Earlier text: NATURE AND DESTINY OF MAN"LET us therefore fear, lest, a promise being left us of entering into his rest, any of you should seem to come short of it." Verse 1. Whose rest is here referred to, by the expression "his rest?" To determine this, we must go back to chapter iii, where the subject is introduced. There God speaks of the apostasy of Israel in the wilderness, and says, "Wherefore I was grieved with that generation. . . . So I swear in my wrath, They shall not enter into my rest." Verses 10, 11. The rest, then, is God's rest. Now what is God's rest, and from what point does it date? An answer to these questions will explain the allusions to the work of creation and the seventh-day Sabbath in chap. iv, 3, 4. The works [God's works in creation] were finished from the foundation of the world. For he spoke in a certain place of the seventh day [Syr. Sabbath] on this wise, And God did rest the seventh day from all his works." God's rest is thus defined to be his rest after his creative work, on the first seventh day of time, and to date from that point. And we understand that allusion is here made to the Sabbath simply to show what God's rest is, and from what point it is to date. The Sabbath is not here referred to as a type of our future rest neither as the rest promised to the fathers, nor as that given by Joshua, nor as having been superseded by the "rest that remains." But there is a promise left us of entering into his rest. What is it for us to enter into the rest of God, and how is it to be accomplished, and when? The cases of certain ones who fell in the former dispensation are held up before us as warnings to us against cherishing within us an evil heart of unbelief, and as a spur to our faith. These persons came short of entering into some rest promised in the past. What rest was that? Answer. The rest of Canaan. When God foretold to Abraham the bondage of his seed in a strange land, he also foretold him that they should come forth and possess the land of Canaan. When Moses was raised up to lead Israel out of Egypt in accordance with this promise, God told him that his presence should go with him and he would give him rest. Ex. xxxiii, 14. And when they drew near to the promised land, and Reuben, Gad, and the half tribe of Manasseh desired their portion on the east side of Jordan, the Lord told them that they should pass over the river and assist their brethren till he should give them rest also. Moses not being permitted to enter the land, the people were led in by Joshua. And when they had displaced the inhabitants, whom on account of their loathsome abominations the land was compelled to spew out, Joshua assured his people that in the possession of Canaan which they had then acquired, the Lord had fulfilled all that he had promised the fathers concerning the occupation of that land, and that he had given them rest round about, according to all that he had sworn to this end. The land of Canaan, then, was called a rest. It was a rest promised to the seed of Abraham. It was the rest into which some could not enter on account of unbelief, and who consequently perished in the wilderness. But was that the full rest contemplated in the promise? God has promised his people that they shall enter into his rest. Joshua gave them all that was promised concerning the rest in Canaan. Yet says Paul in Heb. iv, 8, "If Joshua [margin] had given them rest," that is, the full rest embraced in the promise made of God to the fathers, "then would he not afterward have spoken of another day." If the rest given by Joshua was not the complete rest contained in the promise, it becomes at once certain that there "remaineth a rest," which will meet the provisions of the promise. What rest is this and when shall we enter upon it? This rest like the rest of Canaan, is preceded by a day of trial. David mentions it in Psalm, xcv. "To-day if ye will hear his voice." Paul says, "Again he limiteth a certain day saying in David, To-day, after so long a time; as it is said, To-day if ye will hear his voice harden not your hearts." And this is the other day or period that was "spoken of" or allotted, because the rest given by Joshua was not the full rest contemplated by the promise. The period that is meant by this language we learn from verses 14 and 15 of chap. iii: "For we are made partakers of Christ, if we hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast unto the end, while it is said, To-day, if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts as in the provocation." The provocation was the forty years of temptation in the wilderness, while Israel was journeying to the promised land, during which time Moses was faithful in all his house. The time covered by the expression, "To-day if ye will hear his voice," is the time during which Christ occupies the place of "a son over his own house, whose house are we." Verse 6. In other words it is the present, or what is commonly called the gospel, dispensation. Then what is the rest that remains for the people of God, and for which this dispensation is preparatory? If Canaan was not the rest contemplated in the promise, what is? Rom. iv, 15, tells us: "For the promise, that he should be the heir of the world, was not to Abraham, or to his seed, through the law, but through the righteousness of faith." Then the promise to Abraham was not only that his seed should temporarily possess the land of Canaan, but that he, and the nations that should be blessed in him, should ultimately possess the whole world; not, of course, in its present state, but when it shall have been renewed and freed from the curse forever. We need no plainer declaration, that the promise looks over into the new earth; and that that is the rest that remains to the people of God where they shall enjoy peace, and quietness, and assurance forever. From the contrast which Paul draws between the two rests of Heb. iii, and iv, and between Moses and Christ, Joshua and Christ, the house of Israel and the household of faith, we understand at once the relation that exists between them: It is that of type and antitype. As Moses and Joshua were types of Christ, and the house of Israel a type of the household of faith, so the rest of Canaan was a type of the glorious rest of the new earth, yet in store for the redeemed. But if the rest that remains is yet future, it may be asked how Paul can say in verse 3, "For we which have believed do enter into rest?" We reply that it is very evident that the rest is yet future; for it is promised only on condition that we hold fast to the end. Chap. iii, 6, 14. It is set forth as an object to be sought after. "Let us labor, therefore, to enter into that rest." Chap. iv, 11. Let us fear lest finally we come short of it. We have been accustomed to argue in reference to immortality, that the fact that we are exhorted to seek for it, shows that we do not now have it; for God would never counsel us to seek for that which we already possess. We may apply the same reasoning to the promised rest of Heb. iv. If, then, verse 3 is to be taken in the present tense, we must understand it the same as those texts which declare that we have eternal life; and that we have redemption through Christ's blood. John vi, 54; Eph. i, 7; Col. i, 14; 1 Jno. v, 18. The righteous are not yet in reality in possession of these blessings; but they have them by faith; that being the substance of things hoped for, and the evidence of things not seen. And in no other sense can we be said in the present tense to enter into that rest. It is sure to us if we hold fast our belief, and are steadfast unto the end. But some translations give this a future meaning. Wakefield translates it, "For we believe are to go into that rest." Translating it in this manner, the idea cannot be mistaken. A more literal rendering of the Greek, would perhaps be, "We, having believed, enter into the rest;" which carries the same idea, namely, that we are not to enter into the rest till the time of our probation, or the period in which we are to exercise belief, is accomplished. A query may arise on verse 10: "For he that is entered into his rest, he also hath entered from his own works as God did from his." To whom does this refer? We think to the believer. And this language, whether it was spoken for this object or not, does most effectually cut off the idea that this rest is to be enjoyed in this present state. For so long as a person is engaged in "working out his salvation with fear and trembling," so long as he is laboring to enter into this rest, so long he is not enjoying the rest for which he is seeking. But this work and labor is to continue on our part till the end; consequently till then we do not enter into that rest. But after our race is run, and our warfare accomplished, then, just as God rested from his creative work, and was refreshed, and took delight in the result of his labor, so the believer rests from all the labors of his probationary pilgrimage, and enters upon the full fruition of his hope. But why does Paul in speaking of the rests that remains, use a word that signifies according to the margin, the keeping of a Sabbath? Verse 9. Answer. On account of the allusion to the Sabbath at the beginning. God's rest, as we have seen dated from the completion of creation. And it was doubtless the purpose of God that man, in perfect communion of spirit with his Maker, should share in the joy and glory of rest from that time on. We understand this rest as synonymous with the kingdom, which though now future, Christ assures us was prepared from the foundation of the world. It was God's design that man should take the kingdom at that time. But man by sin lost dominion. Just as Israel by their rebellion against God were made to wander forty years in the wilderness, whereas if they had proved faithful and obedient, they might have journeyed direct to Canaan, so man by sinning at the beginning, was driven out of the rest prepared for him, and put upon a long period of 6000 years probation. But that round of years is almost completed. We are drawing near to paradise again; and then man shall be brought back to the kingdom, back to the rest, prepared for him at the beginning. We may not have noticed every query or difficulty that may exist with many in regard to this chapter; but to our own mind it is a clear and comforting portion of scripture. The thoughts which we have designed to offer may be summed up as follows: 1. The rest which we are promised, was, like the kingdom, prepared for us at the foundation of the world. 2. Man by sin was thrown out of it for 6000 years. 3. A type of it was given to us in the possession of Canaan by the Jews. 4. We occupy the same relation to the future heavenly rest, that Israel coming out of Egypt did to the rest of Canaan. 5. As those who fell in the wilderness came short of that rest through unbelief, so there is danger of our coming short of the future rest through the same means. 6. This rest will be given to us at the close of this dispensation; for Paul says, 2 Thess. i, 7, "And to you who are troubled," God shall recompense, or grant, "rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from Heaven with his mighty angels." The more we contemplate this subject, the more fully do we enter into sympathy with the apostle's language. Let us labor, therefore, to enter into that rest; and, let us fear, lest, a promise being left us, any of us should come short. What Is Coming Next?
By R. F. Cottrell
The Lord is leading his people or he is not. He has set his hand to the work of uniting and purifying them and thus preparing them for the coming of Jesus, or he has not. If the Lord is not doing a special work for his people, S. D. Adventists are a mistaken and deluded people; for it is their faith that God is fulfilling a prophetic message in them and through them, which has brought them together, and which distinguishes them from all others. If we deny the faith that God is specially leading this people, we must think them a deluded people, and not the people of the Lord. Convince me that the Lord is not leading us, and I will leave this people and look elsewhere for the people of the Lord; for I want to belong to them, and a people built upon a false foundation are not his people. But if the Lord is leading us we shall93 be led aright. Let all decide the question, then, whether the Lord has begun to fulfill the last of the three angels' messages. If he has not, then this is a false and deluded people, and those who would serve God should not go with us, nor countenance our work in the least. But if you believe that this is God's people, you believe the Lord is leading us, and you have no cause to fear that we shall be led wrong. To be consistent, all must take sides for or against our work. It must be received as the work of God, or be rejected as the work of men or devils. But some profess to go with us who go hesitatingly, and in every advance in reform seem to go grudgingly; like the stubborn mule they brace themselves back, and have to be pulled along. They seem to fear to take an advance step, not so much because the step proposed is wrong, but for fear that there is something dreadful ahead. At every step they inquire, What are we coming to next? Those who have confidence in the leading and teaching of the Lord will reply, The Lord has led us aright so far, and we are sure that the next step will be something good—the very thing that we need. To bring us as a people to a healthy state of soul and body, and to make us temples of the Holy Spirit, our attention was called to the injurious, idolatrous and filthy habit of using tobacco. Some thought their liberty was endangered, and though they could bring no argument for tobacco, yet they could seem to anticipate that tea and coffee would be alike rejected, and hence the inquiry came up, What next? And since the Lord is teaching us concerning injurious articles of diet, we may expect that some will anxiously anticipate starvation. What is coming next? Something good, I am sure, I am not for going back into Egypt for fear the Lord will starve us to death. The Lord has great spiritual blessings in store for us, which will be given when we are in readiness to receive them into sanctified vessels, and to use them to his glory. He has honored us in the past in hearing our prayers for the sick &c., as much as he could and not dishonor himself. He honors those who honor him. When we are prepared to honor him in all things, to shine as lights in the world, he will bless us more abundantly. When we learn to deny ourselves of hurtful things, and live truly temperate; when we do all we can to secure a healthy mind in a healthy body; when we purify the temple and use all our powers to the glory of God, the Spirit will come in and take possession. The Lord does not propose to bless our souls and not care for our bodies. A human soul in his account is a person possessing both mind and body; and he has said, "Your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit;" and also, "If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are." The Lord is leading us. He will do nothing to injure us, but all to bless us. Let us cheerfully labor with him for our own good. All is essential and nothing non-essential, of all the light which he is giving us. Let us thankfully receive all the light and walk in it, and we shall soon be prepared to receive his blessing—the out-pouring of his Spirit. Let us willingly move onward in reform, and not doubtingly and grudgingly inquire at every step, What next? Please All Classes.
By Wm. C. Gage
“The entertainments will be such as cannot fail to please all classes. Come one, Come all!” Thus read the advertisement for a social gathering to be given by the Baptist church in ————. And has it come to this, that a religious society can provide an entertainment which will please all classes? Perhaps this is so, yet we think there is one class which could not have been very highly pleased by the levee in question, if any such were present, namely, the humble followers of Christ; and this for several reasons: First, there was no prayer on the occasion, and it must have pained them to see a gathering of professed Christians opened by a comic song, instead of an invocation of the Divine blessing. Again, it must have been anything but pleasing to see the children of church members acquiring in such a place, a taste for games of chance by means of grab-bags, lotteries and fish-ponds, especially as all the faculties for increasing the thirst for gambling are readily furnished the youth of our land, and such an appetite once acquired is with difficulty subdued. In fact a great many “entertainments” were provided on the occasion which must have been displeasing to this class of people, and which we have not space to enumerate. On the other hand what class was that which was most pleased, and of which the audience was mostly composed? Did it comprise the little handful that always attend the prayer-meetings, and whose piety adorns their daily life? or was it those who are oftenest found in scenes of gayery and mirth, the class who are usually first and foremost in getting up social gatherings for festivity, instead of social meetings for prayer? Perhaps nearly all who were present were pleased at the total receipts, in whatever manner they might have been gained, and satisfied their consciences in view of the fact that it was to pay the minister, or for some charitable object. But aside from the mere amusement or pleasure of the occasion, is there not a principle in the matter which is worthy of serious attention? We allude to the practice of gambling, so extensively indulged in at gatherings of this description. However harshly the term may grate upon the sensitive ear, yet it is none too strong a term to use. If a man should walk up to a church-member and say, “I am about to dispose of my horse by lottery and would like to sell you a ticket,” he would proudly answer, “I never gamble!” and yet he will go to a fair of some religious society, and the ladies will gather around him, one with tickets in a beautiful quilt, another in a handsome tea-set, &c. and before they leave him, he will have invested in all the lotteries of the evening, and perhaps will carry home some of the winnings, while his children will have drawn numerous rattles and toys from sundry grab-bags and fish-ponds, or perhaps tried to do so and failed, which in either case, will beget within them a desire to try again, and their next trial may perhaps be made in a game of cards, especially as church-members and even ministers have begun to openly defend the practice of card-playing. That this is the tendency of such operations, cannot be disputed, and is in some degree realized even by those who plan and execute them, yet nobody seems to care, and thus the children and youth are being helped onward to disgrace and ruin, by those whose duty it is to shield them from the vices so destructive to morality and virtue. Oh that nominal Christians might be awakened from their fancied security, and made to see the terrible events just before them, and the preparation necessary to obtain salvation in the day of the coming of the Son of Man. Many Truths in Few Words.
By J. Clark
You would not worship in a house until you had swept it, so we cannot expect to do much for God, until our hearts are cleansed. When children need anything they ask their parents for it, why should we not do the same to our Heavenly Father, in seasons of trial, in war, or famine, or drouth, or pestilence, or want? A profession of humility and teachableness is all very well; but the practice of these virtues is necessary to make such professions valid; just as you sign your name to a note to make it current and of par value. A person should be just as careful of the use of his pen, as of his tongue. Dignity is not increased by pride: humility is the crown of dignity. The test of man is in time of trial. Give me the man who is a man, when and where he is crowded close. Then let him show himself a man, when all around him falter, and he stands out in his calling, noble and true, and others rejoice and take courage. Sanctification is in some respects like education, progressive; he who should assert that he had received an education instantaneously by a single act of the mind, would not be more fanatical than the person who boasts of being perfectly sanctified and made holy in the same length of time. If people would be as careless and inconsistent in their ideas of practical every day worldly affairs, as they are in their opinions upon religious matters, governments would crumble, kingdoms would fall, and nations would soon disappear, in disgraceful idiotic confusion and ruin. The proudest people imagine themselves very condescending. Ignorant people are generally the greatest of bigots, and most full of pride.
J. CLARK. Meetings in Ills.
By R. F. Andrews
Bro. White: Knowing that it interests our brethren and sisters, to hear of the progress of truth, I will give a report of some meetings held in De Kalb Co., Ills. I commenced meetings in the Colton school-house, on Thursday evening the 29th of Dec. last, and continued till the next Tuesday evening. Those that embraced the truth here last summer are holding on still, they meet with a great deal of opposition. There are a number of first-day Advent people here, some of whom would no doubt embrace the truth, were it not for their leaders, who instead of leading the people to the light, lead them into darkness, and instead of contending earnestly for the faith, contend earnestly against it. Some are so bent in opposing that they make statements entirely untrue, calculated to excite bigots and stir up prejudice. The Lord have mercy upon such men. Oh that they might see the unrightousness94 of their course, and that unless they repent and reform, they will have a fearful account to settle at the judgment. At the request of a number of citizens, and after due consideration, I commenced a series of meetings in Shabbona village, four miles from the Colton school-house on Wednesday evening Jan. 4, and continued them till Wednesday evening the 25th. The meetings were well attended. The people paid good attention, and a number have already decided to obey the Lord. Sunday the 22nd, the Methodist minister of the place, made an effort to calm the fears of the people on the Sabbath question. He claimed that the moral law was still binding, the Sabbath also; but claimed that we kept the Sabbath when we rested after six days of labor. He said the time to rest was indefinite. According to his argument, seven families living in the same neighborhood, might each keep a different day for the Sabbath, and all of them keep the fourth commandment. Query: Could they all rest the day God rested? He also stated that Moses changed the Sabbath twice, and quoted Ex. xvi, and Deut. v, 15, to prove it. From this last quotation he argued that Moses changed the Sabbath without any command from God, and without any reference to the original commandment whatever. Wonder if he ever read the entire chapter? He also affirmed that Christ changed the Sabbath. I reviewed him in the evening before a crowded house. The Lord gave liberty in opposing error, and the truth gained a complete victory. After the meeting I took an expression to see how many believed that we ought to keep the Sabbath according to the commandment, when over forty arose, and thus testified their faith in the ancient Sabbath of the Lord. I sold about $25.00 worth of publications and got five new subscribers for the Review. I should have got more, had it not been that the last three evenings of the meeting were so cold, people could not come from a distance. I am now in McLean Co. with Bro. Sanborn. I expect to strike out into a new place immediately. Dear brethren pray for us that the blessing of the Lord may attend our efforts to spread the truth in this county. Yours in hope. R. F. Andrews. McLean Co., Ills., Jan. 27, 1865. Quarterly Meetings in Mich.
By R. J. Lawrence
BRO. WHITE: My last report was from North Liberty, Ind. I gave two discourses six miles west of North Liberty, not much interest. The Methodist friends have opened their meeting-house to our people in North Liberty, in which I gave ten discourses with good effect. There was a deep interest, and three commenced to keep the Sabbath. Jan. 8, Sunday, there was a meeting of the church, and ten united with the church, including those from South Bend. The church are much encouraged. The Lord helped to present the truth. Sabbath and first-day, Jan. 14, and 15, I spent with the church in Hillsdale. I gave five discourses here. They express a determination to overcome. Here I met a colored brother recently escaped from slavery, a regular Baptist preacher. After hearing two or three discourses he became very much wrought upon by the truth. Pray for him that he may see the whole truth. Tuesday the 17th, came to Hanover, and in the evening preached to the church. Met here Bro. Gilbert, from Burlington, who came after me to go with him to visit that place. The brethren here felt disappointed, but kindly submitted. Sabbath the 21st, I met with the church in Jackson. Had a good and interesting meeting. First-day, according to appointment in Review, preached the funeral sermon of sister Weed, daughter of Bro. Weed of Tompkins. The attendance was large. The 24th, 25th, and 26th, I spent with the church at Bunkerhill. On account of severe cold and blustering weather, the attendance was small; but there is a good interest here. I gave three discourses. Sabbath and first-day, the 28th and 29th, I spent with the church in Oneida. Brethren were present from Charlotte and Windsor. I spoke five times, and had a social meeting in which about forty testimonies were given. Also the ordinance of the Lord's supper was celebrated. This was a good, interesting meeting. I arrived home the 30th, after an absence of six weeks and four days, in which time I preached forty-four times, besides other meetings. I found my wife unable to sit up, but recovering from a severe attack of inflammation on the lungs. On the whole this tour has been interesting and profitable. I have visited many at their homes that I have before seen, and formed many new acquaintances that will not be forgotten, but be, I trust, renewed in the kingdom.