Earlier text: EXALTED CHARACTER OF THE CANVASSING WORK(Wheeling, W. Va., Sanitarium) NO OTHER common disease produces so great mortality in so short a time as does pneumonia, or lung fever, as it is also called. A strong, healthy man may have an attack of this disease, and within a week lose his place among the living. In common with other diseases, pneumonia comes not without a cause. It is most prevalent in the winter months, and usually follows a severe, exhausting strain. One exposed to the chilling weather while suffering from physical exhaustion is likely to become its victim. By exhaustion and chilling, the fortress of the system is so weakened that there needs but the presence of the germ of the disease. Such germs are in the air we breathe; and before these the weakened system becomes an easy prey, and, in spite of all drugs and medicines, pneumonia will be the result. The drug method knows no abortive measures; for when once pneumonia begins, it will run a typical course of from five to eight days if death does not cut it short. Yet I have seen the severity of the case much lessened, and the disease shortened, by proper hydriatic measures. I am confident that should thorough treatment be given at the start, the horrors of the disease would be lessened, and what is regarded now uncontrollable would readily respond to treatment. To prevent the disease one should keep himself well protected from the weather and from all chilling drafts. When chilled or exhausted, he should use such measures as will increase bodily activity, and at the same time, as far as possible, supply the heat lost by exposure. The following treatment is to be recommended: A hot full bath, or a hot foot bath, applying a fomentation to the spine, continuing each about twenty minutes, or until the patient feels thoroughly warmed, and begins to perspire; then make a short cold application, as a cool shower or sponge, and rub vigorously, with a rough towel. The use of the cold sponge bath every morning is excellent as a means of fortifying the system, and will not chill the person if taken properly. The treatment for pneumonia is very simple. The high temperature should be combated with the wet-sheet pack, cool enema, or, if there is a tendency to chill, a warm sponge or fomentations to the spine, followed by a cool sponge. For the first twenty-four hours apply to the chest ice-cold compresses, with a fomentation once in two hours, changing the compresses about every ten minutes. Later in the disease apply hot fomentations to the chest, alternating with cold for a few seconds. Use about three changes, and treat the case in this way three times a day. Fomentations to the spine are also excellent. Give them occasionally as supportive treatment. Give the patient all the fresh air possible, and plenty of water to drink, either hot or cold. Keep him quiet, and in every way try to save his strength. Insist on his remaining in bed from the first. The diet should consist of only thoroughly cooked foods, omitting the more solid foods, thus giving what is called a “fever diet.” The patient may take gruels, stewed fruits, fruit juices, or milk. Malted nuts dissolved in hot water is excellent, as is also malted milk. With the employment of these simple measures, pneumonia takes on a different nature. The disease is more severe with those given to the use of tobacco and alcohol. Anything that enfeebles the system renders one more susceptible to pneumonia, and lessens the possibilities for recovery. Renewing Faded Green Window Blinds with Linseed Oil
“GREEN blinds that have become faded may be renewed by rubbing them with a rag saturated with linseed oil.” DAILY STRENGTH FOR DAILY DUTY
By Jennie M. Daly
MRS. JENNIE M. DALY
(Denver, Colo.) I was out inviting the people to a Bible reading, anxious for them to hear the truth. I was a little downcast over the results of my work, and I thought, “Well, I’ll not go after them again, if they never come.” Walking past a little cottage, the door of which was open, I heard a little child reading these words, “As thy days, so shall thy strength be.” The effect it had upon me was indescribable; it was like life from the dead, and a wonderful change came over me as I realized the greatness of that promise. The words came like a voice from heaven, reproving my lack of faith, and bidding me look up. God is able to fulfill this promise to every one of us. Read Deut. 33:27. How the promise is emphasized by having back of it God’s almighty power! The promise is, “As thy days, so shall thy strength be.” The assurance is, “The eternal God is thy refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms.” Certainly God has given no more blessed promise to the Christian; none that can give more hope, courage, and peace. The Christian life is a life of trust. Think of the children of Israel, how God fed them in the wilderness, day by day, just what they needed; all they could use, no more, no less. So the promise to us is not, As thy weeks; or, As thy months; but, “As thy days, so shall thy strength be”—Sunday’s grace for Sunday; Monday’s grace for Monday; and so on. “As thy days, so shall thy strength be.” Why, then, should we ever fret and worry? We are commanded by our Saviour to take no anxious thought for to-morrow. The life of trust is to live day by day. Not long ago a friend sent me the following beautiful stanza, which she said had been a great comfort to her, and she wished me to share in the blessing. It contains this very idea of living by the day. “Make a little fence of trust
Around to-day,
Fill the space with loving works,
And therein stay.
Look not through the sheltering bars
Upon to-morrow,
God will help thee bear what comes,
Of joy or sorrow.” THE SECRET
By The King's Messenger
The secret! Men join secret societies to obtain the secret—to reach the light. I sought for years, taking degree after degree, paying fee upon fee, spending day after day and night after night, in search of the secret, but was fooled with a name, was played with a delusion, and found nothing but vanity and vexation of spirit. How many wise and strong and dedicated men are seeking in lodge rooms the ignis fatuus of the secret things of the order, and for shame stay in rather than get out and testify that it is a sham and a delusion. “The secret of the Lord is with them that fear Him.” If we receive Him, His province is to make known to us, to take the things of God, to reprove, instruct, to show, to unfold, to inspire. He causes us to know God and the things of God. He makes himself known to us as He does not unto the world. This is the secret—not found out by studying or worrying, but by receiving; not as we received the third degree or any other, but by opening our hearts and letting Him come in. Him!—a person, not a legend, not a mystery; but God, the Third Person, the Heavenly Guest, the Holy Ghost: not an experience, not a blessing, not an emanation nor an influence; but Another Comforter to take the ascended Saviour’s place until His return. He is the secret. He wants to make your heart His temple, His abiding, secret chamber. In His own personality He desires to show you things to come. We are to enter into the secret place of the Most High, and abide, stay, continue, under the shadow of the Almighty. He will take us into His banqueting house, and His banner over us will be love. He will make himself known to us, as He does not unto the world. The secret of secrets is God—to know God, not dogmas, nor ritual, nor creed, not doctrine nor experience, but to know Him whom to know is life eternal; not to know degrees, nor the work, not to know knowledge, not to have all wisdom, but to have Him! Receive ye the Holy Ghost. The mistake we make is to put any and everything in place of Him. Culture and service, experience and testimony, our goodness, holiness, righteousness, which is of no good, take up the room in our hearts that He only should occupy. We can not by study find this secret out. He himself must make it known. This is His work. Man can not do it. I can not impart it to others. I can witness unto Him, but can not give the secret unto others. Hand to hand, heart to heart, knee to knee, and mouth to ear, is the way it is given. Hush! It is a whispered secret in the secret place of the Most High. Be still and know. Blessed knowledge!—to go on to know. They that do know their God shall be strong and do exploits. It is necessary to know Him before we can make Him known. We receive power. He is coming upon us. What power? The power of eloquence, the power to speak, or teach, or preach?—Nay; rather the power of simplicity, of humility, of gentleness; spiritual power, the power of the Spirit; not worldly wisdom, or human eloquence, or holy living, but the power because of the presence of the Holy Ghost. This secret of the Lord is a personal knowing of a personal Saviour. Lo! I am with you alway! He is with us—not Jesus. Jesus has ascended. He is preparing a place, is fitting up our mansions. He has gone, but is to return. He has sent Another Comforter. The Comforter has come, He is here, He abides. We receive Him. He is the secret—once in the secret always in. I know Masonry in all its degrees. I have tried to unlearn it, to forget it, to displace it, to give room to Him, but it will not out or down. I remember the secrets. So, when He is received, He is never forgotten. Nothing can separate—He abides, and He controls. This abiding is the secret of fruiting. It is a mystery of mysteries. How? I do not know, I can not tell, but the fruit is, and it abides—much fruit, vine fruit on the branch, because of the connection. This secret grows, increases, line upon line, line upon line, precept upon precept, precept upon precept, here a little and there a little, made known in the furnace, made perfect in affliction, through suffering; shining more and more unto the perfect day. Remember, He is the secret of a happy, of a useful, of a holy life. THE WEIGHT OF NOTED PERSONAGES.
Everything about sovereigns is of interest to the people. A while ago we were told that Kaiser William had changed his method of brushing his mustache, and this was actually cabled as news across the Atlantic. Now some one has been ascertaining how much the sovereigns weigh. The heaviest sovereign in Europe is Don Carlos I, of Portugal, who weighs 202 pounds. This is not at all an unusual weight. The late Bishop Peck weighed about 300, and perhaps his equal might now be found among the bishops. Ferdinand, of Bulgaria, weighs 177, and King Oscar, of Sweden and Norway, only one pound less. The German emperor’s average weight is 160 pounds, but like all excitable men, he varies a great deal. The Emperor Francis Joseph, of Austria, weighs 154; King Victor Emmanuel III, of Italy, 145; Leopold II, king of Belgium, 143; the Czar Nicholas II, only 121 pounds. John Wesley’s average weight was about 125 pounds; and Jay Gould, the financier and dealer in railroads, weighed less than 125. The queens seem to surpass most of the kings. Queen Victoria is said to weigh 190 pounds (we have seen this reported at 160), and the young Queen Wilhelmina, of Holland, 150 (she has not yet got her growth). The queen of Rumania, Carmen Sylva, weighs 180. She has quite a reputation as a poet. President Loubet, of France, would just balance the scales, with her on the other side. When we saw the little king of Spain, Alphonso XIII, looking at us out of a window of the palace in Madrid and waving his hand, he was then a small child, and could not have weighed more than twenty or twenty-five pounds, but he now weighs 99. The heaviness of weight is no sign either of physical strength or of endurance, nor does the want of weight, except when it is plainly caused by disease, indicate anything. The lightest of these kings can weigh very heavily upon human liberty, and bear down upon their people, even where there is said to be much freedom. Galilee: The Hallowed Thought of Christ's Ministry
“GALILEE, bright Galilee,
Hallowed thought to thee we turn;
Woven through thy history
Is the charming mystery
Of the Son of God, who came,
Bearing grief, reproach, and shame,
Saviour of the world, to be
God with us by Galilee.” Blessed Leaf of the Review
By H. E. S. Hopkins
H. E. S. HOPKINS
(Battle Creek, Mich.) An incident related in an article entitled “Found after Many Days,” reminded me of a circumstance in my own experience, showing the power of the truth of God. My brother sent the REVIEW to my sister, with whom I was making my home. These papers were seldom taken from their wraps, and there were more than a volume of them laid upon the shelf in the closet. He also sent the Youth’s Instructor. Sister had three little boys, who took great interest in the story relating to Elder Bates’s life on the sea. Several tracts were given to me. These were scattered about on the bureau, in the drawer, and upon the shelf in my room. Finally I became tired of seeing them, being reproached every time they attracted my attention. So one day I gathered them up, and consigned them to the flames. I gathered all the REVIEWs and Instructors I could carry, and was about to serve them in the same way, when my sister, happening to look up, exclaimed: “Here! those papers are mine.” I replied, “Take them, then; I don’t want them around me any longer.” Did all this bring peace and rest to my soul?—Ah! no; for two weeks I knew not what it was to enjoy sleep. When the time came to retire, I had a terrible dread of the night; it seemed as if my pillow was composed of thorns. At last I decided that I would read some of those papers, to see what they really did say. O blessed leaf of the dear, old REVIEW! Ever since that I have prized even a little torn leaf of this precious paper. God Answers Prayer: A Poem on Faith and Trust
By M. G. Plautz
God answers prayer; sometimes when hearts are weak,
He gives the very gift believers seek.
But often faith must learn a deeper rest
And trust God's silence, when He does not speak;
For He whose name is Love will send the best.
Stars may burn out, nor mountain walls endure,
But God is true; His promises are sure
To those who seek. EXTRACTS FROM CORRESPONDENCE
LAST spring I sent in a subscription for the Life Boat for a prisoner. Soon afterward he wrote me a long letter, and said it was the first he had heard from the outside world for two years, and seemed much pleased with the paper. He sent me the names of four men to whom to send papers, and I received a letter from one of them. They seem to think that, of course, I will write to them once a month, and beg me to do so more frequently. I try to help every one I can, for I feel that time is short, and we should do everything we possibly can to save souls. Even if these men are to be lost, why not make their few remaining moments as happy as possible? I never was so blessed in any other work as I have been in this work. I signed the cards that Sister Henry sent out, and have presented them to four others. They have not yet been signed and returned, but I am keeping the persons supplied with reading-matter, and they are under conviction, but they have not strength to leave friends and do what they know to be right. But we have the promise of the Holy Spirit to bless our work. I am of good courage. The way grows brighter and the work lighter, and prejudice melts away like dew before the noonday sun; this is the work of the Holy Spirit. One for whom I am praying has been sick for several weeks. I have visited her often, and she is much interested in our publications, and I believe she will accept the whole truth. I improve every opportunity to advance God’s cause and help suffering humanity. God has opened the way for me to do a great deal of work, and I am happy to know that I have the prayers of all our sisters who love the work, and the co-operation of angels; and I am determined to push on to victory. I have five children, the oldest only seven, so you will understand how little time I get for anything except home duties, as I do all the work myself for a family of eight. My husband is very kind, and works hard to provide for his family, but seems careless and unconcerned about our eternal welfare, and I do need his help and sympathy so much in training our little ones in the right way. Sometimes it seems as if they must die now while they are innocent and unaccountable if they are saved. But I have given them to God, and I feel willing to do or bear almost anything to save my husband and children. Now please tell me if you think it would be right for me to go to church against my husband’s wishes. He is very considerate about asking any work of me on the Sabbath, and has several times gone with me to hear our ministers when they have visited our place, but does not wish me to go without him. He is usually working on the Sabbath, and it would be almost impossible for me to take all the children and go without him. I would like your advice about this, and also about sending our children to the public school. We can not afford to hire a private teacher, and my husband says they must go to school. You certainly could not expect to receive a great measure of the blessing of God if you went even to the house of prayer against a kind and true husband’s wishes. Your first duty is to your home always, to keep its atmosphere peaceful and happy. I can appreciate your longing for Christian fellowship; but remember that the Lord understands all about your situation, and that His blessing is not confined to the church company. You would surely enjoy a richer measure of His presence in a little Sabbath service in your home with your little children than by bringing about the confusion and unpleasantness that your going would occasion. Show your husband that you respect his wishes as far as you can without the violation of principle, and constantly pray and trust in the Lord to touch his heart, and lead him to join with you in Christian fellowship, so that you may together walk harmoniously in the way that will end in eternal life. The brethren and sisters in the church will surely know that you are with them in spirit if not in person, and will especially remember you in prayer. In regard to sending your children to the public school, I think you will have to do, in this matter also, not as you may wish to do, but the best you can under the circumstances. It seems to me that your children are too young to be sent away to school. The Spirit of Prophecy says that the mother herself should be the teacher until the child is ten years of age. But I see you have your hands more than full of work; and as your husband does not see the importance of a Christian education, probably the best thing you can do for the present is to let them go to the public school. Correct home influences have much to do in fortifying the mind of the child against evil; therefore keep your children’s confidence, teach them right principles from the word of God; and then, having done all you can, commit them to the care of Him who said, “Suffer little children, and forbid them not, to come unto me.” I am glad to get your letter, and hope to hear from you again, with full name and address, so I can reply more personally. “PLEASE pray for my son, who drinks liquor.” Prayer is requested for a poor sister, who has had very few advantages all her life, and is now in poor health. Her husband is an infidel, and her home life is not pleasant. In her home in the South she formed the habit of chewing tobacco, and it now seems impossible to stop. She desires to do so, and she herself requests an interest in prayer. “Please pray that my little son may not be influenced by an unconverted father. I also request prayer for an aged mother, who lives a long distance from me, is unable to read, and knows nothing of our faith. I send her our papers, but no notice is taken of them. I presume those with whom she lives are prejudiced, and so do not tell her about the papers.” A sister who is almost helpless from heart trouble requests prayer that she may be healed. She is an earnest and capable Christian worker, and has thoroughly examined her heart, and put away everything that the Lord has shown her would hinder this blessing. Her husband joins her in sending the request for prayer. Let earnest prayer be offered in behalf of this sister. “I desire special prayer for my husband, who is unconverted, and is opposed to the truth, which is so clear to me. He seems to have no fear for his soul, and he has serious heart trouble. Will the sisters pray soon that he may be reconciled to God and be faithful to his family, and that God will23change his heart so that he will overcome his weakness for women? God alone knows what anguish I have suffered. How thankful I am that God hears the prayers of the saints!” “I ask your earnest prayers for my dear husband, that he may realize his condition and responsibility, and turn to Christ soon; and for me, that I may know my duty, and faithfully perform it. I also request prayer for my two brothers, who believe the truth, but are too proud to obey it. I have often heard our dear mother, now dead, praying and weeping aloud for her children. Oh, may we not disappoint her, and the dear Saviour who died for us!” TEMPERANCE
By Mrs. Geo. A. Irwin
As WE read the articles from week to week by Dr. Lindsay, portraying the dreadful effects on the system of drugs and stimulants, which are taken as medicine, and of tobacco and liquor, an appetite for which was acquired by the use of tea and coffee, spices and meats, should we not call a halt? I have been surprised lately to learn that many of our people are using these things in their homes. If our sisters could read the letters that come to the Woman’s Department of Gospel Work requesting prayers for husbands, sons, and dear ones who have acquired an appetite for tobacco and liquor, and could realize that a stimulating and innutritious diet was in a great measure responsible for the downfall of these loved ones, I am sure there would be a general clearing out of the bottles of patent medicine from our cupboards, and also of tea, coffee, spices, and meats from our tables. I feel sure there is not a woman in our ranks who does not wish to do all she can to banish this dread monster, intemperance, from our land. Shall we not begin at home, and talk to our own dear ones of the evil effects of stimulating articles of food, and in their place put on our tables something much better, such as fruit, grains, and nuts? By doing this, and by setting our tables with care and taste, these injurious things will not be missed. I am more anxious than I can express, my dear sisters, that we begin a search in our own homes to see if any of these things that have been mentioned are lurking there, and if so, put them away; then we can go to our friends and neighbors and tell them what temperance has done for us. “We witness great struggles in our country to put down intemperance; but it is a hard matter to overcome and chain a full-grown lion. If half the efforts that have been put forth to stay this giant evil had been directed toward enlightening parents in regard to their responsibility in forming the habits and character of their children, a thousandfold more good might have resulted. The unnatural appetite for spirituous liquors is often created at home, in many cases at the tables of the very ones who are most zealous to lead out in the temperance work. We bid all workers Godspeed; but we invite them to look more deeply into the cause of the evil they war against, and to be more thorough and consistent in reform.” — “Christian Temperance and Bible Hygiene,” A LETTER has been received from a sister in College View, Neb., dated December 15, which we should answer if it contained a signature. We hope that this sister will be free to let us know who she is, and that we may come more closely in touch with her. ALL mail pertaining to the department of Woman’s Gospel Work should be addressed to Mrs. Geo. A. Irwin, 271 W. Main St., Battle Creek, Mich. We receive considerable mail from different sources, and therefore mention this matter again, hoping that all will bear it in mind, and so avoid confusion and possible delay. Requests for prayer should be sent to this department direct. DAILY READING FOR JANUARY 13-19.
Sunday, “Thoughts on the Revelation,” verses 1-4. Monday, “Thoughts on the Revelation,” verses 5-11. Tuesday, William Miller, in “Early Writings,” pages 93-96. Wednesday, The First Angel’s Message, in “Early Writings,” pages 96-101. Thursday, Another Illustration, in “Early Writings,” pages 108-113. Friday, Christ’s Second Coming, on this page. 1. Describe the angel of Rev. 10: 1. What was indicated by the cloud and the rainbow? 2. How extensively was the message to be carried? What did the angel hold in his hand? What was the significance of the book’s being open? 3. Which book in the Bible was sealed? Until what time was it to be sealed? 4. What did the loud voice indicate? 5. What was to be sealed and not written? V. 4. 6. What proclamation was given by the angel? V. 6. Show that this does not refer to literal time. 7. Which of the periods of prophetic time given in the Bible reach to the latest date? When did prophetic time cease? Where do we find the twenty-three hundred days? 8. What work is finished during the beginning of the seventh trumpet? V. 7. 9. What was said by the voice from heaven the second time? V. 8. How can one be said to eat a book? 10. Give the first impression upon eating the book. The second. V. 9. 11. What experience is brought to view in Verse 10? Describe it. 13. How extensively were the following messages to be given? CHRIST'S SECOND ADVENT
By Stephen N. Haskell
THIS heavenly message is presented by a mighty angel, who comes down from heaven, clothed with a cloud. The darkness of the earth, which is groaning beneath the burden of six thousand years of sin, is lighted with the glory of God and the purifying effect of the message. The clouds, which become dark with tempest, are arched with the rainbow of promise. So above the world's degradation shines the promised glory of the Messiah's reign. The clouds of wrath are spanned by the rainbow of His covenant mercy. “When man by his great wickedness invites the divine judgments, the Saviour, interceding with the Father in his behalf, points to the bow in the clouds, to the rainbow around the throne and above His own head, as a token of the mercy of God toward the repentant sinner.” — “Patriarchs and Prophets,” page 107. More than six centuries before John had this vision, the angel said to the prophet Daniel, by the great river Hiddekel: “Go thy way, Daniel: for the words are closed up and sealed till the time of the end.” Again, “Go thou thy way till the end be: for thou shalt rest, and stand in thy lot at the end of the days.” Dan. 12: 4-13. The time for Daniel to stand in his lot had now fully arrived. The prophecies of the book of Daniel had become unsealed. The twenty-three hundred days of Dan. 8: 14, concerning which Gabriel had said, “Understand, O son of man: for at the time of the end shall be the vision,” was understood. Dan. 8: 16, 17. The time of the end had come. Men had searched the prophetic word to and fro, knowledge had been increased, and the message had gone by land and by sea until the civilized world had heard the glorious proclamation of the Messiah's reign. An angel, with an uplifted hand, “sware by Him that liveth forever and ever, who created heaven, and the things that therein are, and the earth, and the things that therein are, and the sea, and the things which are therein, that there should be TIME NO LONGER.” The prophetic time, the twenty-three hundred days, covering the last prophetic periods, terminated in the autumn of 1844 A. D., according to the oath of the angel. That was fifty-six years ago the twenty-second of last October. The conclusion that the Lord would come at that time was reached by the following suppositions: The sanctuary of Dan. 8: 14 was the earth. The burning of the earth was the cleansing of the sanctuary. The earth would be burned when the Lord comes, so the text was made to read, Unto two thousand and three hundred days, the Lord will come. The explanation of the twenty-three hundred days, or years, was as follows: The starting point for the twenty-three hundred days was “from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem.” Dan. 9: 27. This decree was by Artaxerxes, 457 B. C. See margin of Ezra 7. It would take four hundred and fifty-seven full years B. C. and eighteen hundred and forty-three years A. D. to make twenty-three hundred years: 1843 A. D., Jewish time, continued to the spring of 1844 A. D. So in February, 1844, the Adventists looked for Christ to come. As He did not come, upon re-examination they found that the decree did not go into effect until nearly six months of 457 B. C. had passed. Ezra 7: 9. This would carry the ending of the days to the autumn of 1844 A. D. These dates are established by more than twenty eclipses, besides harmonizing with the dates of Christ's entering upon His ministry, His baptism, His crucifixion, and the gospel's going to the Gentiles. This gave the tarrying time of the parable of the ten virgins of Matt. 25: 1-10. After the time passed in the spring, the churches closed their doors to the doctrine of the immediate appearing of Christ. This gave rise to the second angel's message of Rev. 14: 8. It was during the summer of 1844 A. D. that the loud cry of the loud cry of the first angel's message was given. The proclamation of the first angel's message was by no means local. Edward Irving preached in England; Joseph Wolff, of Germany, preached in Asia, India, and the islands of the sea; also in this country, at Washington, D. C. William Miller led out in the United States of America. So extensively was it preached in this country, that school children, when returning to and from school, could be heard quoting the oft-repeated texts, “Unto two thousand and three hundred days; then shall the sanctuary be cleansed.” “Behold, the Bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet him.” In Sweden, where the law forbade any preaching contrary to the State religion, children were moved by the Spirit of God to proclaim the coming of Christ, and warn men of the judgment. It was called, in their public records, a “religious sickness.” Again they were doomed to a sadder disappointment than before. Upon further investigation of the subject they found that the sanctuary, instead of being the earth, is the heavenly sanctuary, the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched and not man, eternal in the heavens. Heb. 8: 1, 2. Here is Christ, our intercessor, at the right hand of the Father. This opened many truths to their understanding. The sixth angel had sounded, Aug. 11, 1840 A. D.; and from that date to the tenth day of the seventh month, 1844, A. D., was the “quickly” when the seventh trumpet was to sound. Rev. 11: 14. The seventh trumpet then sounded, and there were seen in His temple the ark of His testament. Rev. 11: 15, 19. The sounding of the seventh angel, beginning in 1844 A. D., covers the entire period of the judgment until “the kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of His Christ; and He shall reign forever and ever.” “But in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he shall begin to sound, the mystery of God should be finished.” This mystery is the gospel. Eph. 3: 2-4, 8, 9. The open door, which no man can shut, is in the most holy place in the heavenly sanctuary, out of which comes the third angel with the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus that offer the last notes of warning to a dying world. This message is to go to “many peoples, and nations, and tongues, and kings.” Merchant princes will accept the gospel as its notes are dying away in the world. Isa. 60: 1-7. The experience of God's people when the time passed in 1844 A. D. is vividly described by the sweetness in the mouth and the bitterness in the belly. Rev. 10: 9, 10. How sweet the thought that in a few short months, a few weeks, yes, finally a few days, they would count their sorrows over, and meet their blessed Lord! Language can not describe the joy that filled the heart of those who had confessed their sins, given their all to forward that work, and were waiting for their Lord. But the time passed, and they had again to take up their duties in this life, and meet the taunting sneer, “I thought you were going up,” etc. This was the bitter part of the vision. But soon joy filled their hearts when they heard the Lord speaking in Rev. 10: 11. The Lord bless thee!
How shall He bless thee?
With the gladness that knoweth no decay,
With the riches that can not pass away,
With the sunshine that maketh an endless day —.
Thus may He bless thee. And keep thee!
How shall He keep thee?
With the all-covering shadow of His wings,
With the strong love that guards from evil things,
With the sure power that safe to glory brings —
Thus may He keep thee. “Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery [“a thing to be seized upon and held fast”] to be equal with God: but emptied himself, and took upon Him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men.” Phil. 2: 5-7. Christ was like God in the sense of being of the nature, in very substance, of God. He was made in the likeness of men, in the sense of being like men, in the nature and very substance of men. Christ was God. He became man. And when He became man, He was man as really as He was God. He became man in order that He might redeem man. He came to where man is, to bring man to where He was. And in order to redeem man from what man is, He was made what man is. Thus all things, that man is, Christ was made. And all this He was as really as all this the man is. And Christ became all this in order that the man might become what Christ was. Christ was the Son of God. He became the Son of man that the sons of men might become the sons of God. Gal. 4: 4; 1 John 3: 1. Christ was the righteousness of God. He was made to be sin, in order that man, who is sin, “might be made the righteousness of God in Him.” 2 Cor. 5: 21. Thus, literally, “in all things it behoved Him to be made like unto His brethren.” Whatsoever man is in the flesh, that Christ became in the flesh. Man is “sinful.” Isa. 1: 4. Christ, who knew no sin, was made as sinful as man is sinful. For God sent His “Son in the likeness of sinful flesh”—in flesh that is like, in the sense of being like in nature, in substance. Rom. 8: 3. “Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, He also himself likewise took part of the same.” Christ, who was the very righteousness of God, was made the very sinfulness of men. Yet, bear in mind that none of this was He of himself, in His own right. But all of it He “was made.” Christ was made what, before, He was not, in order that the man might be made now and forever what he is not. Christ, who knew no sin, was made to be sin, even the sinfulness of man, in order that we, who knew no righteousness, might be made righteousness, even the righteousness of God. And as the righteousness of God, which, in Christ, the man is made, is real righteousness, so the sin of men, which Christ was made in the flesh, was real sin. As certainly as our sins, when upon us, are real sins to us, so certainly, when these sins were laid upon Him, they became real sins to Him. As certainly as guilt attaches to these sins, and to us because of them, when they are upon us, so certainly this guilt attached to these same sins of ours, and to Him because of them, when they were laid upon Him. As the sense of condemnation and discouragement of these sins was real to us, when these sins of ours were upon us, so certainly this same sense of condemnation and discouragement, because of the guilt of these sins, was realized by Him when these sins of ours were laid upon Him. So that the guilt, the condemnation, the discouragement, of the knowledge of sin were His—were a fact in His conscious experience—as really as they were ever such in the life of any sinner that was ever on earth. And therein lies the fullness of our salvation from sin. He has gone the way of sin, in the very knowledge of it, to its very depths. It was all laid upon Him, and He was “touched with the feeling” of it. And He did it all in order that we, sinful men, might be made the very righteousness of God, and so be delivered into the glorious liberty of the children of God. He who knew the height of the righteousness of God acquired also the knowledge of the depth of the sins of men. He knows the awfulness of the depths of the sins of men, as well as He knows the glory of the heights of the righteousness of God. And so He became, and forever is, the author of eternal salvation to all who will receive Him; able to save to the uttermost all who come unto God by Him. And blessed be His glorious name forever and ever!