history of earth's monarchies under an image composed of five different metals or materials, namely, gold, silver, brass, iron, and a mixture of iron and clay. Succeeding this is the everlasting kingdom of God. We have existed under the iron-clay division for many years, and the mixture has been more and more evident in the monarchies of the Old World. The next great dynasty is the everlasting kingdom of Christ.
2. The prophecy of Daniel 7, in which the kingdoms of earth are represented by four cruel, blood-thirsty beasts, and the Papacy by a little horn on the fourth beast. The time of papal supremacy is stated, closing shortly before the beginning of the investigative judgment. The fall of papal dominion is also predicted, and a little while from this the kingdom is given to the people of the saints of the Most High. Daniel 7 declares, unmistakably, that we are nearing the time of Christ's coming.
3. Daniel 8 and 9 present another line of prophecy, including three of the great dynasties given in the two preceding lines, omitting Babylon, as that empire was then a matter of history not prophecy. In Daniel 8, Medo-Persia, Grecia, and Rome are portrayed till the time when earth's empire should be broken "without hand." Besides the prediction concerning these promises, the prophecy deals with our Lord Jesus Christ, pointing out the time when he should be manifested as the Messiah, how long his ministry upon earth would last, when his priesthood would begin, and the very year that he would enter upon the closing work of that priesthood, the justifying of the heavenly sanctuary, or the investigative judgment (Dan. 8:14), which would determine the worthiness or unworthiness of the characters of those who had once entered God's service (Luke 20:35). This closing work began in 1844, and, according to the type, is a comparatively brief work, which will soon be over. Then Christ will come.
4. Daniel 11 and Revelation 2-13 present no less than seven different lines of prophecy, every one of which shows that the coming of the Lord is near. We have the seven churches, the seven seals, the seven trumpets, the two witnesses, the great red dragon, the multi-formed beast, the two-horned beast, and the scarlet-colored beast upon which Babylon sits, all declaring that the coming of Christ is near.
II. But God has not confined the proof of Christ's nearness to long lines of prophecy and symbolic representations which require some knowledge of history in order to well comprehend them; evidence is given so that the simple and unlearned can comprehend the warning and heed the admonitions connected therewith. In Matthew 24, Mark 13, and Luke 21, we have three different versions of specific instructions which our Lord taught his disciples with reference to the destruction of Jerusalem and his second coming. No one of these chapters is complete. Each to some extent supplements the others, but they are never contradictory. Matthew 24 is the most complete, and that we will take as the basis of our evidence.
In the third verse of that chapter the disciples say unto Christ: "Tell us when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming [parousia, presence], and the end of the world [age]?"
How did our Lord answer these earnest questions? If these were matters concerning which his followers had no right to inquire, our Saviour would then have indicated it. He would have said, "Heed ye the moral and spiritual instructions of God purely, and give no thought as regards how or when the age shall terminate, and I shall come." How did he reply? We will have a portion of his reply in our next.