God gave birth to all things, put himself in all things, so as to reveal himself—so as to give an object lesson, that we may know, understand, become acquainted with him. This is what Isaiah heard the seraphim cry when he saw God's glory: “Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory.” Isa. 6:3. “The Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father), full of grace and truth.” John 1:14.
“For the Word of the Lord is right; and all his works are done in truth. He loveth righteousness and judgment; the earth is full of the goodness of the Lord.” Ps. 33:4, 5.
“The earth, O Lord, is full of thy mercy; teach me thy statutes.” Ps. 119:64.
The earth is full of the glory, goodness, mercy, of the Lord. “In his temple doth every one speak of his glory.” Ps. 29:9, last clause. Every one speaks of his glory. Luther expresses it in a very nice way: “Everything which God has created is a little vocable from his grammar by which he discloses his hidden hand.” “The heavens declare the glory of God.” Everything says, Glory. Were it not for the sinfulness of man, everything would say, Glory, and say it all the time. Of man He said, “I have created him for my glory;” he was crowned with glory. His being, his very existence, says, Glory. We are to glorify God in our bodies and spirits which are his. Creation is an object lesson for our study. When this revelation in the book of nature was first made, it was perfectly clear, not a blot or dim word was upon the page; and man had that eyesight which enabled him to read it. But sin came in and blighted both man and nature, bedimmed our eyes and the pages of that book. Therefore God was constrained to put into language what he had before revealed through his works concerning himself. Everything that God has said to us in human language, he has said to us in his works. The more you think of that, the more it will open up the study.
The vine, the bread, are revelations of Christ; and this is the real object in our study. This is what I mean when I say, All created things are but expressions, symbols, of him. His word caused them to appear there, and keeps them there. His word may take them away; but his word still remains, it abideth forever. These symbols, representations, expressions, are subject to change; “They shall perish, but thou remainest.” “They all shall wax old as a garment, but thou art the same.”
God worked; is still working. In studying nature, we are studying his word. His word, his power, works in us. Anything that thwarts that working, brings in some other element. There is something in man that is not in other plants; for man is but at the top of vegetable creation,—a plant that has power to walk about and think.
We are now prepared for the statement that the only study which should occupy the mind from the earliest down to the latest day of life, whether we are in the home, in the church, in the school, or anywhere else, is the word of God. Is that limiting the field, or is it enlarging it? When we are studying God's word in man and nature, we call that history. All history, then, is the study of God's working with man, and in man, and through man, even tho many oppose him and work out his will and his word unconsciously. He rules in the nations of the earth, but in such a manner as not to be arbitrary. The purpose of our study is to see God at work. The study of material things, which we sometimes call science study, is simply studying God in his works. We can not study God in the abstract; there is no such thing as that. We can not find out God. “Canst thou by searching find out God?” We must see him revealed, see him at work.
What is the difference between the true method of study, of education, and the false method of study and of education?—The true method is to study all things as the study of God; the false method is to leave God out, not to get to him at all, or have his laws control. The laws of nature are the habits of God, simply God’s usual way of working. This field is as broad as the universe, and to begin to illustrate it, we begin an indefinite study. All this is Bible study. This is the study of the Gospel. It is the power that attracts us to Him and keeps us from sin. The result for us of this study is growth. We will desire the sincere milk of the Word that we may grow thereby, and if we are as submissive as nature, we will grow. Every product of creation was pronounced after its kind to be good. God had a certain ideal for trees, grass, plants, man, and that was submission. Perfect submission means perfect being.
Around us we see the word of God in nature. Here in the Bible we see the word of God in language. Would it be proper to say that the Bible is the written book, and these things of nature the illustration of the book? Here is the picture; where does it belong in the book? When Christ was here he was constantly referring to these things.
W. W. Prescott.
TOO CHEAP.
A PREACHER of the Gospel had gone down in a coal mine during the noon hour to tell the miners of that grace and truth which came by Jesus Christ. After telling them the simple story of God’s love to lost sinners, man’s state and God’s remedy, the time came for the men to resume work, and the preacher came back to the shaft to ascend to the world again. Meeting the foreman, he asked him what he thought of God’s way of salvation. The man replied:—
“O, it’s too cheap. I can not believe in such a religion as that.”
Without any immediate answer to this remark, the preacher asked:—
“How do you get out of this place?”
“Simply by getting into the cage,” was the reply.
“And does it take long to get to the top?”
“O, no; only a few seconds.”
“Well, that is very easy and simple. But do you not need to help raise yourself?” said the preacher.
“Of course not,” replied the miner. “As I have said, you have nothing to do but to get in the cage.”
“But how about the people who sunk the shaft and perfected all this arrangement? Was there much labor or expense about it?”6
“Indeed, yes; that was a laborious and expensive work. The shaft is 1,800 feet deep, and it was sunk at a great cost to the proprietor; but it is our only way out, and without it we should never be able to get to the surface.”
“Just so. And when God’s Word tells you that whosoever believeth in the Son of God has life everlasting, you at once say, ‘Too cheap, too cheap,’ forgetting that God’s work to bring you and others out of the pit of destruction and death was accomplished at a vast cost, the price being the death of his own Son.”
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”
—Baptist Teacher.
What Is Religious Liberty?
By C. M. Snow
LIBERTY in temporal matters is the right to think, to speak, and to act as having the ownership over one's own powers of thought and speech and action, untrammeled by the ownership or interference of others; and this liberty properly exercised recognizes and respects the same rights in others that it claims for itself.
So long as one man has a legal right, in his own interest and for the accomplishment of his own purposes, to compel another to act or to refrain from acting contrary to his own legitimate wishes, that individual so compelled is a slave to him who has the right of legal compulsion. That individual is not free, and that is not liberty.
The free man has the right to go where and when he may chose; to buy and sell and get gain for the maintenance of himself and those dependent upon him; to have and to hold that for which he barters his labor or the product thereof; to preserve inviolate the family ties which he may see fit to assume; to step out from under his own roof and say, “I am my own, under God.” No man can tell him what he shall or shall not do, and so long as he does not interfere with this freedom in others, none other can interfere with his. None can hold over him the lash of ownership.
If, then, he is a slave whose actions in temporal things are not subject to his own direction, what is he whose actions in religious matters—matters of conscience—are performed at the direction of others, or in a manner prescribed by others? If he is a slave who is not permitted the privilege of carrying out the legitimate dictates of his own will, I ask what is he whose acts of worship are prescribed or disallowed by others? If that condition which robs men of their inherent right to think and act for themselves in temporal matters is slavery, what do you call that condition which robs men of their right to worship God according to the dictates of their own consciences? If a man is a slave in the one case, what name have you for him in the other? If he is a slave in the other case, too, then the condition which makes the second contingency possible is slavery.
The slave did not have the free exercise of the inherent rights of mankind, because he was not his own—he was owned by another. It was that ownership which gave the master the legal right to direct the actions of his human chattel. If, then, that be the case, what is it that gives to a set of men, or to a government, the legal right to say where, when, or in what manner you shall or shall not perform your acts of religious worship? I answer, It is an ownership over you, implied, if not expressed. It is implied in the action itself, tho it is not, of course, expressed in the causes or the arguments which bring about the action.
If by right you are another's, that other has the right to direct your actions. If you are not another's, then no such right exists; and any attempt at coercion, whether in the temporal or spiritual sphere, is an unwarranted attempt to enslave him whom God has manumitted.
But are we another's?—Yes, by all means, yes. We have been bought with a price, and the price has been paid, and we are not our own; but, thank God! we know who our Owner is, and we know the price He paid for us; and He has not left us in darkness as to what He requires of us; and until He releases us from His ownership we have no right to serve another. The bondman could not serve another master contrary to the command of his7own master. No master could compel the servants of another to serve him. So we can not serve men contrary to God's will or command, and no earthly master has a right to expect us to yield obedience to him contrary to the commands of the heavenly Master, whose we are, and whose love is the chain that binds us to him.
If we allow that others have a right to command us in matters of faith and worship, telling us how or when our religious duties must be performed, then we are bowing our necks to human masters, deserting Him who holds the only legitimate ownership over us; and the government that would thus compel us is putting itself in the place of God, and demanding of us that which God alone has the right to require.
In matters of religion, we worship that power which we obey. When the State commands obedience in matters of faith, and we obey the State's command as coming from the State, whether that command be in accordance with the outward form of God's law or in opposition to it, we are worshiping the State; and obedience yielded in that way—obedience to the State in matters of religion—is an obedience which makes of us idolaters instead of worshipers of the true God.
The principles of religious liberty could be well expressed in this way. Do not compel others in matters of religion, to do what you would not like to have them compel you to do. It is the principle of the Golden Rule applied to the practising of one's religious convictions. It is the right to “worship God according to the dictates of our own consciences.”
Religious liberty implies the separation of Church and State; for wherever the two have been united the church has become the dominating power, religious persecution has resulted, and the boiling caldrons of an Inquisition have sent up their pestiferous stench to heaven. The civil power can not meddle with the ecclesiastical and retain its individuality. The union of the two renders both incapable of accomplishing the objects for which they were designed.
The church was instituted as a teacher of the way of salvation; the “powers that be” were instituted as a terror to evil-doers. The work of the one is eternal, and its weapons spiritual; the work of the other is temporal, and its weapons carnal. The work of one ends with mortals and time, the other only with immortals and eternity; and none but the spiritually blind could ever think of uniting two such dissimilar powers for the accomplishment of one object, and that object the salvation of man.
Christ gave to the world a new doctrine—the separation of Church and State—and that doctrine carried out will give to all men everywhere religious liberty. C. M. Snow.
JEWISH CUSTOMS AND TRADITIONS.
By F. C. Gilbert
(By an Israelite.)
The Sanctuary and Its Services.—Continued.
WE now come to the covering of the rams’ skins dyed red. Neither white nor blue were suitable for the color of this cover; only red being becoming. And why?—Because it was the one best adapted to denote the intense suffering of the Messiah. And, as we think of the ram, how forcibly we are reminded of the experience of Abraham in the offering up of Isaac. It was, no doubt, the intention of God to teach Abraham something of the suffering which both the Father and the Son would endure in the salvation of the race, that he called upon the patriarch to make this sacrifice. Yea, even more; it was that all heaven might better understand what the Lord’s purpose was concerning the children of men. See “Patriarchs and Prophets,” p. 155.
And when the Lord saw the firmness of faith in Abraham, and stayed the patriarch’s hand from shedding the blood, he sent him a ram caught in the thicket, to be offered in Isaac’s stead. “The ram offered in the place of Isaac represented the Son of God, who was to be sacrificed in our stead.” See “Patriarchs and Prophets,” p. 154, par. 2.
The prophet Isaiah also portrays beautifully the phase of his life denoted by this covering: “Who is this that cometh from Edom, with dyed garments from Bozrah? this that is glorious in his apparel, traveling in the greatness of his strength? I that speak in righteousness, mighty to save. Wherefore art thou red in thine apparel, and thy garments like him that treadeth in the winefat? I have trodden the winepress alone; and of the people there was none with me.” Isa. 63: 1–3. Ah, suffering Saviour! One who can well say: “I was tempted in all points like yourself; therefore I can succor and sympathize with you. Are you sick and in pain? I carried your sickness, and bore your pains. Are you in trouble and distress? I have been in many troubles, and my distress has been great. Are you forsaken and despised by your friends? My friends all forsook me, and I was despised and rejected by men. Yes, I have suffered for you in every way, that I might have the privilege of suffering with you.” Truly, what a blessed Saviour we have! one who is a help in every time of need. “For we have not an high priest which can not be touched with the feelings of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.” We, then, can come boldly to the throne of his grace, and with the utmost confidence find in him the grace and mercy needed for each trial and trouble. And he had no one to give him any sympathy when he needed it most. Just once in his experience, when he needed the consolation of his disciples, he found them taking rest in sleep. No human aid; no earthly friendship. Child of heaven, this Saviour fully understands you under every circumstance, tho all friends of earth may not; and we can ever find the sympathy and consolation in him, which others can not render.
How the hearts of the people anciently must have been touched as they understood something of the nature of the Saviour’s work for them as manifested in type! “The solemn service of the sanctuary typified the grand truths that were to be revealed through successive generations.” “Through type and promise, God preached the Gospel unto Abraham.” See “Patriarchs and Prophets,” pp. 367, 154. I wonder not that Moses suffered affliction with the people of God rather than to endure the pleasures of sin for a season. He had the Gospel; he knew Christ; to him all these things were a reality; for he endured as seeing Him who is invisible. Ever-merciful and unchanging God! Blessed art thou!
The fourth and last covering, the one on the extreme outward, was of badger skins. Methinks I can almost now hear some one speak of the unattractiveness of such a spread on so beautiful a tent, especially the most prominent one visible to the naked eye. The Lord well understood that people would just think that way; and so we have him declare to us, that “He was without form and comeliness.” His face was marred more than the sons of men. There was nothing attractive about him that we should desire him, when we did behold his person. The world never understood him, when here in person, or in the person of his followers. They have been regarded as the scum and offscouring of the world; “despised and rejected.” The world has always cared for the outward pomp and splendor only; anything that appeared attractive on the surface, was satisfactory. But the “Lamb of God” came not to allure or attract the attention of the carnal heart in its natural state, but to draw those who longed for the glories and beauties of the higher and the inner life, to thrust aside the external show and bombast, and seek for that spiritual beauty which adorns and beautifies the soul. Well, then, did the Lord picture the outward appearance of the tabernacle! The Lord seeth not as man seeth; man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart. The humble, devoted Christian, whose outward adornment in the eyes of the world is as foolishness, is carrying out the beautiful figure that the Pattern designed should be in the construction of the sacred tabernacle; while to His eye the coverings within are most beautiful, as they are hidden from the world, and visible alone to God.
The same kinds of covers which were made for the sanctuary were also used for the different parts of the tent. Thus when the ark was carried from place to place, it was covered by badgers’ skins, and a blue covering. The candlestick was covered with the same. The showbread, or bread of the presence, was covered with blue, scarlet, and badgers’ skins. And the rest of the instruments were also protected by the same. Thus the Lord designed to ever keep before the minds of his people the work of the Messiah, and his salvation for them.
F. C. Gilbert.
First the Protestants, Then the Catholics
By Moody
I HAVE got a letter asking when I am going to pitch into the Catholics. It will be just as soon as I get done with the Protestants, and get them straightened out. It won't be this week, tho.—Moody.
“MY TIMES ARE IN THY HAND.”
I SAW a beautiful child held high in the hand of her tall, strong father. It seemed so perilous I trembled lest the little one should fall. “Who’s got you?” asked her father. Without a shade of fear, with a merry laugh of delight, the baby said, “Papa.” So safe, so sure, so happy, even in a place of apparent danger, because her father held her there! O, for the simple faith of a child! In theory we do believe that God holds us in his hand, and that all our ways are directed by him; but how often in our real life do we doubt it, especially in hours of greatest need! “My times are in thy hand!”—what a pillow for your weary head, my friend, is this. Your head, tired with regrets, disappointments, failures, mistakes of the days gone by; weary with plans and, perhaps, forebodings for the future, what a resting-place for you is here! . . .
“God holds the key of the unknown, and I am glad.” My times, my circumstances, my opportunities, my training, my discipline, the answer to my prayers, all that concerns me, are in his hand.
When David said, long ago, “My times are in thy hand,” he was full of trouble. His was a human heart just like our own. He was a sinful man, a repentant man, a forgiven man, a trusting man. His faith was not perfect, for he said in his haste, “I am cut off from before thine eyes.” He thought sometimes that God had forgotten him. But even when his faith was small God heard the voice of his supplications when he cried unto him. He is the Lord; he changes not. He will hear us also. Even tho we have not honored him with that unvarying faith which is his due, we may confidently say: “Thou art my God. My times are in thy hand.”—Christian Advocate.
CREATION, SALVATION, AND RESTORATION.
By John AP Williams
“The Son of man is come to seek and to save THAT which was lost.” Luke 19:10. That, a small word of only four letters; but O, how few (and how sad that so few) are able to grasp the immensity of its significance in this Scripture! How complete the loss, and how perfect the salvation! But in order to be partakers of the latter, we must fully comprehend the former condition.
Let us first consider God’s gifts to man. “God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it; and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.” At the end of creation, what was said?—“God saw everything that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day.” Gen. 1:27, 28, 31. It is impossible for fallen man to grasp the true significance of these words, “Behold, it was very good.” They were pronounced by the great Creator of all things, and included how much?—Everything; man, the crowning act, the image and likeness of his Creator. How extensive was the influence of this exalted position?—“Let them have dominion . . . over all the earth.” Verse 26. It was not intended for this man only, but for the whole race throughout eternity.
Man was not only created in the form of God, but he also had the mind of God, as is plainly set forth in the naming of the creatures. “Out of the ground the Lord God formed every beast of the field, and every fowl of the air; and brought them unto Adam to see what he would call them; and whatsoever Adam called every living creature, that was the name thereof.” Gen. 2:19. Here again we have the idea of “very good” in the Lord’s implied satisfaction with the work of Adam in naming the animals. “O Lord, how manifold are thy works! in wisdom hast thou made them all.” Ps. 104:24. Having completed the great work of creation, and pronounced it very good, God “rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made. And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it.” Why?—“Because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made.” Gen. 2:2, 3. For whom was this rest day made?—“The Sabbath was made for man.” Mark. 2:27.
These were the glories intended for man had he continued to live in harmony with his Maker; but being overcome by the wiles of Satan to the disobedience of God’s holy law, it became necessary for the Son of man to come “to save that which was lost,”—man, with all his endowments at creation. We will now consider the part taken by the Son of man in creation. We shall then be better able to understand his power to recreate, to save, to restore, all things to their original Edenic purity. “Let us make man in our own image.” Gen. 1:26. Here we have an expression of plurality. Who are they who are here denominated “us”?—“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not anything made that was made.” John 1:1-3. “And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father), full of grace and truth.” Verse 14. “O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self, with the glory which I had with thee before the world was.” John 17:5; see also Col. 1:17.
There is no room to doubt after reading these plain truths, as to who was the active Agent in all creation. Man, being created in the image and likeness of God, was a free moral agent, and was placed on probation to test his fidelity to the enormous responsibility devolving upon him as the dominant power over all the earth. What was the test, and how did he stand it?—“The Lord God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it, for in the day that thou eatest thereof, thou shalt surely die.” Gen. 2:16, 17. “The serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die.” “And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.” Gen. 3:4, 6. “Sin is the transgression of the law” (1 John 3:4), and “the wages of sin is death” Rom. 6:23). What is now the condition of man created in the image and likeness of God?—He is lost completely, sold into the hands of Satan.
Salvation.
“The gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” Rom. 6:23. “God so loved the world, that he gave his only-begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” John 3:16. Thanks be to God for this complete victory over sin! “Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil.” Heb. 2:14. He “gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.” Titus 2:14.
Restoration.
Faith in Christ enables man to be redeemed from all iniquity, but the Son of man came to save THAT which was lost. This includes the dominion granted to man at creation; for there must be a complete restoration of all things, otherwise Christ’s mission would not be fulfilled. How is this brought about?—“The Son of man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity.” Matt. 13:41.8 (152)“The heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also, and the works that are therein shall be burned up.” 2 Peter 3:10. And what is to follow this destruction?—“Behold, I create new heavens, and a new earth; and the former shall not be remembered, nor come into mind.” Isa. 65:17. God’s children are looking forward with faith to this complete restoration. “We, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness.” 2 Peter 3:13. Mark how complete the destruction; there is not even the memory of sin left to mar the peace of the saints of God. For description of the home of the saved see Isa. 65:18-25 and Revelation 21. But while you read this beautiful description, remember that “eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.” 1 Cor. 2:9.
Personal Appeal.
Dear reader, have you had an earnest of these joys that await the saints of God? If not, I would entreat you in the name of the blessed Saviour to heed his last loving invitation ere the door of mercy is forever closed. Here it is: “Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.” Rev. 3:20. Our heavenly Father left us also a memorial of creation, which must be restored before Jesus comes in the glory of the Father, in order that the Scriptures may be fulfilled. “For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil.” 1 John 3:8. We have already considered God’s holy and sanctified rest day (Gen. 2:3), called the Lord’s day (Mark 2:27), “My holy day,” and “the holy of the Lord” (Isa. 58:13), with an especial call to build up the old institution (verse 12). In Ex. 31:13 it is mentioned as a sign between God and his children, throughout their generations, that they may know the Lord that doth sanctify them; and in verse 17 a “perpetual covenant.” Again, in Eze. 20:20, it is called “a sign that I am the Lord your God.” And “God’s immutable law” (Ex. 20:8-11) bears his seal and mark of authority, not found in one of the other nine commandments.
Satanic Opposition to God’s Law.
Now anything in opposition to God’s law must be of Satan, and Jesus says, “Every plant which my heavenly Father hath not planted, shall be rooted up.” Matt. 15:13. Then it follows that any institution of man’s making must be abandoned by the saints of God before Jesus comes; in other words, they must be worshiping according to the commandments. Jesus came to “magnify the law” (Isa. 42:21); “not to destroy,” “but to fulfil” (Matt. 5:17). We have a power brought to view in prophecy which shall “speak great words against the Most High, and shall wear out the saints of the Most High, and think to change times and the law.” Dan. 7:25, R. V. The law of the Most High could be no other than the Ten Commandments. Can we prove, then, that God’s times and law have been tampered with by man? Sun worship, together with a recognition of Sunday as a solar holiday, is as old as history itself. Sunday became nominally a legal Christian institution in the reign of Constantine, A.D. 321. About forty years later the spirit of this decree had so permeated the church authorities that they were ready to decree anathema against all who should observe the seventh day according to the commandments. This decree was passed by a church council at Laodicea, A.D. 364.
With Whom Will You Co-operate?
Reader, will you unite with the Papacy, or will you coöperate with the Son of man to save THAT which was lost? I would say here that we can not be saved without this voluntary coöperation. It is our privilege to unite with Jesus in this great plan of salvation. A few illustrations may not be out of place. Take the man born blind (our natural condition); Jesus made the clay and anointed the eyes, but the man did the washing. John 9:6, 7. In the case of Lazarus, Jesus commanded the stone to be removed from the grave by those present. Could not the same power that raised the dead remove the stone? Again, why was not Lazarus brought forth freed from the grave clothes?—For the same reason. “Loose him, and let him go.” John 11:39, 44.
How many will be found worshiping the apostate power when Jesus comes?—“All that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.” Rev. 13:8. And who will have their names written in the book of life? Just before the falling of the seven last plagues, we find an angel ascending from the east, having the seal of the living God, saying, “Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, till we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads.” Rev. 7:2, 3. We find then, beyond a doubt, that the sealed and those whose names are (at that time) written in the book of life are identical, because the plagues are to fall upon those who have not the seal of God in their foreheads. Rev. 9:4. We have already found the seal of God in the fourth commandment. Ex. 20:8-11. The great burden of the saints in Rev. 14:12 refers to the same: “Here is the patience of the saints; here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.” Again, we have these words: “The dragon [Satan] was wroth with the woman [Christ’s church], and went to make war with the remnant [what is left just before Christ’s coming] of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.” Rev. 12:17.
Conditions of Restoration.
We have already studied man’s probationary test (Gen. 2:16, 17), and found the cause of his fall (Gen. 3:4, 6). Let us now consider his expulsion from Eden. Man is now a sinner, and under condemnation of death, and justly so. He has wilfully disobeyed God’s command, and as there is a tree of life in the garden, God in his love and mercy severs man’s connection therewith, lest he should eat thereof, and become an immortal sinner. Gen. 3:22. But he may regain access thereto, conditionally. “To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the Paradise of God.” Rev. 2:7. “Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city.” Rev. 22:14. It is perfect submission to the will of God that brings about this blissful condition, and when the saints regain their lost dominion, they will worship God as Adam did when he possessed the mind of his Maker before the fall. “For as the new heavens and the new earth, which I will make, shall remain before me, saith the Lord, so shall your seed and your name remain. And it shall come to pass, from one new moon to another, and from one Sabbath to another, shall all flesh come to worship before me, saith the Lord.” Isa. 66:22, 23. Thus the Son of man completes his mission; having found and saved THAT which was lost.
