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Signs of the Times, Vol. 5, No. 45.

THE GREAT CONTROVERSY

Signs of the Times

Nov 27, 1879

Pacific Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Oakland, California · Nov 27, 1879

THE GREAT CONTROVERSY.

By Ellen G. White

BETWEEN CHRIST AND HIS ANGELS AND SATAN AND HIS ANGELS.

CHAPTER XIII.—CONTINUED.

Jacob and the Angel. BY MRS. E. G. WHITE.
Jacob and Esau represent two classes. Jacob, the righteous; and Esau, the wicked. Jacob's night of wrestling and anguish represents the time of trouble through which the people of God must pass just prior to the second coming of Christ. Jeremiah refers to this time: "Wherefore do I see every man with his hands on his loins, as a woman in travail, and all faces are turned into paleness? Alas! for that day is great so that none is like it: it is even the time of Jacob's trouble; but he shall be saved out of it." Daniel, in prophetic vision looking down to this point, says: "And at that time shall Michael stand up, the great prince which standeth for the children of thy people; and there shall be a time of trouble such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time; and at that time thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book." Isaiah speaks of the same time: "Come, my people, enter thou into thy chambers, and shut thy door about thee, hide thyself for a little moment, until the indignation be overpast. For, behold, the Lord cometh out of his place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity; the earth also shall disclose her blood, and shall no more cover her slain."
In his distress, Jacob laid hold of the angel, and held him and wrestled with him all night. So also will the righteous, in the time of their trouble wrestle with God in prayer. Jacob prayed all night for deliverance from the hand of Esau. The righteous in their mental anguish will cry to God day and night for deliverance from the hands of the wicked who surround them. Jacob confessed his unworthiness: "I am not worthy of the least of all the mercies and of all the truth which thou hast showed unto thy servant." The righteous will have a deep sense of their shortcomings, and with many tears will acknowledge their utter unworthiness, and, like Jacob, will plead the promises of God through Christ, made to just such dependent, helpless, repenting sinners.
Jacob took firm hold of the angel and would not let him go. As he made supplication with tears, the angel reminded him of his past wrongs, and endeavored to escape from him, to test and prove him. So will the righteous in the day of their anguish, be tested, proved, and tried, to manifest their strength of faith, their perseverance, and unshaken confidence in the power of God to deliver them.
Jacob would not be turned away. He knew that God was merciful, and he appealed to his mercy. He pointed back to his past sorrow for, and repentance of, his wrongs, and urged his petition for deliverance from the hand of Esau. Thus his importuning continued all night. As he reviewed his past wrongs, he was driven almost to despair. But he knew that he must have help from God or perish. He held the angel fast, and urged his petition with agonizing, earnest cries, until he prevailed. Thus will it be with the righteous. As they review the events of their past lives, their hopes will almost sink. But as they realize that it is a case of life or death, they will earnestly cry unto God, and appeal to him in regard to their past sorrow for, and humble repentance of, their many sins, and then will refer to his promise: "Let him take hold of my strength, that he may make peace with me, and he shall make peace with me." Thus will their earnest petitions be offered to God day and night. God would not have heard the prayer of Jacob, and mercifully saved his life, if he had not previously repented of his wrongs in obtaining the blessing by fraud. Every effort was put forward by Satan and his host to discourage Jacob and break his hold upon God by forcing upon him a sense of the sin of his falsehood and deception. But Jacob was not left alone; the Captain of the Lord's host, attended by an army of angels, was close beside the depressed, fear-stricken man, that he might not perish.
The righteous, like Jacob, will manifest unyielding faith and earnest determination, which will take no denial. They will feel their unworthiness, but will have no concealed wrongs to reveal. If they had sins, unconfessed and unrepented of, to appear then before them, while tortured with fear and anguish, they would be overwhelmed. Despair would cut off their earnest faith, and they could not have confidence to plead with God thus earnestly for deliverance, their precious moments would be spent in confessing hidden sins, and bewailing their hopeless condition.
In these days of peril those who have been unfaithful in their duties in life, and whose mistakes and sins of neglect are registered against them in the book in Heaven, unrepented of and unforgiven, will be overcome by Satan. Every one is to be tested and severely tried. Satan will exert all his energies, and call to his aid his evil host, who will exercise all their experience, artifice, and cunning, to deceive souls and wrest them from the hands of Jesus Christ. He makes them believe they may be unfaithful in the minor duties of life, and God will not see, God will not notice; but that Being who numbers the hairs of our head, and marks the fall of the little sparrow, notices every deviation from truth, every departure from honor and integrity in both secular and religious things. These errors and sins corrupt the man, and disqualify him for the society of heavenly angels. By his defiled character he has placed himself under the flag of Satan. The arch deceiver has power over this class. The more exalted their profession, the more honorable the position they have held, the more grievous their course in the sight of God, the more sure the triumph of Satan. These will have no shelter in the time of Jacob's trouble. Their sins will then appear of such magnitude that they will have no confidence to pray, no heart to wrestle as did Jacob. On the other hand, those who have been of like passion, erring and sinful in their lives, but who have repented of their sins, and in genuine sorrow confessed them, will have pardon written against their names in the heavenly records. They will be hid in the day of the Lord's anger. Satan will attack this class, but like Jacob they have taken hold of the strength of God, and true to his character he is at peace with them, and sends angels to comfort and bless and sustain them in their time of peril. The time of Jacob's trouble will test every one, and distinguish the genuine Christian from the one who is so only in name.
Those professed believers who come up to the time of trouble unprepared, will, in their despair, confess their sins before the world in words of burning anguish, while the wicked exult over their distress. The case of all such is hopeless. When Christ stands up, the time of trouble commences, the case of every soul is decided, and there will be no atoning blood to cleanse from sin and pollution. As Jesus leaves the most holy, he speaks in tones of decision and kingly authority: "He that is unjust, let him be unjust still; and he which is filthy, let him be filthy still; and he that is righteous, let him be righteous still; and he that is holy, let him be holy still. And, behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be."
Those who have delayed a preparation for the day of God, cannot obtain it in the time of trouble, or at any future period. The righteous will not cease their earnest, agonizing cries for deliverance. They cannot bring to mind any particular sins; but in their whole life they can see little good. Their sins have gone before-hand to judgment, and pardon has been written. Their sins have been borne away into the land of forgetfulness, and they can not bring them to remembrance. Certain destruction threatens them, and, like Jacob, they will not suffer their faith to grow weak because their prayers are not immediately answered. Though suffering the pangs of hunger, they will not cease their intercessions. They lay hold of the strength of God, as Jacob laid hold of the angel; and the language of their soul is, "I will not let thee go except thou bless me."
That season of distress and anguish will require an effort of earnestness and determined faith that can endure delay and hunger, and will not fail under weakness, though severely tried. The period of probation is the time granted to all to prepare for the day of God. If any neglect the preparation, and heed not the faithful warnings given, they will be without excuse. Jacob's course in wrestling with the angel, should be an example for Christians. Jacob prevailed because he was persevering and determined. All who desire the blessing of God, as did Jacob, and who will lay hold of the promises as he did, and be as earnest and persevering as he was, will succeed as he succeeded. The reason there is so little exercise of true faith, and little of the weight of truth resting upon many professed believers, is they are indolent in spiritual things. They are unwilling to make exertions, to deny self, to agonize before God, to pray long and earnestly for the blessing, and therefore they do not obtain it. That faith which will live through the time of trouble must be developed now. Those who do not make strong efforts now to exercise persevering faith, will be unable to stand in the day of trouble.
At the transfiguration, Jesus was glorified by his Father. From his lips came these words: "Now is the Son of man glorified, and God is glorified in him." Before his betrayal and crucifixion he was strengthened for his last dreadful sufferings. As the members of Christ's body approach the period of their final conflict they will grow into him, and will possess symmetrical characters. As the message of the third angel swells to a loud cry, great power and glory will attend the closing work. It is the latter rain, which revives and strengthens the people of God to pass through the time of Jacob's trouble referred to by the prophets. The glory of that light which attends the third angel will be reflected upon them. God will preserve his people through that time of peril.
By self-surrender and confiding faith Jacob gained what he had failed to gain by conflict in his own strength. God would here fully make known to his servant that it was divine power and grace alone that could give him the life and peace he so much craved. This lesson is for all time. Those who live in the last days must pass through an experience similar to that of Jacob. Foes will be all around them, ready to condemn and destroy. Alarm and despair will seize them, for it appears to them as to Jacob in his distress, that God himself has become an avenging enemy. It is the design of God to arouse the dormant energies of his people to look out of and away from self to One who can bring help and salvation, that the promises given for just such a time may be seen in their preciousness, and relied upon with unwavering trust. Here faith is proved.
Deep anguish of soul will be felt by the people of God, yet their sufferings cannot be compared with the agony endured by our adorable Redeemer in the garden of Gethsemane. He was bearing the weight of our sins; we endure anguish on our own account. Wrestling with God—how few know what it is! To wrestle with God is to have the soul drawn out with intensity of desire until every power is on the stretch, while waves of despair that no language can express sweep over the soul; and yet the suppliant will not yield, but clings with deathlike tenacity to the promise.
Jacob specified no particular thing for the Lord to bestow upon him; he sought only a blessing; he knew that the Lord would give him a blessing appropriate to meet the necessities of the case at that time. God blessed him then and there; and on the field of conflict he was made a prince among men. Thus will it be with the agonized ones who prevail with God in the time of Jacob's trouble. Dangers thicken on every side, and it is difficult to fix the eye of faith upon the promises amidst the certain evidences of immediate destruction. But in the midst of revelry and violence, there falls upon the ear peal upon peal of the loudest thunder. The heavens have gathered blackness and are only illuminated with the blazing light and terrible glory from Heaven. God utters his voice from his holy habitation. The captivity of his people is turned. With sweet and subdued voices they say to one another, God is our friend. We shall be safe from the power of wicked men. In solemn awe they listen to the words proceeding from the throne of God. Those surrounding the righteous are then in their time of distress and inexpressible fear. The horror of despair seizes them, and these poor infatuated ones seem now to understand themselves. Those who have been deceived by the fables preached to them by their ministers now charge upon them the loss of their souls: You have preached to us falsehoods. We have believed a lie, and are lost, forever lost.
This is the time referred to by Malachi: "Then shall ye return and discern between the righteous and the wicked, between him that serveth God and him that serveth him not."

GOD'S BUILDING.

'Tis said that the temple so stately, That crowned Moriah's hill, Was built without sound of hammer, The toilers working so still. Far off from the grand foundation Was all the noise and strain, Of fitting one stone to another, From base to turret's fane.
And when all were brought together, The stones of every size, The columns, so strong and graceful, Each in its place to rise— They formed so grand a temple As never before was seen; So true in its great proportions, So bright in its glittering sheen.
Yet there is a greater temple, And God is he who plans; Now gath'ring His stones together For His "house not made with hands," And each ransomed soul will be there, Which evermore, day by day, He's fitting for this great temple, Which will last forever and aye.
Our pains, temptation and perils, Our sufferings, sighs and tears, Are God's chisels, tools and hammers Before "the angel appears," Let no one shrink from the process, Let none of the Lord complain; But wait with a meek submission, 'Twill not be long or in vain.
Away from the noise of the furnace, Away from the toil and sin, Will He carry each of His children, The beautiful gates within; Where each in appointed stations He will fashion one by one, And Christ will complete the temple Himself for the corner stone.

Delusive Religion.

By Ryle

A RELIGION is entirely useless in which Jesus Christ is not the principal object, and does not fill the principal place. There are only too many nominally Christian men and women who practically know nothing about Christ. Their religion consists in a few vague notions and empty expressions. They trust they are no worse than others. They keep to the church; they try to do their duty; they do nobody any harm; they hope God will be merciful to them; they trust the Almighty will pardon their sins, and take them to Heaven when they die.” This is about the whole of their religion. But what do these people know practically about Christ? Nothing, nothing at all. What experimental acquaintance have they with his offices and work, his blood, his righteousness, his mediation, his priesthood, his intercession? None, none at all. Ask them about a saving faith; ask them about being born again of the Spirit; ask them about being sanctified in Christ Jesus. What answer will you get? You are a barbarian to them. You have asked them simple Bible questions. But they know no more about them experimentally than a Buddhist or a Turk. And yet this is the religion of hundreds and thousands of people who are called Christians all over the world. —Ryle.

The Immortality of the Soul—History of the Doctrine.

(Continued.)

PAGAN AND CHRISTIAN DOCTRINES OF THE SOUL COMPARED.

MR. DOWLING has brought a great amount of evidence showing that popery is little more than paganism with another name. "In tracing the origin of the corrupt doctrines and practices of the Romish church," he says, "we have had frequent occasion, in the preceding chapters, to allude to the fact that most of its anti-scriptural rites and ceremonies were adopted from the pagan worship of Greece, Rome, and other heathen nations." (Book ii. chap. ii.)
In the year 1729, a distinguished scholar and divine of the Episcopal Church of England, Rev. Dr. Middleton, visited the city of Rome, not as a theologian, but as a classical scholar, to study the ancient classical antiquity of the Greek and Roman pagans. But when he reached Rome, so exact did he find the resemblance between the temples, the images, and the ceremonies of popery and paganism, that he came to the just conclusion that he could in no way so well acquaint himself with ancient paganism, in all its ceremonies of worship, as by studying the Roman Catholic worship. After carefully studying and comparing the two systems of worship, he wrote "a letter from Rome, showing an exact conformity between popery and paganism; or the religion of the present Romans derived from that of their heathen ancestors."
He has enumerated several points in which paganism and the papacy exactly agree. 1. The burning of incense. They practice this in just the same manner as the old heathens did. 2. The use of holy water. At the door of every Catholic church is a vessel of holy water, with which every one who enters is sprinkled. Just so it was in all the old heathen temples. 3. Burning wax candles in the daytime. Here, again, they follow the ancient pagans, as that was their custom. 4. Votive gifts and offerings. These are hung about the altars by those who have made a vow to God in some case of danger. Just so did the old idolaters. This was so rich a thing for the priests that it was soon imitated. 5. Adoration of idols and images. Pagans made images of their dead heroes, and others, and then bowed before them in prayer. So these Roman Christians make images of their martyrs and chief saints, and adore before them. 6. The gods of the pantheon turned into popish saints. The noblest heathen temple now remaining in the world is the pantheon in Rome, formerly dedicated by the heathen to Jove and all the gods. When the Christians got possession of it, it was re-consecrated to the Blessed Virgin and all the saints. With this single alteration, it serves as exactly for all the purposes of Christian (?) worship as it did for the pagan worship for which it was built. In many instances, even the old heathen idol was not taken down; but was only re-dressed, re-consecrated, and then worshiped as before, under another name! 7. Road-gods and saints. The pagans had their gods set up by the roadside at convenient distances for travelers to worship. The Catholics have the same. 8. Processions of worshipers. The religious pomps and processions of the heathen, according to the descriptions given of them, were so like those we see on every festival of the Virgin that none can fail to see their connection.
This comparison, says Dr. Middleton, might be easily carried on through many more instances. But the above are sufficient for my purpose. The learned doctor concludes his letter thus: "I have sufficiently made good what I undertook to prove, —an exact conformity, or uniformity rather, of worship, between popery and paganism; for since, as I have shown above, we see the present people of Rome worshiping in the same temples, at the same altars, sometimes the same images, and always with the same ceremonies, the old Romans, they must have more charity, as well as skill in distinguishing, than I pretend to have, who can absolve them from the same superstition and idolatry of which we condemn their pagan ancestors." (P. 280.)
In these facts all Protestants are agreed. They show clearly how terrible Christianity had become corrupted with heathen doctrines before the rise of the Reformation. But Protestants, who came out from the papal church at the time of the Reformation, did not rid themselves of every false doctrine received by their fathers from the pagans. It was too much to expect that they would cast off all their errors, and adopt all the truth. Hence there has been need of a continual reformation ever since, by such men as Wesley, Whitefield, and others. Very many Romish errors were retained, if I mistake not, by the reformers. Dr. Middleton was a member of the established church of England. Hence there is unfortunately too much truth in what Dr. Challoner, a Roman Catholic, says in his reply to Dr. Middleton's letter. He thus turns Dr. M.'s arguments against himself and the Protestant church of England: "And by the selfsame way of arguing," says Challoner, "by which he pretends to demonstrate an exact conformity between the religion of the present Romans and that of their heathen ancestors, these gentlemen will, with a much fairer show of probability, prove an exact conformity between the religion by law established, and popery. The consequence of which will be, if the doctor be not mistaken in his parallel, that the English Protestancy is no better than heathenish idolatry." (Catholic Christian Instructed, p. 3, Preface.)
With regard to the doctrine of the immortality of the soul and eternal misery, most of the Protestant churches have retained nearly all the tenets received by the Catholics from the pagans. With a few modifications, the orthodox Protestants still hold the same as the papists in their belief respecting the immortality of the soul. Hence, in proving the heathen origin of this doctrine among the Roman Catholics, we have shown its origin among all Christians.
Let us now compare the pagan and Christian doctrine of the soul.
1. Plato held that the soul is immortal. Christians hold the same. This was not learned from the Bible; for the Scriptures never say a word about the immortality of the soul. It was learned from the heathen Platonic philosophers, as we have seen.
2. Plato held that the soul was of a very ethereal nature. Christians teach that it is immaterial. Neither was this learned from the Bible, as that book never once mentions such a thing.
3. One of the arguments on which Plato most relied to prove the immortality of the soul was its spirituality. So it is with Christians. Bible writers are never found using that argument.
4. Plato held the soul to be a part of God. The same is often heard from Christians. Says the Christian poet,— "Our souls are his immortal breath."
D. W. Clarke, D. D., a bishop in the M. E. church, may be considered a fair exponent of orthodox faith on this subject. In his late popular work, "Man all Immortal," he uses this language with regard to the soul: "Can we wonder that the undying spirit—that emanation of light and glory from the bosom of the Eternal—should rise above our comprehension?" Once more: "It is the high and indisputable proof of the divinity that dwells within us." (Chap. 1. p. 18.) So exactly like the language and sentiments of the ancient heathen philosophers is the above, that one would readily suppose that he was listening to Plato himself, if he were not informed that this is the language of a Christian bishop!
As we have seen, this idea that the soul is an emanation from God, a part of divinity, right from the bosom of the Eternal, is the very heart of the pagan doctrine of the soul. Who, then, can fail to see the heathen fountain whence this came? It did not come from the word of God, as nothing of the kind is there taught.
5. Plato, and all the pagans who argued for the soul's immortality, likewise held to its pre-existence. Many of the early Christians held the same, and some hold it now. (Alger's Doctrine of a Future Life, part i. chap. i. p. 6.)
6. Plato taught that the soul alone was the real man. So thought Origen, and so teach Christians now. How often we hear ministers of to-day say, as they point to a corpse, "This is not your friend. He is not dead. He is in Heaven. This is only the old tenement in which he lived,—the prison of his now freed soul." The very original of this may be found in Plato's Phædo. Here it is: "Crito having asked him afterward in what manner he wished to be buried, 'as you please,' said Socrates, 'if you can lay hold of me, and I do not escape out of your hands.' At the same time looking upon his friends with a smile, 'I can never persuade Crito,' says he, 'that Socrates is he who converses with you, and disposes the several parts of his discourse; for he always imagines that I am what he is going to see dead in a little while. He confounds me with my carcass, and therefore asks me how I would be interred.'" (Rollin's Anct. Hist., vol. i. book ix. chap. iv. sec. 6, p. 365.)
7. Plato, and all pagans who taught the immortality of the soul, held that the body was the prison of the soul. Christians believe the same.
8. Plato taught that matter in the gross, and the body in particular, was naturally corrupt, and the origin of all evil. Many Christians teach the same.
9. This doctrine, when received among the pagans, immediately gave birth to that abominable set of gloomy and misanthropic men, the Eremites and Ascetics. So, as soon as this doctrine of the immortality of the soul was received among Christians, it produced an exactly similar class of men.—The Monks, Hermits, Anchorites, etc.
10. Plato and the pagans held that the soul not only does not die with the death of the body, but is actually a gainer in that catastrophe. Here, again, Christians teach exactly the same as those old pagans.
11. The pagans had a purgatory prepared, in which to partially purge impure souls immediately after death. The Catholics have the same.
12. Plato taught that those who were pure from all sin went immediately to Heaven, on the death of the body. Exactly like this, Christians send their righteous saints straight to Heaven at the death of the body. In this they have again faithfully copied Plato.
13. Plato and the other heathens sent the incurable wicked straight to hell at death. Here, again, we have the original of the modern doctrine of sending the wicked immediately to hell at death.
14. The pagans deified their dead friends, exalted them into angels, demi-gods, and gods, made images of them, and then prayed to them for assistance. Christians have done the same thing with their saints. The saint and image worship of the Roman Catholics is a facsimile of the old pagan worship of heroes.
15. The pagans taught that little children would go to hell. Thus, Virgil describing the miseries of the damned, says,— "And now wild shouts, and wailings dire, And shrieking infants, swell the dreadful choir." (Pitt's Æneid, VI. 385, etc., quoted in Origin and Hist. of End. Pun., p. 77.) Christians, both Catholic and Protestant, teach the same horrid doctrine. "The condemnation of children dying without having been baptized," says the Catholic Bossuet, "is an article of firm faith of the church. They are guilty, since they die in the wrath of God, and in the powers of darkness. Children of wrath by nature, objects of hatred and aversion, cast into hell with the other damned." (Quoted by the same.) The Calvinistic doctrine on this point is well known. This tenet is well worthy of its heathen origin.
16. The heathens gave most terrible descriptions of hell, and the woe and torment of the damned there, comparing well with modern orthodox descriptions of hell.
Here are sixteen points of identity between the pagan and Christian doctrine of the immortality of the soul, which embraces the whole doctrine in about all its phases. This, with the historical evidence already presented, makes it quite certain where this doctrine originated, and how it came among Christians.

Christ's Second Coming.

By Rev. Henry Varley

The Second Advent of Christ is no question of sentiment or opinion, but a great fact which the Lord Himself has revealed. Let us seek to answer the question, not by any trick of argument, but by the application of God's own word to the subject. You have only to get two men clever on either side of their argument to confuse their audience. That is not my desire, nor did I get the deep conviction I have on this subject from reading the books of men, but by simple and earnest study of God's word.
If people would only get the word and study it for themselves, how many questions would be settled at once! Let us search the Scripture, and we shall see the fact of the Lord's second coming, and in that study we shall find good reasons for believing that under present agencies we shall not see any improvement in the governmental policy of the world.
Verily do we believe that human rule has nearly run its course. "The six thousand years are nigh their close," and are consummating the highest national responsibility ever known.
Without egotism it may be said that England is the representative nation of the earth. Her power is the might of a highly civilized and intellectual people, and she has gradually come to her meridian life, side by side with an open Bible, and the wonderful privilege of the dispensation of the Holy Spirit. No other nation on the face of the earth has known to anything like the same extent, these high privileges, and we are watching with intense interest the result.
Is it too much to say that the intellectual culture of England is throwing aside the Bible as the word of God, thus rejecting the testimony of the Holy Spirit, and while complimenting the Lord Jesus Christ upon his system of morals, and the tone of his personal life, nevertheless arraigns him before the world as guilty of the most awful blasphemy, by denying his Godhead and impugning his creative power? That this unholy spirit will increase, and ripen into an intellectual skepticism that will ere long deny openly both the Father and the Son, the word of our Lord solemnly declares (1 John 2 : 22); and at this point let me say, there are no reserves of power to be put forth by the mighty God—his Son, his work, his word, his Spirit, his ministry, all have been given, and the chief nation in the world rejects his government, and is rejecting his grace.
This momentous experience and history marks, as we believe, the crisis of this world's course, and the end of the age. Should centuries again be given there are no other nations of the earth to rise higher than England, and if it were so, what reason have we to suppose that they would receive the Lord to reign over them?
Seeing that human nature is the same all the world over, and that the most powerful and intelligent nation of the earth, having come to maturity in its national life, has rejected, and is now rejecting, the Lord, his word, and his Spirit, with deeper emphasis than ever sending the insulting message to the Lord God of Sabaoth, "We will not have this man to reign over us," we may be assured that the insults offered to his grace and government will bring speedily the great day of his power, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from Heaven with his mighty angels in flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ (2 Thess. 1 : 7, 8.)—Rev. Henry Varley.

The Kingdom of God---What is It?

By Editor

Under this head appears the following note of inquiry in the Evangel, the Baptist paper of San Francisco. The wise men of "the only church" cannot agree in regard to the answer:—
"MR. EDITOR:—Will you be kind enough to give me an answer to the above question? Is the kingdom of God the same thing as the church of God? If so, why does Christ say strive to enter into the kingdom, while he nowhere says strive to enter into the church? Why does Paul say "the kingdom of God is righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Ghost" and not say the same of the church? Why did not Christ say, whoever shall not receive the church as a little child shall not enter into it if the church and the kingdom are the same? Why is the kingdom the great subject of prophecy and not the church, if both are the same institution? Why do we read of "the everlasting kingdom," but never of the everlasting church. Why are we commanded to cast the tares out of the church, but are forbidden to cast them out of the kingdom? Why is the church never made the great objective in preaching, but 'the Gospel of the kingdom is to be preached to all nations as a witness?
"Except a man be born of water and the spirit he cannot enter the kingdom of God,' whereas a man may enter the Baptist church even and not be born of the spirit, although he might be born of the water. How is this if a church and the kingdom are the same? I heard Dr. Graves say, in one of his lectures, that as it takes all the United States to make this great Republic, and all the German States to make the German Empire, and all the British States to make the kingdom of Great Britain, so it takes all the churches (Baptist churches he meant) to make the kingdom of God. Now, Mr. Editor, is this thus? Is the kingdom and the church, or churches, the same conception? Do Ecclesia and Basileia mean the same? I believe that is the Greek for church and kingdom; you will know, of course, if I do not. But I am troubled; I am perplexed; I want light; the church of God, What is it? The kingdom of God, What is it? I sent you the former question some weeks ago; but the "solid men" of our denomination seem afraid to touch it. Now, as an editor is made on purpose to answer questions, will you not answer these two questions, and so relieve the perplexity of an INQUIRER?"

A Postal Race Round the Earth.

A GENTLEMAN in Sweden despatched on the 18th of April last two post-office cards, the one to the British consulate at Madras, and the other to a commercial firm at San Francisco, with the request to forward them on to himself, the former via Japan and San Francisco back to Ljungskile, Sweden, and the latter via Japan and Madras back to Ljungskile, the one eastward and the other westward, the object being to ascertain which of the cards would come back sooner to the sender. The result has been that the card which went eastward returned on the 11th of August, and the other on the following day, the former after 116 days, and the latter after 117 days' journey round the world
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