The great Advent message of 1840 to 1844 went to the world with mighty power. Hearts everywhere were mightily moved and many souls were converted. Thousands placed their all upon the altar of sacrifice. Sin was put away, and believers waited in earnest expectation of beholding their Lord coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. Their message was based on definite prophetic time, notably the sounding of the sixth trumpet, which ended Aug. 11, 1840, and the closing of the two thousand three hundred days of Dan. 8:14, in 1844. But the believers in that message were bitterly disappointed. The message was sweet to the mouth, sweet in its reception and giving, but its after effects were bitter. And yet, after that disappointment those who had been led and blessed of God in the presentation of the message felt that if they were again to face the same issue, with the same evidence, they could not do otherwise. And so they waited, strengthened by the scripture: “For the vision is yet for the appointed time, and it hasteth toward the end, and it shall not lie; tho it tarry, wait for it; because it will surely come, it will not delay.” See Hab. 2:1-4; Heb. 10:32-39.
But the work was not yet done. The church of Christ was not prepared for His coming. So as they waited, a further message was revealed. The time of the closing of His priestly work had been reached, and a message of warning and preparation must go to the world. Again must God’s people, of whom John stood as the representative, “prophesy again over many peoples and nations and tongues and kings.” Rev. 10:11. The work of the everlasting Gospel was not yet finished. Chapter 14:6, 7. Connected intimately with this work and having a most important bearing upon it, is the prophecy and work of the two witnesses of chapter 11. Concerning that let us make inquiry of the “Scriptures of truth.”
Questions on the Text.
After the bitter disappointment, what was the prophet told he must do?
“And they say unto me, Thou must prophesy again over many peoples and nations and tongues and kings.” Chapter 10:11.
What was given him, and with what instruction?
“And there was given me a reed like unto a rod: and one said, Rise, and measure the temple of God, and the altar, and them that worship therein.”¹ Chapter 11:1.
What was to be omitted in his measurement, and why?
“And the court which is without the temple leave without, and measure it not; for it hath been given unto the nations.”² Verse 2, first clause.
What would the nations do?
“And the holy city shall they tread underfoot forty and two months.”³ Verse 2, last clause.
What agencies did God have to counteract the work of the nations? Under what conditions would these witnesses do this work?
“And I will give unto my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and three-score days, clothed in sackcloth.”⁴ Verse 3.
Who are these witnesses?
“These are the two olive trees and the two candlesticks, standing before the Lord of the earth.”⁵ Verse 4.
Note and Comment.
1. The reed, which often grew to a height of twelve feet, was frequently used as a measuring rod. It here symbolizes that which would measure temple and altar and worshipers. It was not, therefore, a measure of actual dimensions in feet and inches, but a measure of value, of use, of character. This last is certainly true of the worshipers, for the only measure or worth of a worshiper is the character of his worship. The temple and altar represent the place and center of the worship. The measure must, therefore, be that which would comprehend all, measure all. But the only thing which could do this is the message of God’s truth, which the church was to bear again before all nations, tongues, and kings. That message is the everlasting Gospel, proclaiming the coming of the hour of God’s judgment, and entreating men to fear God and give glory to Him as Creator and Redeemer. Rev. 14:6, 7. It includes all the truth of God—the lessons taught by type and shadow, by sanctuary and temple. It is a message that comes home first of all to the people of God. The command is, “Blow ye the trumpet in Zion, and sound an alarm in My holy mountain.”¹ Joel 2:1. The tidings of a coming King are first told to Zion and Jerusalem. Isa. 40:9, 10. The first part of God’s great work of judgment begins at the house of God, as does also the punishment. 1 Peter 4:17; Eze. 9:1-6. The whole message takes in the entire world (Rev. 14:6, 7), but that phase of it set forth in the prophecy of the two witnesses pertains alone to the church of God.
2. The court without of the ancient temple was that used by the Gentiles, and was not considered sacred ground. It does not pertain to this work of preparation to fit the church to give to the world the last message. Before men can truly give God’s message in God’s way they must meet His measure. Into this work unconsecrated, unconverted men, the nations of earth, do not come. It pertains to the holy nation, the peculiar people, gathered out of all nations. 1 Peter 2:9.
3. The Work of the Nations.—The nations of earth are not enlisted in God’s work. He uses them to His glory despite their tendencies, despite their rebellions, despite their cruel persecutions of His people; but the nations, tho used by Him, are not Christian. They tread underfoot God’s people, represented by the city, and trample ruthlessly upon the holiest heritages. The prophecy declares that they would do this for forty-two months, according to Bible reckoning, 1,260 days. The same powers and period are clearly portrayed in Daniel 7, under the symbol of the ten-horned beast, controlled by the persecuting little horn. Of this little horn it is said: “He shall speak words against the Most High, and shall wear out the saints of the Most High; and he shall think to change the times and the law; and they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and half a time.”² Verse 25. A time equals a year; times (dual number) two years; with the half a time, making three and one-half years, forty and two months, 1,260 prophetic days, or the same number of literal years, beginning in A. D. 538, when the bishop of Rome was recognized as the head of the church by the civil power, the beginning of papal domination, and ending in 1798, when the days of papal domination ended with the overthrow of Pius VII. by General Berthier.
4. Testifying in Sackcloth.—During the long period of persecution by the nation God has His faithful witnesses, but they testify in sackcloth. These witnesses were found in mountain fastnesses, in cloistered cells, in cottage homes. They should have been honored, but instead, were cast out. Instead of the royal robes they were entitled to wear, they prophesied in sackcloth. But more of this later on.
5. The Two Witnesses.—The symbolism of this verse is borrowed from Zechariah 4; therefore, read that chapter in connection with this. Among the most useful trees of Bible-mention is the olive, especially noted, even to the present day, for its fruit and oil. The candlestick is used for a light-bearer. The oil is for the purpose of feeding the light. Lev. 24:2. The two witnesses are symbolized both by olive trees and candlesticks. They represent the great agencies which bear witness for God in the earth. In Zechariah these olive trees are said to be the word of Jehovah unto Zerubbabel, saying, “Not by might, nor by power, but by My Spirit, saith Jehovah of Hosts.” The psalmist says: “Thy Word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.” Ps. 119:105. The wise man: “The commandment is a lamp; and the law is light.” Prov. 6:23. Jesus declared: “I am the Light of the world.” John 8:12. To His disciples He said: “Ye are the light of the world.” Matt. 5:14. The apostle Paul declares of Christians: “Among whom [the wicked] ye shine as lights in the world; holding forth the Word of life.” Phil. 2:15, 16. And the angel tells us in Rev. 1:20 that the seven candlesticks represent the seven churches. Similarly also as regards the other symbol, the church of God is likened to an olive tree (Jer. 11:16; Rom. 11:17), and David sings: “I am like a green olive tree in the house of God” (Ps. 52:8).
What do all these Scripture uses show?—Emphatically that the witness of God is found in His living Word, and that Word translated into the character of His people. This may be clearly shown by other evidence.
When the Pharisees questioned our Lord and told Him that His witness of Himself was not true, Jesus replied: “Yea in your law it is written, that the witness of two men is true. I am He that beareth witness of Myself, and the Father that sent Me beareth witness of Me.” John 8:17, 18. That is the divine order, “in the mouth of two or three witnesses.” (See Deut. 19:15; 2 Cor. 13:1, et al.). God asks no one to accept His Word of claim upon our love and allegiance and service on one witness. He does not ask us to believe on the divine mission of Jesus Christ on the testimony of only one witness. He does not ask us to accept the claim of any church to be the true unless it can meet the demands of the divine law of witness. The great God is willing to satisfy men of the truth of His Word, of the security of the foundation of faith, of the surety of the salvation in Jesus Christ, by giving us at least two agreeing witnesses, that could by no means be collusive witnesses. They will present no made-up story, to which each agrees to testify; but they witness in such a way that every candid, inquiring mind must be constrained to admit the truth of their testimony.5
Jesus presented two witnesses: (1) The Father, and (2) Himself. Elsewhere He expresses it: (1) “Ye search the Scriptures, and these are they which bear witness of Me.” John 5:39. And this evidence is manifold. (2) “But the witness which I have is greater than that of John; for the works which the Father hath given Me to accomplish, the very works that I do, bear witness of Me, that the Father hath sent Me.” Verse 36.
Both of these witnesses are God’s Word—God’s Word in precept, portrayal, and prediction; God’s Word in character, in life, in fulfilment. And these witnesses so testified as to make collusion impossible. The Scriptures of the Old Testament were given from fifteen to four centuries before Christ. Not one Jew believed that the man Jesus had aught to do with the writing of the scrolls of the prophets. Those prophets spoke of the Messiah, of the time of His coming, of His nativity, of His lowly birth in manner and place, of His work of mercy in healing and restoring soul and body, of His teaching, of His suffering, of His death, burial, and resurrection, and the glory to follow. God had written it all in His prophets. And, then, centuries later, the great Jehovah wrote it again in the life, the work, the mission of His Son—wrote so clearly, so strongly, so truly that every believing heart could stand upon the Rock and find it firm; that every believing soul could trust the anchor and find it secure; wrote it so true to the God-implanted instincts of the human heart that foreign, pagan men in authority must perforce acknowledge that Jesus was the Son of God. And these are God’s witnesses—God’s Word in precept, in prophecy, and God’s Word in the life and character of His Son, written in the New Testament. But there is yet more to be said, which we reserve to a future study.
AUGUSTA C. BAINBRIDGE
By Augusta C. Bainbridge
GOD'S PREPARATION FOR SERVICE. NO. 2. Crucified.
THERE are two things to be dealt with in our redemption: our sins and the carnal nature from which the sins spring, the bad fruit and the tree that produces the fruit.
When God gave His only-begotten Son to the world, He gave a complete Saviour, not only for the “remission of sins that are past” (Rom. 3:25), for a sin is past the very moment it is committed, but to cleanse from all sin (1 John 1:7); that is, to take away our sinful nature that we may not commit sin (verse 2).
While many have accepted the first by faith, and have rejoiced in sins forgiven, the evil nature remains, and the experience of Rom. 7:10-24 is repeated daily. Finding no good in this evil nature, and that it can neither be purified nor improved, the agonizing cry is still coming from the heart, “O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death,” this old man, my carnal nature, my natural disposition, my self.
Blessed be God! He knew the end from the beginning, He made man, He knew what was in him, He knew how he would fall, and what would save him. He provided a Saviour. He met this need of His people in Christ. Listen, tempted, tried, and troubled one: “Knowing this,”—do you know it? If not, know it now, right now, by faith in the Word, —“Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with Him.” Do not contradict God, and say, “No, it is not, it is alive and active in me, producing evil every minute,” but agree with God by faith, even in the dark, and say, “Yes, Lord, I know, by faith, that my old disposition is crucified with Christ, because You say it;” in order “that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin. For he that is dead is freed from sin.” Rom. 6:6, 7. The body of sin is the all of sin in us, that from which the sins spring. Read Rom. 8:3, and you will see that God has already dealt with our evil natures in the death of Christ. In the flesh, all flesh, yours and mine, sin was condemned, crucified. Have you accepted that by faith? Do you say with Paul, “I am crucified with Christ”? So we see it is not only true that the Lord Jesus bore our past sins in His own body on the cross, but God, in His unspeakable love and mercy, associated us with the death of Christ; so that He has already passed judgment upon us, our flesh, our carnal nature, our disposition and traits of character, our totality of sin—root and branch. Thus we see God has made a complete provision for our sin—our carnal nature,—and our sins—deeds committed;—and both alike are gone judicially from before His face forever, if we accept what He says, rather than hold to the sin.
Such is God's testimony to us in His Word; why not accept it and be free? We are exhorted, “Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ.” Rom. 6:11. When you and I accept God's Word by faith, and act upon it, we refuse the calls of the old nature, because it is dead; it had its part in the death of Christ. In other words, we accept as God's Word of truth our death with Christ, and henceforth take our places in the world as men dead to sin; then “the prince of this world cometh and hath nothing” in us.
Praise the Lord.
AUGUSTA C. BAINBRIDGE
How They Became Convinced
[Believing it would be of interest to our readers, the editor of the SIGNS OF THE TIMES has asked Sabbath-keeping ministers and evangelical workers to tell in a few words the scripture or scriptures, the truths and principles, which constrained them to accept the unpopular truth of the seventh-day Sabbath. These testimonies must not exceed 500 words. Let us hear from all.]
LIX.
About the year 1869 Elder R. F. Cottrell, now sleeping, came into the neighborhood where my parents lived, and began a series of Bible lectures upon the prophecies of Daniel and Revelation. As a result of the meetings, my mother, a devout Baptist, my father, and several others, began the observance of the seventh day. Altho but four years of age at that time, the power of those meetings still lingers in my memory. There was something about them that touched my childish heart. To see my mother relate her experience, while the tears rolled down her dear face, impressed me that there was something to that message more than mere fancy. As I grew older and liked to be well thought of, the keeping of the Sabbath became irksome. I began to drift toward the world. One day the following attracted my special attention: “And the third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand, the same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of His indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb; . . . and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name.” I asked my mother what was meant by the “mark of the beast.” She said: “There is considerable to understand about it, but in a few words, it means to keep Sunday, after people have learned from the Bible that the first day of the week is not the true Sabbath.” I believed what she said. This dreadful announcement startled me. I thought the Lord would not threaten such severe punishment unless it was a terrible sin in His sight to do the things He here warned people not to do. From that time I saw a new meaning in keeping the Sabbath. I have since learned of the deeper meanings of Sabbath-keeping, the truth of which came to me in childhood through the faithful teaching of my mother. The path of God’s commandments I find a safe one, which grows brighter and brighter as it nears the perfect day.
T. E. BOWEN.
Rome, N. Y.
LX.
I had been a strict Sunday-keeper, and my wife and I were visiting her brother in New Hampshire. I picked up a little tract and read it. The question was asked, “Why do you keep the first day of the week instead of the seventh, which the Lord commanded thee to keep?” My wife’s brother was a minister; he made some remarks about it, and it passed off. I thought no more of it until the next day, when going home, the thought came into my mind, Why do you keep the first day instead of the seventh day? It stuck to me; I could not get rid of it. As every true Christian should, I went to my Bible to find proof for keeping the first day. I began to read the twenty-eighth chapter of Matthew, and it told me that in the end of the Sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week, those women came to the tomb to anoint the body of Christ. The Spirit said to me, The Sabbath ended when the first day began. Then I looked through the New Testament and found that the first day is spoken of only eight times, and always called the first day of the week. I then read the fifty-eighth and sixty-sixth chapters of Isaiah, and found that the Sabbath was to be restored and brought over into the new earth; and I chose to let the Lord lead me from that time to this, and He has blessed me with health, and caused me to discard all kinds of flesh, and I drink nothing with my meals when I eat, and have not for many years.
O my friends, the Lord is my strength; yea, He is my life, and I am His forevermore. Amen.
This passage serves to illustrate the truths of the preceding verses. We have been told, “Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt; . . . but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven.” “For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.”
The eye which is single, or clear, will see objects just as they are, and the body will be directed aright. The evil eye sees things distorted, not in their true relations, and the walk will be crooked.
Just the same in the inward life. When the clear eye of faith is fixed upon eternal things, the life will be in harmony with the divine law, and will not waver.
The “evil eye” is something hard to define, but we find it mentioned elsewhere in the Scriptures.
Solomon says in substance, he that has an “evil eye” will invite you to dine with him, but hopes you will not come. “Eat and drink, saith he to thee; but his heart is not with thee.” (Prov. 23:7). Again, “He that hasteth to be rich hath an evil eye.” (Prov. 28:22). We may then conclude that the “evil eye” is a covetous heart which desires everything for self, regardless of God’s commands or our neighbor’s comfort.
It is a state of mind which should be guarded against, for it will surely shut us out from heaven, being a direct violation of God’s command, “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbor as thyself.”
AUGUSTA W. HEALD.
GOD KNOWS.
NOT long since we listened to a soprano and contralto duet, and wondrously sweet it was. Over and over rang these comforting words of the refrain:—
“My Father knows, I'm sure He knows.”
It was faith's answer in sweet and beautiful song to a most blessed fact,—our Father knows.
He knows the heart. “Man looketh on the outward appearance, but Jehovah looketh on the heart.”
“O Jehovah, Thou hast searched me, and known me. Thou knowest my downsitting and mine uprising; Thou understandest my thought afar off. Thou searchest out my path and my lying down, And art acquainted with all my ways. For there is not a word in my tongue, But, lo, O Jehovah, Thou knowest it altogether.”
A sense of such knowledge on the part of God makes the wicked fear. It is the disobedient boy that pleads, “Don't tell father.” But this Father needs not to be told. He takes infinite cognizance of all the ongoings in His boundless realm. He knows not simply all; He knows each part. He knows not merely mankind; He knows each man. He knows all because He knows each part. The wicked may well fear Him who knows every black deed, every cruel act, every cherished thought of evil; and as surely as He knows all He will bring every work into judgment, will reward every deed. No political influence can affect His decision, no court of appeal can reverse His just findings. The thought of the wicked man, that God knows, is awful; and by every means men seek to still the voice of conscience and bury the remembrance of the fact.
But God does not reveal this awful fact to frighten His children nor to make life miserable. Our Father knows that we are sinners, and He reveals to us that He knows, in order that we may know that He whose knowledge is infinite to reveal possesses power infinite to change from all filthiness and vileness and sin; that we who have learned that “it is not in man that walketh to direct his steps,” may know that He who knows has power in waiting to “cause” us to “walk” in His “statutes,” and “keep” His “ordinances, and do them.” He reveals that the heart of man is “deceitful above all things and desperately sick,” that we may be assured that the Physician, who knows our evil case, is able to heal us, and we shall be healed. And after He has wrought all this in us, He still knows and sees all our imperfections, and tells us that in Him we may attain the most perfect growth. Thus much in stirring us to unite with Infinite Power, that we may be in harmony with Infinite Holiness.
Then, again, the comfort of the thought, “My Father knows; I'm sure He knows.” The mortal frame often grows weary; the tired heart labors with its burden; the weary eyes burn with long seeing; brawn and back and brain ache and groan under their burdens; but humanity knows it not. No helping hand lightens the bowed back. No cheering word eases the burdened heart. At such times—at all times—how good it is to truly say, “My Father knows; I'm sure He knows.” “For He knoweth our frame; He remembereth that we are dust.”
Sometimes our motives are impugned—our words misunderstood, our actions misconstrued by those whom motive, word, and act sought to help. But, never mind, our Father knows.
It is a thought of comfort to the trusting soul. Jesus so presents it. He tells us of God's knowledge. He notes the sparrow's fall; even the very hairs of the head are numbered. God cares. “The eyes of Jehovah run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show Himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward Him.” He does not ask a perfect wisdom or knowledge or fame; only a heart yielded to Him. He is our all in all; our Father-God forever and ever. Sing ever the sweet refrain:— “My Father knows; I'm sure He knows.”
SOME MISTAKES AND THEIR LESSON.
By G.
While salvation is an individual matter, and individuals are held personally accountable for their acts as individuals, the work of the Lord in the earth is conducted through the medium of the people as a body. Be the body small or great numerically, God reckons with the body in blessings for faithfulness, or judgments for unfaithfulness.
When Israel failed to enter the promised land by faith, there were some who had faith to go in, but all suffered the consequences of the great mistake. While many suffered the penalty of death, all had to undergo the ordeal of a thirty-eight years' wandering in the wilderness, with all the trials and hardships and temptations incident to that experience. When Achan transgressed the commandment of God in taking a wedge of gold and some raiment from Jericho, the whole nation suffered humiliation. When Joshua fell into the mistake of making a league with the Gibeonites (Joshua 9), the whole nation had to suffer the consequence; and not only the whole nation of that time, but those of many generations afterward. 2 Sam. 21:1-6. That league so bound the people that they never could drive out all the heathen, as God had designed. Yet, notwithstanding this great mistake, fraught with such consequences for many generations, the Lord did not remove Joshua from his position as leader.
David made a great mistake, on one occasion, in numbering Israel; and he did it against the counsel of Joab, captain of his host. When David came to realize that he had committed sin, he was given the choice of three afflictions,—seven years of famine, or three months pursued by the enemies of Israel, or three days' pestilence in the land. Now the mistake was a sin of David individually, but these judgments, no matter which one he chose, involved much suffering among the people. “And David said unto God, I am in a great strait: let us fall now into the hand of the Lord: for His mercies are great; and let me not fall into the hand of man. So the Lord sent a pestilence upon Israel from the morning even to the time appointed; and there died of the people from Dan even to Beer-sheba seventy thousand men.” Thus was affliction brought upon the entire body through the sin of one man. But David was not removed from his position.
Should the question be asked, Why did not the Lord remove Joshua when he made such a blunder in face of a positive injunction not to make a league with the people of Canaan (Deut. 7:2)? or, Why did He not remove David from being king, when he so flagrantly disobeyed the command of the Lord in numbering Israel (1 Chron. 21:1-4)? we have only to answer: (1) These men repented of their sins, and were forgiven; (2) The Lord knew that there were no men who would not make mistakes, no matter how plainly the testimony might be written.
When the king of Babylon sent messengers to King Hezekiah, to congratulate him on his restoration to health, instead of telling them of the greatness and goodness of the God of heaven, who had healed him, Hezekiah showed the strangers his own greatness and wealth, including the valuable gold and silver vessels in the house of the Lord. This was a terrible mistake, for it not only dishonored God, but it naturally excited the covetousness of the Babylonians. And Isaiah the prophet delivered this message to him from the Lord: “Behold, the days come, that all that is in thine house, and that which thy fathers have laid up in store until this day, shall be carried to Babylon; nothing shall be left, saith the Lord.” Isa. 39:6.
Altho there was about a hundred years of respite for the people, the word of the Lord was eventually fulfilled. He permitted their enemies to carry them into captivity, to destroy their city, and to rob and demolish His own temple. The awful calamity came upon the whole nation. It might have been averted, had the people remained steadfast themselves. Did God design that this judgment should be permanent? No; it was designed for a lesson. They had withheld the honor due to God, and now they must pay for it. They had neglected to observe the Sabbath day, and were deprived of the fruits of the land, which now had a rest while they were serving their enemies. They had withheld their service of God, and their tithes and offerings, and now their great national institution, that had cost so many millions of dollars, was taken away from them. “There is that withholdeth more than is meet, but it tendeth to poverty.” But the city and the house of God were to be restored; and because of a lack of faith, the work was done under the most trying circumstances. In a time of great financial distress, the command came to arise and build. The Lord did not want them to longer lie under the reproach of their humiliation in the presence of their enemies. It was no time to fall back and lay the blame of the situation on the men who had brought about the trouble in the first place. The mistake was Israel's mistake; the loss of their city and their great house of worship was Israel's loss. The duty to arise and build was Israel's duty.
Israel's faith, however, was so weak, and they were so full of complaints and fears, that they built a house much inferior to the one that was destroyed because of their unfaithfulness. Then a man of the world, King Herod, took hold, and, in their stead, made it far greater and more magnificent, altho God had designed a much grander one. See Ezekiel 40-43. And the “Desire of all nations” honored this house with His personal Presence, and filled it with His glory, until His people again rejected His counsel and crucified Him.
Now these lessons were written for those upon whom the end of the world should come. They are lessons first for the individual, and then for the body. A calamity to the hand is a calamity to the body. The healing of an injured limb is the healing of the body. A single defective member mars the symmetry of the body. G.
ORGANIZATION AND LIFE.
There are “unions,” and confederations, and combines, and trusts, without number; but they are not true unions. They are held together through personal, selfish interest or fear. When the fear departs, when a prospect for greater gain in safety is presented, the connection is broken, and the bond of “union” is dissolved.
Yet this is the only union the world can effect or know. Association in political parties and membership in societies, clubs, unions, and guilds, are of the same nature, and have a basis essentially selfish. Oftentimes they are held together for years through fear of calamity threatened, or by the glowing promises of great future prosperity of some strong leader.
We do not make mention of these organizations to condemn them. It is the best that the world can do. It is in harmony with its nature. It is to the selfishness of man that these organizations appeal. But they do not, can not, will not, meet man’s need. He who depends upon them will find them at last a rope of sand. And, therefore, this kind of union is not the union which God asks. It is not the union which should exist among His people. It is not the union which He gives. It is not the union by which He unites His people. And it is a low conception on the part of any Christian to exalt that sort of union. He ought not to desire to use it to forward the work of God. Any union in which only humanity has a part, by the regulations of which humanity seeks to bind humanity, is a thousandfold worse in its operation within the church of God than it is in its native element, the world. What it will do in the church is manifest in its full growth, the Papacy of the Dark Ages. It is a union of force and not of life, whereas the only true union is life-union.
God brings union among men by first uniting them with Himself. He does not unite two independent branches. Man could bind two live olive branches together with cords of steel difficult to sever; but the union bears no fruit, develops no power. If green and filled with leaves when first bound, they would retain this greenness only for a little while, and then—death, decay, annihilation.
God takes those two branches, almost destitute of all life, doomed to eternal death, grafts them into the true, living Olive Tree; they drink in of its ever-flowing life; they grow; they put forth bud, and leaf, and flower, and bear fruit to His glory. Every illustration used by Inspiration regarding such union demands life. The union is life-union. Is it the grape-vine?7—The union is a union by life; yet that not of the branch but the vine. Is the illustration of a living temple of character, builded of living stones?—The life comes not from the stones, but from the living foundation Rock beneath; and that life binds as one mass the temple above to the rock beneath.
That man who will yield himself to God will receive of the Spirit, the life of God. That man who feeds upon the Word partakes of the life of God, and builds himself still closer, still stronger to God, by invisible yet unbreakable bonds of life. That man who lets God’s life flow through him to bless others, becomes a channel of more life, and as freely as he gives, so freely he receives.
Two men so bound to God are bound to each other with the Strength of the Universe. Jesus Christ forms the bond of union, infinitely stronger than both of the branches He binds together. So, in the human body, the bond of union between the arms is the body. And life-union is unselfish union. Life is love. Each of the members bound by life-union serves the other. It may be concerned for itself, but it serves its fellows. The eye does not see for itself, but for the other members of the body. If in danger, it is protected by the eyelid, or by a movement of limb or trunk. The right hand does not wash itself; it washes the left, and vice versa. The foot runs at the behest of other members of the man. Unselfishness, life, love, service for others, is the true basis of all true union. Anything short of this is worldly, and will not meet the requirements of God nor the needs of humanity. But union with God will meet all needs, heal all wounds, weld all divisions, and bind all who are God’s into the “bundle of life” forevermore.
What then is the lesson?—Seek above all things else God and His righteousness, and all needed, helpful, blessed things will surely be supplied according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus.
The Time of Promotion.
One of our religious exchanges frequently speaks of death as a promotion, especially on the death of some prominent worker in the cause which said paper advocates. Bible readers ought to know that death is an enemy (I Cor. 15:26), and that a person is not promoted while in the hands of the enemy. The Son of God passed through a season of earthly service and of great humiliation, and His service was not marred by a single mistake. Yet even He was not promoted in death; He was just laid away in a tomb until the time for His resurrection. But for His resurrection He would still be dead (verses 13–18). It was not till after His resurrection that He was promoted to His exalted position in heaven. See Mark 16:19; Eph. 1:20–22; Phil. 2:7–9.
Therefore, as Christ could not be promoted in death, neither can any one else; for He is “the resurrection and the life.” A promotion to the heavenly home must be either by a resurrection from death or by a translation without seeing death (as in the cases of Enoch and Elijah). The Scripture is very plain on the subject, because the Lord would have us intelligent in the matter. Paul says:—
“But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with Him. For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep. For 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. Wherefore comfort one another with these words.” 1 Thess. 4:13–18.
This shows when and how promotion comes to believers. Note also Paul’s hope in regard to his own promotion (2 Tim. 4:6–18), that he will receive his crown at the coming of the Lord, with those who at that time “love His appearing.” And if they love His appearing—love the thought that He is actually coming according to promise (John 14:1–3; Acts 1:10, 11), they will be looking for Him according to the instruction of the Master (Matt. 24:42–44; 25:13). Their readiness will be shown by their glad shout, “Lo, this is our God; we have waited for Him, and He will save us; this is the Lord; we have waited for Him, we will be glad and rejoice in His salvation.” Isa. 25:9.
This will be the day of general promotion. Until that time those who die wait in the grave. Job 14:10–15; 17:11–16; 19:23–27. And of their condition during that period we have this further testimony:—
“For the living know that they shall die; but the dead know not anything, neither have they any more a reward; for the memory of them is forgotten. Also their love, and their hatred, and their envy, is now perished; neither have they any more a portion forever in any thing that is done under the sun.” Eccl. 9:5, 6.
So, then, when any one assumes that an esteemed friend or a valued worker in any good cause has been promoted from this life, it is a virtual claim that such an one has been translated into the heavenly realm without seeing death (Heb. 11:5), or, having died, has been resurrected. Indeed some do express their idea of death by the word “translated,” but they do so in apparent ignorance of the fact that the translated person does not leave a body to be buried. Enoch “was not; for God took him” (Gen. 5:24); and Elijah “went up by a whirlwind into heaven” (2 Kings 2:11, 12). And it may be added, a resurrected person leaves no body in the tomb. Matt. 27:50–53; 28:5–7.
