God is love, and his law is a reflex of his mind, a transcript of his character, hence his law is a law of love. Its commandments all grow out of the principle of love; hence love fulfills the law. Rom. 13:10. The Saviour, who came not to destroy the law, but to fulfill it (Matt. 5:17), and to magnify it and make it honorable (Isa. 42:21), had the law within his heart, and delighted in it (Ps. 40:7). This gives conclusive evidence that his service was a service of love. He himself declares, "I have kept my Father's commandments, and abide in his love." John 15:10.
Love leads to willing service and cheerful obedience, hence love is necessary to the fulfilling of the law. "This is the love of God that we keep his commandments." 1 John 5:3. This is the only service that God will accept, because when any other principle than love, or any other motive than to please God, actuates us in religious exercises or religious observances, we are governed by a wrong principle, by a selfish motive, and therefore we worship and serve the creature more than the Creator (Rom. 1:25), and have another god before the Lord.
Let us illustrate this point. When a person starts out in the service of God, or is baptized, or joins the church, or performs any religious duty, or refrains from doing what the Scriptures forbid, to advantage himself, or to please a friend, or because of public opinion or a popular sentiment, he exalts the creature above the Creator. He seeks selfish interests and the honor of men, and not the honor that comes from God only. That was the condition of the Jewish people in the time of Christ, and he speaks of it as an insuperable obstacle to their believing in him. John 5:44. "Without faith it is impossible to please him" (Heb. 11:6), and "whatsoever is not of faith is sin" (Rom. 14:23). Hence an outward, formal, religious observance that is not rendered in faith, to please God and honor him, must be rendered in unbelief, to please ourselves or our fellow-men. This is surely exalting and honoring the creature above the Creator, while professing to honor and worship God, and this is not only hypocrisy, but idolatry; and as such service and worship are not prompted by faith in God and inspired by love for him, they are sin against him.
Religious observance rendered because of human influence or pressure cannot be acceptable to God, because it is not prompted by the love of God and the influence of his Spirit. Moreover, such service or worship is really given to that agency or power whose influence or pressure secured it, and not to God. When human power, whether exercised by the church or the State, leads us to the observance of the rites and ceremonies of religion, we render obedience to that power, and thus worship it, instead of rendering obedience to God and worshiping him. Hence it becomes a matter of vital importance to us all that we examine ourselves to see whether we be in the faith (2 Cor. 13:5), the faith once delivered to the saints (Jude 3); and have the faith of Jesus (Rev. 14:12), the faith which will enable us to seek the honor which comes from God only, and worship Him who made heaven and earth, the sea, and the fountains of waters, or to see whether we shall yield to earthly powers, and thus worship them by obeying the laws they make enforcing religious institutions.
From the principles already laid down, it must be evident that all worship or service must be voluntary and come from the heart to be acceptable to God, and that compulsory service is really but outward and formal, and, instead of being rendered to God, is given to the power which compels it.
OBEDIENCE THE HIGHEST WORSHIP.
Obedience in the realm of religion is the highest form of worship, for it is the test of allegiance and loyalty; hence those who seek by law to enforce any religious observance or institution are really enforcing a false worship instead of the worship of God. This would be true whether the observance was commanded in the Scriptures or not; for if men outwardly observe a religious institution because it is enforced by civil law, their obedience is not rendered to God, but to the power enforcing the law, and thus they give their allegiance and worship to an earthly power instead of to the Lord of heaven. It is in this way that the beast and his image are worshiped. Rev. 13:11-15; 14:9.
All true Protestants know that the mystery of iniquity, which began to work in Paul's day and developed into the "man of sin," who sat in the temple of God and opposed and exalted himself above God (2 Thess. 2:3-7), was none other than the apostate church of Rome, symbolized in the Revelation by "Mystery, Babylon the Great, the Mother of Harlots." By forsaking her Lord and forming a connection with the State, she made use of the civil power to enforce obedience to her will, and thus caused those who submitted to her power to worship the beast, while those who refused to yield went down to martyrs' graves, and she is represented as drunken with their blood. Rev. 17:6.
In her history we have the logical result and the necessary fruit of compulsion in matters of religion, and, when placed in contrast with the life, character, and teachings of the Prince of Peace and his apostles, and the fruit of their unselfish labors in winning by love, beseeching, persuading, exhorting, and entreating the people to be reconciled to God, we have an object lesson which is wonderfully instructive to those who are willing to be taught of God.
When professed Protestants forsake their Lord by uniting with the world and seeking the power of the State to enforce their will upon the people in religious things, will not the same terrible results follow as were seen when the Church of Rome pursued the same course? Will not like causes produce like results? When Protestants adopt the same principles and the same policy, and use the same means, that Rome did to extend her religion and advance her cause, do they not become Romanists in fact? and will not their work result as disastrously, and bring the same ruin in its train, as the work of Rome?
CHURCH AND STATE.
When Protestants gain control of the civil power, as they have now done in this country, and seek to use that power in the interest of their religion, they secure a union of Church and State, and make an image of the beast. And by controlling the civil power through threats and intimidation, and thus securing the passage and enforcement of laws pertaining to religious observances, they compel obedience to their will, and enforce the worship of the image of the beast, which they have made and set up. Thus professed Protestants, by abandoning the principles of the gospel of peace, and losing the Spirit of the Prince of Peace, and substituting compulsion for persuasion, and force for love, are repeating the history of Rome, and they cannot escape her fate if they continue to walk in her pathway. They have become so drunken with the wine of Babylon, and have so largely partaken of the spirit of antichrist, that they are deceived into believing that they are doing God's service when they compel obedience to their own will, and use the power of the State to enforce their own views, and endeavor to save the soul by punishing the body. This is the papal principle. This is the policy of Rome. It is not Christian, but manifestly antichristian.
The gospel of Christ is the power of God unto salvation. That power is the power of love in DRAWING, WINNING, PERSUADING, and it always leaves every man, however vile, the freedom of choice. "Whosoever will, let him come." Rev. 22:17. The world's Redeemer says, "Come unto me." He graciously invites all to come. He never asked, and would not accept, earthly power in carrying on his work, even when it was offered to him. He clearly taught that his kingdom is not of this world, and hence his servants could not fight or use force to advance it (John 18:36), and that those who take the sword (the emblem of human power) shall perish by the sword (Matt. 26:52).
When the Church appeals to the State for power to enforce obedience to her will in religious matters, she turns away from that gospel which is the power of God, she substitutes human for divine power, compulsion for persuasion, force for love, and law for gospel. Thus the ministers of the church become ministers of the law, to spy out, convict, fine, and imprison, and visit the extreme penalties of the law upon the very ones which Christ came not to condemn but to save. Are they doing the work of the Saviour while engaged in such work?—Nay, verily. Would they not better exemplify the life and teachings of the humble Man of Calvary if they would be truly ministers of the gospel, seeking by precept and example to lift the fallen, to aid the unfortunate, to minister to the sick and needy, to point sinners to the Lamb of God, and, like Jesus, go about doing good? Will the infidel, the skeptic, the heathen be won to Christ by law, with its pains and penalties, or by the gospel, with its gracious invitations, its tender ministrations, and its labors of love? The answer is obvious.374The golden rule forbids compulsion, and teaches persuasion in matters of religion. It breathes the spirit of freedom, and will cause all who heed it to freely grant to others what they claim for themselves. It rules out of the fold of Christ the lordly bishops, the ambitious ecclesiastics, the self-inflated churchmen, who seek to lord it over God's heritage by arrogating to themselves divine authority, and claiming to be the representatives of God in executing the divine will upon those who, in their infallible (?) judgment, are violating the divine will. These professed servants of Jesus Christ, in the work they are doing and the position they are taking, are exalting themselves above their Lord, and following the example of the bishops of Rome. Christ would not judge between two brothers who disagreed in their property matters, saying, "Who made me a judge or a divider over you?" Luke 12:14. Now his professed servants are exalting themselves to judge between brethren, even in matters of faith and conscience, and they proceed to use all the earthly power they can grasp to uphold the one and punish the other. Do they not in this show that they are not the servants of Christ? They exalt themselves above him, and claim an authority and a power which he not only did not exercise, but which he expressly disclaimed, and thus it is seen that they partake of the spirit and nature of him who exalted himself above the stars of God, and declared that he would be like the Most High. Isa. 14:12-14.
The memorable words of the United States Senate report in 1829, in response to the clamor from the clergy at that time for legislation in behalf of Sunday observance, are words of truth and soberness. The stinging rebuke which is given, and the great principles of Christianity therein set forth, are as truthful and appropriate to-day as when they were first written, and even more sadly needed. We quote:—
Our Constitution recognizes no power other than that of persuasion, for enforcing religious observance. Let the professors of Christianity recommend their religion by deeds of benevolence, by Christian meekness, by lives of temperance and holiness. Let them combine their efforts to instruct the ignorant, to relieve the widow and the orphan, to promulgate to the world the gospel of their Saviour, recommending its precepts by their habitual example. . . . Their moral influence will then do infinitely more to advance the true interests of religion than any measure which they may call on Congress to enact.
Let every lover of liberty, and every lover of true Christianity, labor by precept and example to inculcate the principle taught in the golden rule, namely, persuasion based on love, which wins the heart, instead of compulsion based on fear, which makes hypocrites and idolaters, or martyrs, who choose to obey God rather than men.
THE HOLY ROMAN EMPIRE—CONTINUED
By Percy T. Magan
A REVIEW OF SUNDAY LEGISLATION IN CENTURY NINETEEN. NO. 18.
THE HOLY ROMAN EMPIRE—CONTINUED.
ON Christmas day A.D. 800, Charlemagne was crowned emperor of the Romans, by the hand of Pope Leo III. Then it was that the Holy Roman Empire was established and launched upon the troubled waters of religious-political strife. From that day forward until August 6, 1806, when, by the abdication of Francis II., the Holy Roman Empire came to an end, Europe knew but few peaceful days or quiet nights.
MEANING OF THE WORD "EMPEROR."
To the men of Old Rome and to the people who lived during the Middle Ages the word "emperor" signified much more than the title of "king." Augustus was the first Roman emperor. August, the eighth month of the year, derives its name from him. His name may well be taken as a synonym of the word "emperor." Augustus meant "powerful," "august," in the sense of supernaturally great. It was expressive of the thought contained in the word "augur-auguries." The augur was an official diviner who foretold events by the singing, chattering, or flight of birds. The emperor in Old Rome was always the Pontifex Maximus, i.e., chief priest. "Pontifex" is derived from two Latin words, "pons," which means a "bridge," and "facere," which means "to make." Pontifex gradually came to signify the bridge between heaven and earth, the connecting link between the divine and the human. Says Bryce:—
It was not merely that he [the emperor] was like a modern king, the center of power and the dispenser of honor: his preeminence, broken by no comparison with other princes, by the ascending ranks of no aristocracy, had in it something almost supernatural.
Again, the same writer speaks, if possible, with greater force and clearness:—
There is not a trace of the notion that the emperor reigns by an hereditary right of his own, or by the will of the people, for such a theory would have seemed to the men of the Middle Ages an absurd and wicked perversion of the true order. Nor do his powers come to him from those who choose him, but from God, who uses the electoral princes as mere instruments of nomination. Having such an origin, his rights exist irrespective of their actual exercise, and no voluntary abandonment, not even an express grant, can impair them.
From all of this it is obvious beyond a doubt that the emperor was a semi-sacred character whose duty it was to look after the interests of the church as well as the affairs of the State. And when we find this title being bestowed by the pope, it will not be hard to understand how great obligation the emperor was under to advance the interests of the Church of Rome. Therefore, when Pope Leo III. crowned Charlemagne emperor of the Romans, it meant popery enforced by the secular arm throughout all his dominions. It meant ecclesiastical tyranny and clerical swindling. In the olden day, when "might was right," it was the soldiers who tendered the imperial diadem to the candidate for the purple; but now an ecclesiastical despotism375over not only the bodies, but over the minds, of men had succeeded the soldiery, and the pontiff bestowed the crown.
THE UNIVERSALITY "ETERNITY" OF ROME.
Ancient Rome was a universal kingdom, and the Romans believed that it was bound to endure as long as the sun and the moon. Her poets, her orators, her jurists confidently predicted her eternity. The men of the Middle Ages could not conceive of the world existing without the Roman Empire. In fact, the ancient Romans and the men of the Middle Ages thought that if Rome should fall the world must come to an end; for she to them was the state by which all things were upheld. This theory was held by the Christians of Constantine's time. Lactantius, who was tutor to the sons of Constantine, wrote: "When Rome, the head of the world, shall have fallen, who can doubt that the end has come of human things, aye, of the earth itself."
Universality and eternity in this connection were very closely related. Hence it was that even after Rome was divided into ten kingdoms, according to the word of the Lord, the dignitaries of the Papal Church refused to admit the fact, but sedulously set to work to bring about another universal empire under the old name. If they admitted that Rome had fallen they must needs recant their theory about the end of the world coming at the fall of Rome. But Rome recants nothing, although proved in the wrong to her very face. The Holy Roman Empire never was HOLY, nor by any kind of sound reasoning can it be said to have been ROMAN. It was an EMPIRE at only a very few periods of its career, and these periods were of exceedingly limited duration. It was a theory from first to last, and a hollow theory at that.
Now the prophecy had said that Rome should be divided; and Jesus had declared that before the end of the world there should be "wars and rumors of wars." More than this, the prophet distinctly stated that Rome when once divided should never be united again. The Papal Church said that Rome should not be divided, and when the Roman world was divided in spite of her, she was determined to unite it again. The Papal Church did her very best to prevent the making of modern languages, knowing that differences in language are a potent element in stirring up national hate in human breasts. She forbade the study of the subject of civil government, knowing that that would reveal the superiority of democracy over an ecclesiastical despotism,—government of the people, for the people, by the people, instead of government of the pope, by the pope, for the pope. She did everything she could to prevent the fulfillment of the word of God, which decreed that the face of Europe should be divided.
THEORY OF THE EMPIRE.
The theory of the empire rested upon the basis of one world-wide State and one world-wide Church. In other words, one empire was to fill the world and one church was to fill the empire; and that church was to be the Papal Church. Rome argued that if there were one world-wide empire, there could be no war. But God had said there should be war, and although the Papacy said there should not, there always was; and more than that, the Papacy herself was nearly always at the bottom of it and the prime instigator of it. But of course she only made war in order that the enemies of the church might be conquered, so that there might be peace.
Rome elevated Charlemagne, and his successors in office, to the imperial place. She next religiously inculcated her pet theory of governmental policy, which we give in the language of Bryce:—
The realistic philosophy, and the needs of a time when the only notion of civil or religious order was submission to authority, required the world State to be a monarchy; tradition, as well as the continuance of certain institutions, gave the monarch the name of Roman emperor. A king could not be a universal sovereign, for there were many kings; the emperor must be, for there had never been but one emperor; he had in older and brighter days been the actual lord of the civilized world; the seat of his power was placed beside that of the spiritual autocrat of Christendom. His functions will be seen most clearly if we deduce them from the leading principle of medieval mythology, the exact correspondence of earth and heaven. As God, in the midst of the celestial hierarchy, ruled blessed spirits in paradise, so the pope, his vicar, raised above priests, bishops, metropolitans, reigned over the souls of mortal men below.
Let us understand the latter part of this quotation before proceeding. Read the last sentence of the quotation carefully. According to this doctrine the pope usurps the place of God entirely on earth, and reigns in the place of Jesus Christ over the souls of men. Then what becomes of Christ on earth? Why, he is driven off the earth and out of the hearts of men, and the Papacy put in his place. Christ said to his disciples, "But be not ye called rabbi [master]; for one is your Master, even Christ; and all ye are brethren." But according to the doctrine quoted above the pope is MASTER over the souls of men, in the place of Christ. But the Bible ascribes that piece of usurpation to the "mystery of iniquity." Paul wrote to the Corinthians: "Know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you?" And again to the Romans: "As many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God." These verses reveal God's methods of making men holy through faith in Jesus Christ. By this, God's own plan, the Holy Spirit reigns in and "over the souls of mortal men below." But Paul said of the "mystery of iniquity," "He as God sitteth in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God." And according to the history just cited the papal theory is that the pope reigns "over the souls of mortal men below." But this is the place and prerogative of God, according to his own divine word. So therefore there is no escaping the conclusion that the Papacy is the "man of sin"—"the mystery of iniquity." Now read more "medieval mythology:—
But as God is Lord of earth as well as of heaven, so must he (the imperator cœlestis) be represented by a second earthly viceroy, the emperor (imperator terrenus), whose authority shall be of and for this present life. And as in this present world the soul cannot act save through the body, while yet the body is no more than an instrument and means for the soul's manifestation, so must there be a rule and care of men's bodies as well as of their souls, yet subordinated always to the well being of that which is the purer and the more enduring. It is under the emblem of soul and body that the relation of the papal and imperial power is presented to us throughout the Middle Ages. The pope, as God's vicar in matters spiritual, is to lead men to eternal life; the emperor,
as vicar in matters temporal, must so control them in their dealings with one another that they may be able to pursue undisturbed the spiritual life, and thereby obtain the same supreme and common end of everlasting happiness. In this view of the object his chief duty is to maintain peace in the world, while toward the church his position is that of advocate, a title borrowed from the practice adopted by churches and monasteries of choosing some powerful baron to protect their lands and lead their tenants to war. The functions of advocacy are twofold: at home to make the Christian people obedient to the priesthood, and to execute their decrees upon heretics and sinners; abroad to propagate the faith among the heathen, not sparing to use carnal weapons. Thus does the emperor answer in every point to his antitype, the pope; his power being yet of a lower rank, created on the analogy of the papal, as the papal itself had been modeled after the elder empire.
(To be continued.)
His Purpose
HIS PURPOSE.—Not many weeks ago, on a bright Sabbath morning, the preacher, having read his text, began a long paragraph with, “It is not my purpose this morning to,” and the next with the same, so continuing till the eleventh, when twenty-five minutes were gone, and then took fifteen to expound the simple idea of the text, leaving no time for enforcement. A mother in Israel said to him, “Your real purpose you never announced after all.” “Ah, what was that, pray?”—“To fill up the time.” Such “padding” often accounts for the slim attendance and the dozing of those who from habit or conscience go to church, no matter what is said or sung.—N. Y. Christian Advocate.
THE LORD'S PRAYER. NO. 4.
By Robert A. Underwood
BY ELDER R. A. UNDERWOOD.
"AND lead us not into temptation." God does not tempt any man. "Blessed is the man that endureth temptation; for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him. Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God; for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man." James 1:12, 13. This being so, why, then, should we pray, "Lead us not into temptation"?
One translation renders this, "Abandon us not unto trial [i. e., do not leave us when in trial], but deliver us from evil." It is necessary that man should be tested to prove his fitness for the glorious gift of immortality. Unless there is something to try man's integrity, he knows not his own weakness. This is illustrated by the children of Israel in following the customs and idol worship of the heathen nations around them. The Lord said concerning them: "I also will not henceforth drive out any from before them of the nations which Joshua left when he died; that through them I may prove Israel, whether they will keep the way of the Lord to walk therein, as their fathers did keep it, or not." Judges 2:21, 22. It is not for man's best good, while on probation, to have temptation all removed, for it is through temptation that the gold in his character is revealed. Notice the following scriptures, speaking of the saints: "Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be [some translate, 'since it is necessary'], ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations; that the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honor and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ." 1 Peter 1:5-7. "My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him; for whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth." Heb. 12:5, 6. "As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten." Rev. 3:19.
Sometimes the chastening hand of God is upon us because we need correcting and will learn righteousness only by this means. Sometimes it comes to us to give us an experience under trial that will fit us to labor for those who may be called to pass through these experiences. The apostle speaks of this in the first chapter of second Corinthians, as follows:—
"Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort; who comforteth us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God." "And whether we be afflicted, it is for your consolation and salvation, which is effectual in the enduring of the same sufferings which we also suffer; or whether we be comforted, it is for your consolation and salvation."
Therefore, whether it is for our own salvation, or for the salvation of others, that we are tried in the furnace of afflictions, we should praise God for it all, and in faith ask God not to leave us alone in the trial, but deliver us from the evil.
"For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever. Amen." No one can repeat this closing sentence of this most wonderful prayer understandingly and take any glory to himself in his or others' salvation. It excludes all salvation by merit or by works of man. It acknowledges that all the power to do the will of God is of God and not of man. It recognizes God as having all power in heaven and in earth, and that we, his children, are connected with this regenerating, saving, keeping power. And Christ is the manifestation of God to us. Without Christ we can do nothing. To him belongs the glory for what he hath wrought. It is the self-confidence, the self-trusting, the self-glorifying spirit of this world, yea, of many professed Christians, that robs them of the power of Christ in the salvation of the souls of men. Because of this spirit of self-exaltation so prevalent in men, God is almost driven to go outside of his appointed means to save the lost.
"For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called; but God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty; and base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to naught things that are; that no flesh should glory in his presence. . . . That, according as it is written, He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord." 1 Cor. 1:26-31.
With increased interest, dear reader, may we all study the depth and height, the length and breadth, of love and power so briefly expressed in the petition the great Teacher has taught us to pray, until the King shall come the second time, "to be glorified in his saints, and to be admired in all them that believe."
The Saintly Fact Survives
From scheme and creed the light goes out;
The saintly fact survives;
The blessed Master none can doubt
Revealed in holy lives.
—Whittier
A PRAYER.
By John Greenleaf Whittier
If there be some weaker one,
Give me strength to help him on;
If a blinder soul there be,
Let me guide him nearer Thee;
Make my mortal dreams come true
With the work I fain would do;
Clothe with life the weak intent;
Let me be the thing I meant;
Let me find in Thy employ
Peace that dearer is than joy;
Out of self to love be led,
And to heaven acclimated,
Until all things sweet and good
Seem my natural habitude.
—J. G. Whittier.
PREPARATION FOR THE COMING OF CHRIST.
By D. E. Scoles
BY D. E. SCOLES.
THE time of the second coming of Christ is a very indefinite thing in the minds of many. Some persons have erroneously set definite dates for that great event, while others go to the opposite extreme, and say we can know absolutely nothing about it. "It may be ten million years, it may be five thousand, it may be to-night." Are any of these positions correct? If not, what is the truth? It is certainly of great importance to each of us, for our "think so" will have very little influence in the day of final accounts. If God speaks in warning upon this subject, it surely behooves us to hear, believe, and obey. The only way by which we may safely arrive at right conclusions is to take the word of God.
At different epochs in the world there have been great truths brought out for God's people. At such times it has been necessary for the people to believe the message given in order to be saved. Noah's case will illustrate the matter. God sent a message to the people in those days which was new and unpopular; and yet it was necessary that the people should be ready, not only for death, but that they give heed to the special message given by Noah.
Christ's coming is an event which is of interest to every man, woman, and child who has ever lived on earth. At the coming of Christ the wicked are to be slain (Isa. 11:4; 2 Thess. 2:8), the righteous dead are to be raised, and the righteous living translated and taken home to glory (1 Thess. 4:16, 17). Such honor must naturally require special preparation by those who are to be sharers in it. In order that we may know when it is near at hand, God gives us positive signs, that we may not be deceived in so important a matter. "But of the times and seasons, brethren, ye have no need that I write unto you. For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night,"—to those not prepared and watching. "But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief." 1 Thess. 5:1, 2, 4.
The twenty-fourth chapter of Matthew is devoted largely to signs of Christ's second advent. In verse 3 his disciples asked him, "What shall be the sign of thy coming?" He occupies thirty-two verses in answering it. In verse 29 he speaks of signs which shall occur, not at random, but at definite periods.
In Mark 13:24 he speaks of the same time, and says, "In those days, after that tribulation, the sun shall be darkened." He here speaks of papal supremacy, noted in the prophecies of Daniel 7, Revelation 12 and 13, and elsewhere. This period consists of 1260 years. And, true to prophecy, the Roman Catholic Church held sway just that long. We are informed by historians that the Papacy was established by the Emperor Justinian in a decree, which went into force upon the overthrow of the Ostrogoth nation, A.D. 538; and just 1260 years from that date the deadly wounding of the Papacy as a persecutor was completed by Berthier, a French general, who marched into the city of Rome Feb. 10, 1798, and took Pope Pius VI. prisoner, and carried him away to France.
Christ says, "In those days the sun shall be darkened," but it was to be after the tribulation, or persecution, had ceased. The persecution, through the influence of the Reformation, ceased about 1776.
Now, Christ tells us that in that period, between 1776 and 1798, the sun should be darkened, and the moon should not give her light. These events occurred, and were of sufficient importance to pass down into the annals of history. They are recorded as among the "great events of our first century." Upon the 19th of May, 1780 (right between the above dates), the sun was supernaturally darkened; and that night the moon appeared as blood. (See "Our First Century," chap. 4, and Webster's Dictionary, p. 1604, edition of 1881.)
The next great sign which Christ said would be hung out in the heavens was the falling of the stars, described in Rev. 6:13 to be like falling figs cast off in a windstorm. This also has passed onto the pages of history. Nov. 13, 1833, such a display was given, and it attracted the attention of the world. It is spoken of as "the falling of the stars," and hence fulfills the prophecy, the Lord using language that we would understand.
Christ further tells us that when we see these signs, we are to know that he is near, even at the door. How near?—Verily "this generation shall not pass, until all these things be fulfilled," and Christ comes. Such being the case, we can confidently say that some of the generation who first saw these signs in the light of the prophecy will still be living when the Lord Jesus shall come in the clouds of heaven. "Of that day and hour knoweth no man;" yet we do know the "generation." It is to be just as it was in the days of Noah. At that time there was a special message, of special importance, and of special necessity for their salvation; and an unpopular message it was too. To-day we are in the time of waiting. Many years of the last generation have passed, and God desires to call out a people who shall be made ready, through obedience to the truth, for the great event of Christ's coming, and translation. And, though that message of Christ's coming is plainly taught in the word, yet we find that the great majority reject it, hence will be unprepared.
God would have his people come out from the world and be separate. As in the days of Noah, God has now seen fit to test the people upon a special truth and prove who are really his, and who only have "a form of godliness," but deny the power thereof. The crucial point of this message will be considered another time.