Signs of the Times, Vol. 28, No. 31. (7/30/1902)

Signs of the Times

Jul 30, 1902

Pacific Press Publishing Company · Oakland, California · Jul 30, 1902

THE COMING TO JUDGMENT.

[Article 6 in the Series “The Coming of the Lord.”]

THE second coming of Christ, as understood in these articles, is preceded by a coming of the Son of man to the judgment throne of God to receive his kingdom.

When He comes to the earth to deliver His righteous followers from the bondage of sin, the number of those who shall constitute that kingdom on earth is completed, and their names are recorded in the Great Register in heaven.

It is not necessary to discuss at length here the need of a judgment on the cases of men. God is righteous. He is the Judge of all the earth, and will reward every man justly. Death is having its time of harvest, but through the ages the grim messenger has not succeeded in hiding from the Infinite One any life deeds of a single soul. In the halls of Heaven’s City are the books in which are recorded, by means of God’s perfect system, the words, the deeds, the thoughts, that characterize every individual. And so it has been from the beginning of the great controversy on earth.

An examination of these books is made by the Father and the Son and the angels, prior to the coming of Christ, to determine who is worthy of immortality, and to be numbered as subjects of the eternal kingdom. This appears from the fact that at His coming the reward of immortality is bestowed upon the righteous who are living, and upon the righteous who are then raised from the dead. This is the time to begin bestowing final rewards, and rewards are always given after proper investigation of the merits of the case. See Luke 14:14; 2 Thess. 2:15–17; 1 Cor. 15:51–55.

While this examination must be one of great magnitude, yet even human ingenuity would suggest records covering the world’s history, in which would appear the names of individuals, classified according to the life’s character. There would be a very clear distinction between those who have lived solely for this life and those who have professed godliness. From the latter class in all ages must be made up the subjects of the kingdom. Once professing themselves children of God, their names have been written in the book of life, and remain there, either forever or until an investigation reveals the fact that the life’s record spells failure. It is this investigation, involving the confirmation of names and characters, and the removal of names and characters from the book of life, that immediately precedes the second coming of Christ.

This great investigative work constitutes, in a broad sense, a judgment, or decision on the cases of all mankind. In this judgment, the Ancient of days—God, the Father—is the presiding Judge. This is the description of the scene by the prophet Daniel: “I beheld till the thrones were cast down [placed about the central throne], and the Ancient of days did sit, whose garment was white as snow, and the hair of his head like the pure wool; His throne was like the fiery flame, and His wheels as burning fire. A fiery stream issued and came forth from before Him; thousand thousands ministered unto Him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before Him; the judgment was set, and the books were opened. . . . I saw in the night visions, and, behold one like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of days, and they brought Him near before Him. And there was given unto Him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages, should serve Him; His dominion is an everlasting dominion which shall not pass away, and His kingdom that which shall not be destroyed.” Dan. 7:9–14.

In the eighth chapter of Daniel, verse 14, an event is mentioned, which, by means of correlated texts and instruction in the Word, is found to be identical with the judgment so graphically described by the prophet in the quotation just referred to. This event is here called the cleansing of the sanctuary. In ancient Israel this was a yearly occurrence, and the day upon which this ceremony was performed was also called the day of atonement. This was the tenth day of the seventh month. Upon this day, the high priest, who had during the year been officiating in the holy place of the sanctuary, entered the innermost apartment—the most holy. This act signified the transference of the sins of the people to the mercy seat, where they were confessed, and there in figure carried out and laid upon the head of the waiting scapegoat, which was then sent away into a land of forgetfulness. This day was a day of solemnity and heart searching; for the divine injunction stipulated that he whose sins were not confessed before the high priest left the most holy place, should be cut off from among the chosen people.

This was a figure. The sanctuary on earth, with its ministrations, was a type of the sanctuary in heaven, into which Christ, Minister of the new covenant, High Priest for the spiritual Israel of God—one chosen from among His brethren, entered when He ascended on high after His resurrection from the dead. His work there is that of a mediator, an advocate. As in the type, so in the antitype, a time of cleansing, or transferring, of sins must come. There, it was at the end of the year; here, it is in the end of the world, and the great work is to be done once for all. See Hebrews, chapters 8 and 9.

The prophecy of Daniel locates definitely the time in the world’s history when this great work is to be begun in the heavenly sanctuary. “Unto two thousand and three hundred days,” said the angel visitant. Afterwards, the beginning

of this time was indicated, namely, “the going forth of the commandment to restore and to rebuild Jerusalem.” This was in the year 457 B.C. The long period of 2300 day-years beginning at that date, and marked off by subdivisions at definite occurrences in the world’s history (Dan. 9:24–27), reaches into the year 1844 A.D., nearly 1800 years this side the destruction of Jerusalem and the earthly sanctuary. The sanctuary referred to is the heavenly, and therefore in that year, undoubtedly at the time of atonement—on the tenth day of the seventh month, October 22, our reckoning—Jesus, our High Priest, entered for a special purpose the inner apartment of heaven’s sanctuary. That purpose was for the investigation of the records of life, beginning with the earliest times, and covering the present, the times of the living, and until the Gospel of salvation shall have accomplished its work.

All the world knows of the peculiar and remarkable messages that moved Christendom in the few years prior to and including the year 1844. The 2300 years were about to end; a solemn work was about to be begun in heaven, involving the destiny of each member of the human family; the “time of the end” had already measured off more than forty years; the great signs—the earthquake at the beginning of the sixth seal, the darkening of the sun and moon, and the falling of the stars—had taken place; the final stage in the work of salvation was about to be entered upon in heaven and in earth, and it was fitting that the world should know and understand the meaning of the hour.

As the time approached, the Spirit of God moved upon earnest men in different parts of the world to proclaim the three great messages of Revelation 14. The first of these was: “Fear God, and give glory to Him; for the hour of His judgment is come.” At the time it was thought that the Lord would come to the earth at the termination of the 2300 years; but it was not long thereafter until the true signification of the ending of this time and the work of cleansing the sanctuary—the investigative judgment—was understood, an event necessarily preceding the departure of the High Priest from the sanctuary, and the end of the world.

In the prophecy of Malachi are words applying with peculiar significance to the judgment now in process, altho the prophecy referred also to the first advent: “The Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to His temple. . . . But who may abide the day of His coming? and who shall stand when He appeareth? for He is like a refiner’s fire, and like fullers’ soap; and He shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver. . . . And I will come near to you to judgment.” Mal. 3:1–5.

Suddenly, because the hour is unknown on earth, the time comes in the judgment above when men’s names and the deeds of their lives appear for review and decision before the great tribunal. It is evident that the time must come when the names of the living will be considered. Decisions will then be rendered in harmony with the manner in which individuals are improving present opportunities. This is the time referred to by the Saviour: “Then shall two be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left. . . . Watch therefore; for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come. . . . Therefore be ye also ready; for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh.” Matt. 24:40–44. This is the coming to the names of individuals for judgment.

It is well to consider seriously our relation to this event. Fifty-eight years ago the work of investigation began. When did the examination of names by the Judge and the Advocate and the heavenly assistants reach the cases of the present generation? Are the names of the living now before the Court? In the earthly sanctuary one day sufficed for the work to be completed for the year previous. “Once in the end of the world” the work now being done above will be accomplished. How long will be this “hour” of judgment? Can you say that the last moment is distant in point of time? Are you ready for the Son of man to come to your name?

[The next paper will consider “The Close of Probation.”]

THE WORD OF GOD.

By Ellen G. White

CLAD in the vestments of humanity, the Son of God came down to the level of those He wished to save. In Him was no guile or sinfulness; He was ever pure and undefiled; yet He took upon Him our sinful nature. Clothing His divinity with humanity, that He might associate with fallen humanity, He sought to regain for man that which by disobedience Adam had lost, for himself and for the world. In His own character Jesus manifested to the world the character of God; He pleased not Himself, but went about doing good. His whole history, for more than thirty years, was one of pure, disinterested benevolence.

Can we wonder that men were astonished at His teaching? “He taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes.” The teaching of the scribes and Pharisees was a continuous repetition of fables and childish traditions. Their opinions and ceremonies rested on the authority of ancient maxims and rabbinical sayings, which were frivolous and worthless. Christ did not dwell on weak, insipid sayings and theories of men. As one possessing higher authority He addressed His hearers, presenting before them momentous subjects; and His appeals carried conviction to their hearts. The opinion of all, expressed by many who were not able to keep silent, was, “Never man spake like this Man.”

The Bible teaches the whole will of God concerning us. “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness; that the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works.” The teaching of this Word is exactly that needed in all circumstances in which we may be placed. It is a sufficient rule of faith and practice; for it is the voice of God speaking to the soul, giving the members of His family directions for keeping the heart with all diligence. If this Word is studied, not merely read, but studied, it furnishes us with a storehouse of knowledge which enables us to improve every God-given endowment. It teaches us our obligation to use the faculties given us. Guided by its precepts, we may render obedience to God’s requirements.

All who will come to the Word of God for guidance, with humble, inquiring minds, determined to know the terms of salvation, will understand what saith the Scripture. But those who bring to the investigation of the Word a spirit which it does not approve, will take away from the search a spirit which it has not imparted. The Lord will not speak to a mind that is unconcerned. He wastes not His instruction on one who is willingly irreverent or polluted. But the tempter educates every mind that yields itself to his suggestions and is willing to make of none effect God’s holy law.

We need to humble our hearts, and with sincerity and reverence search the Word of life; for that mind alone that is humble and contrite can see light. The heart, the mind, the soul must be prepared to receive light. There must be silence in the soul. The thoughts must be brought into captivity to Jesus Christ. The boastful self-confidence and self-sufficiency must stand rebuked in the presence of the Word of God. The Lord speaks to the heart that humbles itself before Him.

Stirring times are before us, and it is fatal to be careless and indifferent. “Yet a little while, and He that shall come will come, and will not tarry.” We can not afford to be disobedient to God’s requirements. The wrath which the impenitent are now treasuring up against that day when the judgment shall sit, and every case shall be judged according to the things written in the books of heaven, will soon break upon them. Then the voice of mercy will no longer plead in behalf of the sinner.

If the invitations given now are refused, if we persist in disobedience, we shall have no second probation. “Choose you this day whom ye will serve.”—God or mammon. Now, while it is called to-day, if ye will hear His voice, harden not your heart, lest it be the last invitation of mercy.

MRS. E. G. WHITE.

LIFE AND DEATH.

By Ernest H. Crosby

[Ernest H. Crosby, in Conservator.]

So he dies for his faith. That is fine— More than most of us do. But say, can you add to that line That he lived for it too?

In his death he bore witness at last As a martyr to truth. Did his life do the same in the past From the days of his youth?

It is easy to die. Men have died For a wish or a whim— From bravado or passion or pride. Was it harder for him?

But to live—every day to live out All the truth that he dreamt, While his friends met his conduct with doubt And the world with contempt.

Was it thus that he plodded ahead, Never turning aside? Then we'll talk of the life that he led Never mind how he died.

THE TWENTY-THIRD PSALM.

Down in a Southern hospital a soldier was dying; he was a Scotchman and an infidel. A missionary of the Christian Commission stood by his cot, but he would not listen to the Gospel; he covered his face with the bed-cover and turned away in pride and scorn. The missionary did not know what to do, but noticing that he was a Scotchman, and knowing, himself, the sweetness of the old psalms to the Scottish ear, he sat down a little way off and began to sing the twenty-third psalm in the old Rous version:—

“The Lord’s my Shepherd, I’ll not want, He makes me down to lie In pastures green. He leadeth me The quiet waters by.”

He sang on quietly, tenderly. Before he was half through the psalm the patient was trembling from head to foot and sobbing aloud. He threw the covering down and said: “Why did you sing that psalm? My mother taught it to me by her knee, and it was her last message to me when she died.” The ice was broken; the heart was open to the truth; tenderly the seed was sown and the soul was saved.—Sel.

Smiling Though Tears Are in the Heart

“SMILE cheerfully, tho tears are in the heart.”

SCIENCE AND SPIRITISM.

By G. W. Reaser

[In the Natal Mercury of South Africa recently there has been much discussion anent Spiritism, many favoring it. Among the letters in that paper, was the following, which presents the truly Biblical view:—]

JUDGING from the volume of correspondence, Spiritism must be regarded as one of the most prominent religious questions of the hour. The writer, having made a careful study along these lines for several years, would proffer the following suggestions: Spiritualism, more properly designated Spiritism, is not a new thing in the world, but dates back several thousand years in the history of the human family. The writer fully believes in the fact of Spiritism, and is positive that at least some of its adherents can demonstrate its reality beyond the power of science to controvert. This system, in its modern form, and under its present title, was developed and made known to the world as a result of some strange phenomena which occurred in the Fox family at Hydesville, New York, U. S. A., about the year 1846. Its adherents can now be numbered by scores of millions of men and women, many of whom retain their membership in the leading churches of civilized lands. While the writer is a believer in the fact of communication with spirits, yet he would rather lose his physical eyesight than to become a confirmed Spiritist. The Bible and its author bear record to the reality of this occult form of religion, but no one can be a devout Spiritist, and at the same time be a full believer in the Bible, or have the approval of heaven; for while it is recognized of God, it is always and forever condemned by His Word; and while men may rejoice in the thought of being in touch with the spirit world, their rejoicing is not of heavenly origin, for it is contrary to the Word of God.

A few Scripture quotations will convince any candid mind that the one who communicates with spirits of supposed human beings is doing a very offensive thing in the sight of High Heaven. In Deut. 18: 10-12, the Lord speaks through His servant Moses, saying: “There shall not be found among you any one that maketh his son or his daughter to pass through the fire, or that useth divination, or an observer of times, or an enchanter, or a witch, or a charmer, or a consulter of familiar spirits, or a wizard, or a necromancer. For all that do these things are an abomination unto the Lord.” Again Isaiah testifies against the practise of Spiritism, when, in chapter 8: 19, he says: “And when they shall say unto you, Seek unto them that have familiar spirits, and unto wizards that peep, and that mutter: should not a people seek unto their God? for the living to the dead?” A New Testament writer foretold the rise of modern Spiritism when he wrote these words: “Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils.” 1 Tim. 4: 1. The seer of Patmos adds his testimony also to the rise of Spiritism just before the coming of Christ the second time. He writes: “And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs come out of the mouth of the dragon, and out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet. For they are the spirits of devils, working miracles, which go forth unto the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty.” Rev. 16. 13, 14.

In the quotation from Timothy, the spirits with which some men communicate are denominated “seducing spirits.” Who ever saw a confirmed Spiritist who was not seduced from the true principles of Christianity? The influence of Spiritism is acknowledged by many of its followers to be corrupting instead of elevating. One of its legitimate offspring is that destroyer of the family and human happiness in general—“free-love.” To say, as some have said, that the Saviour of men was a Spiritist medium savors strongly of blasphemy, for one form of blasphemy is to attribute the power of God to Satan. The Scriptures teach that there are two classes of angels—one class loyal to God, and unfallen; the other, joining in the rebellion of Satan, and fallen, corrupt, “lying spirits.” Neither of these classes were ever members of the human family, but were created angels from the beginning. These beings, of both classes, have power to visit this world; and, that the evil angels should appear to those “who seek familiar spirits” as their dead friends, is “no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light;” but, says Inspiration, “I would not that ye should worship devils.” This Satanic delusion is to constitute one of the greatest deceptions that the world has ever seen, even substantiating its assumptions by apparently bringing “down fire from heaven on the earth, in the sight of men.” Take heed, fellow-traveler; shun it as you would the leprosy, for it will, if possible, “deceive the very elect.”

G. W. REASER.

Beulah, Bulwer Road, Durban, Natal.

Disease Never Comes without a Cause

By W. S. Sadler

THE MISSION OF PAIN AND THE LANGUAGE OF DISEASE. NO. 2.

Disease Never Comes without a Cause.

“The curse causeless shall not come.” Prov. 26: 2.

HERE we have in a nutshell the whole question of mental and moral suffering, physical and spiritual disease. In all the Scriptures there can not be found a more concise statement of all the problems of health and disease, of spiritual growth and backsliding. We must ever bear in mind, in our study of health and disease, that we are observing the footprints of an infinite God, who is all the while at work carrying toward its completion an eternal purpose. So oftentimes the divine purpose of affliction will necessarily be incomprehensible to the finite mind of sinful man. If we are studying divine healing, it is only reasonable to expect that every now and then we shall come across things entirely beyond our understanding; because things divine are infinite and eternal, and in their fulness are far beyond the grasp of man’s vision or the reach of human understanding.

In the mind of God—in the infinite plan of the Eternal—there is a cause for every curse, for every pain, for every spiritual or physical affliction; for the God with whom we have to do does nothing arbitrarily. He does not in anger seek to punish the wrong-doer because he has chosen to disobey. On the other hand, he has arranged that the penalty and the consequence of disobedience shall be such as to exert every possible influence to lead the transgressor to repentance and back into the path of obedience.

God is a Being of infinite justice, and will not permit to come upon his creatures any hardship, suffering, or anguish, unless there is a just and good cause for it. Our Father above never seeks to accomplish by sickness or suffering that which could have been accomplished by happiness and health. How wrong it is to charge God with having afflicted us in wrath and anger, when we are suffering the inevitable consequences of our own wrong-doing; how wrong to attribute to a “mysterious dispensation of Providence,” disease and death which human beings have brought upon themselves by gross neglect of the laws and conditions that regulate our physical well-being. Let us, then, in every time of sorrow, distress, or suffering, seek to learn the purpose of God in permitting these things to overtake us; and then conscientiously and perseveringly co-operate with the Spirit of God in cleansing “ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit.” 2 Cor. 7: 1.

If, after having done our best to learn the cause of our affliction, we have been unable to discover it, let us not criticize the God whose hand is on the lever of circumstances, but rather submit with patience to that which has overtaken us, and say with Paul: “I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content;” for “we know that all things work together for good to them that love God.” Phil. 4: 11; Rom. 8: 28.

W. S. SADLER.

A PROMISING “MIRACLE” BLIGHTED.

At the Church of the Sacred Heart, in Trenton, N. J., on a recent Sunday, a crowd appeared and gazed with awe upon the mysterious picture of a man and woman which had made its appearance on the wall between “the first and second stations of the cross.” A group of children were at prayers in the church Saturday afternoon, when one of them noticed the outline of the picture, which seemed to have just materialized on the wall. The child told her companions, and in a few minutes the report was widespread that a miracle had taken place. For a while older people who undertook to investigate were mystified. It was not until Sunday night that the mystery was fully solved. Years ago, when the church was frescoed, the decorators amused themselves by painting various pictures on the walls, believing that their work would be permanently obliterated by the finished decorations. These pictures were done in oil, while the frescoing was in water color. The latter has at last been

absorbed, so that the work in oil shows plainly underneath. An aged Sister of Mercy remembered the painting of the church, and it was her explanation which solved a mystery that even the rector of the parish was unable to clear up. Who knows how many traditions of miracles in the Middle Ages could be accounted for in this credible way, and thus to a considerable extent relieve the reputations of the purveyors of miracles?—Christian Advocate.

UNLOVED

By Edna Kingsley Wallace

ONCE, as I watched, did Thou, my King, pass by, Absorbed, unheeding of my eager cry; But evermore amid the bitter pain Of losing Thee is this, my soul’s great gain— That if Thou had’st not, tho unknowing, passed, I might have learned a lesser love at last— With loving Thee my spirit grows, nor mourns To wear Love’s crown, e’en tho it be of thorns.

—Edna Kingsley Wallace.

FOR ALL.

By Edison Driver

Is THERE one man in the world anywhere that the Gospel can not save? No, there is not one; for if there is one, then our Saviour is the saviour of a few. And He is not that. He came to save all — every one. Is there one man in the world anywhere, who has a longing in his heart, a desire for something more in any line—mental, physical, or material—that the Gospel will not satisfy? — No, there is not one. For if the Gospel has failed to satisfy a single being, if it will not fill any heart with joy, is it not a partial and pitiable thing? It will, brother; it will.

There is not one longing, one ambition, one striving for that which we have not, but Christ has made full and complete provision for it. His Gospel is the power of God to meet every need of every nature, and anything less than that is not “good tidings,” and is not the whole Gospel. EDISON DRIVER.

MURMURING AGAINST GOD.

“The murmurings of the people,” says Dr. Alexander McLaren, on Exodus 16, in the Sunday School Times, “fill a larger space in the lesson than the supply of the manna, and we may well pause on them. We may learn from them how quickly men forget God’s benefits when difficulties or losses come, and may ask ourselves if our thankfulness is more stable and independent of the moment’s circumstances than theirs was. There are flowers that shut themselves up if a cloud comes over the sun, and there are flowers that hold their petals wide open all the day, tho the light comes only from a veiled sky. Which of the two is our gratitude to God like? Can we sing in a darkened cage? We may learn, too, what tricks memory plays when we are discontented with our present, painting our past for us, like a Japanese picture, without any shadows. There are moods in which we remember the fleshpots and forget the bondage, and that not because we have learned to look wisely at past sorrows, but because we are looking unwisely at present ones.

“Again, these murmurers remind us how apt we are to lay the blame of our losses or trials at the door of men, and to ignore God in them. ‘Ye have brought us into this wilderness,’ said they. If they had said, ‘God has brought us,’ they would probably have gone on to realize that, if so, He would take care of them. They had not got so far as to venture yet to murmur against God, and so they launched their reproaches against Moses and Aaron. But the arrows from bitter tongues glanced off the two instruments and struck the hand that wielded them. ‘We often mean God when we say ‘Ye,’ and are really accusing Him when we do not venture to name Him, but complain of His tools.’”

THE TWO KINGDOMS OF CHRIST.

1. When our Lord finishes His priesthood and comes the second time, what will take place?

“Then cometh the end [of the age], Matt. 28:20; 13:39], “when He shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father; when He [the Father] shall have put down all rule and all authority and power. For He must reign [upon the Father’s throne], till He [the Father] hath put all enemies under His feet. The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death. For He hath put all things under His feet. But when He saith all things are put under Him, it is manifest that He is excepted, which did put all things under Him. And when all things shall be subdued unto Him, then shall the Son also Himself be subject unto Him that put all things under Him, that God may be all in all.” 1 Cor. 15:24–28.

2. What is the throne called where Christ now reigns?

“Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace.” Heb. 4:16.

3. When did He take this throne of the Father?

“When He [the Father] raised Him from the dead, and set Him at His own right hand.” Eph. 1:20; Heb. 8:1, 2.

4. What did the Father say to the Son at this time?

“Jehovah said unto my Lord, Sit Thou at My right hand, until I make Thine enemies Thy footstool. . . . Jehovah hath sworn and will not repent, Thou art a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.” Ps. 110:1, 4; Acts 2:34–36.

5. Who then puts “down all rule and all authority and power”?

“The Father, according to His promise.”

6. Where, and as what, does Christ reign until this is done?

“On the Father’s throne, at His ‘right hand.’”

7. What promise to Abraham is thus fulfilled?

“Thy seed shall possess the gate of His enemies.” Gen. 22:17.

8. When He shall have finished this priesthood for fallen man, what will He then do?

“Then cometh the end, when He shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father.” See above, No. 1.

9. What does the Father then give Him?

“I saw [right down in the close of probationary time, see verses 10, 11, 14] in the night visions, and, behold, one like the Son of Man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of Days, and they brought Him near before Him. And there was given Him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages, should serve Him; His dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and His kingdom that which shall not be destroyed.” Dan. 7:13, 14.

10. What is this kingdom called elsewhere?

“And the Lord God shall give unto Him the throne of His Father David; and He shall reign over the house of Jacob forever; and of His kingdom there shall be no end.” Luke 1:32, 33. See also 2 Sam. 7:12–16; Ps. 72:5–8; 89:29, 36, 37.

11. How much did these promises to Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and David include?

“For the promise, that he [Abraham] should be the heir of the world, was . . . through the righteousness of faith.” Rom. 4:13.

NOTE.—It is the one promise to the Seed from the beginning, through Seth and Noah and Abraham and Isaac and Israel and Judah and Jesus and David and Solomon.

12. What was the extent of the dominion given to man in the beginning?

“Over all the earth.” Gen. 1:26.

“The earth hath He given to the children of men.” Ps. 115:16.

13. What solemn assurance has God given of this, despite the curse of sin?

“For thus saith Jehovah that created the heavens; God Himself that formed the earth and made it; He hath established it, He created it not in vain. He formed it to be inhabited; I am Jehovah; and there is none else.” Isa. 45:18.

14. When will this prophecy be fulfilled?

After the wicked are destroyed, and the earth renewed.

“For evil-doers shall be cut off; but those that wait upon Jehovah, they shall inherit the earth. For yet a little while and the wicked shall not be; yea, thou shalt diligently consider his place, and it shall not be. But the meek shall inherit the earth; and shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace.” Ps. 37:9–11. See also verse 34; 2 Peter 3:7–13, et al.

15. For how long shall God’s children possess such a kingdom?

“Jehovah knoweth the days of the upright; and their inheritance shall be forever.” Ps. 37:18, 29.

“Thy people also shall be all righteous; they shall inherit the land forever, the branch of My planting, the work of My hands, that I may be glorified.” See Isa. 60:18–22; 54:17.

“And the kingdom and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven, shall be given to the people of the saints of the Most High, whose kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey Him.” Dan. 7:27. See also Revelation 21, 22.

NOTE.—There is much, very, very much more which God’s precious Word has to say on the kingdom of our God. Each soul is in himself in a way typical of the earth. It is by struggle, crucifixion, tribulation that he enters the kingdom and Christ reigns in his heart. So the earth must pass through her long suffering of sin from Adam until the coming of Jesus, through the millennium of desolation when the void earth shall rest (for the saints are in the New Jerusalem above, and the wicked in their graves), through the purifying fires at the end of the thousand years, and then an eternity of bliss. Reader, God invites you to this everlasting kingdom.

LOVE OF THE WORLD VERSUS LOVE TO GOD.

By H. E. Manning

THERE are things in the world which, although not actually sinful in themselves, do nevertheless so check the love of God in us as to stifle and destroy it. They will, by a most subtle but inevitable effect, stifle the pure and single love of our hearts toward God, and that in many ways. For, in the first place, they actually turn away the affections of the heart from God. Love of worldly things plainly defrauds Him of our loyalty, and checks, if it does not absolutely thrust our love to Him out of our hearts. And, in the next place, it impoverishes, so to speak, the whole character of the mind. Even the religious affections which remain undiverted are weakened and lowered in their quality. They are like the thin fruits of an exhausted soil. Consider somewhat more closely the particular consequences of this love of the world.

1. It brings a dulness over the whole of a man's soul. To stand apart from the throng of earthly things, and to let them hurry by as they will and whither they will, is the only sure way to calmness and clearness in the spiritual life. It is by living much alone with God, by casting off the burden of things not needful to our inner life, by narrowing our toils and our wishes to the necessities of our actual lot, that we become familiar with the world unseen.

2. As we grow to be attached to the things that are in the world, there comes over us what I may call a vulnerableness of mind. We lay ourselves open on just so many sides as we have objects of desire. We give hostages to this changeful world, and we are ever either losing them or trembling lest they be wrested from us. Every earthly fondness is an ambush for the solicitations of the wicked one. We can with great care in due season disentangle ourselves from all needless hindrances. The rest will be no let to the love of God. All pure loves may dwell under its shadow. Only we must not suffer them to shoot above and to overcast it; for the love of God will not grow in the shade of any worldly affection. Above all, let us pray Him to shed abroad in our hearts more and more of His love, that is, a fuller and deeper sense of His exceeding love toward us.—H. E. Manning, Sermons, vol. I, p. 62.

WITH GOD.

To talk with God—no breath is lost. Talk on! Talk on! To walk with God—no strength is lost. Walk on! Walk on! To wait on God—no time is lost. Wait on! Wait on! To grind the ax—no work is lost. Grind on! Grind on! Martha stood, but Mary sat; Martha murmured much at that! Martha cared, but Mary heard, listening to the Master’s word. And the Lord her choice preferred. Sit on! Hear on!

Work without God is labor lost. Work on! Work on! Full soon you’ll learn it to your cost. Toil on! Toil on!

Little is much when God is in it; Man’s busiest day is not worth God’s minute. Much is little everywhere, If God the labor does not share; So work with God and nothing’s lost; Who works with Him does best and most. Work on! Work on!

—Selected.

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