Earlier text: General Articles"To the Jews, as a united body, the Sabbath is a solemnly revealed law from Mount Sinai."—Dr. Salomon. It is a conceded fact, that the Jews, more than any other nation mentioned in the history of the world, have proven that they could and would, and can and will, sacrifice their possessions and blood, body and life for an exalted idea. Were they not inspired by a truly divine spirit, how easy would it have been for them, at any of the stages of the Mediaeval ages and in all climes, without any exertions whatsoever, to ameliorate their dreadful condition, and in the twinkling of an eye be thoroughly relieved from torture and misery! To how many thousands among them, to whom life was a desert waste, did not the oppressor exhibit the glory of the world, and tell them: "All this will we give you if you will but go with us and do as we do,"—but they ever preferred to endure the most bitter suffering than be false to the covenant entered into by God with their forefathers at Sinai, for them and their offspring. In all these periods of most oppressive misery, it was this, the most holy of the "Tokens of the Covenant," the "Sabbath," that gave them comfort, endowed them with courage and endurance, and filled their hearts, that oft did threat to break, with hopes of a brighter future. The word of God in Sacred Writ: (Exodus 31:13-18) "Above all, my sabbaths shall ye keep, for a sign it is between me and you throughout your generations. . . And the children of Israel shall keep the Sabbath, to observe the Sabbath throughout their generations for a perpetual covenant. Between me and the children of Israel it shall be a sign forever,"—was ever to them the cheerful and beneficent guide, through life's desert waste. This faithful monitor of Israel, the Holy Bible, spake to the tired and hunted down Jewish Pilgrim: Endure still further, but hope. Remember that Sabbath which thy Heavenly Father calls "My Sabbath" and keep that holy. Hold fast to this sign, with true faith for all times, for it is that which binds thee forever to thy Father and he will aye, He must help thee in thy time of need!" Verily it is not to be wondered at, if the Jew on this account, in spite of his helplessness, his sorrow, yes, even in those lands where Romish-Christian love of kind (?) placed him on a par with a cur;—and during those periods of time, when Romish-Christian charity robbed him of all, and left him misery and degradation, that even then, and thus circumstanced,—even happy,—than his tormentor, by reason of the celebration of his Sabbath every week. Heinrich Heine, the German poet, has truly placed the Jew of that time in the position of the "Enchanted Prince," who for six days out of seven, was by "witches" power and magic, degraded to a cur,—but on the seventh, on which day witches have no power and magic no force—he is in truth and fact a "Royal Prince." Yes, actually—though it may seem incredible to many, it was the Sabbath that infused a second, divine soul into the Jew, which made him aspire, and raised him to hope for the aid and assistance of his God, and with this feeling of succor implanted in him he was enabled to be happy, and he sang and rejoiced on his Sabbath, knowing that other times and other men would come; that by the help of God, the dark firmament of bigotry would clear up and be enlightened, and at that time hate would be metamorphosed into love. Has the Jew been disappointed in his belief in the Sabbath? I cheerfully entrust the answer to the dear reader of these lines. But at the times of this writing, there does not yet rule over all the universe the benignant light of the bright dawn of day; the clouds of fanaticism and of prejudice have not yet been dispersed. Truth is not yet universally hailed as a God given attribute, Human Equality is not yet practically conceded, and therefore the mission of the Jew in the walks of sublunary life is not yet completed;—but, until that goal be reached he will be found in the van for the defense of Truth with his limbs, his blood, and if need be, his life. I do admit (and it grieves me sorely that it is a fact) that, at the present time, and in this country, there are very many of my coreligionists, who desecrate the Sabbath by manual and other labor. But dear reader, ask these Jews, whether they consent to give up completely, the real Sabbath, or to change it for Sunday,—and if there remains in the heart but a scintilla of their fathers' faith, then they will so firmly and determinedly say their nay, that you will never propound the query again. My brethren in the faith know that they do wrong, know that they sin when disobeying this commandment of God, but seek to excuse themselves by circumstances of times and poverty, and the like;—that they hope and surely expect that their children, possibly they themselves do at a later time, will be in a condition to do what is right. It never occurs to them to have any doubt of the sanctity of this day; no, they send their wives and children to the House of God for the Sabbath devotions, their homes are sumptuously clad in holiday attire and no coarse labor is permitted on that day, not even by the servant of another faith; the board is spread more daintily, the coarse every-day fare gives place to dishes choice and delicate;—in short, the peace and hallowed joy of the Sabbath has entered into the house; but many do not carry with them their Sabbath nor its influences into the hum of business and of traffic. If in these latter times you have heard the expression from such as you think are Jews, that it were better to celebrate the real Sabbath on the first day of the week, i. e. on Sunday,—don't take that as the true sentiment of the Israelite;—that is merely the renegade, of him that is ashamed of his race and of his illustrious ancestors; and of such thriftless and conscience-barren renegades, Judaism hath always had some. The Jew, if ever so persistent in his disobedience of religious ceremonial, even if he habitually desecrate the Sabbath by labor and traffic, (and that is unfortunately a characteristic of the modern Jew), he is at the same time convinced and he knows, that to deny the sanctity of that day, is a crime committed against God and Israel; he knows that the Sabbath is not only a day of rest, (as the Sunday is to him) but it is a day sanctified by God, and given thus to the Jew, as a token of the covenant, for all mankind, and is one of the ten commandments for the purpose of being at sometime obeyed by all,—he knows further, that the Sabbath is the vital nerve of Judaism,—to give that up, or transfer it to the first day of the week, would be to cut up the nerve, to deny Israel's past and future, destroy the mission of Israel and forever bury Judaism in oblivion. Even the great reformer Luther, speaking of the Lord's Sabbath as a Christian, says: (Luther's Works, Leipsic, 1729, part iii., p. 643). "He that will make of the Sabbath a necessary commandment as is required of a work of God, he must, perforce keep holy the Saturday and not the Sunday, for Saturday was ordained as the Sabbath for the Jews, and not Sunday." In addition to this, I should like to remind the reader that Jesus himself strictly kept the seventh-day Sabbath, as well as his apostles, and Jesus emphatically declared that he had not come for the purpose of changing a single iota of the law; and that the ten commandments (among which the law of the Sabbath occupies a prominent part), are equally obligatory upon Christian and Jew. And until and during a portion of the fifth century the Sabbath was jointly kept by Christian and Jew on the seventh day. And the rigid and stern austerity of the Jewish law of the Sabbath was applied to Sunday not before the eighth century! (Brockhaus Conv. Lex., Bk. x., p. 365. Compare also J. Meyer De Temp Sacr., etc., 2, 9, 10, §11, a multistamen Christianorum ecclesiis Sabbathum. Also, Benj. Otto, Dissertatio de flumine Sabbathico, in Ugolino Thesauro, antiqu. sacr. Tome 2. §10). I am firm in the belief that Luther was also aware of this fact, and that, judging from his own words, he was willing to have the Sabbath put back to its original time, i. e. upon the correct seventh day, but he feared not only the wrath of the Catholics, but also his own adherents, who had but just been reft from the power of Rome, and were still inconsiderable in force and numbers, stigmatized as "Antichristians," who, if he, Luther, had pressed such proper observance of the Sabbath, would have considered him a secret adherent of Judaism, and would have pursued and punished him accordingly. He durst not do it for the time was not yet ripe, and by means of such a step, his whole object would have miscarried. That may also be the reason of his known and open antagonism of the Jews,—an antagonism used to divert a suspicion that he was seeking to disseminate Jewish ideas;—a suspicion, the least anticipation of which was anxiously awaited in Rome, to loose its full powers on this extraordinary man. It is now truly the Israelite's duty to combat every attempt to transfer the Sabbath to a Sunday, if he does not want to dig his own grave, and he is really imbued with the hope that the coming generations will keep the Sabbath day more strictly and unanimously than us, and that even our Christian brethren, i. e. such of them as require candid truth, will become cognizant of the fact, that the Sabbath is not only set apart as a day of rest from labor, but also for the purposes of reasoning, mental occupation, and self-examination, and for such purposes has been sanctified by God as a token of the covenant between Him and his children for all times, and His Sabbath is therefore not that by human agency arbitrarily appointed first day, Sunday, but that seventh day, which since the commencement of time hath been by the Almighty so hallowed. "Thus hath said the Lord, keep ye justice, and do equity; for near is my salvation to come, and my righteousness to be revealed. Happy is the mortal that ever doeth this and the son of man that ever layeth hold on it; that keepeth the Sabbath by not violating it and keepeth his hand from doing any evil. . . Also the sons of the stranger, . . every one that keepeth the Sabbath by not violating it, . . even these will I bring to my holy mountain and make them joyful . . for my house shall be called a house of prayer for all the nations." Isaiah 56:1-7. Rejoice, my cherished reader, for thou art upon the road that leads to Truth. And if thy neighbors scoff at thy position, thou hast but need for courage and endurance, for victory must be thine, as the goal is the Truth. The words of the prophet Isaiah (above) must soon reach fulfillment, if by thy acts thou dost contribute to accellerate that time; and as a proof that we are on the way of its fruition, remember that (what 25 years ago was considered impossible) a Jewish Rabbi has written this to his christian Brothers and Sisters, who celebrate the same Sabbath with him. The Real Sabbath.
By Aaron J. Messing
BY DR. AARON J. MESSING, Rabbi of Congregation Beth Israel, San Francisco. To the Editor of the Signs of the Times:— DEAR SIR: I beg the liberty to explain to the honored readers of your paper First: Why and for what purpose I have written the following article, and Secondly: What motives have prompted me, an Israelite, and Rabbi of a Jewish congregation to publish this article in a paper which is solely devoted to the interests of the Christian church of the Adventists. Having had occasion, during my late journeys through this State, undertaken for the purpose of establishing sectarian schools for the benefit of my co-religionists, to visit Woodland, on a Friday, and discovering that the Israelites at that place as yet possessed neither Synagogue nor school, it occurred to me to call them together for a general meeting on the following Sunday, for the purpose of organizing a society uniting them all in one body, whose duty it was to be, to sustain a religious school for the children, which I was about to organize. In pursuance of this object, I called upon Wm. Saunders Esq., editor of the Woodland Daily Democrat, and was highly elated to find him to be a "gentleman" in the highest and noblest signification of that term. After sufficiently disclosing my mission, I requested him to insert my advertisement in his Saturday's issue of that paper, because it is forbidden to us Jews, to hold such meetings (requiring some manual labor), on our Sabbath; but mark how I must have been astonished, when Mr. Saunders answered me, that his Sabbath was also on Saturday, and that he permitted no matter of work in his establishment on Friday evenings, and that that was the reason why his paper did not appear on the Sabbath. Woodland is without its newspaper on the Sabbath for years, and can only get the news of the day on Sunday morning. I am not able here to describe the feelings which at that moment animated me. Before me stood a man of the Christian church who every week freely offers upon the altar of the true Sabbath, a noble and dignified sacrifice, to keep holy that Sabbath which the only ever living God of all mankind, erst gave my ancestors as a token of the covenant, from Mount Sinai to be kept holy by all peoples. My ancestors have ratified the truth of this day with their best heart's blood, and surrendered even life itself in adherence to its sanctity—and here "the holiness of this day" is acknowledged by one, who is not a Jew, while many of my own co-religionists desecrate that day. I was strongly drawn toward this man, he having immediately gained my highest esteem and most profound sympathy, and I therefore cheerfully accepted his cordial invitation to attend Friday evening service in his church, in which Bible citations were read, in which I could conscientiously participate as a Jew. At this evening service, as well as the devotions on the Sabbath-day, I observed several of my co-religionists as participants in the small but pretty edifice. Being called upon, I felt it my duty to address the congregation during the morning service, and sought to indue this brave congregation with courage and endurance; and explaining to them the "bottom-truths" of the Jewish religion. Even now, while penning these lines, it is with rapture that I contemplate that universal service to God where a Jewish Rabbi could address a Christian congregation on the real holy Sabbath; and their petitions were addressed to Father of all; to Him were given praise and thanks in the glorious old psalms; and while your paper, "The Signs of the Times" was in this, to me ever memorable, service, distributed among the members, I said to the congregation in my address, "This day, this devotion, whereby Christian and Jew, on one and the same sanctified day, the holy Sabbath, pray to the 'one Father of all mankind,' is verily the best 'Sign of the Time' that the prophecies of the prophets are near the days of their fulfillment. 'On that day the Everlasting, the Eternal one shall alone reign; on that day the Eternal will be only one, and His will be the only name.'" It was at the time of those devotional exercises that I promised several of the noble members of the "Woodland seventh-day Adventist" congregation that I would write an article for your paper, treating of the real Sabbath from a Jewish point of view. And then brother Saunders, upon my interrogatory, informed me, that your paper is in successful circumstances, and rapidly progressing with several thousand (I believe 10,000) readers, which all the more makes me rejoice that my former promise will afford me the great pleasure to transmit this article to you for publication. The question of "the Sabbath" is of the same importance for us both, and upon this battlefield we are both equals; we battle for the same sacred truth; we wage war, not with sword and lance, and not as Christian and Jew, but we strike blows with weapons of the brain, with the "word of truth" for "truth," side by side as children of "one Father," as brothers for that truth, that He has first, it is true, imparted to us, the Jewish people; but, however, for the purpose that it should be spread through Israel to the whole human family, and be owned by all who are created in his image. It is true that our opinions do not harmonize in creed, in dogmas, in church and synagogue—we differ in very many things—but we contend for one "bottom fact," "Love thy neighbor as thyself." We have the same "one and only God," the same Father, the self-same old Bible, the same ten words of God, and now the same Sabbath; and I now declare my best wishes for your unlimited success, in your battle for these truths from the innermost recesses of my heart, and beg leave by means of these few lines, to express my kindest regards, especially to that association of brave brethren of the Adventist church in Woodland, and let me cherish the hope, that prejudice against those of another faith may soon totally disappear among mankind; and I remain, with expressions of the utmost esteem,
Yours truly,
AARON J. MESSING.
San Francisco, Nov. 1879. WHO IS MY FRIEND?
By Anson G. Chester
Not he who ever fills my wondering ear
With honeyed praises that I love to hear;
Who tells me how his heart goes out to me,
Just as the eager river seeks the sea;
Who calls me learned, insists that I am wise,
And holds me always in a sweet surprise;
Talks of my genius; when I speak, applauds,
And puts me up among the demigods!
Whatever I may say or do, commends,
And boasts himself my very friend of friends, But he who coins his friendship into deeds,
And runs to cheer and help me in my needs;
Whose open hand his liberal heart reveals:
Who proves, not tells, the sympathy he feels;
Who, when he sees me sorely pressed and tried,
Passes not by upon the other side;
Who is no Levite to his fellow-man,
But, everywhere, the good Samaritan—
He is the friend I cherish and approve,
The friend that, with my heart of hearts, I love. Bearing each other's burdens, we fulfill
The Master's law and do the Master's will.
—Anson G. Chester. Religious Habit and Religious Life
By Bombay Guardian
THERE is a reason to fear that, with a great many Christians, religious habit takes the place of religious life. The law of habit was never intended to take away the need of a daily inspiration. All our springs are in Christ. We live by the faith of the Son of God. We have life as we abide in him; and in order that we may abide in him, we must feel the necessity of a daily communication from the Source. "Without me ye can do nothing."—Bombay Guardian. The Influence of Goodness
The wind is unseen, but it cools the brow of the fevered one, sweetens the summer atmosphere, and ripples the face of the lake into silver spangles of beauty. So goodness of heart, though invisible to the material eye, makes its presence felt; and from its effects upon surrounding things we are assured of its existence. J. H. WAGGONER, - - - - - RESIDENT EDITOR
By J. H. Waggoner
7. SIGNS OF THE LORD'S COMING.
WE** now come to the more direct answer to the question: "What shall be the sign of thy coming?" This answer is given in verse 29. This contains the most specific answer, though another class of signs have already been noticed, which are fulfilled in Modern Spiritualism. The close connection of the signs in the sun, moon, and stars, to the coming of Christ and events related to it, shows that here we have the answer to the question of the disciples. As we hold the advent of Christ to be a literal coming, so we hold that these signs are literal, according to the first and obvious meaning of the terms used. 1. There is no consistency in the view that they are figures or symbols. A teacher in a theological college in one of the "Western States" told us, when asked of what they were symbols, that the sun meant the civil power of the Jews; the moon, the ecclesiastical power; and the stars, the great men of that nation. This would make the Saviour say, in the year A. D. 29, under the reign of Tiberius and Pilate, that some time in the future, or when Jerusalem was destroyed in A. D. 70, the civil power of the Jews should be obscured or lost! The absurdity of this declaration it is difficult to equal, for every one must know they had not even a vestige of civil power at that time to lose. They had not power to punish one whom their highest tribunal had judged worthy of death, and they acknowledged Cæsar as their only king. 2. It has been urged by those holding the "Universalist view," that great signs were shown just before the capture and destruction of Jerusalem, and that these fulfilled this prophecy. Dr. Clarke mentions some in his notes on verses 6, 7. But so far from these being signs of his coming, or of the end, the Saviour distinctly says of them—"the end is not yet"—"these are the beginning of sorrows." The signs of verse 29 are closely related to his coming, and therefore here is found the answer to the question under consideration. 3. The signs here given are after the tribulation. If the coming of Christ referred to the siege and destruction of Jerusalem, and "that tribulation" also had reference to the same thing, as some—yes, many—affirm, then we must suppose that the Saviour said the signs of his coming would take place after his coming! But neither his coming nor that tribulation relate to the destruction of Jerusalem. The Scriptures are not so inconsistent as that view would make appear. 4. If it be indeed true that the signs of verse 29 are literal, that must decide the controversy; and that they are literal there is one point of proof which seems quite conclusive. In Luke 21:25 the same things are spoken of, in the following manner: "And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity." The signs in the sun, moon, and stars, are distinct from the things upon the earth—they are not fulfilled among the nations of the earth. Here is a fact the conclusion of which is unavoidable. Compare Acts 2:19, 20. We will now notice the harmony of the literal view. (1.) Paul said there should come a great apostasy before the coming of the Lord. Christ said the same in Matt. 24. (2.) Paul said that at the coming of Christ the saints will be gathered together unto him. The Saviour said the same in Matt. 24. (3.) Paul said that when the Lord comes the holy angels shall come with him. 2 Thess. 1. The Saviour said the same thing in Matt. 24, and in 16:27, and in 25:31. Again, in speaking of the apostasy and its fruits, Paul said that a great anti-Christian power should arise, which should continue till the time of the Lord's coming. Daniel speaks of the same power, gives it the same characteristics of self-exaltation and blasphemy, says it shall wear out the saints of the Most High, and practice and prosper till the time comes that the saints possess the kingdom. The Saviour speaks of the same persecution, the great tribulation upon "the elect," and says that the saints will possess the kingdom when he comes. Compare further Matt. 25:31-34, and 1 Cor. 15:42-54. The saints were not called to "inherit the kingdom" at the destruction of Jerusalem; "all nations" were not gathered at that time to have judgment passed upon them. The signs in the heavens came after the tribulation. The greatest tribulation the saints of Christ ever suffered was under the Roman power. It was severe under pagan Rome, but far more terrible and destructive, as it was of longer continuance, under papal Rome. Under the influence of the German Reformation in the sixteenth century, this tribulation began to wane. It ceased early in the eighteenth century. In the latter part of the eighteenth, and early part of the nineteenth century, the signs in the heavens were fulfilled. They are not signs of the tribulation, nor is the tribulation connected with the coming of Christ. They are signs of his coming, and they stand between the tribulation and his coming. His coming is now near, for these signs are fulfilled. 1. The sun shall be darkened: We have but little to say on this point,—not that there is not much to say, but that so much has already been said. "The dark day," is a common phrase to denote the 19th of May, 1780. A few are yet living who witnessed it. The writer well remembers that, in his boyhood, aged people made frequent mention of it in relating notable points in their experience. One testimony only we here give, from an authority of undisputed reliability. It is a publication of the American Tract Society, entitled, "Life of Edward Lee:" "In the month of May, 1780, there was a very terrific dark day in New England, when 'all faces seemed to gather blackness,' and the people were filled with fear. There was great distress in the village where Edward Lee lived; 'men's hearts failing them for fear' that the Judgment day was at hand, and the neighbors all flocked around the holy man; for his lamp was trimmed, and shining brighter than ever, amidst the unnatural darkness. Happy and joyful in God, he pointed them to their only refuge from the wrath to come, and spent the gloomy hours in earnest prayer for the distressed multitude."—Tract No. 379 of Am. Tract Society—Life of Edward Lee. Had the author and publishers of this work intended to give a forcible illustration of the fulfillment of this prophecy, they could not better have chosen their language for that purpose. But they had no such intention—they had not this prophecy in view at all, which makes their testimony all the more emphatic as evidence on the question. Some have questioned whether this was sufficient to fulfill the prophecy, admitting that it must be so fulfilled. Dr. Noah Webster, who was an eye witness of it, says the sun was darkened fourteen hours. Then it was darkened over fourteen twenty-fourths of the earth's surface, and particularly over that part where we believe the most important scenes of last-day prophecy are laid,—the continent of America. 2. The moon shall not give her light. It was well suggested by Dr. Henry, the commentator, that the moon would fail because the sun would shed no light on her, in the fulfillment of this prophecy. In New England, where the sun's darkening was most noted, the moon, though full, was totally obscured till midnight, when it came out with brilliancy. Here is the evidence that the sun was darkened fourteen hours—from 10, A. M., of the 19th, till the midnight following. Many descriptions have been given of the intense darkness of that night. One said if every luminous body had been struck out of existence he could not imagine that the darkness could have been more intense. It was startling, and over-powering, and even painful to the senses because of its intensity. And learned men say it cannot be explained or accounted for. We think it admits of just one explanation. The God of Heaven—the Ruler of Nature—hung out these signs in the heavens to teach the student of his word that the Son of God would soon make his second advent to this world. And we are thankful that the warning has not been in vain. The marked fulfillment of the prophecies has led thousands to look, to hope for, and to rejoice in the "blessed hope," of the coming of the dear Redeemer. 3. And the stars shall fall from heaven. We may be permitted to notice this more particularly, as efforts have been made to show that no past fulfillment can meet the requirements of this part of the prophecy. We believe that it was fulfilled in the fall of 1833. And now arise the objectors—and some of them have been educated men—and say that stars did not fall in 1833; that they were only meteors; that their falling was merely an atmospheric phenomenon; and that ignorance alone leads any one to call them falling stars. We think it is not difficult to show that all the wisdom does not lie on the side of the objectors. (1.) We readily admit that this prophecy could never be literally fulfilled as a sign of the Lord's coming, if the falling of the stars referred to the moving to this earth of any of its sister planets, or the more remote and larger stars in the heavens. Most of them are much larger than this earth, and the dashing of the smallest of them upon the earth would probably leave no one alive to note any future event. (2.) We do not admit that the falling of the stars in 1833 was merely an atmospheric phenomenon, or that they were atmospheric lights. Prof. Olmstead, of Yale College said, and his testimony remains undisputed, that they were "visitants from the planetary voids;" that they came from a point far beyond our atmosphere; that "they appeared to emanate from a point in the constellation Leo, near a star called Gamma Leonis, in the bend of the sickle." He also called them falling stars,—just what they were. The Professor said they emanated from one point, but it did not so appear to the beholder, as we can testify. And this appearance of their coming from all parts of the heavens is proof that the "one point" from which they came must have been very remote. (3.) Having thus disposed of that objection, we now say that if they had been atmospheric in their origin they might still have fulfilled this prophecy literally, for small—very small—lights within our atmosphere are called stars in the New Testament. Will the reader please turn to the second chapter of Matthew, and there read of a "star" which the wise men followed westward to Jerusalem. And when they had received the desired information the star "went before them" southward to Bethlehem, and when it had led them to Bethlehem "it came and stood over where the young child was." Let the sage objector consider how large or rather how small this star was. A comparison will help us. Our satellite, the moon, is 1000 miles less in diameter than the least of the planets of the solar system, but its diameter is over 2000 miles. Can any one imagine how a "star" no smaller than this could point out the place where the young child was, in the village of Bethlehem? The reader may illustrate this point for himself. Let him take his watch in his hand with its open face upward. Now take his Bible and hold it over the watch so as to indicate the locality of the figure 12 (xii) on its face. Yon say at once it cannot be done, because the Bible is so large it far more than covers over the whole watch. Try a pencil point and it can readily be done. So with the star of Matt. 2. It was not only so small as to go before them and stand over Bethlehem, but it was so small that it could stand over one house in Bethlehem, and not stand over one on either side of that one. If it had covered half the village the wise men would not have known where to go to find the infant king. If left to their choice of many houses they would not likely have gone to a place where cattle were stalled to find such a personage. Thus it is shown beyond all chance for dispute, that a star, in the language of the "Gospel according to Matthew" may be a small—a very small—light, entirely within the atmosphere of this earth. No objection remains against the literal fulfillment of the three signs of Matt. 24:29 in the past. IT is claimed by some here that Christ received his kingdom while here on earth. Will you please explain Luke 9:27? I have been asked how we can harmonize it with our view? It is not difficult to harmonize our faith with Luke 9:27. The connection shows that the Saviour here referred to his glorification in the transfiguration. Peter also, speaking of "the power and coming of the Lord," gives as proof that they "were eye-witnesses of his majesty." He refers also to the transfiguration. But this glory did not continue. It was but an evidence to them of what shall be. So the Saviour says again, "When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory." Matt. 25:31. When the Lord comes in his glory two classes of saints will be glorified with him: the resurrected, represented in his transfiguration by Moses, who had died; and the translated, represented by Elijah, who never died but was translated. So this view of "his majesty" was a just representation of "his power and coming." In Luke 19:11-27, the Lord spake a parable "because they thought that the kingdom of God should immediately appear." In this he represents himself as a nobleman who "went into a far country to receive for himself a kingdom, and to return." It is a pity that, to this day, the instruction of this parable passes unheeded by so many. In Dan. 7:13, 14, we learn that the Son of man receives his kingdom in the immediate presence of his Father—the Ancient of days. In Rev. 11:15 we are informed that he receives it under the sounding of the seventh trumpet, just at the close of this dispensation. Note the context. This does not at all interfere with the fact that he is a kingly priest on the throne of his father. Heb. 8:1. But we must ever bear in mind that he occupies two thrones at different times. See Rev. 3:21. His priesthood will close; that kingship he will "deliver up" to God the Father. 1 Cor. 15:24-28. But the other—his own throne—he shall occupy forever; of his reign thereon there will be no end. See Luke 1:32, 33. We can cite very many scriptures to confirm this view, but we suppose this brief notice will suffice to answer the question. But, on the other hand, if this view is still denied, how will they harmonize Luke 9:27 with Luke 19:11-27? If his kingdom was then manifest, as is also claimed on Luke 17:21, how is that fact to be harmonized with the facts and scriptures above presented? We think the objectors take a partial or one-sided view of the teachings of the Scriptures on this important doctrine.