A BRIEF SKETCH OF THEIR ORIGIN, PROGRESS, AND PRINCIPLES.
(Concluded.)
MISSIONARY OPERATIONS.
Public speakers being few, in comparison with the calls for labor, a plan has been devised designed to give all an opportunity to act some part in the promulgation of our views. This organization is called the Tract and Missionary Society.
In this organization, the State is divided into districts, each district being composed of a certain number of churches, adjacent to each other. For each district a director is appointed, who appoints a librarian for each church in his district, to take charge of distributing tracts to the members, and a district secretary to keep an account of the whole working of the district. The district directors, a president, secretary, and treasurer, constitute the officers of each State T. and M. Society. This society has now been organized in each of the sixteen State Conferences.
These societies then unite and form a General Tract and Missionary Society, with its proper officers.
The object of this organization is to systematically canvass the country with books, tracts and pamphlets, setting forth the things we hold to be special truths for this time, to obtain subscribers for our various periodicals, visit the sick, call upon, and converse and pray with, families and individuals; and the general organization is designed to seek out openings and supply calls for help, in all the world.
This Tract and Missionary organization is quite recent, the present year, 1878, being only the fifth year with most of the State societies. Yet the funds raised for the work of this Society now amount to over $100,000, and during the past year reports show that between four and five millions of pages of reading matter have been distributed, mostly given away, thousands of bound volumes placed in public libraries, nearly ten thousand families visited and prayed with, while publications have been sent to England, Scotland, Ireland, Italy, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Australia, New Zealand, and to every missionary station on the coast of Africa.
IN OTHER TONGUES.
Missions are now in successful operation among the Danes, Norwegians, Swedes, and French, in this country. The Danish and Swedish papers have already been noticed. Our catalogue of publications now embrace thirteen different works in French, twenty-one in Danish, fifteen in Swedish, thirteen in German, and one in the Holland language, besides the two monthlies in the Danish and Swedish languages. A good beginning is thus made in the occupation of the field assigned to this message, which is to go to “many peoples, nations, tongues, and kings.” A monthly in French has been issued more than a year in Switzerland, and a monthly in German is in contemplation.
Our views have also gained a permanent foothold in other countries of Europe. There are now some four hundred believers in Europe. Two of their number have been sent to this country to learn the English language, and become more fully instructed in S. D. Adventists’ views. September 15, 1874, Elder J. N. Andrews left this country for that field of labor. December 25, 1875, Elder D. T. Bourdeau left his work in America to join Elder Andrews in the European mission field, where he arrived January 7, 1876. November 17, 1877, three others went from America to assist Elder Andrews in the work in Europe, arriving in December following.
Elder J. Erztenberger, one of the two referred to as having visited this country, is laboring successfully in Germany where there is now a body of Sabbath-keepers. Dr. Ribton is laboring successfully in Italy, and is gathering noble souls about him. He calls for a monthly and other publications in Italian which will soon be issued.
Sabbath-keepers have also been discovered in Holland, Hungary, and Russia.
FUNDAMENTAL PRINCIPLES OF S. D. ADVENTISTS.
As already stated, S. D. Adventists have no creed but the Bible; but they hold to certain well defined points of faith, for which they feel prepared to give a reason to every man that asketh them. The following propositions may be taken as a summary of the principal features of their religious faith, upon which there is, so far as we know, entire unanimity throughout the body. They believe:—
I. That there is one God, a personal, spiritual being, the creator of all things, omnipotent, omniscient, and eternal, infinite in wisdom, holiness, justice, goodness, truth, and mercy; unchangeable, and everywhere present by his representative, the Holy Spirit. Ps. 139:7.
II. That there is one Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of the Eternal Father, the one by whom God created all things, and by whom they do consist; that he took on him the nature of the seed of Abraham for the redemption of our fallen race; that he dwelt among men, full of grace and truth, lived our example, died our sacrifice, was raised for our justification, ascended on high to be our only mediator in the sanctuary in Heaven, where, with his own blood, he makes atonement for our sins; which atonement, so far from being made on the cross, which was but the offering of the sacrifice, is the very last portion of his work as priest, according to the example of the Levitical priesthood, which foreshadowed and prefigured the ministry of our Lord in Heaven. See Lev. 16; Heb. 8:4, 5; 9:6, 7.
III. That the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments were given by inspiration of God, contain a full revelation of his will to man, and are the only infallible rule of faith and practice.
IV. That baptism is an ordinance of the Christian church, to follow faith and repentance, an ordinance by which we commemorate the resurrection of Christ, as by this act we show our faith in his burial and resurrection, and through that, in the resurrection of all the saints at the last day; and that no other mode fitly represents these facts than that which the Scriptures prescribe, namely, immersion. Rom. 6:3–5; Col. 2:12.
V. That the new birth comprises the entire change necessary to fit us for the kingdom of God, and consists of two parts: First, a moral change, wrought by conversion and a Christian life; secondly, a physical change at the second coming of Christ, whereby, if dead, we are raised incorruptible, and, if living, are changed to immortality in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye. John 3:3, 5; Luke 20:36; 1 Cor. 15:51, 52.
VI. We believe that prophecy is a part of God’s revelation to man; that it is included in that scripture which is profitable for instruction; 2 Tim. 3:16; that it is designed for us and our children; Deut. 29:29; that so far from being enshrouded in impenetrable mystery, it is that which especially constitutes the word of God a lamp to our feet and a light to our path; Ps. 119:105; 2 Pet. 1:19; that a blessing is pronounced upon those who study it; Rev. 1:1–3; and that, consequently, it is to be understood by the people of God, sufficiently to show them their position in the world’s history, and the special duties required at their hands.
VII. That the world’s history from specified dates in the past, the rise and fall of empires, and chronological succession of events down to the setting up of God’s everlasting kingdom, are outlined in numerous great chains of prophecy; and that these prophecies are now all fulfilled except the closing scenes.
VIII. That the doctrine of the world’s conversion and temporal millennium is a fable of these last days, calculated to lull men into a state of carnal security, and cause them to be overtaken by the great day of the Lord as by a thief in the night; that the second coming of Christ is to precede, not follow, the millennium; for until the Lord appears, the papal power, with all its abominations, is to continue, the wheat and tares grow together, and evil men and seducers wax worse and worse, as the word of God declares.
IX. That the mistake of Adventists in 1844 pertained to the nature of the event then to transpire, not to the time; that no prophetic period is given to reach to the second advent, but that the longest one, the two thousand and three hundred days of Dan. 8:14, terminated in that year and brought us to an event called the cleansing of the sanctuary.
X. That the sanctuary of the new covenant is the tabernacle of God in Heaven, of which Paul speaks in Hebrews 8, and onward, of which our Lord, as great High Priest, is minister; that this sanctuary is the antitype of the Mosaic tabernacle, and that the priestly work of our Lord, connected therewith, is the antitype of the work of the Jewish priests of the former dispensation; Heb. 8:1–5, etc.; that this is the sanctuary to be cleansed at the end of the 2300 days, what is termed the cleansing being in this case, as in the type, simply the entrance of the high priest into the most holy place, to finish the round of service connected therewith, by blotting out and removing from the sanctuary the sins which had been transferred to it by means of the ministration in the first apartment; Heb. 9:22, 23; and that this work, in the antitype, commencing in 1844, occupies a brief but indefinite space, at the conclusion of which the work of mercy for the world will be finished, and the second advent of Christ will take place.
XI. That God’s moral requirements are the same upon all men in all dispensations; that these are summarily contained in the commandments spoken by Jehovah from Sinai, engraven on the tables of stone, and deposited in the ark, which was in consequence called the “ark of the covenant,” or testament; Num. 10:33; Heb. 9:4; that this law is immutable and perpetual, being a transcript of the tables deposited in the ark in the true sanctuary on high, which is also, for the same reason, called the ark of God’s testament; for under the sounding of the seventh trumpet we are told that “the temple of God was opened in Heaven, and there was seen in his temple the ark of his testament.” Rev. 11:19.
XII. That the fourth commandment of this law requires that we devote the seventh day of each week, commonly called Saturday, to abstinence from our own labor, and to the performance of sacred and religious duties; that this is the only weekly Sabbath known to the Bible, being the day that was set apart before paradise was lost, Gen. 2:2, 3, and which will be observed in paradise restored, Isa. 66:22, 23; that the facts upon which the Sabbath institution is based confine it to the seventh day, as they are not true of any other day; and that the terms Jewish Sabbath and Christian Sabbath, as applied to the weekly rest-day, are names of human invention, unscriptural in fact, and false in meaning.
XIII. That, as the man of sin, the papacy, has thought to change times and laws (the law of God), Dan. 7:25, and has misled almost all Christendom in regard to the fourth commandment, we find a prophecy of a reform in this respect to be wrought among believers just before the coming of Christ. Isa. 56:1, 2; 1 Pet. 1:5; Rev. 14:12, etc.
XIV. That, as the natural or carnal heart is at enmity with God and his law, this enmity can be subdued only by a radical transformation of the affections, the exchange of unholy for holy principles; that this transformation follows repentance and faith, is the special work of the Holy Spirit, and constitutes regeneration, or conversion.
XV. That as all have violated the law of God and cannot of themselves render obedience to his just requirements, we are dependent on Christ, first, for justification from our past offenses, and, secondly, for grace whereby to render acceptable obedience to his holy law in time to come.
XVI. That the Spirit of God was promised to manifest itself in the church through certain gifts, enumerated especially in 1 Cor. 12, and Eph. 4; that these gifts are not designed to supersede, or take the place of, the Bible, which is sufficient to make us wise unto salvation, any more than the Bible can take the place of the Holy Spirit; that, in specifying the various channels of its operation, that Spirit has simply made provision for its own existence and presence with the people of God to the end of time, to lead to an understanding of that word which it had inspired, to convince of sin, and work a transformation in the heart and life; and that those who deny to the Spirit its place and operation do plainly deny that part of the Bible which assigns to it this work and position.
XVII. That God, in accordance with his uniform dealings with the race, sends forth a proclamation of the approach of the second advent of Christ; that this work is symbolized by the three messages of Rev. 14, the last one bringing to view the work of reform on the law of God, that his people may acquire a complete readiness for that event.
XVIII. That the time of the cleansing of the sanctuary (see proposition 10), synchronizing with the time of the proclamation of the third message, is a time of investigative judgment, first, with reference to the dead, and, at the close of probation, with reference to the living, to determine who of the myriads now sleeping in the dust of the earth are worthy of a part in the first resurrection, and who of its living multitudes are worthy of translation—points which must be determined before the Lord appears.
XIX. That the grave, whither we all tend, expressed by the Hebrew sheol and the Greek hades, is a place of darkness in which there is no work, device, wisdom, nor knowledge. Eccl. 9:10.
XX. That the state to which we are reduced by death is one of silence, inactivity, and entire unconsciousness. Ps. 146:4; Eccl. 9:5, 6; Dan. 12:2, etc.
XXI. That out of this prison-house of the grave, mankind are to be brought by a bodily resurrection; the righteous having part in the first resurrection, which takes place at the second coming of Christ; the wicked in the second resurrection, which takes place a thousand years thereafter. Rev. 20:4–6.
XXII. That at the last trump, the living righteous are to be changed in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, and with the resurrected righteous are to be caught up to meet the Lord in the air, so forever to be with the Lord.
XXIII. That these immortalized ones are then taken to Heaven, to the New Jerusalem, the Father’s house in which there are many mansions, John 14:1–3, where they reign with Christ a thousand years, judging the world and fallen angels, that is, apportioning the punishment to be executed upon them at the close of the one thousand years; Rev. 20:4; 1 Cor. 6:2, 3; that during this time the earth lies in a desolate and chaotic condition, Jer. 4:20–27, described, as in the beginning, by the Greek term abyssos, bottomless pit (Septuagint of Gen. 1:2); and that here Satan is confined during the thousand years; Rev. 20:1, 2; and here finally destroyed; Rev. 20:10; Mal. 4:1; the theater of the ruin he has wrought in the universe, being appropriately made for a time his gloomy prison-house, and then the place of his final execution.
XXIV. That at the end of the thousand years, the Lord descends with his people and the New Jerusalem, Rev. 21:2, the wicked dead are raised and come up upon the surface of the yet unrenewed earth, and gather about the city, the camp of the saints, Rev. 20:9, and fire comes down from God out of heaven and devours them. They are then consumed root and branch, Mal. 4:1, becoming as though they had not been. Obad. 15, 16. In this everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, 2 Thess. 1:9, the wicked meet the everlasting punishment threatened against them. Matt. 25:46. This is the perdition of ungodly men, the fire that consumes them being the fire for which “the heavens and the earth which are now” are kept in store, which shall melt even the elements with its intensity, and purge the earth from the deepest stains of the curse of sin. 2 Pet. 3:7–12.
XXV. That new heavens and a new earth shall spring by the power of God from the ashes of the old, and this renewed earth, with the New Jerusalem for its metropolis and capital, shall be the eternal inheritance of the saints, the place where the righteous shall evermore dwell. 2 Pet. 3:13; Ps. 37:11, 29; Matt. 5:5.
ORGANIZATION OF CHURCHES.
This is exceedingly simple. A body of believers associate together, taking the name of Seventh-day Adventists, and attaching their names to a covenant simply to keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus. The Bible is their only creed. A clerk is chosen to keep the records of the church, and an elder, elected by vote of the church, is ordained to look after its spiritual interests. If the church is large, its temporal affairs are assigned to one or more deacons, chosen by vote of the church for this purpose. They hold that the Greek terms for elder, bishop, and pastor, signify the same officer, which is a local officer, confined to a particular church. These need not be ordained ministers. Evangelists are ordained ministers, who travel from place to place to preach the gospel and are the only ones competent to ordain local elders and deacons.
Christ in You
Many talk familiarly of sanctification in the lump, who know but little of it in the piece. The readiest way to know that you are in Christ, is to know whether Christ be in you.
Elders Grant and Cornell.
By James White
THESE two men have publicly discussed the Sabbath question in New Hampshire, Massachusetts and in California, Elder Cornell affirming the perpetuity of the Sabbath and Elder Grant denying. Elder Grant still manifests hostility, not only against the Sabbath itself but against those who observe and teach this ancient institution. Elder Cornell, we are sad to say, is silent. From his silence some doubtless infer that he has left the Sabbath. Elder Grant has taken advantage of this in a manner. As much as we regret Elder Cornell’s silence, and pity him in his condition which disqualifies him to go before the public in defense of sacred truth, we are glad to give him opportunity to speak for himself through the Review as follows:—
“I have seen the statement of Miles Grant in the Crisis, that I had given up the Sabbath, &c., and I wish to say that it is utterly without foundation in fact. I have not ‘left off keeping the seventh day,’ neither do I ever expect to, except from week to week. I only leave off keeping it on Saturday night at sunset, and take it up again the next Friday night at sunset.
“The impression conveyed in the Crisis is most unqualifiedly false, and I conclude that ‘the wish was father to the thought.’ I would assure Elder Miles Grant, and all others, that, should occasion require, I could just as zealously and conscientiously defend the Sabbath of the Lord against their attacks as ever I did in the past.
“No! it is well understood by all who reside in this vicinity that I do religiously observe the Bible Sabbath for Bible reasons. Whatever may come, I expect to continue its observance to the end. I have known some to give up the Sabbath through discouragements, but never one for what he supposed to be Bible reasons. I have never for one moment entertained a doubt as to the obligation of the seventh-day Sabbath since I began to observe it twenty-six years ago. Respectfully, M. E. CORNELL.”
J. W.
The Order of Events in the Judgment.
By John Nevins Andrews
NUMBER FOUR.
God the Father is in his own right the Supreme Judge of men and of angels. He purposes to bring all mankind into judgment. Yet this work is only done in part by himself in person. It is by Jesus Christ that God is to perform the larger part of this immense work. The following proposition is worthy of serious consideration:—
1. God the Father opens the judgment in person, then crowns his Son king, and commits the judgment to him.
Dan. 7 : 9-14: “I beheld till the thrones were cast down, and the Ancient of Days did sit, whose garment was white as snow, and the hair of his head like the pure wool ; his throne was like the fiery flame, and his wheels as burning fire. A fiery stream issued and came forth from before him ; thousand thousands ministered unto him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him ; the judgment was set, and the books were opened. I beheld then, because of the voice of the great words which the horn spake, I beheld even till the beast was slain, and his body destroyed and given to the burning flame. As concerning the rest of the beasts, they had their dominion taken away ; yet their lives were prolonged for a season and time. I saw in the night visions, and, behold, one like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of Days, and they brought him near before him. And there was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages, should serve him ; his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed.”
The Ancient of Days represents God the Father. That one like the Son of man, who came to the Ancient of Days, is none other than our Lord Jesus Christ ; Matt. 26 : 64 ; Mark 14 : 61, 62. It is, therefore, not the Son, but the Father who sits in judgment as described in this vision. Those who stand in his presence either to minister, or to wait, are not men, but angels. This is a very important fact. Every student of the Bible is aware that the book of Revelation is a wonderful counterpart to the book of Daniel. This very phraseology respecting those in the presence of the Ancient of Days, is made use of in the Revelation, and with the evident design of showing who are the persons intended by Daniel.
Thus John says : “And I beheld, and I heard the voice of many angels round about the throne, and the beasts, and the elders ; and the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand and thousands of thousands.” Rev. 5 : 11.
Daniel describes the opening scene of the final judgment. The Father presides as judge. The angels of God are present as ministers and witnesses. At this tribunal the Son of man presents himself to receive the dominion of the world. Here he is crowned King of kings, and Lord of lords. But men are not present to witness this part of the judgment, or to behold the coronation of Christ. It is the Father and the Son and the holy angels who compose this grand assembly. Our Lord cannot act as judge, so long as he ministers as high priest to make intercession for them that come unto God through him. Heb. 7 : 24, 25. Nor can he act as judge until he is clothed with kingly power ; for it is by virtue of his authority as king that he pronounces the decision of the judgment. Matt. 25 : 34, 40. The coronation of our Lord at the judgment-seat of his Father marks the termination of his priesthood, and invests him with that sovereign authority by which he shall judge the world.
2. The Ancient of Days does not hold the session of the judgment, described in Dan. 7, upon this earth.
Those who think this session of judgment by the Father is to transpire upon our earth, understand that the “ten thousand times ten thousand” who stand before him, are the vast multitude of the human family, standing at his bar for judgment. But as this vision represents the Son as coming to the Father when he is thus seated in judgment, it follows that if the Father is already upon this earth judging its inhabitants when the Son of God comes the second time, then the Father does not send his Son to the earth, but he comes first, and then the Son comes and joins him. Yet Peter said of the Father concerning Christ’s second advent: “He shall send Jesus Christ.” Acts 3 : 20.
It would also follow that instead of the Son of man coming to gather his saints from the four quarters of the earth, he comes to find all mankind gathered at his Father’s bar. But we do know that when the Saviour comes he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and shall gather his elect from the four winds, even from the uttermost parts of the earth. Matt. 24 : 31 ; Mark 13 : 27 ; 2 Thess. 2 : 1.
But should this difficulty be avoided by adopting the truth that those who stand before the Ancient of Days are angels, as those certainly must be who minister unto him, it follows that our Lord in coming back to our earth thus preceded by his Father and the holy angels, comes unattended and alone. But this cannot be true; for when Jesus comes again it will be with all the holy angels. Matt. 25 : 31 ; 16 : 27 ; 2 Thess. 1 : 7, 8.
Again, the Saviour is crowned king at the judgment-seat of the Father. But that judgment-seat cannot be upon our earth, else the Saviour would have to return to this earth to be crowned ; whereas he receives his kingdom while absent, and returns as King of kings, sitting upon the throne of his glory. Luke 19 : 11, 12, 15 ; Matt. 25 : 31 ; 2 Tim. 4 : 1 ; Rev. 19 : 11–16.
It is certain, therefore, that the judgment scene described in Dan. 7 does not transpire upon our earth. Indeed, were it true that immediately preceding the descent of the Saviour to our earth, God the Father should himself descend in his own infinite majesty, and summon mankind to his bar, and enter into judgment with them, the subsequent advent of Jesus would hardly be taken notice of at all by men. But such is not the truth in the case. Matt. 24 : 29–31 ; 25 : 31, 32 ; Mark 13 : 26, 27 ; Luke 21 : 25–27, 36 ; 1 Thess. 4 : 14–18 ; 2 Thess. 1 : 7–10.
3. This session of the judgment by the Ancient of Days precedes the advent of Christ to our earth.
When our Lord comes again he is a king seated upon his own throne. Matt. 25 : 31 ; Luke 19 : 11, 12, 15 ; Rev. 19 : 11–16. But the tribunal of the Father is the very time and place where this coronation occurs. Dan. 7 : 7–14. It must then precede his advent.
When he comes the second time it is “in the glory of his Father.” Matt. 16 : 27 ; Mark 8 : 38 ; Luke 9 : 26 ; 2 Thess. 1 : 7, 8. But it is when the Father sits in judgment that he gives this glory to his Son. Dan. 7 : 14. Indeed, the very majesty of the Father as displayed at this tribunal, will attend the Son when he is revealed in flaming fire to take vengeance on his enemies. 2 Thess. 1 : 7–10 ; Ps. 1 : 3–6 ; Matt. 24 : 30, 31 ; Matt. 25 : 31. We are certain, therefore, that the revelation of Christ in his infinite glory is subsequent to that tribunal at which that glory is given to him.
On this occasion the Father is judge in person, and the Son presents himself to receive the kingdom. But when the Son of man comes to our earth, having received the kingdom, he acts as judge himself. 2 Tim. 4 : 1. But it is evident that our Lord’s work as judge is at a later point of time than that judgment scene at which the Father presides. We are certain, therefore, that the tribunal of Dan. 7 : 9–14, precedes the descent of our Lord from Heaven. 1 Thess. 4 : 14–18.
4. The coming of the Son of man to the Ancient of Days, is not the same event as his second advent to our world.
This has been proven already in the examination of other points. Thus it has been shown from the coronation of Christ, that the second advent must be at a later time than the Saviour’s act of coming to his Father in Dan. 7 : 13, 14, to receive the kingdom. Again, to make this the second advent, we must have God the Father and the host of his angels here upon our earth when the Saviour comes again. But this, as has been shown, involves the contradiction of the plainest facts. We cannot, therefore, doubt that the coming of Jesus to the Ancient of Days as he sits in judgment, is an event preceding his second advent to our earth.
5. The coming of the Ancient of Days, in this vision of Daniel’s, is not to this world, but to the place of this judgment scene. With regard to the place of this tribunal we will speak hereafter. We have already proven that this session of the judgment precedes the second advent, and that it is not held upon our earth. This fact establishes the truthfulness of this proposition.
6. The destruction of the little horn does not take place at the time when the Ancient of Days sits in judgment, but at a point still later when the Son of man descends in flaming fire.
We have proved that when our Lord comes to this earth the second time, he comes as king, and must therefore come from the tribunal of his Father ; for at that tribunal the kingdom is given to him. But the man of sin, or little horn, is destroyed by the brightness of Christ’s coming. 2 Thess. 2 : 8 ; 1 : 7–10. Whence it follows that the destruction of the little horn is not at the Father’s judgment seat, but at the advent of his Son, at a still later point of time. But were it true that the judgment scene of Dan. 7 is opened by the personal revelation of God the Father to the inhabitants of our earth, we may be sure that there would be no man of sin left to be destroyed afterward by the brightness of the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
We have already proved that the destruction of this wicked power is when Christ comes to our earth ; and that he does not thus come till he has first attended in person this tribunal of his Father. And to this statement agree the words of verse 11 : “I beheld then because of the voice of the great words which the horn spake: I beheld even till the beast was slain, and his body destroyed, and given to the burning flame.” It appears that even while this grand tribunal was in session, the attention of the prophet was called by the Spirit of God to the great words which the horn was speaking. “I beheld then because of the voice of the great words which the horn spake.” But Daniel does not represent his destruction as coming at once even then. He says : “I beheld even till the beast was slain, and his body destroyed, and given to the burning flame.” The period of time covered by this “till” is thus filled up: The Son of God comes to his Father’s judgment seat and receives the dominion, and the glory, and the kingdom ; then descends to our earth in flaming fire, like that which comes forth from before his Father, and by the brightness of his advent destroys the little horn. 2 Thess. 1 : 2.61It is when our Lord thus comes, that this wicked power is given to the burning flame.
And this is really the very point marked in verses 21 and 22 for the termination of the war against the saints. “I beheld, and the same horn made war with the saints, and prevailed against them ; until the Ancient of Days came, and judgment was given to the saints of the Most High, and the time came that the saints possessed the kingdom.” But, even while the Most High sits in judgment to determine the cases of his saints, the little horn is, according to verse 11, uttering great words against God. When, however, the saints have passed the test of this examination, and are counted worthy of the kingdom of God, their Lord, being crowned king, returns to gather them to himself. It is at this very point of time, the advent of the Lord Jesus, that judgment is given to the saints of the Most High, as is proved by comparing 1 Cor. 6 : 2, 3, with 1 Cor. 4 : 5. And thus we have marked again the advent of Christ as the point of time for the destruction of this wicked power.
7. The destruction of the little horn is not the same event as the taking away of his dominion. Compare verses 11 and 26. The one follows after the sitting of the Ancient of Days in judgment ; but the other precedes it by a certain space of time. Yet, if we read the chapter without strict attention, we would be very likely to conclude that not the little horn alone, but each of the first three beasts had their dominion taken away at the judgment. See verses 11, 12, 26. This, however, cannot be. For the dominion of the first beast was taken away by the second, though his life was spared ; and so of each one to the last. But the little horn has a special dominion over the saints for “a time and times and the dividing of time,” or 1260 prophetic days (see verse 25 ; Rev. 12 : 6, 14), which is taken away at the end of that period. There remains even then a space of time to “the end,” during which, his dominion is consumed and destroyed. He wars against the saints, however, and prevails until the judgment is given to the saints at the advent of Christ (1 Cor. 4 : 5 ; 6 : 2, 3 ; Rev. 20 : 4), when he is given to the burning flames. Verse 11 ; 2 Thess. 2 : 8.
8. The coronation of Christ at the judgment seat of the Father is the same event as the standing up of Michael. Compare Dan. 7 : 13, 14 ; 12 : 1. For Michael is Christ, and his standing up is his beginning to reign. Michael is the name borne by our Lord as the ruler of the angelic host. It signifies, “He who is like God.” See Dr. A. Clarke on Dan. 10 : 13, and Jude 9. This must be our Lord. See Heb. 1 : 3. He is called the archangel. Jude 9. This term signifies prince of angels, or chief of the angelic host. See Dr. A. Clarke on Jude 9 ; also Barnes’ notes on the same ; also Watson’s Theological Dictionary. But this is the very office of our divine Lord. Heb. 1. Michael is the great prince that standeth for the children of God. Also he is called our prince. See Dan. 10 : 21 ; 12 : 1. But this can be no other than Christ. Acts 5 : 31.
The standing up of Michael is his assumption of kingly power. See the use of this term in Dan. 11 : 2, 3, 4, 7, 20, 21. But it is Jesus who takes the throne of the kingdom, and not an angel. Dan. 7 : 13, 14 ; Ps. 2 : 6–12. Our Lord receives his dominion from his Father’s judgment seat. Dan. 7. A great time of trouble follows, at which Christ delivers every one found written in the book. This is a plain reference to the examination of the books shown in the previous vision. Compare Dan. 12 : 1 ; 7 : 9, 10. This shows that the judgment scene, of Dan. 7, relates to the righteous, and that it precedes their final deliverance at the advent of Christ. The thrones of Dan. 7 : 9, will be noticed hereafter.
J. N. A.
The Millennium.
By James White
The doctrine of the world's conversion is still held by men in high position without that evidence which is found in the Scriptures or in existing facts relative to the condition of men and nations. Long have we heard that this happy state of things was to be introduced by the nations beating their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks, meaning that our armies would be dismissed, then armies would be discharged to engage in agriculture. But the present aspect is most gloomy. The nineteenth century has been regarded as one of great progress. It is even asserted that the coming good time is near, and that the millennium is right upon us.
But let facts speak. The following, clipped from the Bible Banner, gives the stately figures of 200,000,000 of men lost in the wars of this very hundred years which is supposed to introduce the millennium. Read the following, under the caption of
WASTE OF HUMAN LIFE.
A French statistician has taken the trouble to make an elaborate estimate of the number of human beings killed in battle, or carried off by disease, during the wars of the nineteenth century—the century, as he grimly observes, of “progress, of science, and humanity.” The statistics deduced by the New York World from the paper of this statistician show that, notwithstanding the “general peace” which reigned between the “great powers,” with little or no interruption from the downfall of Napoleon, in 1815, to the Crimean war, in 1854, and it is literally true that civilized men have been fighting in one part of the world or another, without cessation, ever since this model century began. The great wars of the French Empire raged from 1801 to 1815, with secondary fighting during the same period in the New World between Spain and her colonies after 1809 and 1810, and between England and the United States in 1812. The war of Greek independence broke out in 1822, and the Legitimist invasion of Spain by France took place in 1823, leaving that country a legacy of merciless civil conflicts not yet worked out to their consummation. The Russo-Turkish war of 1828 followed, which ended, as Count Moltke puts it, “in bringing 20,000 Russians to Adrianople at the cost of 50,000 lives and a thousand millions of roubles.” After this came the French invasion of Algiers, the Franco-Belgic war against Holland, the bloody and resultless Polish insurrection, the wars between Mehemet Ali and the Sultan, the war of the Swiss Sonderbund, the American war with Mexico, the revolutionary outbreaks of 1843 all over the Continent, the desperate struggle between insurgent Italy and Austria, and the Hungarian war in which Nicholas of Russia so madly intervened to save the Austrian Empire, in order that they might decide the defeat of Russia six years afterwards. “The Crimean war, in 1854, shook to pieces the system of 1815. It was followed by the Indian mutiny, by the French expedition to Syria, by the Franco-Italian war of 1859, by the civil war in the United States, by the Anglo-French expedition to China, by the Danish war, by the allied war with Paraguay, by the French invasion of Mexico, by the Austro-Prussian war of 1866, by the Cuban insurrection, by the Franco-German war of 1870, and by the great Russo-Turkish war now waging.” The statistician who has undertaken to compute the losses in the way of human life alone inflicted upon our century by all these wars and conflicts (and the catalogue is by no means complete) sums them up, on the faith of the best official data, at 200,000,000 of men. In other words, “the science and energy of the nineteenth century have been so applied as to deprive civilization of the use and service of a number of able-bodied male human beings five times as large as the total population of these United States.” J. W.
The Side of Regrets.
By Uriah Smith
REGRETS are not pleasant. Every considerate person wishes to avoid all occasion for them, and will do so if possible. We do not consider a person wise who deliberately enters and dwells upon ground which he well knows bears only the bitter fruits of repentance and regret.
Yet how often, and how extensively, is this very course pursued in spiritual things. On which side in spiritual life do regrets lie? On the side of zeal and activity? or on the side of indifference and backsliding? Who ever heard a person regretting that he had been too much engaged in the cause of God, and lived too near to him, and enjoyed too much of his blessing? On the other hand, who has not heard persons regret that they had not lived nearer to God, and been more faithful in the discharge of their Christian duties?
Here is where the regrets come in, and where they are sure to come if the person ever recovers from his backsliding. Yet with this inflexible rule, this unavoidable certainty before them, people pass on weeks, months, even years, letting slip Heaven's richest blessings, and heaping up work for future repentance and sorrow of heart. Is not the strong language of Christ to his unconverted disciples applicable—“Oh! fools and slow of heart?”