"Oh! the transporting, rapturous scene
That rises to my sight!
Sweet fields arrayed in living green,
And rivers of delight."
Human language is hardly adequate to the task of setting forth the glories of the better land; for, as Paul says, "Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man the things which God hath prepared for them that love him; but God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit." While here, as he says, "we see through a glass darkly, but then face to face." As a person looking through a darkened glass at the broad sun may get a correct outline of its disc, and yet its resplendent glory is hid, so we, by giving heed to those things which God has "revealed by his Spirit," may get an outline of that glorious kingdom, and yet not comprehend the glory which can be better felt than told.
Peter says, According to God's promise, "we look for new heavens and a new earth." This promise is recorded in Isa. 65. Peter, as we have before shown, reasons from this promise that the present heavens and earth are to be melted, and the works therein (dross) to be burned up. David is probably speaking of the same (Ps. 102:26) when he says: "Yea, all of them shall wax old like a garment; as a vesture shalt thou change them, and they shall be changed."
Peter, according to his testimony recorded in Acts 3:21, looks forward to the time when Christ shall come to accomplish this work, and calls it "The times of restitution." John, while receiving his testimony on the isle of Patmos, heard a voice from Him which sat upon the throne, which said, "Behold, I make all things new (not all new things). David doubtless had his mind on the same point when he penned the testimony of Ps. 104:30, where he speaks of the Lord's "renewing the face of the earth."
But we will pass these points to notice Isaiah's testimony. He says, "For behold I create new heavens and a new earth: and the former shall not be remembered, nor come into mind." Isa. 65:17. Here is the very promise to which Peter calls our attention. "And I will rejoice in Jerusalem, and joy in my people: and the voice of weeping shall no more be heard in her, nor the voice of crying." Verse 19. This agrees with John's view of the matter, recorded in Rev. 21:4. "God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes." As expressed by the poet,
"His own soft hand shall wipe the tears
From every weeping eye."
When this is accomplished, will the people still be left with sadness in their hearts? No. "What God doeth, he doeth it forever." The Lord wipes away tears by removing forever from among his people every cause of grief. When Christ tells us that God shall wipe away all tears, he assigns the reason, "And there shall be no more death, neither shall there be any more pain." Yes,
"Pains, and groans, and griefs, and fears,
And death itself shall die."
Verse 20. "There shall be no more thence an infant of days, nor an old man that hath not filled his days: for the child shall die an hundred years old; but the sinner being an hundred years old shall be accursed." "No more thence," from the time the new earth-state is brought in, "an infant of days (a short-lived child), or an old man who hath not filled his days" (premature old age). The latter clause of the verse speaks of death, and cannot therefore apply in the "new earth," for John says, "There shall be no more death." It must apply to what transpires just as that state is being ushered in. The sinner, although107he be an hundred years old, is accursed.
One who lived one hundred years, in those ages when men attained to eight and nine hundred years, was, comparatively speaking, only a child. Such an one, dying in sin, raised from the dead at the end of the thousand years, shares equally the fate of the hundred year old sinner of later ages; they both die the second death. The righteous only remain and enter upon the new-earth state, in which there is no death, but eternal youth, so that indeed in that state there can "be no more thence an infant of days, or an old man that hath not filled his days."
"And they shall build houses, and inhabit them; and they shall plant vineyards, and eat the fruit of them. They shall not build, and another inhabit; they shall not plant, and another eat." Verses 21, 22. Some object and say, Can it be that the saints will build and plant in the new earth? It says so. Where will you apply the testimony, if you attempt to refer it to the present, state? Where is the man of whom it can be said that he shall not build, and another inhabit? Men here spend their whole lives fitting up an inheritance to their taste, and just as they pronounce it fitted to their mind, they find themselves old men, die, and leave it to others.
"For as the days of a tree are the days of my people, and mine elect shall long enjoy the work of their hands." Verse 22. As the days of what tree? I reply, The tree of life; and if that be the tree referred to, then they will live forever; for God drove Adam out of the garden, lest he should put forth his hand and eat of the tree of life and live forever. See Gen. 3. In another testimony, the Lord says: "With long life will I satisfy him, and show him my salvation." Ps. 91:16. How long a life would it require to satisfy a man? If a man's body was racked with disease, and his life made bitter by disappointment and sorrow, he might perhaps come to a point where he could say, I have lived long enough, I want to die; but if he was surrounded with everything that tended to his comfort and happiness, in a state where there was no death, no sorrow, no pain, no tears, would he be satisfied with anything short of eternal life? I think not.
Verses 23, 24, show God's willingness to answer and do for his people, and that in that time the labor of their hands shall prosper and not be brought forth for trouble. Verse 25. "The wolf and the lamb shall feed together, and the lion shall eat straw like the bullock, and dust shall be the serpent's meat." This can only apply in a state where the ferocious dispositions of the wolf and lion have been changed. But can the above apply in the kingdom of God? Are the saints to eat there? Yes. Christ ate after his resurrection. If Christ ate, why may not the saints? They are to be like him. See 1 John 3:1, 2.
Angels appeared to Lot, and ate of the food he prepared. Gen. 19:3. David says of the Israelites, "Man did eat angel's food." Ps. 78:25. The resurrected saints are to be as the angels. Luke 20:36. But Christ has declared that they will eat in the kingdom. "And I appoint unto you a kingdom, as my Father hath appointed unto me; that ye may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom, and sit on thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel." Luke 22:29, 30. Again, "Blessed are those servants whom the Lord when he cometh shall find watching; verily, I say unto you that he shall gird himself, and make them to sit down to meat, and will come forth and serve them." Luke 12:37.
But, you say, I did not think there were to be beasts in the kingdom of God. If the kingdom of God is to be a restitution to the primeval state, there will be beasts there. In Eden, the Lord gave man "dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth on the earth." Gen. 1:26. And Micah testifies concerning Christ, "And thou, O tower of the flock, the stronghold of the daughter of Zion, unto thee shall it come, even the first dominion." If the first dominion comes to Christ, then he will have dominion over beasts as well as the earth and man. That the dominion which is to be given to Christ, is the dominion of the earth, is confirmed by David's testimony (Ps. 72:8), "He shall have dominion also from sea to sea, and from the river unto the ends of the earth." David's testimony also shows that there will be beasts in the renewed state. In Ps. 104:29, 30, after speaking of beasts, &c., he says, "Thou hidest thy face, they are troubled; thou takest away their breath, they die, and return to their dust. Thou sendest forth thy Spirit, they are created; and thou renewest the face of the earth." We wish now to look at a testimony in Isaiah 11. By reading from verses 1-5, you will see that this testimony concerning the "rod out of the stem of Jesse," cannot refer to any earthly monarch; for they have no way of judging, but "after the sight of the eyes," nor to reprove, but "after the hearing of the ears." We also learn that this personage is the one who is to slay the wicked with his breath, and also, that what follows from verses 6-9, is after he has thus slain the wicked. This, then, refers to Christ's kingdom. Let us read a description of it: "The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them. And the cow and the bear shall feed; their young ones shall lie down together; and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. And the sucking child shall play on the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the cockatrice's (margin, adder's) den." Here, again, we have a description of a state when the evil dispositions of the beasts are taken away, when their manner of living even is changed; "they shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain." This is after Christ comes and subdues all his foes.
"Then bears and wolves, no longer wild,
Obey the leading of a child;
The lions with the oxen eat,
And dust shall be the serpent's meat."
Those who deny the application of the above text, and Isaiah 65, to a future state, claim that it is fulfilled here. Their claim is that this text has a hidden meaning; that these beasts, the wolf, lion, kid, and lamb, are used to represent men with different dispositions, whose hearts are softened and subdued by the ameliorating influence of the gospel. The text, they say, is fulfilled when a man with a wolfish or lion-like disposition is converted and brought into the fold of Christ, and with the lambs (Christians) feeds on the heavenly manna. We object to this application for two reasons: First, when a man with a wolfish or a lion-like disposition is converted, he is no longer a wolf or lion, but a lamb; and so in the sequel, those who make the above application of the text, will simply have two lambs feeding together, instead of a lion and a lamb. So to carry out their application it will be necessary to claim that men with unchanged hearts and lives are brought into the church and feed on heavenly manna.
It is positively stated in Isaiah 65:17-25, that such a state of things will exist in the new earth, and allowing these testimonies a literal application, a glorious scene is portrayed to our mind when the curse is removed, and the "fear of man" (Gen. 9:2) is so far taken away that the beasts are again in perfect subjection to him, as in the beginning (Gen. 1:26), even to that extent that the little child shall lead the fierce lion,—the king of the forest.
J. N. LOUGHBOROUGH.
(Continued.)
Morality of the Sabbath
By D. M. Canright
AND
Its Importance.
VIII. The fact that God himself has associated the Sabbath with the moral precepts affords conclusive proof that it is a moral institution.
Fallen man has one document which came directly from the living God himself, and that is the ten commandments. God came down personally upon mount Sinai amidst thunderings and lightnings and most terrible majesty, and there, in the hearing of the whole nation, he spoke from Heaven, with his own voice, his moral law of ten commandments.
Webster in defining the moral law says that it is “summarily contained in the ten commandments.” When God spoke this law, his voice shook the earth. Heb. 12: 26,—not simply the land of Canaan,—indicating that this was the law for all nations in all the earth. With his own divine finger he then engraved it in the imperishable stone; Ex. 31: 18, here again indicating that this law was as imperishable and as enduring as the solid rock. It was then deposited in the ark, under the shekinah in the holy of holies.
No other part of the Bible, no other law of God, was ever given in such a solemn manner. Why was this? This question our opponents have never been able to answer. Nine of these ten commandments are universally acknowledged to be moral in their nature, and of perpetual and universal application, applying through all ages, and to all nations. Look at them. 1. You shall have no other gods. 2. You shall not make and worship an image. 3. You shall not profane God's name. 5. Honor your parents. 6. Do not kill. 7. Do not commit adultery.
8. Do not steal. 9. Do not lie. 10. Do not covet.
Reader, are not these commandments all moral and as enduring as truth itself? There is not a shadowy or ceremonial precept in the whole ten, except it be the Sabbath. Now we ask the reader, if the Sabbath was, unlike the other nine precepts, a mere ceremonial institution. Why did God place it in the moral law? Why did he not put it where it belonged, with those precepts which are confessedly only types and shadows? Shall we impugn God's wisdom to sustain our theories? Would God mar an otherwise perfect moral law? God's own action gives the lie to that baseless theory. It is a true saying that a man is known by the company he keeps. Now look at the Sabbath. God, who knew its character, has placed it right in the midst of a strictly moral neighborhood. It has three perfectly moral neighbors on one side, and six on the other. We do claim that this important fact shows that the all-wise God has put his stamp upon the Sabbath as a moral institution. What God has joined together let no man put asunder.
IX. The Sabbath precept guards the right of property the same as the eighth commandment does; and, hence, like that, is moral.
All admit that the eighth commandment, “Thou shalt not steal,” is a moral commandment. Why? Because it guards the right of property. You shall not take and appropriate to your own use that which belongs to another. The Creator who is the author of everything, has divided time into weeks of seven days each. All these days were the Lord's; but he in his benevolence and goodness, has given six of them to man to be properly used in his own necessary business, but the seventh day, God's rest day, he has reserved to himself. The fourth precept is given to guard this Sabbath day. It forbids us to appropriate to our own use that which belongs to another, viz., to God. The right of property, then, is recognized in this commandment the same as in the eighth commandment; and, hence, if one is moral, then the other is also for the same reason.
To illustrate: A wealthy man has seven apple trees all bearing. He has a poor neighbor living near him. He takes him into the orchard and tells him to freely use of the fruit of the first six trees; but the seventh one he forbids him to touch, as that he has reserved for a special purpose to himself. This would be a very generous act on the part of the rich man. Now how ungrateful and wicked it would be on the part of the poor man to use not only the fruit from the six trees, but to take that of the seventh also. It would be a grossly immoral act.
Just so God has given us six days which we can freely use in an honorable business; but the seventh day belongs to God. Thus the Lord says by the mouth of Isaiah: “If thou turn away thy foot from the Sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on my holy day,” &c. Ch. 58: 13. Again, the Lord says, “Verily my Sabbaths ye shall keep.” Ex. 31: 13. And so the fourth commandment says, “The seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God.” Ex. 20: 10. It is not our day, our time, nor our property. It belongs to God.
And the fourth commandment is given to guard the Lord's right to this day. Another prophet exclaims, “Will a man rob God? But ye have robbed me. But ye say, Wherein have we robbed thee? In tithes and offerings. Ye are cursed with a curse: for ye have robbed me, even this whole nation. Mal. 3: 8, 9. God had reserved to himself one-tenth of all their increase. This belonged to him. Thus he says, “And all the tithe of the land, whether of the seed of the land, or of the fruit of the tree, is the Lord's: it is holy unto the Lord.” Lev. 27: 30. But the people had taken these tithes which belonged to the Lord and had used them for their own benefit: in doing this they had “robbed God.” Then a man can rob the Lord.
If this was true in the above case, with how much greater force can it be said that a man robs God who every week takes God's holy day and appropriates it to his own worldly purposes! Verily, he is guilty of stealing. A little reflection will show that the same motive which leads a man to steal from his neighbor, also leads him to break the Sabbath. He covets his neighbor's property that he may use it for his own selfish purposes; so he takes it without his consent. So a man covets God's holy day that he may use it in his own worldly business or pleasure. Hence he proceeds to appropriate that sacred time to his own purposes. A man who knowingly appropriates God's Sabbath to his own use is robbing God, and thus violating the very highest principle of morality. If it is wrong to rob our neighbor who is our equal, how much more wicked is it to rob God our
Creator? The same moral principle, then, is involved in the Sabbath precept that is in the precept against theft; and therefore it is moral for the same reason.
X. Marriage is a moral institution. The Sabbatic institution being made at the same time, by the same authority, for the same persons, and in a similar manner, is also moral for the same reason.
Notice the origin of the marriage institution. 1. Adam was created; but there was no marriage institution yet, nor any moral obligation upon Adam touching it. 2. Eve was made; but still there was no marriage institution. 3. Eve was given to Adam to be his wife. Now marriage obligation first existed. It was made by the direct and positive appointment of God. So of the Sabbath. 1. God created the heavens and the earth; but there was no Sabbath yet. 2. God rested the seventh day; but yet there was no institution of the Sabbath. 3. God blessed and sanctified (set apart to a holy use) the rest day, and then Sabbath obligation existed.
To deny the morality of the Sabbatic institution because it rests upon the appointment of God, is to deny the morality of the marriage institution; for it rests upon the same authority. If one is moral the other is also. Indeed, there is a striking similarity in the Bible record touching these two institutions. 1. God himself instituted marriage; so he did the Sabbath. 2. Marriage was instituted before the fall; so was the Sabbath. 3. Paul says: “The woman (was made) for the man,” 1 Cor. 11: 9; and Jesus says: “The Sabbath was made for man.” Mark 2: 27. 4. The apostle says: “Marriage is honorable,” Heb. 13: 4; and the Lord exhorts all to call the Sabbath “honorable.” Isa. 58: 13. These two are the only institutions which the Lord has ever called honorable—an honorable pre-eminence. 5. The husband is called the “lord” of the wife. 1 Pet. 3: 6; and so the Son of man is called the “Lord” of the Sabbath. Mark 2: 28. As the husband loves and cherishes the wife, so the Lord loves and protects his Sabbath. 6. As God has put in the moral law a precept guarding the sacredness of the marriage institution, so he has put in the same law a commandment guarding the sacredness of the Sabbatic institution.
The Jews having perverted both these institutions, questioned Christ concerning the nature of each of them. His answer in each case was similar. In relation to marriage his answer, in substance, was this: In the beginning God made one man and one woman, designing that they two should be one flesh. The marriage institution, therefore, was designed to unite but two persons, and this union should be sacred, permanent, and for man's good. Matt. 19: 3-9. Touching the Sabbath, his argument was this: God made the Sabbath. Thus he goes right back to Eden, the origin of the Sabbath; for that was when the Sabbath was made. Then he says it was made for man. Being made for man before he fell it must be a merciful institution, of which fact the Jews had lost sight. Thus Jesus traces both institutions back to their origin in Eden. Both rest upon a similar basis, and both are equally moral.
D. M. CANRIGHT.
Regard for Others.
Because of the infirmity of our nature great interests and high aims often make men regardless of lesser proprieties, let us not esteem the want of them as other than a fault, nor grudge the domestic philanthropist who cheers his neighbor's fireside, who raises their dulled spirits, whose presence brings refreshment with it, who enhances their every-day joys, and sympathizes in the little trials that each day also brings in its train, though it may be only through the impulses of a genial nature, his reward, in his indulgent host of friends, with their warm welcomes, hearty praises, affectionate extenuations, tender regrets.—Sel.
Dancing.
By Dudley Marvin Canright
To the inquiry, whether it is wrong to dance, an editor gives the following short reply: "If some of the time now spent in educating the heels were spent in educating the hands in something useful, it would, no doubt, be just as well."
A sensible answer, one that ought to satisfy a Christian. D. M. C.
The Benefits of Compassion
The contemplation of distress softens the mind of man and makes the heart better. It extinguishes the seed of envy and ill-will towards mankind; corrects the pride of prosperity, and beats down that insolence which is apt to get into the minds of the fortunate.
Fundamental Principles of Seventh- Day Adventists.
S. D. Adventists have no creed but the Bible; but they hold to certain well-defined points of faith, for which they feel prepared to give a reason to every man that asketh them. The following propositions may be taken as a summary of the principle features of their religious faith, upon which there is, so far as we know, entire unanimity throughout the body. They believe,
1. That there is one God, a personal, spiritual being, the creator of all things, omnipotent, omniscient, and eternal, infinite in wisdom, holiness, justice, goodness, truth, and mercy; unchangeable, and everywhere present by his representative, the Holy Spirit. Ps. 139:7.
2. That there is one Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of the Eternal Father, the one by whom God created all things, and by whom they do consist; that he took on him the nature of the seed of Abraham for the redemption of our fallen race; that he dwelt among men, full of grace and truth, lived our example, died our sacrifice, was raised for our justification, ascended on high to be our only mediator in the sanctuary in Heaven, where, with his own blood he makes atonement for our sins; which atonement, so far from being made on the cross, which was but the offering of the sacrifice, is the very last portion of his work as priest, according to the example of the Levitical priesthood, which foreshadowed and prefigured the ministry of our Lord in Heaven. See Lev. 16; Heb. 8:4, 5; 9:6, 7; &c.
3. That the Holy Scriptures, of the Old and New Testaments, were given by inspiration of God, contain a full revelation of his will to man, and are the only infallible rule of faith and practice.
4. That baptism is an ordinance of the Christian church, to follow faith and repentance, an ordinance by which we commemorate the resurrection of Christ; as by this act we show our faith in his burial and resurrection, and, through that, of the resurrection of all the saints at the last day; and that no other mode fitly represents these facts than that which the Scriptures prescribe, namely, immersion. Rom. 6:3-5; Col. 2:12.
5. That the new birth comprises the entire change necessary to fit us for the kingdom of God, and consists of two parts: First, a moral change, wrought by conversion and a Christian life; second, a physical change at the second coming of Christ, whereby, if dead, we are raised incorruptible, and if living, are changed to immortality in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye. John 3:3, 5; Luke 20:36; 1 Cor. 15: 51, 52.
6. We believe that prophecy is a part of God's revelation to man; that it is included in that Scripture which is profitable for instruction; 2 Tim. 3:16; that it is designed for us and our children; Deut. 29:29; that so far from being enshrouded in impenetrable mystery, it is that which especially constitutes the word of God a lamp to our feet and a light to our path; Ps. 119:105; 2 Pet. 2:19; that a blessing is pronounced upon those who study it; Rev. 1:1-3; and that, consequently, it is to be understood by the people of God, sufficiently to show them their position in the world's history, and the special duties required at their hands.
7. That the world's history from specified dates in the past, the rise and fall of empires, and chronological succession of events down to the setting up of God's everlasting kingdom, are outlined in numerous great chains of prophecy; and that these prophecies are now all fulfilled except the closing scenes.
8. That the doctrine of the world's conversion and temporal millennium is a fable of these last days, calculated to lull men into a state of carnal security, and cause them to be overtaken by the great day of the Lord as by a thief in the night; that the second coming of Christ is to precede, not follow, the millennium; for until the Lord appears, the papal power, with all its abominations, is to continue, the wheat and tares grow together, and evil men and seducers wax worse and worse, as the word of God declares.
9. That the mistake of Adventists in 1844 pertained to the nature of the event then to transpire, not to the time; that no prophetic period is given to reach to the second advent, but that the longest one, the two thousand and three hundred days of Dan. 8:14, terminated in that year, and brought us to an event called the cleansing of the sanctuary.
10. That the sanctuary of the new covenant is the tabernacle of God in Heaven, of which Paul speaks in Hebrews 8, and onward, of which our Lord, as great High Priest, is minister; that this sanctuary is the antitype of the Mosaic tabernacle, and that the priestly work of our Lord, connected therewith, is the antitype of the work of the Jewish priests of the former dispensation; Heb. 8:1-5, &c.; that this is the sanctuary to be cleansed at the end of the 2300 days, what is termed its cleansing being in this case, as in the type, simply the entrance of the high priest into the most holy place, to finish the round of service connected therewith, by blotting out and removing from the sanctuary the sins which had been transferred to it by means of the ministration in the first apartment; Heb. 9:22, 23; and that this work, in the antitype, commencing in 1844, occupies a brief but indefinite space, at the conclusion of which the work of mercy for the world will be finished, and the second advent of Christ will take place.
11. That God's moral requirements are the same upon all men in all dispensations; that these are summarily contained in the commandments spoken by Jehovah from Sinai, engraven109on the tables of stone, and deposited in the ark, which was in consequence called the "ark of the covenant," or testament; Num. 10:33; Heb. 9: 4, &c.; that this law is immutable and perpetual, being a transcript of the tables deposited in the ark in the true sanctuary on high, which is also, for the same reason, called the ark of God's testament; for under the sounding of the seventh trumpet we are told that "the temple of God was opened in Heaven, and there was seen in his temple the ark of his testament." Rev. 11:19.
12. That the fourth commandment of this law requires that we devote the seventh day of each week, commonly called Saturday, to abstinence from our own labor, and to the performance of sacred and religious duties; that this is the only weekly Sabbath known to the Bible, being the day that was set apart before paradise was lost, Gen. 2:2, 3, and which will be observed in paradise restored, Isa. 66:22, 23, that the facts upon which the Sabbath institution is based confine it to the seventh day, as they are not true of any other day; and that the terms, Jewish Sabbath and Christian Sabbath, as applied to the weekly rest-day, are names of human invention, unscriptural in fact, and false in meaning.
13. That, as the man of sin, the papacy, has thought to change times and laws (the laws of God), Dan. 7:25, and has misled almost all Christendom in regard to the fourth commandment, we find a prophecy of a reform in this respect to be wrought among believers just before the coming of Christ. Isa. 56:1, 2; 1 Pet. 1:5; Rev. 14:12, &c.
14. That, as the natural or carnal heart is at enmity with God and his law, this enmity can be subdued only by a radical transformation of the affections, the exchange of unholy for holy principles; that this transformation follows repentance and faith, is the special work of the Holy Spirit, and constitutes regeneration or conversion.
15. That, as all have violated the law of God, and cannot of themselves render obedience to his just requirements, we are dependent on Christ, first, for justification from our past offenses, and, secondly, for grace whereby to render acceptable obedience to his holy law in time to come.
16. That the Spirit of God was promised to manifest itself in the church through certain gifts, enumerated especially in 1 Cor. 12 and Eph. 4; that these gifts are not designed to supersede, or take the place of, the Bible, which is sufficient to make us wise unto salvation, any more than the Bible can take the place of the Holy Spirit; that, in specifying the various channels of its operation, that Spirit has simply made provision for its own existence and presence with the people of God to the end of time, to lead to an understanding of that word which it had inspired, to convince of sin, and work a transformation in the heart and life; and that those who deny to the Spirit its place and operation do plainly deny that part of the Bible which assigns to it this work and position.
17. That God, in accordance with his uniform dealings with the race, sends forth a proclamation of the approach of the second advent of Christ; that this work is symbolized by the three messages of Rev. 14, the last one bringing to view the work of reform on the law of God, that his people may acquire a complete readiness for that event.
18. That the time or the cleansing of the sanctuary (see proposition 10), synchronizing with the time of the proclamation of the third message, is a time of investigative judgment, first, with reference to the dead, and, at the close of probation, with reference to the living, to determine who of the myriads now sleeping in the dust of the earth are worthy of a part in the first resurrection, and who of its living multitudes are worthy of translation—points which must be determined before the Lord appears.
19. That the grave, whither we all tend, expressed by the Hebrew sheol and the Greek hades is a place of darkness in which there is no work, device, wisdom, or knowledge. Eccl. 9:10.
20. That the state to which we are reduced by death is one of silence, inactivity, and entire unconsciousness. Ps. 146:4; Eccl. 9:5, 6; Dan. 12:2, &c.
21. That out of this prison-house of the grave, mankind are to be brought by a bodily resurrection; the righteous having part in the first resurrection, which takes place at the second coming of Christ; the wicked in the second resurrection, which takes place a thousand years thereafter. Rev. 20:4-6.
22. That at the last trump, the living righteous are to be changed in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, and with the resurrected righteous are to be caught up to meet the Lord in the air, so forever to be with the Lord.
23. That these immortalized ones are then taken to Heaven, to the New Jerusalem, the Father's house in which there are many mansions, John 14:1-3, where they reign with Christ a thousand years, judging the world and fallen angels, that is, apportioning the punishment to be executed upon them at the close of the one thousand years; Rev. 20:4; 1 Cor. 6:2, 3; that during this time the earth lies in a desolate and chaotic condition, Jer. 4:20-27, described, as in the beginning, by the Greek term abussos bottomless pit (Septuagint of Gen. 1:2); and that here Satan is confined during the thousand years; Rev. 20:1, 2, and here finally destroyed; Rev. 20:10; Mal. 4:1; the theater of the ruin he has wrought in the universe, being appropriately made for a time his gloomy prison-house, and then the place of his final execution.
24. That at the end of the thousand years, the Lord descends with his people and the New Jerusalem; Rev. 21:2, the wicked dead are raised and come up upon the surface of the yet unrenewed earth, and gather about the city, the camp of the saints, Rev. 20:9, and fire comes down from God out of heaven and devours them. They are then consumed root and branch, Mal. 4:1, becoming as though they had not been. Obad. 15, 16. In this everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, 2 Thess. 1:9, the wicked meet the everlasting punishment threatened against them. Matt. 25: 46. This is the perdition of ungodly men, the fire which consumes them being the fire for which "the heavens and the earth which are now" are kept in store, which shall melt even the elements with its intensity, and purge the earth from the deepest stains of the curse of sin. 2 Pet. 3:7-12.
25. That a new heavens and earth shall spring by the power of God from the ashes of the old, to be, with the New Jerusalem for its metropolis and capital, the eternal inheritance of the saints, the place where the righteous shall evermore dwell. 2 Pet. 3:13; Ps. 37: 11, 29; Matt. 5:5.