Review and Herald, Vol. 33, No. 25.
THE GEHENNA OF FIRE, THE NEW EARTH, AND THE SABBATHPage 1
Earlier text: THE GEHENNA OF FIRE, THE NEW EARTH, AND THE SABBATHTHE RESURRECTION NOT IMPOSSIBLE.
A FEW weeks since, an article from the Phrenological Journal designed to prove the impossibility of the resurrection of the dead, was shown up in the REVIEW. Here is a similar statement of the case, from the Spiritual Rostrum of May, 1869: “Dust returning to dust.—It is asserted by scientific writers that the number of persons who have existed on our globe since the beginning of time amounts to 36,627,843,273,075,256. These figures when divided by 3,095,000—the number of square leagues on the globe—leave 11,320,689,732 square miles of land; which being divided as before, give 1,314,622,076 persons to each square mile. If we reduce these miles to square rods, the number will be 1,853,174,600,000; which, divided in like manner, will give 1,283 inhabitants to each square rod, and these being reduced to feet, will give about five persons to each square foot of terra firma. It will thus be perceived that our earth is a vast cemetery. On each square rod of it 1,283 human beings lie buried, each rod being scarcely sufficient for ten graves, with each grave containing 128 persons. The whole surface of our globe, therefore, has been dug over 128 times to bury its dead!”
“From this extract it will be seen that there is not dust enough now, if all the soil were converted to dust, to re-make the bodies that have existed on earth.”
REMARKS. 1. The writer in the Phrenological Journal stated the whole number of human beings that have lived upon the globe at 27,000,000,000,000,000. The writer in the Spiritual Rostrum makes the number one-third larger, and even gives the exact figures; viz., 36,627,843,273,075,256! 2. But neither of these writers gives any data to show that their statements are really calculations, and not mere guesses, or random figuring. Here is a brief statement of the case, that can be appreciated by all. Our world has stood some 6000 years, according to the chronology of the Bible. The calculations of geologists assign an immensely longer period to our world's existence, but they do not claim that man has existed on the earth for a longer period than the Bible allows. So we may, upon the authority of the Bible, and with the consent of geology, fix the duration of men upon the globe at 6000 years. If we fix the period from one generation to another at an average of 30 years, and this is certainly as small a number of years as we can adopt, we shall have 200 generations from the beginning, to the present time. There are now alive upon the earth, about 1,000,000,000. If we allow this number to each of the 200 generations of mankind, we shall have a sum total of 200,000,000,000. This calculation is probably too large, in the number of generations of mankind, and in assigning 1,000,000,000 to each generation it is immensely larger than the actual number. But the Spiritual Rostrum makes it 180,000 times that number! 3. The writer next divides 36,627,843,273,075,256, the number of persons which he asserts have lived upon the globe, by 3,095,000, “the number of square leagues on the globe,” and to use his extraordinary language, the result is that these figures “leave 11,320,689,732 square miles of land”! That is to say, dividing the number of inhabitants, by the number of square leagues of the earth's surface, gives us the number of square miles! This is a most preposterous absurdity. What would the reader think of this plan of ascertaining the number of square miles in a township? Suppose the town to have 2,000 inhabitants, and six square leagues of territory; this method of computation would give us 330 square miles in the six square leagues! Or if we should more exactly imitate our author, and make all the people that ever lived in the town the dividend, we would have a much larger number of square miles for that town's surface! 4. This writer asserts that there are 3,095,000 “square leagues on the globe.” But in the same sentence he says that there are “11,320,689,732 square miles of land.” Now a square league contains just 9 square miles. In other words it is a piece of land three miles square. Now if we multiply 3,095,000, the number of square leagues he assigns to the land upon the earth, by 9, the number of square miles in a square league, it gives 27,855,000, as the number of square miles upon the earth's surface. But he makes it 11,320,689,732! If, therefore, he has stated the number of leagues rightly, the number of square miles would be readily ascertained at 27,855,000, as each league has 9 square miles! But this writer makes it 400 times that number! He has a different way of getting at the facts. Instead of multiplying the number of square leagues by 9, in order to get the number of square miles, he takes the whole number of inhabitants that he says have lived since the world began, and divides that by the number of square leagues! 5. But he does not state the number of square leagues of land upon the earth's surface correctly. Instead of 3,095,000 there are more than twice that number. Johnson's large Family Atlas in that part assigned to Physical Geography, p. 6, states the number of square miles of land at 60,000,000, which divided by nine gives 6,666,666 square leagues. 6. But though the number of square leagues really determines the number of square miles, yet this writer makes the square leagues only half as many as they really are, and then makes the number of square miles 11,320,689,732 instead of 60,000,000! That is, he makes the square miles of our earth about 188 times their real number! 7. He does not even divide correctly the number of inhabitants he assigns to the earth, by the number of leagues of our earth's surface; to say nothing of the absurdity of this method of ascertaining the number of square miles. 8. Having ascertained the number of square miles, he next asserts that there have been 1,314,622,076 to each square mile. Yet if we divide the number of inhabitants as he gives them, by the number of square miles as reckoned by him, we shall make the number to a square mile 3,235,478. In other words he makes the number to a square mile 406 times as many as his own data allow! 9. Having stated the number of square miles with so many strange blunders, he does not even succeed in correctly reducing these to square rods. He says that there are 11,320,689,732 square miles, and that this amounts to 1,853,174,600,000 square rods. But if the reader will multiply the number of square miles as he gives them, by 102,400, the number of square rods in a square mile, it amounts to 1,159,238,628,556,800, or 625 times more than he gives it! 10. But he says there have been 1,283 inhabitants to each square rod. If, however, we take the number of inhabitants as he gives them, and divide this by the number of square rods which he assigns to the land upon the earth, instead of 1,283 we have 19,764! But if we take the number of square miles as he gives them, and correctly reduce them to square rods, and then divide the number of inhabitants as estimated by him, by the number of square rods, it gives just 31 to a square rod, instead of 1,283, as he has it! 11. If his figuring of 1,283 to each square rod were correct, then it would indeed assign about 5 persons to a square foot. But dividing his number of inhabitants by his number of square rods gives about 15 times as many to a square foot! If we reduce the square miles he assigns to the earth, to rods, and make this the basis of our calculation as above, then we have only 31 to a square rod, or about one to every 9 square feet. So his figuring here is very similar to all that precedes it in his article. 12. But the writer is quite too modest. He says that the globe has been dug over 128 times, allowing 10 graves to a square rod. But if we take his figures and make no effort to make them consistent with themselves we shall have the globe dug over 1,076 times, there being 10 times this number to a square rod! But if we reduce his square miles to square rods, we shall have the globe dug over three times to bury its inhabitants. There is therefore no consistency to his statements but contradiction and incoherence. 13. But we invite the reader's attention to a calculation more worthy of his confidence. We have seen that the inhabitants of the earth cannot have exceeded 200,000,000,000. There are 60,000,000 of square miles or 6,144,000,000,000 of square rods. This gives us 30 square rods for the burying place of each man. So much for this statement that “the whole surface of our earth has been dug over 128 times to bury its dead.” So much for the strange assertion “that there is not dust enough now if all the soil were converted to dust, to re-make the bodies that have existed on the earth.” THE DUTY OF THOSE WHO HAVE RELATIVES DEPENDENT UPON THE CHURCH.
1 Tim. v, 4: “But if any widow have children or nephews, let them learn first to shew piety at home, and to requite their parents; for that is good and acceptable before God.” Verse 8: “But if any provide not for his own, and specially for those of his own house, he hath denied the faith, and is worse than an infidel.” Verse 16: “If any man or woman that believeth have widows, let them relieve them, and let not the church be charged; that it may relieve them that are widows indeed.” These words of the apostle are very explicit. They should not be overlooked, nor should they be treated with neglect. They clearly define certain important duties, which in a very great majority of cases, are never performed. 1. They state one method of showing piety. Many persons are very anxious to show forth their piety to others. Here is stated the proper method for children to do this thing. It is not to be performed, however, by fair words, or by high professions. Prayers and exhortations which are good in their place, are not the things demanded to meet this case. Many persons197 seem to think these things the principal evidence of piety, and they labor zealously by their use to convince their fellow men how greatly they excel in piety and Christian experience. Yet if they were tested by the explicit rule of the apostle, they would be found utterly deficient. “Let them learn first,” says Paul, to show piety at home, and to requite their parents; for that is good and acceptable before God.” Here is a tangible method of showing piety which God has promised to accept. Yet this very thing many persons overlook. This work requires labor, painstaking and self-sacrifice, but it makes no display before men. So this can never satisfy their perverted ambition. The painstaking is real; the display which it makes before men is too small to satisfy this unsanctified and selfish disposition. 2. But infidels can perform such deeds as these. It is true that they can; and what is more, some of them do actually attend to this work of filial piety with far greater faithfulness than do many of those who call themselves Christians. Paul was well aware of this fact. It was no argument against the excellence of the deed that infidels could be found who, so far as this duty is concerned, were worthy of imitation on the part of those who profess to love Christ. It was rather an occasion of the severest rebuke that this duty which nature itself impresses even upon an infidel, should be left unperformed by those who have named the name of Christ. “But if any provide not for his own, and especially for those of his own house, he hath denied the faith, and is worse than an infidel.” Those, therefore, who throw their parents or their children upon the hands of the church, when they can support them by their own exertions, are guilty of a great sin against God. 3. But there is another class whose duty is also clearly defined. The brothers or sisters or near kindred of destitute widows are instructed respecting their duty toward them. “If any man or woman that believeth, have widows, let them relieve them, and let not the church be charged; that it may relieve them that are widows indeed.” This is a righteous precept certainly. If there are worthy, destitute widows in the church, who have no one to whom they can properly look for help, such are widows indeed, and it is the plain duty of the people of God to extend relief to them. That they may be able to do this, the apostle places in contrast with these the case of those widows who have relatives able to assist them. “If any man or woman that believeth, have widows, let them relieve them, and let not the church be charged; that it may relieve them that are widows indeed.” This shows plainly where the responsibility rests. It is not upon the church, but upon the brother or sister of such widow, or upon those of her near kindred or connection. God holds such persons responsible, and in the day of Judgment will reckon with them thus. But if they will not extend relief to them, then after that fact has been manifested by trial, such widows may be proper subjects of assistance from the church; but the displeasure of the Most High will assuredly rest upon those who refuse to discharge their duty toward their own kindred in the flesh, who are also fellow-members of the household of faith. What is especially worthy of notice, it will be found generally that those who have little of worldly goods, will oftener share that little with a widowed sister, than will those who have ample means, impart even a small portion of their substance to such near kindred when they see them in distress. It is sad indeed to see men drowned in the spirit of worldliness, and utterly forgetful of the fact, that they are stewards of God, who must render account at the last day. What account can such persons render to the Judge of all the earth for their neglect of this plain duty? Will they tell him that they were in debt? Suppose in return he ask them what their debt was contracted for, what would they have to answer? Simply this: “It was to buy a second farm, or to invest in new land.” But should the Judge ask what right they had to add farm to farm and to lock up all their means in this manner, what would they answer? They must stand speechless before him. They had his direct commandment, to sell and give alms, but they chose to add to their possessions, which were already too large, by running in debt for other property, which they did not need; thus ever keeping themselves where they had a plausible excuse for refusing to give in the cause of God. It will be a terrible thing to come up to the Judgment thus self-deceived. How bitterly will such lament the blindness of their minds, and the selfishness of spirit which controlled their misspent lives. Let us thank God that repentance unto life is not yet too late. Such repentance as God can accept, however, produces entire change of conduct. Instead of living for self we must live for him who died for us. The day of Judgment will make thorough inquiry into our conduct toward the needy and distressed. See Matt. xxv, 31–46. We shall be examined with reference to our conduct toward those who have needed our assistance, even though they are not of our kindred. And how inexcusable shall we be found, if at that awful tribunal it shall appear that we have even failed in our duty toward our own widowed and destitute kindred, who were children of the living God, and members of the church of Christ. It is time that we were preparing to give account of our stewardship. And that we may do this to meet the approval of the Judge, let us not forget to examine ourselves in the light of 1 Tim. v. EXPLANATORY.
By John Nevins Andrews
THE recent action of the Publishing Association in the choice of editor of the REVIEW, demands a few words of explanation. The change is temporary, not permanent. For many years Bro. Smith has filled this post with ability and with faithfulness. In the judgment of the members of the Association, and in accordance with his own request, it was thought advisable that he should have a season of relief from the duties to which he has so long been confined. He will still devote his best energies to the advancement of this great cause, and as he may for a time labor in the field at large, it is hoped that at no distant day he will with renewed strength, and with quickened zeal and courage, resume the duties of this place. The REVIEW will still share his labor. J. N. ANDREWS. Our strength is in God. It does not at all consist in numbers, in talent, in wealth, or in any earthly advantage. These things are of great value in their place; but when we make them our dependence and our strength, they become only a snare. “Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, saith the Lord of hosts.” We never can be weak when God is with us; we never can possess real strength, when we are separated from him. The people of God combine the elements of strength and of weakness in a wonderful manner. They have the strength of God made perfect in their own weakness. They are mighty in God, when he is their strength. But they never can have this divine strength till they have learned their own dependence upon him. Self must die, before Christ can live in us. Our first business, therefore, in every thing which we undertake for God, is to humble ourselves before him. He will go forth with us to the battle, if we make him our refuge and our strength. But God will not do our part of the work. We must do this with the utmost diligence and carefulness, as though every thing depended upon our faithfulness; and we must seek for help from God, as those only seek it who feel that without him they perish. God is our only source of strength. Yet he will not be our help if we hide one sin in our hearts. If we would have God upon our side, we must be wholly for him. It is in vain to trust in God while we dare to sin against him. SEVENTH-DAY ADVENTIST MISSIONARY SOCIETY.
By James White
At the General Conference the subject of missions to foreign lands, and to distant portions of our own country, was considered, and the following rules were adopted:— This Society shall be known as the Missionary Society of the Seventh-day Adventists. The object of this Society shall be to send the truths of the Third Angel's Message to foreign lands, and to distant parts of our own country, by means of missionaries, papers, books, tracts, &c. Any person who keeps the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus may become a member of this Society on the payment of five dollars to the Treasurer of the Society. ART. IV.—OFFICERS AND THEIR DUTIES.
The President, Secretary, Treasurer, and Executive Committee of the General Conference, shall severally fill the like offices in this Society, and shall have the management of all matters pertaining to the Society; but they shall not be entitled to any compensation for their services. For the furtherance of the object of this Society, besides the initiation fees, appeals shall be made to the friends of the cause for donations according to their means, and the benevolence of their hearts. These regulations may be added to, altered, or amended, by a vote of two-thirds of the members present at any regular meeting of the Society. JAMES WHITE, President.
URIAH SMITH, Secretary. At a preliminary meeting of the above Society, held in connection with the Annual Conference, the sum of $1003.85 was promptly subscribed in membership fees and donations, $233.10 of which was paid immediately. We now call upon the friends of the cause, east, west, north, south, to take a part in this work. Send in your donations, all the way from ten cents to one hundred dollars. We, the undersigned, hereby agree to pay the amounts set against our respective names, for the purposes and uses of the above-named Society, said amounts to be paid on or before Sept. 1, 1869. We have blank pledge papers printed for the use of our churches and brethren everywhere. Please send for them, and see that all have a chance to take stock in the glorious cause of missions. Brethren, do not let this matter rest upon your hands, but do your duty. We have almost daily applications to send publications to other lands. And we are happy to announce the arrival from Europe of a convert to the leading doctrines of the present truth, whom our European brethren send to us to instruct more perfectly and return to them prepared to help in the work. Means are wanted! Other lands are reaching out their hands to us for help. Means must and will come necessary to the accomplishment of this missionary work. Let all respond promptly, and let the good work move on. THOUGHTS ON THE BOOK OF DANIEL.
By Uriah Smith
VERSE 19. Then I would know the truth of the fourth beast, which was diverse from all the others, exceeding dreadful, whose teeth were of iron, and his nails of brass; which devoured, brake in pieces, and stamped the residue with his feet; 20; and of the ten horns that were in his head, and of the other which came up, and before whom three fell; even of that horn that had eyes, and a mouth that spake very great things, whose look was more stout than his fellows. Of the first three beasts of this series, Daniel had so clear an understanding, that he had no trouble in reference to them. But he was astonished at this fourth beast, so unnatural and dreadful; for the farther we come down the stream of time, the farther is it necessary to depart from nature in forming symbols to accurately represent the degenerating governments of earth. The lion is a production of nature; but it must have the unnatural addition of two wings to represent the kingdom of Babylon. The bear we also find in nature; but as a symbol of Medo-Persia, an unnatural ferocity must be denoted by the insertion of three ribs into its mouth. So the leopard is a beast of nature; but to fitly represent Grecia, there is a departure from nature only in respect to wings, and the number of heads. But nature furnishes no symbol, which can fitly illustrate the fourth kingdom. A beast, the likeness of which never was seen, is taken; a beast dreadful and terrible, with nails of brass, and teeth of iron, so cruel, rapacious and fierce, that from mere love of oppression, it devoured, and brake in pieces, and trampled its victims beneath its feet. Wonderful was all this to the prophet, but something more wonderful still appears. A little horn comes up, and, true to the nature of the beast from which it springs, thrusts aside three of its fellows; and lo! the horn has eyes, not the uncultivated eyes of the brute, but the keen, shrewd, intelligent eyes of a man; and stranger yet, it has a mouth, and with that mouth, it utters proud sayings, and puts forth preposterous and arrogant claims. No wonder the prophet made special inquiry respecting this monster, so unearthly in its instincts, and so fiendish in its works and ways. In the following verses some specifications are given respecting the little horn, which enable the student of prophecy to make an application of this symbol, without danger of mistake. VERSE 21. I beheld, and the same horn made war with the saints, and prevailed against them; 22; until the Ancient of Days came, and judgment was given to the saints of the Most High; and the time came that the saints possessed the kingdom. The wonderful wrath of this little horn against the saints particularly attracted the attention of Daniel. The rise of the ten horns, or the division of Rome into ten kingdoms, between the years A. D. 356 and 483, has already been noticed. See on chap. ii, 41. As these horns denote kingdoms, the little horn must denote a kingdom also, but not of the same nature, because it was diverse from the others. They were political kingdoms. And now we inquire, What kingdom has arisen among the ten kingdoms of the Roman empire, since A. D. 483, and yet diverse from them all? The answer is, The spiritual kingdom of the Papacy. This answers to the symbol in every particular; nothing else will do it. Can there then be any mistake here? Daniel beheld this horn making war upon the saints. Has this been true of the Papacy? Fifty millions of martyrs, with a voice like the sound of many waters,198 answer, Yes. Witness the cruel persecutions of the popes of Rome against the Waldenses, the Albigenses, and Protestants in general. It is stated, on good authority, that the persecutions, massacres, and religious wars, excited by the church and bishop of Rome, have occasioned the shedding of far more blood of the saints of the Most High, than all the enmity, hostility, and persecutions, of professed heathens from the foundation of the world. In verse 22 three consecutive events seem to be brought to view. Daniel, looking onward from the time when the little horn was in the height of its power, to the full end of the long contest between the saints, and Satan with all his agents, notes three prominent events that stand as mile posts along the way: 1. The coming of the Ancient of Days; that is, his providential judgments upon the little horn, the same as the sitting of the judgment and the taking away of his dominion, of verse 26. This is the first blow upon the Papacy. 2. The judgment that is given to the saints. This is the time when the saints sit with Christ in judgment a thousand years, apportioning the punishment due to the wicked. Then the martyrs will sit in judgment upon the great antichristian, persecuting power, which, in the days of their trial, hunted them like the beasts of the desert, and poured out their blood like water. 3. The time that the saints possess the kingdom; that is, the time of their entrance upon the possession of the new earth. Then the last vestige of the curse, of sin, and of sinners, root and branch, will have been removed away, and the territory so long misruled by the wicked powers of earth, the enemies of God’s people, will be finally taken by the righteous, to be held by them forever and ever. VERSE 23. Thus he said, The fourth beast shall be the fourth kingdom upon earth, which shall be diverse from all kingdoms, and shall devour the whole earth, and shall tread it down, and break it in pieces. 24. And the ten horns out of this kingdom are ten kings that shall arise: and another shall rise after them; and he shall be diverse from the first, and he shall subdue three kings. 25. And he shall speak great words against the Most High, and shall wear out the saints of the Most High, and think to change times and laws; and they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and the dividing of time. 26. But the judgment shall sit, and they shall take away his dominion, to consume and destroy it unto the end. We have here further particulars respecting the little horn. 1. He shall speak great words against the Most High. Has the Papacy done this? Look at a few of his self-assumed titles: “His Holiness,” “Vicegerent of the Son of God,” “Our Lord God, the Pope,” “Another God upon earth,” “King of the world,” “King of kings, and Lord of lords.” Said Pope Nicholas to the emperor Michael, “The Pope, who is called God by Constantine, can never be bound or released by man; for God cannot be judged by man.” Is there need of bolder blasphemy than this? Listen also to the adulation the popes have received from their followers without rebuke: A Venetian prelate in the fourth session of the Lateran, addressed the Pope as follows: “Thou art our Shepherd, our Physician, in short, a second God upon earth.” Another bishop called him “the lion of the tribe of Judah, the promised Saviour.” Lord Anthony Pucci, in the fifth Lateran, said to the Pope, “The sight of thy divine majesty does not a little terrify me; for I am not ignorant that all power both in Heaven and in earth is given unto you; that the prophetic saying is fulfilled in you, ‘All the kings of the earth shall worship him, and nations shall serve him.’” Again, Dr. Clarke, on verse 25 says: “He shall speak as if he were God.” So St. Jerome quotes from Symmachus. To none can this apply so well or so fully as to the popes of Rome. They have assumed infallibility, which belongs only to God. They profess to forgive sins, which belongs only to God. They profess to open and shut Heaven, which belongs only to God. They profess to be higher than all the kings of the earth, which belongs only to God. And they go beyond God in pretending to loose whole nations from their oath of allegiance to their kings, when such kings do not please them. And they go against God, when they give indulgences for sin. This is the worst of all blasphemies.” 2. And shall wear out the saints of the Most High. Has the Papacy done this? For the mere information of any student of church history, no answer need here be given. All know that for long years the Papal church has pursued its relentless work against the true followers of God. Chapter after chapter might be given, would our limited space permit. Wars, crusades, massacres, inquisitions, and persecutions of all kinds—these were their weapons of extinction. And fifty millions of martyrs—these will rise up in the resurrection, as witnesses against her bloody work. Pagan Rome persecuted relentlessly the Christian church; and it is estimated that three millions of Christians perished in the first three centuries; yet it is said that the primitive Christians prayed for the continuance of Imperial Rome; for they knew that when this form of government should cease, another far worse persecuting power would arise, which would literally, as this prophecy declares, “wear out the saints of the Most High.” Pagan Rome could slay the infants, but spare the mothers; but Papal Rome slew both mothers and infants together. No age, no sex, no condition in life, was exempt from her relentless rage. “When Herod died,” says a forcible writer, “he went down to the grave with infamy, and earth had one murderer, one persecutor, less, and hell one victim more. O Rome! what will not be thy hell, and that of thy votaries, when thy judgment shall have come!” 3. And shall “think to change times and laws.” What laws? and whose? Not the laws of other earthly governments; for it was nothing marvelous nor strange for one power to change the laws of another, whenever it could bring such power under its dominion. Not human laws of any kind; for the little horn had power to change these so far as its jurisdiction extended; but the times and laws in question were such as this power should only think to change, but not be able. They are the laws of the same Being to whom the saints belong, whom it wears out with persecution; namely, the laws of the Most High. And has the Papacy attempted this? Yes, even this. It has expunged the second commandment, to make way for its adoration of images. It has divided the tenth, to make up the number. And, more audacious than all! it has taken hold of the fourth commandment, torn from its place the Sabbath of Jehovah, the only memorial of the great God ever given to man, and erected in its place a rival institution to serve another purpose. See Catholic catechisms, Who Changed the Sabbath, and works on the Sabbath and Law, published at the REVIEW Office. 4. “And they shall be given into his hands until a time and times and the dividing of time.” The pronoun “they” embraces the saints, the times, and the laws just mentioned. How long a time were they to be given into the hands of this power. A time, as we have seen from chap. iv, 23, is one year, two times, the least that could be denoted by the plural, two years and the dividing of time, or half a time (ἥμισυ, Sept.) half a year. We thus have three years and a half for the continuance of this power. We must now consider that we are in the midst of symbolic prophecy; hence this measurement is not literal, but prophetic. The inquiry then arises, how long a period is denoted by three years and a half of prophetic time? The only rule given us in the Bible is, that when a day is used as a symbol, it stands for a year. Eze. iv, 6; Num. xiv, 34. The ordinary Jewish year, which must be used as the basis of reckoning, contained three hundred and sixty days. Three years and a half contained twelve hundred and sixty days. Each day standing for a year we have twelve hundred and sixty years for the continuation of this horn. Did the papacy possess dominion that length of time? The answer again is, Yes. The edict of the emperor Justinian, dated A. D. 533, made the bishop of Rome the head of all the churches. But this edict could not go into effect till the Arian Ostrogoths, the last of the three horns that were plucked up to make room for the Papacy, were driven from Rome, and this was not accomplished till A. D. 538. The edict would have been of no effect had this latter event not been accomplished; hence from this latter year we are to date, as this was the earliest point where the saints were in reality in the hands of this power. From this point did the Papacy hold supremacy for twelve hundred and sixty years? Exactly. For in the year 1798, Berthier, a general of Bonaparte’s, entered Rome, proclaimed a Republic, took the pope prisoner, and for a time abolished the Papacy. It has never since enjoyed the privileges and immunities which it possessed before. Thus again this power fulfils to the very letter, the specifications of the prophecy, which proves beyond question that the application is correct. Here the judgment, a judgment like other national judgments of which the Bible speaks, see Acts vii, 7, &c., sat upon the Papacy. Its dominion was taken away, that is, its supremacy was broken, and a consuming process there commenced which is to continue till the end of time. Yet the papacy will exist, though with but a shadow of its former prestige, till the appearing of Christ, to be consumed with the spirit of his mouth, and destroyed by the brightness of his coming. How accurately verse 26 has been fulfilled, since 1798, and is being fulfilled to-day, is evident even to the casual observer of passing events. This is doubtless to be understood more particularly in a national sense. Individuals are still in zealous devotion; but everywhere it has lost and is losing, national recognition and support. VERSE 27. 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. 28. Hitherto is the end of the matter. As for me Daniel, my cogitations much troubled me, and my countenance changed in me; but I kept the matter in my heart. After beholding the dark and desolate picture of Papal oppression upon the church, the prophet once more turns his eyes with delight upon the glorious period of the saints’ rest, when they shall have the kingdom free from all oppressive powers, in everlasting possession. What could the children of God do in this present evil world, sighing over the misrule and oppression of the governments of earth, and the abominations that are done in the land, if they could not look forward to the kingdom of God, and the return of their Lord, with full assurance that the promises concerning them both, shall certainly be fulfilled, and that speedily? WHEREIN APOSTOLIC PREACHING DIFFERS FROM MODERN.
By B. F. Robbins
“That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God.” 1 Cor. ii, 5. The secret of the success of apostolic preaching in the conversion of men to the truth of the gospel of Christ, is revealed in the text and its connection. Paul’s preaching to the Corinthians was not with enticing words of man’s wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power. There is, then, a great difference between the preaching of the apostles and the success of their ministry among men, and the preaching of this time as also the converts under its ministry. The converts to Christianity in the apostles’ days were truly believers in Jesus. They were separate from the world, steadfast in the faith, ready if required to sacrifice life. Their faith stood not in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God. But how different now. The power of God by his Spirit to give efficiency to the preaching of the gospel is not in the work, and hence the resort to persuasive, enticing words of man’s wisdom to induce men and women to take upon themselves a profession of faith in some one of the many conflicting creeds. The faith of such rests upon the wisdom of men, and not upon the power of God, which is practically denied by many of the professed ministers of Christ of all names and creeds. This is, alas, too true, and its truthfulness is apparent in the lives and deportment of many professed Christians. The church of this age fulfills the prediction of Paul. 2 Tim iii, 1-5. The preaching of Paul and his fellow-laborers was with power from on high: a power that carried conviction to the hearts of stubborn Jews and idolatrous Greeks, and constrained them to flee to Jesus the only Saviour of sinners, even while persecution and a violent death were frequently the consequence of their faith. If persecution was the attendant of a199 profession of faith in Jesus now as then, the persuasive words of man’s wisdom, now resorted to, would be entirely powerless to convert any; and were not a powerless, formal Christianity popular, the preachers would have no hearers, and the palaces of worship would be closed. But an important question suggests itself. Why is not the power of God to give success to the preaching of the gospel of Jesus now in the world? Certainly it is not because it is not as much needed now as then. Then the preaching of the cross of Christ was to the Jews a stumbling block, and to the Greeks foolishness, but to all believers the power of God. Now practical infidelity pervades the church. The gospel and its holy requirements, though praised in enticing words of men’s wisdom, are practically denied. The power of God is not in the world, and mere outward profession has taken the place of the power of godliness. The power of God is as much needed now as in Paul’s day. But we are told by our religious teachers that the power of God attending the preaching of the gospel was only designed for the apostolic age, and ceased with it. But this we cannot believe. Jesus, in his commission to his disciples (Mark xvi, 15-18; Matt. xxviii, 19, 20), assures us of power from above to attend their preaching, and that he would be with them even to the end of the world. Now the ministry of this age must surrender their claim of acting under this commission of Jesus to his ministers, or else cease to contend that the endowment of power to truly qualify them for the work of preaching the gospel was designed only for the apostolic age. Paul would not have the converts of Jesus under his ministry, ground their faith in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God. This is the only foundation upon which faith can safely rest. All other is but shifting, sinking sand. B. F. ROBBINS.
Owosso, Mich.