Review and Herald, Vol. 77, No. 2.
COME OUT FROM AMONG THEM, AND BE YE SEPARATEPage 1
Earlier text: SAVED BY FAMILIESThe word “millennium” is composed of two Latin words, mille, “a thousand,” and annus, “a year,” and signifies “a thousand years.” Any period of a thousand years is a millennium; but that period of a thousand years designated and understood universally as “the millennium” is a certain thousand years mentioned and measured off in the Scriptures. The particular scripture which defines the thousand years—the millennium—is Rev. 20: 1–7. The connection in which this thousand years is set is such that from it can be certainly known, not the date of its beginning, but the event that marks its beginning. Also the connection in which it is set is such that from it can be certainly known what the character of that millennium is to be. In that scripture it is said that Satan is to be bound and shut up for a thousand years, and that the saints live and reign with Christ a thousand years. “But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This [living of the saints] is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection; on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years.” By these words we know that the event that marks the beginning of the millennium is “the first resurrection,”—the resurrection of the “blessed and holy,”—the resurrection of “the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshiped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands.” And this resurrection of the saints, this “first resurrection,” is at the coming of the Lord in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory; for it is written: “This we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep. For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the Archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.” 1 Thess. 4: 15–17. And again: “We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.” 1 Cor. 15: 51, 52. And again: “As in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. But every man in his own order: Christ the first fruits; afterward they that are Christ’s at his coming.” Verses 22, 23. There are many other scriptures to the same purpose, but these are enough to settle it as the truth of God that the second coming of Christ marks the beginning of the millennium, because the second coming of Christ brings the resurrection of the just, of the blessed and holy; and this resurrection, the first one, marks the beginning of the thousand years—the millennium. Here, then, at the beginning of the millennium, is the resurrection of all the righteous dead; the translation of all the righteous living; and these all are caught away from the earth. They meet the Lord, not on the earth, but “in the air;” and as all the resurrected and translated ones hitherto have done, they ascend to heaven with Christ their Lord, where they reign with him upon thrones of judgment for a thousand years. Thus the righteous.25 What, then, of the wicked at the beginning of the thousand years, and during the thousand years? What occurs to them at the coming of the Lord? Read: “You who are troubled rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels, in flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.” 2 Thess. 1: 7, 8. They call for the mountains and rocks to fall on them and hide them “from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb: for the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?” Rev. 6: 14–17. They are slain by the “armies which were in heaven,” but which follow “him upon white horses,” and by the “sword of him that sat upon the horse, which sword proceeded out of his mouth: and all the fowls were filled with their flesh.” Rev. 19: 11–21. As it is written in another place: “The Lord shall roar from on high, and utter his voice from his holy habitation; he shall mightily roar upon his habitation; he shall give a shout, as they that tread the grapes, against all the inhabitants of the earth. A noise shall come even to the ends of the earth; for the Lord hath a controversy with the nations, he will plead with all flesh; he will give them that are wicked to the sword, saith the Lord. Thus saith the Lord of hosts, Behold, evil shall go forth from nation to nation, and a great whirlwind shall be raised up from the coasts of the earth. And the slain of the Lord shall be at that day from one end of the earth even unto the other end of the earth: they shall not be lamented, neither gathered, nor buried; they shall be dung upon the ground.” Jer. 25: 30–33. Now, since it is the truth of the word of God that the resurrection of the righteous—the first resurrection—marks the beginning of the millennium; since that resurrection is caused by the second coming of the Lord; and since at his coming all the righteous, dead and living, are taken away from the earth, and all the wicked upon the earth are slain, it is certain that the earth is at that point left desolate. And as the saints do not return to the earth for a thousand years, and the wicked dead do not live again until the thousand years are finished, it is certain that the earth is left desolate during that thousand years. And that is to say that, during the millennium, this earth is to be utterly desolate. This is certain from the texts here given. But next week it will be shown more fully; because there is much involved in the subject—much more than simply the desolation of the earth. “BRETHREN, I speak after the manner of men: Though it be but a man’s covenant, yet if it be confirmed, no man disannulleth, or addeth thereto.” Though it be but a man’s covenant, yet if it be confirmed, no man disannulleth, or addeth thereto. How much more, then, shall it be so with God’s covenant? Then, since the making of God’s covenant with Abram, there has never been, and never could be, anything added to it, nor anything taken from it. Let us notice God’s covenant with Abram, and what it included. In Gen. 11: 29–32 is recorded Abram’s leaving his native country because that “the Lord had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father’s house, unto a land that I will shew thee.” At that time God also said to Abram: “I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing.” Gen. 12: 2. At that time also God preached the gospel unto Abram, saying, “In thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.” Gen. 12: 3; Gal. 3: 8. After Abram had lived in the land of Haran, and had come into the land of Canaan, God said to him: “Unto thy seed will I give this land: and there builded he an altar unto the Lord, who appeared unto him.” Gen. 12: 7. The Lord had said that he would show to Abram the land which was to be his. And, though he was in the land of Canaan, yet the Lord had not showed to him the land that he said he would give to him; and he could not yet show it to him, because Lot, of his kindred, was yet with him; and the first condition of the promise was, “Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father’s house.” Abram was separated from his father’s house; but so long as Lot was with him, he was not yet separated from his kindred; and so long as that was so, God could not show him the land. But after a while, their flocks and herds increased so that “the land was not able to bear them, that they might dwell together;” and so, by mutual agreement, and as “brethren,” they separated, Lot choosing “all the plain of Jordan.” Then, “after that Lot was separated from him,” the Lord said to Abram: “Lift up now thine eyes, and look from the place where thou art northward, and southward, and eastward, and westward: for all the land which thou seest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed forever. And I will make thy seed as the dust of the earth: so that if a man can number the dust of the earth, then shall thy seed also be numbered.” Gen. 13: 14–16. And the land which Abram then saw, and which was promised to him, included the world; for this promise was “the promise that he should be the heir of the world.” And since that is a world that includes “a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God” (Hebrews 11), and which God “hath prepared” for him and his children; and since it is “a better country” than any on the earth, even “an heavenly,” it is certain that the land which Abram then saw, and which included the world, was, and is, “the world to come.” And more: since this was promised to Abram and his seed—to neither without the other, but to both together; since that promised seed “is Christ;” and since while Abram was in this world, he never received any “inheritance in it,” no, not so much as to set his foot on (Acts 7: 5), it is certain that the inheritance then promised to Abram, and which he then saw, and which included the world, is only “the world to come.” This is further confirmed by that which Abram next met in his experience; for it is written that when Abram had returned from the slaughter of Chedorlaomer and the kings that were with him, he met “Melchisedec king of Salem,” who “brought forth bread and wine: and he was the priest of the most high God.” “And he [Melchisedec] blessed him [Abram], and said, Blessed be Abram of the most high God, possessor of heaven and earth,” Gen. 14: 18, 19. Thus the priest of the Most High, Melchisedec, who “was the voice of God in the world,” recognized Abram. In this connection there is another important element to be noticed, that is, that Abram now meets and recognizes “Melchisedec,” “the priest of the most high God,” and in him recognizes the Melchisedec priesthood. He received blessing from this priest of the Melchisedec priesthood; and yet further recognized this priesthood in that “he gave him tithes of all.” Several times, now, in Abram’s experience, the Lord has referred to that “seed” of Abram. And now Abram makes definite inquiry about this “seed,” saying to the Lord: “Behold, to me thou hast given no seed: and, lo, one born in my house is mine heir. And, behold, the word of the Lord came unto him, saying, This shall not be thine heir; but he that shall come forth out of thine own bowels shall be thine heir. And he brought him forth abroad, and said, Look now toward heaven, and tell the stars, if thou be able to number them: and he said unto him, so shall thy seed be. And he believed in the Lord; and he counted it to him for righteousness. And he said unto him, I am the Lord that brought thee out of Ur of the Chaldees, to give thee this land to inherit it.” Gen. 15: 3–7. Abram had now received from God, in promise, the blessing of God which would make him a “blessing to all nations;” he had received the promise of the world for an inheritance; he had received the promise of a seed in whom all nations should be blessed; he had received the benefit of the priesthood of the most high God; and he had received the righteousness of God, fitting him to enter of right into that eternal inheritance. And now Abram asks: “Lord God, whereby shall I know that I shall inherit it?” And here and now, in pledge to Abram that he shall inherit all that has been promised, God makes a covenant with Abram: “And he said unto him, Take me an heifer of three years old, and a she goat of three years old, and a ram of three years old, and a turtle dove, and a young pigeon. And he took unto him all these, and divided them in the midst, and laid each piece one against another: but the birds divided he not. And when the fowls came down upon the carcasses, Abram drove them away. And when the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram; and, lo, a horror of great darkness fell upon him. . . . And it came to pass, that, when the sun went down, and it was dark, behold a smoking furnace, and a burning lamp that passed between those pieces. In the same day the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying, Unto thy seed have I given this land, from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates.” Gen. 15: 9–12, 17, 18. Now it is a truth laden with meaning that in these animals and birds which the Lord told Abram to bring, and which he brought and offered, there was included every animal sacrifice that was ever allowed or commanded to be offered to God. And when Abram, as directed, had divided all these except the fowls, and had laid them in their pieces, one against another, “behold a smoking furnace, and a burning lamp that passed between those pieces.” And “In the same day the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying, Unto thy seed have I given this land.” The Lord did this because in ancient times “it was the custom of those who entered into covenant with each other to take a heifer and cut it in two, and then the contracting parties passed between the pieces.” And the reason of this was that the contracting parties agreed, and thus expressed the agreement, that if either of them broke that covenant, he submitted himself to be cut in two just as was the sacrifice, between the parts of which they passed. But Abram did not pass between the parts of these victims: only God passed through. This because this is not a covenant of agreement between two persons in which each is equally responsible; but it is a covenant of promise from God, in which he alone is the responsible party. Consequently, God alone* passed between the parts of the slain victims, in the making of this covenant. And, in that act, God agreed, and thus expressed his agreement, that that covenant could no more fail than that he himself could be severed in twain. Thus the Lord pledged himself, in his very life, that all the promises which he had made to Abram should be fulfilled, and that not one of these promises could fail; that10 this covenant to fulfill the promises could not fail any more than that God should cease to live. Thus, that covenant of God with Abram was confirmed even there, by the sacrifice of Him who made the covenant. And when Abram, not yet fully comprehending the greatness of the blessed promises of this covenant, slipped, the Lord, in his mercy, even repeated himself, and again pledged himself,—“interposed himself,”—swearing by himself, and thus by his oath confirmed his covenant that his promises should not fail. Heb. 6: 17. And thus again that covenant was “confirmed.” Therefore, since “though it be but a man’s covenant, yet if it be confirmed, no man disannulleth, or addeth thereto,” how much more shall this be so of God’s covenant with Abram, which is doubly confirmed? Therefore, that covenant could never be disannulled, nor could anything ever be added to it. In that covenant at that time was all that ever has been since, or that ever can be to anybody. And whoever has that covenant, has everything in heaven and earth,—everything in the wide universe, to all eternity. That is the Abrahamic covenant. “And if ye be Christ’s, then are ye Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise” which is made sure by that covenant. Higher Criticism and the Papacy
Because of the indorsement of the extreme higher criticism by the Episcopal Church in receiving Dr. Briggs into the Episcopal ministry, Benjamin F. Da Costa, D. D., felt himself logically obliged to leave that church and go over to the Catholic Church. He says that “all those forces of science, which it was once thought would be fatal to her [the Catholic Church], are now, in a way which constitutes one of the great surprises of history, so grouping themselves as to afford her a new foundation.” Fifteen years ago it was published that “a day of great intellectual darkness has been shown to be favorable to the success of popery. It will yet be demonstrated that a day of great intellectual light is equally favorable for its success. In past ages, when men were without God’s word, and without the knowledge of the truth, their eyes were blindfolded, and thousands were ensnared, not seeing the net spread for their feet. In this generation there are many whose eyes become dazzled by the glare of human speculations, ‘science falsely so-called;’ they discern not the net, and walk into it as readily as if blindfolded. . . . Thus the false science of the nineteenth century, which undermines faith in the Bible, will prove as successful in preparing the way for the acceptance of the papacy, with its pleasing forms, as did the withholding of knowledge in opening the way for its aggrandizement in the Dark Ages.”—‘Great Controversy,’ chapter on ‘Character and Aims of the Papacy.’ That thing is now being demonstrated; and it may be expected that soon there will be seen a perfect tide of these “intellectually great,” flowing into the Catholic Church; and all only the result of the apostasy of Protestantism from the word of God to “science falsely so-called,”—evolution, etc. THE COMING EVENT.
By Uriah Smith
THERE are many coming events; but one deserves to be set apart by itself from all others, and distinguished above all others, and emphasized more than all others; and that is the one described by John in Rev. 1:7, to which he challenges the world to give heed, by introducing it with the words, “Behold, he cometh.” “Behold, he cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him; and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him. Even so, Amen.” Who cometh?—Read the preceding doxology, which sets forth the character and work of the one who is the subject of the apostle’s fervid exclamation: “Grace be unto you, and peace, . . . from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and the Prince of the kings of the earth. Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood, and hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father; to him be glory and dominion, forever and ever. Amen.” This is the one of whom John says, “Behold, he cometh;” and the world knows who he is; his name is upon all lips,—on some in prayer and praise; but upon the majority, alas! in irreverence and profanity; and when he comes, they will know who he is, and what his coming is, and what it means to them. No man will need to ask his neighbor, when Christ appears, and the fearful convulsions which attend that coming are rending the heavens and the earth, What event is this? what causes this commotion? who has ever heard anything about this before? and what does this all mean?—No; instinctively the whole situation will flash upon the mind. As in the case of a drowning man, they will live over, in an instant, all their past lives, and read as in a flash of lightning their just doom. As Belshazzar needed no one to recount to him his deeds of transgression, and the measure of his guilt, when the handwriting appeared upon the wall, before his countenance was changed, and his knees smote together in terror, so the wicked of the earth, at that day, need no rehearsals of their deeds, before the despairing cry flies to every lip, Rocks and mountains, “fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb: for the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?” This proclamation, “Behold, he cometh,” has been long before the world. It is one of the earliest proclamations that God caused to be sounded in the ears of the inhabitants of this earth. It began with one who was only the seventh in the line of succession from Adam, who was the first man on the earth. At that early hour Enoch faithfully warned the men of his time, saying, “Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his saints, to execute judgment upon all.” Hardly earlier than this would men have multiplied upon the earth sufficiently to form congregations to listen to such a thrilling and decisive message, so important for men to know even in the beginning of their history, so needful to bear in mind all along in their experience, and so necessary to be clearly understood as the time of their probation should draw near to its close. Holy men, and chosen ones, all along the stream of time have re-echoed the strain. John, in holy vision on Patmos, proclaimed, “Behold, he cometh.” And now witnesses raised up in our day, take up the same proclamation, with many a wish that the sound could enter into every living ear, “Behold, he cometh with clouds.” And soon a palsied earth, convulsed from circumference to center; the darkened and shaken powers of heaven,—sun, moon, and stars,—a heaven rent in twain from pole to pole, and rolling together on either hand, and passing away in billows of fiery flame; the islands disappearing from view, and the mountains toppling into the sea, amid lightnings and thunderings, and great voices, shall proclaim again, “Behold, he cometh.” But that proclamation uttered by nature will be too late to be of any benefit to a living sinner. The saints will only give an exclamation of satisfaction at the fruition of their hope: “Lo, this is our God; we have waited for him, and he will save us;” and the wicked will utter a wail of despair, imploring the rocks and mountains to fall on them, and hide them from the presence of their then returned Judge. Now is the time to give the message double emphasis; for now it may be heeded, and the event prepared for. The Lord himself has warned us of that hour: “Behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be.” He has placed this event as a living token in connection with his last supper: “As often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do show the Lord’s death till he come.” And he has given every one his work, saying, “Occupy till I come.” And how the thought, and the proclamation, of his coming near, should quicken every hand to the performance of its allotted task! “And every eye,” says John, “shall see him.” It will be a literal, visible appearance. It is not said that every mind shall think upon him, as if it might be an invisible, mystical, or spiritual, coming. No; but every eye shall see him. This includes all men living when he comes, and many of those who have long been dead; for the righteous dead will all be summoned from their graves; and at the second resurrection all the wicked dead will be called forth; so at last all the human family shall see him. But John, in Rev. 1:7, speaks of what we call his second coming,—that coming that lies next before us, when, as Paul says, “Unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation.” Heb. 9:28. And our Lord, in his great prophecy in Matthew 24, emphasizes that coming, when he says, “Then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.” Jesus as well as John speaks of the mourning of the tribes of the earth. That mourning will be very general: “All the tribes of the earth.” It will be a very bitter sorrow; for it is called “wailing.” This shows that all are not to be converted, and ready for salvation. If that were the case, why should they wail? They will not be expecting good nor deliverance from the coming of Christ. This coming will be to them like the sentence of the court; and they will know that their doom is forever fixed. They have ridiculed his name, tried to hinder his work, despised and oppressed his people; and they do not wish to see him. They would rather see any one else, or any other thing. To look into the face of him who has so loved them as to pour out his blood for them, to wash them from all their sins, and has pleaded with them and borne long with them, but has been incorrigibly rejected by them, and now comes to visit upon them his righteous judgments,—oh, how they will dread to see him! But “every eye shall see him.” None can escape; none can hide; for nothing can conceal them from his gaze. The rocks and mountains, for which they so zealously pray, can not intercept the lightning of his eye. If men, by means of the X-ray, can look through the most dense and opaque substances, what can hide man from those eyes that are as a flame of fire, and whose vision will reach into the graves, and recall the dust of his sleeping saints, though the earth might hold them in its rock-ribbed center? And when he appears, and the cry is wrung from every lip, “Behold, he cometh,” there will then be an attraction for the gaze of men, above every earthly object. No matter how busy the eyes are, no matter how vain, they shall then be riveted upon that wonderful sight in midheaven. The great sound of the trumpet, the voice of the Archangel, the brightness of the flaming fire, the glory of the whole angelic host, who come with him (Matt. 25:31), will fix all eyes upon that scene. The miser will forget his gold; the millionaire will gaze no longer upon his bonds and coupons; the statesman will regard as nothing the honor and applause of nations; the demagogue will fail to hear the voice of cheering multitudes; and all eyes will be turned to the one dominating object in all the universe, the form of the Son of the great God, coming in the clouds of heaven. Balaam seems to have had a clear vision of the closing scene, when he exclaimed, “I shall see him, but not now; I shall behold him, but not nigh.” Num. 24:17. But to some the sight will be one of joy and triumph. “Thine eyes,” says the prophet, “shall see the King in his beauty.” Isa. 33:17. Our Lord says, “I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.” Paul says, “When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory.” Since we all must see him, if not under circumstances of delight, then under those of trouble and distress, why not see him now? why not come to him now, and look upon him, and live? Why not listen to his voice while it can be heard in tones of love and pardon, and not wait till we hear it in the stern sentence, “Depart from me.” “Acquaint now thyself with him, and be at peace.” A brief remnant of hope and opportunity now remains. Prepare to meet thy God. — U. S. THE SPIRIT OF PROPHECY.
By Stephen N. Haskell
The greatest evidence of the inspiration of the Bible is found in the Bible itself. This is equally true concerning the Spirit of Prophecy. The Lord has given special directions by which we may test those who claim to be prophets of God. As many as twenty-three distinct tests have been found and enumerated by those giving the question careful study; all of which will apply to Sister White in vision and to the nature of her writings. But the fulfillment of all these tests, although proving the genuineness of a prophet, is not the greatest evidence of the inspiration of the Testimonies as we have them to-day. God’s thoughts never change toward the human family. We do not know much of anything, but God knows everything. He sees the end from the beginning. “Known unto God are all his works from the beginning of the world.” Acts 15:18. That is the nature of the mind of God. In “Patriarchs and Prophets,” page 43, is an expression which reads, “He that ruleth in the heavens is the one who sees the end from the beginning,—the one before whom the mysteries of the past and the future are alike outspread, and who, beyond the woe and darkness and ruin that sin has wrought, beholds the accomplishment of his own purposes of love and blessing.” The future is just the same as the past with God, and the past just the same as the future. There is no difference. Ps. 90:4 expresses the thought: “A thousand years in thy sight are but as yesterday when it is past, and as a watch in the night.” This proves that God comprehends everything, past, present, and future, in the same moment. Four thousand years ago, when Moses was writing the books of the Pentateuch, God saw at the same time Jeremiah and Isaiah writing, and all the New Testament apostles writing, and Sister White writing, and every prophet who has ever lived, writing. God saw them all writing at the same time: which indeed is not time, for with him is only eternity. There is no measurement nor separation with God: the future is just like the27 past, and the past is like a watch in the night; so with God it is all present tense. Since God saw all the writers writing at the same time, would they not all write the same things? Could there possibly be any contradiction in what was written? Was not the same mind, at the same “time,” dictating to Moses, to Daniel, to John the Revelator, to Sister White, and to all the inspired writers? This is why there is perfect harmony in the books of the Bible. The Scriptures harmonize with the writings and teachings of all true prophets who have lived since the times of the early church. God spoke through all, and a contradiction is impossible. One thought runs through all the Bible. That thought is Jesus Christ. And that thought is put in a thousand different ways, is dressed in as many different forms, all expressing the infinite love of God. Like a kaleidoscope, turn it which way you will, it sparkles with gems of beauty, revealing new phases and manifestations of the perfection there is in Jesus Christ. Gen. 3:15—a very familiar text—contains all the gospel, and it is expressed in three different ways: “I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.” All of the gospel is in each of the expressions, “I will put enmity between thee and the woman;” and “between thy seed and her seed;” and “it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.” Whatever is written in the Bible after this text, is simply a further development of the truths in the one verse. There are no abstract truths; they all center in Christ. All that has been given through inspired prophets since the fall of man is no more than a development of what is in that verse. If not, it is not an inspired testimony. If Mrs. White’s writings are more than a development of the gospel as contained in this verse, they are not of God. If they are less, they are not of God. There is no principle in the Bible that is not in the Testimonies; and nothing is in the Testimonies or Spirit of Prophecy but what is in the Bible. Like the seed which is the undeveloped tree, so in each expressed thought of God is the entire plan of salvation. As there are no two limbs of a tree just alike, so there are few expressions in the Bible alike. No two characters are the same, no two battles fought under the direction of God are just alike; but each and all reveal the same thought proceeding from an infinite mind. In the little book, “Early Writings,” we have all that has been brought out by the Spirit of Prophecy. “Patriarchs and Prophets,” “Great Controversy,” and “The Desire of Ages” are only a development of the truths given in “Early Writings.” Every family should have a copy of “Early Writings,” and should study the book carefully. S. N. H. The W. C. T. U. and the Right Resolution
In the matter of the W. C. T. U. and the right resolution, which their convention rejected, the evidence which we have presented is conclusive, that not only have lines of work of the N. W. C. T. U. been used, but the N. W. C. T. U. itself has been used, to give not only aid and comfort but influence and power “to those who, through ignorance, prejudice, or malice, would enact or enforce such laws as can be made to serve the purpose of persecution;” and which can in every way be made to interfere with all “liberty of conscience concerning days and the manner of their observance.” The evidence is conclusive that, to put it in the mildest possible way, the N. W. C. T. U. has been made a tool, in the machinations of men who are ambitious of power, to enforce religious dogmas upon all people. So entirely is this so that these men publicly acknowledge that the W. C. T. U. is their main dependence—in fact, that their success must come through the Woman’s Christian Temperance Union. And it was the machinations of these men in their use of the W. C. T. U. and its lines of work,—it was this that was aimed at in that resolution, “That as a National Woman’s Christian Temperance Union we protest against any such interpretation or use of any lines of our work as shall give aid or comfort,” etc. The one who introduced that resolution knew what “use” these men had been making of the W. C. T. U. and its lines of work all these years; and how, as the consequence, the W. C. T. U. was being dragged down from its true place and high and pure purpose, and made to serve in the train of designing men. And knowing this, she longed to have the N. W. C. T. U. deliver itself from this injurious connection, and stand free once more to carry on its original work according to the original purpose. But the ladies in the convention did not take time to look calmly at the resolution, and to inquire after and consider its plain import: they allowed themselves to be stampeded from this to an issue that was altogether foreign to the intent of the resolution, and so placed the N. W. C. T. U. in the false position of declaring that it is an objectionable thing for the union to be asked to protest against the use of its lines of work to serve the purposes of persecution. Surely every well-wisher for the W. C. T. U. can only ask it now to consider this question calmly and fairly, and clear itself from this false position. And it is perfectly plain that the only way that the union can clear itself is by adopting in the next national convention the amendment to its constitution that will come regularly before the convention. And while those excellent women are considering this matter, there is another point inseparably connected therewith that is worthy of their most careful consideration. And that is, With what propriety can men take part in, and seek to mold and give direction to, the work of the Woman’s Christian Temperance Union? What can men do in women’s work? What but to spoil it? There was a work that needed to be done, that the men had never done when they had all the field. It was, and is, a work that men could not do. It was, and is, a work that can be done only by women’s ministry. The Woman’s Christian Temperance Union—an organization of women—was, under God, called out and organized to do this work of women. But the women have allowed unmanly men to insinuate themselves into this work which is women’s. And, as could only be expected, these men have spoiled the whole thing. We speak of them as unmanly men, because who but an unmanly man could think that he could do women’s work? Now let the W. C. T. U. be in truth a Woman’s Christian Temperance Union: not a woman’s and man’s Christian temperance union. Let the Woman’s Christian Temperance Union positively exclude men from all the councils, conventions, and work of the union. And let the women go on grandly to the blessed ministry to which, as women and as a woman’s organization, God called them at the first, and to which he still calls them. This is written by a man, as his firm conviction; but let all the women and all the men, yea, let all the people, say, Amen. How the World Views the Situation of the British Empire
How the world views the situation of the British Empire is expressed by the New York Tribune, December 15. It says that all “must be” changed in South Africa “before long,” “unless the world is to see the greatest political cataclysm of modern ages.” It also says:— It is true that, as the London papers are saying, not merely South Africa, but the world-wide British Empire, is at stake. Perhaps that fact was not realized as clearly before the war as it is now. At the present time it is seen by all as clearly as the noonday sun. If Great Britain were defeated by the Boers, she would be driven out of South Africa altogether. And what then?—Why, she would be a third-rate power. India would be lost in a twinkling. The United States of Australia and the Dominion of Canada would probably reckon further connection with her a source of weakness and peril, rather than of safety and strength. And the greatest and most beneficent empire the world has ever seen would become a thing of the past. That is the tremendous realization that now dawns upon the British mind. And the London Times, the most nearly official of any paper in England, says:— Neither the Crimean War nor the Indian mutiny gave rise to greater dangers to the empire than that with which we are now menaced, nor at either of those critical periods was Great Britain so isolated politically or regarded with such dislike and suspicion as are now almost everywhere apparent. Unless the calmness which impresses the foreign observer proceeds only from apathy or a want of sufficient imagination to realize the imminent danger to the whole fabric of our empire, the great efforts now urgently required will surely be made before it is too late to retrieve the situation. We are fighting not merely for supremacy in South Africa, but for our position as a great power. It is possible that the world may not be compelled to witness this awful cataclysm just yet; though the fact that the British press and publicists should so openly confess and discuss this as the only alternative shows that the danger is real. And it all shows, in a most impressive way, by how small and thin a thread even the mightiest of earthly dominions hangs. We know from the whole field of the prophecies of the word of God, that we are in the time when all earthly dominions shall go to pieces and be utterly wasted; and the people of God must be prepared for any such thing, in any case, at any time. The Christians of the Roman Empire in the fifth century saw the like in the ruin of that empire, the “mightiest monument of greatness built by human hands,” and it was an awful thing to contemplate. Yet the Christians of these last times can only expect to see a more awful ruin than was even that at Rome. There is now perplexity of nations; and it is exceedingly doubtful whether there will ever be any less. And soon the sign of the Son of Man will appear. “Get ready, get ready, get ready.”