"If ye will inquire, inquire ye." 2164.—God's Foreknowledge.
Did God foreknow or look down over time from His creation of the world to see the destruction of this world and sin with all its horrors, as that destruction is described in the Bible? J. W. M. If our inquirer would stop to think a moment he would answer his own question we are sure. How do we know that the sin-cursed earth will be cleansed and that sin will be blotted out? Of course you will say that the Bible reveals it. But how did the men who wrote the Bible know? The Scriptures answer, "They spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost," or by the Spirit of God. It is called foreknowledge, therefore, that reveals to us the great future; and the apostle declares, "Known unto God are all His works from the beginning of the world." Acts 15:18. God has His great, clear, definite plan, planned for all eternity. If man yields himself to God's purpose, God will work out a character for man which will exist eternally. If man will not yield to God's plan and purpose, he certainly takes himself outside of that plan, and all outside of that will be destroyed. "Every plant which My heavenly Father hath not planted," Jesus declared, "shall be rooted up." 2167.—Genealogy of Christ.
Many have greatly puzzled themselves over the genealogy of our Lord as given by the two evangelists, but it does not seem a difficult question. Matthew gives the royal line from David, thru the male members of the family, revealing Christ as the heir to the kingdom, and Joseph, as reputed father—His father by law—is named as His direct ancestor. Luke reveals Him as the son of man and the seed of the woman, but counting the genealogy, as was customary, thru the male members of the family, so that Mary's immediate ancestor was Heli, but she, being married to Joseph of the same tribe, Joseph is mentioned instead of Mary. The one is the genealogy of Jesus thru David's seed to Joseph, the other the genealogy of Jesus from David's seed to Mary, the daughter of Heli, and thru the husband Joseph tracing it back to Adam the son of God. 2170.—Work Done on the Sabbath.
Is there any difference between hauling milk to the creamery on the Sabbath or to have some one else haul it for you, or to have it separated at home with a hand separator? This is a source of some perplexity. There are always problems near the border-line of right and wrong conduct which will to a greater or less extent cause perplexity to conscientious minds. We wish to take occasion from this question to say that the SIGNS OF THE TIMES does not presume to decide questions of conscience; they must be left to the individuals who are involved in the matter. What Christian dairymen and farmers ought to do is to minimize Sabbath labor just as much as possible. You may not be wholly able to do this, but you can work to that end and give God the benefit of your doubt. It is utterly impossible for one not connected with the thing itself to decide such questions, and even then, one can only decide for himself. The great principles which ought to decide in this are, first, minimize labor as much as possible; secondly, make that labor as unobtrusive as possible; thirdly, make it so it will involve just as little as possible with any worldly element which might come in as a factor in connection with it; fourthly, so plan all the work that God shall receive from it all the glory. Are the Ten Commandments included in Mal. 4:4? If so, why is it called the law of Moses? The law of Moses included all the laws which God had given. It took in the civil regulations of Israel for that time, laws concerning sacrifices and offerings, laws regulating conduct between man and man, health laws, ceremonial laws, moral laws; all were included in the law of Moses. But the special thought of Mal. 4:4 is not to remember the Ten-Commandment law alone. The Ten-Commandment law comes in under the statutes and judgments, “Remember ye the law of Moses My servant, which I commanded unto him in Horeb.” That is all the commandments that God gave thru Moses, with the statutes and judgments, which would include all the precepts, the Ten Commandments with the others. He would not only call our attention to the great laws which should be the rule of conduct, but He would also have us remember those laws in which the offerings, the sacrifices, and types were revealed, as in the laws given thru Moses, in order that the substance of the new dispensation may be traced from the shadows of the old. And in the last days He would call His people’s attention to His law, especially set forth in Exodus 20 to 40 and also in Leviticus. Does the expression, “There shall be time no longer,” refer to prophetic time? Is not the time of Rev. 18:8 prophetic time? The time is prophetic time. That is shown in the connection (Rev. 10:6). “There should be time no longer; but in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he shall begin to sound, the mystery of God should be finished, as He hath declared to His servants the prophets.” Verse 7. Note the time declared by His servants the prophets is symbolic, or prophetic time. See Dan. 7:25; 8:14. That is the great prophetic period pointing to the close of the Gospel, when the mystery of God would be complete. Rev. 18:8 doubtless refers to prophetic time, a day for a year, but it is not marked by any particular beginning or close; it is not prophetic time in the sense of marking great events in connection with the work of God. It simply denominates a period in which apostasy shall receive punishment after probation closes. 2168.—Crops and the Sabbath.
Is it lawful for a man to violate the Sabbath commandment in order to save his crops? I. F. Answering in a general way, No. Read the command in Isa. 58:13. There are conceivable circumstances where it might be proper. They are not, however, for us to name. Questions purely of conscience must be settled by the individual, but if the individual carries out not only the letter but the spirit of the fourth commandment, he will not be brought in that condition where he will be tempted to disobey God. "Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy," reads the law; the thought is, remember it in order that we may keep it holy, not on the day of the Sabbath merely, but throughout the whole week. If man's work is planned for God, if man plans his work days with the Sabbath in view, there are very few cases indeed where his crops would be endangered by Sabbath storms or troubles. When men will learn to so yield to God that they will plan and arrange with Him, they will find that God will plan with them. 2169.—The First Resurrection.
In 1 Thess. 4:16 we read, “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.” Was Paul right in saying that the dead in Christ should rise first? In Rev. 20:4-6, where John saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and who, in the word of God, lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years, “the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished.” J. S. John does not design to convey the meaning that the class mentioned in Rev. 20:4 are all that are raised from the dead. He is just simply assuring us of the great fact that those against whom the enemy has turned his great power in destruction and persecution are alive, they stood before God. With them were all the holy of all the ages, “and the rest of the dead,” those who are not raised to be with Him, did not live until the thousand years were finished. They are mentioned again in verses 8-10. There is no inharmony between the texts. The first resurrection includes not only the class which John mentioned, but all those whose names are in the book of life. 2171.—"Wherefore Then the Law?"
Is the leaving out of the word `serveth'' in your quotation of Gal. 3:19, question 1984, a misprint? What about the added law? First you admit a limit to it and then say `it will and must exist.''
C. W. W. The only limit which is indicated in any way in question 1984 is the limit of time in which the law is used as a condemner of sin. `Wherefore then the law?'' Literally that is all that is in the original. Serveth'' does not convey particularly a wrong idea perhaps, but it is not in the original. The American Standard Revised Version has, What then is the law?'' Wherefore the law, what is the object of the law? That is, What was God's object in having a law or giving a law originally? There must be a law in God's government, has been to all eternity, and will be to all eternity. But why was the law given in that form at Sinai? See parallel text in Rom. 5:20: `The law entered that the offense might abound.'' It was added, spoken, given, in the form that it was at Sinai, because of transgression, so that man by the commandment might see how exceeding sinful sin is. So evidently the law will be limited by the time in which sin exists. When there are no more sinners there will be nothing in the law to condemn, and that will be when the Lord Jesus Christ shall come, to whom the promise was made. The law is filling that office still, but when men truly turn to the Lord Jesus Christ, they find justice in that law, and Christ by His Spirit writes that same law in the heart of the individual conscience. It will be in the heart of God's children throout all eternity. 2172.—"Turn Away Thy Foot from the Sabbath."
Please explain Isa. 58:13. The first of the verse reads as tho a blessing is promised to some if they would turn away from the Sabbath. A. D. K. It depends how we turn away. Please notice that the chapter is a reproof to the people of God because of their sins. The same thing is taught in the 56th chapter. In the 56th chapter the Lord declares that the man is blessed that keepeth justice and righteousness, that holdeth it fast, that keepeth His Sabbath from profaning it. In other words, God's children had been trampling upon the Sabbath, treading it under foot. Yet He says that there will be some among them that will build the old waste places that have been broken down, that will raise up the foundation of many generations that have been broken and razed, and that these would be called "the repairer of the breach," "a restorer of paths to dwell in." Then He lays before them the true conditions, "If thou turn away thy foot from the Sabbath," from treading it under foot; "from doing thy pleasure on My holy day." They had followed their own way, but instead of this they should "call the Sabbath a delight, the holy of the Lord, honorable; and shalt honor Him, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words." It is a prophecy of conditions in the last days of the Gospel dispensation, when a class of people would restore God's Sabbath to its rightful place among them. Eternal Life and Immortality
By William Covert
ALTHO it was not possible to consult man about life until after he had been placed upon the stage of action, yet present conditions are such that he can, and does, choose for himself as to whether or not he is to live forever. The life given to Adam in creation, and thru him to the human family, is transitory, still it affords those who have this life an opportunity to seek for and obtain eternal life thru Christ, the divine Life-Giver. Revelation says, "Man that is born of a woman is of few days and full of trouble. He cometh forth like a flower, and is cut down; he fleeth also as a shadow, and continueth not." Job. 14:1. In fact, it is appointed unto man to die once, but after this comes a judgment (Heb. 9:27) to decide which the individual is to have for eternity, life or death. In the Adamic life, which all possess by nature, man can choose to live forever and his choice will be respected. Moses, the great leader of God's ancient people, is set forth as an illustration of how man may choose a destiny for himself. When the deciding point in his trial course came, he rejected an earthly kingdom which offered abundant opulence and much that glittered with human glory (Heb. 11:24-26). In the place of these he chose a blessed destiny, but one which filled up the time of his mortal life with a service which led thru forty years of hard and humble work, and then on thru forty years more of burden-bearing and sore perplexity for his complaining kindred. But thru all these eighty years of service which followed his exodus from Pharaoh's court, the grace of God enabled him to be true to the choice which he had made. During this entire period he believed that even the reproaches of Christ were of far greater value than all the riches that Egypt could offer. But the reward he sought and found was not visible to the eyes of natural sight (Heb. 11:27). To him, thru faith, were given senses by which he could feel the power of an endless life reaching down from the place of heavenly glory. The strength of the life thus imparted became the controlling power of his destiny. By this divine generation, he was "born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth forever. . . . And," listen, kind reader, "this is the word which by the Gospel is preached unto you." 1 Peter 1:23-25. The true status of this subject is given in the scripture which says, "He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life." 1 John 5:12. The life generated thru flesh is a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away. James 4:14. But this fleeting life is not the real thing for which men were given being. Men were not made to be sinners, but they were created that God might have children to love, and that these children might be lovable members of a beautiful and righteous family possessing everlasting life. But since there has been a failure on the part of many to choose the way of life, the following proclamation has gone forth: "He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life; and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him." John 3:36. The believer, in uniting with Christ, is, in this very act, passing from death unto eternal, or everlasting, life (John 5:24). He is thereby brought into touch with the life-giving power of the Son of God in such a manner that a new creation is manifested in him. "If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature [new creation]; old things are passed away; behold all things are become new." A new course of action begins,—a new character is developed and a new man is the result (Eph. 4:23, 24). The power of an endless life is doing its work. Paul, writing of this working, said, "Christ liveth in me, and the life which I now [as a Christian] live in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave Himself for me." The vital influence of the eternal life in Christ is seen and felt in act and word, bringing the peace and joy of heaven to our earth in the experiences of those who love and follow Jesus. This is the working of eternal life in Christianity. Concerning the redemption of the body, the apostle says that God will render eternal life to those who continue "patient" in "well-doing." Rom. 2:7. He addressed himself to Titus as being "in hope of eternal life" which God promised before the world began. He also says that "being justified by His grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life." Titus 3:7. The believer is now brought into touch with the life of Christ by faith so that its principles of righteousness are imparted to him. In this manner he is made ready to receive the physical benefits of immortality hereafter. Thus we see two lines, or a double line of texts upon the subject of eternal life, one referring to what this life does for the believer here in changing his heart and character to conform to eternal principles, the other line referring to how it conforms the body to eternal conditions. From Mortal to Immortal without Death.
When mortal life in the believer has run its course, he falls asleep in Jesus to await the Lord's appointed time for an awakening to immortality. There are some, however, who will not sleep. But even those must be changed from mortality to immortality. Referring to this final consummation, the apostle says, "Behold, I show you a mystery; we shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump; for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed." 1 Cor. 15:51, 52. This change which comes to the favored4ones who are alive and waiting for the coming of the Lord will be accomplished in a way to exempt them from corruption. Their mortality will be instantly swallowed up, or superseded, by immortality. Not only so, but those who are thus ready will without delay be taken to the abode of the redeemed. As told in Bible language, "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." The ardent desire of the Christian for instant transition from the mortal state to the immortal is sweetly expressed in the following lines: "O joy! O delight! should we go without dying,
No sickness, no sadness, no dread, and no crying;
Caught up thru the clouds with our Lord into glory
When Jesus receives His own." Sorrow and death do not primarily belong to God's domain. They came as intruders thru the gateway which sin opened, and they must be cast out when that gate is finally closed. Going back into the shades of the everlasting past, and not very remotely either, we come to a time when, as yet, man had not been made. In that period Lucifer had not inaugurated his rebellion, nor had any of the angels fallen. Then the dreadful word "death" was not used in any vocabulary found in all the universe. Such a word was not needed, because that awful thing now indicated by the word had not affected anything in all God's realm. The Cruel Invader Destroyed.
Well, by and by this cruel invader will be destroyed, that life and immortality may have undisturbed rule. Then we will dwell in a home where death can never enter, nor even be allowed to knock at the gate. Not until we have seen the land of life, and have felt the thrill of immortality, can we have an adequate sense of what our joys in Christ, in their completeness, are to be. Think of perfected forms buoyant with the fulness of eternal life, wearing countenances radiant with heavenly love. Contemplate the joyful spirits and the confident deportment of a people who know they shall never grow old, nor ever meet a heartache. Listen to the musical voices and pleasing expressions where all are perfectly and everlastingly good. Advance in mind into the possession of the future fadeless life. Dwell in that home, all your own, where there is no chill in the air, nor burning from the sun. Abide where there is no storm in commotion nor pestilence in the breeze. Listen,—there are songs with no sadness, and hymns,—O, so full of gladness. There is no dread with the meetings nor weeping with the partings. Nothing is wanting! Nothing to be dismissed! All thru Jesus! Dear reader, do you desire these things? Then seek them in Christ, for only in Him can they be found. No Sorrow There.
By Mrs. M. Sollars
THERE'LL be no sorrow in that land,
No sad good-by nor parting hand,
No weary watchings day and night,
No lonely gropings for the light.
No prison-house of wo and gloom,
No journey to the silent tomb
Where mourners weep and sigh in vain
For those who ne'er will come again.
O Death, thy course is almost run,
Life's battle fought, the victory won;
Thy silent sleepers soon shall hear
The voice of their Deliverer.
MRS. M. SOLLARS. The Resurrection to Life and Death
By C. L. Taylor
EVER since sin entered this fair world, death has claimed its victims. One by one men have passed from the living to the dead, and so constant has been the funeral knell that life has seemed but little more than a journey to the grave. But in the dark and heavy clouds that have hovered over the world, there has been a bright rift, and thru this God has caused to shine upon the pathway of all His children the glorious rays of hope. Tho none have ever returned from the dark prison-house into which death forced them, still men have been made to know that the grave is not the finale of the story; beyond the tomb lie the realms of life. That the resurrection of the dead has always been the great hope of the church of God, the Scriptures clearly teach. Abraham grasped the great truth (Heb. 11:17-19), Job rejoiced in it (Job 19:25-27), David lived in it (Ps. 17:15), and Isaiah heralded it to the world (Isa. 26:19). And when Jesus had come and the wondrous fact had been worked out, the resurrection of the Christ became the very key-note of the good news which men carried to their fellow men. Acts 2:23, 24; 3:14, 15; 4:10; 10:39, 40. Paul, the great apostle to the Gentiles, declared it the basis of his faith and hope (Acts 24:14, 15; 26:6-8), and instructed the believers that should the truth of the resurrection be taken away, there was no hope either for this world or the world to come (1 Cor. 15:12-19). Suffice it to say that Jesus announced Himself "the Resurrection and the Life" (John 11:25), and that by virtue of the authority given Him by the Father, the hour would come when "all that are in the graves shall hear His voice, and shall come forth" (John 5:25-29). He made it clear that the time of the resurrection should be "at the last day" (John 6:39), and that both righteous and wicked should be included (John 5:28, 29). The apostle Paul also speaks after the same manner. By inspiration he tells us that the dead shall be raised at the coming of the Lord (1 Thess. 4:15-17), at the last trump (1 Cor. 15:51, 52), and that "as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive" (1 Cor. 15:22). The Resurrection and the Gospel.
The Gospel of Christ of which the resurrection is but a component part is intensely practical, and God intends that man shall know the fulness of its blessedness in his every-day experience. He would therefore have all men to know the truth of the resurrection as present truth, take it into their lives, and thus make it possible to enjoy even now the crowning blessing of the resurrection work which will come at the last day. In other words, the Bible would lead us to see that the resurrection of the dead at the last day will be but the outcome, the natural result, as it were, of the present life choice and work. God's great desire for all men is that here and now they may know His power, even as that power wrought in raising Christ from the dead. Eph. 1:17-20. For himself, the apostle Paul's chief wish was: "That I may know Him, and the power of His resurrection, . . . if by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead." Phil. 3:10, 11. To him the power of the resurrection was like a great ladder which must be mounted and climbed in order that the climax of the last great day might be attained. This is even more beautifully introduced by the same writer in his letter to the Corinthians. He has spoken of that great day of resurrection and life, when God shall bring to pass "the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory" (1 Cor. 15:54, 55), and then adds, "But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory thru our Lord Jesus Christ" (verse 57). In Jesus Christ God gives to men now "the victory" over death and the grave. To receive Christ as our personal Saviour from sin is to receive Him as God's power over all that sin is or that sin can produce. In breaking the power of sin He breaks the power of death, for sin is "the sting of death."5 He Broke the Bonds and Took the Keys.
Jesus died and rose again. When He came from the tomb He brought with Him the "keys of hell and of death." Rev. 1:18. The grave and death no longer have any power against Him, nor against them who believe into Him. "The gates of hell [the grave] shall not prevail against it [the church of Christ]." Matt. 16:18. Death and the grave, the great enemies of the human race, have no terrors for the children of God, because in Christ they have passed from death unto life. 1 John 3:14. In the glorious work of conversion, they have found the resurrection life—everlasting life—which belongs to the world to come. In the light of this wonderful truth, read the words of Paul to the Romans: "Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into His death? . . . That like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. For if we have been planted together in the likeness of His death, we shall be also in the likeness of His resurrection. . . . Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him; knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more; death hath no more dominion over Him." Rom. 6:3-9. What a blessed assurance and glorious fact is this! By the choice of faith, man can and does lay hold upon "the resurrection of life," and can and does know its tremendous worth thru-out the entire time of his pilgrimage here below. But will not the child of God die? Yes, he may die and go into the grave; but it is a grave thru which the Man of Life has passed. It is, therefore, only a place of sleep, the temporary home in which the disciple of the Master awaits the call of the trump. His life is hid with Christ in God, and thus when Christ appears he shall appear with Him in glory. Col. 3:3, 4. Of such ones Jesus can say, "Whosoever liveth and believeth in Me shall never die." John 11:26. "The righteous hath hope in his death." Prov. 14:32. Because the Lord Jesus has taken from death its absolute power, and has bequeathed to His believing followers the power and life virtue of His own resurrection, He says of each departed saint, as He did of the maid of long ago, "not dead, but sleepeth." Matt. 9:24. Plainly, then, the resurrection of the last day will come as a fitting result, as it is indeed the climax to a life of faith and well-doing. It will be the crowning act of love and life performed by our Father in honor of man's choice of Him who is "the Resurrection and the Life." It will come as the logical sequence of the new life begotten of the Spirit; for He who "raised us up [raised us from our death in sin, Eph. 2:1] together and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus," did so "that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us thru Christ Jesus." Eph. 2:6, 7. Thus the spiritual resurrection from sin to righteousness is but a preparatory work which calls for the physical resurrection to life at the last day. How Will It Be with the Wicked?
Turning to the case of the wicked, to those who refuse the life which God proffers, we find that the same laws hold good. Having chosen death (Prov. 8:36), having sown to the flesh (Gal. 6:7, 8), having "done evil," to them the inevitable outcome is "the resurrection of damnation." John 5:29. They have sown only mortal, perishable seed, consequently there is for them no continuance. The harvest must be of the same nature as the seed sown. He who sows the wind must reap the whirlwind. Hosea 8:7. The character of the resurrection—whether to life or to death—is determined by the choice of man. To him who loves the truth of God this thought gives great and glad assurance. He may rest his full weight upon the immortal principle that having chosen Jesus Christ as his portion it is impossible for him to be bound by sin or any of its results. What was true of his Lord is true of him. Of Him who died on Calvary the speaker of the day of Pentecost said: "Whom God hath raised up, having loosed the pains of death; because it was not possible that He should be holden of it." Acts 2:24. God thru His prophet had promised to raise His Son on the third day. Hosea 6:1, 2. Jesus had received that promise. Mark 9:31. And, tho He died, the promise lived, and so when the third day, the time of fulfilment, came, the living word of promise went into effect and Jesus came forth a conqueror. God's promise, His word, made effective by the faith of His Son, broke the portals of death. The grave had no power in the presence of that faithful and faith-received word. Now our God has specifically promised to give all His people the resurrection to life. Do you make the promise yours? So surely as you do, so surely it will be impossible for the grave to bind you beyond the time that God has fixed for the trump to sound. And thus with the Lord Jesus you may say, "I have power to lay it [my life] down, and I have power to take it again. This commandment [this promise] have I received of my Father." John 10:18. What He did by faith was done that we might follow in His steps. Surrounded by sin and sorrow and death everywhere and always we may constantly have the precious enjoyments of the certainty of faith. It is for us to know that even in the laying down of our imperfect and mortal life for the Master's sake we are most surely taking it again, but in infinitely greater measure and in absolute, glorious perfection. Our resurrection is assured. The great controversy between truth and error will soon be over. The day of the Lord will soon dawn, when the resurrections of righteous and wicked will take place. Raised to life and immortality, the saints of God will join in the glad song of redemption, ascribing "blessing, and honor, and glory, and power," unto God and the Lamb (Rev. 5:13), and will acknowledge His justice and mercy, saying, "Just and true are Thy ways, Thou King of saints. Who shall not fear Thee, O Lord, and glorify Thy name? for Thou only art holy; for all nations shall come and worship before Thee; for Thy judgments are made manifest." Rev. 15:3, 4. Redeemed and exalted, they are supremely satisfied in rendering to Jehovah the perfect service of love which, from the days of eternity, He has claimed from all His creatures. They have been resurrected to an eternal life of obedience. "This is the first resurrection." Rev. 20:5. A thousand years later, the wicked come forth in the second resurrection. But why a resurrection for the wicked? Ah, they, too, must have opportunity to acknowledge God's justice. In order that sin may never again have place in the fair universe of our Father, the falsity of Lucifer's claims must be confessed by all who have directly engaged in the controversy. "For it is written, As I live, saith the Lord, every knee shall bow to Me, and every tongue shall confess to God." Rom. 14:11. As the multitude of the lost rise from their dusty beds, they behold the glory and exaltation and magnificent reward which has come to the redeemed as a result of obedience to God's commands; they behold also, in contrast, the awfulness of the results of their own course. And seeing all, they then and there in the presence of all the assembled inhabitants of the world, pour forth their unwilling confession to the righteousness of Him who sits upon the throne. That they might thus acknowledge the uprightness of the Almighty they have been resurrected; and having thus confessed and so performed a necessary part in forever settling the issue between God and His enemy, they go down in "the second death," that death from which there will be no awakening. Reader, where will you stand in that great day? Which resurrection do you choose? "Now is the accepted time." The Latter Days.
By J. R. J.
Lo, now the time appointed from of old,
The end and term of all the world of men
Draws nearer, yea, is close at hand, behold,
Signs terrible and mighty and most plain,
Great warnings to all men that see and hear,
For now the End, yea, now the End is near. Wherefore the sun is darkened e'en at noon,
And terrors of great darkness brood and blacken,
And red like blood, and awful, glows the moon,
And Fear and Death make Life's hot pulse-beat slacken,
By night, by day, at sea and on dry land;
For lo, the End, the End is close at hand. Wherefore the solid framework of the world,
The proud, rich cities, builded high and deep,
Are suddenly shaken and together hurled,
And broken utterly and made an heap,
That men may know the might of God, and bow,
And know the End is near, yea, even now. Wherefore the midnight skies shed stars like rain,
Affrighting all the nations with strange terror;
Wherefore from earth are cries of wrath and pain,
Sad voices lost amid a maze of error;
Wherefore men say, "Lo, there is peace, yea peace!"—
And yet make ready war on land and seas. Wherefore the powers of evil rage abroad,
Because their time is short, and the proud nations
Have utterly cast off the yoke of God.
Wherefore great plagues and mighty tribulations,
And famines, wars and earthquakes, slay and rend,—
For yet a little while, and lo, the End. Wherefore beware: consider well these things,
Great signs and wonders prophesied of old,
Distress of nations and the strife of kings,
All even as God's prophets have foretold.
Happy he who is wise to understand,
For lo, the End is near, yea, near at hand.
J. R. J.