Said the angel, “In the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he shall begin to sound, the mystery of God should be finished, as he hath declared to his servants the prophets.” Rev. 10:7. This refers to the last of the seven trumpet angels, and the third woe, and, as shown last week, was to come “quickly” after the ending of the sixth trumpet, and the second woe. Rev. 11:14. These being prophetic days—each day for a year—the expression means, In the years of the voice of the seventh angel, when he shall begin to sound. As will be seen further on, the seventh trumpet, and third woe, covers all the woe that will ever be on this earth from the time when this trumpet begins to sound. But the mystery of God is to be finished in the years when it begins—not at the latter part, nor at the end, but in the beginning. Whenever, therefore, the seventh angel begins to sound the finishing of the mystery of God is close at hand.
But what is the mystery of God? The mystery of God is the gospel. Proof: in Eph. 3:3, Paul says, “By revelation he made known unto me the mystery.” And in Gal. 1:11, 12 he says, “The gospel which was preached of me is not after man. For I neither received it of man, neither was I taught it, but by revelation of Jesus Christ.” Here we have the statement that the gospel was given him by revelation, and also that by revelation there was made known to him “the mystery, which in other ages was not made known unto the sons of men, as it is now revealed unto his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit; that the Gentiles should be fellow-heirs, and of the same body, and partakers of his promise in Christ by the gospel. . . . Unto me, who am less than the least of all saints, is this grace given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ; and to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ: to the intent that now . . . might be known by the church the manifold wisdom of God, according to the eternal purpose which he purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord. . . . That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; and to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fullness of God.” “For in Him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily.” Eph. 3:3-11, 17-19; Col. 2:9.
From these texts it is evident that the eternal purpose of God, which he purposed in Christ for us; that the unsearchable riches of Christ which are brought to the children of men; that the immeasurable love of Christ and of God for men; that the love of Christ and of God which passeth knowledge; is the mystery of God. But this is nothing else than the gospel. The preaching of the gospel is only the effort of God to reveal this mystery, and to bring its depths to the comprehension of men.
Again: in Eph. 6:19, Paul calls preaching the making known the mystery of the gospel, saying: “Praying . . . for me, that utterance may be given unto me, that I may open my mouth boldly, to make known the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in bonds.” To the Colossians likewise he said, “Withal praying also for us, that God would open unto us a door of utterance, to speak the mystery of Christ, for which I am also in bonds.” Col. 4:3. And to the Romans, “Now to him that is of power to stablish you according to my gospel, and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery which was kept secret since the world began, but now is made manifest, and by the scriptures of the prophets, according to the commandment of the everlasting God, made known to all nations for the obedience of faith.” Rom. 16:25, 26. There can be no question that the mystery of God is the gospel of God, that the mystery of Christ is the gospel of Christ; for it is called the “gospel of God” as well as the “gospel of Christ,” 1 Pet. 4:17; 1 Thess. 2:2, 9; 1 Tim. 1:11, and properly enough so, for Christ is “God with us,” Matt. 1:23, and “God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself,” 2 Cor. 5:19.
The mystery of God being the gospel, when the angel said that the mystery of God should be finished, it was but saying, according to these scriptures, that the gospel should be finished. Paul said that the gospel “is the power of God unto salvation;” therefore to say that the mystery of God—the gospel—should be finished is but to say that the power of God for the salvation of men will cease to be exercised. So then, according to the explanation given in these scriptures, the angel of Rev. 10:7 says, In the days—the years—of the voice of the seventh angel, when he shall begin to sound, the gospel should be finished, the power of God for the salvation of men shall cease to be exercised, as he hath declared to his servants the prophets.
The sanctuary of the Levitical law was a figure of the sanctuary of the gospel. Heb. 9:9, 11, 23. That was on earth, this is in Heaven; that was made with hands and pitched by man, this was made without hands and pitched by the Lord. Heb. 9:9, 23, 24; 8:2; 9:11. The service of that sanctuary was by the men of the Levitical priesthood, and with the blood of beasts; the service of this sanctuary is by Christ the Lord, of the Melchizedec priesthood, and with the blood of Christ. Heb. 7:9; 6, 9, 12-14, 22-26; 8:1. The service of that sanctuary was completed once a year; the service of this when completed is once for all. Heb. 9:25, 26; 10:3, 10. The last work of the annual service in that sanctuary was upon what was called the day of atonement, and the service was called the cleansing of the sanctuary—the taking away of all the sins that had been conveyed into the sanctuary by the service of the priests at the confessions and sacrifices of the people during the year that then ended. Lev. 23:27-32; 16:2-34. The last work of the once-for-all service of the heavenly sanctuary will be the great day of everlasting atonement, and the service will be to take away forever all the sins which have been borne by our High-priest, at our confession and the offering of Him by faith as our sacrifice, as he offers himself in fact in our behalf. This also is called the cleansing of, not the earthly, but the heavenly sanctuary. As the cleansing of the earthly sanctuary was the last work for that year in behalf of that people, so the cleansing of the heavenly sanctuary will be the last work forever in behalf of any people. As the cleansing of the earthly sanctuary was the very last day of that annual round of service, so whenever the world shall have reached the time of the cleansing of the heavenly sanctuary, the world will then have entered upon the very last days of the work of the gospel, and when the sanctuary shall have been cleansed, the gospel—the mystery of God—will “be finished as He hath declared to his servants the prophets.”
Now when, according to the Scriptures, should the cleansing of the heavenly sanctuary begin? In Daniel 8:14, from a certain time, it is said, “Unto two thousand and three hundred days; then shall the sanctuary be cleansed.” This also being prophetic568time each day stands for a year, and is, therefore, two thousand and three hundred years. From what time? “From the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem.” Dan. 9:25. Seventy weeks—four hundred and ninety years—were cut off from the two thousand three hundred, and appropriated to Daniel's people, the Jews, and the beginning of the four hundred and ninety years is the beginning of the two thousand and three hundred. This beginning, as quoted above, was at the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem, which was in the year 457 B. C. Ezra 7. Although Ezra with the decree, started from Babylon in the first month, it was not till the fifth month that he reached Jerusalem; and as the decree was to the treasurers “beyond the river” Euphrates and in Palestine, it was of no force till he reached that country, so about half the year was gone before the decree could be said to go forth to restore and to build the city, which would make it about the middle of the year 457, or really 456½ years before Christ. Two thousand and three hundred years from 456½ B. C. brings us to 2300—456½ = 1843½ after Christ. Eighteen hundred and forty-three and a half years after Christ carries us into the year 1844 A. D. Then it was, the angel said to Daniel, that the time of the cleansing of the sanctuary should be: “Unto two thousand and three hundred days; then shall the sanctuary be cleansed.”
That this cannot be applied to the earthly sanctuary is made certain by the statement in Dan. 9:26, that after the cutting off of the Messiah, the people of the prince that should come (the Romans) “should destroy the city and the sanctuary,” and Christ said that when it should be destroyed Jerusalem should be trodden under foot of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled. Luke 21:24. As that city and that sanctuary were to be destroyed, and were destroyed but a few years after the expiration of the four hundred and ninety years, it is impossible that that should be the sanctuary that was to be cleansed at the expiration of the two thousand and three hundred years. Consequently the sanctuary that was to be cleansed at the end of the two thousand and three hundred years was the heavenly sanctuary, because it is the only one that was then in existence. Therefore it is certain that the cleansing of the heavenly sanctuary began in A. D. 1844. (For an extended and thorough treatment of the subject of the sanctuary and connected dates, see “The Sanctuary and its Cleansing,” for sale at this office.)
The cleansing of the sanctuary, the work of the atonement under the Levitical law, was a work of judgment. For said the scripture, “Whatsoever soul it be that shall not be afflicted in that same day, he shall be cut off from among his people.” Lev. 23:29. Whoever did not make confession of sin that day could have no part in the atonement that was made that day; and when the sanctuary had been cleansed, and atonement made, he was to be cut off without mercy, he had no other chance, his probation was gone. So, likewise, in the cleansing of the heavenly sanctuary, in the atonement made once for all, whosoever shall not confess his sins, and be partakers of the intercession of Christ, can have no part in the atonement of Christ, and when that sanctuary shall have been cleansed, and that atonement made, he will be cut off without mercy, he will have no other opportunity, his probation will be ended. Of such it will be said, “He that is unjust, let him be unjust still; and he which is filthy, let him be filthy still.” No longer will the precious cleansing blood be applied. These are they who shall wring out and drink the dregs of the cup that is in the hand of the Lord (Ps. 75:8); these are they who “shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation.” Rev. 14:10.
This cleansing of the heavenly sanctuary began in A. D. 1844, and in the very nature of the case must soon close. We are now living in the great day of atonement. Now is the time when it is urgent upon every soul to confess his sins, to put away all his transgressions, to be partaker of the intercession of Christ, to wash his robes and make them white in the blood of the Lamb. For soon the mystery of God will be finished, the work of the gospel will be closed, and the unmixed wrath of God and the Lamb will be poured upon all the wicked of the earth.
Next week, if the Lord will, we shall gather together in one the evidences that this is the time of the Third Angel's Message. The points which we have shown in this article and the one before it, were necessary to a clear understanding of the one which is to follow.
J.
Significant Facts.
By Editor
The Christian Statesman reports that the Church of the United Brethren has put a National Reform preacher into the field, Rev. R. Rock by name, and will support him; and that a preacher, Rev. J. P. Mills by name, from the Methodist Episcopal Church, will enter upon the National Reform work, on the same terms, about September 1, 1886.
The late General Assembly of the United Presbyterian Church, by its committee on National Reform, expressed its gratification “to learn that the presentation of the Christian theory of civil government by the advocates of National Reform, is educating the people to recognize that civil government is an ordinance of God; . . . that Jesus Christ, the Head of the Church, is . . . the Ruler of nations, and has laid down in his word the fundamental enactments by which the enactments of our civil code are to be tested; and that this word ought to be recognized as the fundamental law of the Nation, and be incorporated into its very Constitution.” It regards “the continued advocacy of this Reform as imperatively necessary;” and by resolution commends “to the generous financial support of our people the secretaries and advocates of this movement.”
The Ocean Grove Assembly set apart Wednesday, July 21, as National Reform Day, which, says the Statesman, “will afford a fine audience of the best people, without effort or cost on the part of the friends of the cause.” Likewise the Chautauqua Assembly management granted the morning and afternoon sessions of Friday, July 23, to National Reform. This the Statesman correctly called “another magnificent opportunity for the presentation of the principles of the National Reform Association.”
Nor is this all. For more than a year the National Reform party has been specially and assiduously courting the National Woman’s Christian Temperance Union, and it has succeeded in so far rhyming itself into these ladies’ favor that we are quite certain it will never reason itself out again. Joint conventions are now being held by the two bodies, and we see their vital union virtually consummated. Already in their joint convention held at Canonsburg, Pa., May 19, an address of welcome was delivered “by Mrs. Rev. J. F. Hill, in which the oneness of the two organizations was very ably set forth.” Miss Willard, Mrs. Woodbridge, Mrs. Batelham, Mrs. J. Ellen Foster, Mrs. West, and Mrs. Hoffman, are all Vice-Presidents of the National Reform Association. Mrs. Woodbridge made a straight-out National Reform speech both at Ocean Grove and at Chautauqua, on the occasions referred to above.
Besides this Mrs. Woodbridge was appointed by the Woman’s Christian Temperance Union, to carry to the Cleveland Convention of the Knights of Labor, last May, “the salutations of the Union, and a brief argument in behalf of the cause of temperance;” but the lady allowed her National Reform zeal to carry her beyond her appointed mission and she closed her speech to the Assembly with these words:—
“Thus would the National Woman’s Christian Temperance Union join hands with the Knights of Labor in placing this ‘Government upon the shoulders of Him who is Wonderful, Counselor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace,’ and in crowning Christ, our Lord, as the Ruler of nations.”
This the Christian Statesman pronounces a “cause for rejoicing,” and “an especial gratification to the friends of National Reform.”—See Statesman, June 3, 1886.
The Woman’s Christian Temperance Union has done noble work, in which we have rejoiced and should ever rejoice, while she kept in the line of her legitimate and chartered work. But just as soon as she proposes to sell herself to work the iniquity of lifting the National Reform party into power in its union of Church and State, and the establishment of its hierarchy in this country, then we are prepared to write of her, “The glory is departed.”
The Prohibition Party also is coming up to the work. The New Jersey Prohibition Convention, and that of Washington County, Pa., adopted resolutions which the Statesman says read like the resolutions of a National Reform Convention. The Maine Prohibitionists declare that “we aim, in a word, at the application of Christian principles to political life. . . . The application of Christian principles to politics would secure an equal voice, without regard to sex, in making laws which all must alike obey.” The Illinois platform declares that, “We reverently recognize the supreme authority of Almighty God. . . . We regard the Christian Sabbath as a boon so valuable to humanity, that the State cannot be true to its trusts which neglects to guard it from desecration.”
The Reformed Presbyterian Church, which from the beginning has borne the National Reform party upon her sides and dandled it upon her knees, contributed to the work last year “almost $7,000;” and at its late Synod, held at Rochester, New York, it recommended “that the sum of $10,000 be raised for the treasury of the National Reform Association, by the churches under the care of this Synod,” the coming year.
Besides these distinct organizations, the churches, as such, almost all favor it; and the National Reformers are willing, if not anxious, to make advances even to the Catholic Church to gain her favor—and they will get it. Now we say: With the general breaking up of parties, and the casting about for new issues upon which to catch the votes of the multitude, let this movement be agitated for but a very few years at most, and then brought to a vote upon some one leading question under which can be veiled the real issue, and we should like to see the one who can show what is to hinder the success of the National Reform movement, and in that the union of Church and State with all that that involves as the ultimate result.
In view of these facts, which simply show the fast-growing power, and the wide-spreading influence of the National Reform movement, we submit to any candid mind whether the American Sentinel has not a mission, in its determined opposition to that movement. Do we not well to expose the fallacies, to lay bare the sophistries, and to uncover the insidious iniquity of this scheme of Church and State? Do we not well to call the attention of the American people to this menace to human liberty and to human right! We know precisely what it is about which we are talking. We know exactly what we are doing. But we very much fear that the American people will not realize, till it is too late, the danger that lies in the National Reform movement. “Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty,” but Americans have forgotten it. May God help the people to awake and be vigilant.—American Sentinel.
Is True Piety Increasing?
By James White
VERY frequently the religious papers make mention of the rapid spread of Christianity, and the growth of religious sentiment in this Nation. So confident are they of the correctness of their data and of the conclusions drawn therefrom that they predict the speedy evangelization of the world. Almost all that is now required to make this truly “a Christian nation” is an amendment to our National Constitution which shall enable the religious element to control legislation, and so to enforce (what the majority believe to be) the institutions and laws of Christianity.
With the large majority against us, we are still skeptical in regard to their predictions. We have the most unbounded confidence in the Bible, and “the sure word of prophecy” which it contains. We read therein that “the age of gold” for this world is far, far in the past. The history of this world has brought us down from the gold, through the silver and brass, even through the iron, and into the mixture or mingling of iron and clay. See Dan. 2. And the setting up of God’s “everlasting kingdom” is not the conversion of the kingdoms or nations, either as cause or consequence, but their entire overthrow and utter destruction. And with this prediction in Dan. 2 agree many prophecies to which we might refer, even Ps. 2, which is so often and so inappropriately appealed to as proof of the world’s conversion. See Ps. 2: 8, 9.
Then the question may be asked, What mean these statistics of the large increase of believers, of the wide-spread acceptance of the Christian faith? Our answer is, They who produce them are deceived by appearances. The judgment which they form on the increase of religious sentiment is as superficial as the religious sentiment upon which it is based. The religious sentiment of the age is not deep; it is not a religion of self-denial, of cross-bearing. It is a religion that seeks popular applause; that goes hand in hand with the world and worldlings; a religion of sociables and festivals; of excursions and hilarity; of fairs and raffles; of immense church edifices, and small prayer-meetings.
In a number of the American Christian Review in 1882, is an interesting article which contains the following words from Professor W. H. Green, LL.D. All who are acquainted with the condition of the religious world will certify that he drew the picture faithfully, and that he did not magnify the difficulty and the dangers, which are even greater now than they were then:—
“All the signs of the times indicate that the American churches, and, in fact, the whole of English-speaking Christendom, are upon the eve of an agitation upon the vital and fundamental question of the inspiration and infallibility of the Bible, such as it has never known before. The divinity and authority of the Scriptures have heretofore been defended against the outside world of unbelievers—against pagans, infidels, and skeptics; but the question is now raised, and the supreme authority of the Scriptures contested within the church itself. In the controversies which have agitated the churches of Great Britain and of this country heretofore, the infallible authority of Scripture has been admitted as the ultimate test of doctrine, by all contending parties. All made their appeal to this standard. The settlement of every question depended upon its interpretation, or upon inferences fairly deducible from it. But now the standard is itself brought into question. Utterances which fill the air on every side, and are borne to us from every quarter—from professors’ chairs, from pulpits, from the religious press, not to speak of what is incidentally woven into general literature and promiscuous conversation, show abundantly that the burning question of the age is not, What does the Bible teach? It is one yet more radical and fundamental: What is the Bible? In what sense is it the word of God? Is it a revelation from him, and divinely authoritative? Or, is it to be left to the interpreter to say what in it is from God and worthy of our faith, and what is the fallible human element that may be rejected? This question is approached from all sides, and the most diverse and conflicting answers given.”
If it be true that the question of the authenticity and reliability of the Bible is yet to be settled in the English-speaking churches, to what purpose is the increase of their numbers? To what purpose is this boast of increasing strength, this array of statistics, if there is a virus at the heart, a moral infection diffused through the body, which is not destroying it, but turning it into a diseased and corrupted mass? So Jonah was exceeding glad of the gourd which grew up over him, but he did not mark the worm which was eating away its life.
The English-speaking churches have boasted very much of late years of the increase of light and knowledge in their midst, of the higher general education of their ministry. If their education were sanctified to the service of God, then their knowledge would be something over which they might well rejoice. But, unfortunately, this is not the case. It has come to be a mark of wisdom to doubt; a sign of “advanced thought” to look upon the disobedience of the first human pair as the means of great blessings to the race, if, indeed, the whole story be not an allegory. He who respects the testimony of Moses, who does not look upon him as a pitiful specimen of an arbitrary bigot of the Dark Ages, is considered but a sorry graduate in many “higher” Christian circles, while he who professes to be scientifically wiser than the Bible is most highly esteemed, even in many of our theological schools. The theology of the German schools—“German Neology”—is flourishing throughout Christendom. According to it, the Bible must submit to be placed in the crucible of science, and be content to emerge therefrom in whatever shape the scientific world may see fit to mould it; that everything in the Bible must be determined by scientific data, or explained according to the laws of science and philosophy. In such a school miracles can have no place, and thus we find professors of science and religion (professors truly) denying that a miracle was ever performed,—affirming that the Bible was written in terms just suited to the ignorance of the Jews to whom it was given; that it presented things as they appeared to the uneducated, and not as they really were.
It may be replied that while this is true to a large extent, it is not universally so; that very many still adhere to the “old paths,” and to the old methods of thought. True; but they are coming to be looked upon as “fogies,” as relics of an age of blind adherence to “authority.” The statement of Professor Green cannot be gainsaid. The most popular pulpits, the chairs of theology in the colleges, are fast moulding the popular sentiment in this direction. “The whole head is sick, and the whole heart faint.”
And to this agree the words of inspiration. God, who sees the end from the beginning, has pointed out this very state of things in the religious world. Read the following:—
“This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof; from such turn away.” 2 Tim. 3: 1-5.
Is this description too bold to be applied to Christian churches within whose pale the question of the reliability of the Bible has yet to be settled? We will not assume that all these characteristics are prominently displayed in the churches of this day. But where love of self, covetousness, boastfulness, pride, and inordinate love of pleasure already exist, and some of the other traits are becoming painfully prominent, and the whole resting on a foundation composed of a mixture of Platonic philosophy, “Catholic tradition, “science falsely so-called,” with barely sufficient respect for the Bible to give the air of a Christian body—where these already exist, the coming of all the rest is only a question of time. And the end is hurried on by the churches making their dependence the civil power, by which to enforce their dogmas upon the world, which they despair of moving by arguments. The millennium for which they are now working is a millennium of Church-and-State authority, instead of one of a church of deep, earnest piety, hungering and thirsting after righteousness, only “leaning on the arm of her beloved.”
The way to eternal life is still narrow, and few there are who find it. The Bible is still God’s word of truth, and the words of the Saviour about the ways to life and destruction are still true. Well would it be for the cause of religion and the well-being of the world, which needs the sanctifying power of the truth, if the churches would be convinced that the narrow way to life cannot be widened by appeals to “Religious Amendments,” to National Constitutions, to “Civil” or “Penal Codes,” or to “Legislative Enactments.”
J. H. W.
The New England Camp-Meeting.
By Stephen Nelson Haskell
THE camp-meeting held at New Bedford, Mass., for the New England Conference was, in some respects, the most interesting, and we trust the most profitable, ever held in this Conference. Owing to the shortness of the notice, there were not as many present at the commencement of the meeting as would otherwise have been, but they continued to come through the second week, until at the close, the Conference was well represented. A tent was pitched in New Bedford last summer, and quite an interest awakened among the people.
New Bedford is settled largely by men of wealth, such as sea captains and retired merchants. It was formerly a great whaling port, known all over the world. The citizens pride themselves in the morality of their city. There is a strong temperance element there. Whether the common vices of sea-port cities exist or not, it is true that they do not appear upon the surface as in other similar cities. It contains about thirty-five thousand inhabitants. Fairhaven, just across the river, was the home of Elder Joseph Bates, the first active preacher and publisher of present truth. He also had been a sea captain for many years, and expended a fortune thus acquired in the First Angel’s Message; so when he embraced the Sabbath, he was in poverty. Still he wrote and published. He was a man of faith, and so firmly believed the truth which he advocated, that not unfrequently he would be reduced to almost a penniless condition; but his strong faith in God was such that he never became discouraged. So it may be said that this section of the country was the birthplace of the Sabbath reform of the Third Angel’s Message.
The outside interest in the camp-meeting was excellent, and it was the very best class of citizens that attended. Quite a number embraced the Sabbath, how many we cannot tell. Over one hundred dollars’ worth of books was sold. Having seen notices of the meeting in the Boston papers, individuals came from distant cities for the purpose of inquiring respecting our faith. Some of these took their stand upon the truth, and were baptized. There were sixteen baptized at the close of the meeting. Most of them were converted during the meeting.
The claims of the one-hundred-thousand-dollar fund for our foreign missions were presented Monday morning, and over two thousand dollars was pledged in a few moments, after which between one and two thousand dollars was pledged for home-mission work. The interests of the South Lancaster Academy were also presented, and steps taken concerning570the enlargement of the Home building. This met the hearty approval of our friends, who pledged themselves to stand by whatever move the directors thought it advisable to make. The Conference report showed an increase of over one hundred members during the past year. Two new churches were received into the Conference, and other companies have been raised up during the year. The interest in New Bedford was such that Elder E. W. Farnsworth, with other workers, remains for two weeks, hoping to organize a church in that time.
The speakers from abroad were Elders Butler, Smith, and Farnsworth. Elder Goodrich was also present. During the past year he has been laboring in this Conference. As far as growth in numbers is concerned, our brethren feel that they have much for which to thank God. It was decided by the Conference that a mission should be opened in Lynn, the coming year, that the one in Boston be reopened, and that the Providence mission be continued. These are expensive missions, but the brethren manifested a willingness to do all in their power to carry them forward.
One feature of interest that characterized the meeting was that those who came remained to the close of the meeting, Tuesday morning, August 31. The grounds and also the large pavilion were lighted by an electric light. The meeting was held in the city, near the sea-coast. The weather was fine, with the exception of it being a little rainy. At times the Spirit of God rested down upon the encampment in a most marked manner. On the Sabbath about one hundred came forward for prayers, and nearly the same number on the Monday morning following. All felt encouraged. The expression that “This is the best camp-meeting I ever attended,” was often heard.
There were daily reports of the meetings published in the leading Boston and New Bedford papers.
S. N. H.
“My Lord Delayeth His Coming.”
By Uriah Smith
If, says Christ, the evil servant shall say in his heart, My Lord delayeth his coming, the Lord of that servant shall come in a day when he looketh not for him, and cut him asunder. Matt. 24: 48–51.
According to this language, the evil servant is developed among those who are believers in the second coming of Christ. They believe, or profess to believe, that the Lord is coming; but his coming is delayed; we have been mistaken, they say, in supposing he would come so soon; it may be a long time yet before he appears; let us calculate a little more for this world, and secure some of the good things, the eatables and drinkables of this life. Thus the person seems to reason with himself who is falling into this snare of the enemy.
We may, moreover, look for this class of persons to appear in the very concluding period of the church’s history. This follows inevitably from the fact that the Lord is to come upon that servant when he is not looking for him. Thus, up to the very point of the coming here brought to view, some will be looking for that event to a period much later than that of its actual occurrence, and so will be found unprepared. And are we not even now near enough to the coming of Christ to look for this class to appear? So we think. Beware, then, of this delusion. Do not put off the coming of that day. Because the Lord has not come so soon as was expected—this, instead of leading us to feel that it is still farther away, should rather deepen in our minds the impression that the day must be now at hand. Paul says that it is now “high time to awake out of sleep; for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed.”
The position for the church to occupy in this momentous hour is that set forth by the apostle in Heb. 10: 35–39; namely, not to cast away their confidence but to have patience till the promise is received, knowing that it is but a little while before He that shall come, will come and will not tarry (though he has seemed to tarry), and that now the just are to live by faith; but if any man draws back, he will lose the favor of God, and receive perdition as his doom.
“But we,” continues the apostle, “are not of them who draw back unto perdition; but of them that believe to the saving of the soul.” Who compose this blessed we? Reader, are you one of the number? May it be so. U. S.
The Third Invasion of Bohemia.
By Stephen Nelson Haskell
AFTER the battle of Aussig, Sigismund wished to desist from any further efforts to bring the Bohemians into subjection by force of arms; but the Roman Pontiff did not feel like giving up the struggle, and this last tempest had scarcely subsided when a more terrible one was seen rolling up against the Hussites. The Pope laid another plan which he thought would be successful, and soliciting Henry Beaufort, Bishop of Winchester, the son of the celebrated John of Gaunt, and brother of Henry IV., as a suitable person on whom to bestow a mark of special confidence, he first created him cardinal, and next made him his legate a latere, and placed him at the head of the new Bohemian crusade, which he had called into existence by a bull given at Rome, February 16, 1427.
After making a general proclamation in England, and throughout Europe, the bishop expected to see thousands of warriors pressing forward to fight under his banner. But he was mortified to find that only a few Englishmen were anxious to take part in an enterprise which, beyond all doubt was very holy; but which, with as little doubt, would be very bloody. In Belgium he met with better success. The whole of this vast region from the Rhine to the Elbe, and from the shores of the Baltic to the summits of the Alps seemed to rise up at the voice of this new Peter. His army was composed of shepherds of the mountains, and artisans and traders of the towns, of the peasants who tilled the fields, and the lords and princes who owned the land. It is estimated that the army consisted of at least one hundred and eighty thousand men, ninety thousand infantry, and an equal number of cavalry. It was certainly much the largest army that had ever gone forth against the heretics of Bohemia. It was supposed that this movement would awe the small Bohemian nation, and rouse the Bohemian Catholics to oppose their Protestant countrymen, so that a victory over the latter would be easily achieved. But in this they were sadly mistaken. Instead of arousing the Catholic party, it stirred the patriotism of all ranks in that country from the magnates to the peasants, and many Roman Catholics, who until now had opposed the reform party, joined the standard of the great Procopius.
At this time Procopius took an entirely new tack. He feared doubtless that the large numbers of his enemies might intimidate at least some who had recently joined the army and had not had an experience in their former victories. He formed his men in nearly a semi-circle, placing in front of them, as before, thousands of wagons chained together. As the enemy approached the army in the center of the semi-circle began to retreat, and Procopius caused a report to be circulated that they had trouble among themselves, and were retreating before the enemy. This continued until vast numbers of the German army were nearly surrounded by the Bohemians. They then saw that this was a stratagem, and beginning with the officers, the entire army fled panic stricken from the field of battle. God put within them a spirit of fear, and they left their wagons, their ammunition, and all they had taken with them, and fled the country. The booty taken by the Bohemians was so immense that there was scarcely a person in all the country that did not receive something of what was left by their enemies. The legate found that if the doctrines of the Hussites were false, their swords were sharp, and he had no desire to meddle farther in their affairs. But the emperor, although he did not wish to cope with them on the battle field, was still anxious to gain the Bohemian crown, and he resolved to see what diplomacy could effect.
S. N. H.
Condition of India.
INDIA is intellectually the strongest nation of Asia. It possesses an ancient literature surpassing in variety and extent that possessed by any other nation before the adoption of printing—a literature extending to between ten and eleven thousand works. In architecture it is one of the foremost nations of the world. Its highest castes are renowned for their keenness of intellect. Probably none to whom the English language is not the mother-tongue require and use it so perfectly as educated Hindus.
The dignity of their past history and their natural force make them a more conservative people than the Japanese, and these conservative qualities guarantee that their progress will have a solidity which could not be found in a less conservative people. Yet their progress is swift as well as solid. India is rapidly cutting loose from the old and taking long strides toward something new. The educated classes are leaving the religion of their fathers, and for want of sufficient and proper Christian influence are, alas! tending to accept the infidelity of the Western world. The lower classes are beginning to long for light and are open to Christian influences.—Missionary Herald.