Earlier text: Pennsylvania Sunday Observance LawsA LOUD CRY.
By Elder H. A. St. John
"AND I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, . . . saying with a loud voice, Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come. . . . And there followed another angel. . . . And the third angel followed them." "And I looked, and behold a white cloud, and upon the cloud one sat like unto the Son of Man, having on his head a golden crown, and in his hand a sharp sickle." Rev. 14: 6-9, 14. Ministering angels, as the invisible forerunners of the coming King, all enshrouded by the Spirit and power of God, inspire the hearts of the true disciples of Jesus with this loudest of all loud cries ever heard by sinful men. Believers will cry aloud and spare not; they will lift up their voices like a trumpet. The glorious coming King, and the necessary preparation to meet him, will be the burden of their joyful message. Hosanna! This loud cry like the former will begin and end with hosanna. The humble believers, who have forsaken all for Jesus, filled and overflowing with faith and love, with praise and delight, with hope and joy, will ring out the glad tidings of the closing gospel message to the music of hosanna: Our King cometh, our everlasting deliverance from the bondage of corruption is at hand; our eternal blissful reign with the King of kings is about to begin; our days of exile are almost over; hosanna! Never will the closing message lighten the earth with its power and glory until it gets the hosanna in it. Save now. "Lift the voice in notes of gladness,
Ring the shout along the sky;
Cease your tears, ye sons of sadness;
Sing! rejoice, your God is nigh." "And the city was moved." Not one city alone this time, but every city—the whole world. To every nation, kindred, tongue, and people will the glad hosanna of the message resound. And to the question propounded everywhere, "Who is this that is coming?" the joyful disciples will answer in triumphant strains: Job will tell you, it is my Redeemer that shall stand in the latter day upon the earth. Ask David; he will tell you this is "our God [that] shall come, and shall not keep silence, [but] a fire shall devour before him, and it shall be very tempestuous round about him." Ask Isaiah; he will tell you, It is he that shall sit upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even forever. Jeremiah will tell you, It is the son of David, the Branch, the Lord, a King that shall reign and prosper, and shall execute judgment and justice in the earth. Hearken to Ezekiel and he will tell you, It is the Mighty One who shall open the graves of his people and bring them up out of their graves, and bring them into the land of Israel. Daniel will tell you, It is the standing up of Michael, that great prince which standeth for the children of the people. Ask Micah, he will tell you, It is the Tower of the flock, the stronghold of the daughter of Zion, unto which shall return the first dominion. Ask Malachi, and he will tell you, It is the Lord of hosts, who cometh to make up his jewels. In the New Testament, ask Matthew, and he will tell you, It is the Son of Man coming in the glory of his Father and seated upon the throne of his glory to reward every man according as his works shall be. Ask the other evangelists and they will tell you, It is the glorified Redeemer, coming in the clouds of heaven, in power and great glory, and with all the holy angels, to change our vile bodies, and fashion them like unto his own glorious body, to send his angels to gather us together unto him in the air, and then to take us to the place he has prepared for us in his Father's house of many mansions, that house that is incorruptible, undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for us, where tears, pains, nor suffering shall never come, and where we shall ever be with the Lord. Hosanna. "They spread their garments in the way." In like manner in this loud cry, true believers will make a covenant with Jesus by sacrifice. Nothing will be too good or too precious to give up to send the glad tidings of the everlasting gospel ringing with a loud cry to earth's remotest bounds. "Rebuke thy disciples." Again scoffers will scoff, and dignitaries in modern Israel—evil servants who say in their hearts, "My Lord delayeth his coming"—will smite the good and faithful servants, calling them alarmists, world upsetters, disturbers of the peace, fermenters of disloyalty and revolution, and by civil laws will try to stop the message. But the more and harder they smite, the louder will be the cry. If they did not cry aloud, and spare not, and lift up their voices like a trumpet, then the very stones would cry out. It is God's message, and it must and will go, and that too with a loud cry, and no opposition can stop it. The coming King is at the door. For years the signs of his coming have been hung out before the world, one after another, until now the very last ones appear. As the true disciples of this generation have seen these omens of the approach of their King in his beauty, as they have beheld the gleams of the golden morning brightening continually, more and more have they felt like shouting hosanna. But hitherto they have been partially restrained. But the bands are being broken. Soon the whole earth will resound with the glad refrain: "Our King cometh, riding not upon the lowly colt, but upon the clouds of heaven, seated upon the right hand of power. Lo, this is our God, we have waited for him, and he will save us! Let us be glad and rejoice in his salvation." Then the saints, singing glory in a chariot of glory, will go home to glory, to behold Jesus' glory, and dwell in glory evermore. Hosanna! MONKERY.
By Elder I. E. Kimball
[This is article 10 of the series on the apostasy of the early church. Each is independent, but all are connected.] I HAVE spoken of the blind, fanatical rage which led tens of thousands of men and women to forsake home and the world, renounce the necessaries and comforts of life, for the wilderness, or the monastery, and that this was the highest conception of religion with the Nicene divines. What was this conception?—That the body must in some way be shuffled off, like a man hanging himself, still pleading with God to spare his life. They therefore resorted to fastings and flagellations, to neglect and abuse of body beyond modern comprehension. I have spoken of fasting, and we know that it is commended in Scripture. It remains for us to detect whether this was according to the word of God. Every writer speaks of this part of the discipline with unmeasured praise, and there is nothing in the ancient ascetic memoirs about which so much is said. As concerning the true doctrine of fasting, the Scripture sets it forth as a means to an end, wherein we can better realize our weakness, our need of him, and by faith lay hold on God's strength and life. But have we in the life or teachings of prophets, of Christ, or of the apostles a precedent for a continued business of fasting year in and out? Are we to understand that fasting is the rule and eating the exception? And do the Scriptures teach that the body is a baneful thing, to be neglected and abused, maltreated and destroyed, so we may "rise into the divine essence"? With the Nicene Church the "degree of abstinence was the measure of sanctity." If the two days' faster had some sanctity, the three days' faster had more, while he who fasted five days had ascended to the summit of angelic excellence. Then, again, if there was some virtue in eating scantily, he who totally abstained from animal food was nearer to perfection, and whoever abstained wholly from things cooked by fire was a prodigy. To drink may have been, probably was, a necessity; to drink putrid water, a virtue. This is no exaggeration. The totalers of the day ate nothing cooked by fire. Again, as to the bath. The apostle Paul would have our "bodies washed with pure water" and we to "cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit." Alas, for the heroes of the wilderness! A lady is mentioned550 by Palladius who, through a long course of years, washed nothing more than the ends of her fingers, and then when about to partake of the communion. What if the physicians did recommend the bath for the health of the body? Nay, but the stout-hearted ascetic would bruise and kill his body; hence he had no use for the bath. If to be housed in a monastery was good, he who vowed never to go under a roof was more holy, and he who shut himself up in a tomb, or stood the winter through in a dried-up well, was the spiritual hero. We have most of us read of the weather-beaten Symeon, who is said to have lived thirty-six years on a pillar erected on the summit of a mountain. Hence, he was called the "Stylite;" he never descended but to take another. The fourth pillar was said to be sixty feet in height, and only three feet broad; here he remained for fifteen years under the sweltering sun and the frozen sky, summer and winter alike. He prayed till three P.M., then harangued the multitudes that flocked to him till dark. He spent much of his time in the exemplary exercise of bowing so low as to touch his toes. Theodoret says he counted one thousand two hundred and forty-four bows, made continuously, and then, being more wearied with counting than the saint with performing, he desisted. Symeon ate only on Sundays (if we may believe the report). All seemed bent upon subduing the propensity for sleep. We have an example of this in the ermite Dorotheus, who occupied a little stone hut on the seashore for sixty years, spending his days in gathering stones from the shore and constructing cells for the accommodation of others. This "saint" during the night, and without intermission, platted ropes of palm leaves. He was scarcely ever known to lie down, sitting erect the night through at his work, dozing only at his meals. His daily rations were six ounces of bread and a bunch of raw herbs and water. Once Palladius, who was with this saint in his youth, tried to persuade him to sleep, but he took it in ill part. Said he, "Persuade the angels to sleep, and then try what you can do with a man intent upon his purpose." All the cuttings and blisterings with hot irons when there are risings of sinful flesh, all the use of iron girdles and heavy weights carried upon the shoulders, exactly parallel the Buddhist monks, who carry heavy weights of books upon their shoulders, and go about their monastery bowing to the ground at every few steps, gnashing themselves with knives, etc. One of the poets (Tennyson) has commemorated Symeon in the following lines:— "Bethink thee, Lord, whilst thou and all the saints
Enjoy themselves in heaven, and men on earth
House in shade of comfortable roofs,
Sit with their wives by fires, eat wholesome food,
And wear warm clothes, and even the beasts
have stalls,
I, 'tween the spring and downfall of the light,
Bow down one thousand and two hundred times,
To Christ, the Virgin Mother, and the saints;
Or, in the night, after a little sleep,
I wake; the chill stars sparkle; I am wet
With drenching dews, or stiff with crackling
frost.
I wear an undressed goatskin on my back;
A heavy, grazing iron collar grinds my neck;
And in my weak, lean arms I lift the cross,
And strive and wrestle with thee till I die.
Oh, mercy, mercy, wash away my sin!" Now let no one imagine this to be a strongly colored picture of monkery. Take together the writings of Jerome, Gregory of Nyssa, Palladius, Cassianus, Sulpicius, Severus, and Theodoret, and we have ample text for things much more to the discredit of monkery than this. But the Spirit draws the portrait of these men so unmistakably in Col. 2:23 that no one can affect not to recognize it. Again, in 1 Timothy 4, a near approaching defection is marked, when they should speak "lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron; forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from meats, which God hath created to be received with thanksgiving." Let my reader bear this text constantly in mind, for to it I shall hereafter frequently revert. No ingenuous person will shut his eyes to the fact that the religiosi of the fourth century, to whom the marriage bed was altogether forbidden—but the majority of whom, according to their own revolting confessions, sometimes made in their very last days, denied not the baser lusts—whose principal tenet was to abstain from meats, which God has created to be received with thanksgiving, and who were one and all mastered by an illusion deep as midnight shades, which we will hereafter consider,—I say he will not deny that the portrait of the apostle is an exact portrait of the so-called saints of the Catholic Church of the fourth century. "ICHABOD."
By George E. Price
INTO the nave of a grand old church
I wandered one summer eve;
The sky was yet bright with the westering sun,
As on the still air of the evening rung
Music that spoke of God. Swelling aloft to the vaulted dome
It lifted my thoughts above.
And the cares and the troubles of life did seem
But the heat and vapor of some ill dream
Banished by breezes of love. Change after change came over the scene;
I seemed to see Cæsar there,
The music had changed to a martial song,
And down the long aisle it swept along,
Speaking the praise of man. Much more than this however I saw
And heard ere the scene was done;
An bride elect now appeared in view,
As fair as the sun and as fresh as the dew,
Giving to Cæsar her hand. Changing again I heard a low moan
That arose from the altar's base,
And louder and louder its notes became
Till martyred millions I heard proclaim:
"Union of woe and blood!" "Out from the midst of th' adulterous pair
Our brother we pray you come,
For God hath beheld all the sins they have
wrought
And the horrible lies that for truth they have
taught.
Brother, we pray you come." High o'er the chancel I saw a scroll
And on it the hand of God,
And "Ichabod!" "Ichabod!" there it wrote,
And "Ichabod! Ichabod!" swelled the note,
"Fallen is Babylon!" CAST YOUR CARE ON GOD.
By Ellet Joseph Waggoner
THE words of inspiration by the apostle Peter are, "Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time; casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you." 1 Peter 5:6, 7. How few there are who do this! Some do not seem to realize that God cares for them. David knew it, for he said by the Spirit, "But I am poor and needy; yet the Lord thinketh upon me; thou art my help and my deliverer." Ps. 40:17. And Jesus said: "Are not five sparrows sold for two farthings, and not one of them is forgotten before God? But even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not therefore; ye are of more value than many sparrows." Luke 12:6, 7. God not only knows our need, and cares for us, but he is able to do whatever his love prompts him to do. Happy the man who can say with Job, "I know that thou canst do all things, and that no purpose of thine can be restrained." Job 42:2, Revised Version. Or with Paul, "I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day." 2 Tim. 1:12. "Casting all your care upon him" means, therefore, to put it upon him, and to leave it there, with the assurance that he will see to it. "Roll thy way upon the Lord. Trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass." Ps. 37:5, margin. When we go to a railway station, we deliver our luggage into the hands of a porter, and then go our way, thinking nothing more about it, confident that it will be taken care of. Surely we ought to trust the Lord more than we do a man. But the trouble with so many is that they deal with the Lord just as they do with the railway porter,—they deliver their luggage—their cares—into his hands, and then after a while they take it from him again. We are to cast our cares on the Lord, and leave them there forever, receiving his peace as our surety, and not to take them again, as the traveler does his luggage. He says, "Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." Matt. 11:28. In the first book of Samuel we have an instance of this rolling the burden upon the Lord and trusting him. Hannah was greatly troubled. Her childless condition had been a reproach to her. She had suffered hardship because of it. So she prayed to the Lord for a son. Eli, misunderstanding her, had reproved her, and she said: "I am a woman of a sorrowful spirit; I have drunk neither wine nor strong drink, but have poured out my soul before the Lord. Count not thine handmaid for a daughter of Belial; for out of the abundance of my complaint and grief have I spoken hitherto." 1 Sam. 1:15, 16. Thus we see how greatly she had been burdened. "Then Eli answered and said, Go in peace; and the God of Israel grant thee thy petition that thou hast asked of him. And she said, Let thine handmaid find grace in thy sight. So the woman went her way, and did eat, and her countenance was no more sad." 1 Sam. 1:17, 18. Young translates the last clause, "And her countenance hath not been sad for it any more." A strictly literal rendering is, "And her face was not to it again." That is, she had thrown her burden upon the Lord, and she left it there, and went her way, thinking no more about it. She did not resolve that she would think no more about it, but her trust in the Lord, that he would bring her desires to pass if according to his will, was so great that she could not worry about the matter any more; and her face, as a natural consequence, ceased to be sad. From the above precepts and example let us learn how to trust God. TRUTH VERSUS FALSEHOOD.
By Elliot C. Chapman
THE heathen philosopher Plato taught that "he may lie who knows how to do it in a suitable time."—Fathers of the Catholic Church, p. 16. This same principle of heathenism and wickedness was also maintained by some of the pillars of the Catholic Church, and is still a part of their theology. See "Fifty Years in the Church of Rome," pages 120–122. Mankind in general consider truth to be a virtue, so far as theory goes, yet, in traveling through this world of sin, one is often reminded that many of our fellow-beings are in practice disciples of Plato. Like a noxious weed that flourishes in the tropics, which upon the first disturbance immediately wilts, closes its leaves, and gives the lie to its existence, so the arch deceiver for nearly six thousand years has led the human heart to practice deception and to trust in its folly. Though philosopher, priest, and worldly wise men teach such doctrine till their hair is gray, and their earthly record is closed, though millions of Satan's slaves may practice deception till the devil has them forever his captives in the sinner's grave, yet the truth still stands, and the fearful words, "All liars shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone; which is the second death," are as beacon warning to all to keep off the rocks of falsehood. "The lip of truth shall be established forever; but a551 lying tongue is but for a moment." Prov. 12: 19. "These are the things that ye shall do: Speak ye every man the truth to his neighbor; execute the judgment of truth and peace in your gates; and let none of you imagine evil in your hearts against his neighbor; and love no false oath; for all these are things that I hate, saith the Lord." Zech. 8: 16, 17. Papeete, Tahiti, March 30, 1894. WHAT IS BEYOND FOR OUR EARTH?
By William Covert
ALTHOUGH the curse of sin rests heavily upon the earth, yet there is a condition in store for this planet more lovely than those days in which Adam possessed Paradise. That the earth was made to be inhabited has been abundantly proved. This habitation was intended for righteousness, and not for sin; for the Lord describes its future, wherein only righteousness dwells. See 2 Peter 3: 13. The prophet also describes its glorious eternity, saying, “Thy people also shall be all righteous; they shall inherit the land forever, the branch of My planting, the work of My hands, that I may be glorified.” Isa. 60: 21. “As truly as, I live, all the earth shall be filled with the glory of the Lord.” Num. 14: 21. Then will the blessedness asked by David prevail: “And let the whole earth be filled with his glory.” Ps. 72: 19. Our hearts are also made buoyant with hope when we read that “in his [Christ’s] days shall the righteous flourish; and abundance of peace so long as the moon endureth.” “His name shall be continued as long as the sun; and men shall be blessed in him; all nations shall call him blessed.” Ps. 72: 7, 17. Tell us not that this condition of glory and joy now prevails upon the earth; such consolation is but mockery. Instead of such a state, we now see the habitable area of our earth greatly reduced on account of transgression; and the power of Satan and the curse of sin largely prevail on that portion which is inhabited. In tracing the history of the earth still forward from the point arrived at in our last article, it is seen that soon after the flood the descendants of Noah yielded to the prince of darkness. He caused them to organize a kingdom upon the earth in opposition to the law and purpose of God. Gen. 10: 10. It was through this kingdom that Satan proposed to rule the world after the deluge. But, that the Lord might still carry out his original purpose concerning the earth, it came to pass in process of time after this rebellious scheme was instituted, God called upon a man of humility, who could be taught the way of righteousness after the original plan. To this man he said:— “Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father’s house, unto a land that I will show thee; and I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing; and I will bless them that bless thee, and curse them that curse thee; and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.” Gen. 12: 1-3. This call being obeyed, a subsequent promise was made:— “And the Lord said unto Abram, . . . Lift up now thine eyes, and look from the place where thou art northward, and southward, and eastward, and westward; for all the land which thou seest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed forever. And I will make thy seed as the dust of the earth; so that if a man can number the dust of the earth, then shall thy seed also be numbered.” Gen. 13: 14-16. A little later on the promise is repeated with an added emphasis regarding the righteousness of Abram’s faith. On this occasion the Lord said:— “Look now toward heaven, and tell the stars, if thou be able to number them; and he said unto him, So shall thy seed be. And he believed in the Lord; and he counted it to him for righteousness.” Gen. 15: 5, 6. Passing on in the history of these promises, they are made in language still more emphatic. The next one is:— “I will establish my covenant between me and thee and thy seed after thee in their generations, for an everlasting covenant. . . . And I will give unto thee, and to thy seed after thee, the land wherein thou art a stranger, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession.” Gen. 17: 7, 8. One step in the fulfillment of these promises gave to Abraham his son Isaac. This was a miracle of faith. But, previous to the birth of this son of promise, Abraham had attempted to fulfill the same promise through works of the flesh. This blunder seems to have made it necessary that his faith should be more severely tried, therefore he was requested to offer up Isaac, the child of promise. When his faith showed itself equal to the severest test, then the Lord called to him out of heaven, and said:— “By myself have I sworn, saith the Lord, for because thou hast done this thing, and hast not withheld thy son, thine only son, that in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the seashore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies; and in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; because thou hast obeyed my voice.” Gen. 22: 16-18. The Lord repeated these promises, as yet future, after the death of Abraham, to Isaac and Jacob. Gen. 26: 3, 4; 28: 13, 14. In these promises are contained the principles of the new covenant, and all there is of hope. All the New Testament writers have been led by the Spirit of God to present inspired comments upon them. All have shown that they embrace faith in Christ and the future inheritance of the saints. Through Paul the Lord showed that those promises of inheritance include the whole world. He says, “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.” Rom. 4: 13. The faith that Abraham had was imputed to him for righteousness, and the fact that he had righteousness by faith was written for our sakes, who are made righteous through faith in Him who was delivered for our offenses and raised again for our justification. Rom. 4: 22-25. Therefore, Abraham’s faith and our faith are the same. They embrace the same hope, believe the same truth, live on the same life, and have for their reward the same inheritance. For this reason the apostle could say, “Ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus.” “And if ye be Christ’s, then are ye Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.” Gal. 3: 26, 29. It is plainly stated that in the making of these promises to Abraham the gospel was preached to him. Read the following:— “Know ye therefore that they which are of faith, the same are the children of Abraham. And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith, preached before the gospel unto Abraham, saying, In thee shall all nations be blessed.” Gal. 3: 7, 8. It follows from the above that the blessing of the nations and of all the families of the earth so frequently stated in these promises is nothing less than the blessing of salvation through Jesus Christ, for the promised Seed, or posterity, is Christ (Gal. 3: 16): “He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ.” As the earth was given to man when he was first created, so must the earth be given to man when he is redeemed. As man will then have unending life, so must he have an eternal home. Therefore, when the Lord promised man redemption, he associated with the promise a title to a home. That home was always described as on the earth. The promise to Abraham of a possession in the land had not been fulfilled to him at the death of Stephen, the proto-martyr. He said that Abraham had then received no part of the promised inheritance. “He gave him none inheritance in it, no, not so much as to set his foot on; yet He promised that He would give it to him for a possession, and to his seed after him.” Acts 7: 5. Neither Abraham nor his seed had inherited these promises at that time, yet Abraham had been dead and buried nearly nineteen hundred years. What, then, must be our conclusion? Read Heb. 6: 13-18, and then answer:— “When God made promise to Abraham, because he could swear by no greater, he swore by himself, saying, Surely blessing I will bless thee, and multiplying I will multiply thee. And so, after he had patiently endured, he obtained the promise. For men verily swear by the greater; and an oath for confirmation is to them an end of all strife. Wherein God, willing more abundantly to show unto the heirs of promise [Abraham and his seed] the immutability of his counsel, confirmed it by an oath; that by two immutable things, in which it was impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us.” The Lord, through Stephen, says that Abraham and his seed have not inherited these promises, but, in Hebrews, that he has pledged his own existence that they shall yet be fulfilled. Believing these gospel promises, our faith embraces an inheritance in the earth redeemed from the dominion and curse of sin. CONVERSATION WITH A MOORISH JEW.
By Sheffield C. Palmer
JOSEPH SILVA is a believer in Jesus, and we have had many conversations concerning the things of God and his dealings with his people. Yesterday I met him, and he spoke of Yom Kippur (the day of atonement), and Succoth (the feast of tabernacles). I remarked that Adventists once observed Yom Kippur, in the year 1884. Said he, "Why do you not still observe it?" "We never observed it as you do," said I, "but in this way: You know the day of atonement was a work of cleansing the sanctuary of the record of sins; thus, figuratively, the sins which were confessed were carried into the sanctuary and placed upon the head of the goat upon whom the Lord’s lot had fallen, and he was slain (Leviticus 16); then they were transferred to the goat for Azazel (the scapegoat), a figure of Satan, and he was sent away, no more to return, for the custom was to cast him over a cliff and destroy him.552"The people afflicted their souls, that is, they fasted and searched their hearts, confessing their sins. The work of the high priest was a figure of the work now going on in the heavenly sanctuary, after which the sanctuary built by Moses was patterned. We say it is now going on, and has been going on since the tenth day of the seventh month, Jewish time, A.D. 1844, October 22." "Why did you observe it that year only?" "Well, we believed the Messiah would appear that day. The prophet Daniel had inquired of the angel Gabriel, 'How long shall be the vision?' and the angel replied, 'Unto two thousand and three hundred days; then shall the sanctuary be cleansed.' This is the only period mentioned from which the seventy weeks (Dan. 9: 24) could be 'cut off,' and the two periods date from 'the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem.' This was made effective four hundred and fifty-six years and some two months B.C.; this subtracted from 2300 years (see Num. 14: 34 and Eze. 4: 6, a day for a year), leaves 1843 years and nearly eleven months into 1884. This careful count of the time could not be made with the light which was shed upon the prophecies in 1843 and prior to that time, hence the great disappointments of the Adventists about the coming of the Lord in 1843 and 1844. "But the principal reason of the final disappointment, at the time of Yom Kippur, the tenth day of the month, 1844, was the belief that the sanctuary was the earth. Those who hung to that theory, and sought no deeper into the prophetic word, have been adjusting their reckoning and setting time ever since, while those who trusted in the Lord and in his word alone, and were willing to drop any theory which would not stand the test of God's word (Isa. 8: 19, 20), searched deeper, and found, in the letter to the Hebrews, that 'the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched and not man,' was in heaven and not on earth. See also Rev. 11: 19, 'And there was seen in his temple the ark of his testament.' Closer inspection still revealed the fact that the work contemplated in the precious truth found in the 'little book' (Daniel) was the work of the investigative judgment in heaven, with Jesus himself for the Judge, Advocate General, and the angels, who had kept the records, for witnesses. This work has now been in progress for nearly fifty years. Is it not near the time for jubilee?" But I said: "Yes, but the jubilee does not count from any special day of atonement; and, as the children of Israel need not have been forty years wandering, if they had been faithful to God, to his word, and to their duty, so we are told by the Spirit of the Lord that, had we been faithful in the proclamation of the Third Angel's Message, we might have been now in the kingdom which still awaits the people who keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus. But God 'is long-suffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.' He is waiting for you, Joseph, he is waiting for me, and hath long patience, desiring fruit from the vineyard of his own right hand's planting." "But are you not hampered here in your missionary work?" said he. "No; did not the blessed Master go to the king's palace, to Herod's judgment hall, to the shepherds' tents, to the Samaritan at the well, to the fishers by the sea, to the blind by the wayside, to the lunatic in the tombs? From the king on the throne to the beggar at the gate, he went among them all, and did what he could; and he has left us an example that we should follow. Shall we weary in welldoing? What matters it if we are in the care of the State? He prepareth a table before us in the presence of our enemies; our cup runneth over." To see the look of gratitude from the sad eyes of that gentle moorish Jew, and to hear his fervent, "The Lord be with you," was worth many a trip to the insane asylum. "And with you also," I replied, and we parted for the night. He was more hopeful when I met him to-day, and I rejoice in the love and tender mercy of the Lord Jesus Christ. Box H, Stockton, Cal., January 10, 1894. CONFIDENCE IN GOD.
By H. Scott
In writing to the Philippians Paul expresses confidence that God is able to accomplish every work that he begins, and especially the work begun in the hearts of his children. Phil. 1:6. If all fully realized this fundamental truth, how much worry and anxiety would be lifted from the struggling soul, and with how much greater joy and peace of mind would they continue in the path marked out for them by their loving heavenly Father! If God begins a work, and calls upon man to share in that work, it is not because he needs the wisdom and power of man in order to make it a success, but because of his desire to bless and elevate the man. The Creator knows that it will give man a fuller and more appreciative knowledge of himself and his work, and in tender love man is given the privilege of engaging in it. God's wisdom is as much superior to man's as God is superior to man, and his power as much greater as he is greater than man. In fact, all the boasted wisdom of this world is foolishness in the eyes of God. 1 Cor. 3:19. What utter foolishness, then, is it for man to think that by any wisdom or might he possesses he can assist in the great work of God, a work that requires infinite wisdom! How much more in keeping with all the facts would it be for man, when called of God to do anything in his cause, to admit his nothingness, his utter inability of himself to do the work, and accept the wisdom God will so freely bestow, and which alone will fit man for the duties to which he is called. God wishes all who are called to realize their need. The reason why from among the many who are called but few are chosen (Matt. 22:14) is because so few sense their need. Those who do realize their lack, and ask God to give them of his abundant supply, will not be upbraided, but will receive liberally. James 1:5, 6. May the Lord assist the reader and writer to more fully appreciate the great truth that without Christ we are nothing and can do nothing. John 15:5. Jesus is the wisdom and power of God. 1 Cor. 1:22. God, in his infinite love and wisdom, has ordained that man should be the light of the world. Matt. 5:14. Naturally, man is at enmity with God, and not subject to his will (Rom. 8:7), and therefore has no desire that God should thus exalt him. But God has set himself the task of causing them to do good who are accustomed to do evil (Jer. 13:23), and that not of restraint but willingly. They are to lighten the world, not with sparks of their own kindling, but with the bright, penetrating rays received from the Sun of Righteousness. As God will not compel man to do his will, he must have man's coöperation, or consent. Naturally, man will not consent, so God in his wisdom has placed enmity, or the power to will to do as God desires, in man's heart through the operation of his Spirit. Gen. 3:17. The same truth is also stated in John 1:8, where it is declared that Christ lighteneth every man that cometh into the world. If this spark is cherished, Jesus will kindle it into a flame, that will shine as a light in a dark place. This truth is illustrated by Jesus in Luke 11:33 as follows: "No man, when he hath lighted a candle, putteth it into a secret place, neither under a bushel." This brings to mind the work Jesus does for all his followers. They are to be the light of the world. They do not light the lamp, but are themselves the lamp. Christ furnishes them with oil and light with which they are to lighten the world. If they look to themselves for light, they will be found groping in sparks of their own kindling, which emit no holy radiance; but if Jesus lights their lamp, it will shine with an ever-increasing brightness. Another thought is that when Jesus lights a lamp he does not hide it, but places it in a position where others will be benefited by it. Man's wisdom leads him to take just as unreasonable a course as to light a lamp and place it under a bushel, as witness the monks and others, who shut themselves away from the world. This is not what Jesus does with the lamps which he lights. He has a more useful and profitable work for them. Equally foolish is it for the lamp after it has been lighted and placed by the Master's hand where he desires it, to complain or worry for fear it is not accomplishing all the good it might, or employ all its time debating the probability of its doing a greater or more acceptable work in some other position. How much more consistent and reasonable for it to contentedly remain where placed, and shine with all the brightness possible! Is the lamp responsible for the good it does, or is the one who cares for it? Is it not more foolish for man, who has been chosen by the Master to hold up the light of truth, to entertain such thoughts and feelings concerning the place in which he is called to stand? Would the lamp shine any the less brightly in the humble abode of the poor than the elegant drawing room of the rich? or would it complain of being placed in the kitchen instead of the parlor? No more will the Christian, whose lamp has been lighted by Christ. His feelings will be the same whether placed in the church or community where his light is the brightest that shines amid the moral darkness around, or in a church or community where there are a hundred lights that shine more brightly than his. He will realize that the work is the Lord's, that he is doing the part the Lord has assigned him; and in that he will rejoice and be content, content to work in God's own appointed way, content to let Jesus be all and in all, and confident that God is able to perform the work he has undertaken. A WISE man carries all his treasure within himself; what fortune gives she may take, but he leaves nothing at her mercy. He stands firm, and keeps his ground against all misfortunes, without so much as changing countenance. — Seneca, after Sir Roger L'Estrange. Enjoyments and Disappointments
By Matthew Henry
He who grasps at many enjoyments is sure to be troubled by many disappointments. — Matthew Henry.