Earlier text: The Gathering of Israel to Their Own Land“Therefore shall her plagues come in one day, death, and mourning, and famine; and she shall be utterly burned with fire: for strong is the Lord God who judgeth her.” Rev. 18:8. Such is among the closing manifestations of the wrath of God against, not the Protestant branch of the great Christian Church, but the Protestant branch of the great papal Church. It will reach its climax under the seventh plague, described in Rev. 16: 17–19, when the great city Babylon is divided into three parts, or classified according to its three phases,—Paganism, Romanism, and apostate Protestantism,—and comes in remembrance before God, for Him to give unto her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of His wrath. All the great events in the past affecting both the righteous and the wicked find their counterpart in the last days. “Even as Sodom and Gomorrha, and the cities about them in like manner, giving themselves over to fornication, and going after strange flesh, are set forth for an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire;” that is, fire eternal in its nature and effects. Jude 7. In like manner, Peter speaks of these same cities being reduced to ashes, and thus being set forth as an example unto those that after (or afterwards, including the last days) should live ungodly. But right in the time when the sinful world perished in the flood, God saved Noah, a preacher of righteousness, even as He delivered Lot from the destruction that came upon Sodom and Gomorrha, by whose unlawful deeds Lot’s righteous soul was vexed from day to day. But a more striking parallel can be drawn from the history of Israel, when they were about to be delivered from Egypt, as the people of God are now about to be rescued from spiritual Egypt and saved in the kingdom of God. Then God manifested His power by an arm made bare, and a hand stretched out in judgments upon those who were endeavoring to thwart His plans and purposes by keeping His people in bondage. And plagues of a similar nature and largely identical in form are to be visited upon men as He closes up His contest with the workers of iniquity in the last days. In the case of the Egyptians, water was turned to blood; there was an infliction of frogs; there were swarms of flies; a grievous murrain upon man and beast; lightning, thunder, and hail in the land; great darkness for three days, so thick that it might be felt; and finally the smiting with death of the firstborn of man and beast, from the king on his throne to the humblest servant of the people. By common consent, these plagues upon the Egyptians are regarded as literal and tangible; and why not the plagues denounced upon the world as the close of its abused probation draws near? “O,” says one, “these plagues are all in the past, or a portion of them at least, and the remainder are in process of fulfillment.” This is one of the strange instances, so common in these days, in which the plainest representations of God’s word are outraged by denial. For the idea that the seven last plagues are future is fortified by the great lines of prophecy, and even by the plan of salvation itself; that is to say, if these plagues are not all located in the future, and to be fulfilled in all their terrible reality in days to come; if they have been, in whole or in part, fulfilled in the past, then it can be shown that many of the prominent lines of prophecy have failed, and the declarations on which the plan of salvation rests, and is proved, have come to naught. These plagues are enumerated in order in the sixteenth of Revelation. It will be of interest briefly to glance at them: “And the first went, and poured out his vial upon the earth; and there fell a noisome and grievous sore upon the men which had the mark of the Beast, and upon them which worshiped his Image.” Rev. 16: 2. As already remarked, there is no apparent reason why this should not be regarded as strictly literal. These plagues, it will be noticed, are almost identical with those which God inflicted upon the Egyptians when He was about to deliver His people from the yoke of bondage. God is now about to crown His people with final deliverance and redemption, and His judgments upon His enemies will be manifested in a manner no less literal and terrible. The first plague: “And the first [angel] went and poured out his vial upon the earth; and there fell a noisome and grievous sore upon the men which had the mark of the Beast, and upon them which worshiped his Image.” The form and results of the sore here threatened are not described; but we are reminded of Ex. 9: 8–11. The second angel empties his vial upon the sea, and after this the main divisions of the globe—the land and the sea—are affected. On the land only a specified portion of the inhabitants, those who have the mark of the Beast, or worship his Image, are smitten with the abnormal sore, noisome and grievous; but when the vial is poured upon the sea, it is said that it (that is, the water in the sea) “became as the blood of a dead man; and every living soul died in the sea.” Verse 3. This plague is more widely extended than the first. A more infectious and deadly substance can scarcely be imagined than the fluid that issues from the veins of a dead man; and the thought that the great bodies of water on the earth, which are doubtless meant by the term “sea,” will be changed to such a condition, under this plague, presents a most fearful picture. The irrational animals must be included in this description; and we have here the remarkable fact that the term “living soul,” is applied to the living creatures of the sea. This, we believe, is the only instance of such an application in the common version; but in the original such applications occur frequently, and the terms “living soul” and “breath of life” are applied to the lower orders of animals. So in the description of the flood and its results. See Gen. 7: 21, 22. This shows that the terms as applied to man in the beginning (Gen. 2: 7) cannot be taken as furnishing any evidence that he is endowed with an immaterial and immortal essence called the “immortal soul.” The third plague speaks of the rivers and fountains of waters being turned to blood. This includes all the drink supply, as it was in Egypt, when the Nile, with all its canals, was turned into blood. Ex. 7: 18–21. And strange to say, the magicians did so. This peculiarity will be noticed about the work of the magicians. They, with all their pretended art, could not remove a plague nor relieve the infliction; but in all their imitations of Moses and his work, they could only add to the evil, and aggravate its results. So, doubtless, under the seven last plagues there will be many forms of “patent medicines” devised, and perhaps some “patent health foods,” which will be claimed as antidotes to all the evil; but they will not work, any more than the enchantments of the magicians. The third plague is a retribution for the “blood of saints,” shed by violent hands, which will be given to those who have done, or have wished to do, such deeds. And though the horrors of that hour when the fountains and rivers of water shall be blood, cannot now be realized, the justice of God will stand vindicated, and His judgments approved; for even the angels are heard exclaiming, “Thou art righteous, O Lord, . . . because thou hast judged thus. For they have shed the blood of saints and prophets. . . . Even so, Lord God Almighty, true and righteous are thy judgments.” Thus the last generation of the wicked are dealt with by divine justice. But it may be asked how this generation can be said to have shed the blood of saints and prophets, since the last generation of saints contemporary with the last generation of the wicked, concerning whom this is spoken, are not to be slain. Rev. 20: 4. A reference to Matt. 23: 34, 35; 1 John 3: 15, will explain. These scriptures show that guilt is attributed to the motive and desire to do evil deeds, no less than to the action in carrying out the evil intention; and it appears that no generation ever formed a more cold-blooded and determined purpose to devote the saints to indiscriminate slaughter than the present and last generation will do not far in the future. They do not accomplish that design, not because they change their purpose, but because the power is lacking. It is no credit to them that the saints escape; and they are held just as guilty as if they had carried out their intentions, which they desired and tried to do; and they are settled with accordingly, and all the heavenly host will join with the angels, and exclaim, “Lord God Almighty, true and righteous are thy judgments.” The human family could not survive for a great while a continuance of a plague so terrible as this. Therefore it must be of short duration, as was the similar plague inflicted on the Egyptians. Ex. 7: 17–21, 25. “And the fourth angel poured out his vial upon the sun; and power was given him to scorch men with fire. And men were scorched with great heat, and blasphemed the name of God, which hath power over these plagues: and they repented not to give Him glory.” Rev. 16: 8, 9. The reader cannot fail to notice that every succeeding plague tends to augment the severity of the preceding plague, and heighten the agony and anguish of the guilty sufferers. This is the noon-hour of the plagues, the middle of the course. Mark the situation at this point. The effect of the plagues has been cumulative up to this point. As we argue in respect to the messages of Revelation 14: Succeeding ones do not bring to a close the others, but only add to them. The first did not cease when the second began, nor the first and the second cease when the third began. Each of the three was a leading movement when it started. But when the three have been introduced, and each has occupied its respective time, and fulfilled its respective part, as a leading movement, in the end we have not a single message, but a threefold message, three in one, the one covering all the ground of the three, and the three carrying on all their work simultaneously to the end. So with the plagues. They start out with a noisome and grievous sore, which must give rise to a feverish condition and promote an intense thirst. Then all open bodies of water become death-producing, like the blood of a dead man, and every living creature in the sea, including tons of fish, and all the living monstrosities that swim in the water, die, and become a source of offense. The fever and the thirst of the people still continue. They are obliged to turn to the streams and fountains of fresh water to quench their thirst, but find them blood, repulsive and undrinkable. And now, as if to crown all, the sun becomes endowed with unwonted activity, and pours upon men a flood of terrific heat, and they are scorched with fire; but instead of being disposed to be reconciled to God, they are fired up with hate, and begin to blaspheme His name. Further remarks next week. A CALL TO DUTY.
By A. G. Daniells
DEAR BRETHREN AND SISTERS: More than a year and a half ago Sister White laid before us a plan which the Lord had given her for removing the great burden of debt that has so long rested upon our educational institutions. The plan was very simple. She gave her book, “Christ’s Object Lessons,” to this enterprise. The brethren and sisters everywhere united in giving the material necessary to make the book, and the printing houses gave the labor required to produce it. And, lastly, our people were to give their time to the sale of the book. It was estimated that the sale of six books per73 member, or about three hundred thousand in all, would remove the entire indebtedness of our schools. To everybody this plan seemed simple, feasible, and effective. The price of the book was $1.25. The subject-matter is indeed charming. Times have been prosperous. Money has been plentiful, and the people have been spending it freely. We have a population of over seventy million people to whom to go with the book. Now it does seem as if we ought, under all the circumstances, to be able to sell at least six copies per member during an entire year. The task is not by any means an impossible one. Indeed, it is not a heavy task. It is one that could easily be accomplished with a little zeal and perseverance. This has been demonstrated in every possible way. Our agents who are accustomed to selling books have found that it is an easy-selling book. Our young people who have never before engaged in the sale of our books have met with most encouraging success, and many of our brethren and sisters who are far along in years, and who have never before sold books, have succeeded splendidly in their efforts to sell “Christ’s Object Lessons.” Some of our brethren, from fifty to seventy years of age, have sold from ten to fifty books each. By actual trial, people of all ages and all stations in life, in cities and in the country, under all conditions, have demonstrated that the book can easily be sold; and yet we have disposed of only one sixth of the number required to roll away the great reproach. Is it not time that a stirring call was sounded from one end of the land to the other, calling upon our people to arise, and take hold of this work with energy, perseverance, and a determination not to cease their efforts until the debts have been lifted from our schools? A few weeks ago, while in conversation with Sister White, she expressed great sorrow of heart because so little effort has been made by our people to carry out this divine plan for the removal of our debts. She said that the work would have been a blessing to our brethren and sisters; the light contained in the book would have proved a blessing to the people who purchased it; and the means received would have been a great boon in the hands of our brethren who are struggling with the debts of our schools. If all could have seen the burden this dear servant of the Lord carried on account of our neglect, their hearts would have been stirred to earnest action. We should have begun this work with great earnestness at the very beginning of the winter. Now the season is half gone. But it is not too late to take up the work and dispose of this entire business before spring. Earnest efforts are being made in some of the States to do this. During the month of February, our brethren and sisters in the States of Michigan, Wisconsin, Illinois, and Indiana are to enter upon a great campaign for the sale of “Christ’s Object Lessons.” It is estimated that our people in these four States should sell, on an average, four copies a member. As there are fifteen thousand Sabbath-keepers, that would mean the sale of sixty thousand books. These States have taken hold of this work with a determination to push it until this result is accomplished. Dear brethren, let me appeal to you to respond to the Lord’s call to service. Is there a single Seventh-day Adventist in the States mentioned who will not make an effort to do his part in the sale of this book? If every member would take hold of this work, with determination that he would never lay the burden down until he had disposed of four copies, the task would be accomplished in a month. Surely any one who has mind enough to grasp the meaning of the Third Angel’s Message, and courage enough to take his stand to live it out, has the ability to sell to his friends and neighbors one copy of “Christ’s Object Lessons” a week for one month; and this done, the burden of debt is removed. What a glorious result for so small an effort! One church elder relates an experience like this: As soon as the plan was made known, he felt that it was the Lord’s plan, and that it was his duty to co-operate with God in carrying it out. So he purchased his quota of books, and began selling them. When he came to the Sabbath meeting, he related to the brethren his experiences during the week, and called upon any others who had been selling the book to give their experiences. This brought life and freshness into the meeting. Then the elder exhorted every member of the church to take up this work in God’s appointed way. The next Sabbath all who had endeavored to sell the book were asked to relate their experiences. A good meeting followed. This work was continued in that church until they had disposed of their entire quota. This winter that church is going right on with the work, selling double the number apportioned to them. If all the churches in the country had done this, the great burden of debt on our schools would have been removed last winter, and now we might have been engaged in the sale of the book for the very object pointed out in the Testimonies; namely, to provide a fund for the education of our young men and women whom God is calling into missionary fields, but who have not the money to secure the needed education. Much more might be said, but space will not permit. We appeal most earnestly to every lover of the Third Angel’s Message to show his love by faithfully responding to God’s call to service in the sale of this book. Dear reader, do not lay this paper down, nor dismiss this question from your mind, until you have resolved most earnestly before God that you will do your duty in this matter. The responsibility rests upon you. You cannot delegate it to another. No one else can discharge it for you. The Lord says that a great blessing will come to every one who engages in the work. Furthermore, a great blessing will come to those who purchase the book; and still further, a great blessing will come to our schools that receive the proceeds of the sales. The Lord has told us that it is the essence of true faith to do the right thing at the right time. The duty of the present hour is to co-operate with God in this divine plan for rolling away the reproach of debt against our schools. Who will now take up this work, and press it until the task is accomplished? I pray the Lord to put it into the hearts of His people to do so. “CHRISTIAN SCIENCE:” ARE ITS DOCTRINES TRUTH OR ERROR?
By George I. Butler
Mrs. Eddy’s Views of the Judgment and the Resurrection Examined.
“No final judgment awaits mortals; for the judgment day of Wisdom comes hourly and continually, even the judgment by which mortal man is divested of all material error. As for spiritual error, there is none.”—“Science and Health,” page 187. The fact of a future judgment day is thus positively denied by the “Discoverer of Christian Science.” What Does the Bible say on this point? “Because He [God] hath appointed a day, in the which He will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom He hath ordained; whereof He hath given assurance unto all men, in that He hath raised Him from the dead.” Acts 17:31. “For we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ.” Rom. 14:10. “For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil.” Eccl. 12:14. “And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment.” Heb. 9:27. As Paul “reasoned of righteousness, temperance, and judgment to come, Felix trembled.” Acts 24:25. “But we are sure that the judgment of God is according to truth against them which commit such things. And thinkest thou this, O man, that judgest them which do such things, and doest the same, that thou shalt escape the judgment of God?” Rom. 2:2, 3. “Every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment.” Matt. 12:36. These scriptures certainly prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that a judgment day is before all mankind, where every one must give an account before the judgment bar of God. Reader, would you like to have a word picture of this grand assize? Then read the following: “I beheld till the thrones were placed [R. V.], and the Ancient of days did sit, whose garment was white as snow, and the hair of His head like the pure wool: his throne was like the fiery flame, and His wheels as burning fire. A fiery stream issued and came forth from before Him: thousand thousands ministered unto Him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before Him: the judgment was set, and the books were opened.” Dan. 7:9, 10. This array of scriptures is not written merely to combat Mrs. Eddy’s foolish and infidel statement, quoted above. It does not deserve so much notice as that would imply. I have written them hoping that some honest, candid reader, desiring to know the truth of the Bible on this most important subject of a coming judgment in which every man living will have a case of his own pending for weal or woe, may see a few of its positive statements, and thus be made to realize what the truth of God’s word teaches. No man can thoroughly and understandingly believe the Bible and deny a coming judgment. This fact should deeply interest every one of us. Satan hates this doctrine exceedingly. Hence those doing his special work will deny the fact of that great coming day. None will stand justified and uncondemned in that grand assize but those who have repented of their sins, and received forgiveness through Jesus Christ our Lord. “For there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.” No belief can be more preposterous and unscriptural than this which teaches that man is his own judge, and sits in final judgment upon his own sins. This is a position quite commonly held, and Mrs. Eddy, with many others, is teaching it. Alas for them that hold it. They will find at last that God is judge of all, and will “bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil.” Then our sins unrepented of and unforgiven will find us out, and sink us down to ruin. While Mrs. Eddy and Christian Scientists discard the second coming of Christ and the final judgment as taught in the Bible, they also utterly discard the resurrection from the dead. This statement really demands no proof in direct quotations from her doctrinal book, “Science and Health,” for all her views of death make a resurrection an impossibility. She teaches over and over that the real man is mind, or spirit, only. The body matter, has no existence at all, never had, and never will have. Matter itself, she sagely tells us, has no real existence anywhere in the universe. Mind, or spirit, is all that really exists. The body or any form of matter is a mere illusion. Of course, then, a mere illusion could have no resurrection. Not only does she teach this astonishing doctrine, but she tells us over and over dozens of times that mind never can die. It is really a part of God. It had no beginning and will have no ending. Mind is all. Hence, any one can see with such a belief, nothing could be more absurd than a resurrection. However, she makes this statement, “No resurrection from the grave awaits mind, for the grave has no power over mind.”—“Science and Health,” page 187. It will be seen, therefore, that in no sense do I misrepresent her when I declare emphatically that she utterly discards the doctrine of the resurrection of the body. Let us now notice what the good old Bible, the word of God, has to say about it: “Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear His voice, and shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation.” John 5:28, 29. Tolerably plain that is, Mrs. Eddy. She tells us that what was in the coffin and went down into the grave, was a mere illusion,—absolutely nothing at all, a mere figment of the mortal mind,—that there was nothing real about it. If so, it was a terrible illusion to some of us who have lost dear companions, dearer to us than life—snatched from our embrace by the fiat of Jehovah. “Dust thou art, and unto dust74 shalt thou return.” To us it was very sadly real. Their dear forms we see no more, and shall not till Christ calls them forth from their graves, radiant with immortality, shouting the grand words of the apostle: “O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?” Poor Mrs. Eddy! We shall never be likely to exchange this grand hope of meeting our dear ones, whom Christ declares He will bring forth from their graves in triumph, for such nonsensical figments of a crazy imagination as she holds out to us. Hear the great apostle’s glorious description of this same event:— “But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with Him. For 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 [“in no wise precede,” R. V.] 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. Wherefore comfort one another with these words.” 1 Thess. 4:13-18. How precious is that last clause to all of us who have buried dear friends. We are not left to sorrow as those who have no hope. Ah, no! Christ has shed a glorious halo of light from the throne above, over the dark portals of the tomb. All that are in their graves shall come forth and live again. The judgment day will have had its session; then each class will have the reward they have lived for. Christ will say to His own, who have made a covenant with Him by sacrifice,—those who have imitated the blessed Saviour in this probationary life,—“Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.” To the other class He will say, “Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels.” Matt. 25:31-46. The one class go into everlasting life. The other taste the second death, from which there is no recovery. This is the final disposition made of both classes. This we learn from many positive statements of Holy Writ. This indeed is quite different from Mrs. Eddy’s teachings. “Let God be true,” though every one else may teach falsehood. The resurrection of the dead is the grand hope set before us in the Bible. The patriarchs of old fully believed in it, and taught it. Hear Job, the perfect man: “If a man die, shall he live again?” Momentous question this, dear reader. Hear the reply: “All the days of my appointed time will I wait, till my change come. Thou shalt call, and I will answer thee: thou wilt have a desire to the work of thine hands.” “Oh that my words were now written! Oh that they were printed in a book! that they were graven with an iron pen and lead in the rock forever! For I know that my Redeemer liveth, and that He shall stand at the latter day upon the earth: and after my skin hath been thus destroyed [R. V.] yet in my flesh shall I see God: whom I shall see for myself, and mine eyes shall behold, and not another.” Job 14:14, 15; and 19:23-27. This was the patriarch’s hope, the same as ours. Hear the sweet psalmist of Israel: “As for me, I will behold thy face in righteousness: I shall be satisfied, when I awake, with thy likeness.” Ps. 17:15. Every child of God will be in the likeness of Christ’s resurrected body. As Paul says, “Our conversation is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ: who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto His glorious body.” Phil. 3:20, 21. All the blessed saints raised from earth have bodies like Christ’s glorified body when He left old earth and soared away to heaven, there to remain till He should come again to receive us unto himself. Let the reader plainly remember that these saints are not disembodied spirits, without body or parts, not phantoms or ghosts; but they have real bodies, as Christ had when He ate the fish and the honeycomb, and said, “A spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have.” That body has gone up to heaven—a real place—with the prints of the nails in His hands and feet and the spear mark in His side. He is there in the presence of the Father as our great High Priest. Let us hear from Isaiah, that wonderful prophet and seer, concerning his hope: “Thy dead men shall live, together with my dead body shall they arise. Awake and sing, ye that dwell in dust: for thy dew is as the dew of herbs, and the earth shall cast out the dead.” Isa. 26:19. This prophet of the Lord does not talk much like this professed prophet of latter days, Mrs. Eddy, with her imaginary spirits too ethereal to cast a shadow. O, no! These who come forth from the dust and wake and sing have real bodies, as their Lord had when He ascended. Out of the vast number of scriptures that I might quote, clearly proving this glorious doctrine of the literal resurrection of the body, I will present but one more, for lack of space: “For if the dead rise not, then is not Christ raised. And if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins. Then they also which are fallen asleep in Christ are perished.” 1 Cor. 15:12-20. Mr. Webster’s definition of “perish” is “to be destroyed; to go to destruction; to come to nothing; to be blotted from existence.” Paul then emphatically teaches that our only hope of a future life depends upon a resurrection from the dead. But for the resurrection our future life is “blotted from existence”—“comes to nothing.” This we know is not in harmony with popular theology, nor with Mrs. Eddy’s teaching. But the word of God plainly bases our hope on the resurrection of the body; without it, “they also which are fallen asleep in Christ are perished.” This great cardinal doctrine of the resurrection is being ignored by many professed Christians, as well as by spiritual mediums and Christian Scientists. It is high time that the people studied their Bible more and believed its positive statements. It would preserve us from many last-day delusions, with which Satan is filling our world to-day. Not a jot or tittle of God’s word can ever fail. It is founded on the great rock of eternal truth. All else is shifting sand. [Designed for the consideration of such questions as will be of interest and profit to the general reader. All correspondents should give their names and correct post-office address, that queries not replied to here may be answered by mail.] 1. SHOULD a member moving from one Conference to another Conference and permanently locating there, still retain his membership in his former Conference? 2. Should a member send his tithe to a different Conference from the one in which he lives, because he thinks it more needy than the other? 3. If one is ordained in one Conference, as elder or deacon, is he qualified to act as elder or deacon in another Conference without being reordained? T. J. W., Fellsburg, Kan. ANSWER.—1. The custom recommended and adopted by our Conferences is that when a member moves from one church to another, or from one Conference to another, he should take a letter of recommendation from his home church, and on the strength of that, unite with the new church. 2. He should pay his tithe where his membership is. It is left to the officers of the Conferences to decide which is the most needy field. 3. At the session of the General Conference in November, 1885, action was taken on the reordination of local elders. It was decided that a church officer being once ordained, that ordination should stand good for the same office without being repeated. But if he is required to act in that capacity in another church, it should be by the call and vote of the church, the same as at first; that is, his first election does not enable him to take the position as elder of another church without a re-election by the last church; but he need not be reordained. A report of this will be found in the Year Book of 1886, page 47. 854.—THE SIGN OF THE SON OF MAN.
1. What is the sign of the Son of man spoken of in Matt. 24: 30? 2. Are we now in the time mentioned in Matt. 25: 5: “While the bridegroom tarried, they all slumbered and slept”? Ans.—1. The sign of the Son of man in heaven is held to be the first appearance of the cloud upon which He comes (Rev. 14: 14), which appears small at first, but at length becomes a great “white cloud,” before which the kings and great men of the earth fall in terror and despair, and pray for the rocks and mountains to cover them. Rev. 6: 14-17. 2. The time mentioned in Matt. 25: 5 is a part of the parable of the ten virgins. The tarrying of the Bridegroom is now all past, by over fifty years. See tract at this Office on that point. The sleeping, we are sorry to say, is not yet past. The exhortation of Rom. 13: 11, 12,—“Now it is high time to awake out of sleep,”—is a current exhortation still. Let us speedily change over to 1 Thess. 5: 4-6: “But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief. Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness. Therefore let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch and be sober.” THE RECENT EARTHQUAKE IN MEXICO.
An American who resides in the City of Mexico, and was in the district affected by the recent earthquake at the time of its occurrence, sends the following account of it to a friend in Newburgh, N. Y.:— “While writing at one of the tables of the American Club yesterday at twenty minutes past five, the chandeliers began to sway backward and forward and a low, rumbling noise, resembling an immense chariot passing over the asphalt street, was heard. Books began to fall from the shelves of the library and the inkstands on the tables became animated. I at once comprehended the situation, and rising to my feet, could feel the trembling and undulating movement which permeated the whole building, and at the same time a peculiar feeling akin to seasickness was experienced. The poor fellow was scared to death, some one may say, but not so; for if one considers the situation, he is as safe in one place as another. On a railway train or in a carriage one by instinct seeks the ground for safety; but in this case there is no terra firma. The swaying of the chandeliers brought the glass globes in contact and they fell in pieces. The billiard balls on the tables kept up the game without human agency, the players having sought the street. “I stepped out on the balcony. The electric wires were swaying as if by a strong wind, the poles losing their perpendicular positions, and the peons had all knelt in the streets, and were crossing themselves confident almost that the walls, if they fell, would accommodate them by falling in instead of out. The carriages had all halted, the horses refusing to go. Broken glass was rattling. Taking all in all, it was a peculiar sight. There were four distinct shocks, and it is declared it was the strongest quake experienced here in years. In the Alameda the water was thrown from the fountain, and the clocks were stopped all over the city. On the outskirts of the city the populace took refuge in the churches, and sank on their knees till the earthquake had subsided. This event is said to be due to the unusual activity of the volcano of Colima, which has been very threatening for the past few weeks. The motion was from east to west. “The Pan-American Congress was in session, and Señor Alzamora had just begun to speak on the Chile question. At once the whole delegation arose, and clinging wildly to their desks, invoked the protection of the patron saints of their nations. At elsewhere, the danger having passed, every one became hilarious.”