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Review and Herald, Vol. XXXI, No. 5

THE THIEF ON THE CROSS.

Review and Herald

Third-day, January 14, 1868

The Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Third-day, January 14, 1868

THE THIEF ON THE CROSS.

By Dudley Marvin Canright

BY ELD. D. M. CANRIGHT.
Text. Luke xxiii. 43. “And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, To-day shalt thou be with me in paradise.”
This is always quoted by those who advocate the conscious state of the dead as proof of that doctrine. It has been often explained by Advent writers, but I wish to give a few thoughts on it. “To-day shalt thou be with me in paradise.” This, they say, proves that the thief had an immortal soul which would live after his body was dead. His body could not have gone to paradise that day; therefore it must have been his soul. This looks very plausible, and is worthy of our serious consideration.
What did Jesus mean by this declaration? In order to determine this, it will be necessary to know where paradise is. In 2 Cor. xii, 2, 4, Paul says that he knew a man who was “caught up into the third Heaven.” In verse 4 he says that he was caught up into para- dise; hence we learn from this, that paradise is in the third Heaven. In Rev. ii, 7, Jesus says that the tree of life is in the midst of the paradise of God. Then paradise is in the third Heaven, and the tree of life is in the midst of paradise. Rev. xxii, 1, 2, reads thus: “And he showed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb. In the midst of the street of it, and on either side of the river was there the tree of life. This, then, is paradise; it is where the throne of God is; hence it must be in Heaven. Greenfield in his Greek Lexicon says, that paradise is “where God dwells.” It means a “park,” a “pleasant park,” “a garden of trees of various kinds,” “a delightful grove.” Eze. ii, 5; Cant. iv, 13. In the LXX, for the garden of Eden, or of delight, Gen. ii, 8. (Greenfield.)
Then the promise of Christ that he should be with him in paradise, was that he should be with him in Heaven, in his Father’s presence. He says, “Thou shalt be with me in paradise.” Not only must the thief be there, but Jesus himself must be there at the time promised. But three days after this, Jesus said to Mary, “Touch me not, for I am not yet ascended to my Father.” Jno. xx, 17. Here Jesus directly says that he has not yet been to paradise where his Father dwells.
Some object to this, that it means that his body had not yet ascended to Heaven. But compare the two, “Thou shalt be with me in paradise,” “Touch me not.” It is the same “me” in both places, be it either body or soul. From this we conclude that Christ did not mean to promise the thief that he should go to Heaven that very day in which they were on the cross. If he did, he certainly did not fulfil his promise.
Now, I have another question to ask: Did the thief himself die that day? All will acknowledge that his soul could not go to Heaven before his body died. I am of the opinion that he did not even die that day at all. I offer the following proof for this opinion:
1. The day, according to Bible time, ends at sunset. This is a fact acknowledged by all Biblical students. “Thus, the Sabbath commences with the sunset of Friday and ends at sunset Saturday. Indications of this primeval order exist among many nations. The reckoning of the first week of time must necessarily regulate those of all coming time.” Kitto. We read, “And the evening and the morning were the first day.” “And the evening and the morning were the second day,” &c. Thus we see that the twenty-four-hour day commences with the evening. In Lev. xxiii, 32, God said, “From evening unto evening shall ye celebrate your Sabbaths.” That the evening commences with the going down of the sun is proved by Deut. xvi, 6. “Thou shalt sacrifice the passover at evening, at the going down of the sun.” Many other evidences might be adduced on this point, but as all agree that the Bible day ends at sunset, we offer no further. Hence, if the term, this day, meant the day on which they were crucified, the thief would have to die and his soul be in paradise before the sun went down, but at the farthest, even according to Roman time, all this must take place before midnight.
2. By Matt. xxvii, 45, 46, we learn that they were crucified at noon, and that Jesus died at three o’clock in the afternoon, when the sun was about three hours high. “Christ having been nailed to the cross a little after midday, John xix, 14-17, and having expired about three o’clock, Mark xv, 33, the whole business was finished within the space of three hours, which Mark calls here the third hour.” Clarke on Mark xv, 35.
“When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, he said, It is finished, and he bowed his head and gave up the ghost. The Jews, therefore, because it was the preparation, that the bodies should not remain upon the cross upon the Sabbath day (for that day was an high day) besought Pilate that their legs might be broken, and that they might be taken away. Then came the soldiers and brake the legs of the first, and of the other which was crucified with him. But when they came to Jesus and saw that he was dead already, they brake not his legs. But one of the soldiers with a spear pierced his side, and forthwith came there out blood and water.” John xix.
Now, we have learned the following facts: First, They were crucified at noon. Second, Jesus did not die till about three o’clock. Third, The Jews besought Pilate that the legs of those which were crucified might be broken, and they taken down from the cross, because it was contrary to their law for a man to hang upon the cross on the Sabbath day. Pilate grants their request, and sends a body of soldiers to do it. Calvary was some way out of the city, hence it must have taken a considerable time to go into the city, order the soldiers, and have them go out to Mount Calvary. This must certainly have taken it well on toward night. When they arrived there, they found Jesus already dead, so they brake not his legs but pierced his side with the spear. But what did they do with the thieves? Did they kill them? No; they simply brake their legs and took them down from the cross, that they should not remain on the cross over the Sabbath.
There the record ends. Now where is the proof that the thief died that day? There is none. The man that says that he did die that day cannot prove it. But what are the probabilities of the case? They strongly indicate that they did not die that day. Simply their legs were broken and they were taken down from the cross. Now it does not kill a man to break his legs. We have all seen men with their legs broken, and even entirely amputated, and yet have seen them live for years. If the intention of the soldiers had been to kill the thieves, they certainly would have taken a different course from this. Why did they not break their skulls, or cut their throats, or pierce their hearts with the spear? Reason would teach us that they would have done something like this if they had designed to kill them. Mark what it says with regard to Jesus, “When they saw that he was dead, they did not break his legs, but pierced his side with a spear,” thus implying that they would not have done this if he had been alive. Then what was their object in breaking their legs? It was that they might be left at the foot of the cross over the Sabbath without danger of getting away. When the Sabbath was past, if they were still alive, they probably would be hung up again to remain till they did die. History informs us that persons usually lived several days on the cross before they died. Simply driving nails into a man’s handsand feet would not cause his death for a long time. Commonly they would live upon the cross in this condition several days.
Nevins, in his Biblical Antiquities, chap. 216, says: “In this awful situation, the victim of the cross was left to suffer till death came to relieve him from his dreadful suffering. This did not take place commonly till the third day, and frequently till the fourth or fifth day.”
The Union Bible Dictionary says: “Those who were fastened upon the cross lived in that condition several days, and sometimes a week or more. Hence Pilate was amazed at our Saviour’s dying so soon, because that naturally he must have lived much longer.”
Buck’s Theological Dictionary says: “Sometimes they who were fastened upon the cross lived a good while in that condition. Some have remained three days alive upon it.”
Eusebius speaks of certain martyrs who were kept upon the cross till they were starved to death. Pilate was amazed at Jesus Christ’s dying so soon, because that naturally he must have lived longer, if it had not been in his power to lay down his life and to take it up again.
Dr. Adam Clarke, in his comments on Matt. xxvii, 35, says: “This punishment will appear dreadful enough when it is considered that the person was permitted to hang (the whole weight of his body borne up by his nailed hands and the projecting piece between his thighs) till he perished there. Some, we are informed, have lived three days in this state. It is true that in some cases there was a kind of mercy shown to the sufferer which will appear sufficiently horrid when it is known that it consisted in the breaking of the bones of the legs and thighs with large hammers, in order to put the sufferer out of pain. Such a coup de grace as this could only spring from those tender mercies which God represents as cruelty. Some were permitted to hang on the cross till eaten by the birds of prey, which often began to tear them before life was extinguished.”
From these evidences we see that it was common for criminals to live on the cross several days, even till they died from hunger and thirst. Now, this thief was crucified about noon, and in ordinary circumstances he would have lived three or four days or more. At three o’clock Jesus died, and Pilate learning this was amazed. Some time after this, or well on toward sunset, the soldiers came and brake the legs of the thieves and took them down from the cross. They did this in order that they should not remain on the cross over the Sabbath which was contrary to the Jewish law.
Now, the question again recurs in the light of all these facts, whether the thief died that day or not. The day would end at sunset, hence if he died that day, he must have died within six hours from the time that he was crucified, and within an hour or so from the time that his legs were broken. It does not say that he did die that day, nor that he did not die; but the probabilities appear to me to indicate very strongly that he did not die that day, nor, perhaps, even the next.
Now, when men assert so confidently that the thief’s soul went to Heaven that day, we modestly request them to prove that he even did die on that or the following day. They cannot prove it. We have already seen that Jesus did not go to paradise for three days after he made this promise. And now we have learned that it is very probable that the thief was not even dead at the expiration of that day.
Then what did Jesus mean by the promise, “To-day shalt thou be with me in paradise?” It will be seen that this language was spoken in answer to the request which the thief made to Jesus. The thief said, “Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom. And Jesus said unto him, Verily, I say unto thee, To-day shalt thou be with me in paradise.” What was the thief’s request? “Lord, remember me”—When? when our souls leave our bodies? No; but he sets the time when he wishes to be remembered. “Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom.” Here the thief in anticipation looked forward to the day when Jesus should come to take his kingdom, and requests that at that time he might be remembered.
By the question, it will be seen that the thief had no idea of going to Heaven when he died. Hence he had no idea of the conscious state of the dead. Now the answer of Jesus to the thief’s request relates to the very time that the thief had mentioned, “Verily, I say unto thee, To-day,” or this day, the day which you have mentioned, you shall be with me in paradise. The Greek word here rendered to-day is semeron, which Greenfield defines to mean, “to-day, or this day.” The Emphatic Diaglott renders it, “This day.” The same word is used in Psalms ii, 7: “Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee.” Was Christ begotten on the day that the Psalmist said, This day have I begotten thee? No one will contend that he was; but the term, this day, looks forward several hundred years to the time when Jesus was begotten. So the term “this day,” in Luke xxiii, 43, refers to the future, to the time of which the thief had spoken. When will Jesus come into his kingdom? Paul says, “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.” 2 Tim. iv, 1. It is when he comes the second time. “I will come again and receive you unto myself.” This is the time to which the thief referred when he said, “Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom.” Jesus promises him that then he should be with him in paradise.
Thus it will be seen that this text does not support the theory of the conscious state of the dead, as many suppose. I see no necessity for removing the comma and placing it after to-day, as some do. It reads just right as it is.

LIFE'S FAIR TREE.

By C. H. ROGERS

TUNE.—The Old Elm Tree.

Our hearts are burdened with sorrow and care, And we long to rise and wing the air, And join with those who forever are free, And stand redeemed on the crystal sea. Our hearts beat with gladness at the joyful thought, With heavenly zeal our minds are fraught; For the time is near when redeemed we shall be, And sing forever ’neath life’s fair tree.
With aching heart and throbbing brow, To thy blest will, O Lord, we bow. O fill our hearts with holy zeal, And in our souls thyself reveal. We sigh and we languish ’twixt hope and fear— But rejoice when we know that our Saviour is near; And we know that soon his glory we’ll see, And bask in his smiles ’neath life’s fair tree.
The morning soon in glory will dawn, Our bliss complete, our sorrows all gone, With rapturous joy we’ll swell the song, Through the heavenly choir the notes prolong. Oh! hail happy morning, thy dawn we hail, No more shall the arts of the foe prevail, Our barks we’ll moor in love’s boundless sea, And rejoice forever ’neath life’s fair tree.
C. H. ROGERS. Houston, Wis.

IT IS FINISHED.

By S. S. Bartlett

[Bro. Smith: The following extract I cut from a newspaper many years ago. Thinking it might interest the readers of the Review, I now copy it for publication. S. S. Bartlett.]
The “Saviour of the world” hung on the cross quivering in the agony of death. Dark clouds obscured the brightness of the azure heavens, the sun was arrayed in sackcloth, the stars had forgotten to shine, and the silver moon had paled in the liquid sapphire and withdrawn her waning light. Day in the flush of his meridian splendor had fled affrighted from the world, and night had stalked forth in all her primeval darkness, and cast the diadem of stars from her mournful brow. The energies of Nature seemed paralyzed. The great heart of the universe fluttered with an uncertain and tremulous motion, as if ceasing to beat. The golden portals of the “Holy of Holies” were flung open, untouched by mortal hand, unmoved by human will. The veil of the sanctuary was rent in twain, and through the pillared arches of the beautiful temple rolled a strain of mournful and thrilling music—the love and agony of the universe contracted into sound, angels chanting the requiem of the dying Son of God.
The haughty dwellers in Jerusalem, the Pharisee, the Sadducee, thronged the hight of Calvary. They mocked and derided. They cried, “If thou be the Son of God, save thyself and come down from the cross.” He desires water and they fill a sponge with vinegar and give him to drink; and again they mock his agonies and cry, “He saved others, himself he cannot save.” Yet no anger arises in the soul of the Lamb of God. Tears mingle with the blood drops but they are tears of love; and the ashy and quivering lips move and open, but his dying words are a prayer for his persecutors. They come forth in mournful sweetness and ring clear and melodious through the unnatural gloom, “Father, forgive them for they know not what they do.”
Afar off on a distant hight stand the weeping disciples. In a low and shadowed glen the betrayer of his Lord lies prostrate on the earth, robbing life in the pangs of a bitter repentance, suffocated by excess of grief. Kneeling at the foot of the cross appeared the three Marys, and the beloved disciple; the mother, whose faithful bosom has been his childhood’s pillow; the tender friend who had accompanied him in his wanderings and leaned upon his breast. And Jesus cast upon friend and mother the last long look of love. He turned his dying glance upon Mary and whispered, “Behold thy son.” He looked upon John and said, “Behold thy mother;” and from that day the disciple took her to his own home.
And now the last farewell is spoken, the last sad office of affection performed, the pangs of that dread agony have stricken to the heart. The last tear trembles in that loving eye, the last blood drop trickles from that bleeding brow and stains the whiteness of the calm and placid face. The crimson tide that gushed from pierced hands and wounded feet has ceased its flowing. The golden turret of the temple, the green hills of Hermon, the tearful look of the disciples, the wondering countenances of the Roman soldiery are fading from his weak and glassy vision. The audible sob of friend and lover, the suppressed breathing of the surrounding throng, the ocean-like murmuring of the innumerable multitude, all die in silence upon his closing ear.
His hour has come! yet mighty and glorious thoughts, high and mysterious emotions rise and swell within his breast. And sublime revelations of the future—revelations of the accomplishment of the perfected harmony of the universe, the eradication of evil, the triumph of truth and love in the reconciliation of man to God, are pictured in grand and transcendent glory upon his mighty heart. And feelings of triumphant gladness, foretastes of that ecstatic bliss when “he shall see of the travail of his soul and be satisfied,” thrill with rapture that God-like spirit. Oh! such a death is glorious! A bright and gleaming halo plays around the brow, a smile of ineffable beauty illumines his face; an audible stillness, a silence that may be felt, settles down upon the earth.
All those high and swelling aspirations, all those glorious revelations, all that triumphant gladness, all that boundless love swell forth in one thrilling and majestic strain. Hark to that eloquent voice! Hearken O, my soul! for men and angels listen with thee. Hearken! for that sublime sound shall find an echo in the living soul of God! IT IS FINISHED!
It is finished! Clear and loud rolls on that solemn strain. It rings through the leafy shades of Gethsemane, and along the aisles of the golden temple, and around the crest of Olivet, and the winds take up the burden and bear it on, and the starry mountain peaks repeat the echo, and old ocean with its voice of many waters is eloquent with the thrilling spell.
It is finished! That voice of power and majesty embraces the lifeless air with its living spirit. It rises above the darkness and the storm. It fills the desert and the wilderness with words of golden sound. And the blue skies above take up the echo and bear it unto the Heaven of heavens, where the angelic choir take up the chorus and sweep their starry lyres till crystal arches of the empyrean are vocal with its anthem of triumph and joy.
Eighteen centuries ago, that voice from Heaven died away upon our air; but even yet it has not subsided into utter stillness. In the heart of man, it still rings on. Age to age has borne on the swelling chorus. Generation after generation has listened to its voice of grandeur and of might. It circles the earth with the viewless wind. It mingles with the music of the ocean wave. We hear it in the glory and brightness of the day. At eventide it floats around us in low and gentle cadence, sweet as the voice of God that once echoed through the leafy shades of Eden. And we sink to slumber, yet, even then it dieth not, but mingles with the visions of the solemn night.
It is finished! We open the volume wherein are treasured the revelations of God’s infinite and unchanging love, and we read it there. We follow the melody of the Sabbath bells, we enter the courts of the house of prayer, the vaulted arches of the temple of our faith are ringing with the breath of music, and from the deep-toned organ and the singing lip, it echoes and we hear it there. And when the strain is hushed, and the “minister of the reconciliation” arises in his holy office, then once again is the sacred silence made eloquent with the thrilling spell.
It is finished! Your heart, mine, has long been gladdened by the joyful sound. Thousands of hearts, now mingled with the dust we tread upon, have shouted it. Its work is not yet done. It will warble from the lips of earth’s congregated millions, as they wake from slumber amid the breaking glories of the resurrection morn.
It is finished! When a few more fleeting years shallhave passed away, when time has been swallowed up in eternity, when the grave has become a forgotten word, and Death, the pale monarch of the tomb, has rested for ages in his eternal sleep; when we have dwelt for myriads of ages in the saints’ everlasting home, and are robed in the snowy garments of innocence and peace, and crowned with the golden coronet of triumphant virtue, and bear the green palm-branch of victory in our hands, and wing our free, unfettered way from star to star, and mingle with the angels who sweep their harps upon the sea of fire, and cast our starry diadems upon the amaranth-strewn floor of Heaven as we bow in high and holy adoration before the throne—then shall that expiring cry of the Saviour of the world, It is finished, ring through the redeemed, the sinless, the unshadowed universe, “And add new sweetness to the songs, That warble from immortal tongues.”

THE PROMISES EXAMINED.

By Vesta N. Cudworth

DEAR BRETHREN: My tribulation has been such that it has driven me to the work of dissecting the promises, to find what belongs to me in the will; and I find, blessed be God, that although in the world we are to have tribulation, be of good cheer, John xvi, 33, is immediately added; and in 2 Cor. vii, 4, Paul says, “I am exceeding joyful in all our tribulation.”
I believe these are a sample of the whole, and that we need not have a glimpse of sunshine, merely, once or twice in a year, but sunshine all the year round. It will not cost us anything, it is free as our mountain streams, “without money, and without price.” But it has cost Jesus his life. Yes, it has cost the blood of the Son of God. There is no promise of a flowery pathway. The beauty and excellency of the blessing do not consist in the path, but in the illumination of the path. It is the worldling that finds the pleasant path, the broad road, but no starry beam of love falls on his darkened way. They take the world for their portion. Their eyes are ever downward to earth, they are earthy. But the Christian looks up for his portion, and he gets it, blessed be the Lord! without stint. Here I will insert the substance of a dream. “I fight and conquer? Thou hast the power.”
I believe, dear brethren, we are fast coming to a time, and some are already there, when a man, woman, or child cannot stand at all unless they stand erect. I have been well nigh swept from the path, and swallowed up with grief; and thinking that my experience might help some other poor soul, that is traveling across this storm-swept wilderness, I have reluctantly mentioned self. Paul writes to his Thessalonian brethren, “And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit, and soul and body be preserved blameless, &c., and then adds, “Faithful is he that calleth you, who also will do it.” This is in the last will and testament of our Lord and Saviour, and it belongs to every son and daughter of Abraham. This only brings us to the commencement of the polishing process, or fitting up of the jewels. God will have nothing to do with a man until he lays down his weapons of rebellion. He never will take impure hands to make up the breach in his law. Sin made the breach, can a sinner mend it? “But as a man thinketh, so is he.” If we think we must live in sin until we get almost through, we shall. The old schools taught that we must sin in every thought, word, and deed; but the time of that ignorance is past. Whether God winked at it or not, is not for me to say, but one thing I know, “he now commands men every where to repent.” If they do, does God forgive them? If he does, are they sinners? Let us hold up a right standard whether we reach it or not.
In John xv, 3, Christ says, “Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you.” In Isaiah lii, 11, we read, “Be ye clean that bear the vessels of the Lord.” Paul tells us in Romans vi, 11, what to do: “Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord.” If we are saved from our transgression of the law through Christ, and have been buried with him in baptism, and the old man is crucified, then the body of sin is destroyed, and we are free. There is then no condemnation to them which are in Christ; but we stand by faith, hence should not be high-minded, but fear.
Nothing but the direst necessity has urged me on to search the Scriptures, as the starving seek for bread, or the thirsting for water; and I would leave my humble testimony on record, that there is a balm in Gilead, there is a Physician there. There is a peace so calm, so deep, that all the storms of earth cannot disturb it. It calms my fears, it soothes my sorrows, it smooths my way o'er life's rough sea. And do not forget that it is mixed with goodness, and meek, humble patience. This heavenly portion mine shall be.
I find this motto on my Christmas present, “Tennyson's poems:” “Cast all your care on God.” “That anchor holds.” My heart responds, Amen; and I think if it can hold me, all may venture. None will ever perish, clinging to the Rock. Paul sums up the afflictions as light, and for a moment.
A step from tears to the tearless, From obscurity into renown; From a sinful age to the sinless, A step from the cross to the crown.
And, brethren, we can through Christ rejoice in afflictions, as well as Paul. The affliction is not joyous, but grievous, and if we were left to our own strength, it would crush us; but we remember he said, “afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruits of righteousness;” and we want that; and we can trust God to mix our cup for us, as he has first drank of it; and he loves us so, that he would not willingly afflict, or grieve us.
Those that fear the name of the Lord shall see the sun of righteousness arise, with healing in his wings, and then, they will go forth, and grow up, as calves of the stall. But the same class will remember the law of Moses, way down here in the last times; and all that are reckoned in the new covenant, according to the promise, have God's law written in their thoughts, &c., and are elected through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth. Let us give good heed to the counsel of the faithful and true Witness.
VESTA. N. CUDWORTH.
Springfield, Mass.

THE ANGEL OF PATIENCE.

She came to me in a fearful hour When the wild waves mocked my utmost power; Desolation spread its wings around, While lightnings played thro’ the gloom profound; Her snowy robes like a wreath of light, Beamed like a star on that awful night; She laid her hand on my burning brow, And my throbbing heart beat soft and slow. She cried, “I've an errand! but not to save Thy little barque from the stormy wave; But a richer boon is mine to give, A patient skill in the storm to live. The darkest wave is within thy breast, And the fearful storm is the soul’s unrest; Sorrow, my child, has a sure life-lease, Spurn not the rod, ’tis an earnest of peace; Conflict will give thee a nerve for ill Thou wilt surely need; for a darker still, Shall bring thee work in this ‘trial hour,’ Fight and conquer! thou hast the power.”

GIVING.

By H. C. MILLER

“Not as the world giveth, give I unto you.” Christmas and New Years are past, and many are the gifts that have been given. You, my brethren, have probably given many. Let me inquire, have you followed the example of Him who spake the above words, in giving, or have your gifts been wholly like the world—to friends, neighbors, and near kin. Have some aged ones been made to rejoice, and their bodies warmed by your gifts? Needy ones who could only recompense you with tears and expressions of gratitude? And for your giving can you expect to hear Him say, “Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me?” Have some of the poor, the lame, the halt or blind been led to glorify God for your benefactions?
H. C. MILLER.

“I HOPE TO MEET THEM ALL IN HEAVEN!”

By S. J. Thayer

Dying words of Mrs. Angelia Damon, who died in San Francisco, June 14, 1866, after an absence of five years from her childhood's home, aged 84 years.
“I HOPE to meet them all in Heaven!” Yes, sister, sweetly rest; We trust that when rewards are given To all the sleeping blest, A crown—a crown of righteousness Shall deck thy radiant brow: This hope removes the bitterness Of our affliction now.
“I hope to meet them all in Heaven!” Five now are passed away. Time yet unto the rest is given, It may be but to-day. Who next the darkened vale will tread? Who next to silence go? Who next be numbered with the dead? The living may not know.
“I hope to meet them all in Heaven!” Kind Father, hear our prayer! O let not one be tempest riven, Guide each one safely there. The oldest, middle-aged, and young, Bring to the promised land, That all may meet around thy throne, A happy family band.
S. J. THAYER.

MY NEW DIARY.

By J. S. Miller

This evening, (Jan. 1st, 1868,) as I sat down to note the events of the day, a solemn train of thought took possession of my mind. First, as I glanced back to one year ago to-night, and on the first page of my diary for 1867, read the platform by which I vowed to be governed for the year that is past, could I say with truth that I had faithfully stood upon it? That platform was, “To love God with all my heart, and my neighbor as myself.” Can I claim to have come up to this standard? Could I but glance at the books of the recording angel, should I not there find more black marks against my name than I should wish to see? How would despair fill my heart, were it not encouraged by the words of the apostle, “If any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, even Jesus Christ the righteous.” 1 John ii, 1.
Surely these reflections begot in me feelings of the deepest humility. Here is a platform of my own choosing, and I have not stood squarely upon it. Shall I lower the standard for 1868? Can I do so and remain a Christian? Most certainly not. What shall I do? There is but one course for me to pursue. I must seek forgiveness for my past sins, and rely on the promise of the Master, that, “Whosoever cometh unto me, I will in no wise cast out,” and say like Paul “I can do all things through Christ, which strengtheneth me.”
Before me, in the future, is a year of unfulfilled events. Before me, on the table, is my new diary for 1868 with its clean white pages. One year hence, and the events of my life for the year 1868 will be history. If I am faithful to my trust, one year hence I shall again look upon these pages, and there read an outline of my course of life. What that outline shall be, depends almost wholly upon myself. Shall I, one year hence, look back and see that I have backslidden from God, and have grown cold and indifferent to the cause of truth and the important events that are now transpiring in connection with the third angel's message, or shall I find that the work of consecration has gone deeper, my own life become purer, my sphere of influence and usefulness wider, my responsibilities greater, and my capacity for understanding truth enlarged? Oh! that I may have much of the Spirit of God to guide me into all truth, that my diary on Dec. 31, 1868, may show less cause for regret than it did on the last day of the old year. Brethren and sisters, far and wide, pray for me.
J. S. MILLER.
Westerly, R. I., Jan. 1, 1868.
THE REV. DR. MASON stopped to read a theatrical placard which attracted his attention. Cooper, the great tragedian, coming along, said to him: “Good morning, Sir—do ministers of the gospel read such things?” “Why not, Sir,”—said the doctor; “ministers of the gospel have as much right to know what Satan is about as other folks.”
Those are the best Christians who are more careful to reform themselves than to censure others.
If you wish to be happy and make others so, always be cheerful, and look upon the bright side of everything. It is just as cheap, and three times as good for digestion.

Are the Dead Conscious? No. 4.

By Editor

MATT. xxii, 32. I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. God is not the God of the dead, but of the living.
This testimony would not be true, it is claimed, if there was not an immortal part of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, then living; for otherwise, contrary to the express declaration of Christ, God would be the God of the dead. But a careful attention to the point at issue between Christ and the Sadducees, will utterly preclude such a conclusion. See verse 23: “The same day came to him the Sadducees, which say there is no resurrection, and asked him,” &c. The Sadducees professed to believe the writings of Moses, but denied the resurrection. Christ also believed the writings of Moses, but taught the resurrection. Here, then, was a fair issue between them. They hear him teaching the resurrection; and to object their faith to his, they refer to the law of Moses concerning marriage, and then state a familiar fact; viz., that seven brothers one after another all had one woman, and all died. Now arises a problem very difficult to their minds, no doubt. How will this matter be arranged in the resurrection, which you teach? Whose wife shall she be in the resurrection? Let it be noticed that the controversy between Christ and the Sadducees had no respect whatever to an intermediate state, nor does their query or Christ’s answer have any reference to such a state. They do not inquire whose wife she is now, or which of the men’s immortal souls claims her immortal soul in the spirit world; but, Whose wife shall she be in the resurrection (a future event)? Christ tells them that they err, not knowing the Scriptures, nor the power of God; and then, to defend himself and condemn them out of their own mouth, he proceeds to prove—what? a conscious, intermediate state? No; but the resurrection, from the writings of Moses. “But as touching the resurrection from the dead,” says he, [as touching the dead that they rise, says Mark; and that the dead are raised, says Luke,] “have ye not read that which was spoken unto you by God, saying, I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob? God is not the God of the dead, but of the living.”
Let us now show that this quotation did prove the resurrection, and our argument on this passage is closed. That Moses by this language did teach the resurrection of the dead, we think is evident. Thus, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob were dead; but God is not the God of the dead (or those who are irrecoverably and eternally dead, as the Sadducees believed them to be), but he is the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. What, therefore, shall we logically and scripturally conclude from this fact? Why, simply that they shall live again, or have the resurrection from the dead. In this view of the subject, Christ reasoned well, proved the point he aimed to prove, confounded the Sadducees, and gained the applause of the Pharisees, who believed in the resurrection.
But grant for a moment that the language means what is popularly claimed for it, and what becomes of Christ’s reputation as a reasoner, and a teacher of wisdom sent from God? He set out to prove the resurrection; but when he closes his argument, lo! he has proved that all men are alive, and, that there is therefore no need of a resurrection!! He neither meets the query of the Sadducees, nor defends himself, but quite the reverse. Believe that our Lord would reason thus, ye who can!
If any should admit that a resurrection is proved by the language, but claim from it that such resurrection takes place at death, a theory not uncommon at the present time, we reply that they thereby abandon the conscious state theory, and affirm the existence of those who have died on another ground; viz., a resurrection. But, further, this is equally foreign from what Christ set out to prove; for he had reference to an event which was then future to the seven brethren and the woman, who had died. They asked him, saying, “In the resurrection, therefore, when they shall rise, whose wife shall she be of them,” &c. And Jesus answered and said: “When they shall rise from the dead, they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are as the angels in Heaven.” Mark xii, 23–25. Again, in Luke’s account, Jesus says, “But they which shall be accounted worthy to obtain that world, and the resurrection from the dead, neither marry nor are given in marriage.” Luke xx, 35. Thus, we see that a future event is everywhere referred to, and if he in reality proved that an event had already taken place which he designed to show would take place in the future, it speaks no better for his reasoning or his wisdom than the former supposition.
Why God condescends to call himself the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, though they are yet dead, we learn from Heb. xi, 16. It is not because they are now alive, but because “he hath prepared for them a city.” “Wherefore, God is not ashamed to be called their God; for he hath prepared for them a city,” into possession of which they will of course come in the future.
On this conversation between Christ and the Sadducees, Olshausen, in his Commentary on the New Testament, says: “In this passage we have, chiefly, an express confirmation of the ἀναστάσεως, resurrection, which, it is to be observed, we must distinguish from the immortality of the soul. Of the latter, the Scriptures never speak; on the contrary, God is called, ‘he who alone hath immortality.’ 1 Tim. vi, 16.”
Thus, we find this passage, which is considered so strong a hold for the popular view, unmistakably proving the resurrection, but affirming nothing respecting consciousness in death. Ed.
Continue reading: REASONS FOR DISCARDING FLESH.