Earlier text: THE CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT:Repentance.
By Joseph Clarke
“Repent ye; for the kingdom of Heaven is at hand.” Matt. 3: 2. The doctrine of repentance is intimately connected with all the leading truths of God's word; and in order to fully understand the import of the above exhortation, we must have some knowledge of the nature of sin and of its remedy; we must have some knowledge of the holiness of God, and of the perpetuity of his law; and the more fully we understand the whole system of Bible truth, the more intelligent will be our conclusions, and the more thorough and lasting our repentance. When John preached the doctrine of repentance from sin, he referred to the moral law of ten commands as the law which the people had broken by disobedience; and sin was transgression of that law. When repentance was preached by our Lord (see Luke 24: 47), no new code of law had been promulgated, or enacted; nor any change made in the then existing decalogue; and when our Saviour spoke of repentance, all, both Jew and Gentile, both friends and opposers, understood alike that the decalogue was the great standard of human action. When Peter, on the day of Pentecost (see Acts 2: 38), preached the doctrine of repentance, the New Testament was yet unwritten; and the life and doctrines of the Saviour were as yet unknown, except by a few persecuted followers; and the decalogue, or the moral law of ten precepts, was the only accepted standard of moral action. This great moral law was held up by the people of God from time immemorial; and the Jews, in all their intercourse with other nations, had (especially after the captivity) pointed with no little zeal (and perhaps with pride) to this perfect law, contrasting it with the fabulous system of paganism. Peter, in preaching this doctrine at the feast of Pentecost, gave no notice to transgressors that this law of ten commands was in any way changed, modified, or disannulled; or that the position of the sinner was in any respect different, as to his guilt, from sinners in the previous dispensation; but that there was a new incentive to repentance, “for the promise is to you.” (See Acts 2: 39.) Peter did not preach a change, even of the remedial plan; but clearly demonstrated that Jesus was the true Messiah, whom the ancients, both prophet and priest, and the wise and good of all ages, had long expected, and longed and prayed for. In preaching the doctrine of repentance, the apostles left the moral law as the test of moral action; and the Old Testament was still, to them, more precious than before the appearing of the Messiah. Jesus, in opening his counsels to his disciples on the way to Emmaus, after his resurrection (see Luke 24: 26–32), appealed to the writings of the prophets. The apostle Paul did the same in his directions to Timothy (2 Tim. 3: 15–17), when he cited him to the Old Testament scriptures as the only means of salvation. We would direct the sinner, who is anxious for a complete and thorough preparation for the day of Judgment, when the secrets of all hearts shall be made known, to a prayerful consideration of the great moral law of ten commands, as the perfect basis and test of moral action. The moral law, as given on Mount Sinai (Ex. 20: 3–17), is to test the acts of our sinful race; and if the transgressor of this law feels that he is such, and that he stands condemned at the bar of God, then he is in a position to be helped by the remedial system introduced after the fall (Gen. 3: 15). And by reference to Gen. 4: 4, it is plain that by Abel the plan of redemption was understood; and he offered the blood of beasts in anticipation of the blood shed on Calvary for the remission of sins; and although the plan of salvation was yet undeveloped in the days of Abel, when he offered the firstlings of his flock, yet it was the same as now; it was by repentance of past sins, and by faith in the coming Messiah, prefigured by the blood of beasts, that Abel and all the ancient worthies obtained a hope in the promises, and a faith in a final resurrection to eternal life. To the sinner anxious for relief from the burden of sin, solicitous for a complete work of transformation, and a full assurance of faith, we would recommend an intelligent consideration of the decalogue, and a prayerful examination of the same, in the spirit recommended by our Saviour in his sermon on the mount (Matt. 5: 27–48). Let him candidly and honestly ask himself, Have I daily, and hourly, and conscientiously, kept the moral law as perfectly as here recommended in this sermon on the mount? Have I kept all the ten precepts, in the letter and spirit, as here set forth? If he has, there is no remedial system needed in his case. To him, a Saviour is unnecessary, except in the case of Adam's fall; and he need not fear but a way will be made for his salvation from the second death. But no intelligent, candid man, will make this plea. All have sinned; and the convicted sinner would account it blasphemy to so conclude. No! he feels he is a sinner, and deserving of the wrath of God; and a careful consideration of the different requirements of the moral law will greatly help the seeker for light, and truth, and salvation. By a knowledge of these precepts, the transgressor is enlightened as to his guilt, and the very precepts he has broken are there clearly written by the finger of Jehovah. (Ex. 31: 18.) To the sinner seeking for repentance and eternal life, we recommend the careful study of the decalogue as of the greatest importance; for, falling short of this, his repentance may be partial, or in many instances, delusive. To fail in the work of repentance, to fall short of a thorough work, will in all probability result in failure; for none are so hard to reach as those who have at some past time, as they believe, repented of sin, and yet have very slack and imperfect views of God's requirements. The audience to whom Jesus and his followers, and his forerunner, John the Baptist, addressed themselves, were well informed as to the law of God. It is true that the Pharisees had loaded the people with unmeaning and traditional observances; but Jesus cleared the subject from this mist and darkness, and brought out the noble and elevating features of the moral law, and sealed the imperishable document by saying, “I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill.” (Matt. 5: 17.) We have been thus emphatic upon this subject, because there is a tendency at the present time to render indefinite the law of God. Some modify, some expunge, the same, and many classes of religionists do mutually work to this end; consequently, conversions at the present day are often spurious, because the work of repentance is misunderstood. And here we warn those who seek for eternal life, against all that class of religious teachers who in any way modify, change, or expunge, any one, or all, of the ten precepts. All such are dangerous leaders, blind leaders of the blind. But let us beware of a controversial spirit. Let all our labors and prayers have this for their end: The salvation of our own and others' souls, and the glory of God; how shall I obtain eternal life? how shall I save my own soul, and that of my neighbor? how shall I best please and honor God, and recommend his truth to all with whom I associate? But again we address the sinner who would not only understand the work of repentance, but would carry out the same in practice. Having studied this perfect law, you find yourself condemned and guilty; your past life rises up before you in all its deformity; you feel that you have no claim upon the justice of God; you cannot say to him, I have done justice and truth, and in my heart and life I am pure. No;203 but you cry with the publican, God be merciful to me a sinner. And now let me assure you that the more deeply you feel that you are a sinner, the more intelligently and feelingly you realize this, the more likely you will be to find the favor of God and pardon through the mercy of Jesus Christ. The law is your school-master to bring you to Christ. It chastises and corrects you. The Holy Spirit takes this law, and sets it home to your soul, showing you which part or parts of it you have most fearfully broken. You are struck with the majesty and purity of this law; and while it awes and subdues you, it also convicts and humbles you. At the same time, you see its necessity, that without such a law the universe would only be a universal wreck, morally and socially. Thus you feel that you would rather perish forever than to see this law destroyed, or changed in any particular. In this state of mind, you humbly approach the Majesty of Heaven, and say with the publican, God be merciful to me a sinner. You lay down all rebellious feelings, and evil thoughts. Satan, all this while, will seek to lead your mind astray. He will suggest all the blasphemous thoughts he imagines you will possibly accept; but remember that most evil of all is the suggestion that the law of God has relaxed in its strictness, or changed in its requirements, or that it has been erased. No! those characters, cut by the finger of Jehovah in the marble tables, remain there still. No change in those precepts! They remain forever. Precious commandments! Precious hand that cut them in the rock! Noble the heart that conceived them! Glorious art thou, Creator of Heaven and earth. Dear reader, to what conclusion are we brought by this course of reasoning? Is it not that those who deny the perpetuity of the law of God have not even taken the first steps in repentance, and sorrow for sin? unless we charitably hope that the principles of some are better than their opinions, an exception we have sometimes allowed. But, dear reader, let me warn you not to err in opinions. Even these, if wrong, may yet lead you upon the grounds of Giant Despair, or into some fatal snare or pit in the valley of the shadow of death. We linger long in the vicinity of the law of God before we proceed far in the work of repentance, because this is an age of lawlessness, and the pulpits of the popular churches are almost silent, if not wrong, upon this subject; and the change made in the priesthood by the Saviour's coming, changing it from the tribe of Levi to the person of Jesus Christ, transferring it from the earthly to the heavenly sanctuary, and with this change also changing, or rather altogether abolishing the temple service, is carried now to a dangerous extreme, and expressions made by the New-Testament writers, relating to the abolishing of this ceremonial law, are interpreted to mean an erasure of the moral law also. Beware of this dangerous avalanche of religious opinion, sweeping in its course all that is good and precious, leaving a moral ruin behind. If you would have a repentance that shall be lasting, and unto life eternal, revere and love the moral law; make it your school-master, to bring you to Christ, and to call you to him. Jesus is then your refuge and your strength. Having spoken of the work of the law, let us now look at the work of the Spirit of God. Jesus says, I will send the Comforter. He shall lead you into all truth. He speaks of him as the Spirit of truth (John 16: 7–15). Please read these verses and you will find the work of the Spirit in influencing the human heart in the direction toward repentance. In different ways, the Holy Spirit moves upon the minds of men; but the test of sin, the moral law, is, and always has been, the same. The spirit of this law is written more or less legibly upon every human heart. This rule of moral rectitude is the only code ever promulgated, which is only ten brief precepts, and comprehends the whole scope of human action. And no crime was ever committed, less or greater, which was outside of this perfect law. All sin and crime, possible and practicable, come within the scope of these moral precepts. Therefore, the Spirit of God never has abandoned, and never will abandon, the moral law, as the basis of action; and from the frequent and honorable mention made by the New-Testament writers, we may infer that the Spirit of God, taking of the things of God, and so impressing them upon their minds, has forever settled this matter, and established the moral law as the rule, and confirmed the same to all generations of the human race. The doctrine of repentance is so intimately connected with the Christian life, in all its developments, that it should never be lost sight of; for so fallible is man, that the most mature and settled Christians have at times to recur practically to this principle. Errors and sins should be carefully noted and remembered, and compared with the perfect test; and wherever there is the least tendency to swerve from a direct line of truth and perfection, repentance must immediately follow, or the Spirit will be grieved; and if wrong is indulged, or lightly thought of, and sin is practiced, the good Spirit will finally depart, unless there is a return. Repentance is a deep and lasting sorrow for sin, arising from a sense of its hateful and disgusting nature, and its tendency to alienate us from God. It mourns in secret places over all heart evils, and strives to overcome them. It incites the sinner to deep humility and self-abasement before God, and cries with the convicted, sinful king David, Create in me a clean heart, O God. And we may say that the sinner who is deeply repentant will always find the 51st psalm to be the language of his heart; and if any one has got so far in the Christian life as to never need the language of this psalm in his own case, his case is an exception to the general rule. Repentance, when genuine, is in all cases attended by a greater or less degree of contrition for sin; and by conviction, we mean the feeling that David had when he wrote this psalm. The frequent use of this psalm also tends to generate and carry forward the work of repentance in the hearts of such as read the Bible with a view to become right in the sight of God. And the frequent and prayerful perusal of the word of God will always deepen and render permanent the work of repentance in the soul. Repentance, when genuine, leaves its impress indelibly upon the heart. No Christian forgets for a moment the fact that he is rescued from destruction, a brand plucked from the fire, and that a recurrence to old sins endangers the loss of the soul. He dreads sin as a child dreads the fire. He feels that sin has been the ruin of the race, and that the least approach to it is offensive to God, and that the Spirit of God will not dwell long in the corrupt, and unkept, unwashed, unfortified heart. Repentance, when genuine, leads to progress in the Christian life. It leads to watchfulness, and it sets a guard over the thoughts, and intents, and motives of action. It frequently asks the heart in which it finds a welcome, How dost thou reason? and decide? and why? Dost thou harbor thoughts selfish and low? Dost thou pass by desires and passions in thy heart that thou wouldst blush to speak in the presence of angels? Repentance, when genuine, keeps up in the heart a constant watch, and repents of and abhors as much the sinful thought as the sinful word or act. Such being, in brief, the work of repentance, it is clear that it makes men honorable and pure, honest and noble, careful, watchful, and sincere; it draws out the heart after God and holy things, and delights in the law of God after the inward man; and of course, if the inward man is holy and pure, the outward conduct will be elevated and pure; and, at the same time, will be humble, and free from egotism, assumption, and selfishness. It makes the man agreeable and useful to his fellow-men, and causes him to imitate the divine Pattern, who went about doing good to all. The work of repentance, when genuine, causes man to revere the law and the Law-giver, the Bible and its Author; it causes him to love God, and his work, and his people; it generates and fosters benevolence and disinterestedness, and frees the heart from prejudice and bigotry, and sets free the reasoning powers, because it clears them from the mists and clouds of unbelief, and places full confidence in the revealed word of God, in its true sense, free from fanciful and traditional influences. Such being the work of true repentance, justification follows, as a matter of course, “justification by faith;” for faith in God and his word has led and prepared the way all along for repentance. Doubts and unbelief obstruct the work and progress of true repentance; therefore faith led the way, and love accompanied faith, and these in a greater or less degree preceding repentance, increased to a perceptible flame upon the action of genuine repentance; and this producing works, immediately produced joy in the Holy Ghost, which is the evidence of justification by faith; and these experiences continued in a life of holiness lead to higher degrees of advancement in the divine life. He who denies the above principles, and claims to enjoy religion, while living in violation of the same, may at least fear lest his repentance has been spurious, or has been of no lasting benefit, like the seed sown upon ground unfit for cultivation. The prayer of all should be that Satan may not be able to deceive us or lead us astray. The Day of the Lord Cometh.
By Elmira O. Davis
“Blow ye the trumpet in Zion, and sound an alarm in my holy mountain: let all the inhabitants of the land tremble: for the day of the Lord cometh, for it is nigh at hand.” MANY of the signs which Jesus gave us precursors of his coming are taking place around us. As the opening leaves precede the summer verdure, and chirping birds betoken the coming dawn, so these are also glorious indications of the near approach of Zion’s King. In this day of preparation, the cars are ready to bear his servants on with lightning speed to rouse a slumbering church, and warn a guilty world to prepare to meet their coming doom. The spirit of our age is haste. Our mighty foe has come to earth with power because his time is short. Men’s minds are all engrossed with his wonder-working schemes. The early dawn and midnight lamp still find them toiling on; their time, talents, and even eternal life, must go, a sacrifice on Mammon’s impious shrine. Life is swiftly passing like a weaver’s shuttle; then seize your prizes while you can. The mighty current, on its downward course, bears all on its mad bosom who will not stem the tide. Each daily revolution of this old earth gives an ever-increasing impetus to those who make this world their all. Lovers of wealth, votaries of fashion, pleasure-seekers, all, improve your chance while yet you may. But, oh! a day is coming, “cruel both with wrath and fierce anger, to lay the land desolate; and he shall destroy the sinners thereof out of it.” In the midst of this perplexity of nations, God commands the trumpet to be blown in Zion, and an alarm sounded in his holy mountain. His people are hastening to gather the jewels from the rough materials of earth, that they may become polished stones, fit for that glorious temple that shall soon shine in the city of our God. The trumpet must give a certain sound, or who will prepare for the coming conflict? Who will come up to the help of the Lord and gather those that soon can shine as stars in the kingdom of our Father? Not those who are clinging closely to this world; for they are dizzy with its idle whirl. They cannot discern the rising beams of the glorious Sun of righteousness; how can they point others to its healing light? “Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money;” “come, buy,” “without money and without price.” Yes, come to the living waters, you who are striving to slake your thirst at the turbid streams of worldly pleasure and find yourselves still feverish and unsatisfied. “There is a river, the streams whereof shall make glad the city of God.” Come, quaff from this life-giving fountain, and prove for yourselves the strength of God’s everlasting love. This stream runs low around the foot of Calvary’s cross. It finds its source in God’s eternal throne. There it is a mighty river, boundless and unfathomable; there plunge, and though your sins are of deep crimson hue they will become as wool, and you made purer than the spotless snow. But the path that leads thee there is steep; its ascent, rough and rugged. The summer sun shines hot, the desert sands oft scorch our weary feet, and winter frosts and snows oft chill them through. Earth’s bitter curse seems pressing heavily, and oft we strain our longing eyes and gaze beyond these shadows dim, and sigh, “Are we not almost home?” Ofttimes, while fainting ’neath our weight of care, we close our eyes and almost long to lay life’s burdens down, when, lo! an angel comes, and, pointing to the healing stream, bids us arise and gird our armor on. We hear its murmuring melodies, we drink, and find our strength renewed to struggle on in life’s great battlefield; and this refreshing draught becomes in us, a well of water, upspringing into everlasting life. Come, rich and poor, come, whosoever will, the mansions are prepared, the marriage feast is spread, come, and partake of the gracious bounties from our loving Lord. But, oh! say you, the way is so strait how can we travel there? Yes, all too strait for fashion and her train; too steep to ascend with such enormous heaps of sin and folly, too low for the high heads that never bow in humble adoration at their Saviour’s feet. But here you may exchange your flimsy trappings for the garments of humility and praise; the spirit’s deep unrest, for peace and joy such as the worldly wise can never know. O sinner, haste and find a refuge from the coming storm. We hear the muttering thunder in the distance roar. Already clouds are rising that soon will envelop our earth in gloom, with not one glimmering ray of hope to light the darkness of eternal death. The gospel sun will sink in deep oblivion, and never, never beam again on this dark night of wild despair. But with this rayless night there comes a cloudless morning. With faith’s discerning eye, God’s watchmen hail these dire calamities as harbingers of good. Lone watcher, waiting through the long, dark night of sorrow, lo! glimpses of the rising day-star already gild the eastern hill-tops with its glorious light. The glad morning cometh, and the shadows flee away. Already rays of glory come from the many mansions that our Saviour has been fitting for his weary laborers’ home. The angels soon will gather all the waiting ones to receive their great reward in the kingdom of their Father, and go out, no, nevermore. “Surely I Come Quickly.”
By A. F. Sala
Having enlisted under the banner of king Jesus about a year ago, I have been earnestly striving to become worthy of being called a soldier of Emanuel’s army. There is one duty he has put upon all of us who have taken upon ourselves his name and profession, and thereby notified him that we are ready for duty, and are waiting to be assigned to some post of honor. Now let us see what position he has given us to hold until he comes to relieve us. Listen to the last words of Jesus as written by his servant John: “Surely I come quickly.” These words are full of meaning. Now turn to the 24th of Matthew, and read the command our Lord and Master gives, not only to his disciples that were then with him, but also unto them that should come into his service in the last days of time: “Watch therefore; for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come. But know this, that if the good man of the house had known in what watch the thief would come, he would have watched, and would not have suffered his house to be broken up. Therefore be ye also ready; for in such an hour as ye think not, the Son of man cometh.” Can we realize that these are the words of our Saviour? Surely, if we accept the teachings of the Bible as the written inspiration of God, we must realize it. Then our duty is made plain. We are first commanded to watch. For what? For the coming of our Lord. Shall we do it by spending our time in gazing into the heavens? No! surely not. It has a wider meaning than that. Had the good man of the house known in what watch the thief would come, he would not have suffered his house to be broken up. Then we are to watch, setting our house in order. How shall we do this? We are to be the temples of God; but must first be cleansed and purified. We must become pure and spotless in his sight, and free from every contaminating influence of the world, so that we may be able to stand in the consecrated position he has assigned us. Therefore let us diligently watch, taking upon ourselves the whole armor of God, having for our breast-plate faith and love, for a helmet the hope of salvation, for the sword, the Spirit of God, which is his word, and having done all, to stand. May we stand, therefore, having our loins girt about with truth, praying always, with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto “with all perseverance.” How many of us are thus watching, prepared to hail our Lord and Master with joy and gladness when he makes his appearance in the clouds of heaven? “ONE question more than others all,
From thoughtful minds implores reply
It is as breathless from star and pall,
What fate awaits us when we die.”—Alger. We have now examined the teaching of the Bible relative to man, in his creation, in his life, in his death, and in the intermediate state to his resurrection; and we have found its uniformity and explicit testimony to be that he has no inherent inalienable principle in his nature which is exempt from death; but that the only avenue to life beyond the grave is through the resurrection. We have found also that such a resurrection to a second life is decreed for all the race; and now the more momentous question, what the issue of that existence is to be, presents itself for solution. Natural, or temporal, death, we die in Adam. This death visits all alike irrespective of character. The sincerest saint falls under its power, as inevitably as the most reckless sinner. This cannot be our final end; for it would not be in accordance with justice that our ultimate fate should hinge on a transaction, like the sin of Adam, for which we are not responsible. Every person must be the arbiter of his own destiny. To secure this, the redemption which intervenes through Christ provides for all a release from the death entailed upon us by the Adamic transgression, in order that every person's individual acts may constitute the record which shall determine his destiny beyond the grave. What is that destiny to be? Our inquiry respects, not the future of the righteous concerning which there is no material controversy, but that of the sinner. Is his fate an eternity of life in a devouring fire which is forever unable to devour him, an eternal approach of death which never really arrives? Blinded by the doctrine of the immortality of the soul, two opposite conclusions are reached by those who connect this doctrine with two different classes of scripture declarations. For one class, reading that the punishment of the sinner is to be eternal, and holding that man has an inherent immortality which can never be alienated, at once come to the terrible conclusion of an eternity of conscious suffering, an eternal hell as taught by Augustine. Another, connecting it with the declarations that God's anger shall not always burn against the wicked, but that a time comes when every intelligence in the universe, in the plenitude of joy, is heard ascribing honor, and blessing, and praise to God, speedily reaches the conclusion of universal restoration as taught by Origen. And if the doctrine of the immortality of the soul be a scriptural doctrine, then the Scriptures are found supporting these two diametrically opposite conclusions. We have seen that the Scriptures do not teach any such inherent immortality as is claimed for man; this, therefore, cannot fetter us in our investigation of this question. God can continue the existence of the wicked to all eternity after the resurrection, if he so chooses; but if so, the doctrine must rest on explicit statements of the Scriptures to that effect. Paul says plainly that the wages of sin is death, Rom. 6: 23; and as we do not receive wages for the work of another, this must be a declaration of what will result to every individual for a course of sin; and before this can be made to mean eternal life in misery, the present constitution of language must be destroyed, and new definitions be given to established terms. We hold this declaration of Paul's, on which we take our stand, to be the true ground between the errors above mentioned, and one which not only harmonizes all the Bible on this question, but which has abundance of positive testimony in its favor. 1. The future punishment, threatened to the wicked, is to be eternal in its duration. The establishment of this proposition, of course overthrows the universal restoration of Origen; and the nature of this punishment, involving a state of death, overthrows alike the restoration view of Origen and the eternal hell of Augustine. One, “Thus saith the Lord,” is sufficient for the establishment of any doctrine. One such we offer in support of the proposition now before us. Speaking of the reprobate, Christ, says, “And these shall go away into everlasting punishment,” and immediately adds concerning the righteous, “but the righteous into life eternal.” Here the same Greek word, aionios, is used to express the duration of these opposite states. If, as must be admitted, the word expresses unending duration in the case of the righteous, it must mean the same in that of the wicked. To the same end we might refer to the words of Christ on two other occasions: John 3: 36; Matt. 26: 24. In the first of these passages, he says: “He that believeth not the Son shall not see life;” that is, eternal life. But if, after a certain period of suffering, such persons are released from that state by a restoration to God's favor, this declaration could not be true. In the second, he speaks of some of whom he says that it would be good for them if they had not been born. And this utterly precludes the idea that they should ever be released to enter the bliss of Heaven; for the first moment of such release would make amends for all past suffering; and throughout eternity they would praise God that they had been born. The punishment of the wicked, alike with the reward of the righteous, is therefore to be eternal. Two unending conditions are held out to men, and between the two, they have the privilege in this life of choosing. 2. In what will the eternal state of the wicked consist? Before presenting an argument to show that it is death in the literal sense, it may be necessary to notice the few passages of Scripture which are put forth as evidence that it is eternal misery. 1. Dan. 12: 2: “And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt.” The shame spoken of in this text is coupled by the objector with the contempt, and claimed to be like that everlasting; and if the shame, which is an emotion to be exercised by the individuals themselves, is to be eternal, they must be awakened to everlasting life and consciousness. The fact that they are raised to shame proves indeed that they have a veritable resurrection to life and consciousness, and that this is no figure of speech which is applied to them. But the reader will notice that the shame is not said, like the contempt, to be everlasting. Contempt is not an emotion which they feel; they are not raised to the contempt of themselves; but it is an emotion felt by others toward them; and this does not imply the consciousness of those against whom it is directed; inasmuch as contempt may be felt for them as well after they have passed from the stage of consciousness as before. The Syriac sustains this idea. It reads, “Some to shame and the eternal contempt of their companions.” And thus it will be. Shame for their wickedness and corruption will burn into their very souls, so long as they have conscious being. And when they pass away, consumed for their iniquities, their loathsome characters and their guilty deeds, excite only contempt on the part of the righteous, unmodified and unabated, so long as they hold them in remembrance at all. This text therefore furnishes no proof of the eternal suffering of the wicked. 2. Matt. 25: 41: “Depart from me ye cursed into everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels.” What is here said to be everlasting? Wicked men? No. The devil? No. His angels? No. But only the fire. And how can the application of this term to the fire prove the indestructibility and eternal life of those who are cast therein? It may be answered, What propriety could there be in keeping up the fire everlastingly, if its victims were not to be eternally the objects of its power? And we reply, This word is sometimes used to denote the results and not the continuance of the process. Everlasting fire may not be fire which is everlastingly burning, but fire which produces results which are everlasting in their nature. The victims cast therein will be consumed, and if from that destruction they are never to be released, if that fiery work is never to be undone, it is to them an everlasting fire. This will appear more fully when we come to speak of the “eternal fire” through which God's vengeance was visited on the wicked cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. There are several passages of scripture in which the same word, aionios, is unquestionably used in this sense. In Heb. 5: 9, we read of “eternal salvation;” that is, a salvation which is eternal or everlasting in its results, not one which is always going on, but never accomplished. In Heb. 6: 2, Paul speaks of “eternal judgment,” not judgment which is eternally going forward, but one which, having once passed upon all men, Acts 17: 31, is irreversible in its decisions, and eternal in its effects. In Heb. 9: 12, he speaks in the same way of “eternal redemption,” not a redemption through which we are eternally approaching a redeemed state which we never reach, but a redemption which releases us for all eternity from the power of sin and death. It would be just as proper to speak of the saints as always redeeming, but never redeemed, as to speak of the sinner as always consuming but never consumed, or always dying but never dead. This fire is prepared for the devil and his angels, and will be shared by all of the human race who choose to follow the devil in his accursed rebellion against the government of Heaven. It will be to them an everlasting fire; for once having plunged into its fiery vortex, there is no resurrection, no life, no hope, beyond. Who Will Give the Warning?
By Roswell F. Cottrell
The great day of the Lord is at hand, even at the door. The abecedarian in the study of prophecy knows this to be the truth. The great chain of consecutive prophecy, beginning with Dan. 2, and ending with Rev. 14, is rendered so plain by fulfillment that there is no reasonable chance for disagreement concerning its application. All is fulfilled but the closing work—the finishing of the promised warning of Rev. 14: 6–12, which is now being given, and the coming of the day of wrath when the nations will be dashed in pieces and the everlasting kingdom be given to the saints of the Most High. The warning will be given before the terrible calamity shall come that shall make the earth empty and desolate; but who will give it? All ministers of the gospel should be engaged in warning the church and the world of the impending crisis which ends probation and brings the sinner's terrible and irretrievable doom. Can they not understand these prophecies which marked out the course of empires precisely as they have been fulfilled in history? They can if they will. A school boy can understand them. And there is no reasonable chance for disagreement. But who has heard a minister of the churches called orthodox preach a single discourse upon these prophecies and their fulfillment? Why do they not preach these things and thus warn all of the coming day of God? I can see no reason but this: If they preach these prophecies, they can come to no other conclusion than that the day of God is at hand, and this would expose them to the so-much-dreaded odium of being called Adventists. All that do preach these prophecies, that mark out so clearly the world's history to its close, are Adventists. Those that are not willing to be called Adventists let these prophecies alone. If they should preach these things, which are so plain that a child can understand them, they run the risk of losing popularity, place, and pelf. These are strong motives to keep them from warning all of the coming judgments such as never came upon the inhabitants of the world. There is an awful responsibility resting upon professed ministers of the gospel. Oh! that they might feel it! The blood of souls will be found in the garments of unfaithful ministers, who might, if they would, have seen the sword coming, and blown the trumpet and warned the people. It is no wonder that it is recorded in the prophecies of the great day of God's wrath: “Howl, ye shepherds, and cry; and wallow yourselves in ashes, ye principal of the flock; for the days of your slaughter and of your dispersions are accomplished; and ye shall fall like a pleasant vessel. And the shepherds shall have no way to flee, nor the principal of the flock to escape. A voice of the cry of the shepherds,205 and a howling of the principal of the flock, shall be heard; for the Lord hath spoiled their pasture. And the peaceable habitations are cut down because of the fierce anger of the Lord. He hath forsaken his covert, as the lion; for their land is desolate because of the fierceness of the oppressor, and because of his fierce anger.” Jer. 25:34–38. How it would awaken the world if all that could preach these tremendous truths of prophecy would do so! But a multitude are going to irretrievable ruin for want of ministers to preach the truth. R. F. COTTRELL. General Conference Postponed
☞ Bro. WHITE has arranged to stay in California longer than was expected when the notice in regard to General Conference was given last week. It will not be held till his return, and the time is therefore postponed till further notice. We are requested by the school committee to say that students coming to the next term, will please come prepared to pay their tuition in advance. Completion of the History of the Sabbath
We have received from Bro. Andrews the manuscript for the Biblical portion of the History of the Sabbath. He is now sedulously working to bring the Secular History to a conclusion, and the friends of Sabbath reform may soon look for the completion of the entire work.