Signs of the Times, Vol. 1, No. 42. (8/26/1875)

Signs of the Times

Aug 26, 1875

Pacific Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Oakland, California · Aug 26, 1875

The Sermon.

By Eld. J. H. Waggoner

THE LAW OF GOD.—No. 13.

BY ELD. J. H. WAGGONER.

SPIRITUALITY OF THE LAW.—CONTINUED.

The idea held by some that the righteousness of the law differs from the righteousness of the gospel is an error. We have seen that the law, as given to Isreal, is the measure of holiness; even that holiness of which the divine character is the model. This is the reason why the law is witness to “the righteousness of God.” Man lost that righteousness by transgression. As the holy law which he transgressed now condemns him, his only hope is in Christ, who restores to him that which he lost by sin. As the law is the rule of holiness, of righteousness, was ordained to life, contains man’s whole duty, is perfect, and is sufficient to justify the doer, and, as the gospel is a remedy, of course the object of the gospel is to restore man to the position he would have occupied had he never violated God’s holy law. This it does by justifying him, or pardoning his past transgression, and converting him, or turning him away from sin to obedience.

This is so reasonable that it would seem that none could deny it; and it is a necessary deduction from the premises laid down for us in the texts quoted. To this conclusion we are positively shut up by the Scriptures. But if any deny reason and are dissatisfied with the deduction, plain and necessary as it is, we have something yet more evident for their benefit, even a direct statement of the apostle Paul. In Rom. 8: 3, 4, he says that the offering of Christ “condemned sin in the flesh, that the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the spirit.” Here is a statement confirming our whole argument in terms too plain to be misunderstood; too direct to admit of any evasion.

Now, as the righteousness of the law is fulfilled in them who, through faith in Christ, walk after the spirit, and not after the flesh, we must conclude that they in whom the righteousness of the law is not fulfilled do not walk after the spirit, but are still walking after the flesh. This is another necessary conclusion; and to sustain it we have another positive declaration. “The minding of the flesh” is the marginal reading for “the carnal mind;” and the carnal mind is declared to be enmity against God, and not subject to the law of God. Of course when the carnal mind is removed, when the spiritual mind is given, that is, when the person ceases to walk after the flesh and does walk after the spirit, the enmity is taken away, and the mind is then subject to the law of God. Then, and not till then, is the righteousness of the law fulfilled in that person. Thus clearly is the law established, and not made void, through faith in Christ. Rom. 3: 31.

Paul is confessedly a great and deep reasoner, and his conclusions are always based on well established premises. He has not arrived at the conclusion that the carnal or fleshly mind is not subject to the law of God without a good and sufficient reason. This reason is found in the fact stated in Rom. 7: 14, thus: “For we know that the law is spiritual.”

The law has never changed in its nature since it was given by Jehovah. He then showed it to be a holy law in that they would be holy who kept it. In David’s time it was perfect; and in Solomon’s day it contained the whole duty of man. The Saviour said it was the basis of the golden rule, and that it was the outgrowth of the principles of perfect love to God and to man. Therefore, the law was spiritual before the gospel dispensation as well as at the time when Paul wrote.

If the law were carnal, as some effect to believe, the carnal mind would agree with it. But the carnal mind is opposed to it, and cannot be subject to it, even as there can be no agreement between spirituality and carnality. As well could we unite midnight and noon, or bring Belial and Christ in union as to bring the carnal mind into harmony with the spiritual law of God. We cannot imagine how the opposers of the law can overlook this fact. This one statement of the spirituality of the law, Rom. 7: 14, should forever silence all objections to it. And with the additional declarations that the carnal mind is opposed to it, and that the righteousness of the law is fulfilled in the spiritually minded, we have here in brief an overwhelming argument in favor of the law. But even these are not alone. In connection with them we have the apostle’s words that the law would justify the doer; that it is a revelation of the will of God; that by it he will judge the world; that it makes known sin, and proves both Jews and Gentiles guilty before God; that it is a witness to the righteousness of God; that it is not made void through faith, but established by it, inasmuch as the blood of Christ was offered to vindicate the justice of God, not to supersede it; that we shall not sin in order to magnify the grace of God in our pardon, but that we frustrate grace and are the servants of sin unto death if we continue in sin; that even as the law proves a woman guilty of adultery if she marries a second husband while the first is yet living, so are we guilty of spiritual adultery if we seek to be united to Christ while “the old man,” or the “body of sin,” is yet alive; that he (Paul) was proved a sinner by the law; that, though the law was ordained unto justification and life, he found it to be unto condemnation and death because he was a transgressor; that the condemnation of man is no fault of the law, but an argument in its favor, for man is a wrong doer, and the law condemns the wrong, being itself holy, just, and good. In view of all these facts, how reasonable is the statement that the carnal mind is opposed to it, and that the righteousness of the law is fulfilled in those who walk after the spirit and not after the flesh. Would that all would make a just application of these truths to their own hearts and lives, and be so instructed by this holy law as to discover their own sinfulness, and be led to repent and prepare to stand accepted of God in that day when he shall bring every work into judgment.

Considering all this evidence of the morality, spirituality, and holiness of the law, how idle appears the objection to which we have referred, viz.: that there is no love in the ten commandments. Obedience to the law lives in the very atmosphere of love. The Saviour said that all the law (not any part of it alone) hangs on love to God and to man. It is the outgrowth of love. And therefore the apostle says, “Love is the fulfilling of the law.” To fulfill an obligation means to observe or keep it, as we learn from Gal. 6: 2, “Bear ye one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.” Equally explicit is Rom. 2: 27: “And shall not uncircumcision, if it fulfill the law, judge thee, who by letter and circumcision dost transgress the law.” Fulfilling is the opposite of transgressing, and is keeping.

Not, as some would have it, that love is substituted for keeping, but, literally, “Love is the keeping of the law.” There is no true obedience to God without love; neither is there any real love to God without obedience. They are inseparable, and obedience is the only test of love. While one apostle says, “Love is the fulfilling [or keeping] of the law,” another confirms it by saying, “This is the love of God, that ye keep his commandments.”

If the carnal mind yielded at once to the force of argument and reason it would hardly be true to its own rebellious nature. Therefore, when by reason and evident deductions its own positions are overthrown, it covers its enmity under evasions. When it is proved that the law is spiritual, and that formality without the spirit of love and obedience never did and never can fulfill the righteousness of the law, then the opposers of the law make answer that we are not required to keep the letter of the law if we keep it in spirit. Nay, more than this, they say that the letter is opposed to the spirit of the law, and so we are not only not required to keep it in the letter, but if we do so it will be at the sacrifice of the spirit.

Of all evasions of the truth this seems the shallowest; and yet we find it often resorted to by many from whom we should look for better things, considering their position and their opportunities to understand the truth.

Admitting that the letter of a law may be kept without the spirit, we cannot admit that a law can be kept in the spirit when it is not kept in the letter. It is not true that the apostle places the letter in opposition to, or in contrast with, the spirit. Having said that the law is spiritual, that the carnal mind is opposed to it, and that the righteousness of the law is fulfilled in the faithful in Christ, he could not also say anything so unreasonable and absurd as the above position supposes.

For example, we will take the two precepts spoken by the Saviour and by his apostle. The Saviour said that he who looked upon a woman with a lustful desire is guilty of adultery; and John wrote, saying, “Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer.” And yet we consider that the letter of the law is kept by him who does not actually commit adultery nor take life. But, on the other hand, we cannot consider that it is possible to keep the spirit of these precepts and break the letter, that is, to commit adultery and kill. Because the letter may be kept without the spirit, it is not therefore true that the spirit of a law may be kept without keeping the letter. Without the letter no precept can exist; and between it and the spirit there must be perfect agreement.

The words of the Saviour in Matt. 5, confirm this. He affirms that keeping and teaching the law are necessary in order to be exalted in the kingdom of Heaven. But he also says that we shall in no case enter that kingdom except our righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees. Now the scribes and Pharisees were tenacious of the letter of the law, but had entirely lost the spirit of it. Our obedience, therefore, must be on a higher plane than theirs was. But we may not therefore disobey or break the law. If we break it we neither keep it in letter nor spirit, and then, instead of having a righteousness which exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, we shall fall even below them.

Some have so misconstrued the Saviour’s teachings in this chapter as to take it that he reversed the law, or released us from its obligations. Here we are reminded of the old saying that “the wish is father to the thought.” For, surely, no one can find such an idea in the Saviour’s sayings unless his mind has a strong bent in that direction. When such is the case—when prejudice and prepossession are stronger than reason—it is easy to pervert language to make it conform to the result desired.

After the Saviour had corrected the impression that might arise that he had come to subvert the law, and had endorsed the law as the rule of action to secure a place in the kingdom of God, and required righteousness (which is the same as obedience) exceeding that of the scribes and Pharisees, he immediately commented on two of the ten commandments, and, instead of reversing them, most emphatically confirmed them by showing their spirituality, saying that they were even violated by the mind without any outward action. It is strange indeed that anybody can find a reversal of the commandments or a release from obligation to them in such teachings.

But the case is different when he speaks of those things not found in the ten commandments. These he reverses in each case. Thus a clear distinction is made between the law of ten commandments and other laws and customs not of the same nature, and not like it to be perpetuated throughout the gospel dispensation.

Paul in Rom. 7, speaks of “another law” in his members, or in his flesh, which some have confounded with the law of God. But Paul says he delights in the law of God after the inward man, or serves it with his mind. But that law in his flesh wars against that which he loves and serves with his mind. Again, he says “the law” is holy, just, good, and spiritual; but he also says that in his flesh dwells no good thing, thereby showing that that law which is in his flesh is not the holy law of God. It is contrary to the law of God, as the flesh always has been since the fall of Adam. This law of sin in the flesh is nothing but the movings of the flesh, of the fleshly or carnal mind, which is not subject to the law of God. It is a marvel that any should ever confound this with the law of God. Faith in Christ, or the law of the spirit of life in Christ sets us free from the law of sin in the flesh, or the carnal mind, and when that is removed we are brought to delight in the law of God, and its righteousness is fulfilled in us.

This shows a perfect harmony between the will of the Father and the work of the Son. Any other view makes a conflict between the Father and the Son, and represents the Son as changing the government of God instead of changing our relation to it. As the law is holy, just, good, and spiritual, and man is a transgressor of it, and worthy of death under its righteous sentence, how reasonable that the Son of God should die to vindicate its claims to the life of the sinner, and to make pardon consistent with justice, and at the same time to change the condition of man, to remove his rebellion and enmity to God and his government, and bring him back to obedience to the holy law of the Father. How unreasonable that Christ should abolish a holy, just, and spiritual law, and release rebellious man from obligation to obey it. The very thought is impious, and to teach it is to degrade the government of God, and to make the blessed Saviour the minister of sin instead of the minister of righteousness.

While the scriptures herein quoted and the unavoidable conclusions drawn from them most decidedly refute the arguments and remove the objections of those who oppose this holy law, we must not forget that they are not the only ones who ought to be deeply interested in the question of the spirituality of the law. If it is indeed “a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart;” if every secret thing shall be examined in its sacred light in the Judgment, how jealously should we watch every thought and the motive of every action. David said, “I hate vain thoughts; but thy law do I love.” Ps. 119: 113. Here a plain contrast is presented between the law of God and vain thoughts.

Paul, in calling the motions of sin (really our propensities to sin) “the law of sin” in the flesh, gives us to understand that it is uniformly in the flesh. The carnal or fleshly mind expresses the natural condition of all. Again, the enumeration of sins in Gal. 5, as “the works of the flesh,” shows that these evils inhere in the human heart; that they are not merely in the hearts of a particular class, but in the hearts of all. Truly the heart of man is deceitful and “desperately wicked.” A proper regard for the sacredness of the law gives us a sense of these things, while the tendency of antinomianism, as was remarked by Andrew Fuller, the celebrated Baptist author, is to render its adherents self-complacent, spiritually proud, and, to use his own language, “excite an irreverent familiarity with God, and in some cases a daring boldness in approaching him; yet such is the strength of the antinomian delusion that it passes for intimate communion with him.

A careful reading of Ps. 119 will show that David uses the term “thy word” as the equivalent to “thy law.” When he says, verse 105, “thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path,” he means “thy law.” This is confirmed and directly expressed in Prov. 6: 23: “For the commandment is a lamp, and the law is light.” The law of God exposes the corruption and deceitfulness of the heart, while antinomianism, or opposition to the law, strengthens the deception, and gives a feeling of security even in rebellion against the sacred precepts of Jehovah.

But here again the opposers object that we make too much of the law; that they cannot see in it all that we profess to see. We see in it exactly that which the Scriptures reveal, and which they could also see if they, as did the inspired servants of God, love it, and delight in it. David, whose whole being seemed enraptured with the holiness of God’s law, still prayed, “Open thou mine eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of thy law.” Love of, and obedience to, that law had drawn him near to God, and he longed for a deeper knowledge of God and his truth in which his soul so greatly delighted. His joy in God was far different from that self-sufficient, empty joy which is felt by those whose eyes are not opened “to behold” wondrous things in the divine statutes.

Though the law was holy from the beginning, and a rule of holiness for man; though the commandment was “exceeding broad,” man has obscured its light by transgression and rebellion, even until his heart has become “enmity against God,” and “not subject to the law of God.” The work of Jesus, as said the prophet Isaiah, is to “magnify the law and make it honorable.” We think he has done this; antinomians think he has not. We think “the law is spiritual;” they think it is not. We think the carnal mind is opposed to it; they think that opposition to it is evidence of the highest state of spirituality. We think the truly converted delight in it; they think that open opposition to it, and even reviling it, is consistent with entire holiness. We think the righteousness of the law is fulfilled in all who walk not after the flesh, but after the spirit; they think there is no righteousness of the law worthy of the regard of those who walk after the spirit. And in all this we stand upon the plain testimony of the Scriptures; they do not. They are in open conflict with every Scripture statement concerning the nature and obligation of the holy law of God.

The fact that they do not and cannot see beauty and glory in the law of God should cause them to stop in their career and consider their condition. “The law is light.” Rejecting it they are in darkness. Their darkness is such that they can see neither beauty in the law of God, nor the condition of their own hearts, while they oppose it.

From what has been quoted of the nature of the law which Jehovah gave to Israel, and in that obedience to it will exalt us in the kingdom of Heaven; learning that it is holy and spiritual; that it justifies all right and condemns all wrong; we are at no loss to conclude that it is referred to in Rev. 14: 12, where the commandments of God are connected with the faith of Jesus. And the application is the more certain inasmuch as we already see the spirit of war manifested which is prophesied of in Rev. 12: 18, as coming against those who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ. This will work out “the patience of the saints.” Compare Rev. 14: 12, and Rom. 5: 1–3. Never in the history of the church were so many influences combining against those who keep all the commandments of God. We say all; for if the spirit of the sixth commandment cannot be kept by those who take life; and if the spirit of the seventh cannot be kept by those who commit adultery in fact, neither is the spirit of the fourth commandment kept by those who profane the seventh day, the day required to be kept in that commandment, and substitute for it the observance of another day, a day which is positively forbidden to be kept as a Sabbath, by that commandment.

And inasmuch as an exalted place in the kingdom of Heaven is assured to all who “do and teach” that law and those commandments which were already revealed when Jesus commenced his preaching, Matt. 5, and as the Saviour indorsed them as the condition of entering into life, we know that they are the commandments referred to in Rev. 22: 14, the doing of which will give right to the tree of life and an entrance through the gates into the city.

God has revealed to us in his word that “the law is spiritual.” And in the light of its holiness and spirituality we shall all be judged. The law will not be regarded by the Judge in that day as rebellious man regards it. Man looks upon it as of little value, and as possessed of little sacredness. The Judge himself has revealed to us that he regards it as holy and spiritual, and therefore of infinite value and importance. Man looks upon sin as a trifling thing; to be sported with at pleasure; easily disposed of in the divine government; and of which the consequences are not serious. God looks upon sin as exceedingly odious and abominable; as having brought reproach and dishonor upon his name and his government; to remove it cost the life of his own dear Son; and which will sink to everlasting perdition every one who is found in any wise or to any degree connected with it when the mediation of our High Priest closes and probation ends. See Rev. 22: 11, 12.

We are apt to complain of our fellow-men because we think they judge us harshly, beyond our deserts. Yet were we to be judged by the most enlightened of mortals, by men who have the keenest sensibilities and the highest sense of justice, the Judgment would be a matter of small moment to what it actually will be. Who understands the holiness of the law which we have transgressed as God understands it? Who abhors sin as the God of infinite perfection abhors it? Who knows its nature and desert as he knows them? There is food for much serious reflection in the words of the psalmist: “Thou hast set our iniquities before thee: our secret sins in the light of thy countenance.” Ps. 90: 8. How will the heart of the sinner fail when he beholds the burning glory of him who said, “be ye holy, for I am holy,” and sees all his actions, his words, and the secrets of his heart, in the light of infinite purity?

“How will my heart endure The terrors of that day, When earth and heaven before the Judge, Astonished shrink away?”

Thanks be to God that there is a remedy. A healing fountain of infinite value and power has been opened. The love of God has devised the plan and prepared the great salvation. “The blood of his Son, Jesus Christ, cleanses us from all unrighteousness.” It was his mission to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. How fitting it is that we pray, dear Saviour, let thy work be wrought in me. May I be a worker together with thee, in putting away from myself every sin, every evil word, every vain and evil thought. Enlarge my heart to run in the way of the commandments. Sanctify me, Father, through thy truth; thy word is truth.

But let none presume on God’s goodness and mercy. Let no one think he may sin because grace abounds. Jesus taught that the ill desert of sin is increased by his coming to earth to suffer and die for man. Every cloak is removed, and every excuse is taken away by the revelation of the wondrous provisions of divine grace. To live in rebellion against God, to break his holy precepts, is awful to contemplate as the action of a puny creature. But to despise the means of God’s devising for our salvation, to trample under foot the blood shed for our redemption, to do despite to the Holy Spirit sent for our guidance and sanctification, is truly “treasuring up wrath against the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God.” “How shall we escape if we neglect so great salvation?”

“How careful then ought I to live, With what religious fear, Who such a strict account must give For my behavior here? “Thou awful Judge of quick and dead, The watchful power bestow; So shall I to my ways take heed, To all I speak or do.”

Nearing Home.

"Nearing home!" how sweet the message Falls upon the Christian's ear; How the weary heart rejoices, As "redemption draweth near."

"Nearing home!" yes, we are nearing Eden's ever blooming shore, Where the weary, storm-tossed pilgrim Soon shall rest for evermore.

Nearing fast the golden city And the beauteous, crystal sea; Nearing, too, the gushing fountain, And the fruit of life's fair tree.

Yes! the land is surely nearing, Home is almost reached at last; Let us then be nothing fearing, Soon our sorrows will be past.

Earthly friends may try to charm us, Gold may glitter in our sight; But a fairer world's before us, In God's everlasting light.

Oh! I love the coming kingdom, And the King that soon will reign; And I wish to be a subject, In a country free from pain.

Day by day my path grows brighter, Glory beams almost in sight; My poor heart grows each day lighter, As I near the portal bright.

Thanks to thee, O loving Saviour, For the peace that reigns within; Keep, oh, keep me by thy favor, Pure and spotless, free from sin. —Sel.

Hope of the Gospel.

By John Norton Loughborough

(Concluded.)

We will now look at the testimony of Jeremiah concerning Rachel, fulfilled in the mothers' weeping at the time Herod slew the children of Bethlehem while seeking to destroy Christ: "Thus saith the Lord, A voice was heard in Ramah, lamentation, and bitter weeping; Rachel weeping for her children, because they were not." See Jer. 31 : 15-17, and Matt. 2 : 15. These children were not in Heaven, nor in a hell of punishment, but out of existence. Now notice the consolation which the Lord gives these mothers: "Thus saith the Lord: Refrain thy voice from weeping, and thine eyes from tears; for thy work shall be rewarded, saith the Lord: and they shall come again from the land of the enemy." Why, say you, I thought children, when they died, went right to Heaven. Is Heaven the land of the enemy? No; but the grave is, and these are the words of consolation offered to those whose children are in the graves.

How different is the above from that given by those who believe in immediate rewards at death. I will quote a sample from the "Christian Almanac," illustrating the popular consolation given to weeping mothers. "Lady, how many children have you? Two on earth, and two in Heaven. Thou art mother of angels then. They are yet yours, only gone before! Rejoicing in the heavenly pastures, guarded by the Good Shepherd—little lambs of the heavenly fold! Earth, then, is less attractive. These invisible little spiritual cords twine around you, and draw your soul upward. Like 'still, small voices,' ever whispering, 'Come to the world where spirits live.' Mother of cherubs! Walk softly! Little angel-eyes watch thy steps! Spirit forms stoop to listen! Keep thy soul free from earth; thou shalt go to them, though they cannot return to thee!" How different this from the word of the Lord: "They are not." "They shall come again from the land of the enemy," and "There is hope in thine end, saith the Lord, that thy children shall come again to their own border."

Said the woman of Tekoah, when pleading before David, "For we must needs die, and are as water spilt on the ground, which cannot be gathered up again; neither doth God respect any person; yet doth he devise means that his banished be not expelled from him." 2 Sam. 14 : 14. Here are several direct statements respecting the dead. (1) They are "as water spilt on the ground, which cannot be gathered up again." (2) They are represented as "banished" from the Lord—a very different sentiment from that which is commonly taught, that God's people go immediately into his presence. (3) In the testimony of this woman of Tekoah, we learn that if God does not devise some means to redeem his people, they will not only remain "banished," but they will also "expelled from him." The means God has devised is to get the saints out of the enemy's prison, for "He [Satan] lets not his prisoners loose homewards." Isa. 14 : 7.

This work is to be accomplished by Christ, through the resurrection. Christ says, "Or else, how can one enter into a strong man's house, and spoil his goods, except he first bind the strong man? and then he will spoil his house." Matt. 12 : 29. The strong man spoken of represents Satan.

Notice a corresponding testimony concerning him in Luke: "When a strong man armed keepeth his palace, his goods are in peace; but when a stronger than he shall come upon him, and overcome him, he taketh from him all his armor wherein he trusted, and divideth his spoils." Luke 11 : 21, 22. The spoils he (the devil) takes from the army of the saints, he puts into his prison house (the grave). But Christ, a stronger than he, is coming upon him, and he will take the spoil.

According to the testimony of Paul, Christ is to conquer the devil through death. See Heb. 2 : 14. This work is predicted of Christ by Isaiah. "Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise him; he hath put him to grief: when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hand. He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied; by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities. Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong, because he hath poured out his soul unto death," &c. Here it is promised that Christ shall divide the spoil with the strong. When he has bound the strong man, he will raise the saints of God from their dusty beds, while the wicked dead will be left with Satan, to be destroyed with him at last.

We have a view of the fulfillment of this work in Rev. 20 : 1 : "And I saw an angel come down from Heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand." We understand that he who is here represented as binding Satan is Christ. He is called an angel (see 1 Thess. 4 : 16), and he is the one who has the key of the bottomless pit. "I am he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive forever more, Amen; and the keys of hell and of death." Rev. 1 : 18. John proceeds to tell us what Christ will do: "And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years, and cast him into the bottomless pit." Here the strong man is bound. He is rendered inactive. His power is broken, or as Christ says in Luke, "When a stronger than he shall come upon him, and overcome him, he taketh from him all his armor wherein he trusted, and divideth his spoils." The next thing of which John gives an account after the binding of Satan, is the resurrection of the saints. Verses 4, 5 : "And I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God; . . . and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years. But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection."

The means God has devised to accomplish the resurrection is the death and resurrection of his Son. "God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth on him, should not perish, but have everlasting life." John 3 : 16. Christ died, passed into the tomb, into the prison house of "the strong man armed"—Satan. But God has promised not to leave his soul in hell.

"Bright angels rolled the rock away, And Christ, the conqueror, rose."

Jesus broke the strongest power of Satan, and rose a triumphant victor over death and the grave. Then he obtained the keys of hell and of death. There he received power to bruise Satan under our feet. In the act of rising from the grave it is fully manifested to all men that Christ has power to conquer Satan and deliver those "who through fear of death were all their life subject to bondage." This is the great work to be accomplished. Christ is "our hope," and, as we have set forth in these pages, it is in and through him that we, if his servants, will receive an eternal victory over death at his coming and the resurrection. Any hope of reward at death, or otherwise than through the resurrection, is not the gospel hope. There is no promise of any such reward in the Bible, and all that is ever urged in its support, at most, is but inference. Of this kind of testimony, Dr. Adam Clarke says : "Let it be remembered that by the consent of all (except the basely interested), no metaphor is ever to be produced in proof of a doctrine. In the things that concern our eternal salvation we need the most pointed and express evidence on which to establish the faith of our souls."—Comment on Matt. 5 : 26.

An eminent English writer says : "But if the proposition is not expressly revealed, the right of inferring is equal on all sides; and surely those conclusions which are inferred from what is expressly revealed should be at least as just and as strong as those which are inferred from what is not."—Blackburne's History of the Controversy, p. 337.

Dear reader, in conclusion we would express the earnest wish that Christ may indeed be your hope, that we may receive all that grace and strength proffered to us through him, that we may be complete in him who is the head over all to his church, and that we may share eternal joys with him in the day of his coming. Amen.

J. N. LOUGHBOROUGH

Words Once Spoken

WHILE the word is yet unspoken you are master of it; when once it is spoken, it is master of you.

Sinless Perfection

A METHODIST clergyman gives, as a part of his experience, that sinners striving after sinless perfection are easily managed, but those of his flock who attain to it become thenceforward exceedingly crooked and contrary sticks.

Happiness in Helping Others

THERE is more pleasure in seeing others happy than in seeking to be happy ourselves. There is more pleasure in acquiring knowledge to be useful than in merely seeking knowledge for our own happiness. If young and old persons would spend half the money in making others happy, which they spend in dress and luxury, how much real pleasure it would give.

Where Is the Promise of His Coming?

By B. A. Stephens

WE have it from the lips of the Lord Jesus himself, from the mouth of angels, and from the writings of the apostles. The Lord's second coming is not spiritual, at conversion, nor at death; but is personal, literal, and visible. His coming is pre-millennial, at the resurrection of the just, whom he will then take to his Father's house where he now is. Signs and wonders in heaven above and in the earth beneath will foretoken his return, for these are foretold by the sure word of prophecy, unto which we that take heed shall do well. Under the heading of the Second Advent, in the old Methodist hymn book, is the following stanza of a hymn which is not to be found in the revised edition:—

"In the sun, and moon, and stars, Signs and wonders there shall be; Earth shall groan with inward wars— Nations with perplexity."

It will be a day of wrath, of gloominess, of darkness, and of destruction to the unprepared; but unto them that have preserved their bodies and lives blameless unto the coming of the Lord Jesus, the "blessed hope" will then be realized, when this mortal shall put on immortality, and the remnant, with the resurrected dead, are caught up to meet the Lord in the air.

Now for the proof. The time of our Saviour's crucifixion drew near, when he would leave the world, and go to prepare many mansions in the Father's house for his people. His disciples were sorrowful, but he said, "Let not your heart be troubled. * I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also." John 14:1–3. Yes; he was really here once, and will be really here again. He testifies again: "For the Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father, with his angels; and then he shall reward every man according to his works." Matt. 16:27. And to the High Priest he said, "Hereafter shall ye see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven." Matt. 26:64. We see that Jesus said he would come again. What have the angels said?

The Jews took Jesus and crucified him. He was buried on the sixth day in Joseph's new tomb. His disciples honored the Lord's Sabbath by keeping it according to the commandment. Luke 23:56. His body was not suffered to see corruption, but was raised the third day, and possessed flesh and bones, Luke 24:39, and is the prototype of the bodies that the righteous will have in the resurrection of the just. Rom. 6:5; 1 Cor. 15:23. On the day of his ascension he led his disciples out to Mount Olivet, and, blessing them, was parted from them, going up bodily into heaven. While they looked steadfastly toward heaven as he went out of their sight, two angels stood by them, having the appearance of men, "which also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven." Acts 1:11. "A cloud received him out of their sight." Verse 9.

The apostle John, while on the isle of Patmos, was given a vision of the Saviour's return. He says, "And I looked, and behold a white cloud, and upon the cloud one sat like unto the Son of man, having on his head a golden crown, and in his hand a sharp sickle" to reap the harvest of the earth (the end of the world, Matt. 13:39), which was ripe. Rev. 14:14–16. Here we see him coming, according to his word, and as declared by his angels, in like manner as he went up; bodily, literally, and visibly. The cloud is composed of all his holy angels, who will come with him to act their part in the resurrection. Matt. 25:31; 24:31; 1 Thess. 4:16. So, then, the Lord Jesus does not come spiritually to our hearts at conversion, upon the white cloud of his love, as I recently heard a Methodist preacher say. No. The bright shining of that cloud, and the visible glory of Jesus with it, will destroy the wicked at his second coming. 2 Thess. 2:8; 1:7–10; Isa. 11:4; Rev. 19:15, 21. Now, what do the apostles say about his return?

Hear John: "Behold, he [Jesus Christ] cometh with clouds, and every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him; and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him. Even so, Amen." Rev. 1:7. There is nothing spiritual about that; nothing indicating the conversion of the world when he does come. John also positively says that the Lord does not come at death. Read John 21:21–23. Our self-styled orthodox brethren should be careful how they preach from such texts as Matt. 24:42; 25:13; Mark 13:33; Luke 12:40, when delivering funeral discourses. Paul says that "Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation." Heb. 9:28. Yes; Jesus himself has said so, the angels bore a similar testimony, John confirmed it, and Paul concurs. Jesus is coming the second time. We shall behold his pierced hands, his wounded side, his broken feet, from which the flowing blood made red the cross at Calvary. Jesus is coming, the Lord, the righteous Judge; and he will give unto Paul at that day, and not to Paul only, but unto all them that love his appearing, a crown of righteousness. 2 Tim. 4:8. Then Jesus will change these vile bodies, fashioning them like unto his glorious body, Phil. 3:20, 21, clothing them with health and immortality. Rev. 21:4; 1 Cor. 15:51–53. Therefore, let us preserve them blameless. 1 Thess. 5:23; Rom. 12:1. Had Titus quoted an extract from Paul's letter to him in a certain union revival meeting that was held several years ago in San Francisco by the popular churches, he would have been surprised to have seen several professed lovers of Jesus, shepherds of the flock of Christ, jump to their feet and prohibit such doctrine being spoken there. This (to them) obnoxious doctrine is found in Titus 2:11–14. But unto us who are "looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ," it is the most precious of all, for our "redemption draweth nigh," "the Judge standeth before the door," "for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed."

B. A. STEPHENS. Paicines, Cal., Aug. 12, 1875.

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