Review and Herald, Vol. 29, No. 23. (5/14/1867)

Review and Herald

May 14, 1867

The Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · May 14, 1867

The Sermon.

By Eld. A. C. Bourdeau

I charge thee therefore before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom, PREACH THE WORD. 2 Tim. iv, 2.

OUR PRESENT POSITION,

In the Waiting, Tarrying Time.

BY ELD. A. C. BOURDEAU.

TEXT. “For yet a little while, and he that shall come, will come, and will not tarry.” Heb. x, 37.

This is one of many passages of scripture which contain a promise relative to Christ’s second coming. It can refer to no other advent but to that of Christ. And though there are many scoffers in this age of the world, who are often heard, saying, “Where is the promise of his coming?” etc., yet we are assured that the Sacred Scriptures abound with plain and decisive testimonies upon this glorious subject, that are yea and amen to the believers of Bible truth.

If we examine a few of these testimonies, we shall clearly see, 1. That when Christ ascended up on high, he went to the Father’s house, or New-Jerusalem, which has many mansions, to prepare a place for his people, and gave us the assurance that he will come again the second time, personally and visibly, in like manner as he was seen going into heaven, yea, as visibly as the lightning that cometh out of the east and shineth even unto the west, so that every eye shall see him. Acts i, 9–11; John xiv, 2, 3; Rev. i, 7.

2. He will come on the world in general; even on professors of religion who are not found watching and getting ready, “as a thief in the night.” But God’s people, who are an exception to the general rule in this case, he will not overtake as a thief. They have the more sure word of prophecy, which is as a light that shines in a dark place; and while the signs of the times show that they are living in the perils of the last days, and that solemn scenes are impending, they are exhorted to not sleep as do others; but to watch and be sober. They watch and labor soberly and diligently that they may be found of him without spot, and blameless; and thus, at his appearing, they are enabled to say, Lo, this is our God; we have waited for him, and he will save us; . . . we will be glad and rejoice in his salvation. 1 Thess. v, 2–5; Rev. iii, 3; 2 Pet. i, 19; Matt. xxiv, 33; Isa. xxv, 9.

3. Then it is that, at the voice of the archangel and the sound of the trumpet, the dead in Christ shall be raised incorruptible, the living saints be changed, and they together shall ascend to Heaven with their Redeemer, to inhabit those blest mansions prepared for the pure and holy; that the wicked shall be destroyed with the brightness of his (the Lord’s) coming; and that the earth will be desolated, turned upside down, utterly emptied, and utterly spoiled. “Nevertheless, we, according to his promise,” says Peter, “look for new heavens and a new earth wherein dwelleth righteousness.” Or, “wherein will dwell the righteous.” Greek. From the second advent, when the wicked are all destroyed, and the saints caught up in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, a period of one thousand years is measured off before the resurrection of the wicked, which is the period that the saints remain in the city above, until the time of the renewing of the earth for their eternal abode, which cannot take place until after the second resurrection. 1 Cor. xv, 51, 52; John xiv, 3; 1 Thess. iv, 13–18; 2 Thess. ii, 7, 8; Isa. xiii, 5; xxiv, 1–3; 2 Pet. iii, 13.

These testimonies are an utter refutation of the idea that the second advent of Christ took place at the destruction of Jerusalem; or in Modern Spiritualism; or that it takes place every time that a person dies.

But our text not only contains a promise concerning the coming of Christ; but it also brings to view a “little while” or waiting time, during which, the Lord is tarrying, but at the end of which, it is affirmed, he will come and will not tarry. A scripture of similar import is found in Hab. ii, 3: “For the vision is yet for an appointed time, but at the end it shall speak and not lie: though it tarry, wait for it; because it will surely come, it will not tarry.”

The vision here which is commanded to be written and made plain on tables that he may run that readeth it, is personified. It relates to prophecies which bring to view the coming of Christ and certain events that transpire previous to, and at his coming. It also refers to prophetic periods, some of which reach down to the time of the end. And after the leading prophecies and signs which show that Christ is near are fulfilled, and all the prophetic periods have ended, then, though it tarry, though the second advent which is a point mentioned in the vision, does not take place,

God’s people are told to wait for it; because it will surely come, it will not tarry.

The tarrying, or waiting mentioned here and in our text, certainly conveys the idea that God’s people who live at that time have previously dwelt upon the subject of the second advent and looked to an appointed time for it to take place, but have been disappointed. For, supposing that a man is returning from a journey, it cannot emphatically be said that he is tarrying, or that his friends are waiting for him, unless they have looked for him to come at a certain time and he has passed that time.

The two verses that precede, and those that follow our text, show that during the waiting time the church are required to exercise faith and patience, and to get a preparation to receive the promise; and that except they do this, they are in danger of drawing back, and of falling away into perdition. “Cast not away, therefore, your confidence, which hath great recompense of reward. For ye have need of patience that after ye have done the will of God, ye might receive the promise. For yet a little while and he that shall come will come, and will not tarry. Now the just shall live by faith; but if any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him. But we are not of them who draw back unto perdition; but of them that believe to the saving of the soul.” Heb. x, 35–39.

Having made these introductory remarks, I will now try to show where this scripture has its application, or fulfillment; or, when the waiting time commenced.

In our investigation thus far, we have seen that whenever this scripture begins to be fulfilled, or the waiting time commences, the Lord’s coming is very near; therefore we cannot look back in past centuries for its application. Hence Paul said to his Thessalonian brethren, “Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him, that ye be not soon shaken in mind, nor be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand. Let no man deceive you by any means; for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that Man of sin be revealed, the Son of perdition;” etc. 2 Thess. ii, 1–8.

This text plainly shows that the day of the Lord, or the coming of Christ, could not be expected to take place in the days of Paul. A falling away had to come first. The mystery of iniquity, said Paul, doth already work. When Christianity was preached to the Gentiles, as the people of different nations embraced the Christian religion, they brought with them more or less of their traditions and idolatrous notions.

These were gradually mixed with Christianity, and thus the standard of true religion was lowered, and a falling away took place which ended in the papacy, represented by Paul’s Man of sin, Daniel’s little horn, and John’s blasphemous beast, which are clearly identical. This power commenced in A. D. 538, and was to continue a time, times, and the dividing of time; or, forty and two months, or 1260 prophetic days or years; bringing us down to A. D. 1798, until which time the coming of the Lord was not to take place.

Besides this, there are other prophetic periods which extend further down the stream of time. But I will here notice only one of these periods, at the termination

of which, we understand the “little while” or waiting time, mentioned in our text commenced.

In Dan. viii, 13, 14, there is a definite period of time brought to view which is to the point. In verse 13, it is recorded that Daniel heard one saint asking another the question, “How long shall be the vision concerning the daily (sacrifice) and the transgression of desolation, to give both the sanctuary and the host to be trodden under foot?” Then the angel said unto Daniel, “Unto two thousand and three hundred days, then shall the sanctuary be cleansed.”

In symbolic time, a day signifies a year. Num. xiv, 34; Eze. iv, 6. It is not necessary for me to say much here to show that the 2300 days in this text are symbolic. The nature of the subject with which they are connected, and the fact that the rest of the vision which contains them is composed of acknowledged symbols, prove this beyond the shadow of a doubt. The 2300 days denote 2300 years.

With a proper understanding of the subject, we clearly see that the seventy weeks in chapter ix, 20–27 are the first 490 years of this period; that they were determined, or literally cut off upon Daniel’s people, and therefore belonged to the Jews; that they commenced in a little past the middle of the year, B. C. 457, and reached to the autumn of A. D. 34, where the work of the gospel among the Jews as a nation closed, and the way was more fully opened for it to be extended to the Gentiles; and that this left 1810 years of this period of time for the Gentiles, which brings the termination of the 2300 days in the autumn of A. D. 1844. Then, said the angel, shall the sanctuary be cleansed.

The subject of the sanctuary is clearly delineated in the word of God, and the work connected with it is represented as filling an important place among the means that have been provided for the salvation of mankind.

Under the old dispensation, in the days of types and shadows, a worldly sanctuary was built by the children of Israel, which had two apartments; the first, wherein was the candlestick, and the table, and the show bread, which is called the sanctuary (or holy, margin). And after the second veil, the tabernacle which is called the Holiest of all; which had the golden censer, and the ark of the covenant overlaid round about with gold, wherein was the golden pot that had manna, and Aaron’s rod that budded, and the tables of the covenant; and over it the cherubims of glory shadowing the mercy-seat. . . . Now when these things were thus ordained, the priests went always (or daily, see Heb. x, 11,) into the first tabernacle, accomplishing the service of God. But into the second went the high priest alone once every year. Heb. ix, 1–7.

This sanctuary was not an original building. A pattern of the original sanctuary in Heaven had been shown to Moses, and he was commanded to make all things according to this pattern. And the sanctuary of the old covenant, the priests, the ministration of the priests, and the gifts and sacrifices that were offered, were all types and shadows: “who serve unto the example and shadow of heavenly things, as Moses was admonished of God when he was about to make the tabernacle; for, see, saith he, that thou make all things according to the pattern showed thee in the mount.” Heb. viii, 5; Ex. xxv, 40. “Now of the things which we have spoken, this is the sum: We have such an high priest, who is set on the right hand of the Majesty in the heavens; a minister of the sanctuary, and of the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, and not man.” Verses 1, 2. “For Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands, which are the figures of the true; but into Heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us.” Chap. ix, 24. “Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us.” Verse 12.

The fact of the cleansing of the heavenly sanctuary is plainly taught by the apostle Paul in the following scripture: “And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission. It was therefore necessary that the patterns of things in the Heavens should be purified with these (or there was a necessity, therefore, that the representations indeed of the holy places in the heavens, should be cleansed by these sacrifices, Macknight); but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these.” Heb. ix, 22, 23.

The cleansing of the sanctuary mentioned in Dan. viii, 14, cannot refer to the earthly sanctuary which was destroyed 1774 years before the 2300 terminated. It must, therefore, refer to the heavenly.

In the type, the most holy place was entered only on the day of atonement, on the 10th day of the seventh month, when the sanctuary was cleansed from the sins of the people which had been transferred from themselves to the beasts that were offered up, and through the blood of the sacrifices to the sanctuary itself. Then, not only the sanctuary was cleansed, but the people were also cleansed from their sins.

In Lev. xvi, it is clearly described how this work was accomplished; and it is shown that cleansing the sanctuary, and making the atonement, are identical, and that when the high priest had by blood removed the sins of the people from the sanctuary, he transferred them to the scapegoat who was sent away, with all the iniquities of the children of Israel, into a land not inhabited.

In the antitype, after Christ had ministered from the time of his ascension as a priest in the holy place of the heavenly sanctuary, he, as our High Priest, changed his position in Heaven and entered the Most Holy place on the great day of atonement which commenced in 1844, on the tenth day of the seventh month, Bible time.

Here the cleansing of the sanctuary commenced, which does not refer to physical impurities or uncleanness, for nothing of this kind exists in Heaven; but it refers to the sins of God’s people, which, having been confessed by them to God, and transferred through Christ, our great sacrifice, to the heavenly sanctuary, are to be entirely removed from it. This cleansing is accomplished by blood, as we have already seen. And we understand that it can emphatically be called that work of the judgment which was to begin at the house of God. When the end of all things is at hand, inspiration says, “For the time has come that judgment must begin at the house of God; and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God.” 1 Pet. iv, 17.

Then this work consists, 1. In investigating or reviewing the cases of, first, the dead in Christ, and then the living saints. 2. In blotting out their sins, which Peter said was to take place when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord; and he shall send Jesus Christ, etc. Acts iii, 19, 20. 3. In transferring those sins that are blotted out or canceled by the efficacy of the blood of Christ to the antitypical scapegoat, the great author of sin—the Devil—who, in addition to his own sins, must finally bear all the sins of God’s people; but the wicked will bear their own sins.

When the glory of the Lord fills the tabernacle or temple in heaven, as it was in the type (Ex. xi, 34, 35; 1 Kings viii, 10, 11), there is no ministration. Rev. xv, 8. Probation then ceases forever. God’s people, the host, will then be free forever from their iniquity. The sentence passes, “He that is unjust, let him be unjust still; and he which is filthy, let him be filthy still; and he that is righteous, let him be righteous still; and he that is holy, let him be holy still.” Rev. xxii, 11. This takes place before Christ’s coming, for he continues, “And behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be.” Verse 12.

As soon as the ministration of the Lord Jesus in the holiest of all is closed, God then commences to pour out the wine of his wrath without mixture upon the earth, in the manner described in Rev. xvi, where we see that when the seven last plagues are falling, the first plague falls, then the second is to be an addition to the first, and then the third an addition to these two, and so on, till finally the seven are all falling together upon the wicked. They continue to fall till God speaks from heaven, saying, “It is done;” the earth reels to and fro like a drunkard, and is utterly broken down (Isa. xxiv, 19, 20); and the Lord comes to redeem the dead and living saints, and gathers them to himself in glory.

Then Satan is bound a thousand years, and cast into the bottomless pit, or confined to the earth which is in a state of desolation without an inhabitant. But during the thousand years, the redeemed saints reign as kings and priests with Christ in heaven, and are seated upon thrones, and judgment is given unto them. Rev. xx, 4, 6; v, 10; John xiv, 3; Matt. xix, 28. They are engaged in judging the wicked. Says Paul, Do ye not know that the saints shall judge the world? . . . Know ye not that we shall judge angels?” 1 Cor. vi, 2, 3. At that time the saints shall judge even fallen angels, who, in the great burning day, will, with Satan and the wicked, be burned up root and branch. Mal. iv, 1; Jude 6. This is the closing up scene of the great day of judgment which commenced in 1844. Then the earth will be renewed, and the immortal saints will enter upon their everlasting inheritance.

But time and space will not allow me to dwell any longer upon this point. And besides this, I have been digressing from my subject, though my object in doing this was to show the consistency of our position relative to the scenes of the judgment, and to confirm the reader in the view that the great prophetic period of Dan. viii, 14, ended in 1844, and that ever since then we have been living in the hour or time of God’s judgment, which I trust I have not failed to accomplish.

Now it is a well known fact that for a few years previous to, and at the termination of, the twenty-three hundred days, a great movement was made among the religious bodies in nearly the entire civilized world, relative to the second advent of Christ; that the Adventists rightly understood that prophetic time would end in 1844, as it is clearly demonstrated in the tenth chapter of Revelation, where the time there mentioned must refer to the prophetic periods contained in the little book open in the angel’s hand, in regard to which Daniel had been told, “But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end;” when, as he was informed, “many shall run to and fro and knowledge shall be increased,” (Dan. xii, 4, 9,) and that, owing to a mistaken view which they entertained purporting that the earth was the sanctuary, and that it would be cleansed by fire, they looked for the Lord to come when the twenty-three hundred days expired; but as he did not come then, they were bitterly disappointed.

With these facts before us, I think we have a clue to where the waiting or tarrying time commenced. It certainly commenced at the time that we were disappointed in 1844. It is true that since that time, some have been setting time repeatedly, for the Lord’s coming; but their work in this direction is plainly represented by the course pursued by the foolish virgins, as brought to view in Matt. xxv, 11–13. “Afterward came also other virgins, saying, Lord, Lord, open unto us. But he answered and said, Verily I say unto you, I know you not. Watch, therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of man cometh.”

(Concluded in next No.)

SON, GO, WORK IN MY VINEYARD.

“Go, work in my vineyard,” I claim thee as mine; I bought thee with blood, thee and all that is thine; Thy time and thy talents, thy loftiest powers, Thy warmest affections, thy sunniest hours. I willingly yielded my kingdom for thee, Left the song of archangels to hang on the tree; In pain and temptation, in anguish and shame, I paid thy full price, and my purchase I claim.

“Go, work in my vineyard;” there’s plenty to do; “The harvest is great, and the laborers few.” There is weeding and fencing and clearing of roots, And plowing and sowing, and gathering the fruits. There are foxes to take, there are wolves to destroy; All ages and ranks I can fully employ; I have sheep to be tended, and lambs to be fed, The lost must be gathered, the weary ones led.

“Go, work in my vineyard;” Oh, “work while ’tis day,” For the bright hours of sunshine are hastening away, And night’s gloomy shadows are gathering fast; Then the laboring time shall forever be past. Begin in the morning, and toil all the day, Thy strength I’ll supply, and thy wages I’ll pay; And blessed thrice blessed, the diligent few Who shall finish the work I have given them to do.

You Never Told Me

“YOU NEVER TOLD ME.” Will you come with me and see poor Clara? Step softly, and with a solemn tread, for Death is here.

Hark! how she moans. See how wildly she throws her arms, and how bloodshot is that once beautiful black eye. Hear her shriek, “Father, mother, why didn’t you tell me? “Tell you what, daughter?” asked the agonized father.

“Tell me there was a hell!”

“There is none, Clara, none for you; God is merciful; there is no hell.”

“There is, there is; I feel it; I know it; my feet are stepping into it; I am lost, lost, and you never told me.”

So died a beautiful girl of eighteen summers, a child of irreligious parents, who had taught her all but the true wisdom; who blindly making her their idol, were left to hear her dying reproaches and anguished cries. Shall our children ever confront us with the cry, “You never told me?”

CEASELESS PRAYER AGAIN.

By C. Monroe

“MEN ought always to pray, and not to faint.” “Pray without ceasing. In every thing give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.” Luke xviii, 1, 1 Thess. v, 17, 18.

The duty of prayer is acknowledged by all the children of God. Like Jacob’s ladder, “it points our ready path to Heaven.” The most eminently pious are the most prayerful. David, Daniel, and Luther, were eminent for prayer. They all prayed thrice a day. The latter spent three hours each day in prayer. The two former, probably, not less. Whitfield, it is said, “read the whole Bible on his bended knees!” in prayer of course—a reverence, a love of God and his word, seldom found!

“Who that knows the worth of prayer, But wishes to be often there?”

Many, in public and private do it by reading set forms; or, like children, commit and say their prayers, but do not pray. They may have an excellent form and say it fluently, as the writer has witnessed, sitting, or pharisaically standing instead of kneeling, betraying a want of heart, reverence and humility. Are not such prayers an “abomination to the Lord”? Prov. xv. 8.

“My house,” says God, “shall be called a house of prayer for all people.” Isa. lvi, 7. Mark xi, 17. This harmonizes with our subject; and we may always know where to find the God of prayer. Poor, sinful mortals, as we all are, feeling our weakness, dependence, emptiness and poverty, what a consolation it is to know there is a God, so great, so good, who careth for us; to whom we may always go with unsuspecting confidence and unbosom our souls, and obtain mercy and pardon for all our numerous sins. Blessed are all who thus feel and go in time to this glorious God for help. Woe to all who stay away! They must forever die!

Prayer, therefore, is not merely a duty, but a privilege, a pleasure, a feast of the sweetest, richest kind! But to whom? To all? By no means. It is only so to the real, faithful Christian, not the hypocrite, the pretender. Why then does he pray at all? For two reasons, mainly: 1. To be seen of men. Matt. vi. 5. To gain their applause, to be esteemed righteous. 2. To quiet conscience,—thinking, perhaps, without it he will not be saved! Thus making a saviour, as it were, of his prayers! And yet he has no delight in secret prayer!

On the other hand, sweet and delightful as is all prayer to the real Christian, how does he regard his prayers and all his religious services? Totally worthless, but as they are purged in the blood of Christ! Strange language to the hypocrite! Hence the true Christian, instead of making any or all his religious duties a saviour, renounces all merit in them; and in life or death, casts his naked soul upon the naked mercy of God in Christ, as the sole ground of his hope of life eternal, beyond the grave.

Distaste for prayer betrays a want of love to God, for if we love him we shall delight in his company—the more, the better. The same of earthly friendship. He that loves a fellow-mortal delights in his society. The more and better he loves, the more and better he delights in his company. This is plain, a rule without an exception. If we love God as we should, most and best of all, we shall delight in his company most and best of all, and ceaseless prayer will prove no task or burden. It is not simply the duty of prayer itself, therefore, but perpetual, persevering prayer, as founded on the above texts, that now claims our attention.

Prayer may be silent or vocal, but more properly the latter, petitions put up to God, in the name of Jesus. And as to “ceaseless prayer” common sense seems to be all the interpreter necessary. It is not, cannot be a perpetual use of words, nor the consumption of all our time. No; for it is well known that we have many other duties, both for the tongue and the use of time, that need not be mentioned.

Hence, ceaseless prayer is a regular, prompt, persevering habit of prayer, in private or public, as the case may be, on all proper occasions, at home or abroad. To this end, our hearts should be like a well-tuned instrument of music, or like a well-fledged bird, ready for use or flight each moment of time. Thus it should be with every gospel minister,—ready for every good word and work.

Again, The call of Abram to leave Ur in Chaldea, his native place, his travel toward Canaan, his new name, and offering his beloved son Isaac, are typical of the travels and trials of the church of which he, in a sense, was the father. Gal. iii, 7, 29. Abraham was a stranger and a pilgrim to a “city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God.” Heb. xi, 10. Yes, a traveler going home. So are all Christians, bound to the heavenly Canaan. But what has this to do with ceaseless prayer? Let us see. The Christian is a traveler. His journey, as such, begins at conversion, and ends at death, or at the second advent of our Lord. Here, like Lot at the call of God, he leaves the Sodom of this world and flees the wrath to come.

Journeys, long ones especially, are attended with many trials, among which are dust and dirt. Neat and clean as the traveler may be at the outset, he does not long remain so. No; his road is dusty. The moment he starts a gust may fill his eyes; if not, dust begins to settle upon him as he advances. Hence he must wash and brush. This is an every-day work. Such is the journey of the Christian. He has also a dusty road to travel, very, very dirty,—the road of a sinful, wicked world,—polluted and polluting. What is to be done? Wash and be clean. But where? and how? The closet is his inn, his dressing-room. Here he must use the brush of prayer, the water of purification, wash and be clean. In either case it is an every-day work; and cannot safely be neglected.

The Christian, therefore, must be careful not to lose, or let the key of his closet grow rusty, for want of use; also not to let the grass grow in his path of retirement, betraying his lack of constancy in visiting the bower of prayer. No a rusty key is not so easily turned, or lost key found; neither is a path swamped with weeds, or briars, so easily kept, or traveled. Punctuality will make both easy.

Moreover, friends sometimes are so long separated that when they meet they meet as strangers. They do not recognize each other they are so altered in looks, and language. Of course there is no gladness, no rejoicing, for the time being. Thus it may be with us and our Saviour. We may so long neglect our closets, that when we meet, if ever we do, we meet as aliens. We know not Jesus, or ourselves, properly speaking; neither does he know us, favorably. Hence, the felicity of former interviews is gone. Will it ever return? Not with all, perhaps. A real Christian may for a time neglect his closet at much cost; and yet by repentance and new obedience, be taken into lasting love and fellowship again; but such an experiment is hazardous in the extreme; for if we depart from the Lord he may depart from us, not to return. Then, woe to us. Hos. ix, 12.

The true Christian having well begun his journey, should “hold on his way,” Job. xvii, 9, to the end. Rev. ii, 10. Here is the proof of being true and faithful, “If ye continue in my word,” said Jesus, “then are ye my disciples indeed.” Having formed an acquaintance with Jesus, the Christian is to hold on and become more and better acquainted with him, growing in grace and in the knowledge of that blessed One continually, that when he meets him in the Heavens he may know him at once, take him, as it were, by the hand and embrace him. To forget him here is to be forgotten by him hereafter. Oh! how perilous! He claims that he should be in all our thoughts. This is in keeping with our subject. God is the last, of all to be forgotten. How can we forget him in whom we live, move, and have our being, the giver of every good and perfect gift?

Again. In a world like this, so full of enemies, pits and snares, the Christian traveler can not be too careful, watchful and prayerful. He should be wise as a serpent, harmless as a dove, picking his way the best he can lest he be ensnared or perish in the wilderness!

Travelers are sometimes annoyed by characters of the baser sort soiling their garments, being themselves covered, dirt-proof, so that an attempt to hurl it back upon them would be their sport. None but a fool would stop to do this, for common sense would not sink itself, to battle with them. It would leave them at once, victors to their own liking, seeing they could injure him, but not be them. Unequal contest.

So with moral travelers, the righteous and the wicked, going different ways, as seen in Matt. vii, 13, of sin and holiness. It is plain the former can pollute and injure the latter, but not the latter the former. Sin is itself ruin. It can, it has ruined much good; but sin, in character, can be made neither better nor worse. Thus, it has nothing to win or lose in this respect. It risks nothing in battle.

The natural man having much sin and no holiness in his heart, has no internal conflict, being left in possession of the former alone, there is nothing of the latter to dispute its claims. Hence, he knows nothing of internal conflicts, the holy war within. Ps. lxxiii, 5. Of this war, the apostle Paul knew much, as seen in Rom. vii, but he fought his way through, finished his course, and kept the faith, thus securing the victor’s crown.

As the Christian traveler nears his journey’s end—his home—he is more and more particular to be found in the “wedding garment,” neat and clean. How particular is the fop, the dandy, the votaries of fashion, when going to an assembly, or to see and be seen of a prince or princess, to appear in appropriate neatness and elegance. What, then, of the Christian gentleman or lady, who is going to join the general assembly and church of the first-born in Heaven, to see God, the Judge of all, who is of purer eyes than to behold evil, or look on iniquity? Surely, as a member of that church that is to appear in the heavenly Jerusalem, “without spot, wrinkle, or any such thing,” he or she must be like their God—pure, holy—washed in their Saviour’s blood and made whiter than snow. Eph. v, 27.

Are all thus particular who bear the Christian name, anxious to be found of God in peace, in garments white and clean, so made by the blood of the Lamb? No, alas! how many there are, ministers not excepted, who neglect their closets, join with unbelievers and worldlings, and walk with them, hand in hand, tittering and laughing, to the circus, theater, or the ballroom, as the case may be. This is seen more in cities and large towns than elsewhere, and the serious Christian is an awful sight indeed, one of the “signs of woe, that all is lost!” No good is said of the worldly, prayerless, laughing Christian. See Luke vi, 25; Rom. xii, 2. A spirit of levity is not the spirit of Christ. No. His was a spirit of prayer, purity, seriousness. He was seen often to weep, never to laugh! He could not laugh in the face of poor sinners doomed to die. Oh! how the heart of the serious Christian sickens and sinks within him, to witness such levity as he everywhere sees, especially among worldly, graceless professors, deeply covered with the dust of sin, yet manifesting no uneasiness about it, or desire to wash and be clean. Is not this proof enough that such have not the spirit of Christ? Where that spirit is, it operates as Christ did in the temple at Jerusalem. John ii, 15. It will make a clean sweep of the temple of the heart, all its idols and pollutions.

Such professors must meet with a woeful disappointment of salvation! The number will not be few. “Many,” says Christ, “will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord,” &c. “And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you. Depart from me, ye that work iniquity.” Matt. vii, 21–23. “Lord, is it I?” Let the question search us through and through before it is too late! “Search me, O God, and know my heart; try me, and know my thoughts; and see if there be any wicked way in me; and lead me in the way everlasting.” Ps. cxxxix, 23, 24.

In conclusion, dear brethren and sisters, are we in full dress to meet our King? He will soon be here. Are our garments white and clean? If so, happy souls! we pass from death to life and immortality! If in rags of filth our doom is death, death eternal! If white and clean, ripe and ready, faith will end in sight, hope in fruition, and ceaseless prayer in ceaseless praise.

C. MONROE.

Waldo, Me.

When and Where the Revelation was Given.

Rev. i, 9. I John, who also am your brother, and companion in tribulation, and in the kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ, was in the isle that is called Patmos, for the word of God, and for the testimony of Jesus Christ.

The subject here changes, John introducing the place and the circumstances under which the Revelation was given. He first sets himself forth as a brother of the universal church, and their companion in the tribulations incident to the Christian profession in this life.

And in the kingdom. These words have been the occasion of no little controversy. Does John really mean to say that Christians in the present state are in the kingdom of Christ; or, in other words, that Christ's kingdom had already been, in his day, set up? If this language has any reference to the present state, it must be in a very limited and accommodated sense. Those who take the ground that it has its application here, usually refer to 1 Pet. ii, 9, to prove the existence of a kingdom in the present state and to show its nature. But, as was remarked on verse 6, the literal reign of the saints is yet future. It is through much tribulation that we are to enter into the kingdom of God. Acts xiv, 22. But when the kingdom is entered the tribulation is done. The tribulation and the kingdom do not exist cotemporaneously. Murdock's translation of the Syriac of this verse, omits the word kingdom, and reads as follows: “I John, your brother, and partaker with you in the affliction and suffering that are in Jesus the Messiah.” Wakefield translates: “I John, your brother, and sharer with you in enduring the affliction of the kingdom of Jesus Christ.” Bloomfield says that by the words tribulation and patience, “are denoted afflictions and troubles to be endured for the sake, and in the cause, of Christ: and βασιλ. [kingdom] intimates that he is to be partaker with them in the kingdom prepared for them.” He says that “the best comment on this passage is 2 Tim. ii, 12,” which reads: “If we suffer, we shall also reign with him.” From all which, we may safely conclude, that the kingdom is future, and the suffering and patience are preparatory to its enjoyment.

The place. The isle that is called Patmos. A small barren island off the west coast of Asia Minor, between the island of Icaria and the promontory of Miletus, where in John's day existed the nearest Christian church. It is about eight miles in length, one in breadth, and eighteen in circumference. Its present name is Patino or Patmosa. The coast is high and consists of a succession of capes which form many ports. The only one now in use is a deep bay sheltered by high mountains on every side but one, where it is protected by a projecting cape. The town attached to this port is situated upon a high rocky mountain rising immediately from the sea, and is the only inhabited site of the island. About half way up the mountain on which this town is built, there is shown a natural grotto in the rock, where tradition will have it that John had his vision and wrote the Revelation. On account of the stern and desolate character of this island, it was used under the Roman empire as a place of banishment, which accounts for the exile of John thither. This took place about the year A. D. 94, as is generally supposed, under the emperor Domitian; and from this fact the date assigned to the writing of the Revelation is A. D. 95 or 96.

The cause of banishment. For the word of God and for the testimony of Jesus Christ. This was John's high crime and misdemeanor. The tyrant Domitian who was then invested with the imperial purple of Rome, more eminent for his vices than even for his civil position, quailed before this aged but dauntless apostle. He dared not permit the promulgation of his pure gospel within the bounds of his kingdom. He exiled him to lonely Patmos where, if anywhere this side of death, he might be said to be out of the world. Having confined him to that barren spot, and to the cruel labor of the mines, the emperor doubtless thought that this preacher of righteousness was finally disposed of, and that the world would hear no more of him. So doubtless thought the persecutors of John Bunyan when they had shut him up in Bedford jail. But when man thinks he has buried the truth in eternal oblivion, the Lord gives it a resurrection in tenfold glory and power. From Bunyan's dark and narrow cell there blazed forth a spiritual light, which next to the Bible itself, has built up the interests of the gospel; and from the barren isle of Patmos where Domitian thought he had forever extinguished at least one torch of truth, there arose the most magnificent revelation of all the sacred canon, to shed its divine luster over the whole Christian world till the end of time. And how many will revere the name of the beloved disciple, and hang with delight upon his rapturous visions of heavenly glory, who will never learn the name of the monster who caused his banishment. Verily those words of the scriptures are sometimes applicable, even to this present life, which declare that “the righteous shall be in everlasting remembrance,” but the name of the wicked shall rot.”—Thoughts on the Revelation, pp. 20–23.

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