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Signs of the Times, Vol. 11, No. 16.

General Articles

Signs of the Times

Apr 16, 1885

International Tract and Missionary Society · Oakland, California · Apr 16, 1885

General Articles.

By Ellen G. White

Immortality the Gift of God.

BY MRS. E. G. WHITE.
"The wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord." While life is the inheritance of the righteous, death is the portion of the wicked. The penalty for sin is not merely temporal death, for all must suffer this. It is the second death, the opposite of everlasting life. God cannot save the sinner in his sins; but he declares that the wicked, having suffered the punishment of their guilt, shall be as though they had not been. Says an inspired writer, "Thou shalt diligently consider his place, and it shall not be." In consequence of Adam's sin, death passed upon all mankind. All alike go down into the grave. But through the provisions of the plan of salvation, all are to be brought forth from their graves. Then those who have not secured the pardon of their sins must receive the penalty of transgression.
God executes justice upon the wicked, for the good of the universe, and even of those upon whom his judgments are visited. The principles of kindness, mercy, and love taught and exemplified by our Saviour, are a copy of the will and character of God. He would make all his creatures happy if he could do so in accordance with the laws of his government and the justice of his character. He surrounds them with the tokens of his love, he grants them a knowledge of his law, and follows them with the offers of his mercy; but some despise his love, make void his law, and reject his mercy. While constantly receiving his gifts, they dishonor the Giver; they hate God because they know that he abhors their sins. The Lord bears long with their perversity; but the decisive hour will come at last, when their destiny is to be decided. Will he then chain these rebels to his side? Will he force them to do his will?
Those who have chosen Satan as their leader, and have been controlled by his power, are not prepared to enter the presence of God. Pride, deception, licentiousness, cruelty, have become fixed in their characters. Can they enter Heaven to dwell forever with those whom they despised and hated on earth? Truth will never be agreeable to a liar; meekness will not satisfy self-esteem and pride; purity is not acceptable to the corrupt; disinterested love does not appear attractive to the selfish. The destiny of the wicked is fixed by their own choice. Their exclusion from Heaven is voluntary; it is just.
Like the waters of the flood, the fires of the great day declare God's verdict that the wicked are incurable. They have no disposition to submit to divine authority. Their will has been exercised in revolt; and when life is ended, it is too late to turn the current of their thoughts in the opposite direction,—too late to turn from transgression to obedience, from hatred to love.
In mercy to the world, God blotted out its wicked inhabitants in Noah's time. In mercy he destroyed the corrupt dwellers in Sodom. Through the deceptive power of Satan, the workers of iniquity obtain sympathy and admiration, and are thus constantly leading others to rebellion. It was so in Noah's day, and in the time of Abraham and Lot; it is so in our time. It is in mercy to the universe that God will finally destroy the rejecters of his grace.
Upon the fundamental error of natural immortality rests the doctrine of consciousness in death, a doctrine, like that of eternal torment, opposed to the teachings of the Scriptures, to the dictates of reason, and to our feelings of humanity. According to the popular belief, the redeemed in Heaven are acquainted with all that takes place on the earth, and especially with the lives of the friends whom they have left behind. But how could it be a source of happiness to the dead to know the troubles of the living, to witness the sins committed by their own loved ones, and to see them enduring all the sorrows, disappointments, and anguish of life? How much of Heaven's bliss would be enjoyed by those who were hovering over their friends on earth? And how utterly revolting is the belief that as soon as the breath leaves the body, the soul of the impenitent is consigned to the flames of hell! To what depths of anguish must those be plunged who see their friends passing to the grave unprepared, to enter upon an eternity of woe and sin! Many have been driven to insanity by this harrowing thought.
What say the Scriptures concerning these things? David declares that man is not conscious in death. "His breath goeth forth, he returneth to his earth; in that very day his thoughts perish." Solomon bears the same testimony: "The living know that they shall die; but the dead know not anything." "Their love, and their hatred, and their envy, is now perished; neither have they any more a portion forever in anything that is done under the sun." "There is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in the grave, whither thou goest."
When, in answer to his prayer, Hezekiah's life was prolonged fifteen years, the grateful king rendered to God a tribute of praise for his great mercy. In this song he tells the reason why he thus rejoices: "The grave cannot praise thee; death cannot celebrate thee; they that go down into the pit cannot hope for thy truth. The living, the living, he shall praise thee, as I do this day. The father to the children shall make known thy truth." Popular theology represents the righteous dead as in Heaven, entered into bliss, and praising God with an immortal tongue; but Hezekiah could see no such glorious prospect in death. With his words agrees the testimony of the psalmist: "In death there is no remembrance of thee; in the grave who shall give thee thanks?" "The dead praise not the Lord, neither any that go down into silence."
Peter, speaking through the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost, said: "Men and brethren, let me freely speak unto you of the patriarch David, that he is both dead and buried, and his sepulcher is with us unto this day." "For David is not ascended into the heavens." The fact that David remains in the grave until the resurrection, proves that the righteous do not go to Heaven at death. It is only through the resurrection, and by virtue of the fact that Christ has risen, that David can at last sit at the right hand of God.
Paul declares: "If the dead rise not, then is not Christ raised. And if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins. Then they also which are fallen asleep in Christ are perished." If for four thousand years the righteous had gone directly to Heaven at death, how could they be said to have perished, even though there should never be a resurrection?
When about to leave his disciples, Jesus did not tell them that they would soon come to him. "I go to prepare a place for you," he said. "And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself." And Paul tells us, further, that "the Lord himself shall descend from Heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God; and the dead in Christ shall rise first. Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air; and so shall we ever be with the Lord." And he adds, "Comfort one another with these words." Paul points his brethren to the future coming of the Lord, when the fetters of the tomb shall be broken, and the "dead in Christ" shall be raised to eternal life.Before any can enter the mansions of the blest, their cases must be investigated, and their characters and their deeds must pass in review before God. All are to be judged according to the things written in the books, and to be rewarded as their works have been. This Judgment does not take place at death. Mark the words of Paul: "He hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead." Here the apostle plainly states that a specified time, then future, had been fixed upon for the Judgment of the world.
Jude refers to the same period: "The angels which kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation, he hath reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the Judgment of the great day." And again he quotes the words of Enoch: "Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his saints, to execute judgment upon all." John declares that he "saw the dead, small and great, stand before God, and the books were opened;" "and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books."
But if the dead are already enjoying the bliss of Heaven or writhing in the flames of hell, what need of a future Judgment? Will the righteous, after the investigation of their cases at the Judgment, receive the commendation, "Well done, good and faithful servant, enter thou into the joy of thy Lord," when they have been dwelling in his presence, perhaps for long ages? Are the wicked summoned from the place of torment to receive the sentence from the Judge of all the earth, "Depart, ye cursed, into everlasting fire"? Oh, solemn mockery! shameful impeachment of the wisdom and justice of God!
The teachings of God's word on these important points are neither obscure nor contradictory; they may be understood by common minds. Nowhere in the sacred Scriptures is found the statement that the righteous go to their reward or the wicked to their punishment at death. They are represented as sleeping until the resurrection. In the very day that the silver cord is loosed and the golden bowl broken, man's thoughts perish. They that go down to the grave are in silence. They know no more of anything that is done under the sun. Blessed rest for the weary righteous! Time, be it long or short, is but a moment to them. They sleep, they are awakened by the trump of God to a glorious immortality. As they are called forth from their deep slumber, their thoughts are resumed just where they ceased. The last sensation was the pang of death, the last thought that they were falling beneath the power of the grave. When they arise from the tomb, their first glad thought will be echoed in the triumphal shout, "O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?"
But in all the universe of God there will be no place for the wicked. The shrieks of the lost will not be mingled with the songs of the saved, as they ascribe "blessing, and honor, and glory, and power," unto Him who has opened for them the gates of the tomb, and given them eternal life in the glorious city of God.

WHO DID HINDER YOU?

"Ye did run well; who did hinder you that you should not obey the truth?" Gal. 5:7
HOW WELL ye ran, when first your eye The pardoning glance of Jesus caught; Each nerve was strung to ecstasy, As the bright goal the spirit sought; Like Isthmian racers, how ye sped! The feathered arrow was your type, And saints, aglow with feeling, said, For glory ye would soon be ripe.
And who did hinder you to press With equal purpose to the end? Do you salvation prize the less, Or grudge the zeal you once did lend? Is Heaven no boon your toil to claim? Is earth the keen supplanter now? Or will you that dear Lord defame, By lightly thinking of your vow?
Say, who did hinder you? Not God! His pledge of grace is still redeemed; As light upon the frozen clod, His Spirit on your pathway beamed; And as you toiled with single eye, The Father, who observes his sons, Said to the armies of the sky, "Behold my child, how well he runs!"
Ye did run well; has gold, or lust, With vampire greed upon you fed? Have Sodom's apples, formed of dust, A dainty table near you spread? Has the light jeer, like barbed lance, A keen insertion swiftly made? And of that one sarcastic glance, Have you, a hero, proved afraid?
Come back, come back! Begin the race With energies all freshly strung, And seek his reconciling face To whom in days gone by you clung. Anointed by his Spirit, press To that exalted prize again. The end will all the labor bless, For, running, ye shall soon obtain. —Sel.

The Church and the Drones.

By Editor

ANY one who is at all familiar with the composition of our churches, will agree that the number of members who contribute nothing, or next to nothing, to the spiritual power or work of the church, are largely in excess of those who do. We do not now speak of those "hidden ones" whose spiritual life or activities are not open to the common observation; who are laying up stores of scriptural instruction in the minds and hearts of their children at home; who, cumbered with much domestic serving, and burdened with many cares, are living out their lives unto God amid the routine drudgery of every-day life, holding communion with God, in the midst of it all, being nourished and ministering nourishment all unseen to others. But we speak of those who are well-known as members of the church; who, while they are more or less present on the Sabbath days, feeding (if they do feed) on the bread that is broken to the whole congregation, turn nothing of the life or strength which they have received (if they have received any) to any advantage to the church or to any human being apart from themselves. So far as service is concerned, they are drones, pure and simple. Like their prototypes of the hive, they gather no honey, they build no cells, they take no part in the service, support, or protection of the community. They fly abroad with much more noise than the working bee, and come back again only to eat that which others have gathered, and live amid the comforts and safety which others have provided and builded. How the church is maintained or its work is done these Christian drones seem to know nothing and to care less. They are mere feeders. We do not mean by this that they feed anybody, but only that they are on hand to be fed. To them religion is a mere insurance against the contingencies of another world, on which there are no premiums to be paid. They proceed on the assumption that they have a paid-up policy. Or rather that, in consideration, or in virtue at least, of their union with the church, they have been put in possession of a clear title to Heaven.
It is a matter of much ingenious speculation among scientific men as to what use there can possibly be for the drone-bee that is in such vast numbers in the swarm. The working bee, about the first of June every year, gives a practical answer. For, about that time, the whole force of working bees in the hive are seized with a common impulse, and begin a merciless war of extermination upon them, chasing them all to the bottom of the hive, and killing every one of them, sometimes tearing them limb from limb, and sweeping them out of the hive.
Whether some such measures (metaphorically speaking) should be taken with the human drone in the church hive, is a matter of question, but, at the same time, one worthy of serious consideration. That they are a burden and a clog upon the church there can be no doubt; that they are a reproach and a false testimony to religion is equally true. That there is any inscrutable reason for them in the divine purpose does not seem to appear. We can discover some purpose and wisdom in the chaff that surrounds the wheat, but even that in time is separated and burned up, after being blown away before the fan. These drones appear to be mere parasites at best, ministering to nobody's good, not even to their own, but only living upon the life and provisions of others. They are a prey upon the life of the church.
Paul, writing to the church at Thessalonica, says: "We commanded you, that if any would not work, neither should he eat." I suppose there were some idlers there who sought to be fed and supported, temporarily, out of the funds of the church. But the apostle, divinely inspired, wisely forbade that such should eat. We do not see why this rule should not be applied spiritually. If any man or woman takes no part in the spiritual work of the church, if they are mere names to live, but are dead, so far at least as any sign of spiritual activity is concerned, is there any reason why they should be kept as cumberers on the church roll? When the master of the vineyard sought fruit on his fig tree, which he had planted in his vineyard, and found no fruit thereon, after a reasonable time, in which more nurture was given, but to no purpose; he cut it down.
Why should these cumberers be allowed in the church vineyard? Does the mere fact that they have made a profession of religion give them the right to remain in the church as fruitless trees? Nay, is it not a wrong to them that they are allowed, year by year, to go on in the delusion that they are Christians, when there is no sign that they are anything more or less than dead professors? If they are fruitless for the want of more care, or training, or attention, then, by all means, give it to them; but if, after a few years, there is no change or promise of fruit, then, by all means, let them be removed. We believe this to be in accordance with the teaching of God's word. Moreover, we believe that the presence of so many drones and dead professors in the church may, in some measure, account for the spiritual weakness of the churches. Let prayer be made for them, let personal labor be bestowed upon them, let long-suffering patience be had with them; but if all these fail, let them be cast out, that they may go to their own place.—Independent.

Romish Superstitions.

It has sometimes been said that the Roman Catholic Church is not suited to this age and clime. We have indulged that suspicion ourselves, but we take it all back. This very day on which we go to press is an indication of its especial adaptability to the needs of this catarrh-cursed lake region. To-day, February 3, is observed the "Feast of St. Blaise," on which all devout Catholics should have their throats blessed against diseases which affect that organ. So says our well-informed contemporary, the Catholic Mirror. Would any such provision have been made, think you, if that faith were designed solely for sunny Italy? These preventive measures would be so valuable at this season that we quote the rules for their observance: "The candles must be held in the form of a cross. They must be blessed by the priest. They must be genuine beeswax. They must actually touch the throat." In these days of adulteration we tremble at the third condition. The skilled therein manufacture honey-comb out of a mixture of paraffine, tallow, and glucose, bleach it white, and deceive the very elect—that is, the bees. But if this blessing fails, we shall conclude St. Blaise is shrewder than they, for we are assured that "unless all these requirements are fulfilled the rite is a mere mockery."—Advance.

Responsibility for What We Learn

By S. S. Times

Books tell nothing until you open them. The microscope or the telescope is a visionless brass tube, until you apply your eye to it. No permanent knowledge can lodge in the mind until the mind consents to receive it. This it is which makes it possible for us to be responsible for what we learn from others. Evil men may be all around us, and may exert their utmost to make their evil ours; but unless we ourselves open our minds to them, as we open our minds to a book, their evil can never find entrance within us. All that we learn is our own no matter from whom it comes; and if it is evil, we must bear the guilt of it ourselves, whoever else may also bear the evil and the guilt. There is no way of shirking the responsibility, and the only way of avoiding the guilt is by refusing to learn the evil, shutting our minds to it as we shut the pages of a book.—S. S. Times.

Philip’s Daughters Who Prophesied

By H. Clay Trumbull

"THE same man had four daughters . . . which did prophesy." Acts 21:9. And Paul does not seem to have been worried over that fact, nor to have made any complaint against Philip on account of his unorthodox tolerance of women who would do such a thing. Possibly Paul had the idea that, if the Lord inspired those women to prophesy, it would be safe for Philip and himself to let them prophesy, and for those to whom they prophesied to hear what the Lord would say through them, or to hear what they had to say to or for the Lord. That, certainly, would seem to have been a reasonable view of the case.

Those Robes Again.

By J. A. Oppy

WHEN on a visit to Illinois to see my parents, and in consultation with my father, a M. E. minister, he said: "The Adventists at Rensselaer, Indiana, in 1844 had their robes ready to go up when the Lord came." I asked: "Father, did you see the robes?" He said, "No." Then I replied, "How do you know they had any?" He said, "They told me they had them." I then replied that old Mr. They Say is as familiar as a proverb. This is about as near as anybody ever came to seeing the 1844 Adventists' robes.
But Adventists do not deny that they believe in wearing robes and having them ready, too, when the Lord comes. But we very seriously object to wearing robes which other people make for us. The robes we are anxious to wear are made and given to us—not by our enemies, however—but by the Lord Jesus Christ. "And white robes were given unto every one of them." Rev. 6:11. Our life-work is to wash our robes and make them white in the blood of the Lamb. The idea of making our robes white by washing them in blood—the blood of the Lamb—may seem as foolish as wearing robes, but we believe in washing and wearing. Such is our faith. And Paul says, "Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ."
We not only believe that we shall wear these robes "before the throne of God, and serve him day and night in his temple," but we believe we shall ascend in them. Hark! "Behold I show you a mystery; we shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed." 1 Cor. 15:51.
The change here referred to takes place at the second advent of Christ. Proof: "Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air; and so shall we ever be with the Lord." 1 Thess. 4:17. When Jesus told John on the lonely isle of Patmos, "Surely I come quickly," John said, "Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus." John knew that when the Lord Jesus comes he will give him a white robe. Two years after this he wrote, "When He shall appear we shall be like Him." To be like Christ will be a satisfying portion to all of God's people, in all ages. The sweet singer of Israel said: "I shall be satisfied when I awake with Thy likeness."
The world is full of robes, but oh, how spotted they are; how like the leopard's spots, and the Ethiopian's skin!
"Not running brook, nor flood, nor sea, Can wash the dismal stain away." But, "There is a fountain filled with blood, Drawn from Immanuel's veins; And sinners plunged beneath that flood, Lose all their guilty stains."
None but blood-washed robes will be worn in the kingdom of God. But those who do not believe in wearing robes and are so ready to make fun of those who want to have and wear white robes, are not the ones most likely to be found with robes on, and when the King asks them why they have on no "wedding garment," they will be "speechless."
And furthermore, that class of people who do not think it necessary to provide themselves robes, if I do not greatly mistake their state of mind, when the Lord does come, will feel much worse than the Adventists did in 1844 when the Lord did not come. Of course they were sadly disappointed in 1844, and though they did not see the Lord, he did come then, not to the earth, however, but to the "Ancient of days." Dan. 7:9, 13, 14.
"Little flock," be of "good cheer," we shall only "rest a little season," till our sins are blotted out, and then the Lord will not be ashamed to say of us, "They shall walk with me in white, for they are worthy." "He that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment." Is not the "white raiment" worth the overcoming? "He which testifieth these things saith, Surely I come quickly. Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus." J. A. OPPY.

Denying the Faith.

By R. F. Cottrell

THE faith of those that search the prophetical scriptures and observe the signs of the times, is, that the coming of Christ is near, even at the door. Yet those who admit this all-important truth, are not all agreed in the manner of showing this faith by works. Some, who themselves like to live in goodly houses, think, when it is proposed to build meeting-houses and publishing houses, that it is a denial of the advent faith to do so; because it looks like providing for a long stay on earth. Others reason that if probation is to continue but a short time, the best way to exhibit this faith is to sacrifice time and means to get the truth before our fellow-men, warn them of their danger, and persuade them to accept of the last invitation of the gospel.
Those who care only for self, will be careful to save their means against a time of need, or to bequeath them to a following generation. They will not be likely to expend much in publishing the truth. Building houses for this purpose will look to them like a waste of precious means, and a testimony to others that we do not believe that time is so short.
It is true that means thus expended will be of use but a short time; but when probation shall close, and the great day of God come, shall we regret that our means have been expended in efforts to save men? Shall we then rather desire to have them boarded in our own possession? Will not their rust for want of use, be a testimony against us in that day?
A free use of means in the cause of God is the best testimony that we believe that our time to do good and save souls is limited. The time in which we may labor will soon be past. The time when the "Well done" will be spoken to the faithful is at hand. The time is short in which we may glorify God in the use of time and means. When the work shall close, those who have invested in the cause of God will not regret the investment. Those who have faith in God may now lay up treasure in Heaven. The earlier we invest the more interest will accrue; and there is no fear of a failure; the bank will not break, nor fire consume it. Let us do our best to increase our stock.
R. F. COTTRELL.

Religion for the Poor.

IN an article in the North American Review for April, 1884, Judge John A. Jameson says:—
“We cannot better close than by stating our conviction that for the saving of civilization from the destruction threatening it, as well from the prevalence of crime and social immorality as from the thickening dangers of industrial discontent and conflict, religion is the most effective instrumentality. Not the religion that builds temples from which it excludes the poor; not the religion which shoots philosophical treatises from its pulpits over the heads of those who most need its consolations, in the condition of social contempt and proscription in which they are held; but the religion which reaches its hand to the plain men and women who form the bulk of our race and do its work; which wins, instead of repelling them, and which shows itself the friend and minister of the toiling millions, rather than of the millionaires who build its palaces; the religion, in short, in which there is little of Augustine and Calvin, and much of Jesus.”

Innocence, Pleasure, and Wealth

As there is innocence in infancy, mirth in feasting, and awful solemnities in death, so there is quietude in virtue, vanity in pleasure, and deceit in wealth.—Sel.

Soberly, Righteously and Godly.

By Christian Advocate

THERE is no conflict of laws in the divine government. There is a logical connection and harmony between the requirements of the divine law. We are to live soberly. Sobriety is a condition of mind favorable to the reception of truth. A knowledge of certain truths relating to the character of God and his dealings with men is necessary to the commencement of the religious life. A flighty and careless mind will not clearly apprehend the truths which are able to make one wise unto salvation. The more clearly those truths are perceived at the outset, the more marked will be the soul's entrance on the new life.
The new life, while it experiences new emotions, is a life devoted to doing that which is right. Those have a very imperfect idea of Christian life who think it consists mainly in acts of devotion and in seasons of spiritual enjoyment. Christ came to do the will of him who sent him. We are to follow his example, for God's will has reference to every act of life. The laws of justice and morality are as binding as the laws of penitence and faith. The Christian's life should be a righteous life. The gospel does not lower the claims of the law of righteousness.
As sobriety leads to the higher plane of righteousness, so righteousness leads to the still higher plane of godliness. It is said with truth that we are under obligation to perform a right act because it is right, but in the Christian life love to God becomes the prompting motive to obedience. As the soul makes progress in the divine life, the sense of obligation becomes lost as it were in love. Thus love becomes the fulfilling of the law.
A godly life is a life of loving obedience to the will of God, a life in sympathy with God, a life glorifying God with body and spirit. This life can be led by the humblest wayfarer as well as by the man of intelligence and means. All our wants should be made known to God in prayer, but the prayer that should most frequently be felt in the heart should be the prayer for grace to lead a sober, righteous, and godly life.—Christian Advocate.

Christian Companionship.

By New York Observer

Just before his death, the venerable and learned Dr. Charles Elliott, a life-long student of the Bible, read the Old Testament in three weeks. When his daughter asked him what he was doing, he said, "I am reading the news." How precious to the reverent reader are the glad tidings contained in this ancient volume! The writings of good men and women, like Hannah More, Montgomery, and Rutherford may serve to render the intellect more vigorous, the conscience more tender, and the heart more pure. Even more secular authors may contribute to growth in grace, if the reader will bear in mind that science is a classification of the discovered thoughts of God; that poetry is an expression of the beauty which discerning eyes have discovered in his works; and that history is the record of his dealings with mankind. But science, poetry, history, all, should be read by the light of revelation. In that clear light nothing essential will be obscured and nothing will be so distorted as to lead you into fatal error.—New York Observer.

A Conscience Void of Offense

"To HAVE always a conscience void of offense toward God, and toward men." Most persons are content with a good conscience toward men only. They do not lie to them, nor steal from them. But as to God, who is to the whole race of men as a billion to one, they do not pretend to have aimed at right dealing. This is as if a clerk who had decamped with $30,000 of his employer's money, and spent some of it in "treating" his accomplices, should boast of being so fine a friend to his acquaintances.—Sel.
Continue reading: Constantine.—VIII