Earlier text: Christian Fruit-BearingA. G. DANIELLS
By Arthur G. Daniells
Does the History of Turkey and Egypt Since 1798 Fulfil the Prophecy of Dan. 11:40-44? — No. 14
We have now traced as fully as our space will permit the history of the French invasion of Egypt and Turkey. In response to requests from a number who desired the historical data for use, the quotations from history have been more numerous and lengthy than would have been necessary for the elucidation of the prophecy. This history, we believe, fulfils the predictions of Dan. 11:40. Before proceeding with the study of the remainder of this prophecy and the events it foretells, we should pause long enough to put together the simple statements of the prophet in verse 40, and the plain undeniable facts of history that have been given in these studies. The prophecy says:— “And at the time of the end shall the king of the south push at him: and the king of the north shall come against him like a whirlwind, with chariots, and with horsemen, and with many ships; and he shall enter into the countries, and shall overflow and pass over.” Dan. 11:40.
We shall consider the details of this statement in the order in which they are given:— 1. A definite, specific time is given when the events here foretold were to take place—“at the time of the end.” The time of the end began in the year 1798 when the supremacy of the Papacy was broken. In that very year, war was begun between the king of the south, the king of the north, and France. On May 19, 1798, a fleet of four hundred ships carrying 40,000 French troops sailed from France for the purpose of invading and conquering Egypt and Turkey. And before the year closed, both Egypt and Turkey were at war with France. No specification of prophecy was ever more exactly fulfilled. When the “time of the end” began, the conflicts began. 2. The king of the south shall “push at him.” Egypt is the king of the south. At the time of the end, the power ruling Egypt was to push at, contend with, and resist another power. This was done. On the night of July 1, 1798, the French army landed in Egypt near Alexandria, and the next day opened fire on the city. The innocent, surprised, and unprepared citizens offered the best resistance possible under the circumstances, but they lost in the struggle and Alexandria passed into the possession of France. On the seventh of July, the French army left Alexandria for Cairo, the capital. The Mamelukes, who ruled Egypt, were apprised of this, and prepared to give battle. Twelve thousand horsemen and over twenty thousand foot assembled on the banks of the Nile between Cairo and the pyramids, and bravely met the French troops. Their charges were furious and desperate. “Nothing,” says Abbott, “was ever seen in war more furious than this charge.” They “displayed superhuman bravery.” The word push is defined by Webster as meaning “to make a thrust; as, to push with the horns or with a sword. To make an attack. A forcible onset; a vigorous effort.” The American Standard Revised translation gives the word “contend” instead of “push;” and contend is defined as, “to strive in opposition; to contest; to dispute.” Surely all this was done by Egypt, the “king of the south,” against France. The prophecy does not foretell the outcome—whether the king of the south was to triumph or suffer defeat. It simply states that the king of the south would offer resistance, and the prophecy was fulfilled. 3. “And the king of the north shall come against him like a whirlwind, with chariots, and horsemen, and with many ships.” This part of the prophecy introduces the “king of the north,” who, at that time, was the Turkish Empire. The prophecy inseparably connects Egypt and Turkey in this conflict, and history inseparably connects Egypt and Turkey in the French invasion of 1798. The Mamelukes were defeated at the Battle of the Pyramids, July 21, 1798, and the next day Cairo, the capital of Egypt, was taken by the French. On learning of this, Turkey declared war against France, September 4, and began at once to assemble two armies, one of 30,000, at Damascus, to march overland to Egypt, and the other of 30,000, at Rhodes, to be transported by the fleet to Alexandria. At the same time Turkey formed naval alliances with Russia and England by which she secured “help.” On hearing of these designs and preparations of Turkey, Napoleon decided to hasten his invasion of Turkey, and on the ninth of February, 1799, he began his march from Cairo to Syria. His purpose and his fullest expectation was to defeat the Turks, as he had the Egyptians, and add Turkey to his new territory.391 The small, poorly fortified towns along his march were easily taken, but at Saint Jean d’Acre he met with a surprise. The garrison did not surrender nor flee at the first attack, nor the second, nor the third. Here he met not only a furious resistance, as in the engagement with the Mamelukes, but a resolute, unyielding, and effective resistance. In the conflict between these powers, and the outcome, we have every specification of verse 40 regarding the king of the north most accurately fulfilled. Note the exact language of the prophecy: “The king of the north shall come against him like a whirlwind, with chariots, and with horsemen, and with many ships; and he shall enter into the countries, and shall overflow and pass over.” Segregating the points here mentioned, they are as follows:— (a) “Come against him like a whirlwind.” Wind and whirlwind, when used as a symbol in prophecy represent strife, war, bloodshed. Dan. 7:2; Jer. 25:31-33; 2 Kings 7:6, 7. In this conflict Turkey was to make more than a frantic dash at her enemy. She was to plunge into war,—resolute, prolonged, bloody war. Turkey did this. She made every preparation for well-sustained, destructive battle with her powerful enemy. And the horrors of the different engagements may well be represented by the devastating whirlwind. (b) “With chariots, and with horsemen.” While the garrison in Saint Jean d’Acre was offering a stubborn and successful resistance to the French troops, Turkey was gathering a great army in the eastern part of Syria to give battle. Note the description of this army as given by the historians we have quoted: “An enormous army . . . congregated to rush, with resistless numbers, upon their bold antagonist.”—Abbott. “An innumerable horde of irregular cavalry formed a vast army, . . . and threatened soon to envelop the besieging force.”—Alison. “A great Turkish army . . . of about 30,000 troops, twelve thousand of whom were the fiercest and best-trained horsemen in the world.” “Twelve thousand horsemen . . . mounted on the fleetest Arabian chariots . . . like the sweep of the wind, came rushing down upon them [French army].”—Abbott. The very words of the prophet are used by the historians to describe the forces which Turkey brought against the French. The fact that this great army was defeated in its direct engagement with the enemy, is no objection whatever against the claim that it fulfils the prophecy. That great army of horsemen weakened and delayed the French attacks against Acre until the “ships” of the prophecy brought the reenforcements which in the end gave Turkey, the king of the north, the victory foretold in the prophecy. (c) “With many ships.” While the French were making one desperate, destructive attack after another upon Acre, a Turkish fleet of thirty ships brought 12,000 troops to the help of the defenders of the town. The arrival of this fleet decided the fortunes of the contending forces. It brought victory to Turkey and defeat to Napoleon and his hitherto unconquered forces. Through all this terrible struggle between these three powers, most effective and victorious service was rendered Turkey by the “many ships” that took part in the conflict. The ships of the Russian and British fleets joined the Turkish fleet to crush the French, and they succeeded. In the last verse of this prophecy we are told that the king of the north “shall come to his end, and none shall help him.” From this it may reasonably be inferred that this power had been kept from coming to an end by help from others. This has been true of Turkey ever since the French invasion of 1798. At that time, and ever since, with the exception of the present Balkan war, some of the powers have helped Turkey in her conflicts. Thus it makes no difference whether the “many ships” that came against France all belonged to the Turkish fleet or not. They were all used in Turkey’s behalf, and they achieved their purpose. (d) “He shall enter into the countries, and shall overflow and pass over.” This statement forecasts the outcome of the struggle. The king of the north was to come out the victor, and thus it was. Napoleon and his invincible and always victorious forces invaded Turkey with the fullest expectation of taking the empire. They had never known defeat, and surely Turkey would go down as Egypt, Italy, and Switzerland had under their terrible onslaughts. But Turkey did not go down. The prophet had predicted her triumph, and the prediction was fully met. The defeat of the French was a surprise to all Europe, and ever remained a mystery to Napoleon, that great man of war who had never before met with a reverse. Lanfrey says that— “many times during the deadly delays of this fatal siege, in which he experienced his first check, he was heard to inveigh against this miserable little hole which came between him and his destiny. And many times later, when dwelling on the vicissitudes of his past life, and the different chances which had been open to him, he repeated that if Saint Jean d’Acre had fallen, he would have changed the face of the world, and been emperor of the East. And he generally added that it was a grain of sand that had undone all his projects.”—“History of Napoleon,” by Lanfrey, Vol. I, pages 295, 296.
But it was more than the miserable sand-hill of Acre that decided the issues of that conflict. The mighty hand of Providence controlled affairs. The time had not come for the king of the north to come to his end, which would have been the result if the colossal designs of Napoleon had been carried out. This explains why everything in connection with the invasion of Turkey seemed to conspire against the invader. It explains the mystery of the defeat of the French where and when it was not looked for even by the victors themselves. It was the fulfilment of the unfailing word of prophecy. We shall now trace very briefly the history that fulfils the remainder of the prophecy. Counting the Cost
By Hiram Morrell
WHILE it is true that our blessed Saviour with his own precious blood paid the price that our sins might be canceled and God still be just, it will cost us suffering in the flesh to perfect character so we shall be fitted to live in a sinless world. I wonder if we count the cost enough, or are we in danger of taking it for granted that because we know the truth we shall be all right, somehow? I believe it is high time to wake up to our real condition and count the cost as we never have before, for surely it will be “through much tribulation” that we shall enter into the kingdom. We must be willing to suffer in the flesh and to deny self daily in order to overcome every wrong word and act, perfecting holiness in the fear of God. And let him that nameth the name of Christ depart from evil. It will be a battle and a march, and a battle and a march; and we need to remember that it will not be all marching, for we are exhorted not to think it strange concerning the fiery trial that is to try us, as though some strange thing had happened unto us, but rejoice, inasmuch as we are partakers of Christ’s sufferings. 1 Peter 4:12, 13. Is it all suffering, all struggling, all fighting, with nothing else to look ahead to while in this world?—Ah, no. We are to count it all joy to suffer with our blessed Saviour; for it bringeth the peaceable fruits of righteousness, and we are filled with much love, joy, and peace: that love that vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, envieth not, seeketh not her own, is not provoked, and is long-suffering and kind; that joy that comes through suffering for the right and in unselfish service for others; that peace one has whose mind is stayed on Christ, and no amount of praise can elate or puff up, or no amount of censure or abuse can discourage or cast down. “We must have a faith that will endure hardship, hunger, delay, if need be.” I believe many of us need to examine ourselves as we never have before, and see if we are really in the faith and are really getting the victory every day over our besetting sins. Our names may soon be brought up before the great tribunal, the investigative judgment now going on in heaven; and surely “it is high time to awake out of sleep,” “for now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.” Solemn are the times in which we live, and we are soon to meet a just and holy God, and we must be holy to meet him in peace. Do we realize these things as we should?392 We must make a real business of living a Christian life day by day, and really overcoming all sin in our lives. If we do our part, Jesus will give us all the help we need as the days come and go, and we shall grow in grace and knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, and our path will be a shining light that groweth more and more unto the perfect day. “What You Know and We Don’t Know Is What Will Interest Us in This Church”
By T. E. Bowen
Some good practical missionaries are needed at home,—every conference needs them; every church needs them,—men and women of good judgment, practical ability—people who know how actually to do things. Theory may be good and necessary, but real practicability, that which accomplishes things, is of still greater value. This is true when it comes to real home work in providing the munition of war for work in foreign fields. How preachers at home can help in creating and maintaining an interest in missions, as well as how missionaries can touch the right spot when they are home on furlough, is illustrated by a few paragraphs taken from “International Review of Missions,” under the topic “Broadening the Home Base,” written by C. H. Patton:— “If ever our preachers had an opportunity to offer a demonstration of Christianity, to compel belief in its universal and divine claims, it is now. Yet, as a matter of fact, with rare exceptions, the people have not been made acquainted with this situation [in foreign fields]. In the majority of the churches the sublime opportunity is allowed to pass unnoticed. Or, if attention is called to the new era which has set in, it is not done in a manner to carry conviction and bring a hearty response. There is material in the present world situation to stir the churches profoundly, and if the churches are not greatly stirred it must be because the facts have not been made known. “A somewhat careful study of the ministerial mind favors the conclusion that the ordinary preacher is not facile in the presenting of facts, possibly does not see the supreme value of facts. The habit of dealing with religious and philosophical abstractions, of laying down principles, of elaborating ideas and developing texts, holds many a preacher as in a vise. If a body of missionary facts is placed before him, he looks at them in a helpless sort of way, and, more than likely, considers it beneath his dignity to build such material into his sermon. Sermons, he thinks, should move on a higher plane. Strange to say, missionaries on furlough sometimes are possessed of the same idea. They will consume a large share of the precious time allotted them in explaining the missionary motive, enforcing missionary texts, and engaging in general exhortations, instead of giving to the people the superb body of information at their command. Missionaries sometimes confess that when occupying pulpits at home they desire to give the impression of possessing sufficient intellectual power to preach a regular sermon. This is natural of them, but unnecessary. Few doubt the ability of missionaries in these days of high intellectual standards. In fact, returned missionaries have always had a glad hearing in the churches. But what the people desire of them is evidence as to the success of the enterprise—what is the good cheer, what the news of the kingdom? “Now I maintain it is no small intellectual feat so to marshal a series of facts as to cause conviction in a modern audience. This is the ability of the great pleader at the bar; this is the talent which enables the leading journalists and foreign correspondents to earn their munificent salaries. A writer like William E. Curtis would visit a mission field, spend a few hours talking with missionaries and government officials, and then lay out his facts in a compelling article which would be read round the world. The facts which he would use are the very material which a missionary is liable to pass over as too commonplace for use in a pulpit address. ‘What you know and we don’t know is what will interest us in this church,’ was the remark of a discriminating pastor to a missionary about to speak. . . . “This world situation means something to Christ. It should mean something to Christ’s people; and it will mean something when the people know about it. There is no one thing more important just now than a definite and earnest purpose on the part of pastors to ‘preach up’ missions. Let our pastors master the facts, become afire with enthusiasm as they consider their meaning, and then speak with the ring of conviction, and we shall see a situation changing with great rapidity. . . . No amount of literature issued by the boards or newspaper articles written by experts can take the place of the living word spoken from the sacred desk by ministers on fire with missionary zeal. One strong sermon, earnest, intelligent, vibrating with conviction, will often accomplish more in the way of converting a church than years of cultivation by literature and special programs. It is a mistake, too, for pastors to depend upon secretaries and missionaries in this matter. They should speak out for themselves as the accredited interpreters of the times, as the spokesmen for Christ in the hour of his great opportunity.” These are strong arguments well stated. We have a world situation to-day that should appeal to every Christian, and especially to every Seventh-day Adventist, as nothing else has ever done. Never before were there such golden opportunities for achievements in the winning of souls to Christ as to-day. Practically every door stands open to the missionary. And not only so, but earnest pleading for teachers to come among them is heard from nearly every land from those who but a short time ago were in dense heathen darkness and opposed to the entrance of Christianity. Think of the situation faced by Judson, Livingstone, Morrison, Carey, and others only one hundred and less years ago. What would they say were they to awake and see the situation presented to-day in Burma, Africa, China, and India? Would they not urge the church in burning words of zeal to press out into these wonderful openings created by the providence of God? They certainly would. May God help us, ministers and people alike, believing as we do that the end is right upon us, to be alive to appreciate the opportunities afforded us in such a time as this. Hold Me Closely
By Pearl Waggoner
O Jesus, hold me closely,
I need to feel thy hand,
For I am but a stranger
Within a foreign land.
The way that lies before me
To me is all unknown,
But if thou hast my hand, Lord,
I shall not feel alone. O, hold my hand, my Saviour,
I need thee every hour;
To help my utter weakness
I need thy mighty power.
For I am prone to stumble,
And oft I miss the way;
So quickly, Lord, I weary,
So hold me close, I pray. I can not walk, my Saviour,
From thy blest side apart;
I need thy friendship tender
To cheer my fainting heart;
I need thy words of counsel
When storms would overwhelm;
I need to feel thee guiding,
And know thee at the helm. O Saviour, hold me closely,
And leave me nevermore.
To me 'tis new, but thou, Lord,
Hast been the way before;
No danger in the pathway
Can take thee by surprise.
Be thou my shield, my wisdom,
In darkness be mine eyes. O hold me close, my Saviour,
And ever closer still,
Then whatsoe'er I meet, Lord,
To me can work no ill;
No more I'll fear the darkness
Nor aught that may befall,
For thou, my guide and helper,
Art greater far than all. So, Jesus, hold me closely
Till journeying days are o'er,
Until the road is ended,
Where night shall come no more.
May all my walk while here, Lord,
Be close, so close to thee,
That naught from thee can sever
Through all eternity. JESUS means Saviour. When Christ was about to be born, the angel directed, “Thou shalt call his name Jesus: for he shall save his people from their sins.” Jesus died for mankind. He “is the Saviour of all men, especially of those that believe.” To those who accept him as their substitute he is a Saviour in a special sense. This class “receive abundance of grace, and of the gift of righteousness.” Dear reader, is Christ your Saviour in this special sense? Is he working out his purpose in your life? Is he saving you from your sins daily? Through his grace are you obtaining victory over every besetment? Are you finding in him present salvation, an earnest of the eternal salvation he desires to bestow upon you? You can never save yourself. Many have tried this by power of will, by resolutions, by pledges and promises. The righteousness of God does not come as a result of education or physical or intellectual training. It can not be secured by the science of eugenics or by change of environment. Those who are born into the kingdom of righteousness do not obtain the birthright through the inheritance “of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.” Many have tried to obtain righteousness by these means. Israel of old tried it, but all their promises and resolutions and efforts were as ropes of sand. Dear reader, are you one of this class? Have you tried and tried again, and failed, until you feel that there is no need of making further effort? The trouble was not with God nor with his promises. You left these too largely out of the account. You failed because you trusted in yourself. You failed because you had not made a full and complete surrender. With one hand you were seeking to grasp heaven, and with the other you were reaching out after the things of earth. You had not come to that place in your experience where you were willing to surrender every plan in life, every ambition of the heart, to the Lord Jesus. Only in this surrender, in this self-distrust, in this reaching out in your helplessness after God, is overcoming power assured. When you realize that you are lost and undone, possessing no wisdom, no power, no strength; that you deserve nothing at the hand of God through your own merits; that you are entitled to no consideration in consequence of anything you have ever done or planned or accomplished of yourself; that God, knowing your frame and all your inherent weaknesses, does not bless you primarily because of your promises and resolutions, but wholly on account of his great love; that the work of grace must be the exercise of the mercy of God, and that you are saved alone because God treats you better than you deserve — in thus coming to God you will find help and overcoming power in your own personal experience. God’s strength will be made perfect in your weakness. “By grace are ye saved, through faith; and that not of yourself: it is the gift of God.” Ancient Uses of the “Mark”
By W. A. S.
When the Lord called Israel out of Egypt and its idolatries and warned his people against the ways by which the heathen round about worshiped their gods, he gave commandment:— “Ye shall not make any cuttings in your flesh for the dead [demon- or spirit-worship], nor print any marks upon you: I am the Lord.” Lev. 19: 28. The distinguishing mark of God’s people was to be found in their loyal obedience to his commandments, the fourth precept particularly pointing out the sign of the great Creator:— “Keep therefore and do them; for this is your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the nations, which shall hear all these statutes.” Deut. 4: 6. “Hallow my Sabbaths; and they shall be a sign between me and you, that ye may know that I am the Lord your God.” Eze. 20: 20. From the earliest days, it is evident, the heathen were accustomed to mark themselves with the signs or symbols of their gods. Marks were also sometimes carried to indicate the master that a man served. An old author, Dr. John Potter, in a work on the “Antiquities of Greece,” says of these ancient practices:— Slaves were not only branded with stigmata for a punishment of their offenses, but (which was the common end of these marks) to distinguish them, in case they should desert their masters; for which purpose it was common to brand their soldiers; only with this difference, that whereas slaves were commonly stigmatized in their forehead, and with the name or some peculiar character belonging to their masters, soldiers were branded in the hand, and with the name or character of their general. After the same manner, it was likewise customary to stigmatize the worshipers and votaries of some of the gods: whence Lucian, speaking of the votaries of the Syrian goddess, affirms, “They were all branded with certain marks, some in the palms of their hands, and others in their necks: whence it became customary for all the Assyrians thus to stigmatize themselves.” And Theodoret is of opinion that the Jews were forbidden to brand themselves with stigmata, because the idolaters by that ceremony used to consecrate themselves to their false deities. The marks used on these occasions were various. Sometimes they contained the name of the god, sometimes his particular ensign; such were the thunderbolt of Jupiter, the trident of Neptune, the ivy of Bacchus: whence Ptolemy Philopater was by some nicknamed Gallus, because his body was marked with the figures of ivy leaves. Or, lastly, they marked themselves with some mystical number, whereby the god’s name was described. Thus the sun, which was signified by the number 608, is said to have been represented by these two numeral letters XH. These three ways of stigmatizing are all expressed by St. John, in the book of Revelation: “And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads: and that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.” — Vol. I, page 75. Still the mark is used in modern heathenism. Most of the Hindu sects in India have their special marks to distinguish the god or gods of their chief devotion. On the festivals, after the ceremonial bathing and worship, the marks are painted afresh on the devotee’s forehead or breast or arm. It is the sign of allegiance and submission to the authority whose badge it is. So the prophetic scriptures represent the Papacy, and the “image of the beast” (the likeness to the Papacy formed in the falling away from Protestant principles) as joining in enforcing the mark of papal authority, upon the world. The whole matter of papal authority turns upon the question as to whether God’s Word or the church is supreme. As a mark of the superior power of the church, Rome sets forth the Sunday institution. God’s law says that the seventh day is the Sabbath. That is the sign of Jehovah, the Creator of heaven and earth. By church tradition the change has been made to Sunday, the first day. The famous Council of Trent, Rome’s answer to the Reformation, cited the general acceptance of the Sunday as proof that the church is above the Holy Scriptures. And ever since, Roman Catholicism394 has held forth the Sunday as that the sign of its power, boasting of its giving acknowledgment and acceptance by nearly all Christendom. Years ago Cardinal Gibbons summed up the claim in a letter by his secretary, or chancellor, saying:— Of course the Catholic Church claims that the change was her act. It could not have been otherwise, as none in those days would have dreamt of doing anything in matters spiritual and ecclesiastical and religious without her. And the act is a mark of her ecclesiastical power. God’s answer is the cry of the last gospel message: “Worship him that made heaven and earth. . . . If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand, the same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God.” Rev. 14: 6-10. W. A. S. The Manner of His Return
By F. M. W.
“Cast not away therefore your confidence, which hath great recompense of reward. For ye have need of patience, that, after ye have done the will of God, ye might receive the promise. For yet a little while, and he that shall come will come, and will not tarry. Now the just shall live by faith: but if any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him. But we are not of them who draw back unto perdition; but of them that believe to the saving of the soul.” Heb. 10: 35-39. How will the hope of the church in the return of its Lord be realized? How will Christ come the second time? Regarding this the Scriptures of Truth give plain and unequivocal testimony. They tell us the manner in which Christ will return, and warn us against accepting the erroneous theories which will be advocated regarding this great event. To those who were associated with our Lord nineteen hundred years ago; who with their own eyes looked upon him in form and feature, clasped his hand, and heard his voice; who enjoyed his daily association as a beloved friend, the promise that “this same Jesus” shall come again could have meant nothing else than the personal, literal return of the Lord Jesus Christ to this earth. Anything else than this would prove to them a hollow mockery. And this will be true also with the great multitude of believers, whom no man can number, who in their relationship with heaven have come to regard the Lord Jesus as a real presence, as a personal Saviour, as a true friend. This faith and hope will not be disappointed. The return of the Master will meet every expectation of Christian faith. Among the many statements regarding the second coming of Christ, three conditions are positively affirmed in the Scriptures:— 1. The return of the Lord will be a personal coming. How clearly and emphatically did the Saviour state this on that eventful night of his betrayal when giving to his disciples his parting words of comfort. He had told them that he was going away. Sorrow filled their hearts. He gave them then this assurance:— “Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you, I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.” John 14: 1-3. “If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again.” It is no one in my stead; it is not my representative; but I myself who am with you now. I will return to take you to the mansions which I go to prepare. 2. The return of the Lord will be a literal coming. Says the apostle Paul in his letter to the church at Thessalonica:— “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: 16-18. 3. The return of the Lord will be a visible coming. He did not disappear from among men in a secret manner. At the time of his ascension a number of the disciples were gathered together. They walked and talked with Christ as of yore. He expounded anew to them the mysteries of his kingdom. Again he commissioned them to go forth as witnesses of his gospel. “And he led them out as far as to Bethany, and he lifted up his hands, and blessed them. And it came to pass, while he blessed them, he was parted from them, and carried up into heaven.” Luke 24: 50, 51. Long and wonderingly, filled with awe and eagerness, the disciples gazed after the ascending figure of their Lord. A cloud enveloped him. He passed out of the range of their vision. “And while they looked steadfastly toward heaven as he went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel; which also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven.” Acts 1: 10, 11. If Christ is to return “in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven,” it is sufficient for us to determine how he went away in order to know how he will return. He went away with the clouds of heaven, evidently myriads of angels who surrounded their beloved Master and escorted him to the courts of glory. “A cloud received him out of their sight.” He will return in the same open, visible manner in which he went away. To this the apostle John bears testimony in Rev. 1: 7:— “Behold, he cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him: and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him. Even so, Amen.” In view of these plain, positive declarations of Scripture, how weak and futile the claim put forward by some to-day that the second coming of Christ to this earth is at conversion. The Lord by his blessed Spirit does come near to his disciples at this time in their experience. As they open their hearts to receive the Spirit’s infilling, it enters into the life with gentle, comforting, transforming assurance, but this is not the return of the Lord. This is the coming of the Comforter, whom Christ declared when he went away that he would send as his representative to fill the aching void left in the hearts of his orphan children here on earth. John 16: 7-14; 14: 16-18. In the light of the testimony of Scripture, how groundless also is the claim often advocated, and that, too, by many excellent Christian people, that the return of the Lord is at death when he comes to take his children home. Throughout the Bible death is represented as an enemy,—the last great enemy which Christ will destroy. Christ comes at the close of this world’s history to unloose his children from death’s relentless embrace. It is then that he will open the prison-house and set the captives free and take his loved ones home unto himself. “If they shall say unto you, Behold, he is in the desert; go not forth: behold, he is in the secret chambers; believe it not.” Matt. 24: 26. In a spiritual and personal sense the Lord draws near to his dying children. In the experiences of many of his faithful ones, as they were about to enter the dark valley, like Moses who from the heights of Nebo viewed the promised land, they have been privileged to obtain a vision of the heavenly Canaan. Angel hands have swept back the curtain and these dying ones have been given visions of celestial glory, even as was given to the martyr Stephen when he was about to seal his testimony with his blood. That some have seen angel forms about their bedsides we do not doubt. But however blessed this experience, this was not the second coming of Christ. He comes to take his children home, not one by one, in the quietness of night; but “when the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory.” And in that day “the dead in Christ shall rise first: then we11 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.” In this hope may the church of God to-day find comfort and assurance, as has the church in every age. F. M. W.