Review and Herald, Vol. 35, No. 18. (4/19/1870)

Review and Herald

Apr 19, 1870

Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Apr 19, 1870

OUR FAITH AND HOPE;

By James White

Or, Reasons Why We Believe as We Do.

NUMBER TWENTY.—THE THREE MESSAGES.

BY ELDER JAMES WHITE.

Whoever will read attentively the proclamations embraced in the fourteenth chapter of Revelation, cannot fail to notice their vast importance. At whatever period in the history of the church these proclamations are made, from their very nature they must constitute the great theme of interest for that generation. Whenever the angels of this chapter are commissioned by God to announce to the nations of the earth that the hour of his Judgment is come, or to proclaim the fall of Babylon, or to utter against the worshippers of the beast the most dreadful threatening which the Bible contains, no man can disregard their work, or treat their warnings as non-essential, except at the peril of his soul. If it were merely possible that these warnings were addressed to ourselves, it would become us to examine this subject with serious attention. But if this point can be proved by decisive testimony, it is certain that we cannot too carefully attend to the warnings here uttered.

THE FIRST MESSAGE.

“And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people, saying with a loud voice, Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his Judgment is come; and worship him that made heaven and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters.” Rev. 14: 6, 7.

This is called the first message because it is the first of the series. See verse 9. John calls it “another angel,” from the fact that he had previously seen an angel flying in the midst of heaven. See chap. 8: 13.

This proclamation is one of pre-eminent importance. It is not a mere local judgment, but one that concerns all the inhabitants of the earth. Hence it has reference to the final Judgment scene. It is the same gospel that Paul preached that is here styled the “everlasting gospel.” But the great truth uttered by this angel would not have been a truth if uttered by Paul; for he lived at the commencement of the gospel dispensation, and this proclamation relates to its closing scenes. It seems to be the same as “this gospel of the kingdom,” that our Lord presents in Matt. 24: 14, as the sign of the end of this dispensation, and which was to be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations before the end should come.

The truth on this point is well expressed in the following language of the late Mr. Bliss, editor of the Advent Herald, Dec. 14, 1850:

“As an indication of the approach of the end, there was, however, to be seen another angel flying through the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people. Rev. 14: 6. The burden of this angel was to be the same gospel which had been before proclaimed; but connected with it was the additional motive of the proximity of the kingdom, saying with a loud voice, Fear God, and give glory to him, for the hour of his Judgment is come; and worship him that made heaven and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters.” Verse 7. No mere preaching of the gospel without announcing its proximity could fulfill this message.”

In harmony with this testimony from the editor of the Herald, I will here give another from a tract on prophecy, published by J. V. Himes about the same time, which also speaks of the character of the message and the time of its application. The title of the tract is “Our Specific Work:”

“The proclamation of an everlasting gospel, ‘The hour of his Judgment is come,’ Rev. 14: 6, 7, is the leading Advent proclamation.

“The facts summed up are these: John, looking into the distant future, gazing upon the theater of the final conflict, sees a messenger, a minister of an everlasting gospel, fly through mid-heaven, with a special, elevated, joyous, public, proclamation, requiring haste and extraordinary energy in its delivery. The proclamation contains a fact, and a command founded upon that fact. 1. The fact: ‘The hour of his Judgment is come.’ 2. The command: ‘Fear God,’ &c. These are the elements of this special commission. The work of this symbol agent is thus clearly defined; no terms more specific.

“Does this messenger symbolize a class of teachers? Such has been the general understanding of expositors. Mr. Wesley and Dr. Benson so interpret the passage. On this point there is great unanimity. It is plain from the fact that it is said to preach. That class of people is modern. Mr. Wesley and Dr. Benson make this messenger symbolize the Protestant reformers in the days of Luther. With their view agree a mass of expositors. This commission, however, cannot be Luther’s.

“That body must exist somewhere, and, in its character and in the nature of its work, it must agree with the symbol messenger. They must agree as face to face in a mirror. Can such a body be found? The proclamation above stated has been heard. The world can bear testimony to this. The cry, ‘The hour of his Judgment is come,’ sounded through all Christendom. The multitudes heard, and scoffed, or trembled. By what body of believers was this proclamation made? Not by those who taught that that Judgment was a thousand years in the future. No church which holds to the doctrine of a spiritual reign can be that body, as the elements of their proclamation flatly contradict those elements above stated. Such a body now existing can alone be found among those who constitute the Advent believers in Europe and America.”

In proof that this message has not been fulfilled in the history of the church in ages past, I offer the following reasons:

1. No proclamation of the hour of God’s Judgment come, has ever been made in any past age.

2. If such a proclamation had been made many centuries in the past, as some contend, it would have been a false one.

3. The prophecies on which such a proclamation to men in a state of probation must be based, were closed up and sealed to the time of the end.

4. The Scriptures plainly locate the message of warning respecting the Judgment in a brief space immediately preceding the advent of our Lord; thus

directly contradicting the view that locates these messages in past ages.

We now offer proof in support of the foregoing propositions. If they are sustained, they establish the fact that the present generation is that one to which the angels’ messages are addressed. We earnestly invite all who wish the truth, to weigh this part of the argument with especial care.

1. Has the proclamation of the hour of God’s Judgment come, been made in any past age? If such a proclamation has never been made in past centuries, there is an end to controversy on this part of the subject. No persons have ever been able to show any such proclamation in the past. The apostles did not make such a proclamation. On the contrary, they plainly inform us that the day of the Lord was not then at hand. Martin Luther did not make this proclamation; for he thought the Judgment about three hundred years in the future. And finally, the history of the church presents no such proclamation in the past. Had the first angel preached to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people, that the hour of God’s Judgment had come, the publicity of such a proclamation would be a sufficient guaranty that the history of the world would contain some record of the fact. Its total silence respecting such a proclamation is ample proof that it never was made, and should put to silence those who make such an affirmation.

2. We are on firm ground, also, when we say that had such a proclamation been made to the world in past ages, it would have been a false proclamation. Four reasons sustain this statement: (1) There is no part of the Bible on which such a message, centuries in the past, could have been based. Hence had such a proclamation been made, it would have been without scriptural foundation, and consequently not from Heaven. (2) It would have been in direct opposition to those scriptures which locate the Judgment, and the warning respecting its approach, in the period of the last generation. The scriptures which sustain these two reasons we shall presently cite. (3) The history of the world amply evinces that the hour of God’s Judgment had not come ages in the past. (4) Nor would it be true of past ages, if limited to Babylon. For Rev. 18: 8–10, clearly shows that the hour of Babylon’s Judgment is yet in the future. It is certain, therefore, that the angel with the proclamation respecting the hour of God’s Judgment, has not given it at a time when it would be not only destitute of scriptural support, but would absolutely contradict their plain testimony.

THE MARRIAGE FEAST.

By Bonar

“The marriage of the Lamb is come.”—Rev. 19:7.

Ascend, Beloved, to the joy— The festal day has come; To-night the Lamb doth feast his own, To-night he with his bride sits down, To-night puts on the spousal crown, In the great upper room.

Ascend, Beloved, to the love; This is the day of days; To-night the bridal song is sung, To-night ten thousand harps are strung, In sympathy with heart and tongue, Unto the Lamb's high praise.

The festal lamps are lighting now In the great marriage hall; By angel hands the board is spread, By angel hands the sacred bread Is on the golden table laid— The King his own doth call.

Long, long deferred, now come at last, The Lamb's glad wedding day! The guests are gathering to the feast, The seats in heavenly order placed, The royal throne above the rest— How bright the new array!

Sorrow and sighing are no more, The weeping hours are past; To-night the waiting will be done, To-night the wedding robe put on, The glory and the joy begun, The crown has come at last!

Without, within, is light, is light; Around, around is love; We enter to go out no more, We raise the song unsung before, We doff the sackcloth that we wore, For all is joy above.

Ascend, Beloved, to the life; Our days of death are o'er, Mortality has done its worst, The fetters of the tomb are burst, The last has now become the first, Forever, ever more.

Ascend, Beloved, to the feast, Make haste, the day is come; Thrice bless'd are they the Lamb doth call, They share the heavenly festival In the new Salem's palace hall, Our everlasting home! —Bonar.

Grace

By Dr. G. Wilson

GRACE to live from day to day an increasingly Christian life, without being inordinately anxious about the morrow; faith in Christ as the only and all-sufficient Saviour for us; and more success in imitating the example of Him who is Lord and Master, are, and must be, the great aim of every Christian, and if reached and realized will prepare him equally for death and life.—Dr. G. Wilson.

True Repentance

True repentance consists in the heart being broken for sin, and broken from sin. Some often repent, yet never reform; they resemble a man traveling a dangerous path, who frequently starts and stops, but never turns back.

Practical Remarks.

By Ellen G. White

BY ELLEN G. WHITE.

(Concluded.)

We see beauty, and loveliness, and glory in Jesus. We behold in him matchless charms. He was the majesty of Heaven. He filled all Heaven with splendor. Angels bowed in adoration before him, and readily obeyed his commands. Our Saviour gave up all. He laid aside his glory, his majesty, and splendor, and came down to this earth and died for a race of rebels, who were transgressors against his Father's commandments. Christ condescended to humble himself that he might save the fallen race; he drank the cup of suffering, and in its place offers us the cup of blessing; yes, that cup was drained for us; and although many know all this, yet they choose to go on in sin and folly; and still Jesus invites them. He says, Whosoever will, let him come and take of the water of life freely. Provision is made that those who have been faithful may be crowned with honor, and glory, and immortality; that they may dwell in his presence, and never know sorrow and sighing more. He has engaged to crown you with glory, and yet you turn away from his offers of mercy!

What ingratitude is manifest for all his matchless love. He invites all to come to him. Will you come?

The truths of God's word must be brought to bear upon us, and we must lay hold upon them. If we do this, they will have a sanctifying influence upon our lives; they will fit us that we may have a preparation for the kingdom of glory; that when our probation shall close, we may see the King in his beauty, and dwell in his presence forevermore.

And now the question is, are we willing to make the sacrifice? “Come out from among them, and be ye separate.” Who said this? Thus said God, the creator of the heavens and the earth, he who lends you life and breath; he speaks to you. “Come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you, and will be a father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.” What a promise is this!

And do you think that by embracing the truth of God you are degrading yourself? that you are lowering yourself by embracing the truth of heavenly origin? The truth elevates the receiver every time. It sanctifies his taste, it refines his judgment, it elevates him, and by enabling him to perfect holiness, it brings him nearer to the character of the heavenly angels. It brings purity of character and purity of life, and gives a fitness that we may join the heavenly company in the kingdom of glory. Without this fitness, we can never see the heavenly abode. And yet many say of the truth, that it takes from them everything that they desire to keep. Let me say, It takes from you nothing that it is best for you to retain.

What does the Lord require? He requires the whole heart. He says, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy mind, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and thy neighbor as thyself. What chance does this give you to love and serve self? What allowance for the affections to be diverted from God, to have your interest upon the world and worldly things? No; it is an entire surrender that is required. Come out from among them, and be ye separate, and I will receive you.

It is the strength of the entire being that God requires. He requires of you a separation from the world and the things of the world. “Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.” It is separation from the love of the world that is required; and what is given you in its place? “I will be a father unto you.” Do you have to separate in your affections from friends? Does the truth require you to stand alone in your position to serve God, because others around you are not willing to yield to the claims that Christ has upon them? Does it require a separation in feeling from them? Yes; and this is the cross which you must bear, which leads many to say, I cannot yield to the claims of the truth. But says Christ, If any man love father, or mother, or brother, or sister, more than me, he is not worthy of me. Whosoever will come after me, and will be my disciple, let him take up his cross and follow me. Here is the cross of self-denial and sacrifice; to separate in your affections here from those who will not yield to the claims of truth. Is this too great a sacrifice to make for him who sacrificed all for you? Here are the conditions specified by God. If we comply, he says to us, I will be a father unto you, and will receive you, and ye shall be sons and daughters of the Lord Almighty, members of the royal family, children of the heavenly King, and heirs of an immortal inheritance that is incorruptible, and that fadeth not away, reserved in Heaven for you. What a relationship is this? Do you call this degrading? Do you call this a position that shall lower you or detract from your dignity and bring you down to a low level in life? Do you call this humiliation? Do you call this a great sacrifice, to become members of the royal family and children of the heavenly King, elevated by the truths of God, fitted up for the society of heavenly angels in the kingdom of glory? What is this, in truth? It is true exaltation. It is that which will ennoble every time. The truth of God is ennobling, it is elevating, it is refining, it is sanctifying. Tell me not of any exaltation out of Jesus Christ.

When man was plunged in hopeless misery, when death was his portion, Christ left the majesty, splendor, and glory, of the heavenly kingdom, and humbled himself to a life of unexampled suffering and humiliation, and an ignominious death, that he might become a stepping-stone for man, that he might climb up upon his merits, and by virtue of his blood become enabled so to serve God, that he could accept his efforts to keep his broken law, and through obedience, man could thus be brought back again and reinstated in Eden, and share again in the glory that was at first given to the holy pair as they stood in the perfection of beauty, and in their holy innocence, in the garden of Eden. This was to be given back to Adam and his faithful children, who through the merits of the blood of Christ should be washed and sanctified and made worthy to be brought back to eat of the immortal fruit of the tree of life that Adam and Eve forfeited all right to by disobedience. If we then refuse to accept of Christ as our Saviour, are we in an exalted position? No, indeed; we are just where Adam and Eve were after their transgression, degraded, fallen, and without a Saviour; just where they would have remained had they not accepted Jesus Christ as their Redeemer.

Sinners, without God you are in this helpless condition, without hope in the world, in sin, in the bonds of iniquity and vileness and corruption; and yet your words imply that you consider it a great condescension to grasp the chain of truth that is let down from Heaven to earth, that you may take hold upon it and be brought nearer to Heaven and Jesus Christ. Do you call this condescension? Do you call this a humiliation? There are no other means of true exaltation. There is no provision made for man only through Jesus Christ whereby he may be exalted. You may talk of the honors of this world. But look at Moses. He refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter, choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season. Here he had the privilege of living in kings' houses. He was a mighty warrior, and went forth with the armies of the Egyptians to battle; and when they returned from their successful conquest, they everywhere sung of his praise and his victories. The highest honors of the world were within his grasp; but he chose rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy these honors and the pleasures of sin for a season, esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures of Egypt; for he had respect unto the recompense of reward. He could look right through the cloud of affliction, persecution, and trials, and see the ransomed people of God, by faith, crowned with glory, honor, and everlasting life. He chose in this present life to suffer affliction with the people of God rather than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season. He esteemed the riches of the coming kingdom of glory greater than the riches of Egypt.

In like manner we have fixed our minds upon the exceeding great and precious reward; and, in order to obtain it, we must have a perfect character. The angels of God are watching the development of character. Angels of God are weighing moral worth; and we are to obtain a fitness here to join the society of sinless angels. Do you expect that when Christ comes he will give you that fitness? Not at all. You must be found of him without spot, without blemish, or wrinkle, or anything like it. Now is the watching and trying time. Now it is the time to obtain a preparation to abide the day of his coming, and to stand when he appeareth. Do you say that you cannot do it because around you are so much sin and iniquity and corruption? I refer you to Enoch. He lived just previous to the world's being washed from its moral pollution, by a flood. He was on the earth at the time when corruption was teeming on every hand; and yet he bore the impress of the divine. He walked with God three hundred years; and he was not, for God took him, that is, translated him to Heaven. The flaming chariots of God were sent for this holy man, and he was borne to Heaven. Enoch had the witness that he pleased God. And this witness we can have.

Enoch represents those who shall remain upon the earth and be translated to Heaven without seeing death. He represents that company that are to live amid the perils of the last days, and withstand all the corruption, vileness, sin, and iniquity, and yet be unsullied by it all. We can stand as did Enoch. There has been provision made for us. Help has been laid upon One that is mighty; and we all can take hold upon his mighty strength. Angels of God, that excel

in strength, are sent to minister to those who shall be heirs of salvation. These angels, when they see that we are doing the very utmost on our part to be overcomers, will do their part, and their light will shine around about us, and sway back the influence of the evil angels that are around us, and will make a fortification around us as a wall of fire. Ample provisions have been made for us when we are burdened, and weary, and cast down, and in distress.

Help has been laid upon One who is mighty. The great burden-bearer, who took our nature that he might understand how to sympathize with our frailty, and with our temptations, knows how to succor those that are tempted. And does he say, Carry your burdens yourself? No; but, Come unto me ye that are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart, and ye shall find rest to your souls; for my yoke is easy, and my burden is light. But you say, It is this yoke that I have dreaded to wear, and this burden I have endeavored to shun. But Christ says the yoke he has prepared for you to wear is easy if you submit your neck to it, and the burden is light if you cheerfully and resolutely lift it. “Come unto me,” says Christ, “and I will give you rest.” How much lighter than the burden of sin and iniquity that you take along. How much lighter than the conscience which is constantly stinging and reproaching you. A violated conscience is hard to be endured. How much easier is the yoke of Christ than all this!

The trouble is, the meekness is lacking; the lowliness is not there. We are not willing to come right down to the simplicity of the gospel. We want honor one of another. We are not willing to suffer affliction with the people of God, as was Moses. We are not willing to have our names cast out as evil. And although all Heaven is inviting us to break away from the influence of earth, and fix our eye upon things of immortal worth, yet we keep them fixed upon the bubbles of earth. We are unwilling to have our affections elevated. We are like a prostrate vine, its tendrils clinging to worthless stubble. Let your tendrils entwine around the throne of God. You are unwilling that the soul should be uplifted to God. You allow your mind to be diverted with the things right around you here; and while you are doing this, the heavenly glory is eclipsed, it is lost sight of.

The Majesty of Heaven is standing before the Father, pleading, My blood, my blood; spare the sinner a little longer for my sake. What are you doing for him while he is pleading? Seeking your pleasure, following in the ways of folly, corruption, sin, and iniquity; and yet he is pleading his blood before the throne of his Father! Oh! can you not be entreated to come? We entreat you to come. Come now, just as you are. Come, turn and live. Come to the Burden-bearer.

Mothers, who have so many burdens to bear, you see your children going astray, and you feel your lack of wisdom and strength to lead them the right way. Jesus says to you, “Come.” Sisters, who have your burdens to bear, of care and perplexity, so much so that you often feel that life is a burden, let me say to you, The Burden-bearer, the Majesty of Heaven, has invited you to come unto him. Come, he says, unto me, and lay your burdens upon me.

Will you come? You may tell your sorrows to one another; but the case of others might not be like yours, so they could not appreciate your burden of sorrow should you tell them of it. And then you hug it again to your heart, and your dry and tearless eye does not discover your burden to those around you. But you open the Bible, and there you read, Come unto me, ye that are heavy laden, and ye shall find rest to your souls; and you say, Oh! here is the promise such as I need. And again you read, We have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous; and you say, Here I come to thee, Father, with my burden of anxiety, and will lay it at thy feet. You come to God in prayer, and you say, Here Lord, my anguish is so great I cannot form my prayer into words, but, Lord, thou understandest it all, and I lay my burden upon thee, the Burden-bearer. I will lay it on thee, and thou hast promised to take it. Take my burden of cares, I cannot carry it any longer; now, Lord, hear it for me. Now since you have thus carried your burden to the Lord, leave it there; do not take it away with you. Many come to the Lord in this way, and they never really lay their burden upon him; for they gather it all up again, and carry it away with them. You are not to do this. Leave your burden there, leave it with the Burden-bearer, he has promised to take it. Then come away and say, I will not gather my burden up again, but when I have left it with Jesus, I will not begin to worry about it again. And then let the anguish of your soul be exchanged for rejoicing in the Lord. You are not to go with your heads bowed down in darkness, and crying, Oh, my troubles and perplexities! No; there is something better for you to dwell upon. It is the immortal treasure, the exceeding great reward; it is to talk of the matchless charms of the loving Saviour, and his undying love for sinners. Think of this, and you will not consider that you have had any trials worth speaking of. Go to Calvary, and behold the agony of the Son of God upon the cross, and your little trials will sink into insignificance.

May the Lord help you. I will detain you no longer, but would say, We invite you to come to Christ. We invite you to lay your burden upon the Burden-bearer. We want you to get your eye fixed upon the immortal charms of the heavenly land, and when your eye is fastened upon these, you will be willing to make any sacrifice, and count all things else but loss. You can then say with Paul, God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. Bear cheerfully the cross of Christ, instead of shunning every cross you can. Try to imitate his life of self-denial and sacrifice, and do good to others that are around you, that at last you may be partakers of his glory, and have a crown placed upon your brow; and you will cast your crowns at his feet, and bow in adoration before him, and fill Heaven with rich music and songs to the Lamb.

Do not talk to me of the honors and treasures of this life. I have my eye fixed upon the eternal substance, the immortal inheritance. I must see the King in his beauty. I love my Lord and Saviour, and it is my life to honor and glorify him upon the earth. Take his smiles away, and everything is dark and gloomy to me. But let me have his smiles, and everything would be a Heaven to me. The darkest place on earth would be a paradise. “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, and good will toward men!” Sinners, we long for you to be saved and join the songs of victory in the kingdom of glory. We love you. Think you, if we did not, we should be entreating and begging you to come to Christ and be saved in God's appointed way? We hope to meet you in the Judgment with your names recorded in the Lamb's book of life, there to remain as long as God shall exist, and enjoy the blessings of everlasting life throughout eternal ages.

General Catholic Councils.

THE importance of the great Council now in session at Rome, renders any information concerning these Catholic Councils of interest at this time. This is the nineteenth in order. The time when the preceding were held, and the purposes for which they were called, are given in the following table, which we clip from the Franklin Almanac for 1870:

1. The first General Council was that of Nice, held in 325, for the purpose of refuting the heresies of Arius, who asserted that Christ was inferior to his Father.

2. The second General Council was held at Constantinople in 381, to refute the errors of Macedonius, who asserted that the Holy Ghost was not one of the three divine persons.

3. The third General Council was held at Ephesus in 431, concerning the heresy of Nestorius, who asserted that the blessed Virgin should not be called the mother of God.

4. The fourth General Council met at Chalcedon in 451, to decide on the doctrine of Eutyches, who denied the humanity of Christ.

5. The fifth General Council was held at Constantinople in 553. It condemned the heresy of Origen, who asserted that the Holy Ghost is nothing more than divine energy or power of acting, &c.

6. The sixth General Council met at Constantinople in 680; it condemned the doctrine of the Monothelites.

7. The seventh met at Nice in 787, to denounce the impiety and heresy of the Iconoclasts, who opposed veneration of images.

8. The eighth General Council met at Constantinople in 869, and confirmed the reverence of images, and other regulations of the church.

9. The ninth General Council and the first Lateran met 1123.

10. The tenth General Council and the second Lateran met in 1139. This Council, among other matters, condemned the acts of Arnold of Brescia.

11. The eleventh General Council also met in the Lateran in 1197. This Council ordained that the right of voting for a new Pontiff should from that time forward belong exclusively to the College of Cardinals.

12. The twelfth also met in the Lateran in 1215. This Council, among other matters, gave its assent to seventy chapters drawn up by the Pope, who presided at it.

13. The thirteenth met at Lyons in 1245. Its object was that of deposing the Emperor Frederick. It also treated of two other subjects: 1st. The assisting of the Empire of Constantinople against the Tartars; and 2d. The Holy Land against the Saracens.

14. The fourteenth met at Lyons in 1274, for the purpose, among other things, of reuniting the Greek church.

15. The fifteenth met at Vienna in 1311, for the purpose of suppressing the order of Knights Templars, and the doctrine of the “Brethren and Sisters of the Free Spirit,” a German institution condemned.

16. The sixteenth was that of Constance, which assembled in 1414, on account of a dispute that existed in the selection of a Pope, there being at that time no less than three claimants for the holy office.

17. The seventeenth is known as that of Ferrara and Florence. Its object was the reunion of the Latin and Greek churches.

18. The eighteenth was the Council of Trent, which was convoked in 1545, by Pope Paul III., to refute the heresies of Luther, Calvin, and Zuinglius.

19. The nineteenth General Council commenced at Rome, December 8, 1869.

Must Go Under.

The Presbyterian reports this anecdote:

A stingy Christian was listening to a charity sermon. He was nearly deaf, and was accustomed to sit facing the congregation, right under the pulpit, with his ear trumpet directed upward, toward the preacher. The sermon moved him considerably. At one time he said to himself, “I’ll give ten dollars;” again he said, “I’ll give fifteen.” At the close of the appeal, he was very much moved, and thought he would give fifty dollars. Now, the boxes were passed. As they moved along, his charity began to ooze out. He came down from fifty to twenty, to ten, to five, to zero. He concluded he would not give anything. “Yet,” said he, “this won’t do—I am in a bad fix. This covetousness will be my ruin.” The boxes were getting nearer and nearer. The crisis was upon him. What should he do? The box was now under his chin. All the congregation were looking. He had been holding his pocket-book in his hand during this soliloquy, which was half audible, though in his deafness he did not know that he was heard. In the agony of the final moment he took his pocket-book and laid it in the box, saying to himself as he did it, “Now squirm, old natur’!”

Here is a key to the problem of covetousness. Old natur’ must go under. It will take great giving to put stinginess down. A few experiments of putting in the whole pocket-book may, by and by, get the heart into the charity box, and then the cure is reached. All honor to the deaf old gentleman. He did a magnificent thing for himself, and gave an example worth imitating, besides pointing a paragraph for the students of human nature.

Times of Refreshing.

AS THE firmament is studded with glittering stars, so the word of God is resplendent with glorious promises. And there are places where these promises seem to cluster in profuser abundance, and form galaxies of surpassing glory. Such an instance is Acts 3: 19-21:

“Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord; and he shall send Jesus Christ, which before was preached unto you; whom the Heavens must receive until the times of restitution of all things which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began.”

What an assemblage of comforting words! What a concentration of cheering hope! What an array of life-giving promises! The hope of repentance, the privilege of conversion, the refreshing from the presence of the Lord, the revelation of Jesus Christ, and the restitution of all things, the grand climax of all human experiences and human destiny.

“Repent ye therefore.” We may now do this. We are not absolutely fixed in the galling habits of sin; we may break from them. “And be converted.” This is still our privilege. Our hearts may be changed; our affections may be unloosed from earthly and unworthy objects, and made to twine with a living grasp around heavenly things. And our sins may be blotted out. Yes, the wrinkles in our garments, the stains upon our raiment, the eating leprosy upon our hands, and the hidden canker of our hearts, which we have no power to remove, and in ourselves no hope of redemption from,—this may all be removed. And this blotting out, contrary to all analogy, does not leave a deeper stain. Our sins are not blotted out by being covered with something of a darker dye; but the foul traces of sin, and that which blots them out, pass off together, and the record is left without a blemish or a stain. It was thus presented to one in a dream: He stood appalled before a parchment containing a long dark catalogue of his sins; but suddenly a being came forward, and poured a fluid upon the scroll. It rushed like a torrent over it, and rolled away a wave of inky blackness at his feet; but, lo! the parchment stood forth as pure, and clean, and bright, as the driven snow. To one who feels the vileness of sin, and bows beneath its crushing load, and anticipates a little of its dire results, what promise could be sweeter than this?

And after the blotting out of sin, come the times of refreshing. Our version of the Bible reads, “When the times of refreshing shall come.” The original rather demands the translation, “That the times of refreshing may come.” The sense is not materially changed either way. It shows that it is subsequent to the blotting out of sins, that the refreshing comes from the presence of the Lord upon his people. And it is just before the coming of Christ; for immediately after, Christ is sent for his waiting ones. This refreshing is thus definitely located. It is between the blotting out of sins and the coming of Christ. The blotting out of sins is the conclusion of the work of our Lord in his priestly office as mediator for man. Between that and the coming of the Lord, a little period intervenes; and at that time his people are refreshed from his heavenly presence.

What is the nature of this refreshing? It is something that cannot come till sins are blotted out. And that which sin hinders is the full and complete communion of the Holy Spirit. The word contains the idea of refreshing coolness after heat, and rest and recreation after labor. It will be to the people of God, as a cooling shower to the dry and thirsty land, and a period of relaxation and rest to the worn and weary toiler. The heat and struggle of sin’s conflict are then over. Their record is clear for an entrance to the heavenly land. They are accepted candidates for immortal glory. And as they thus stand upon the threshold of the celestial world, they are given to feel a little earnest of their approaching inheritance—a foretaste of the coming joy. Once God came unto his people as the former rain, and the glorious manifestations of the day of pentecost were the outward record of the inward work. Again he is coming to his people as both the former and the latter rain together, and they will receive a refreshing adapted to their position as they are about to enter the immortal kingdom.

Then God sends Jesus Christ for them. Mark the love God is here represented as having for his people. Christ who gave his life for them, would of his own free will, come for them again. Winged with his own love, his care for his people would speed him forward for their rescue. But here God is represented as sending him. God so watches over and cares for his people that not even a hair can perish without his notice; and at last he sends his Son, who once came to suffer and die for them, to escort them in triumph and glory into his presence.

Then the restitution. Glorious promise, consoling hope! We travel back in imagination to the world in its innocence and purity, as it came from the creative hand of its Creator. Sorely have the race, plunged in sin and misery bewailed the loss of original innocence and Edenic joys; and for many weary and slow-revolving years have the church waited and longed for the day of deliverance and redemption to dawn upon them. And they have not waited in vain. That day will surely come. Again and again, to make assurance doubly sure, is it promised in the word of God. The time of restitution is determined. The earth shall regain its lost position, and the worthy of its inhabitants shall recover the joys of paradise.

The accomplishment of all this is in the hands of our faithful God. The refreshing is his to bestow. The return of the Lord is one of the counsels of his will. The glorious restitution is one of his unalterable purposes. What belongs to us? Repent and converted. Repent and be converted. This is our part. This is our duty. Have we done it? Are we doing it? May the words ring in our ears till every heart is fully aroused.

And when all have repented, and all who will receive the gracious provisions made for the penitent are converted, and when all sins are blotted out and put away from the righteous forever, then the refreshing will descend upon the waiting ones. Would you share it? Then remember, it will not come upon the sleepy, the careless, the proud, the worldly, the unrepentant, and the unconverted. And lo! these times of refreshing with their unalterable decisions are just upon us. What are we doing to prepare for them?

Continue reading: The Closing Messages