Earlier text: General ArticlesTemporal Millennium.
By Editor
THE doctrine of a temporal millennium, or of the world's conversion, is not taught in the word of God. We learn this (1) from the explicit declarations of Scripture; and (2) from the great chains of prophecy, or prophetic outlines of this world's history. Many writers and speakers quote largely from the prophets to prove the doctrine, but their views do not harmonize with the direct declarations of the word of God. Hence, their expositions are wrong. The scriptures quoted are fully accepted; they are all right; but the construction put upon them is another thing. One plain declaration of Scripture is sufficient to overthrow a whole theory, and to demolish volumes of human reasoning, if they conflict with it. An eminent theological scholar, Prof. Finney, made the doctrine of the world's conversion one of necessity, as based on the attributes of Deity. Thus, the majority of mankind has been wicked in the past, and if the present dispensation should close soon, or if the majority of future generations should also be wicked, the ultimate number of the wicked would greatly overbalance the number of the righteous, and so the majority of mankind would be lost. But to say that the majority will be lost is to say that God's plan of salvation is deficient in power or benevolence; for infinite power could save the majority, and infinite benevolence would save it. Hence, God's attributes are a sufficient guarantee that the majority will be saved. For we can only judge the attributes of Deity by their manifestation, and if he should fail to save the greater number, malevolence, and not benevolence, would predominate in his character. But this argument involves the character and government of God in the most serious consequences. For, 1. If it proves anything, it proves universal salvation. For if the benevolence of God must be measured by the proportion of the saved and the lost, there could be no one lost, as his benevolence is infinite, and he has no malevolence to claim its share. 2. To say that if a majority is lost, it is proof of a deficiency in the divine plan, is to say that the number saved must be according to the number embraced in the plan; and therefore the plan could not embrace all. 3. It directly denies the free agency of man; making it necessary for God to save a majority, without regard to their choice or willingness to be saved. Or, 4. It makes the character or nature of the plan of salvation contingent on man's acceptance of it. That is, it is benevolent if a majority accepts it; if not, it is malevolent. And, then, if man is free to choose, he has it in his choice to make God benevolent or malevolent, and so make the attribute of the Creator to depend on the action of the creature. 5. It denies the infinity of God's benevolence, by making it a question of degrees. For, according to that argument, if the majority is saved, his benevolence would predominate; but if the majority is lost, his malevolence would predominate. And, of course, if the number of the saved and of the lost were about equal, it would be impossible to determine the character of God. And the argument actually charges the worst of these conclusions on the divine government; for the Scriptures plainly say that the number of the saved will be to that of the lost as the few to the many. But the benevolence of God, and the love of his Son, are determined, not by the number that will come, but by a provision of free salvation for all, so that whosoever will, may come, and have eternal life. The Saviour said, "Ye will not come unto me that ye might have life." So the failure to be saved is in their wills, not in the divine plan. If men will not accept the offer, it does not show any want of love in Him by whom the offer is made; it only shows their folly and hardness of heart. This subject may be conclusively settled by an examination of a few points of the testimony plainly set forth in the Scriptures. We shall quote only such as are unmistakable in their import. 1. The way to life is narrow, and few find it; but the way to destruction is broad, and many walk in it. Matt. 7:13, 14. There is not an intimation in the Bible that the way to life will ever become so wide that all will walk therein, and the way to destruction so narrow that few or none will find it. See also Luke 13:23-27. 2. The redeemed shall come out of great tribulation. Rev. 7:9-15. The Saviour said to his disciples, "In the world ye shall have tribulation." John 16:33. Paul said, "We must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God." Acts 14:22. The Scriptures nowhere present another company, who enter into the kingdom of God through ease and worldly prosperity. 3. The Saviour did not promise his ministers that all should believe their word. He did not lead them to expect that they should meet with the favor of the world, more than he had met with it. But he said, "If ye were of the world, the world would love his own." And, "The servant is not greater than his Lord." "If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you; and if they have kept my saying, they will keep yours also." John 15:19, 20. And again, when the Jews reviled him, he said to his followers, "If they have called the Master of the house Beelzebub, how much more shall they call them of his household." Matt. 10:25. Who dares to rise above his Lord and say he shall be exempt from persecution? Who desires to be free from the sufferings of his Master? The Scriptures say that the Captain of our salvation was made "perfect through sufferings;" that he was partaker of our infirmities; that "in all things it behooved him to be made like unto his brethren, that he might be a merciful and faithful High Priest." Heb. 2:10-17. But they also teach, in the clearest manner, a necessity that we should suffer affliction or tribulation with him in the gospel. To this his followers are appointed. 1 Thess. 3:3. It is consequent upon a godly life. 2 Tim. 3:12. It is the way to the kingdom. Acts 14:22. It stands connected with blessings in this life, and in the life to come. Mark 10:29, 30. It is necessary to try or prove our faith. 1 Pet. 1:7. It works patience. Rom. 5:3. It yields "the peaceable fruit of righteousness." Heb. 12:11. It works "for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory." 2 Cor. 4:17. It is the realization of Christ's sympathy for his members. Heb. 4:15. It is the measure of Christ's affliction filled up for the church. Col. 1:24. It is the fellowship of his sufferings in which we are made conformable to his death. Phil. 3:10. And it is the partaking of his sufferings. 2 Pet. 4:13. And it will all be counted as his own in the day of his coming. Matt. 25:40, 45. According to the commonly received view of the millennium, not one of the above gospel truths will apply to that state. That age will need another gospel. It is a dangerous doctrine, calculated to destroy the piety of the believer by turning his heart toward a state of ease; a state free from trials, from endurance, from persecution, from chastisement, from temptation, and from all that pertains to Christian watchfulness and forbearance. The influence of such a belief is already apparent in the worldly-mindedness, slothfulness, and self-exaltation, of the body of professors of the present day, by which they are acting out the cry of "peace and safety," for the last days. 1 Thess. 5:1-3. 4. The gospel was not expected to convert the world, but to call out of the world a people to glorify God. "Ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world." John 15:19. "God at the first did visit the Gentiles, to take out of them a people for his name." Acts 15:14. The saints of God are redeemed "out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation." Rev. 5:9. 5. The Saviour taught that wickedness would prevail on the earth till his coming, or to the end of the world. In Matt. 13:24-30 is the parable of the tares of the field, which is explained in verses 37-41, wherein it is shown that the tares, the children of the wicked one, and the wheat, the children of the kingdom, will grow together till the harvest, which is the end of the world; and the reapers, the angels of God, will make the separation at the coming of Christ. See Matt. 24:30, 31. And the same subject is presented in Joel 3:9-16, where the nations of the earth are called to prepare for the battle of the great day; verse 13 says, "Put ye in the sickle, for the harvest is ripe; come, get you down; for the press is full, the fats overflow; for their wickedness is great." Compare Rev. 14:14-20. 6. The last days will be days of peril. This could not be so if the church was to have her triumph in this world, or if the world was to be finally converted. When speaking of his coming413 and the end of the world, the Saviour said, "And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold. But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world, for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come." Matt. 24:12-14. In this chapter we notice (1) Before the end comes, iniquity will abound. (2) Endurance will be necessary even unto the end, which could not be the case were the world converted. (3) The gospel will not convert all nations, but is for a witness unto all nations. And this it is, wherever it is preached, whether people believe its testimony or not. (4) In verse 24, is predicted that, before that day, false christs and false prophets shall arise, to deceive, if possible, the very elect. (5) In verses 42-50 it is shown that even some of the servants of God will become slothful and wicked, and not be prepared for the coming of Christ, but finally have their portion with the hypocrites. Said Paul, "This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, without natural affection, truce-breakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, traitors, heady, high-minded, lovers of pleasure more than lovers of God; having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof; from such turn away." 2 Tim. 3:1-5. And this agrees with what the Saviour said: "Iniquity will abound, and the love of many will wax cold." And Paul further says in verse 12, "All that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution." Thus, in the last days, perils and persecutions will befall the true followers of Christ, because the great mass of them that profess godliness, or have its form, will deny its power. This is a most decisive testimony, and would forever settle the question, had we no other evidence to present. And Peter also said, "There shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts, and saying, Where is the promise of his coming?" 2 Peter 3:3, 4. How could these scoffers arise and deny his coming, and how could such perils exist, if all were converted long before his coming. Our Saviour has given Scripture examples on this subject, so plain that we need not be mistaken. "And as it was in the days of Noah, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of man. They did eat, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noah entered into the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all. Likewise also as it was in the days of Lot: they did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they builded; but the same day that Lot went out of Sodom, it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them all. Even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of man is revealed." Luke 17:26-30. These are all plain, definite declarations. They need no studied argument to show their force as applied to this question. The only mystery is that any will offer their "expositions of prophecy" to sustain theories in conflict with such plain statements. And there are yet other New Testament proofs on this subject, in regard to which there perhaps be as little difference of opinion among the generality of believers in the Bible as upon the foregoing positive testimonies. It is generally held by all Protestants that the rise of the Roman apostasy marks the revelation of the "man of sin;" and of this end, Paul says, "whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy by the brightness of his coming." 2 Thess. 2:8. And so, "that wicked," the man of sin and son of perdition, "who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshiped," will not be destroyed before the coming of Christ. This fact is destructive of the doctrine of the millennium. Again, it must be admitted that the seven trumpets of Revelation, chapters 8-11, reach to the end of this age. Events under the seventh trumpet prove this: such as the anger of the nations; the coming of the wrath of God; the time that the dead should be judged, and of giving reward to the saints. But the last trumpet introduces a woe upon the earth, and not a blessing; the anger of the nations, and not peace; and it is easily proved that the seven last plagues, in which "is filled up the wrath of God," Rev. 15:1, are poured out under this trumpet. This point cannot be evaded by allowing a period of apostasy after the millennium; for the man of sin exists from the "falling away" to the Saviour's coming; and the three last trumpets are all woe trumpets, and not the last alone. See Rev. 8:13; 9:12; 11:14. Some suppose that because the heathen will be given to Christ, and the uttermost parts of the earth, that he will therefore convert them. But they seem to forget that Christ is yet to put off the robes of his priesthood, and to put on "the garments of vengeance." Isa. 59:17. They do not consider that "the day of salvation" will close, and "the great day of his wrath" will come. Rev. 6:16, 17. The Saviour ascended on high as a priest or intercessor, and is there to sit at his Father's right hand till his foes are made his footstool. Ps. 110:1. And then will Ps. 2:8, 9 be fulfilled, which reads, "Ask of me, and I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession. Thou shalt rule them with a rod of iron; thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel." Surely, no conversion is contemplated in this text. They are given into his hands to be destroyed, or broken, and dashed in pieces. This will be when the great day of his wrath is come; when the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, will endeavor to hide from his presence. Rev. 6:15-17; when he shall be revealed from Heaven with his mighty angels, in flaming fire, taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. 2 Thess. 1:7, 8. Thus the intercessory work of our Saviour does not contemplate the conversion of the world as its finality, but it will close with the giving of his enemies into his possession, and making them his footstool, or putting them under his feet. And he will come as King of kings and Lord of lords (of the kings and lords of this world), to destroy them and their armies. Rev. 19. Then, instead of looking for a time of peace when the Lord has not said peace, it would be better to listen to the admonition to be wise, and serve "the Son, lest he be angry, and ye perish from the way, when his wrath is kindled but a little." Ps. 2:10-12. We believe in the triumph of the truth, in the triumph of the church of Christ; but not by mere numbers, nor in this present state. The saints will shout their triumph when this mortal puts on immortality. 1 Cor. 15:51-55. They will sing their song of victory on the sea of glass before the throne of God. Rev. 15:2, 3; 4:6.—EDITOR, in Refutation of the Age to Come. The Sabbath-School.
By Ellen G. White
It was night; but the moon was shining bright and revealed to Jesus a flourishing grape-vine. Drawing the attention of the disciples to it, he said, "I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman. Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away; and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit." The Jewish nation was a fruitless branch, and was therefore to be separated from the living vine, which was Christ Jesus. The Gentiles were to be engrafted upon the stalk, to become a living branch, partaker of the life that nourished the true vine. This branch was to be pruned that it might be fruitful. In view of his separation from his disciples, Jesus now exhorted them to connect themselves firmly to him by faith, that they might become a part of the living vine, and bear a rich harvest of fruit. "Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me. I am the vine; ye are the branches. He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit; for without me ye can do nothing." When the sinner has repented of his sins, and is united with Christ, as the branch is engrafted in the vine, the nature of the man is changed, and he is a partaker of the divine nature. He loves the things that Christ loves, and hates that which he hates. His desires are in harmony with the will of God. He treasures up the words of Christ, and they abide in him. The life-giving principle of the Saviour is communicated to the Christian. Just so the little scion, leafless and apparently lifeless, is engrafted into the living vine, and, fiber by fiber, vein by vein, drinks life and strength from it, till it becomes a flourishing branch of the parent stalk. Jesus warned his disciples not to expect the commendation of the world. Said he, "If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you. If ye were of the world, the world would love his own; but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you." Those who are of the same spirit with the world receive its smiles and approbation; but the humble disciples of Jesus were to suffer scorn and persecution. Jesus declared that they should be brought before kings and rulers for his name's sake, and whosoever should destroy their lives would be so deceived by Satan as to think they were doing God service. Every indignity and cruelty that the ingenuity of man could devise would be visited upon the followers of Christ. But in all their trials they were to remember that their Master had endured like reproach and suffering. They were to remember his words: "The servant is not greater than his lord. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you; if they have kept my saying, they will keep yours also. But all these things will they do unto you for my name's sake, because they know not Him that sent me." The disciples were to go on valiantly in the footsteps of the Saviour, keeping the prize of eternal life in view, and winning souls to Christ. Even the opposition they were to meet would develop staunch elements of character and shining virtues. Faith, patience, and trust in God, are the perfect fruit that blossoms and matures best in the shadow of adversity. Jesus carefully opened before his disciples the events which would follow his death, that when persecution should overtake them they might be prepared to endure it, and not be tempted to apostatize from their faith to avert suffering and dishonor. He led them gently to understand the great subjects which they were to deliver to the world. He impressed upon them the importance of their position as those who had witnessed the wonderful manifestations of God to his Son, who had beheld the miracles of Christ, and received his words of wisdom. Said he, "Ye also shall bear witness, because ye have with me from the beginning." The history of those disciples, and the evidence which they were to record, were to be the study of thinking minds through all ages. Jesus plainly stated to the disciples that he had left the presence of his Father to come unto the world, and that he was now about to leave the world and return to his Father; but he refrained from crowding their minds, and confusing their understanding. Said he, "I have many things to say unto you; but ye cannot bear them now." Jesus knew they were not strong enough to hear all the wonderful truths relative to his humiliation and death. After his resurrection they would be better able to understand and appreciate them. Jesus now had but a short time in which to comfort and instruct his little band of followers. His farewell counsel was rich in sympathy and truth. Exceedingly precious to his disciples those last moments passed with their beloved Master. Like a consecrated high priest he now poured forth the burden of his soul to his Father in a petition for his church such as the angels had never before heard. This prayer was deep and full, broad as the earth, and reaching high Heaven. With his human arm he encircled the children of Adam in a firm embrace; and with his strong divine arm he grasped the throne of the Infinite, thus uniting earth to Heaven, and finite man to the infinite God.—Mrs. E. G. White, in Great Controversy. Thoughts on John XIV.
By Ellet Joseph Waggoner
THE fourteenth chapter of John is one of the most comforting chapters in the Bible. It was intended to comfort those to whom it was spoken, and not them alone, but all the disciples of Christ, till the end of time. The opening words indicate this: "Let not your heart be troubled." Christ had told them that he was going to leave them, and their hearts were troubled. They loved Jesus; they wanted to be with him. And so he proceeds to comfort them with words that have been a joy and solace to many a weary, troubled heart. "In my Father's house are many mansions." "I go to prepare a place for you." There is abundance of room, but it was necessary that Christ should prepare a place for each one, by his death and subsequent ministration in the heavenly sanctuary. But this is not all. "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." And this promise is as sure as the word of God. Many times is this promise repeated. "To them that look for him shall he appear the second time." When the time came for him to depart, and the sorrowing disciples saw him ascend to heaven, the assurance was given, "This same Jesus . . . . shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven." Separated from him whom they love, sojourners in a strange land, the children of God have the blessed hope that their Lord himself will some day come to take them home. Some who profess to be followers of Christ, say, "Don't be scared with the idea that the Lord is coming; he may not come for a thousand years. There is no need for alarm." What reason has the child of God for fear? Paul says that we are to comfort one another with the promise that the Lord will come to receive us unto himself. Christ says that when we see the signs that indicate his speedy approach, to look up and lift up our heads, for our redemption draweth nigh. The willing and obedient child does not run and hide at his father's return. The wicked may tremble, and call for the rocks to fall on them and hide them from the wrath of the Lamb; but the righteous will say, "This is the Lord; we have waited for him, we will be glad and rejoice in his salvation." At the request of Philip, "Lord, show us the Father," Christ presents another comforting thought. "Have I been so long time with you, and hast thou not known me, Philip?" Indeed they knew Christ. They had seen his labors of love and self-denial. He had never slighted the poor and needy. They had seen him moved with compassion when he miraculously fed the famishing multitude. They had seen him stop to heal the sick, when excessive labor had well-nigh exhausted his strength. They had seen him moved to tears at the grave of Lazarus. They had heard his gentle words of reproof and encouragement to the erring. And as he saw the care and trouble caused by sin, they had heard him say, in tones of love and pity, "Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." They knew him to be a tender, loving, pitying friend. And so he says, "Have I been so long time with you, and hast thou not known me?" The answer might be, Yes, but how does this answer the question? Why, "He that hath seen me hath seen the Father." "I and my Father are one." All the goodness and loveliness, the tenderness and pity, exhibited in the life of Christ, were but a representation of the nature of the Father. As Paul says, "God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself." Many persons picture God as the stern Judge, and Christ as the loving Saviour; but they do not thus divide their offices. "God is love." That is his nature. "God commendeth his love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us." Comforting thought, that both Christ and God are interested in, and anxious for, our salvation. Would we know the extent of God's love? "God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." It was an infinite sacrifice, and was the result of infinite love. But blessings rejected turn into curses, and the fact that God is love, will not prevent his wrath from being visited upon those who despise his love. And in this, still, Christ and the Father are one. It is "from the face of Him that sitteth upon the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb," that the wicked seek to be hid. But none need to suffer this wrath, for all Heaven is interested in our behalf. They that are for us are more than they which are against us. God is willing that we should be called his sons. "And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself even as he is pure." E. J. W. Friendship and Human Companionship
MEN who seldom mix with their fellow-creatures are almost sure to be one-sided. No MAN can be happy without a friend, or be sure of his friend till he is unfortunate. Morality of the Ten Commandments.
By Editor
THE evidence presented in this series of articles of the morality of the law of God—the decalogue—should be sufficient, we think, to convince any lover of plain Bible proof that the objection is not valid which is urged against the law, namely, that its morality is inferior to that of the gospel. We shall close on the subject by examining Paul's words found in Rom. 7 and 8. The contrast presented in Rom. 8:7 is very emphatic. "The carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be." The carnal mind, or "the minding of the flesh," expresses the condition of the natural, unrenewed, unconverted man. This is "enmity against God;" not at enmity, but enmity itself. Language cannot more strongly express the complete antagonism which exists between the natural man and God, who "is love." And this shows that it would be inconsistent and is impossible for God to accept any action of a carnally-minded man as service done to him. The spring of every action in such a person is wrong; every action in such has a wrong motive underlying it. The apostle further says, the carnal mind "is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be." That which is against the law of God is against God himself. And this is proof (of which no proof should be required) that there is complete harmony between God and his law, as there is enmity between the carnal mind and both God and his law. How blind are they who say—as some have said—that the decalogue was a carnal law! Does God coalesce with carnality? Or, is the carnal mind opposed to that which is carnal? The carnality is with the objectors themselves, who are opposed to the law—not subject to it. Often are such found boasting of their graces, proclaiming their own "holiness," while depreciating the law of God which is indeed "holy, and just, and good." "Such," said Andrew Fuller, "is the strength of this antinomian delusion, that it passes for intimate communion with him"—with God. "The law is holy, and the commandment holy, and just, and good." Rom. 7:12. These words of inspiration ought forever to silence every cavil against the law. What precept of obligation can be above this standard—holy, just, and good? But this does not exhaust the apostle's words of praise of that sacred instrument. He further says, in verse 14: "For we know that the law is spiritual." In these words is found the complete vindication of many other expressions in regard to the law. It is because the law is spiritual that it convicts a man of murder, who hates his brother, and of adultery, who indulges in unholy desires. Because the law is spiritual it is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. It is because the law is spiritual that "every secret thing, whether it be good or whether it be evil," shall be brought into Judgment in the light of the commandments. And finally, it is because the law is spiritual that the carnal mind cannot be subject to it. There cannot possibly be any harmony between that which is spiritual and that which is carnal. There is, and must be, eternal antagonism between righteousness and unrighteousness, between Christ and Belial, between spirituality and carnality, between the precepts of the law and the heart of man while it is unrenewed by divine grace. The great difficulty with those who depreciate the law of God is, that they have no just view of moral relations. They do not perceive that the gospel, being a remedial system, cannot be elementary; it must have a pre-existing basis. Christ came into the world and offered himself a sacrifice, "to put away sin." Heb. 9:26. Then sin existed before he came. Its existence made his coming necessary. But sin is the transgression of the law. Therefore, the law is the basis or foundation upon which the gospel rests, and without which it were meaningless. All must admit that pardon without conviction is a nullity—a mere farce. God has a government; he had a government when man was created. Man was put on probation with good and evil—life and death before him. But he fell. All through the dispensations sin has been in the world. A plan of salvation was revealed to man, and set forth in types. Offerings and sacrifices were instituted, but they were typical or emblematical—they could not take away sin. But sin actually existed; as actually as at the present time. It was the same odious thing in the sight of God; so odious that none but the Son of God could put it away; no blood but his could cleanse from its terrible stain. The Son of God came into the world, but not to claim superiority to his Father's law. No, no. He died to vindicate the law, to uphold its authority, and to meet its righteous demands upon the life of rebellious man. If its claims, its authority, could have been set aside, and man have been thereby justified, then Jesus need not have suffered. But he submitted to its high authority, and thereby honored both the justice and mercy of God. After all arguments are exhausted; after the highest praises of the divine commandments given in the Scriptures are considered, we find the chiefest evidence of the eternal justice and perpetuity of the law of God in the cross of Christ. Let us then honor in our lives that which he so highly honored both in his life and in his death.