Earlier text: OUR BUSINESS DEALINGS WITH GODPutting the Law in the Shade.
By A. M. Lindsley
“Behold! the darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people.” Isa. 60:2. ONE would naturally suppose that in this age of advanced, and still progressing, civilization, that every ray of light that is brought to bear on the minds of the people would be gladly received by all. But we find, to a great extent, that just the opposite of this, are the facts in the case. Although, according to the prophet Daniel, at the time of the end many run to and fro, and knowledge is increased in many directions, especially in regard to Bible subjects, yet the words of Isaiah hold good: Gross darkness still covers the people, so much so as to be a highly noticeable fact. The two witnesses of the eleventh chapter of Revelation were to prophesy a thousand two hundred and threescore days, clothed in sackcloth. This was the same period of Dan. 7:25, when the times and laws should be given into the hands of the papacy. Since the ending of that period, which reached to the year 1798, light has been increasing in reference to the time of the end and those doctrines necessary to be understood and practiced by the remnant, or last state of the church. The darkness and obscurity with which the word of God was enshrouded during the wilderness state of the church, has not entirely passed away. The work of reform is not all accomplished; but the final message, which will result in preparing a people for translation, is now being given. Many minds seem to be all wrapped up in this sackcloth condition. They do not like to hear in regard to the law, which they say they “put back in the shade.” They say, Christ is all, faith in Christ saves. Now, how does Christ save? By taking upon himself, in man’s stead, the penalty of death, that man might be placed back on the same ground that he occupied before the fall, except that he is now a fallen, depraved creature; but by following the example of Christ’s perfect obedience, through faith in the merits of his death and atonement, he may enjoy this purchased salvation. Christ made himself an offering, that he might become our Saviour. Christ’s work is that of prophet, priest, and king, and to those who believe the present truth, it is clear in an eminent degree that he fully sustains this position. Throughout the evangelists we find much of his teachings were prophetic. The whole book of Revelation is, “The revelation of Jesus Christ, and he sent and signified it by his angel unto his servant John.” This covers the entire period from A. D. 96, in which it was given, till the saints receive their final reward in the earth made new, showing the history of the church and the world throughout this period. He became our High Priest at his ascension, “a minister of the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, and not man.” He there pleads the merits of his blood, as he offers up the prayers of repenting sinners, mingling his intercessions with theirs. His final work of cleansing the sanctuary from the sins of the people, conveyed there through his work as priest, will close his work as such, and finish up probationary time. We are very near that time. The longsuffering of God is waiting, as in the days of Noah, till it is accomplished, and then Christ will take to himself his great power; the kingdoms of this world will become his by special right; he will then become King of kings, and Lord of lords; the nations will be dashed in pieces, the wrath of God poured out in the seven last plagues, and the fifth everlasting kingdom set up. This is briefly the work that our Saviour came to perform. In this way he saves. And we will ask, Why was all this amount of labor and suffering on his part? Was there no other way? Was God’s word so immutable, so perfect, that no change in it could be made, no compromise effected, by which fallen man could be restored to the favor of God? Can finite wisdom devise a better way than infinite wisdom chose? I will give an extract from Spiritual Gifts, Vol. 2, pages 274, 275. “Jesus did not come to abolish his Father’s law. The ten commandments were to stand fast forever. Adam and Eve broke God’s law, and fell, and the family of Adam must perish. God could not alter or abolish his law to save lost man, who had by his transgression fallen so low that God could not accept any effort he might make to keep that holy, just, and good law. Jesus saw the degradation of man, and pitied his hopeless condition. All Heaven knew that God could not change or abolish his law to save man. Jesus pitied the fallen race, and offered to take the wrath of God upon himself that was due to man, and to suffer in his stead. Said an angel, Did Jesus come to make void the law of God, and by his death abolish it? No, no. If God’s law could have been changed; if it could have been abolished, God would not have given his Son to die a cruel, shameful death. But the fact of Jesus’ giving his life for man shows the immutability of God’s law. Jesus gave his life to save lost man from the curse or penalty he merited by transgression. He, by humbling himself, exalted man. He became the stepping-stone to elevate man, that he might lay hold of the virtue of his blood, keep God’s law, and be brought back to eat of the fruit of the tree of life to which Adam and Eve forfeited all right. Said the angel, Poor, foolish man knows not what he is doing. He has lifted his puny arm against Omnipotence. He has defied God’s law. The law of God is the golden link to unite finite man to the infinite God. It links earth to Heaven, and man to God. The transgressor is about to meet the great Law-giver over his broken law. The wrath of God has long slumbered, but soon, with terrible justice and crushing weight will his wrath fall upon the transgressor. And that arm that has been stretched forth in rebellion against God’s law, and would sever the golden link binding earth to Heaven and man to God, will wither, while the transgressor shall stand upon his feet. That tongue that has boast-ingly and proudly spoken against God’s law, and has made the fourth commandment of none effect, will consume in his mouth while he stands upon his feet. Terrible will be the fate of those who transgress God’s law, and lead others in the same Heaven-daring path of rebellion.” Friends, you that put the law of God “in the shade,” by it you should live, for by it you will be judged. Read Prov. 28:9, and James 2:12. David says, “The entrance of thy words giveth light.” Open your hearts to the influences of the Spirit of God, whose work it is to lead into all truth, so will you see great and wondrous things out of his holy law. Obey it, for “great peace have they which love thy law and nothing shall offend them.” And the last blessing pronounced in the word of God reads, “Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city.” May God help you to choose his ways. A. M. LINDSLEY. Idolatry.
By Joseph Clarke
“Little children, keep yourselves from idols.”
1 John 5: 21. The old, effete forms of paganism have had their day, and among enlightened nations are mostly extinct; but is idolatry no more? Idolatry, among professedly Christian nations, has assumed a more rational form. You will not see Europeans, or Americans (except papists), bow to idols, the work of the artificer, but in a multitude of ways, you may discover the principle of idolatry, eking out from a garb less objectionable than that of paganism, in some respects, but more dangerous in some of its developments. The only impregnable defense against idolatry is a proper observance of the principle of love to God, contained in the first table of the decalogue; for he who begins to relapse from this love, begins that moment a life of carnality, which is in its whole nature essentially idolatrous, for the carnal mind is enmity against God. No matter how small or how useful the object may be which eclipses, the love of God from the soul, that object becomes that moment an idol, whether it is gain, or lust, or pride, or pleasure, or any other object. Even things in themselves innocent (when rightly used), may become the idols which we worship, such as talents of mind, or ability. But zeal in the prosecution of a laudable and lawful calling, does not prove idolatry. He who would exercise discernment, must look beneath the surface, and unite largeness of heart, intelligence, and sober judgment, all governed and impelled by the Spirit of God. JOSEPH CLARKE. THE people of New York suffered terribly from the excessive heat which prevailed there on June 25. The telegraph reports that no less than two hundred persons were sunstruck, the attacks proving fatal in sixty cases. The evening papers speak feelingly on the subject. The Post says: The heat to-day in all parts of the city is overpowering. Men and beasts are equally affected by it. The sunny sides of the streets are deserted, and the crowds on the shady sides appear deprived of energy, and struggle slowly along, each man with a pocket handkerchief in one hand and an umbrella in the other. The horses, especially those on the street car lines, have a hard time of it. It is no uncommon sight to see a poor beast stagger and fall dying to the ground, with out hanging tongue and protruding eyeballs, notwithstanding the precautions taken for their relief. The pavements this afternoon were so hot that it was almost painful to walk upon them, while the railings in the City Hall Park were far too warm to be touched with the unprotected hand. The sparrows seemed to enjoy the heat well enough, and were busily engaged in battling. “When will this end?” is the agonizing interrogation of the suffering inhabitants of this great city. Last night was a fitting climax to a dreadful day, in which no less than thirty-five persons were reported as prostrated by the heat. There was scarcely a breath of air stirring, and the gasping multitudes sat upon the house-tops after sunset in vain endeavors to keep cool. The poor horses dropped off by the score.” The rush for “out of town” yesterday was something enormous, and the different avenues leading to the ferries were packed with a long line of carriages, trunk-bestrapped, and in some cases brimming over with an excited company of little ones, wild for the country or the seaside. Down town to-day there is an enervation that borders on despair. Relief is found in a rush to soda fountains, that gives little rest to the weary dispenser, but makes the proprietor smile with joy. In spite of the raise made by the ice companies, there is apparently no diminution in the quantity used. Fans are at a premium, and penny cups of ice cream disappear with amazing rapidity before the panting newsboy, while it is not an unfrequent thing to see laboring men dashing themselves over with water from the street fountains. One lady went into a restaurant this morning, and taking off her slippers, coolly filled them with ice-water, re-inserted her feet, and went on her way rejoicing. The thirty days preceding the 19th of July, 1872, will probably be remembered as the most protracted “heated term” of the present age. The oldest and youngest inhabitants agree in testifying that nothing like it has occurred in their time, and we certainly hope will not hereafter. In New York and vicinity, all the usual remedies for heat have failed. Patience was the only alleviator. In the country it was only a little less severe than in the city. In other cities the same state of things prevailed. The same reports came to us from over the sea. Our correspondents complain of the heat everywhere. In London and Paris it was intolerable. The heated citizens fled by thousands to the sea-side. It appears that the heat was exceptionally great in India. At Allahabad it has reached 115 degrees in the shade, and at Hyderabad 116 degrees. At the latter place it caused the death of an officer, four men, and twelve children, among the 16th Lancers. In and around Poona, in the Deccan, the wells are dried up, the cattle are dying, and people are thankful if they can obtain a jar of water by no greater trouble than that of walking a number of miles for it. The Bombay Gazette says that prospects would be very gloomy were not the monsoon at hand. We have reason to be thankful that no epidemic has added its horrors to the sufferings attending such extraordinary heat, and that it is now over. God has some lessons he can hardly teach us without the rod.
Confession of Fault and Its Value
us without the rod. Confession of fault makes half amends. The Second Coming of Christ.
By Donald Warren
At a time when the world is flooded with mythical theories concerning the second coming of Christ and a temporal millennium, it is pleasing to meet so faithful an exposition of Bible truth as the following by the editor of the Christian Treasury. Evidently the world's conversion and kindred teachings find no place in his creed. Tract and Missionary Labor.
By John Harvey Waggoner
As I have traveled considerable of late I have been led to observe and reflect on this subject, and I have great fears that in many places there will be nearly an entire failure unless great changes can be made. I am told by most of those with whom I converse that they can not find time to attend to it. And this leads me to notice the fact that our brethren, in common with the rest of the world, are working harder than usual the present year. In every place where I have been I am told the same story by almost every one—they were never before so driven with work as now. There are several causes for this. The earth does not yield her increase as formerly. Of this there can be no doubt. And insects of various kinds are increasing to render the crops more uncertain. The seasons are more variable, with greater extremes of heat and cold—of wet and dry. These are causes in nature. Besides these there is an alarming spirit of speculation, which has taken hold of some Sabbath-keepers, as is manifest by their leaving the fields of honest toil, and taking hold of patent rights, or peddling, sometimes things of little or no real value. This spirit is mostly shown by thousands crowding into the cities, leaving the farming country destitute of sufficient help. All must perceive that such influences are working powerfully; for, with a wonderful increase of labor-saving machines, the farmers have difficulty in getting their work done. It is almost impossible to get farm hands. And, while the cities are doubling their population, some of them in a few years, the population of the country around them is not greatly increasing. I lately saw some statistics which showed that the counties wherein several cities were located, had not increased their population by as much as it had increased in the cities; that is, outside the cities the population of the counties had decreased. And the increase of the population in the States generally bears no proportion to the increase of their cities. Now it must be evident to every one that if these several influences continue, and increase, as they are likely to, work will press more and more, and each year will find us more hurried than the one preceding. What is the remedy for this? There is but one: make our calculations so as not to get so large an amount of work on our hands. I know some brethren who this year had more than twice the amount of work on hand that they could possibly do, and they had deliberately laid their plans to have it on hand, knowing that a few days of sickness, an accident to a team, or difficulty of getting help at the proper time, would so disarrange their plans and work as to cause them to suffer loss, or lead them to do about three times the amount of labor they ought to do. Some of these brethren look old, haggard, and careworn. They are not able to attend the evening prayer-meeting, nor do they enjoy or profit by the meeting on the Sabbath. It seems to me that this is a snare of the enemy’s setting. Our tract societies were designed to divert the minds of the brethren from their worldliness and lead them to work for God—to become a missionary people. If we wait till we get time, according to the way we are calculating and moving, we shall get farther and farther from the work. Of course our interest in the truth and zeal for the cause will abate, our love grow cold, and the time when we can “neither buy nor sell” will find us destitute of faith and strength to endure. Having only trusted in the world and in our own efforts, we will not know how to cast ourselves on God. Not only do our brethren need this kind of labor for their own spiritual advancement, but the work must be done. Our ministers are few; some of them overworked and failing. And the prevailing spirit of worldliness makes public labor more difficult. People will hardly take time to hear a full and complete course of lectures on the Bible. And, consequently, where a church is established by tent or otherwise, it is frequently the case that the vicinity is not half canvassed. Judicious tract labor and visiting would increase the number of believers in almost every place. It is possible to be “increased in goods,” and yet be “miserable and poor.” It is now time to calculate for the future, and to try to avoid the errors and mistakes of the past. A Religious Calm.
By George I. Butler
We regard this as one of the greatest dangers that threatens the cause of God to-day. A stagnant pool is always calm. Pure water moves. The bubbling spring, the gurgling rill, the rushing river, the foaming ocean, lashing the shore with its huge mountain waves, driven by the wind, are familiar illustrations of the latter condition. This very motion is the cause of purity. The purest, most sparkling water taken from the mountain spring becomes corrupted when left to stand a length of time. Motion and life are closely connected. So it is in the religious world. A formal round of services, calculated to depress instead of excite interest, causing no particular emotion, touching no heart, rousing no one to action, awakening no conscience, is one of the most dangerous phases of Christian experience. There is no spot in the Christian life where it is safe to sit down and take it easy. When we do that, we are not only in danger of loss, but have already experienced it. That condition shows that the wrong influence is governing us. “Watch, pray, and work, are the Christian watchwords.” Progress is the law of the higher life. The ship, starting on its long voyage across the ocean, dreads nothing more than the calm. The present condition of all on board might be pleasant enough, far more pleasant indeed than when the waves ran high. A plentiful supply of food and drink might make life even joyous. A smooth sea would save personal discomfort, but, should this condition of things always remain, when would the desired haven be reached? Never. Any wind is better than a calm. Even if it be square against them, they can beat and tack, and make some progress; and although they work hard, the day’s reckoning will show miles in advance of what had been their position had the wind not blown at all. Even so is it with the Christian. Fierce temptation, trials, crosses, are far preferable to a state of sleepy ease. “More the treacherous calm I dread
Than tempests bursting over head.” John Bunyan’s view of the pilgrims locked in sleep on the enchanted ground, and there captured and almost destroyed by their enemy, is no false picture, but alas! represents the condition of many, only we fear some do not get out as luckily as they. Why is it that a calm is so dangerous? since we all know it is pleasant to the natural man. We need to have clear conceptions of the danger, if it be truly a dangerous state. If this world was our home, our resting-place, a calm would be just the condition we ought to be in. But the Bible represents this world as being ruled by an enemy. The “god of this world” is the one who is worshiped by the majority. He is not the great Jehovah, but a very different personage. He rules in the hearts of the children of disobedience. God’s people are “pilgrims and strangers” here, seeking a better country, “even a heavenly.” It is for this reason “God is not ashamed to be called their God.” He would be ashamed to be their God if they were satisfied with this poor world where death reigns, where suffering and sin go hand in hand, and where “passing away” is written on every thing. God would not own a people who have no better sense than to be satisfied with such a state of things. We very well know that worldlings think those fools who will make much effort to obtain eternal life. But eternity will show that man to be a fool who can be satisfied with anything this world has to offer. What should we think of a man who would be willing to accept of a copper penny for a short time to call his own, when he could have a million of golden eagles to own all his life time? This is a weak comparison to represent the difference between earthly and eternal riches. The day of God will show who has been truly wise. How small this world will look then. Now the Bible everywhere represents the influences connected with this world since the curse has entered it as warring against God’s government, and that we have to contend not only against these and the natural depravity of our own hearts, but against “principalities against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, and wicked spirits in heavenly places.” And that to overcome such enemies as those it will be necessary to make an effort proportionate, of course, to their power. These are most mighty. Our efforts must be great also. To settle down into a calm is to give up the struggle. Had General Grant, at Pittsburg Landing, concluded that it was rather a hard job to fight any longer, and much more pleasant to take it easy awhile, he might have had a few moments of calm, perhaps; but it would only have resulted in his being marched off with all his squadrons to some rebel prison, there to drag out a weary captivity. A thousand times more foolish is the Christian who ceases to arouse and make mighty efforts to fight the battles of the Lord. “Eternal vigilance is the price of safety” while we are in the enemy’s land. Says the Saviour, “Strive to enter in at the strait gate, for many I say unto you will seek to enter in, and shall not be able.” A moderate effort is not enough. A mighty effort will be required, and scholars tell us that instead of “strive” the original is “agonize.” There is nothing very lulling or calm about agony, or making an effort corresponding to that. No. It is like a position in a rapid stream. The moment we stop rowing, we go down. What should we think of a man concluding to take a nap half a mile above Niagara falls, in a skiff? It would be nothing short of suicide. He could pull hard and make the shore. But he would have to make an effort. We have come to that time in the history of our world when we have reached the breakers near the shore. It is a time for vigilance, a time for activity. All our religious meetings should be seasons of stirring interest. If we find ourselves growing stupid, we should shake ourselves, rub our eyes, and wake up. We can’t afford to sleep. This death stupor, which is felt by so many, is from Satan. It is full as apt to effect those who have long been in the way as those just beginning. Has not God spiritual strength and life enough for us all if we will only seek for it? Most certainly. The reason why many are getting asleep is because they are not walking in the light they have had in the past. Our light should grow brighter and clearer, even unto the perfect day. God is not pleased to have us remain spiritual dwarfs, or become stupid and spiritually asleep. He has light for us if we will follow it. Paul’s example is, “forgetting the things that are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press to the mark for the prize of the high calling of God which is in Christ Jesus;” and he significantly adds, “Let us therefore as many as be perfect be thus minded.” This is our only safety. Look out for the enchanted ground. We are too near the golden gates to go to sleep now. May we be able to enter through them into the city. Battle Creek, Mich., July 31, 1872. Did Christ Teach that the Dead Are Alive?
Yes, says the immaterialist; for he taught that God, who declares himself to be the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, is not the God of the dead, but of the living; therefore, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, are living; but they are living as immaterial, disembodied immortal spirits; for their bodies are in the grave. The occasion on which these words were spoken is described in Matt. 22:23–32. To understand the words of Christ, we must understand fully the point at issue, and what his words were designed to prove; and to do this, we must look carefully at the narrative:— “The same day came to him the Sadducees, which say that there is no resurrection, and asked him, saying, Master, Moses said, If a man die, having no children, his brother shall marry his wife, and raise up seed unto his brother. Now there were with us seven brethren; and the first, when he had married a wife, deceased, and, having no issue, left his wife unto his brother: likewise the second also, and the third, unto the seventh. And last of all the woman died also. Therefore in the resurrection, whose wife shall she be of the seven? for they all had her. Jesus answered and said unto them, Ye do err, not knowing the Scriptures, nor the power of God. For in the resurrection they neither marry, nor are given in marriage, but are as the angels of God in Heaven. But as touching the resurrection of the dead, 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.” What, then, was the point at issue between Christ and the Sadducees? 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 brethren 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 easily 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 a 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, wonderful to tell! he has proved that all men are alive, and, therefore, there is 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 that 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 12:23–25. 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 20:35. 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 calls himself the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, though they are yet dead, we learn from Heb. 11:16. It is not because they are now alive, but because in God’s purpose who speaks of things that are not, as though they were, they are to live, and “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. In view of these facts, our friends should be careful lest they expose themselves to the rebuke Christ gave to the Sadducees: “Ye do err, not knowing the Scriptures;” for this instance, like all others, when properly understood, so far from sustaining their position, becomes an irrefragable evidence for the resurrection of the dead, and a future life, but affirms nothing whatever for consciousness in death. The Highest Attainment.
By Roswell F. Cottrell
THE great point in conversion is a full submission of the heart to God, and the highest attainment in Christian experience is an entire consecration of the whole being to God's will, and to hold that consecration continually. None can do more, and none are the subjects of the promises who do less. It is no small work, considering the condition69of man as a sinner, having a mind that is enmity against God, that is not subject to his law, neither indeed can be. It is with this carnal mind that the Christian has to wage war. He may be victorious, and again, without divine help, he may be vanquished. The highest attainment is to hold the victory. This can only be done by constant help from God, and this can only be secured by feeling a continual dependence upon God, which leads to constant prayer. If prayer is neglected, a man walks in his own strength, and this will never be sufficient to hold the victory over the great foe, the carnal mind. We may think that we have crucified the old man with his deeds; but it will soon be found that he has had a resurrection. Hence a constant feeling of dependence, and constant watchfulness, and prayer, are indispensable. The Christian may triumph in God; but he may never lay down his watch. He may say truly, Thanks be to God that giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ; but he must never lay off his armor till the final victory is won. While life remains, he must never say, I have attained and the work is done. Thoughts on Prophecy.
By D. T. Bourdeau
PROPHECY is history in advance, or an account given of events before they come to pass. God must be the author of prophecy. He alone can remove the veil of futurity and describe events before they happen. Fulfillment of prophecy is the strongest evidence in favor of the divine origin of the Bible. A prophecy fulfilled in our day is stronger evidence in favor of the authenticity of the Scriptures than a miracle performed in Bible times. To prove the genuineness of miracles performed in Bible times, you simply have the written testimony. But a prophecy fulfilled in our day is a living miracle, the genuineness of which may be attested by your own senses. Can we, therefore, wonder why Satan should make such mighty and persistent efforts to have prophecy put in the shade? Prophecy was not written to puzzle men's brains. It is a part of revelation, and may therefore be understood. Though some portions of prophecy were to be closed up, and sealed till the time of the end, we are plainly told that at that time, many should be purified, and made white, and tried, and the wise should understand. Dan. 12:9, 10. Some portions of prophecy have been sealed, because they were not present truth to the people; the events they described were future, and the people were not called upon to shape their course to meet them in their day. But when the time comes for these prophetic declarations to be fulfilled, then the seal that was upon them is broken, and they are made plain by the events that fulfill them. For instance, how inconsistent it would have been to proclaim the second coming of the Lord and the seven last plagues near, two hundred years ago! or, for a Noah to have arisen and proclaimed an impending flood in the days of Adam! or, for John the Baptist to have made his advent and given his message in the days of David, or in those of Jeremiah? This helps us to answer the question that is so often asked: Why were not these things found out before? It is Jesus that speaks to us in prophecy. Rev. 1:1. And he speaks to us in symbols and parables to simplify his subjects as he did when he was on earth. How perfectly natural, then, it is to expect that the prophecies explain themselves, and that they are made even plainer than Christ's discourses were when he was on earth; for when the Saviour was on earth, he was present to explain any point that was not fully understood; but he is not here to assist us personally. But, thank God for the Spirit of promise that is left us to guide us into all truth, and that he is more willing to grant his Spirit to them that ask than earthly parents are to give good gifts to their children. Nothing can be more gratifying to the great and good God than for his children to understand his word that he has taken so much pains to reveal to mankind. Hence, “the Holy One of Israel” says, “Ask me of things to come concerning my sons, and concerning the works of my hands command ye me.” Isa. 45:11. And of the book of Daniel, the Saviour says, “Whoso readeth, let him understand.” Matt. 24:15. And Peter says, “We have a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place.” 2 Pet. 1:19. No one would refuse the light of a lantern in a dark night; the more light the better. So with the light of prophecy to shine on our pathway in this dark world. Christ pronounces a blessing on those who hear, as well as on those who read the book of Revelation, which is said to be the most obscure book of the Bible. Rev. 1:3. Prophecy is practical. It not only shows us our whereabouts, but it also shows us our dangers and duties in going down the stream of time. This is why so many turn away from it. They dread the cross, which is the very thing they should take up to follow Jesus and show genuine love for God and his truth. Prophecy is the burden of at least twenty of the books of the Bible, besides being interspersed in nearly every other book of the sacred volume. To cut the prophecies out of the Bible, would indeed leave us with a small Bible. May God help us to honor him by honoring every part of his word.