THIS issue of the SIGNS OF THE TIMES is the first in a series of four Special numbers. The other three will be dated November 16, 23, and 30, respectively. The general make-up of each will be similar to this, while the articles will grow more and more interesting and helpful. The titles of some of these are given below.
CHRIST, OUR SAVIOUR
"CHRIST THE LAWGIVER AND LAWKEEPER"
"THE GIVER OF LIFE TO THE DYING AND DEAD"
"THE SIGN OF CREATIVE AND REDEEMING POWER"
"THE BLESSING OF ITS OBSERVANCE"
"HOW THIS SIGN HAS BEEN IGNORED"
"HOW THIS SIGN IS TO BE HONORED"
CHRIST, OUR JUDGE
"WAS THE DEATH OF CHRIST NECESSARY?"
"AN OBJECT LESSON IN REDEMPTION"
"THE JUDGMENT IN TYPE AND ANTITYPE"
"THE HOUR OF HIS JUDGMENT IS COME"
"THE GREAT FINAL, FIERY TEST"
CHRIST, THE RESTORER
"THE SICK WORLD — ITS COUNTERFEIT PANACEAS"
"THE ONLY REMEDY — ITS REJECTION"
"THE SIGN OF APOSTASY"
"GOD'S LAST GREAT INVITATION"
There will also be several short articles on present-day topics, original poems and additional instalments of the story, "Heber, the Firstborn." As you will notice, the nature of these articles is such that you will wish to read the whole series. If unable to secure them from the person from whom you received this number, please order direct from the publishers. The price will be twenty cents.
THE regular subscription price to THE SIGNS OF THE TIMES is $1.50 a year, 75 cents for six months, or 40 cents for three months.
THIS SAME JESUS.
By Mrs. E. G. White
BY MRS. E. G. WHITE.
CHRIST had sojourned in the world for thirty-three years; He had endured its scorn, insult, and mockery; He had been rejected and crucified. Now, when about to ascend to His Father's throne—as He reviews the ingratitude of the people He came to save—will He not withdraw His sympathy and love from them? Will not His affections be centered on that world where He is appreciated, and where sinless angels adore Him and wait to do His bidding?—No; His promise to those loved ones whom He leaves on earth is, "Lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world."
With hands extended in blessing them, and as if in assurance of His protecting care, He slowly ascended from among them, drawn heavenward by a power stronger than any earthly attraction. As He passed upward, the awestruck disciples looked with straining eyes for the last glimpse of their ascending Lord. A cloud of glory received Him out of their sight, and at the same moment there floated down to their charmed senses the sweetest and most joyous music from the angel choir.
While their gaze was still riveted upward, voices addressed them which sounded like the music which had just charmed them. They turned, and saw two beings in the form of men; yet their heavenly character was immediately discerned by the disciples, whom they addressed in comforting accents, saying, "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."
These angels were of the company that had been waiting in a shining cloud to escort Jesus to His throne; and in sympathy and love for those whom the Saviour had left, they came to remove all uncertainty from their minds, and to give them the assurance that He would come to earth again.
The Welcome Home.
All Heaven was waiting to welcome the Saviour to the celestial courts. As He ascended He led the way, and the multitude of captives whom He had raised from the dead at the time when He came forth from the tomb, followed Him. The heavenly host, with songs of joy and triumph, escorted Him upward. At the portals of the City of God an innumerable company of angels awaited His coming. As He approached the gates of the city, the angels who were escorting the Majesty of Heaven, in triumphant tones addressed the company at the portals: "Lift up your heads, O ye gates; and be ye lift up, ye everlasting doors; and the King of glory shall come in!"
The waiting angels at the gates of the city inquire in rapturous strains, "Who is this King of glory?" The escorting angels joyously reply in songs of triumph: "The Lord strong and mighty, the Lord mighty in battle. Lift up your heads, O ye gates; even lift them up, ye everlasting doors; and the King of glory shall come in." Again the waiting angels ask, "Who is this King of glory?" and the escorting angels respond in melodious strains: "The Lord of hosts, He is the King of glory." Then the portals of the City of God are widely opened, and the heavenly train pass in amid a burst of angelic music. All the heavenly host surround their majestic Commander as He takes His position upon the throne of the Father.
With the deepest adoration and joy, the hosts of angels bow before Him, while the glad shout rings through the courts of heaven, "Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honor, and glory, and blessing." Songs of triumph mingle with music from angelic harps, till heaven seems to overflow with delightful harmony and inconceivable joy and praise. The Son of God has triumphed over the prince of darkness, and conquered death and the grave. Heaven rings with voices in lofty strains proclaiming, "Blessing, and honor, and glory, and power, be unto Him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb forever andever."
He is seated by the side of His Father on His throne. He presents the captives He has rescued from the bonds of death, at the price of His own life. His hands place immortal crowns upon their brows; for they are the representatives and samples of those who shall be redeemed by the blood of Christ, from all nations, tongues, and people, and come forth from the dead, when He shall call the just from their graves at His second coming. Then shall they see the marks of Calvary in the glorified body of the Son of God. Their greatest joy will be found in the presence of Him who sitteth on the throne; and the enraptured saints will exclaim, "My Beloved is mine, and I am His! He is the Chiefest among ten thousand, and altogether lovely!"
The "Same Jesus."
The most precious fact to the disciples in the ascension of Jesus was that He went from them into heaven in the tangible form of their divine Teacher. The very same Jesus who had walked, and talked, and prayed with them, who had broken bread with them, who had been with them in their boats on the lake, who had sought retirement with them in the groves, and who had that very day toiled with them up the steep ascent of Olivet, had ascended to heaven in the form of humanity. And the heavenly messengers had assured them that the very same Jesus whom they had seen go up into heaven, should come again in like manner as He had ascended. This assurance has ever been, and will be to the end, the hope and joy of all true lovers of Christ.
THE COMING CHRIST
By L. D. Avery-Stuttle
BY MRS. L. D. AVERY-STUTTLE.
I have climbed the hoary mountains where the rocks are rough and steep,
And watched the blazing sun arise from out the shadows deep,
And seen the twinkling stars go out like candles in the sky,
And heard the heralds of the morn proclaim that day was nigh.
E'en thus I've watched the dawning day that hasteth on apace,
And marked the fleeing shadows gray that hide Immanuel's face;
I've heard the waking nations as they hasten to the fray—
The mighty hosts preparing for Armageddon's day.
O hast thou heard the baying of the angry dogs of war,
And seen the gory banners on the battlements afar?
Ah! soon the wailing tribes of earth shall feel the chastening rod,
And see the blazing glory of the chariots of God.
I have heard the invitation to the coming marriage feast,
And seen the Bridegroom's chariot car light up the red'ning east;
Ho! watchmen true on Zion's walls, shout ye aloud and sing!
"Lo, this is He for whom we wait,—Immanuel our King!"
I'm weary of the conflict and the bitter strife of sin,
And sigh for that eternal day which Christ shall usher in.
But when my heart is saddest, I will not weep, but sing,—
"He's coming soon to save me,—Immanuel my King"
ARE THE SCRIPTURES INSPIRED ?
By Francis M. Wilcox
BY FRANCIS M. WILCOX.
THE question as to the precise position to be accorded the Scriptures in the literature of the world, and in the realm of Christian faith, has been a vexed problem, to a greater or less degree, in all ages of the Christian era. Nor is the question at the present time one in which there is concurrent agreement of opinion and judgment, even among the Christian students of the church. Positions which a decade ago were regarded as impregnable are now assailed as ingenious fabrications, designed to deceive the unwary and unsuspecting devotees of scriptural inspiration. While the claims of archeological research would tend to strengthen primitive faith in the sacred Scriptures, the higher criticism of the present century demands a revision of old beliefs and fixed notions regarding at least a portion of the Sacred Writings. There are not a few, however, whose faith still holds the Bible to be the Word of God.
In this connection, the following remarks by Prof. J. H. Murphy, in the introduction to his commentary on the book of Genesis, is to the point: 'If the Scriptures are not the Word of God, then the writers of these Scriptures, who directly and indirectly affirm their divine origin, are false witnesses; and if they have proved unworthy of credit in this fundamental point, they can be of no authority on other equally important matters. But neither before examination, nor after an examination of eighteen centuries, have we the slightest reason for doubting the veracity of these men, and their unanimous evidence is in favor of the divine authorship of the Bible. All that we have learned of the contents of these books accords with their claim to be the Word of God. The constant harmony of their statements, when fairly interpreted with one another, with general history and with physical and metaphysical truth, affords an incontestable proof of their divine origin. The statements of other early writers, have invariably come into conflict with historical or scientific truth.
'But still further, these books communicate to us matters concerning God, the origin and the future destiny of man, which are of vital importance in themselves, and yet are absolutely beyond the reach of human intuition, observation, or deduction. It is impossible, therefore, for mere human beings, apart from divine instruction and authority, to attest these things at all. Hence, these books, if they were not traceable ultimately to a Divine Author, would absolutely fail us in the very points that are essential to be known, namely, the origin of our being, the relation in which we stand to God, and the way to eternal happiness, on which neither science nor history affords us any light. But they yield a clear, definite, and consistent light and help, meeting the very askings and longings of our souls on these momentous topics. The wonderful way in which they convince the reason, probe the conscience, and apply a healing balm to the wounded spirit, is in itself an independent attestation to their divine origin.'
I. Simple Evidences of Inspiration.
That the Bible bears the stamp of High Divinity, its study will demonstrate. It possesses many characteristics which serve to point to an authorship higher than man. Evidences both external and internal show that 'He who spake as never man spake' has traced in the Holy Scriptures His own divine will concerning the children of men. Viewing the Bible as we would any other book, merely as a contribution to the literature of the world, I am impressed with many features it possesses that are to be found in no other production. For convenience these characteristics may be enumerated in the following order:
1. The Unity of the Scriptures.
There is no discord nor dissonance in their utterances. In the sixty-six great divisions of the Bible, not one of its writers utters sentiments contrary to the teachings of his fellows. Some are historical in their work, others exegetical, and still others deal with futurity. In the work of all, many great questions of philosophy and morals are considered; but all of these principles, these utterances of many minds, form a beautiful and harmonious whole. This is all the more remarkable when we come to consider that these writers lived in different ages, in separated countries, and under greatly varying conditions so far as their civil, social, and religious environments were concerned. The fact that men scattered all along the stream of time from Moses, the writer of the Pentateuch, to John, who penned the Revelation, a period of about 1,600 years, should write on such a variety of topics, preserving in all of their work such unity of sentiment and teaching, shows that One Master Mind directed the utterances. The unity of the Word points to God as its author.
2. Its Simplicity and Sublimity.
The loftiest ideas are expressed in the simplest terms; the grandest truths are told with a simple directness that appeals to the heart of either child or sage; the lives of its characters are described without false coloring or prejudice. It has truly been said that the two sublimest utterances ever expressed are the words found in the first chapter of Genesis, 'And God said, Let there be light; and there was light,' and the prayer of our Saviour on Calvary's cross, 'Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do.' The style employed throughout is worthy of a divine being. In it there is no cheapness. The language is simple and free from affectation. A simple, positive directness permeates the Word which leads the thoughts of the reader to the Divine Being instead of to fallible man.
3. Its Adaptability.
Altho written in part more than three thousand years ago, it is as applicable to the present inhabitants of the earth as when first bestowed upon man as a heritage. It is adapted to all ages, to all conditions of society, to all nationalities, to high and low, to rich and poor, to learned and illiterate, all of every nation under heaven may find instruction precisely suited to their needs.
4. Its Impartiality.
It has among men no heroes, nor heroines, whose misdeeds are glossed over. The sins of the noblest and the best are pointed out. Unlike profane history, its writers exhibit no national prejudices. The sins of David, the king of Israel, are revealed and rebuked. The faltering weakness of the wise man is faithfully portrayed. The sin of the one who talked with God face to face, as friend talks with friend, is not passed by in silence. In its impartial, but faithful record, it stands without a peer in all the literature of the ages.
5. Its Mysteries.
Its depths are unsearchable; no amount of study can fathom its broadest meaning. David, the shepherd; Amos, the herdsman; and Peter, the fisherman, have written truths so wonderful that the science and wisdom of all the ages have been unable to fathom their full significance. In these mysteries is enshrouded Divinity. They reveal not the feeble intellect of man, but the mind of the great Infinite One.
Finite man can not fathom the wisdom of Infinity. As man's character is expressed in his word, so the Word of God is but an expression of His mind and character; hence the fact that the Word of God can not be fully understood, and that there are mysteries in that Word beyond the ken of human understanding, are evidences, rather than otherwise, of the divine authorship of the Scriptures of truth.
Closely akin to the mysteries of the Bible are—
6. Its Predictions.
The prophecies of the Scriptures stand as unimpeachable evidence of its Heaven-born origin. No man, or any company of men had ever mind so great, or perception so clear, as to correctly forecast the future. None living to-day can predict with certainty the events of the morrow. Not so with God. To Him the past and the future are as the present. He can declare the end from the beginning. Prophecies pertaining to the past have faithfully met their fulfilment; prophecy pertaining to present events is turning to history to-day. God only could look down the stream of time and predict with exactitude the rise and fall of nations, and the important changes in the history of the race, such as are brought to view in the Sacred Writings.
7. Its Endurance.
'All flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass. The grass withereth, and the flower thereof falleth away; but the Word of the Lord endureth forever.' God, the Author of the Word, has put within it His own enduring nature. For ages it has stood the assault of bigoted fanatic and infidel zealot, but still it lives. Rome burned it; France crushed it in the dust; but the Word of God's witness arose, as it were, from its own ashes, to wield a more mighty influence than ever before. In it is the power of Infinity, and that power exists as long as eternity.
II. Internal Evidences.
After this external view of the Bible as a literary production, we come now to consider what the Bible says of itself. Do the Scriptures claim for themselves5an authority higher than that of man? Says the great apostle to the Gentiles:
'All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness; that the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works.' 2 Tim. 3:16, 17.
Reference is here had to the Old Testament writings, as when Paul penned these words, the New Testament canon was not compiled. None of the prophets are excluded; all that was embraced in the Scripture up to that time is declared to be inspired—'God-breathed.' The apostle Peter emphasizes this point. In speaking of the salvation that comes to us through our Lord and Saviour, he tells us:
'Of which salvation the prophets have inquired and searched diligently, who prophesied of the grace that should come unto you; searching what, or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did signify, when it testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should follow.' 1 Peter 1:10, 11.
Here is revealed the manner in which the Scriptures were given. The Spirit of Christ in the prophets testified through them. Then it was not David alone who spake, not Isaiah, not Daniel, but Christ speaking through them. Nor was it the instrument through which the message came that was inspired; it was the message itself. Indeed, as proved in the above scripture, the prophets oftentimes failed to understand their own prophecies, and with others, had to search what God had revealed through them, to find that salvation of which they prophesied. The Spirit carried them out of themselves and beyond their own finite understanding. The prophets prophesied not at will. The Spirit of Christ was not theirs to use at pleasure. Simon Magus thus sought to use the Spirit's power, but suffered rebuke for his blasphemous audacity. See Acts 8:9-24. Again the apostle Peter says:
'Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the Scripture is of any private interpretation. For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man; but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.' 2 Peter 1:20, 21.
If the prophecy came not by the will of the prophets, but they spake only as they were moved by the Holy Spirit, then it was not they that spake, but the Spirit of Christ speaking through them. They might be sinful men, and the circumstances under which they labored might be most forbidding, but that did not invalidate their message. It makes the rarest pearls none the less precious if they are encased in worthless caskets; so with God's message; it has been given through instruments of clay, but the message is of God, however frail may be the instrument. See 2 Cor. 4:7.
The New Testament Scriptures.
The same general principles adduced for the Old Testament Scriptures apply with equal force to the New. It is safe to conclude that the same Spirit of Christ which was with His prophets would likewise direct His apostles, and that if God directed in the prophecies pertaining to Christ's mission, He would likewise guide in the writing of the history of His Son's earthly work. The truthfulness of the Gospel record is attested by the concurrent and harmonious agreement of the four evangelists, who wrote at different times and from different points of view, and probably without reference to each other's work. In many respects the Revelation is so nearly parallel with Daniel that to believe the one must be to accept the other.
Paul wrote the larger part of the epistles, and of him Peter says he wrote 'according to the wisdom given unto him,' and classes his epistles with the 'other Scriptures.' 2 Peter 3:15, 16. And of his own epistles the apostle Paul says, 'Which things also we speak, not in the words which man's wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth.' 1 Cor. 2:13. Then, as we turn to the Sacred Book of God, we do not read merely the words of Paul, or Peter, or Samuel, or any of the prophets; we read the word of the Lord through them. Each in the giving of his message could truly say, as did David, 'The Spirit of the Lord spake by me, and His word was in my tongue.' 2 Sam 23:2. No, it is not David that has spoken, but, as Peter declares in Acts 1:16, they are the words 'which the Holy Ghost by the mouth of David spake.'
The Word of the Most High.
Luke wrote the history of Christ's ministry and the chief events connected with the work of the apostles and the early church. Daniel, in prophetic vision, saw the rise and fall of nations, and recorded many years before their occurrence the events to transpire. Was the prophecy more inspired than the history? In other words, are there degrees in inspiration? I can not concede an affirmative answer; for I conceive as great a necessity of divine guidance in leading the one to write a correct history, recording the essential and omitting the non-essential happenings, as had the other in predicting future events. Absolute infallibility and perfection would require the direction of the Divine Spirit in the one as well as in the other.
While we may not be able to explain the precise mode of inspiration, we can not doubt its possibility. God, in His Word, has revealed to man His own divine will. May we take that Word as the man of our counsel, the lamp to our feet, and the light to our path. By so doing, we shall not stumble in darkness, but shall walk in the light of life.
WHAT NOTED MEN SAY.
Most wondrous book ! bright candle of the Lord !
Star of eternity ! the only star
By which the bark of man could navigate
The sea of life, and gain the coast of bliss
Securely ; only star which rose on time,
And on its dark and troubled billows still,
As generation drifting swiftly by
Succeeded generation, threw a ray
Of heaven's own light, and to the hills of God,
The everlasting hills, pointed the sinner's eye.
—Pollok.
Sad error this to take
The light of nature, rather than the light
Of Revelation for a guide. As well
Prefer the borrowed light of earth's pale moon
To the effulgence of the noonday sun.
—Bates.
The rhetorical and poetical beauties of Scripture are merely incidental. Its authors wrote not for glory nor display, not to astonish nor amaze their brethren, but to instruct them and to make them better. They wrote for God's glory, not their own ; they wrote for the world's advantage, not to aggrandize themselves. Demosthenes composed his splendid oration in order to win the crown of eloquence ; and the most elaborate efforts of ancient oratory—the panegyric to which Socrates devoted fifteen years—was just an essay-written prize. How different the circumstances in which the speech on Mars' Hill was spoken, and the farewell sermon in the upper chamber at Troas. Herodotus and Thucydides composed their histories with a view to popular applause ; and Pindar's fiery pulse beat faster in view of the great Olympic gathering and the praises of assembled Greece. How opposite the circumstances in which the seer of Horeb penned his faithful story, and Isaiah and Jeremiah poured forth the fearless denunciations of popular sins. The most superb of modern historians confesses the flutter which he felt when the last line of his task was written, and he thought that perhaps his fame was established. A more important history concludes : "These things were written that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God ; and that believing ye might have life through His name."
The Bible is itself a standing and an astonishing miracle. Written fragment by fragment, throughout the course of fifteen centuries, under different states of society and in different languages, by persons of the most opposite tempers, talents, and conditions, learned and unlearned, prince and peasant, lord and peer ; cast into every form of instructive composition and good writing,—history, prophecy, poetry, allegory, emblematic representation, judicious interpretation, literal statement, precept, example, proverbs, disquisition, epistle, sermon, prayer ; in short, all rational shapes of human discourse, and treating, moreover, on subjects not obvious, but most difficult ; its authors are not to be found, like other writers, contradicting one another upon the most ordinary matters of fact and opinion, but are at harmony upon the whole of their sublime and momentous scheme.—Professor Macleyan.
I have for many years made it a practise to read through the Bible once a year. My custom is to read four or five chapters every morning after rising from my bed. It employs about an hour of my time, and seems to be the most suitable manner of beginning the day. In what light soever we regard the Bible, whether with reference to revelation, to history, to morality, it is an invaluable and inexhaustible mine of knowledge and virtue.—John Quincy Adams.
From the time that at my mother's feet, or at my father's knee, I first learned to lisp verses from the Sacred Writings, they have been my daily study and vigilant contemplation. If there is anything in my style or thoughts to be commended, the credit is due to my kind parents in instilling into my mind an early love of the Scriptures.—Daniel Webster.
When I commenced my duties as professor of theology, I feared that the frequency with which I should have to pass over the same portions of Scripture would abate the interest in my own mind in reading them. But after more than fifty years of study it is my experience that with every class my interest increases.—Prof. Leonard Woods.
I must confess to you that the majesty of the Scriptures astonishes me ; the holiness of the evangelists speaks to my heart, and has such strong and striking characters of truth, and is, moreover, so perfectly inimitable, that if it had been the invention of men, the inventors would have been the greatest of heroes.—Rousseau.
I can easily conceive why the Bible was one of the four volumes which always lay on Byron's table ; and it would be easy to fill a lecture with the testimonies, written or unwritten, which painters, sculptors, orators, and poets, have rendered to the most thought-suggesting Book in the world.—Hamilton.
I will hazard the assertion that no man ever did, or ever will, become truly eloquent, without becoming a constant reader of the Bible, and an admirer of the purity and sublimity of its language.—Fisher Ames.
No writers from the invention of letters to the present time, are equal to the penmen of the Old and New Testaments in true excellence, utility, and dignity.—Dr. David Hartley.
There are no songs comparable with the songs of Zion, no orations equal to those of the prophets, and no politics like those which the Scriptures teach.—Milton.
There is no book like the Bible for excellent learning, wisdom, and use.—Sir Matthew Hale.
We account the Scriptures of God to be the most sublime philosophy.—Sir Isaac Newton.
THE GREAT QUESTION.
THE great question at issue between popery and Protestantism is this: Is the Bible only to be received as the rule of faith, or the Bible and tradition together? Is no doctrine to be received as matter of faith unless it is found in the Bible? or may a doctrine be received upon the mere authority of tradition, when it is confessedly not to be found in the Sacred Scriptures?
The whole Christian world, both nominal and real, are divided by this question into two great divisions; the consistent and true-hearted Protestant, standing upon this rock, "The Bible and the Bible only," can admit no doctrine upon the authority of tradition; the papist and the Puseyite place tradition side by side with the Bible, and listen to its dictates with a reverence equal to, or even greater than, that which they pay to the Sacred Scriptures themselves; and he who receives a single doctrine upon the mere authority of tradition, let him be called by what name he will, by so doing, steps down from the Protestant rock, passes over the line which separates Protestantism from popery, and can give no valid reason why he should not receive all the earlier doctrines and ceremonies of Romanism upon the same authority.—Dowling, "History Romanism," Book 2, chapter 1, section 4.
