“For he hath revealed to us by all the prophets that he needs neither sacrifices, nor burnt-offerings, nor oblations, saying thus: ‘What is the multitude of your sacrifices unto me, saith the Lord? I am full of burnt-offerings, and desire not the fat of lambs, and the blood of bulls and goats, nor when ye come to appear before me: for who hath required these things at your hands? Tread no more my courts, not though ye bring with you fine flour. Incense is a vain abomination unto me, and your new moons and sabbaths I cannot endure.’ He has therefore abolished these things, that the new law of our Lord Jesus Christ, which is without the yoke of necessity, might have a human oblation.”
The writer may have intended to assert the abolition of the sacrifices only, as this was his special theme in this place. But he presently asserts the abolition of the Sabbath of the Lord. Here is his fifteenth chapter entire:—
“Further, also, it is written concerning the Sabbath in the decalogue which [the Lord] spoke, face to face, to Moses on Mount Sinai, ‘And sanctify ye the Sabbath of the Lord with clean hands and a pure heart.’ And he says in another place, ‘If my sons keep the Sabbath, then will I cause my mercy to rest upon them.’ The Sabbath is mentioned at the beginning of the creation [thus]: ‘And God made in six days the works of his hands, and made an end on the seventh day, and rested on it, and sanctified it.’ Attend, my children, to the meaning of this expression, ‘He finished in six days.’ This implies that the Lord will finish all things in six thousand years, for a day is with him a thousand years. And he himself testifieth, saying, ‘Behold, to-day will be as a thousand years.’ Therefore, my children, in six days, that is, in six thousand years, all things will be finished. ‘And he rested on the seventh day.’ This meaneth: when his Son, coming [again], shall destroy the time of the wicked man, and judge the ungodly, and change the sun, and the moon, and the stars, then shall he truly rest on the seventh day. Moreover, he says, ‘Thou shalt sanctify it with pure hands and a pure heart.’ If, therefore, any one can now sanctify the day which God hath sanctified, except he is pure in heart in all things, we are deceived. Behold, therefore: certainly then one properly resting sanctifies it, when we ourselves, having received the promise, wickedness no longer existing, and all things having been made new by the Lord, shall be able to work righteousness. Then we shall be able to sanctify it, having been first sanctified ourselves. Further, he says to them, ‘Your new moons and your Sabbaths I cannot endure.’ Ye perceive how he speaks: ‘Your present Sabbaths are not acceptable to me, but that is which I have made [namely this], when, giving rest to all things, I shall make a beginning of the eighth day, that is, a beginning of another world. Wherefore, also, we keep the eighth day with joyfulness, the day also on which Jesus rose again from the dead. And when he had manifested himself, he ascended into the heavens.’”
Here are some very strange specimens of reasoning. The substance of what he says relative to the present observance of the Sabbath appears to be this: No one “can now sanctify the day which God hath sanctified except he is pure in heart in all things.” But this cannot be the case until the present world shall pass away, “when we ourselves, having received the promise, wickedness no longer existing, and all things having been made new by the Lord, shall be able to work righteousness. Then we shall be able to sanctify it, having been first sanctified ourselves.” Men cannot therefore keep the Sabbath while this wicked world lasts. And so he says, “Your present Sabbaths are not acceptable to me.” That is to say, the keeping of the day which God has sanctified is not possible in such a wicked world. But though the seventh day cannot now be kept, the eighth day can be, and ought to be, because when the seventh thousand years are past, there will be at the beginning of the eighth thousand the new creation. So the persons represented by this writer, do not attempt to keep the seventh day which God sanctified, for that is too pure to keep in this world, and can only be kept after the Saviour comes at the commencement of the seventh thousand years; but they “keep the eighth day with joyfulness, the day also on which Jesus rose again from the dead.” Sunday, which God never sanctified, is exactly suitable for observance in the world as it now is. But the sanctified seventh day “we shall be able to sanctify” when all things have been made new. If our first-day friends think these words of some unknown writer of the second century more honorable to the first day of the week than to the seventh, they are welcome to them. Had the writer said, “It is easier to keep Sunday than the Sabbath while the world is so wicked,” he would have stated the truth. But when, in substance, he says, “It is more acceptable to God to keep a common than a sanctified day while men are so sinful,” he excuses his disobedience by uttering a falsehood. Several things however should be noted:—
1. In this quotation, we have the reasons of a no-Sabbath man for keeping the festival of Sunday. It is not God’s commandment, for there was none for that festival; but the day God hallowed being too pure to keep while the world is so wicked, Sunday is therefore kept till the return of the Lord, and then the seventh day shall be truly sanctified by those who now regard it not.
2. But this writer, though saying what he is able in behalf of the first day of the week, applies to it no sacred name. He does not call it Christian Sabbath, nor Lord’s day, but simply “the eighth day,” and this because it succeeds the seventh day of the week.
3. It is also to be noticed that he expressly dates the Sabbath from the creation.
4. The change of the Sabbath was unknown to this writer. He kept the Sunday festival, not because it was purer than the sanctified seventh day, but because the seventh day was too pure to keep while the world is so wicked.
TESTIMONY OF THE EPISTLE OF PLINY.
Pliny was the Roman governor of Bithynia in the years 103 and 104. He wrote a letter to the emperor Trajan, in which he states what he had learned of the Christians as the result of examining them at his tribunal:—
“They affirmed that the whole of their guilt or error was, that they met on a certain stated day [stato die], before it was light, and addressed themselves in a form of prayer to Christ, as to some God, binding themselves by a solemn oath, not for the purposes of any wicked design, but never to commit any fraud, theft, or adultery; never to falsify their word, nor deny a trust when they should be called upon to deliver it up; after which it was their custom to separate, and then reassemble to eat in common a harmless meal.”—Coleman’s Ancient Christianity, chap. i., sect. 1.
The letter of Pliny is often referred to as though it testified that the Christians of Bithynia celebrated the first day of the week. Yet such is by no means the case, as the reader can plainly see. Coleman says of it (page 528):—
“This statement is evidence that these Christians kept a day as holy time, but whether it was the last or the first day of the week, does not appear.”
Such is the judgment of an able, candid, first-day church historian of good repute as a scholar. An anti-Sabbatarian writer of some repute speaks thus:—
“As the Sabbath day appears to have been quite as commonly observed at this date as the Sun’s day (if not even more so), it is just as probable that this ‘stated day’ referred to by Pliny was the seventh day, as that it was the first day; though the latter is generally taken for granted.”—Obligation of the Sabbath, p. 300.
Every candid person must acknowledge that it is unjust to represent the letter of Pliny as testifying in behalf of the so-called Christian Sabbath. Next in order of time come the reputed epistles of Ignatius.
TESTIMONY OF THE EPISTLES OF IGNATIUS.
Of the fifteen epistles ascribed to Ignatius, eight are, by universal consent, accounted spurious; and eminent scholars have questioned the genuineness of the remaining seven. There are, however, two forms to these seven, a longer and a shorter; and while some doubt exists as to the shorter form, the longer form is by common consent ascribed to a later age than that of Ignatius. But the epistle to the Magnesians, which exists both in the longer and in the shorter form, is the one from which first-day writers obtain Ignatius’ testimony in behalf of Sunday, and they quote for this both these forms. We therefore give both. Here is the shorter:—
“For the divinest prophets lived according to Christ Jesus. On this account also they were persecuted, being inspired by his grace to fully convince the unbelieving that there is one God, who has manifested himself by Jesus Christ his Son, who is his eternal Word, not proceeding forth from silence, and who in all things pleased him that sent him. If, therefore, those who were brought up in the ancient order of things have come to the possession of a new hope, no longer observing the Sabbath, but living in the observance of the Lord’s day, on which also our life has sprung up again by him and by his death—whom some deny, by which mystery we have obtained faith, and therefore endure, that we may be found the disciples of Jesus Christ, our only master—how shall we be able to live apart from him, whose disciples the prophets themselves in the Spirit did wait for him as their teacher? And therefore he whom they rightly waited for, being come, raised them from the dead.” Chaps. viii. and ix.
This paragraph is the one out of which a part of a sentence is quoted to show that Ignatius testifies in behalf of the Lord’s-day festival, or Christian Sabbath. But the so-called Lord’s day is only brought in by means of a false translation. This is the decisive sentence: μηκέτι σαββατίζοντες, ἀλλὰ κατὰ κυριακὴν ζωὴν ζῶντες; literally: “no longer sabbatizing, but living according to the Lord’s life.”
Eminent first-day scholars have called attention to this fact, and have testified explicitly that the term Lord’s day has no right to appear in the translation; for the original is not κυριακὴν ἡμέραν, Lord’s day, but κυριακὴν ζωήν, Lord’s life. This is absolutely decisive, and shows that something akin to fraud has to be used in order to find a reference in this place to the so-called Christian Sabbath.
But there is another fact quite as much to the point. The writer was not speaking of those then alive, but of the ancient prophets. This is proved by the opening and closing words of the above quotation, which first-day writers always omit. The so-called Lord’s day is inserted by a fraudulent translation; and now see what absurdity comes of it. The writer is speaking of the ancient prophets. If, therefore, the Sunday festival be inserted in this quotation from Ignatius, he is made to declare that “the divinest prophets,” who “were brought up in the ancient order of things,” kept the first day and did not keep the Sabbath! Whereas, the truth is just the reverse of this. They certainly did keep the Sabbath, and did not keep the first day of the week. The writer speaks of the point when these men came “to the newness of hope,” which must be their individual conversion to God. They certainly did observe and enforce the Sabbath after this act of conversion. See Isa., chaps. 56, 58; Jer. 17; Eze., chaps. 20, 22, 23. But they did also, as this writer truly affirms, live according to the Lord’s life. The sense of the writer respecting the prophets must therefore be this: “No longer [after their conversion to God] observing the Sabbath [merely, as natural men] but living according to the Lord’s life,” or “according to Christ Jesus.”
So much for the shorter form of the epistle to the Magnesians. Though the longer form is by almost universal consent of scholars and critics pronounced the work of some centuries after the time of Ignatius, yet as a portion of this also is often given by first-day writers to support Sunday, and given too as the words of Ignatius, we here present in full its reference to the first day of the week, and also the Sabbath, which they generally omit. Here are its statements:—
“Let us therefore no longer keep the Sabbath after the Jewish manner, and rejoice in days of idleness; for ‘he that does not work, let him not eat.’ For, say the [holy] oracles, ‘In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat thy bread.’ But let every one of you keep the Sabbath after a spiritual manner, rejoicing in meditation on the law, not in relaxation of the body, admiring the workmanship of God, and not eating things prepared the day before, nor using lukewarm drinks, and walking within a prescribed space, nor finding delight in dancing and plaudits which have no sense in them. And after the observance of the Sabbath, let every friend of Christ keep the Lord’s day as a festival, the resurrection day, the queen and chief of all the days [of the week]. Looking forward to this, the prophet declared, ‘To the end, for the eighth day,’ on which our life both sprang up again, and the victory over death was obtained in Christ,” etc. Chapter ix.
This epistle, though the work of a later hand than that of Ignatius, is valuable for the light which it sheds upon the state of things when it was written. It gives us a correct idea of the progress of apostasy with respect to the Sabbath in the time of the writer. He speaks against Jewish superstition in the observance of the Sabbath, and condemns days of idleness as contrary to the declaration, “In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat thy bread.” But by days of idleness, he cannot refer to the Sabbath, for this would be to make the fourth commandment clash with this text, whereas they must harmonize, inasmuch as they existed together during the former dispensation. Moreover, the Sabbath, though a day of abstinence from labor, is not a day of idleness, but of active participation in religious duties. He enjoins its observance after a spiritual manner. And after the Sabbath has been thus observed, “let every friend of Christ keep the Lord’s day as a festival, the resurrection day, the queen and chief of all the days.” The divine institution of the Sabbath was not yet done away, but the human institution of Sunday had become its equal, and was even commended above it. Not long after this, it took the whole ground, and the observance of the Sabbath was denounced as heretical and pernicious.
The reputed epistle of Ignatius to the Trallians in its shorter form does not allude to this subject. In its longer form, which is admitted to be the work of a later age than that of Ignatius, these expressions are found:—
“During the Sabbath, he continued under the earth;” “at the dawning of the Lord’s day, he arose from the dead;” “the Sabbath embraces the burial; the Lord’s day contains the resurrection.” Chap. ix.
In the epistle to the Philippians, which is universally acknowledged to be the work of a later person than Ignatius, it is said:—
“If any one fasts on the Lord’s day or on the Sabbath, except on the paschal Sabbath only, he is a murderer of Christ.” Chap. xiii.
We have now given every allusion to the Sabbath and first-day that can be found in any writing attributed to Ignatius. We have seen that the term “Lord’s day” is not found in any sentence written by him. The first day is never called the Christian Sabbath, not even in the writings falsely attributed to him; nor is there in any of them a hint of the modern doctrine of the change of the Sabbath. Though falsely ascribed to Ignatius, and actually written in a later age, they are valuable in that they mark the progress of apostasy in the establishment of the Sunday festival. Moreover, they furnish conclusive evidence that the ancient Sabbath was retained for centuries in the so-called Catholic church, and that the Sunday festival was an institution entirely distinct from the Sabbath of the fourth commandment.
J. N. A.
Close of the Volume.
By Editor
This being the last number of the volume, we have been obliged to omit some interesting matter to give room for the index.
We think it is safe to promise, that the next volume will be of still more interest than this has been. Readers in general love variety, and brief articles secure the best reading. Several series of lengthy articles have run through this volume; and, though the matter itself be important, and it is sometimes necessary to publish them, they often interfere with the Conference Department, more than could be wished, and crowd out much that we would like to publish of a devotional cast. These serial matters will soon be closed up, and the progress of the cause in all parts of the field will receive more attention than in the past.
On account of ill-health Bro. Littlejohn was not able to furnish the closing article in reply to the Statesman this week. We are happy to know that these articles have received much favor with readers of the REVIEW, who will, in turn, be glad to learn that they will soon be published in book form.
Time is short. “The end of all things is at hand.” Every week, almost every day, brings letters to the Office, imploring help, asking for the preachers to visit the various localities where labor is desired. But the “laborers are few,” and all are invited to make greater efforts to circulate the REVIEW, which has thus far proved to be an efficient worker in the good cause.
THERE IS NO OBJECT UNWORTHY OF OUR NOTICE.
“While I am reading,” says a careful student of natural history, “a fly settles on my hand; I don’t kill it; I watch it, with a glass perhaps, and see it clean its wings and its head, and make friends with it, till I feel that I can speak to that fly; and so it is with everything living. If we will humble ourselves and condescend to look at the apparently lowest creatures, we shall find instruction in the meanest of them.”
God’s Power, Wisdom, and Grace
What does it matter whether God is pleased to act by one man or ten thousand? All the wisdom, all the power, all the grace, is in Him.
The Present Truth.
By Dudley Marvin Canright
(Continued.)
1. The Judgment, the Second Advent of Christ, the Resurrection, and the End of the World, are events which the Scriptures teach will come to pass at some Time.
We are not now concerned as to when they will come to pass, but simply with the fact that these events will transpire sometime. Nothing in the Bible, it seems to me, is more plainly revealed and emphatically stated, than these facts, and I presume that most of my readers will agree with us on this point. They believe in the literal second advent and resurrection of the dead the same as we do. There is no controversy, then, on this point. However, we will give a few texts out of the scores bearing upon these events.
The Judgment. “Because he hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness.” Acts 17: 31. “And the angels which kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation, he hath reserved in everlasting chains under darkness, unto the Judgment of the great day.” Jude 6. “And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them. And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened; and another book was opened, which is the book of life; and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works.” Rev. 20: 11, 12.
The Second Advent. “For the Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father with his angels; and then he shall reward every man according to his works.” Matt. 16: 27. “For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.” Matt. 24: 27. “And when he had spoken these things, while they beheld, he was taken up; and a cloud received him out of their sight. 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: 9–11. “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.” 1 Thess. 4: 16.
The Resurrection. “Marvel not at this; for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice, and shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation.” John 5: 28, 29.
The End of the World. “The field is the world; the good seed are the children of the kingdom; but the tares are the children of the wicked one. The enemy that sowed them is the devil; the harvest is the end of the world, and the reapers are the angels. As therefore the tares are gathered and burned in the fire, so shall it be in the end of this world. The Son of man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and them that do iniquity; and shall cast them into a furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth.” Matt. 13: 38–42.
Language could not be more explicit than this on these great and awful events. Yes, says our opponents, we agree that they will come sometime, but as to when they will come, we know nothing. Christ may come to-night, or next week, or it may be a thousand years before he comes; we cannot tell. If we are only prepared to die, that is all that it need concern us, let it come when it will.
No doubt the objector thinks that this is sound reasoning, and according to Scripture; but look a little farther. We often hear these men who declare that the Lord may come to-night, declare that the world must be converted, and that there must be a millennium of a thousand years before Christ comes. Then they go on to argue that the Jews must be converted and return to Palestine, first; that this, that, and the other, prophecy has not been fulfilled yet; and still the Lord may come to-night! How they can have the world converted, and a thousand years millennium, in one night, and the Lord come at the same time, I never could see! And yet they stoutly argue both. The Jews must be converted and return to Palestine, before the Lord comes, and yet he may come to-night! Many other prophecies have not been fulfilled, and yet the Lord may come to-night! They certainly cannot believe both positions. And farther: In saying this, they assume that the coming of the Lord will take place without any signs being given to mark his coming—without any warning to the world, and without his people knowing anything concerning it. They virtually assume that everything will go right on just as it always has, without any sign or warning, and the first that any one knows, either saint or sinner, the trumpet will sound like a peal of thunder out of a clear sky at noon-day. To show the unsoundness of this, I will make a second proposition:—
2. There will be signs given preceding these events, to mark their coming. I might give scores of texts on this point, naming the different signs which shall transpire shortly before the advent. I will content myself with quoting two or three which directly assert that there shall be signs. “And as he sat upon the mount of Olives, the disciples came unto him privately, saying, Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world?” Matt. 24: 3. The disciples inquire directly, What shall be the sign of thy coming and the end of the world? If there were to be no signs, Christ would have simply said, Children, do not trouble yourselves on that point; there will be no signs given of these events. But instead of answering them thus, he does proceed to give them a whole chapter of signs on the very point they had asked. Luke briefly sums up his answer thus: “And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring; men’s hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth; for the powers of heaven shall be shaken. And then shall they see the Son of man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh.” Luke 21: 25–28.
Here Jesus says that there shall be signs in the sun, in the moon, in the stars, in the earth, &c. So in verse 11, he says, “And great earthquakes shall be in divers places, and famines, and pestilences; and fearful sights and great signs shall there be from heaven.” And thus Joel says: “And I will show wonders in heaven above, and signs in the earth beneath, blood, and fire, and vapor of smoke. The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before that great and notable day of the Lord come.” Acts 2: 19, 20. We take it that these texts settle the fact that the Lord will give signs to mark his second coming. God has said that, at the proper time, he will hang out signs in very conspicuous places indeed, viz., in the sun, in the moon, in the stars, and upon the earth. And when God shall do this, what will it be for? Will it not be to call the attention of his people and the world to the very event which these signs indicate? Most certainly. This fact alone shows that God will have men know something with regard to it, else why give the signs? And when God shall do this, will it be immaterial whether men heed these signs, or disregard them? whether they believe them, or scoff at them? whether they note them, or pass them by as not worthy of their attention? whether they accept them as the fulfillment of God’s word, or deny them to be such? Think of this point a moment. Did not Christ rebuke the men of his time for not discerning the signs of the times? Matt. 16: 3. And if men should pay no more attention to the signs of the times now, than they did then, will they not receive just as severe a rebuke from the Lord as they did then? Certainly, they will. Be careful, my friend, there may be more importance to this subject than you have thought.
To show the importance of this, I will make a third proposition:—
3. A warning message will be given to the world, immediately preceding the coming of Christ. This is an important proposition, and if it be true, it shows the importance of engaging in such a proclamation. Here, again, we might give a great many texts on this point, but have room for only a few. Let us first reason a moment. God is merciful, long-suffering, not willing that any should perish; hence, he always warns the wicked of coming judgments, in sufficient time for them to repent and escape them, if they will. He loves his people, and does nothing without revealing it to them. Did God warn the world in the days of Noah? He did. So, then, he will here. Christ says, “But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.” Matt. 24: 37. Did God warn the Sodomites? Did he warn the men of Nineveh? Did John the Baptist give a warning message before the first advent? Did Jesus warn them of the fall of Jerusalem? How much more reasonable, then, that there should be a warning here. Did the righteous know when the flood was to come? when Sodom was to fall? when the Jews were to come out of Egypt? when Nineveh was to be overthrown? when Christ was to come the first time? Then will they know with regard to his second advent. Nothing is more reasonable and just than this conclusion. But let us hear the word of the Lord.
“Blow ye the trumpet in Zion, and sound an alarm in my holy mountain; let all the inhabitants of the land tremble, for the day of the Lord cometh, for it is nigh at hand.” Joel 2: 1. What is the day of the Lord? It is when the Lord comes, as will be seen by the following texts: “But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which 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 Pet. 3: 10. “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. But of the times and the seasons, brethren, ye have no need that I write unto you. For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night.” 1 Thess. 4: 16–18; 5: 1, 2. This shows that the day of the Lord is when he comes, the dead are raised, the living changed, &c. This is the time of which the prophet speaks. He says, “For the day of the Lord is great and very terrible; and who can abide it?” This fact is further confirmed by the language of verses 10, 11. “The earth shall quake before them; the heavens shall tremble; the sun and the moon shall be dark, and the stars shall withdraw their shining. And the Lord shall utter his voice before his army; for his camp is very great; for he is strong that executeth his word; for the day of the Lord is great and very terrible; and who can abide it?” Having shown what the subject is, now look at the prophecy: “Blow ye the trumpet in Zion.” This was always done to warn the people of some important event. “Sound an alarm in my holy mountain, let all the inhabitants of the land tremble.” This shows that it is some awful event that is just pending. What is it? When is this warning to be given, this alarm to be sounded? “For the day of the Lord cometh, for it is nigh at hand.” Then when the day of the Lord is drawing near, is even nigh at hand, then is the time that this prophecy must be fulfilled. Will not God see that it is fulfilled? He certainly will, if he has to raise up men from the very stones to do it; and when it is thus fulfilled, what will the world hear? They will hear the blowing of the trumpet, and sounding of the alarm, here predicted.
Compare this with Isaiah 40: 3: “The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for our God.” Here was a prophecy given 700 years before Christ. Age after age rolled on and no one came up to fulfill it. By-and-by, in the wilderness of Judea, is heard the voice of a humble man proclaiming this very message. The proper time had come.
God, who very jealously guards the fulfillment of his word, raised up a man to accomplish it. So it must be with regard to this prophecy relating to the end. When the day of the Lord is nigh at hand, God will lay the burden of his work upon some who will blow the trumpet and sound the alarm. All the powers of darkness cannot prevent it.
Take another text. “The great day of the Lord is near, it is near, and hasteth greatly, even the voice of the day of the Lord. The mighty man shall cry there bitterly. Zeph. 1: 14. Thus he goes on describing the terrors of that day, and then says: “Gather yourselves together, yea, gather together, O nation not desired; before the decree bring forth, before the day pass as the chaff, before the fierce anger of the Lord come upon you, before the day of the Lord’s anger come upon you.” Chap. 2: 1–3. This shows that in connection with that great day of God’s wrath there will be a gathering message to prepare the people to stand in that awful time of trouble. Once more: “And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people, saying with a loud voice, Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his Judgment is come.” Rev. 14: 6, 7. Here is another prophecy. It is in your Bible the same as in mine. God put it there. He worded it just right. He will see that it is fulfilled at the proper time. God’s word cannot fail. This message will be accomplished. When it is fulfilled what will the world hear? Just the message here given, “Fear God and give glory to him; for the hour of his Judgment is come.” Thus, it will readily be seen, is an announcement that the time for God’s Judgment to set has arrived, and this announcement is made to every nation, tongue, and people; hence, it is a world-wide message. Now such a message as this could be true only in the last generation, because that is the time that the Judgment will occur. It would not have been true if given a thousand years ago, or five hundred years ago; for the hour of God’s Judgment did not come then. Hence, this is a last-day message. It is positive proof that, immediately preceding that event, God will cause a solemn warning to be given to the world concerning it. When the proper time shall come, and the signs shall appear, and God shall cause this message to be heralded to the world, will it be a matter of no account whether men heed that warning or not? Can men disregard it with impunity? Can they mock at it, and denounce it as the work of the devil, and still enjoy the blessing of God? Can they please God by simply passing it by unnoticed? How did it fare with the men who rejected Noah’s warning? with those who did not believe the words of John the Baptist, and other similar messages? And will not those fare the same who shall reject this when God shall cause it to be given?
We are not now arguing as to whether this message is now being given; that is not the point. But we are endeavoring to show that such a message must certainly be given, whenever the proper time comes, immediately preceding the second advent. Let me call attention again to that oft-repeated assertion, that if we are only prepared to die, we are prepared for the coming of the Lord; and, hence, even though the Lord is coming soon, and there are signs which show it, and the warning is being given concerning it, yet it does not matter if we do not heed them, provided our hearts are only right. This, I firmly believe, is a subterfuge gotten up to lull men to sleep and to close their eyes to the truth.
To show the fallacy of this statement, look at it in the light of other similar events. Suppose the men who heard Noah preach had reasoned that way. Perhaps the flood is coming, said they, and perhaps it is not, we do not know; and it don’t make any difference any way; if our hearts are only right, let it come. What would have been the consequences? They would have perished in the flood just as they did. Suppose that Noah himself had reasoned that way; who would have built the ark? who would have warned the world? Would not God have rejected him, and let him perish with the ungodly, while he raised up somebody else to do that work? Suppose Lot had reasoned thus when he heard of the threatened destruction of Sodom. Suppose, again, that the men who heard John the Baptist had argued thus: He says that the Messiah is soon to come and he is his forerunner; may be it is so, and may be it is not. We cannot tell. What matter is it to us? When we see him it will be time enough to believe on him. What good will it do us to simply have our bodies put under the water? if we only love God and obey him, we shall be safe enough, whether the Messiah comes or not. Could they thus reject God’s work and God’s message with impunity? No, the fact is, God never causes any warning to be given unless it is needed. And when he does this, it cannot be ignored, nor rejected with impunity. Those who reject it thereby give evidence that they do not really love God, nor his truth, and they are not walking in the light. If they were, they would discern the word of God, would hear the voice of the Master, and would gladly obey it.
D. M. CANRIGHT.
(To be Continued.)
Seek, and Ye Shall Find.
By R. F. Cottrell
“Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you: for every one that asketh, receiveth; and he that seeketh, findeth; and to him that knocketh, it shall be opened.” These promises are true and faithful—the person that truly asks, shall receive; and he that truly seeks, shall find. But there is such a thing as asking amiss; and of ostensibly seeking, but not in reality. Says an apostle, “Ye ask and receive not, because ye ask amiss.” Again, “If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him. But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea, driven with the wind and tossed. For let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord.” He that asks, must ask in faith. Otherwise he has no claim on the promise. He that seeks, must seek in truth, or he has no promise that he shall find.
If a man ask wisdom from God to guide him, he shall have it; if he seek the path of truth and duty, he shall find it. The way is not so obscure that it cannot be found. He that really desires to find the path of duty can find it. God has not left the path of duty obscure. The reason men seek it and do not find it, is because they have a choice that their way shall be the way.
This may be illustrated by what I heard an Englishman relate of his travels. He was to make a choice whether to proceed by the way of London or Liverpool. When he came to the place where he was to decide which road to take, feeling undecided, he thought he would leave it to the lot, by setting up his cane and taking the direction in which it should fall. But, said he, I had a desire to see London, and so I leaned it a little that way.
To seek of God is to have no choice of our own. When men come to seek the truth in that way, they will find it. They will find that the requirements of God are not hidden so that they cannot discern them—that they are hidden only to those who choose another way. Says an apostle, “If our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost: In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not.”
We cannot believe that the word of God is at fault, that men so differ and cannot find the one only true way. When they read a plain and obvious requirement of God, their minds are sometimes so blinded by prepossessions and unbelief that they doubt whether God requires them to obey; and, in their blindness of unbelief, they sometimes have the audacity to go and ask God in prayer whether he would have them obey, or, rather, whether the way of their choice will not be acceptable. Such seek their own way, and they find the way they seek. If they would truly seek the way of God, they would find it. We can come to no other conclusion, except this: that all who truly seek the path of duty, will find the same way. The Bible is not to blame for the discordant practices of those who profess to believe and obey it.
Let us seek the path of duty by submitting our will to God, and having no choice but that he shall direct us in the way he would have us go. Truly doing this in faith, we may claim the promise, “Seek, and ye shall find.”