Earlier text: A PrayerTHERE are those who deny to Jesus Christ his unique position as both Son of man and Son of God, but who emphasize the purity of his character, and hold up his example as worthy of imitation. They are willing to bestow hero-worship upon “the prophet of Nazareth,” and view him as an ideal to be copied, but do not acknowledge his divinity or the necessity of accepting his righteousness as the only basis of perfection of character. The practical consequence of this kind of teaching, and the vital difference between a merely human effort to imitate the perfect copy and the divine gift of power for righteousness, have been clearly presented in an article by Dr. Louis Matthews Sweet, in the Bible Record for November, from which we take the following paragraphs:— We are ready to concede all that a reasonable person is likely to claim as to the general tendency of an ideal to get itself embodied in the life of one who admires and pursues it. But the ideal of Christ is not like other ideals,—the embodiment of superiority on the same general plane of existence,—and we protest that merely as an ideal, as a model for our copying, there is full as much of discouragement as of inspiration in the life of Christ. We have read what Channing has to say about the inimitableness of Christ’s character, and we have put it to the test of honest trial; and there is far more to be learned from the trial than from the famous sermon. Here is an appropriate place for a man to open the New Testament, and soak mind and heart with the character, in all its range and intensity, in all its beauty and elevation, of the Sonship which he would imitate and reproduce. Let him not forget that Christ’s attitude to God was the index, as it was the outcome, of all that he was. To reproduce his attitude to God, it is not enough to tread a chalk-line of outward correctness, to do certain things in a certain way, but to realize in actual fact the spirit and atmosphere of a life which was the outward expression of a mind without a cloud, of a heart without a stain, and of a will in perfect harmony with God. What one of us is competent to this business? To reproduce the Christ life and to embody the Christ spirit, is the Christian’s task; but who can ever come at it in the way of imitation? If sincere and earnest men become discouraged and disheartened in their attempts to obey the law of Moses, what is likely to happen to the man who attempts to imitate Christ? It is along this line that men come to learn the depth of their own need. Those who know7 themselves know well that they need and must have a Saviour who will open the way to God, and confirm and reinforce their own wavering and uncertain impulses toward the right. To give them anything else is to mock them with the desert mirage of the unattainable, whereas the prophet promised that the mirage should become a pool of water (Isa. 35:7, marginal reading); the ideal, the actual. To sum up once more: That can not be the essence of Christianity which makes it another yoke of legal bondage by denying the help needed to enable us to carry out the task it lays upon us. To one who has tasted of the riches of Christ, this humanistic “essence” of Christianity is a very thin and unsatisfactory thing. Christianity is historically and essentially a supernatural and redemptive system. It is a religion, not a philosophy nor an ethic. This does not mean that it is not rational and ethical to the core. Nor does it mean that the life of Christ has no value nor inspiration for the Christian. The life of Christ is the revelation of Christ, without which a knowledge of him would be impossible. It is also the revelation of the life unto which we are saved. To follow him by the outward way of imitation is to attempt heaven with scaling-ladders—the height of the wall is the measure of failure. To follow him by the inward path of self-surrender is to obey the deepest law of our being, and to find that the ideal, and the power to make it actual, flow forth from the same personal fountain of light and life. What Shall Be Done?
By A. G. Daniells
WE are in difficulty regarding our Thanksgiving Ingathering work. In planning for this movement it was necessary for the printers to make arrangements for the necessary paper and office help at an early date. When they called on the General Conference Committee for an order for the number of papers that would be wanted, we had not received many orders from the churches, hence we hardly knew how many copies to order. We ventured to order four hundred thousand. The Review and Herald manager took the precaution to order paper for six hundred thousand. When four hundred thousand copies had been printed, we had received orders for only two hundred fifty thousand copies. It looked as if four hundred thousand would be all that would be called for. So the printing ceased. But later the orders began to pour in, and we gave the Review and Herald an order for another fifty thousand. The orders kept rolling in and growing larger, until for ten days or more they averaged about twenty thousand a day. Since the presses began working on the Thanksgiving number the second time, they have been running day and night every day except Sabbath, and now in the midst of Thanksgiving week they are still running. And the orders are still coming in. This week we have received one order for sixteen thousand copies. We now have orders for six hundred fifty thousand copies. We have more than a hundred thousand orders unfilled. Now what shall be done? Shall we become disheartened, blame some one, and throw up the work?—No, let us go on with the work. No one is to be blamed. The Review and Herald deserves our gratitude for the splendid work it has done. It fulfilled its part of the original arrangement on time. The difficulty has been caused by so many of the churches and conferences failing to send their orders in early. The fact is, the movement has grown beyond what any one expected. We are profoundly thankful that it has. The Thanksgiving number of the REVIEW will not be out of date when the week closes. It will be good for the purpose for which it has been prepared until the close of the year. Under all the circumstances it has been decided to extend the Thanksgiving Ingathering two full weeks. We shall fill every order we have received, and all that may yet come in. We earnestly request our people to continue the good work. Do not fail to distribute all the papers you receive. Pray the Lord of the harvest to give you good returns, and to bless the people who get the paper. Who can estimate the amount of good this work will do? Let it continue. It has become quite the fashion of late years to regard Christianity as the product of an evolutionary process, and to assume that all the other religions of the world have served their purpose in aiding to develop the Christian religion. This teaching necessarily denies that the truths of Christianity have been revealed, or that there is anything final in this system of truth, and concedes that there may be other and yet higher forms of religion still to come. In marked contrast with this modern denial of the exclusive character of the Christian religion is the view advocated by Dr. John Lord, the historian, in his lecture on Ancient Religions:— I assume that there is no such thing as a progressive Christianity, except in so far as mankind grow in the realization of its lofty principles; that there has not been, and will not be, any improvement on the ethics and spiritual truths revealed by Jesus the Christ, but that they will remain forever the standard of faith and practise. I assume also that Christianity has elements which are not to be found in any other religion,—such as original teachings, divine revelations, and sublime truths. I know it is the fashion with many thinkers to maintain that improvements on the Christian system are both possible and probable, and that there is scarcely a truth which Christ and his apostles declared which can not be found in some other ancient religion, when divested of the errors there incorporated with it. This notion I repudiate. I believe that systems of religion are perfect or imperfect, true or false, just so far as they agree or disagree with Christianity; and that to the end of time all systems are to be measured by the Christian standard, and not Christianity by any other system. There is no compromise with the ultra-fashionable claims of the latter-day theologians in these vigorous statements. Well would it be if they could be repeated from every pulpit in the land. THAT the Word who “became flesh” was “in the beginning,” and that through him God the Father was revealed to the world, becomes clear through the study of the Old Testament Scriptures. This truth has been well stated by Dr. Gerlach, the German theologian, in these words:— Throughout the whole Old Testament there runs the distinction between the hidden God and the Revealer of God, himself equal with God, who most frequently is called “the Messenger, the Angel of the Lord,” “Malachi-Jehovah,”—one with him, and yet distinct from him. This Messenger of the Lord is the Guide of the patriarchs; the Caller of Moses; the Leader of the people through the wilderness; the Champion of the Israelites in Canaan; and also, yet further, the Guide and Ruler of the people of the covenant; or, as he is called (Isa. 63:9), “the Angel of his presence;” by Malachi, as “the Messenger of the covenant.” This Angel of the Lord often in the Old Testament speaks as Jehovah, and his appearing is regarded as that of the most high God himself. Nay, God says expressly of this Angel, “My name, [i. e., my revealed Being] is in him.” In the New Testament the expressions, “The Word,” “Son,” “Express Image,” “Brightness,” betoken the same; viz., the countenance turned to man, the Revealer of the invisible God. The future appearance on earth of the God-man is gradually prepared for in the Old Testament in two ways: on the one hand, there is promised a mighty and glorious human Ruler over all (in later times called “Messiah”—the Anointed of the Lord), to whom at the same time in his human nature, divine names, attributes, and works are ascribed; on the other hand, the personal distinction in the Godhead, the Revealer of the invisible God as a separate person, is more and more clearly made known. This clear testimony to the pre-existence of Christ needs to be emphasized in these days when he is being reduced to a mere man, sustaining the same relation to God as any other man. Such teaching directly contradicts the whole trend of both the Old and the New Testament Scriptures. Jesus All the Way
By Milo D. Warfle
Are you sometimes sore afflicted?
Jesus was afflicted too.
Are you to some sin addicted?
Jesus can deliver you. Are you heavy burdens bearing?
Cast your burdens on the Lord.
Are you very near despairing?
Be encouraged by his Word. Do your sins seem black as midnight?
Christ invites you to his side.
Do you want a life that's upright?
You with Jesus must abide. Are you now your sins confessing?
Jesus bends a listening ear.
Are you pleading for his blessing?
He will your petition hear. Then, dear one, look to your Saviour!
He's the one you need to-day.
He will save from misbehavior;
He will keep you all the way. The Privileges and Duties of the Followers of Christ
By Ellen G. White
“BE ye therefore followers of God, as dear children; and walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling savor.” Christ gave his life that all who would might be freed from sin, and reinstated in the favor of the Creator. It was the anticipation of the redeemed, holy universe that prompted Christ to make this great sacrifice. Are we followers of God as dear children? or are we servants of the prince of darkness? Are we worshipers of Jehovah, or of Baal? of the living God, or of idols? No outward shrines may be visible, there may be no image for the eye to rest upon; yet we may be practising idolatry. It is as easy to make an idol of cherished ideas or objects as to fashion gods of wood or stone. Thousands have a false conception of God and his attributes. They are as verily serving a false god as were the servants of Baal. God is a God of truth. Justice and mercy are the attributes of his throne. He is a God of love, of pity, and tender compassion. Thus he is represented in his Son, our Saviour. He is a God of patience and long-suffering. If such is the being whom we adore, and whose character we are seeking to imitate, we are worshiping the true God. If we are following Christ, his merits, imputed to us, come up before the Father as sweet odor. And the graces of our Saviour’s character, implanted in our hearts, will shed around us a precious fragrance. The spirit of love, meekness, and forbearance, pervading our life, will have power to soften and subdue hard hearts, and win to Christ bitter opposers of the faith. “God so loved . . . that he gave,”—“gave his only begotten Son,”—that we should not perish, but have everlasting life. “Christ . . . hath loved us, and hath given himself for us.” If we love, we shall give. “Not to be ministered unto, but to minister,” is the great lesson which we are to learn and to teach. Next to the angelic beings, the human family, formed in the image of God, are the noblest of his created works. God desires them to become all that he has made it possible for them to be, and to do their very best with the powers he has given them. Life is mysterious and sacred. It is the manifestation of God himself, the source of all life. Precious are its opportunities, and earnestly should they be improved. “Ye were sometimes darkness,” the apostle continues: “but now are ye light in the Lord: walk as children of light (for the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness and righteousness and truth); proving what is acceptable unto the Lord. And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them.” Those who have learned of Christ will have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness. In speech, as in life, they will be simple, straightforward, and true; for they are preparing for the fellowship of those holy ones in whose mouth “was found no guile.” Many are deceived as to their true condition before God. They congratulate themselves upon the wrong acts that they do not commit, and forget to enumerate the good and noble deeds which God requires of them, but which they have neglected to perform. It is not enough that they are trees in the garden of God. They are to answer his expectations by bearing fruit. He holds them accountable for their failure to accomplish all the good which they could have done, through his grace strengthening them. In the books of heaven they are registered as cumberers of the ground. Yet the case of this class is not utterly hopeless. With those who have slighted God’s mercy and abused his grace, the heart of long-suffering love yet pleads. “Wherefore he saith, Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light. See then that ye walk circumspectly. . . . redeeming the time, because the days are evil.” The followers of Christ are to be co-workers with their Master; they must be “blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom,” says Paul, “ye shine as lights in the world.” We are to receive the bright beams from the Sun of Righteousness, and by our good works let them shine forth to others in clear, steady rays, never fitful, never growing dim. We can not be sure that we are doing no harm to those about us, unless we are exerting a positive influence to lead them heavenward. This is a time when every member of the church should be waiting, watching, and working. Through faith in Christ we should be alive to God; and every man, woman, and child who has a knowledge of the truth should be able to discern the signs of the times. The weakness and inefficiency of the church must pass away. Creative power from above must impart life to the human agents whom God would use, that they may be able to co-operate with divine intelligences. The church to whom God has imparted this endowment of heavenly truth must not remain dead in trespasses and sins. The True Witness, the Spirit of the living God, is inspecting the assembly of those who have had great spiritual light and advantages, and the testimony is that in the church of God there is great waste in energy misapplied, in talents perverted to wrong uses, in strength unemployed; and the abilities that God has bestowed upon his people are degenerating because they are not used for seeking and saving those who are lost. The world around us is stirred from beneath with earnest activity in evil works, but is apparently dead to all that pertains to their eternal interests. But although this seems to be the condition of those around us, and there is little to encourage us to hope for the conversion of souls, God requires those to whom he has committed his truth for these last days, to present the Word to the fallen children of Adam, both in the world and among the churches. We are to be waiting, watching, working. It is most inconsistent for the church, to whom has been opened the treasure of truth, to be dull, worldly, and indifferent. Casting away all unbelief, we should by faith put every capability and every power into exercise. The command of God is addressed to all the members of the church to use their powers in his service. Though the instrument may be weak, it is the power of God that will accomplish the work. Paul may plant, and Apollos may water, but it is God who gives the increase. There is a great work to do; and the Spirit of the living God must enter into the living messenger, that the truth may go with power. Without the Holy Spirit, without the breath of God, there is torpidity of conscience, loss of spiritual life. Unless there is genuine conversion of the soul to God; unless the vital breath of God quickens the soul to spiritual life; unless the professors of truth are actuated by heaven-born principles, they are not born of the incorruptible seed, which liveth and abideth forever. Unless they trust in the righteousness of Christ as their only security; unless they copy his character, labor in his spirit, they are naked; they have not on the robe of righteousness. The dead are often made to pass for the living; for those who are working out what they term salvation after their own ideas, have not God working in them to will and to do of his good pleasure.9 It is an eternal law of Jehovah that he who accepts the truth is to make it his first work to proclaim the truth. But who is it that makes the burden of perishing sinners his own? Among God’s people to-day there is a fearful lack of the sympathy that should be felt for souls unsaved. We talk of Christian missions, the sound of our voice is heard; but do we feel Christ’s tender heart-longing for those outside the fold? Unless our hearts beat in unison with the heart of Christ, how can we understand the sacredness and importance of the work to which we are called by the words, “Watch for . . . souls, as they that must give account”? God is waiting for men and women to awake to their responsibilities. He is waiting for them to link themselves with him. Let them mark the signal of advance, and no longer be laggards in working out the will of the Lord. Let the gospel message ring through our churches, summoning them to universal action. Let the members of the church have increased faith, gaining zeal from their unseen, heavenly allies, from a knowledge of their exhaustless resources, from the greatness of the enterprise in which they are engaged, and from the power of their Leader. Those who place themselves under God’s control, to be led and guided by him, will catch the steady trend of the events ordained by him to take place. Inspired by the Spirit of him who gave his life for the life of the world, they will no longer stand still in impotency, pointing to what they can not do. Putting on the armor of heaven, they will go forth to the warfare, willing to do and dare for God, knowing that his omnipotence will supply their need. GEORGE I. BUTLER
By George I. Butler
At the Time Appointed the End Shall Be—No. 2
In the preceding article, we reached the explanation of the vision of Daniel 8, of which the Lord had said, “Gabriel, make this man to understand the vision.” Gabriel had explained concerning the symbol-beasts representing Medo-Persia, Grecia, and Rome, but had not explained to Daniel the period of twenty-three hundred prophetic days, or years. He had now come fully to explain the meaning of that period and its subdivisions. He begins where he left off in the eighth chapter. He says no more about the beast-symbols, which he had explained, but takes up the time-period at once. “Seventy weeks are determined [“decreed,” A. R. V.] upon thy people and upon thy holy city, to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the Most Holy. Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince shall be seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks: the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublous times. And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself: and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined. And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate [“upon the desolator,” margin].” Dan. 9: 24-27. These words fully complete all the explanation ever given to Daniel. If they do not fully explain the prophetic period of twenty-three hundred days, then it never has been explained, and Gabriel did not do what he was commanded to do. This, of course, we can not believe. Therefore, we conclude that the explanation here given contains all the information necessary for an understanding of this prophetic period. The explanation starts out with a very important statement: “Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people,” “the holy city,” etc. Here we learn that Daniel’s people have appointed to them seventy weeks of this period. The expression being symbolic, it really means that four hundred ninety years of this period was allotted to the Jewish nation, after which the Gentiles were to have the same blessings as they. The Hebrew word nehhtak, here rendered determined in the Authorized Version, is defined by Gesenius, in his Hebrew Lexicon, “properly, to cut off.” In other words the text would literally read, “Seventy weeks are cut off upon thy people and upon the holy city,” etc. This is the literal meaning. Cut off from what?—From the long prophetic period of twenty-three hundred prophetic days, which Gabriel was explaining to Daniel. There was nothing else mentioned from which this period could be “cut off.” In other words, four hundred ninety years of the twenty-three hundred years were devoted to Daniel’s people, the Jews, and their holy city. Eighteen hundred ten years would remain in the Christian dispensation, till the cleansing, or justifying, of the sanctuary began, as mentioned in Dan. 8:14, margin, the scripture Gabriel was explaining to the prophet. Then the angel explains especially that portion of the twenty-three hundred years allotted to the Jews: “Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the decree to restore [or “build again Jerusalem,” margin] and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince shall be seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks: the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublous times.” Verse 25. Here Gabriel divides the four hundred ninety years allotted to the Jews and the holy city: the seven weeks, or forty-nine years, and the sixty-two weeks, or four hundred thirty-four years, making four hundred eighty-three years of the four hundred ninety, reaching to the Messiah’s announcement, one week of years being unappropriated till later. We wish, then, to ascertain when the decree went forth; or rather, when it went into effect. There is only one date to which this must apply. The record is found in Ezra 7:13. Here Artaxerxes, king of Persia, gave such a decree for the restoration of Jerusalem, the temple, and the whole Jewish polity. “I make a decree,” announces the great king. Let the reader study this decree, and he will see that it authorizes all these steps. Let him notice also the chronology of this chapter, 457 B. C., in the fall of the year, when Ezra and his company reached Jerusalem, and the work of restoration began. The whole period of twenty-three hundred prophetic days would, therefore, reach to the fall of the year 1844, A. D. But let us notice Gabriel’s explanation of the first four hundred ninety years of this period allotted to the Jewish church. The first seven weeks, or forty-nine years, was allotted to the building of the city and the temple, and to the restoration of the Jewish polity. Dean Prideaux, in his “Historical Connection,” states that this period was exactly forty-nine years. This authority is perfectly reliable. This forty-nine years, added to the sixty-two weeks (four hundred thirty-four years), making in all four hundred eighty-three years, was to reach to the Messiah the Prince. From the going forth of the decree in the fall of the year 457 B. C., it is exactly four hundred eighty-three years to the fall of A. D. 27. Christ was then baptized by John the Baptist in the river Jordan. The Spirit of God there came down upon him in the form of a dove, and God’s voice was heard saying, “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” Matt. 3:17. In the first sermon Christ preached after this event, he said, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel.” Thus God fulfils his prophetic word. What time was this which was fulfilled?—It can be none other than this one given by Gabriel to Daniel. The word Messiah in the Hebrew (Christos in the Greek) means the Anointed One. He became the Anointed One when the Holy Spirit came down upon him at his baptism. Then he began his work of preaching the gospel. He had not preached to the people before, but had led a quiet life at Nazareth, working at the carpenter’s trade. He was thus anointed for his special work, as he was then thirty years old, the age fixed by the law for officials to enter upon their work. “That word . . . was published throughout all Judea, and began from Galilee, after the baptism which John preached; how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power: who went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil; for God was with him.” Acts 10:37, 38. It is the general consensus of opinion10 among Bible students that this anointing of Jesus occurred in the fall of the year A. D. 27, precisely four hundred eighty-three years after the going forth of the decree of Artaxerxes, 457 B. C. At that time one week of the seventy allotted to the Jewish nation still remained. “And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off. . . . And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease.” Dan. 9: 26, 27. “The midst of the week,” means the middle of the last week of the seventy weeks allotted to the Jewish people. We see, then, that three and one-half years after Jesus was anointed, he would be “cut off,” or crucified. The crucifixion occurred in the spring of the year A. D. 31, in connection with the Passover feast. About the time of his triumphal ride into Jerusalem, Jesus said to the Jews: “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killedst the prophets, and stonedst them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not! Behold, your house is left unto you desolate.” And as he hung upon the cross, just before his death, he cried, “It is finished;” and the beautiful veil of the temple, dividing between the holy place and the most holy, was “rent in twain from the top to the bottom.” John 19: 30; Matt. 27: 51. The services in that temple, where beasts had been offered year by year, typified the great sacrifice made by our Lord and Saviour. The type gave place to the antitype when the Jews put to death their Lord and Saviour. When they rejected and crucified him whose blood could take away sin, their house was left desolate indeed. The blood of beasts could never take away sin. Those sacrifices were only a shadow to typify the true sacrifice, and were ordained when sin entered our world. Every sacrifice offered after Christ’s death meant nothing. The rending of that great veil signified the departing of God’s Spirit forever from that temple. And this occurred in the middle of the last week of the seventy, thus perfectly fulfilling the prophecy. There then remained only three and one-half years before the seventy weeks would expire. The gospel of a crucified and risen Lord was preached with great power by his disciples, and was still offered to his ancient people. After the martyrdom of Stephen, A. D. 34, the believers at Jerusalem “were all scattered abroad throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles.” And we further learn that “they that were scattered abroad went everywhere preaching the word.” It was in connection with this experience that Peter and John “preached the gospel in many villages of the Samaritans,” the very people among whom they had been forbidden to teach the gospel until that time. Thus closed, in the fall of the year A. D. 34, the seventy weeks, or four hundred ninety years, specifically allotted to the Jewish people. Since that time the Gentiles and the Jews have just the same privileges to receive Christ, and be saved by the gospel. At the close of the period allotted to the Jews, eighteen hundred ten years of the twenty-three hundred remained. These reach to the fall of 1844. We have seen that thus far every prediction made by Gabriel has met an exact fulfilment. What will occur at the close of the whole period? Our next article will tell.