"YE have heard of the patience of Job." Have you ever heard of the im-patience of Job?
The story of Job—the story of a "perfect and upright" man under trial—surely reveals patience, but it also brings to light impatience.
Job's afflictions were very real and very severe. He was called to the loss of property, the loss of children, the loss of health, the loss of wife's moral support, the loss of confidence on the part of his friends.
From a position of great affluence and influence, he was instantly reduced to one of poverty and disrespect. Some of the SIGNS readers may have known, at least in part, how tremendously such change tends to depress and discourage.
But Job took the loss of property without sin, saying, "The Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord."
What a splendid testimony of faith, trust, and good will! Patience was beautifully demonstrated.
Following loss of property, came the loss of his beloved children. Job's loss in this respect was terribly real. Jacob's loss of Joseph was only a supposed loss. Joseph had not died—was only taken away for a short time. Job's children were destroyed and gone.
But even when this loss was made known, the grand old patriarch offered no foolish charge against Providence. He fell down and worshiped Him who gave and who had taken away. His testimony was, "Blessed be the name of the Lord."
Ah, how strikingly trustful and submissive and patient! Yes, we have "heard of the patience of Job."
Boston Photo News Company
Then came bodily suffering. Some hold, and not without reason, that Job was subjected to smallpox. He was covered with boils "from the sole of his foot unto his crown."
However, smallpox had no effect upon the integrity of God's servant. Illness seemed only to confirm his loyalty and devotion.
A step further: While he was suffering most intensely, enduring a world of physical agony, his companion came with that wretched word of doubt and reproach, "Curse God, and die." More terrible than all that had preceded was this withdrawal of wifely sympathy and comfort. Through the wife's infidelity, Satan was striking at the very vitals of Job's life experience.
Did he fall before the attack?—No. He simply reminded her that he who daily receives good from the hand of God, should be willing to receive ill as well. "In all this did not Job sin with his lips."
From these exceedingly great trials, Job emerged triumphant. He had been able to see, in all that came, the hand of a loving Father, a faithful God. He read aright the messages that came. And because he thus read and understood, he maintained his equilibrium, he preserved inviolate the privileges of sonship, he pleased God, he continued to bless those around him.
WHEN HIS FRIENDS DERIDED HIM
There came a time, however, when trial was misunderstood, when his eyes became focused upon circumstances, when he thought and spoke of things seen.
That which the good man failed to appreciate as from God, was the "comfort" of his three "friends." From the day when those "friends" began their effort to help(?) Job, he began to lose in experience. From that point forward, we shall read and hear of the impatience of this man of God.
But why should Job have been thus changed? What did his "friends" do that caused him to lose his footing?
A careful reading of the record will show that in the eyes of his "friends," Job was one who sought to cover sin. One questioned his innocency. Job 4:7. Another doubted his uprightness, and insinuated that he was a hypocrite. Job 8:6, 13. A third openly accused him of dishonesty. Job 11:3. And now the first returns to charge him with egoism and self-conceit (Job 15:7-10), telling him finally that his wickedness is great, that his iniquities are infinite, and that he had turned against the widow and the fatherless. Job 22:5, 9.
These and many other accusations, all of which Job knew to be unjust and untrue, caused him to lose sight of God, and led him to make statements of which afterwards he repented. "No doubt but ye are the people, and wisdom shall die with you," he cuttingly replied. "Miserable comforters are ye all," he said at another time. And as his brethren continued their scourging, Job continued to answer back in words of self-defense and self-justification.
By and by God came and spoke to His servant from the whirlwind. Note the divine words of reproof: "Who is this that darkeneth counsel by words without knowledge? Gird up now thy loins like a man; for I will demand of thee, and answer thou Me." Job 38:2, 3. Some one had been allowing himself to speak unwisely, to utter that which brought darkness. Some one had been reading wrongly the message contained in the writing on the wall.
BROUGHT TO HIS KNEES IN VICTORY
The divine interpretation and explanation brought the grand old man to his knees. He saw himself to be the guilty one. In shame and mortification he acknowledged the charge brought against him, and then said: "I have heard of Thee by the hearing of the ear; but now mine eye seeth Thee. Wherefore I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes." Job 42:5, 6.
Looking back from our day of light and life, we may easily see that throughout all Job's dark hours, God was ever with him, making all things work together for his good. Had he resolutely waited, and kept the door of his lips, even the wrong course taken by his "friends" would have worked untold and unmingled good. He would have come forth from the furnace of trial without burn or scar.
Good came at last, notwithstanding his failure, because God interposed and specially reproved and corrected. But, O, how much more would have been his, had he taken his last trial as he took the first!
His remarkable patience and trust manifested in the beginning were but the necessary result of seeing God, of recognizing His hand, and of acknowledging Him in all that came. "The Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away."
Impatience and sarcasm, of necessity, resulted from a mere seeing of men. Nagging remarks hurt and cut to the quick when God was left out; for it is only with God in the soul that man can take injury without suffering short circuiting of the nerves, with its consequent fires and explosions. For some reason, the patriarch lost his clear view of God, failed to interpret His message; and being alone in the trial, he found he could not bear what came, and thus impatience came in.
O, how much Job lost by his failure! And while it is true that in the end, he repented and found his way to victory, yet how much more might have been his, both while in trial and afterwards, had he maintained an unbroken connection with God!
"Ye have heard of the patience of Job." Let us remember the cause of his im-patience, and forever avoid it.
THE VALUE OF FOREIGN MISSIONS
By A. G. Daniells
THE supreme purpose of the foreign missions movement now carried forward by the Christian churches is, to evangelize the non-Christian world. This is the highest, the truest, and the most enduring service men can render to their fellow men.
The reign of sin in the hearts of men is the cause of all the unspeakable sorrows of the human race. The Son of God came into the world to break this reign of sin, and thus set men free, and eventually bring to an end all suffering and sorrow. The gospel is the revelation of that great truth, for it is "the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth." Rom. 1:16. This is the hope, and the only hope, of sinners. It is the grandest message that can be borne to the ears and hearts of the heathen wandering in the valley of the shadow of death. And this is the message proclaimed by the missionaries who have gone to heathen lands.
MILLIONS HAVE ACCEPTED HIM
The great world-wide, thoroughly organized foreign missions movement in behalf of the heathen has been in operation a little more than a century. The results are known the world over. Millions have accepted Christ as their Saviour. And all who have done so sincerely, have been lifted to a higher life. They have had a revelation of the character and results of sin, and also a revelation of Christ as the Saviour from sin. This revelation has wrought in them a marvelous transformation of life. It has banished superstition, savagery, and cannibalism from different classes of people in various groups of islands, and from large sections of country in all the continents of the world. The most thorough investigation shows that the gospel of Christ lifts all classes of people who receive it, to a new life. It Christianizes them, and that makes them a truly civilized people.
But the results of this great evangelizing movement represent only one side of the undertaking. On the other side are the missionaries,—their toil and self-sacrifice,—and the means required to support the work. The combined annual reports from the various mission boards and societies show that there are at the present time about twenty-five thousand European and American missionaries making Christ known in heathen lands. These are assisted by one hundred ten thousand native evangelists and workers. To maintain this splendid work, the churches in the home lands contribute twenty-five million dollars annually. The native Christians each year raise between seven and ten million dollars to push this work along in behalf of their own people.
TO FILL THE GAPS
The toil and the sacrifice, the separations and the sorrows, involved in this movement for a single year, are too great either to trace or to express. Every year, death reaps its cruel harvest. Filling the gaps breaks hundreds of family circles, and causes the repetition of hard labor to master the languages and make the necessary adjustments all around. To hold the ground already occupied, and to enter the doors everywhere thrown open to the missionary forces, requires constant and earnest efforts on the part of all believers in foreign missions.
And the work of raising funds can never cease. The years pass quickly, and consume the annual appropriations. There can be no let-up in giving. The movement is on in full force. The missionaries, with their wives and children, are at the front. The schools, printing houses, and dispensaries are all operating. This great work cannot stop. To continue implies the full expenditure of present appropriations, and that calls for continued giving on as large a scale as the church has ever contributed to the cause of foreign missions.
THE WORTH-WHILE ENDEAVOR
And why should not a work so helpful, so uplifting, and so transforming, continue and steadily enlarge? If any endeavor in the world is worth while, this is. If money is of value for any purpose, it is of special value in this movement. The unnumbered blessings the gospel has brought to us in the home land, the new life and hope it has brought to millions in heathen lands, and the great needs of the multi-millions who are still without it—all these appeal to us to go on recruiting and giving for foreign missions. A. G. D.
THE SOUL'S REFUGE
By G. B. T.
PRAYER is indeed a great privilege. It is the soul's refuge from the storm. When in distress — when we do not know which way to go or what to do — prayer shows us the way out. In hours of darkness, in times "when sorrows like sea billows roll," prayer brings relief to the soul. The Saviour in the garden, in that last and most tremendous crisis before He was delivered into the hands of sinners, prayed repeatedly, most522earnestly and urgently. Agony from the deep recesses of His soul caused Him to pour forth petitions which brought angels to the relief of their beloved Commander. So in response to the earnest prayer of His trusting child, offered in simplicity and resignation, help and deliverance will come. G. B. T.
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By Editor
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FINISHING THE WORK
By J. E. F.
1. GoD has given a work to be finished. John 5: 36.
2. It was Christ's meat to do God's will, and finish His work. John 4: 34.
3. And at last, when His life work on earth was ended, He could say, "I have finished the work." John 17: 4.
4. A few hours later, on the cross, He cried, "It is finished." John 19: 30.
5. Paul's desire also was to "finish" God's work. Acts 20: 24.
6. When his active life was about to close, he could say, "I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course." 2 Tim. 4: 7.
7. "In the days [or years] of the voice of the seventh [the last] angel, when he shall begin to sound [he began in 1844], the mystery of God [which is the gospel] should be finished." Rev. 10: 7. This angel sounds from 1844 till the end of the millennium; but in the years when he shall begin to sound, the preaching of God's truth must be brought to a close. That work is soon to be finished.
8. The Word tells us that God "will finish the work, and cut it short in righteousness." Rom. 9: 28. This text means that the great work of preaching the message to all the world will be finished speedily. May God give us all the spirit of Jesus, whose meat was to do God's will, and whose chiefest desire was to finish His work! All are to be missionaries.
J. E. F.
THE MARK OF THE BEAST
By R. C. P.
His Authority Set in Opposition to God—Charges Made Against Protestants—The Conflict Is On
This is the third of four articles by Elder Porter on the general theme of the seal of God contrasted with the mark of the beast, as presented in the prophecy of Rev. 14:9-12. In his first article, he showed what the beast symbolizes. In his article last week, he considered the seal of the living God, which is set in contrast to the mark of the beast depicted in his article this week. Next week, he will conclude the series by presenting the stirring appeal that God makes to a lost world, in view of the conflict that is confronting us, and the great climax that is soon to be realized in the second coming of Christ. EDITOR.
HAVING found that the fourth commandment contains the seal, sign, or mark of God, which, under the third angel's message, shall be restored in the foreheads of His people, while they, through the faith of Jesus, keep the commandments of God, it will not be difficult to learn what the mark and worship of the beast is. The beast is further identified by the number of his name. The revelator says: "Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is six hundred threescore and six." Rev. 13:18. The pope is the head of the Roman Catholic Church. He wears a tiara, or crown, as the symbol of his authority, and has assumed the title Vicarius Filii Dei—a substitute for the Son of God, or "instead of the Son of God."
THE NUMBER OF THE BEAST
We are asked to count the number of the beast, and we are told that it is the number of a man. The one man who represents the papacy is the pope. As we are dealing with Rome, we naturally turn to Roman notation in our endeavor to count the number of the beast. In Roman notation, certain letters express numerical value. For example: D equals 500, M equals 1,000, and so on. Taking the title Vicarius Filii Dei, and selecting the letters having numerical value, we have the exact number of the beast as given in the prophecy.
With astonishing accuracy, the title Vicarius Filii Dei, worn by the head of the papacy, counts the number 666, which identifies the papacy as the beast of the prophecy of Revelation 14, against which the warning of the third angel's message is borne.
VICAR OF THE SON OF GOD
The following correspondence was addressed to Cardinal Gibbons's secretary, on the question of the use of the words Vicarius Filii Dei:
"Baltimore, Md., Jan. 18, 1904.
"Wm. T. Russut,
"Cardinal's Residence, City.
"Dear Friend: I have received your answer to my letter to his eminence, for which favor I feel indebted; but it did not contain the answer to the main question, which was, Does the inscription Vicarius Filii Dei appear on the crown or miter of the pope, or has it at any time in the past appeared on the crowns or miters of any of the popes?
"Trusting you will pardon me for troubling you again, I beg to remain,
"Yours sincerely,
"H. S. Weaver."
In answer to the above, the following reply was received:
"Baltimore, Md., Jan. 26, 1904.
"Mr. H. S. Weaver.
"Dear Sir: In reply to yours of the 18th inst., I beg to say that I cannot say with certainty that the words Vicarius Filii Dei are on the pope's tiara. But the words are used by the cardinal who imposes the tiara at the coronation of the pope.
"Yours truly,
(Signed)
"Wm. T. Russut, Secretary."
Since the papacy bears the number of the beast, we next inquire, What is the mark of his authority by which he claims the right to enforce his commands upon the people?
THE BEAST'S MARK AND GOD'S SEAL CLASH
It is clear, from the foregoing study, that the "mark of the beast" is a counterfeit of God's seal, which is the Sabbath. In Dan. 7:25, it is plainly prophesied that the papacy shall think to change the times and the law of God.
That is what paganism did long before. It changed the day of worship from the Sabbath to the Sunday, thus substituting a workday for God's holy day. At the same time, it turned from the worship of God to the worship of the sun. The prophet says: "Her priests have violated My law, and have profaned Mine holy things: they have put no difference between the holy and profane, neither have they showed difference between the unclean and the clean, and have hid their eyes from My Sabbaths, and I am profaned among them." Eze. 22:26.
This change made a breach in God's law, which He sought to repair to save the people. "And I sought for a man among them, that should make up the hedge, and stand in the gap before Me for the land, that I should not destroy it: but I found none." Verse 30.
CHARGED WITH INCONSISTENCY
The papacy has done the same work. The following from editorials in the Catholic Mirror of November 18 and 25, 1893, shows what the mark of the Catholic power and authority is: "The Protestant world has been from its infancy, in the sixteenth century, in thorough accord with the Catholic Church in keeping holy not Saturday, but Sunday. To add to the intensity of this unscriptural and unpardonable blunder, it involves one of the most positive and emphatic commands of God to His servant man: 'Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy.' No Protestant living to-day has ever yet obeyed that command, preferring to follow the apostate church referred to, than his teacher, the Bible, which from Genesis to Revelation, teaches no other doctrine."
The following is to the same point: "The Bible says, 'Remember that thou keep holy the Sabbath day.' The Catholic Church says, No! by my divine power I abolish the Sabbath day and command you to keep holy the first day of the week. And, lo, the entire civilized world bows down in reverent obedience to the command of the holy Catholic Church!'—Father T. Enright, C. S. S. R. of Redemptorist College, Kansas City, Missouri.
From a Catholic work entitled "Plain Talk for Protestants," page 213, we take the following: "The observance of Sunday by the Protestants is an homage they pay in spite of themselves to the authority of the [Catholic] Church."
The Catholic Mirror of December 23, 1893, speaking editorially, says: "The arguments contained in this pamphlet are firmly grounded on the word of God, and having been closely studied with the Bible in hand, leave no escape for the conscientious Protestant, except the abandonment of Sunday worship, and the return to Saturday commanded by their teacher, the Bible; or, unwilling to abandon the tradition of the Catholic Church, which enjoins the keeping of Sunday, and which they have accepted in direct opposition to their teacher, the Bible, consistently accept her in all her teachings. Reason and common sense demand the acceptance of one or the other of these alternatives, either Protestantism and the keeping holy of Saturday, or Catholicity and the keeping of Sunday.523Compromise is impossible."
The Douay Catechism says:
"Q. How prove you that the church hath power to command feasts and holy days?
"A. By the very act of changing the Sabbath into Sunday, which Protestants allow of; and therefore they fondly contradict themselves, by keeping Sunday strictly, and breaking most other feasts commanded by the same church."
THE MARK OF HER AUTHORITY
Here is clearly set forth by the papacy itself the mark of its authority and power. God gave the Sabbath to direct the attention of man ever to Him as the true God, who, by virtue of being the Creator, is worthy of man's worship. This is the mark, sign, or seal of His power and authority.
The papacy claims that without divine authority, it has changed the Sabbath into Sunday, and by this very act it now demands worship. The world was compelled by force, during the supremacy of the papacy, to accept its dictum or die the martyr's death. A large majority therefore followed the beast in its change of the day. Rome now exults in her triumph, and appeals to this act as a sign, or mark, of her authority and power. Enforced Sunday observance is therefore the sign, or mark, of the power and authority of the beast, the papacy.
COUNTERFEIT SABBATH OBSERVANCE
This is the counterfeit of voluntary Sabbath observance, which is the mark, sign, or seal of God's power and authority. Some may say, "It makes no difference which day you observe, so long as you observe one day." God says it makes the difference between following and worshiping Him, and following and worshiping the beast. Paul says, "Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?" Rom. 6: 16. The difference between Sabbath and Sunday observance is that of being servants of God or servants of the beast. Obedience is the highest form of worship. Therefore those who obey God, worship Him; while those who obey the beast, worship him.
Those who receive the Lord's Sabbath, receive the seal of God in the forehead; while those who, in the face of light and knowledge that Sunday observance is an institution of the beast, follow him in Sunday observance, knowingly casting behind their backs God's Sabbath, receive the mark of the beast. These are the vital issues involved in the warning given in the third angel's message. Sealed with the seal of God, and having the Father's name written in their foreheads, the children of God shall enter the mansions prepared for them, and stand before the throne of God, upon the sea of glass, when the conflict is ended. Rev. 14: 1, 2. The worshipers of the beast, and those who receive his mark, shall receive the unmingled wrath of God as it is visited in the seven last plagues. Rev. 14: 9-12.
Photo by Underwood and Underwood, N. Y. This photograph shows Mrs. Pankhurst, who is said to be leading fifty thousand women in a demand for the opportunity to work in the munitions factories in order to save England.
Every apostasy covered by history has begun in apostasy from a true sense of the import of the true Sabbath as a memorial of God as man's Creator. Every world-wide apostasy movement has reached its climax in enforced observance of a spurious worship day in place of the creation Sabbath. Hence the voluntary observance of the true Sabbath stands as the seal, or sign, of loyalty to God; and the great mark of apostasy is enforced Sunday observance.
THE CONFLICT IS ON
This is no theory or delusion. The conflict is raging. The beast is arising to claim the worship of all people throughout the world, and impose the mark of its power and authority on them, by enforced Sunday observance. The third angel's message presents, in the fourth precept of the commandments of God, His seal. It warns against the worship of the beast, and obedience to enforced Sunday observance as the mark of its authority, under penalty of the unmingled wrath of God. This message is now being heralded throughout the world. The people of the world stand to-day where the people addressed by Elijah and the prophets of Baal stood anciently, when he appealed to them in these words: "How long halt ye between two opinions? if the Lord be God, follow Him: but if Baal, then follow him." 1 Kings 18: 21. So now, if the Lord be God, follow Him; but if the beast, then follow him. God commands the observance of the seventh day of the week as the Sabbath, as a sign, seal, or mark of His power as both Creator and Redeemer. The papacy commands the observance of Sunday as the mark of his power and authority to exalt himself "above all that is called God, or that is worshiped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God." To which shall we render allegiance? "His servants ye are to whom ye obey." Rom. 6: 16.
IS MAN IMMORTAL?
By George B. Thompson
MANY believe that he is. They have been taught it from childhood by the religious teachers of the day. On funeral occasions, the bereaved are told by the minister that there is no such thing as death, that the deceased is not dead, but that he is now amid the celestial glories of the world to come, singing songs of praise and adoration to God.
NEVER DYING SOUL FOREVER DIES
So much is said of the immortality of the soul, that one would think it could be found on almost every page of the Bible. Poets have written about it, and from our youth up we have sung about it. One favorite hymn says:
"A charge to keep I have,
A God to glorify;
A never dying soul to save,
Fitted for the sky."
Then the poet, seeming to have overlooked what he said in the first stanza, says in the second:
"If I my trust betray,
I shall forever die."
This rime has been sung thousands of times, and but few persons have ever stopped to inquire how "a never dying soul" could "forever die."
THE BIBLE DOES NOT SAY IT
We would like to ask how anybody knows that man is an immortal soul. Nowhere in the Bible have we ever read a verse that says such a thing. The words "soul" and "spirit," it is true, occur something over 1,700 times in the Bible, and the word "immortal" is found in the Bible; but not in a single instance do we find a text that says anything about an immortal soul.12This seems a strange omission, indeed, when men have been saying so much about immortal souls. The facts are that the doctrine of the soul's inherent immortality is based not on the declaration of God, but rather upon a statement made by Satan in Eden. The Lord had set forth as a penalty for sin, that in the day that man would eat, he should surely die. Death is a penalty for sin. But Satan appeared as the tempter, and said:
"Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden? And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden: but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die." Gen. 3: 1-3.
SATAN RAISES A QUESTION
True to his nature, Satan raised a question in regard to what God had said. Notice the words, "Hath God said," as though it seemed impossible to think that the great and mighty God of truth would make such a declaration as that. "Hath God said?" Is it possible that you tell me the God of verity has said such a thing? Then he followed his words with, "Ye shall not surely die."
God had said man would die as a penalty for sin. Satan disputed it, contradicted Jehovah by saying that man would not die. When man sinned, the penalty for transgression was death. Adam was banished from his Eden home, and soon death appeared. The leaves began to wither upon the trees, nature became seared, and the human family began to pass down into the tomb. What now? — Satan was seen to be a liar unless he could bring forth something that would prove that his words were yet true. So in his councils he concocted the dogma of the soul's immortality. He said man was not really dead; it only seemed so. The body was but the temple, the tenement in which the real man resided; but the real, living man was the soul, which survived the stroke of death, and lived on in uninterrupted consciousness. And, sad to say, this satanic falsehood is echoed and reëchoed throughout the world.
THE ONE SOURCE OF IMMORTALITY
The Bible very plainly declares that man does not now possess inherent immortality. We are admonished to "seek for glory and honor and immortality." Rom. 2: 7. Why should we seek for what we already possess? This would be nonsense. We are plainly told that man is mortal. Job 4: 17. And we are told that God "only hath immortality." 1 Tim. 6: 15, 16. Immortality is an attribute of the Deity, and will never be given to those who refuse to accept the precious boon of eternal life. Immortality is a gift of God to the overcomer, and it will be bestowed upon them at the resurrection of the just. When the trump of God shall reverberate through the long galleries of the grave, and the righteous dead shall come forth, then, and then only, will man receive immortality.
"Behold, I show you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?" 1 Cor. 15: 51-55.
163 — THE EXTENT OF GOD'S LOVE
By Editor
Please explain John 3: 16. Will the heathen that have died, never having heard of Christ, be lost? And according to Rom. 2: 14-16, what is the use of foreign missions?
First, God's love is infinite. That is what John 3: 16 expresses. "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only-begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life." The acceptance of the great offering of the Son of God embraces more than a mere theoretical knowledge of Christ. Many who have never heard of the person of Jesus will be saved in the kingdom of God. They have accepted the great essentials of the gospel by yielding themselves wholly to God and casting themselves wholly upon His mercy.
It is not difficult to conceive, in the light of the passage in Romans referred to, and also the first chapter of Romans, that there are those right in heathenism itself who, though they have never heard the name of the great Jehovah or of His Son Jesus Christ, have accepted the essentials of the gospel. "The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament showeth His handiwork. Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night showeth knowledge." Read the nineteenth psalm, verses 1-6, where the primary teachings of the gospel are set forth. Compare with Rom. 10: 16-18. There are souls all over the world who have seen the essential of Christianity in the great power and wisdom of God manifest in creation; and as it was in time past, so it ever shall be, "The eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show Himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward Him." 2 Chron. 16: 9. The scripture does not say, whose mind is perfect toward Him, or, whose knowledge is perfect toward Him, or, whose understanding is perfect toward God; but, whose heart — whose affection — is placed upon God — in other words, those who love God, who respond to His love. In the light of that, every intelligent soul upon the face of the earth has had opportunity to be saved; for Christ, through His works, and through the abundant mercy of God manifest in so many ways, is "the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world." And if a man will follow the one feeble ray of light that may come to him in the darkness of heathendom, and let that ray of light dominate his life and character, there is salvation in it.
On the other hand, it is also true that he who may live in a land of the fullest light and knowledge concerning the theory of the gospel, may reject light, and be lost.
As to the use of foreign missions, the words of Jesus ought to be sufficient: "Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature." God not only wants souls saved, but He wants intelligent souls, those who comprehend more of the love of God, who see more of the light of God, who, thus comprehending and seeing, will tell to others more of the light and the love of God. We might as well say that if one can get at food enough barely to sustain him in a starving condition, he needs no more. While we may be sure that the Lord will never let one honest, sincere seeker for light and truth and sinlessness be lost, yet at the same time, He has made it incumbent upon all those who know His gospel to give it to others. Other than this is selfishness.
Will you please explain Rev. 20: 5 through the SIGNS? It seems to me that the last part of the verse doesn't belong there. It doesn't look clear to me.
The meaning of the scripture is very clear, taken with the context. Those who have part in the first resurrection are indicated in verse 4. The first part of verse 5 declares that the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished.
When Jesus comes, the righteous dead are raised, and the living righteous are changed to immortality. Those who do not have Christ within are destroyed by the glory of His coming, and they, with all the wicked dead, do not live again until the thousand years are finished. Those who do live have part in the first resurrection, as stated in the last part of verse 5. The rest of the dead come up at the end of the thousand years. The context shows that the first part of verse 5 is thrown in, and that the last part belongs to verse 4.
We do not know why our querist should say that the last part of the verse does not belong there. There is no reason to believe that it is spurious in any way. Sometimes it is said that the first part does not belong there; but there is no ground whatever for that, except the arbitrary statement of some one who finds the text in the way of a theory that he cannot maintain.
165 — THE DAYS OF THE SON OF MAN
"As it was in the days of Noe, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of man." When did the days of the Son of man commence, and when will they end? It is true we are living in the last days, but when will they end?
The "days of Noe" were the days in which Noah was giving his message of the Flood, and those days ended with the Deluge. The "days of the Son of man" are the days in which God's children give to the world the message of His second coming, the gospel of the kingdom (Matt. 24: 14), the great threefold message of Revelation 14, the message that Jesus is coming again. That message will close with the second coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. The last days end with the days which precede His coming.
