Signs of the Times, Vol. 31, No. 5. (2/1/1905)

Signs of the Times

Feb 1, 1905

Pacific Press Publishing Company · Mountain View, California · Feb 1, 1905

GOD'S COMFORT TO HIS PEOPLE

"Attend unto Me, O My people; And give ear unto Me, O My nation: For a law shall go forth from Me, And I will establish My justice for a light of the peoples. My righteousness is near, My salvation is gone forth, And Mine arms shall judge the peoples; The isles shall wait for Me, And on Mine arm shall they trust. Lift up your eyes to the heavens, And look upon the earth beneath; For the heavens shall vanish away like smoke, And the earth shall wax old like a garment; And they that dwell therein shall die in like manner; But My salvation shall be forever, And My righteousness shall not be abolished. Harken unto Me, ye that know righteousness, The people in whose heart is My law; Fear ye not the reproach of men, Neither be ye dismayed at their revilings. For the moth shall eat them up like a garment, And the worm shall eat them like wool; But My righteousness shall be forever, And my salvation unto all generations." "And the ransomed of Jehovah shall return, And come with singing unto Zion; And everlasting joy shall be upon their heads; They shall obtain gladness and joy; And sorrow and sighing shall flee away."

Those New

By Editor

Tracts

That the new tracts are appreciated is shown by the demand for them from every point of the United States. Just why this is so may be at least partially understood from the following letter:

BOYD, IND., Jan. 2, 1905. SIGNS OF THE TIMES, Mountain View, Cal. Dear brethren:—

After some delay I acknowledge the receipt of three tracts kindly sent me by your house. I am well pleased indeed with the forcible way in which the great and vital truths for this time are presented. Especially was I impressed by the concise manner of their presentation and by the fact that this has in nowise affected the clearness of the subjects discussed.

I am convinced that these tracts will accomplish much good. May God's Holy Spirit follow them to bring many precious souls into the kingdom. Sincerely, yours for the truth, J. E. COLLINS.

Here is a brief description of each.

The Gospel Message for To-day

This 16-page tract is introduced by a brief study of the character of God's messages, how they are given, and the danger of rejecting them.

The Editor of the SIGNS OF THE TIMES then speaks of the present divided condition of the church, and points out the Gospel remedy, which is The Gospel Message for To-day. Price, 1 cent each, or 70 cents a hundred, post-paid.

Waymarks to the Holy City

A very interesting study of the 7th chapter of Daniel, in which the prophecies relating to the different kingdoms of earth and those pointing to the New Earth as well, are clearly though briefly explained. Price, 1 cent, or 70 cents per hundred, post-paid.

Who Changed the Sabbath?

The majority of people probably know that Sunday is not the day originally set apart for observance. How has the change come about? Perhaps this little tract contains the briefest statement of the reasons ever published. Read it. Price, 1 cent, or 70 cents a hundred, post-paid.

Heralds of His Coming

The character and scope of this tract is indicated by the following list of articles which it contains: May We Know the Time? Is the End Near? When Will He Come? Increase of Knowledge Last-Day Scoffers Signs in the Sun, Moon, and Stars The Peace-and-Safety Cry Preparing for World War Accumulation of Wealth Increase of Crime Great Spiritual Declension Price, 1½ cents each, or $1.00 a hundred, post-paid.

Topical Bible Studies

A 24-page study of such important Bible topic as: The Second Advent The Law of God The Sanctuary Soul and Spirit Spiritism Nature of Man A mine of suggestions to the Bible student. 1½ cents each, or $1.00 a hundred, post-paid.

Address Publishers of this Paper

A NEW BOOK

By Editor

Are you interested, dear reader, in the Labor Question? Have you noticed the constantly increasing power of both Labor and Capital? Has it seemed to you some stupendous conflict is the only legitimate outcome of such opposing forces? Are you interested in knowing what all this means?

IF SO, ALLOW US TO SUGGEST THAT YOU READ

Conflict Between

Capital and Labor

This is a book by Mr. E. T. Russell, containing the following chapter titles:

The Conflict On The Increase of Wealth Gold and Silver Cankered Trusts Vast Accumulation of Wealth not Conducive to Stability of Government Unions Boycotting Distress of Nations Causes of Distress

A Remedy for Existing Evils Our Present Social Conditions Productive of Anarchy The Coming Revolution Leaders in the Coming Revolution Parallels in History Cities Storm Centers Misery Awaits the Rich Scripture Admonitions The End—A Type.

Mr. Russell is not a member of either class, and writes in an impartial, candid way that will attract and hold your interest. As an indication of the thought of the whole work, we quote the preface, which is as follows:

PREFACE

Many books have been written on the subject of Capital and Labor, containing most excellent thoughts regarding this important subject, but most of such works present but one side of the question. The author of this work does not belong to any association formed in the interest of either class; and, therefore, has written from an unbiased point of view. He is confident that there are sincere and honest people belonging to both classes, whose hearts beat in tender sympathy for the suffering and distressed, and who desire to stand for right and truth. To such this book comes with a message of hope and cheer. Heed it, dear reader, and it will bring you into undisputed possession of the estate provided for you by an All-wise Father.

E. T. R.

The book is quite fully illustrated, contains 167 pages, and is attractively bound in board, with cloth back. There is a four-page appendix, giving the personal convictions of present day writers on the question involved, in which every one will be deeply interested.

The price of the book is fifty cents.

It will be sent, together with a copy of our special number of the SIGNS OF THE TIMES on the Capital and Labor question, for fifty-five cents.

Agents are needed who will quickly carry to the waiting public thousands of copies of this excellent work.

Address your Tract Society, or the Publishers.

Pacific Press Publishing Company

MOUNTAIN VIEW, CAL. 18 W. 5th St., Kansas City, Mo. 285 Salmon St., Portland, Ore. 306 San Pablo Avenue, Oakland, Cal.

JEHOVAH-JIREH.

JEHOVAH is the covenant-name of our God, the promise in blank of the great I AM.

Tell My people, was the Lord's instruction to Moses, that I AM hath sent you, the Self-existent One, the One including all fulness in Himself. His name to Israel was a note in blank which faith could fill out with all that was necessary to supply their needs. Jehovah is ever the same, the Self-existent, the All-comprehending One to us.

To us also is the covenant-name a note in blank, and faith can fill it and draw the full face according to human needs. "I AM."—What, Lord? I am Light in the darkness and gloom. I AM the Deliverer from sin's bondage; I AM all that you need.

God can not place all His blood-bought promises of good to His children after His name. There is not room for it; the world could not bear the books which would express it. But God does give illustrations of what that covenant-name means by connecting with it some one of the attributes of His character.

An instance of this is given in Genesis 22, when Abraham had his faith tried to the uttermost, and he was ready to offer up to God his only son.

By a striking object-lesson the Lord taught Abraham to trust Him, and He teaches us the same to-day. Abraham must not sacrifice his son.

But there was the altar and the wood! What of these? Well, God can provide. Abraham turns, and beholds a lamb caught in a thicket by the horns. Abraham unbinds the lad and offers the lamb instead of his son. And that spot in the mount of the Lord Abraham called, "Jehovah-jireh,"—Jehovah will provide.

And so He ever will. Are your burdens greater than you can bear? God will provide the strength. Are you in darkness?—God will give the light. Are you weary? He will give you rest. Are you poor?—In Him are infinite riches of grace and glory. Do your sins oppress you? Does Satan pursue you?—The covenant-God asks you to place after His name cleansing and refuge. Yea, in all things, this "God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus."

"Jesus, my all in all Thou art, My rest in toil, my ease in pain; The healing of my broken heart, In strife my peace, in loss my gain; My smile beneath the tyrant's frown, In shame my glory and my crown."

RESISTING THE HONOR OF MEN.

SO natural is it for man to desire self-aggrandizement that comparatively few can resist the temptation of an opportunity. However, history reveals here and there a noble exception. One of these was John the Baptist, the forerunner and messenger of Christ. Among the Jewish people there could be no higher conception of honor and power on earth than would fall to the expected Messiah, even with their limited human idea of what He would be.

There was a time when John could have secured a very large following by claiming to be the Messiah. True, his humble appearance was against him, but he could have changed that, and, had he been inclined to yield to the temptation of self-exaltation, would have done so. A sudden change in this respect would have added much to his opportunity. Despite his garb and manner of life, so fearless and powerful were his words of exhortation and reproof, that the people questioned whether he were not the Christ. In fact, he was obliged to declare, and to reiterate in positive terms, that he was not the Christ, in order to dissuade some of the people; and his own disciples manifested some disappointment because he did not contest the growing influence of the Galilean whom he had baptized, and introduced as the Lamb of God.

One thing that would have given John advantage in his day, as it would to-day, is the fact that, had he made such a claim, he would have been an impostor. The great adversary of Christ has a wonderful influence over the natural mind, which was manifest in the apostasy of Israel, and their being swayed from the Word of God to the obedience of human—or, rather, satanic—tradition. For all human tradition that controverts the Word of God is inspired by this adversary. And in a time of special crisis, as at the advent of Christ, he could have thrown a powerful influence to such a gifted impostor. Moreover, he has a special desire to secure the service of men who have been effective as instruments for the truth; and, as the second advent of Christ approaches, it is not surprising to see influential and gifted clergymen and teachers opposing the preparation for it. Nor is it surprising that all manner of impostors are being injected into the field to deceive the people, and to "draw away disciples."

The time was propitious for John; it was a time of universal peace politically, and the world was off guard. The freedom of the people is indicated by the fact that John could emerge from the wilderness, and create such a popular sensation without arousing any apparent suspicion on the part of the government. "Then went out to him Jerusalem, and all Judea, and all the region round about Jordan."

But how came John to resist so great a temptation to self-exaltation?—There are three prominent reasons indicated in the Word: (1) "The hand of the Lord was with him." (2) His simple, temperate life kept him in a condition where the Spirit could control him. (3) He was reared away from the temptations of city life, having learned none of the arts of the higher social sets, and had not been in contact with the allurements of business or political circles. So, when he appeared before the public, inured to hardship by privation, endowed with wisdom acquired in the school of nature under the instruction of the Spirit through the Word of God, he knew only his God-given message. He went only as "the prophet of the Highest," going "before the face of the Lord to prepare His ways; to give knowledge of salvation unto His people by the remission of their sins."

It was of such a man, one whose purpose was single to the mission of his life, that Christ could say, "Among them that are born of women there hath not risen a greater than John the Baptist." Such is the character of the one chosen to herald the first advent of Christ; will any less degree of self-denial, humility of heart, and singleness of purpose serve to effectually proclaim His final appearing in glory, unto the judgment of the great day of the Lord? The fidelity of John cost him a foul imprisonment

and the loss of his head; shall we, in face of the great consummation, shrink from any consequence that may come to faithful adherence to the Gospel work?

When Christ was fulfilling His earthly mission He said, "I receive not honor from men." "If I honor Myself, My honor is nothing." Then, any desire for self-exaltation in the work of the Lord must come to nothing.

Sowing and Reaping

There are those who persuade themselves that a tree will not bear its own fruit, that a seed will not produce its like; and thus they go on year after year in a course which, according to its very nature, must end in disaster. To such God gives the solemn warning: "Be not deceived; God is not mocked; for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting."

The Spirit of Compromise

The spirit of compromise is illustrated by one of Mr. Lawson's recent articles. He tells us that when he hoped to save his Boston gas companies he yoked up with Mr. Whitney, a notorious corruptor of legislators. Mr. Lawson felt that Mr. Whitney's methods were carrying matters altogether too far, and he protested. He was told to attend to his business and the others would to theirs. To this Mr. Lawson, on the ground of expediency, yielded, and so compromised righteousness. Whitney's business was Lawson's business. Partners in the business, they were partners in the crime. If we tie ourselves up to a wicked concern, if we enter into partnership with men who do wickedly the business from which we draw mutual profit, we are mutually guilty of all the wrong wrought. God's call is, "Come out from among them, and be separate."

IS SATURDAY THE ORIGINAL SEVENTH DAY?

By S.

To very many persons the Sabbath truth comes as an unwelcome truth. They look upon it as a cross which they would prefer not to carry, as a difficulty from which they must find some loophole of escape, not realizing the importance of the blessing which the Lord has promised to those who obey.

One of the first possible avenues of escape toward which such persons flee is the possibility that it may be impossible to tell at the present time just which day is the seventh day. They do not realize that in that very thing they are really questioning the justice, and wisdom, and love of God; for He would not command men to do a thing that it was impossible for them to do; He would not establish an institution which it was impossible to locate, and then hold men responsible for its proper observance. But all that is included in the accusation; all that is included even in the doubt.

If there were any probability of a doubt arising during any generation of the past as to whether the regular weekly cycle was being observed, God has covered even that possibility from time to time by placing His divine approval upon His own day at different periods in the world’s history.

A Standing Testimony.

If it were possible that the day was lost track of between the creation and the time of Abraham, God had a man there who was, according to the inspired declaration, keeping His commandments, His statutes, and His laws. See Gen. 26:5. He who declares that the record of the definite Sabbath day had been lost by that time must contradict the inspired record. God has declared that Abraham was keeping His commandments at the time that he lived, and the commandments of God include the observance of that Sabbath upon which God Himself rested, upon which He placed His blessing, and which He sanctified for His own service. If there were any doubt of the identification of the institution up to the time of Abraham, God’s declaration concerning Abraham’s course has settled that. The true Sabbath was known and observed in Abraham’s time by at least Abraham and his family.

Four hundred years later, according to Usher’s chronology, the Sabbath law was given on Mount Sinai. Surely, if there had been any doubt about the matter up to that time, it was now dissipated. God knew which day was His, if man had forgotten. But the people also knew without any question which day was meant by the commandment. A penalty was attached to the transgression of the Sabbath commandment. Ex. 35:2.

There was no question about the definite day at that time. They all knew which it was; God had commanded its observance, and there could be no doubt about it then.

Designated Before Sinai.

But even before this command went forth from Sinai, the day had been pointed out in a manner that none could misunderstand. This is the record concerning it:

“Then said the Lord unto Moses, Behold, I will rain bread from heaven for you; and the people shall go out and gather a certain rate every day, that I may prove them, whether they will walk in My law, or no. And it shall come to pass, that on the sixth day they shall prepare that which they bring in; and it shall be twice as much as they gather daily. . . . And Moses said, Let no man leave of it till the morning. Notwithstanding they harkened not unto Moses; but some of them left of it until the morning, and it bred worms and stunk; and Moses was wroth with them. . . . And it came to pass that on the sixth day they gathered twice as much bread, two omers for one man; and all the rulers of the congregation came and told Moses. And he said unto them, This is that which the Lord has said, To-morrow is the rest of the holy Sabbath unto the Lord; bake that which ye will bake to-day, and neither that ye will seethe; and that which remaineth over lay up for you to be kept until the morning. And they laid it up till the morning, as Moses bade; and it did not stink, neither was there any worm therein. And Moses said, Eat that to-day; for to-day is the Sabbath unto the Lord; to-day ye shall not find it in the field. Six days ye shall gather it; but on the seventh day, which is the Sabbath, in it there shall be none. And it came to pass that there went out some of the people on the seventh day for to gather, and they found none. And the Lord said unto Moses, How long refuse ye to keep My commandments and My laws?” Ex. 6:4-28.

This constituted a threefold miracle for the designation of the Sabbath day, entirely aside from the miracle of the giving of the manna itself. First, there was to be twice as much given on the sixth day as on any other day, in order that the people might gather twice the usual quantity. This would last them over the Sabbath. Second, that which was kept over from the sixth to the seventh day did not breed worms or decay as that did which was kept over from the gatherings of any other day. This showed the direct interposition of the Lord in the interests of Sabbath observance and of a definite day. Third, there was no manna found on the Sabbath or seventh day.

A Forty-year Object Lesson.

This threefold miracle, designating the definite day, and removing all excuse for its non-observance, was not a matter of merely one week or of one month, or of one year; but was continued during all the forty years of their wanderings in the wilderness. As no one can accuse God of not knowing which was the definite seventh day, so no one can accuse Him of not making known that definite Sabbath day to the people whom He brought out of the land of Egypt. There can be no possible doubt that they kept the right day there. Even if they had forgotten the day while in Egyptian bondage, which is altogether unlikely, they knew it now and kept it now. Had there been any confusion whatever before this, the people were certainly set right now; but there is no evidence to indicate that they had lost track of the days, nor any reason to suppose they had, more than to suppose we now are unable to calculate the succession of the days.

Evidence From the Heathen World.

Another thought in regard to the improbability of the people losing their reckoning of the days of the week. History records that the day now known as Sunday was a day set apart by the pagan world for the worship of the sun. It is from that fact that it derives its name. No one has ever questioned that the heathen world was able to count the days correctly from one sun’s day to another sun’s day. They made much of the observance of that day, so much in fact that one writer has designated it “the wild solar holiday of all pagan times.” The Jewish people were always surrounded by peoples who worshiped the sun. The heathen world worshiped the sun on the sun’s day. So, if the Jews had forgotten which was the true seventh day, the practises of their heathen neighbors would always have set them right. There were the two institutions traveling down through the ages from time immemorial, the one the worship of Jehovah on the day that He had set apart for His worship, and the other the worship of the sun on the day dedicated to the sun’s worship. If the heathen had made a miscount and begun to use the seventh day for their idolatrous ceremonies, the Jews would quickly have set them right; had the Jews begun to perform their worship on the day dedicated to the idolatrics of the heathen, the heathen would have quickly set them right by their own practise. But no such mistake was ever made, and the two institutions have traveled down side by side to the present time. Farther than that, in no instance in history has even one community, to say nothing of a state or nation, all mistaken the day at the same time. Once in a while some one has been known to forget which day was the Sabbath or which day was Sunday, but he was very quickly set right by his own neighbors, and always such individuals are deeply chagrined that they should make such a blunder.

In the Time of Christ.

We pass down fifteen hundred years to the time of Christ. There is not much reason to suppose that any discrepancy crept into this period of Jewish history. But if it had, there was Christ Himself, the Author of the institution, to set matters right. We find Him regularly in the synagog “as His custom was,” observing the day He had taught His people to observe from Creation. He was the Rock that followed them (1 Cor. 10:4) through all their experiences, and now we find Him with them in the flesh, observing the Sabbath with them in their accustomed places of worship. He knew all things; He was there to lead them into all truth, to teach them the precepts of His Father. Had they been wrong, He would have set them right at that time. The day He recognized as the Sabbath was certainly the true Sabbath from the beginning. Thus we know that the Jews in the time of Christ were keeping the true seventh day in true succession from the beginning. The Jews have kept their reckoning from that time to this in all parts of the world where they have been driven. There has been no break in their reckoning, nor in the reckoning of Christians or peoples who were neither Jews nor Christians. The reckoning of each of these classes agrees with that of all the others. If

Christians are keeping Sunday in true succession from the Cross, how can they deny the identity of the seventh day also from the Cross till this time. The first day and the seventh are mentioned in immediate connection in the record of the crucifixion and resurrection; they have traveled side by side ever since. So no reasonable person can say that there has been any loss of the day's identity between the Crucifixion and the present time.

In addition to all this, God has had his witnesses from the Crucifixion to the present time who have kept the true seventh day as the Sabbath. This is a matter of record.

Thus has every prop been removed from under the specious plea that we can not tell which is the true seventh day at the present time. The identity of the day is certain; but it is no more certain than is the blessing which the Lord has pronounced upon those who honor Him by honoring His holy day. Here is the promised blessing:

“If thou turn away thy foot from the Sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on My holy day; and call the Sabbath a delight, the holy of the Lord, honorable; and shalt honour Him, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words: then shalt thou delight thyself in Lord; and I will cause thee to ride upon the high places of the earth, and feed thee with the heritage of Jacob thy father; for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it.” Isa. 58:13, 14. S.

"THE HANDWRITING OF ORDINANCES."

By George Ide Butler

ANY attempt to show that the law of God was abolished must inevitably result in confusion. So people who would fain believe that the law is not binding upon them are wont to cite Col. 2:14 in defense of their position, in utter disregard of other scriptures that make the subject plain. We quote the text with its context:

"And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath He quickened together with Him, having forgiven you all trespasses; blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to His cross; and having spoiled principalities and powers, He made a show of them openly, triumphing over them in it. Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days; which are a shadow of things to come; but the body is of Christ." Col. 2:13-17.

That which was nailed to the cross was the Levitical law. It is the same "law of commandments contained in ordinances" that is mentioned in Eph. 2:15, 16, called "the enmity," which Christ "abolished in His flesh." Now Christ overcame sin in the flesh; therefore, sin being "the transgression of the law" (1 John 3:4), He vindicated the law in His flesh, instead of abolishing it, even paying its penalty on the cross for all who accept Him as a substitute. Thus it is that by faith "we establish the law" (Rom. 3:31), and its righteousness is "fulfilled in us" (chapter 8:4) instead of being abolished. So it can not be the moral law of God that is "against us;" it being emphatically for us, if we "walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit."

The "sabbath days" mentioned in Colossians are connected with other ceremonials, and therefore do not include the weekly Sabbath, which was established before sin entered the world, and could not have been typical.

Those ceremonial sabbaths are mentioned in Leviticus 23. Everything typical was "nailed to the cross," as such things no longer had any significance. The Antitype, to which they pointed, and which they foreshadowed, had come, and they could be of no further use. They stood for sin, the "yoke of bondage," and had themselves become a yoke of bondage, and "against" the people, because they trusted in them for righteousness; but Paul still testified of the moral law that it is "holy, and just, and good," by which we have a knowledge of what sin is. See Rom. 3:20; 7:7, 12.

Of the typical services, including the mere ceremonial sabbaths, the Lord said to Moses, "Ye shall proclaim," etc. But the moral law was proclaimed, or rather repeated, by the Lord's own voice, and written in stone by His own hand. The weekly Sabbath is distinguished from the ceremonial sabbaths in Lev. 23:37-39. Here the latter are noted, "beside the Sabbaths of the Lord." Therefore it is clear that the sabbaths which ceased when the "handwriting of ordinances" was blotted out, were the ceremonial sabbaths.

That this view did not originate with Seventh-day Adventists is shown by the comments of men whose expositions are recognized in all Protestant circles. First, we will quote from Dr. Adam Clarke:

The apostle speaks here in reference to some particulars of the handwriting of ordinances, which had been taken away, viz., the distinction of meats and drinks, what was clean and what was unclean, according to the law; and the necessity of observing certain holy days or festivals, such as the new moons and particular sabbaths, or those which should be observed with more than ordinary solemnity. . . . There is no intimation here that the Sabbath was done away, or that its moral use was suspended, by the introduction of Christianity. I have shown elsewhere that, "Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy," is a command of perpetual obligation.

On the same point, we quote from Dr. Albert Barnes, as follows:

There is no evidence, from this passage, that he [the apostle] would teach that there was no obligation to observe any holy time, for there is not the slightest reason to believe that he meant to declare that one of the Ten Commandments had ceased to be binding on mankind. If he had used the word in the singular number—"the Sabbath"—it would then, of course, have been clear that he meant to affirm that that commandment ceased to be binding, and that a Sabbath was no longer to be observed. But the use of the term in the plural number, and the connection, show that he had his eye on the great number of days which were observed by the Hebrews as festivals, as a part of their ceremonial and typical law, and not on the moral law, or the Ten Commandments. No part of the moral law, no one of the Ten Commandments, could be spoken of as "a shadow of things to come." These commandments are, from the nature of moral law, of perpetual and universal obligation.

Question Corner

By Editor

1606.—A Seeming Contradiction. 1 Cor. 3:14, 15.

Please explain 1 Cor. 3:15. There is a seeming contradiction between verses 14 and 15.

Note that the subject under consideration is not personal character, but spiritual work for the Master. Paul told the brethren that they were God's husbandry (or literally, "tilled land"), God's building. He and his fellow apostles were fellow workers in God's field, on God's building. Some may, as Paul, be wise master builders, building on a good foundation, and have for their showing gold, silver, precious stones. Others unwisely may fail in the good foundation, in the workmanship on materials so that in the last day their converts fail; their work proves to be wood, hay, stubble. Both classes of ministers labor conscientiously, tho evidently not with equal zeal and wisdom. The work of one is saved as well as himself; the work of the other is burned, and he barely escapes. The work of preachers through all the past demonstrates the apostle's word.

1607.—Between Death and the Resurrection.

Will you kindly state whether or not Adventists believe that the personal identity of the soul continues after death, or is disintegrated, annihilated, at death. If the former, what is its state during the interval? In other words, kindly state plainly and succinctly your exact belief upon the subject, with scriptural references or otherwise, and oblige,

While we are sure that the answer will disappoint our querist, we can give no other. We know no place where Adventists, Seventh-day or otherwise, have ever formulated any precise, succinct, or exact belief regarding the condition of man between death and the resurrection. They have preferred to let it rest on the Bible statements without attempting to formulate the Scriptures into a creed. Hence different persons, if called upon so to do, would define in a different way. But all are agreed in accepting the literal statement that "in death there is no remembrance of Thee [God];" that when death occurs, man's "breath goeth forth, he returneth to his earth; in that very day his thoughts perish;" and other statements similar. The condition between death and the resurrection is a dreamless sleep, from which only Christ, the Life-giver, can awaken the sleeper. As to just how God preserves identity, whether by the absolutely accurate life record of the individual which is indelibly stamped upon the resurrection body, or some other way, we may not know, nor need we concern ourselves about it. We know that man dies; that "the dead know not anything;" that Christ will bring them back from the power of death and the grave at His coming. The Bible make Christ's second coming and the resurrection of the dead necessities in God's plan, contrary to the teaching of much of modern theology.

1608.—The Gathering of His Elect. Matt. 24:31.

"And He shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other." Mark, in speaking of the same event (13:27), says, "from the uttermost part of the earth to the uttermost part of heaven" (American Standard Revision). Now, if He gathers them from heaven, as said in Matthew, or from earth and heaven, as said in Mark, does this not mean a uniting of soul and body? Does Matthew, in his mention of "heaven" seven times, refer to the planetary heavens, or both planetary and atmospheric? If both, please point out where he means the one and the other.

The word "heaven" throughout the entire New Testament comes from the same word in the Greek, ouranos. Strong defines it, "the sky, by extension heaven (as the abode of God)." It is rendered "air, heaven, sky." Sometimes it means the heaven where God's throne is; sometimes it means the region where the stars are; sometimes the atmospheric heavens. The "four winds of heaven" simply mean direction and nothing more; for when God's people are gathered they will come from every direction, from all parts of the earth, but through the air or atmospheric heaven, above the earth. See Dan. 7:2, "The four winds of the heaven strove upon the great sea." Rev. 7:1. The context and kindred terms elsewhere will almost invariably settle the meaning of a word. God's children who are sleeping are gathered from the grave when Christ comes.

1609.—The Sin "Winked at."

What is the sin God winked at?

We do not read anywhere in His Book that He winked at any sin. The Scripture is, "The times of this ignorance God winked at." Acts 17:30. This means as given in the R. V., "The times of ignorance therefore God overlooked." In other words, He in mercy did not destroy the sinner.

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