Earlier text: The SermonModels of Prayer.
By Editor
We have been interested in looking through the Scriptures for the purpose of comparing the prayers therein recorded with those which we hear from time to time in public, and we are astonished to see how they differ in point, expression, directness, and, above all, in length, from those heard in these days in the Christian pulpit. It is not exaggeration to say that we have listened to a single prayer longer than the whole ten that we find in the Bible put together. The first is in Genesis 24 : 12-14, and contains one hundred and ten words, and it is not more than one minute in length. The next is in Exodus 33 : 12-15, and contains one hundred and eleven words, and is not over a minute long. The third is in Joshua 7 : 7-9, and contains ninety words. The fourth is in 2 Kings 19 : 15-19, the prayer of Hezekiah; it is composed of one hundred and thirty-four words, and two minutes would be ample time to repeat it. Another is found in Nehemiah 1 : 5-11, and is about two minutes in length; another is in Ezra 9 : 6-15, and is about three minutes long; another is in 1 Kings 8 : 23-61, an important dedicatory prayer, offered by Solomon himself at the dedication of the temple, and it did not occupy more than six minutes; while that of Dan. 9 : 11-19 was probably less than four minutes long. The prayer of our Saviour, in the New Testament, John 17, is well known; it is contained in twenty-six verses, and is five minutes long; while the model prayer—the Lord's prayer—is far briefer still. Now here are ten prayers, from those who certainly knew how to pray, and they are all less than thirty-five minutes long, or an average of three minutes each; and yet we sometimes hear men pray thirty and forty minutes, and after wandering all over the moral universe, and wearying their fellow-worshippers with vain repetitions, utterly fail of the prime object of all public prayer—to lift up the hearts of men to commune with Heaven. It must be an extraordinary occasion, equal at least to the dedication of the Jewish temple in Jerusalem to justify a prayer more than five minutes long. There are few “Oh’s” and “Ah’s” in these models; their authors do not often say, “O Lord, Lord,” but tenderly, filially, directly, quietly, simply, they ask the blessing they desire, as though they were children who knew that they were addressing One who was more willing to give them good gifts than they were to ask them at his hand. “After this manner, therefore, pray ye: Our Father who art in Heaven, hallowed be thy name; thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth, as it is in Heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors; and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil, for thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever and ever. Amen.”—Gospel Banner. THE most beautiful illustration of penitence on record is that contained in the parable of the prodigal son. In this brief narrative our Lord has included every trait and circumstance which can mark the history of fallen man, when turning from his wayward course and once more professing his allegiance to God. The departure from home, the abandonment to the sins of an unholy world, the suffering which necessarily ensues, the deep penitence, the return to the father, and the restoration to the privileges of a son, are the successive scenes which make up this perfect picture. There is one little circumstance, however, in this narrative, which we believe is often passed by unnoticed, but which forms one of the finer shadings of the portrait, and is as true to the life as any of the more prominent features. In his moments of distress and humiliation the prodigal son thus declares his resolution: "I will arise and go to my father, and will say unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven and before thee, and am no more worthy to be called your son; but make me as one of thy hired servants." But when his father meets him "a great way off," and, in his joy at his return, hangs upon his neck with every mark of affection, he says all that he intended, except the request, "make me one of thy hired servants." Is this omission accidental? We think not; but rather believe that it embodies a deep-spirited truth. It is exactly in accordance with the change of feeling through which the repenting sinner passes when he believes that he has received grace and forgiveness. In the hour of his darkness and depression, when first he realizes that he is an exile in a foreign land, he dare not hope for anything but pardon. He asks only that his Lord should stretch forth the golden scepter, that he may touch it and be assured of safety. If he may only struggle through the straight gate, he will be content with the lowest place in the kingdom of heaven. He dare not appropriate to himself the abounding promises of Scripture in all their fullness. The privileges of a son cannot be for him. He asks but to be "a hired servant" in his master's household. But when he has escaped from the house of bondage and enrolled himself among the true Israel, when before him are the vineyards and olive-yards which are promised as his inheritance, he learns to cast aside every fear, and, in the fullness of faith, to appropriate to himself all that the mercy of God holds out as the rewards of his children. He who wishes only to be "a doorkeeper in the house of his God," when once he has entered the sacred portals, is not contented thus to stand afar off, but must be ever pressing nearer and nearer to the mercy-seat. He realizes the rich provisions which the Father has made for his support and comfort, and dismissing all incertitude, with an ever-expanding faith, he is willing to receive them. His exulting language is: "Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died; yea, rather, that is risen again." In the race for heavenly prizes he would struggle to be among the foremost. If crowns are offered, he would contend for the brightest. He feels that he is no longer an outcast and prodigal, but a member of that household—not to be "a hired servant," but a son accepted and beloved.—Sel. MAN is spiritually a paralytic; man is spiritually dead—dead in trespasses and sins. It comes to this, and there is no evading the conclusion; either infinite wisdom has made a mistake in introducing the provisions, the helps and means of salvation, or man is utterly destitute of holiness, depraved and lost in sin. You do not provide to introduce into your business a partner who has been in since the formation of the firm; you do not sow wheat upon a field already whitening to the harvest. Neither does God send the Holy Spirit to beget that which is already begotten; nor does he provide to revive that which already lives, nor to supply anew that which men have never lost. If God has given the Holy Spirit that we may be made new creatures in Christ Jesus, then we were dead, just as the Scriptures teach. If the Holy Ghost comes to instruct us, then we are ignorant; if to open our eyes, then we are blind; if to reconcile us to God, then we are alienated from him; if to redeem us, then we are the captives of sin and Satan. If man is not really in this condition, then the gospel is what some make it—a beautiful sham, an unmeaning, useless scheme, or show of mercy and life, where mercy and life are neither intended nor needed. Christ and his gospel meet no want, supply no necessity, unless man is fallen, guilty, hardened, dead and lost.—Sel. A HAPPY thought comes from a happy heart; it will come from no other, but it will go to another. A MAN stopping at a tavern for rest and refreshments began to talk about his journey. He had come from a neighboring town; he was moving away, and glad enough to get away, too. Such a set of neighbors as he had there, unkind, disobliging, cross, and contrary, it was enough to make any one want to leave the place, and he had started, and was to settle in another region, where he could find a different set of inhabitants. "Well," said the landlord, "you will find just such neighbors where you are going." The next night, another man stopped at the inn. He, too, was on a journey—was moving. On inquiry, it was found that he came from the same place from which the former traveler had come. He said he had been obliged to move from where he lived, and he did not mind leaving so much as he did leaving his neighbors; they were so kind, considerate, accommodating, and generous, that he felt very sorrowful at the thought of leaving them and going among strangers, especially as he could not tell what kind of neighbors he would find. "Oh! well," said the landlord, "you will find just such neighbors where you are going." Does it not seem possible that men will generally find such neighbors as they are looking for? Some people are always in trouble; others "follow peace with all men." Who knows but we can have just about such neighbors as we wish for, simply by treating them as we ought to? —Exchange. LIFE is a sum; and it becomes us to do it properly, as it can be done but once. To THE Jews who were condemning and rejecting himself, our Lord said: "In your Scriptures ye think ye have eternal life." There is such a thing as thinking highly of the Bible, and yet missing its true purpose; there is such a thing as putting it in the place of Christ. Every word and letter of their Scriptures they esteem sacred; they inscribed them on their phylacteries; they, many of them, spent their time in reading and copying them. And yet, just because they rested in them, because they worshiped the book rather than him of whom the Bible spoke to them, it became to them a barrier between them and God; its sentences and pages shut them out from God, instead of leading them to him. And in this way they were willing to believe that in the early ages of their history God had actually spoken to and dealt with their fathers as a man speaks to and deals with his fellow, face to face. They did not doubt that he had revealed himself, and made known his mind and will to the prophets and holy men of old. But they did not believe that he was still actually speaking to themselves, and dealing with them as he had done with their ancestors. All living belief in his active and immediate presence in the midst of them had faded out of their minds; they fancied that such revelations belonged only to the past. In place, then, of the recognition of a present personal God, they put the Old Testament scriptures. They put a description of God's character and a history of his dealings with their nation, instead of God himself; they said by reading this book we may learn about God; they failed to discern that the very object of the book was to enable them to acknowledge and know the living Jehovah for themselves that they might enter into close personal intercourse with him; might serve him, and love him, and walk with him as their fathers had done; they forgot that the God of Abraham and Isaac, and Jacob was still alive; that he was entering into communication with his creatures, and calling them to understand and trust him as much as he had ever done; nay, that what all their prophets in these Scriptures were anticipating and pointing to was the time—not when God should withdraw himself utterly from the earth, and should be known only through the words of a book, but—when he should come forth out of his place and manifest himself more perfectly; when the unseen King should at last unveil himself, and tabernacle as a man among men. And because they forgot this; because they closed their minds against all but a second-hand knowledge of God; because, so to speak, they read a biography of him, instead of seeking for personal acquaintance—their Scriptures became to them an idol; they used them as an end, instead of as a means; they trusted in them, rather than in God; they thought that eternal life was contained in the words and sentences of a manuscript, not in the great Source and Giver of all life and light.—Sel. “Let Your Women Keep Silence in the Churches.”
Whether or not a woman has a right to take part in the public worship of God, has been with many a serious question on account of the one declaration of Paul, found in 1 Cor. 14: 34, 35, of which the heading to this article forms a part, and which has been supposed to refer to this subject. The whole passage reads as follows: “Let your women keep silence in the churches; for it is not permitted unto them to speak; but they are commanded to be under obedience as also saith the law. And if they will learn anything let them ask their husbands at home; for it is a shame for women to speak in the church.” Taken independently of its connection, and in a general sense, it is not strange perhaps that this passage should suggest itself to some minds as a prohibition of any public participation in the worship of God on the part of females. Taken however in connection with the other instruction of the apostle with which it stands, and in view of the part assigned to females in other portions of the word of God, the evidence is to our mind conclusive that it is not designed so to teach. 1. In spiritual matters, women have, in almost every age of the world, had an important part to act. Go back about thirteen hundred years before Christ, and we find Deborah a judge of Israel. She was a prophetess; and Israel sought to her for judgment, and received counsel and instruction at her hand. Judges 4: 4–9. 2. About seven hundred years after this, another prophetess appears in the record, 2 Kings 22: 14–20. When Hilkiah, the high priest, found the book of the law which had lain for long years concealed in the house of the Lord, and had caused it to be read before Josiah, the king; the king rent his clothes, and sent the high priest with others to Huldah, the prophetess, to inquire of the Lord concerning this matter. And the Lord gave to the king and people through her, a fearful threatening of the overthrow of Jerusalem on account of the sins which had been committed. 3. We come down to the birth of Christ, and there we find another prophetess acting a conspicuous part in the public worship of God. When the infant Saviour was brought into the temple, Anna, a prophetess, “coming in that instant gave thanks likewise unto the Lord, and spake of him to all them that looked for redemption in Jerusalem.” Luke 2: 36–38. Here we have an instance of a woman’s publicly teaching in the temple, and giving instruction to all them who were looking for redemption in the city of Jerusalem. 4. In the great prophecy concerning the spiritual features of the present dispensation, Joel 2: 28, 29, daughters as well as sons, handmaids as well as servants, were mentioned as those upon whom the spirit should be poured, and through whom its operations should be manifested. Now can we suppose that Paul would give directions concerning the same subject, to apply at the same time, and lay down a rule which would completely cut off the prophecy of Joel from fulfillment on the part of the daughters and handmaids? Certainly not. 5. We read in Acts 21: 8, 9, of Philip, the evangelist, one of the seven, who had four daughters who did prophesy. Paul and his company came into his house in the year A. D. 60, one year after he had written to the Corinthians to have their women keep silence in the churches; but we do not read that he uttered any rebuke, or urged any protest, against their following their calling, and speaking to the disciples, to their edification and comfort. 6. Paul, in Rom. 16, A. D. 60, mentions Phebe as a servant of the church, Priscilla as one of his helpers in Christ Jesus, Tryphena and Tryphosa as those who labored in the Lord, and Persis as one who labored much in the Lord, all women and fellow-helpers of the apostles. In Acts 18: 26, we read further of Priscilla, that in connection with her husband Aquila, she took Apollos and expounded unto him the way of God more perfectly—a woman expounding the way of the Lord, and that too to a no less renowned personage than the eloquent Apollos. In Phil. 4: 3, Paul speaks of other of his sisters in the church as follows: “And I entreat thee, also, true yokefellow, help those women which labored with me in the gospel, with Clement also, and with other my fellow-laborers, whose names are in the book of life.” Here are women mentioned as laboring with Paul in the gospel, and whom he ranks with Clement, as his fellow-laborers. Can we suppose that these woman were altogether silent in the churches? 7. In chapter 11: 5, in this same epistle to the Corinthians, Paul gives directions how the woman should be attired while praying or prophesying in the public congregation, or “when they were come together in the church.” Verse 18. In verse 4 he says, “Every man praying or prophesying with his head covered, dishonoreth his head.” Then he proceeds to give directions in regard to the women, “But every woman that prayeth or prophesieth with her head uncovered, dishonoreth her head.” Here praying and prophesying are allotted to the women no less than to the man. In chapter 14: 3, he tells us what it is to prophesy: “He that prophesieth, speaketh unto men to edification and exhortation and comfort.” In this way then it was designed by the apostle that women should speak in the church. There is no evading this conclusion; and the way some attempt to avoid it, is a little singular. Commentators of high standing, to save their position on chapter 14: 34, that women should take no part in the public worship of God, explain Paul’s language in chapter 11: 5, in reference to woman’s praying or prophesying, by saying that Paul here “gave directions how it should be done, provided any such thing were allowable; but he did not mean to intimate that woman ever would pray or prophesy; and in chapter 14: 34, he expressly forbids it.” We may be sure that the apostle indulges in no such trifling. 8. No one certainly will contend that Paul excludes females from being members of the church. Yet in chapter 14: 23, 24, he speaks about the whole church being come together, and all speaking with tongues, and all prophesying. This would include the sisters equally with the brethren. We are thus brought to the question, What does Paul then mean by the language “Let your women keep silence in the churches?” From the evidence thus far presented, we can take our stand positively on what he does not mean. He does not mean taking such public part in the service of God as that of which we have such prominent examples in both the Old and New Testaments. He does not mean to cut off the prophecy of Joel from a great part of its fulfillment. He does not mean to contradict his own directions expressed in chap. 11: 5. Hence he does not mean to forbid any kind of public exercise by which “edification, exhortation, or comfort” is given to the church. If he does mean any of these things, then there is a positive contradiction between Paul and other sacred writers, and between Paul and Paul; which Bible believers will not be ready to admit; and if he does not mean any of these things, then his language is far removed from furnishing any objection to women’s taking part in the public worship of God as conducted at the present day. The question still remains, What does the language mean? On this point we may not be able to arrive at so definite conclusions, as on the inquiry, what it does not mean; but there are grounds for certain inferences, which are both fair and necessary. 1. Paul is correcting wrongs and irregularities that existed in the Corinthian church. There were occasions when it was improper even for the men to speak. See verses 27–30. We may justly infer, therefore, that what he says in reference to the women is of the same nature, and that the speaking he refers to is that which would be out of order, and cause confusion in the church. 2. The antithesis of the command, “Let your women keep silence in the churches,” is expressed in these words: “But they are commanded to be under obedience as also saith the law. This shows that the speaking which is prohibited is of that kind which would show that they were not under obedience. But what is meant by being under obedience? The Scriptures represent that a subordinate position, in a certain sense, is assigned to the woman for the reasons that she was formed from the man, and at a subsequent time, and was first in transgression. 1 Cor. 11: 8; 1 Tim. 2: 13, 14. The leadership and authority is vested in the man. “Thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee.” Gen. 3: 16. This order is not to be reversed, and the woman take the position which has been assigned to the man; and every action on her part which shows that she is usurping this authority, is disorderly, and not to be allowed. Hence Paul says plainly to Timothy, 1 Tim. 2: 12, “But I suffer not a woman to teach nor to usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence.” There is no doubt but it was the very same point, the usurping of authority over the man, that the same apostle had in view in 1 Cor. 14: 34. 3. The following remarks from Dr. Clarke, doubtless convey the true idea: “It is evident from the context that the apostle refers here to asking questions, and what we call dictating in the assemblies. It was permitted to any man to ask questions, to object, altercate, attempt to refute, &c., in the synagogue; but this liberty was not allowed to any woman. St. Paul confirms this in reference also to the Christian church; he orders them to keep silence; and if they wished to learn anything, let them inquire of their husbands at home, because it was perfectly indecorous for women to be contending with men in public assemblies on points of doctrine, and cases of conscience. But this by no means intimated that when a woman received any particular influence from God to enable her to teach, she was not to obey that influence; on the contrary she was to obey it; and the apostle lays down directions in chap. 11, for regulating her personal appearance when thus employed. All that the apostle opposes here is their questioning, finding fault, disputing, &c., in the Christian church, as the Jewish men were permitted to do in their synagogues; together with the attempts to usurp any authority over the man, by setting up their judgment in opposition to them; for the apostle has in view, especially, acts of disobedience, arrogance, &c., of which no woman would be guilty who was under the influence of the Spirit of God.” On the words, “It is a shame for a woman to speak in the church,” he says, “The apostle refers to irregular conduct, such conduct as proved that they were not under obedience.” That it was some such irregularity which the apostle was combating in the Corinthian church, appears further from the challenge he gives them in verse 36: “What? Came the word of God out from you? or came it unto you only?” That is, did Christianity originate with you? or are you the only church that has received the true light, that things should be tolerated in your midst which are not allowed in other churches? Such being the nature of the things prohibited by the apostle, who can say that he has any reference to such testimony as faithful Christian woman bear, when they rise to speak a word for the Lord and his truth, to the strengthening of themselves, and the comfort, edification, and encouragement of all the church? Practical Thoughts on Bible Subjects.
By John Nevins Andrews
It is often painful to give reproof, yet it is a duty which cannot be neglected. Some persons, from lack of experience, or from error in judgment, may be incapable of administering reproof by word of mouth. Let such do it by their example, or if some word must be spoken let them do it with real humility and reserve. Many of this class have done great harm by their utter lack of heavenly wisdom. Observe Nathan's course with David. A terrible crime had been committed by David. A most severe and cutting reproof was called for. But only witness the wisdom of Nathan. It was not merely to rebuke David, it was also to save him from utter ruin, upon the brink of which he stood, that Nathan labored. Few persons could have given to such a man, in such a snare of Satan, a reproof so wisely directed that it should lead him to genuine repentance. The 51st Psalm is the language of that repentance which does not need to be repented of. Let those who are reproved by the testimonies of the Spirit of God read that Psalm again and again. Drink deep into its spirit. It is infinitely wiser than to yield to the stubborn hardness of our natural heart, and to the sorrow of the world that worketh death. DAVID'S SPIRIT WHEN REPROVED.
"Make me to hear joy and gladness; that the bones which thou hast broken may rejoice." Ps. 51 : 8. Language can hardly be found to express with greater force the effect of the terrible rebuke upon David. The blow had broken his bones. Now what did David do? Did he say I am utterly disheartened; it is no use to make further efforts? This would be the language of most persons. They would say with Cain, "My punishment is greater than I can bear." Gen. 4 : 13. It was not the sin but the punishment that troubled Cain. Instead of seeking the face of the Lord he went out from his presence, and to drown his reflections built a city. Not like this did David. He is anxious about his sin. So anxious that he makes a public confession which he puts on record for all coming time. And so zealous to return to God that he prays to be purged with hyssop, and washed till he is whiter than snow. He knows the joys of God's salvation, and he never could be satisfied till these were returned to him. How admirable is this spirit in David. Why not we manifest it when crushing reproof breaks our own bones? "He that sacrificeth of a thing wrongfully gotten, his offering is ridiculous; and the gifts of unjust men are not accepted." This is from the Apocrypha [Ecclus. 34 : 18], but it is worthy of serious attention. We cannot divide with the Lord things wrongfully obtained and so bribe him to allow us to retain our unjust gains by giving him a part. What can we do with such money? Use it to make restitution, and remember to add something to it when you restore. See Luke 19 : 8, 9. The righteous dead shall be raised to immortality at the sound of the last trump. 1 Cor 15 : 52. This trumpet is sounded at the descent of the Lord from Heaven. 1 Thess. 4 : 16. It is called the trump of God. It is the signal by which Christ sends the angels after his saints. Matt. 24 : 31. Zechariah says the Lord God shall blow the trumpet. Zech. 9 : 14. Isaiah calls on all the inhabitants to hear when the Lord blows the trumpet. Isa. 18 : 3, 4. When the great trumpet is blown then those who are ready to perish shall come and worship the Lord in the holy mount at Jerusalem. Isa. 27 : 13. This is not the trump of the seventh angel. This is a literal trump and shall be literally heard. That is a symbolical trump like the six which precede it. They have not been literally heard. This one will not be. The fulfillment of predicted events has marked their sounding. So of the seventh trumpet. One is blown by the Son of God, the other by an angel. Therefore the trump of God is not the same as the trump of the seventh angel. The trump of the angel begins to sound before the close of human probation. Rev. 10 : 7. A period of time denominated, i. e., years, at the commencement of his voice is occupied in the finishing the mystery of God. But not so with the trump of God. When that sounds, in an instant all the righteous are changed to immortality. But if this be not the seventh trumpet why is it called "the last trump?" The answer I think is this : The trump of God has been heard upon the earth before. When God spoke the ten commandments his trumpet was literally heard. Ex. 19 : 16 ; 20 : 18. It shall be heard again when the Son of God descends. That will be the last trump. The one event was the Father's descent, the other the descent of the Son in the Father's glory. Matt. 16 : 27. There is an intimate connection between the two events. Heb. 12 : 26. This always involves the ceasing to do evil. Whatever passes for repentance that allows a man to retain any of his sinful ways, or to continue any of his sinful acts, or to return to any of his own sins after a time, is a repentance that needs to be repented of. How forcible are the words of the Apocrypha, Ecclus. 34 : 25, 26 : "He that washeth himself after the touching of a dead body, if he touch it again, what availeth his washing? So is it with a man that fasteth for his sins, and goeth again, and doeth the same ; who will hear his prayer? or what doth his humility profit him?" WHAT GOD GAVE MAN AT CREATION.
"And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul." Gen. 2 : 7. Observe it does not say that the breath of life became a living soul, but that the man formed of the dust of the ground became a living soul. In other words, the man became a living person. What was it then, which God gave to the man he had formed? The language of Job 33 : 4 clearly states the answer : "The Spirit of God hath made me, and THE BREATH OF THE ALMIGHTY hath given me LIFE." This, then, is what God gave to man, even LIFE. Not unconditional life; the man was created to answer the pleasure of his wise Creator. Rev. 4 : 11. If he fulfill this gracious purpose of his Maker he shall continue to live, and when his probation is accomplished, and his fidelity proved, he shall have life with no condition. A333 life this, as certain never to end as the life of Him who made him. But if he fails in his probation, his right to live is forfeited. Mankind have been favored with a second probation. Their first was, in a state of innocence, that they might become confirmed in virtue. They failed in their probation, and their innocence was lost. They have a second probation in which to recover their lost innocence, and to become established in virtue. The angels that sinned, did this against greater light than man, and hence can have no further probation. Man sinned being tempted by their chief, and God gives to men a second trial. But they must in it meet and overcome the temptations of the evil angels. The failure in our first probation brought death upon all our race. The life that we now have has no immortality to it. "What is your life?" says James. "It is even a vapor that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away." James 4 : 14. Yet such as ourselves may life forever. This life is long enough for the recovery of our lost innocence, and for our establishment in virtue. Life eternal, which is ours now by promise, shall at the close of our trial be our infinite reward. The "Hour of Judgment," and the "Day of Judgment."
By J. H. W.
INSTANCES not a few have been found where brethren have made calculations on the proportionate length of these two periods, and the result has always been that they have ascertained, to their own satisfaction, just when the Third Angel's Message will close! Like the man who invented perpetual motion, they seldom stop to examine the difficulties in their way, and therefore it may be a service to them to furnish a few for them. They first take for granted that the day of Judgment is just 1000 years in length, and dividing this sum by 24, to find one hour of the day, and commencing the hour in 1844, they easily determine the time when the hour will expire. The day of Judgment "covers more than the period during which the saints assist in judging the world. It includes the execution of the Judgment, or the destruction of the wicked. This is an important part of the work of the Judgment day. On this point we offer the following extract as decisive:— "An effort has been made to maintain the Age to Come by first assuming that the day of the Lord is identical with the 1000 years of Rev. 20, and then quoting Zech. 14, to show that a certain series of events will transpire on the earth during the 1000 years, because they transpire 'in that day.' But the day of the Lord is more than 1000 years in length; it both commences before, and reaches beyond the 1000 years of Rev. 20. Peter does not give the length of that day, as has been inferred from 2 Pet. 3: 8, 9. He there refers solely to the faithfulness of God, saying that his longsuffering withholds the execution of his judgments on the scoffers; yet this is no evidence of slackness, as his promise is as sure 1000 years hence as if fulfilled to-day. With man, haste is necessary to the performance of his promise, as his life is but a hand-breadth; but not so with God, who is 'from everlasting to everlasting.' The day of the Lord commences before the second advent. It has been shown that the voice of God shakes the heavens and the earth before the Saviour comes. And Isa. 2 shows that they are shaken in that day. 'Enter into the rock, and hide thee in the dust, for fear of the Lord, and for the glory of his majesty. The lofty looks of man shall be humbled, and the haughtiness of men shall be bowed down, and the Lord alone shall be exalted in that day. For the day of the Lord of hosts shall be upon every one that is proud and lofty, and upon every one that is lifted up; and he shall be brought low.' Verses 10–12. 'In that day a man shall cast his idols of silver, and his idols of gold, which they made each one for himself to worship, to the moles and to the bats; to go into the clefts of the rocks, and into the tops of the ragged rocks, for fear of the Lord, and for the glory of his majesty, when he ariseth to shake terribly the earth.' Verses 20, 21. Also chap. 13: 6–13. The great battle is in that day. Eze. 13: 5; Rev. 16: 14. It is frequently called the day of the Lord's anger, the day of his wrath, &c. And as in the seven last plagues 'is filled up the wrath of God,' Rev. 15: 1, and the battle of that day is under the seventh plague, and the voice of God shakes the heavens and the earth in that day before the advent, it appears that that day commences with the pouring out of the plagues, at the close of 'the day of salvation.' And therefore it commences before the 1000 years of Rev. 20. "Again, the wicked are not raised till the 1000 years are finished; and Peter says the heavens and earth which are now are reserved unto fire against the day of Judgment and perdition of ungodly men; and that in that day of the Lord the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements melt with fervent heat. Thus we find that the resurrection of the wicked, the execution of the Judgment, and the passing away of the heavens and earth, all take place in the day of the Lord, but after the termination of the 1000 years. Therefore, again, the day of the Lord and the 1000 years of Rev. 20 cannot be identical. "Because Peter says a day with the Lord is as a thousand years, we have no more warrant to infer that 'the day of the Lord' is just 1000 years in length than that 'the day of salvation' is of that length; and that day has already existed nearly two thousand years."—Refutation of Age to Come, pp. 135–137. Granting that the day of the Lord is 1000 years in length, it would be easy to show that our view of the events of the 1000 years is incorrect. Then the advocates of the Age to Come would have the advantage of us. But when we prove that the day of the Lord, or the day of Judgment is more than 1000 years in length they lose their case, and our view is established to a certainty. Again, it cannot be proved that the dispensations do not overlap each other, as was the case with the past and present dispensations. We do not insist on this point, but it is impossible to show that the work of the hour of Judgment of Rev. 14: 6, 7, is not a part of the work of the great day of Judgment. Be that as it may, no one can possibly tell how long a period will transpire between the 1000 years of Rev. 20, and the entire destruction or "perdition of ungodly men." Therefore no one can tell how long the day of Judgment will be, and of course no one can tell what would be the length of one-twenty-fourth part of it. And thus we justify by the plain facts of Scripture the expression that "there is no time in the Third Angel's Message." If the oath of the angel in Rev. 10: 5–7, who swore that "there shall be time no longer," was fulfilled in the first message, and the time there referred to is prophetic time, as we all believe, that is a strong confirmation of our position. We therefore invite students and young ministers, among whom these speculations are generally found, to study more concerning the duties and the Spirit of this message, and let the time alone. The fate of other time-setters should be a warning to all the inexperienced.