The remarks under the numbers following apply to the propositions and texts under the corresponding numbers in the “Analysis.”
The comments of Dean Alford upon this are so appropriate and so fully in accord with views of Seventh-day Adventists that they are quoted entire:—
The strong man is the adversary, Satan; who rules this present world. John 12:31; 16:11. His goods, or tools, or spoils, are the sons of men. 2 Tim. 2:26; 1 John 5:19 (margin). With these is he clothed and armed, i. e., with their evil capacities, which he furnishes and brightens for his own use. With this armor of the Devil compare by way of contrast the “whole armor of God.” Eph. 6:11–20. Without these arms and tools he would be powerless; for the evil one must have evil men—something positive of evil—to work upon. But these the stronger than he takes from him, and divides his spoils. Isa. 53:12. He divides his spoils—to his own use and that of his followers—all good which the enemy had corrupted into
The Stronger had already come into the strong man’s house—the Saviour, into the world—and was robbing him of his captives, and making them his own disciples; e. g., Mary Magdalene and others. But the work was not fully complete yet, till the Lord, by and in his death, overcame him that had the power of death, i. e., the Devil. And his great victory is still proceeding; he is still taking from him one and another, rescuing the sons of men by the power of His gospel, till the end, when He shall (Rev. 20:1 following) bind him in the abyss; and though loosed for the final conflict by his sufferance, be cast, him overthrown, into the lake of fire for ever. Rev. 20:14.”—Alford’s notes on Luke 11.
Thy seed and her seed.—“By the seed of the woman is to be understood all wicked men, who are called serpents, generation of vipers, children of their father, the Devil; and as the seed of the woman is set in opposition to these, it must necessarily follow, since Eve is the natural mother of good men and bad men, that it denotes a mixed portion of the human race, including first chiefly the Lord Jesus Christ, who in allusion to this promise is called by way of eminence the seed (Gal. 3:16, 19), who came ‘to destroy the works of the Devil’ (Heb. 2:14; 1 John 3:8); and secondly, all the members of Christ, his true people, the sincerely pious in every age and country. . . . The warfare between these contending parties now commenced, which has ever since been kept up, and will continue till a complete victory over the Devil and his angels shall be obtained by Christ and his people. It shall bruise thy head.—Hebrew, ‘He shall bruise, smite, or crush thee as to thy head,’ the masculine he denoting that Christ is more especially to be understood by the seed here spoken of. It was to be in consequence of his sufferings and death, and the power with which he was to be invested as Mediator, that the power of Satan was to be broken and a signal victory obtained over him.”—Prof. George Bush, vol. 1, p. 84.
3. The argument of which Heb. 2:14 is the climax begins with the fifth verse. If the reader will take his Bible, and carefully study the chapter as the points of the argument are stated, he may see more clearly its force and beauty. Verse 5 declares that the future world, the subject of discourse, is not put in subjection to angels. Verses 6–8 show that this dominion was predicated of man in the Old Testament. If all things were put under him, then there could be nothing which was not put under him. Verse 8. It was, therefore, God’s original design that man should have dominion over all things. Nevertheless, in the present state we do not see all things under him. To the future we must look, therefore, for the fulfillment of God’s plans in this respect. But we do see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels [as man was, ver. 7], because of his death crowned with glory and honor [as man was originally, and would have remained, had he not sinned, ver. 7].
In verses 10, 11, it is shown to be becoming that Christ, who died to bring many sons of God to the glory they had lost, should be perfected through sufferings, seeing that he must share with those whom he is to sanctify, in dependence on a common Father. Verses 12, 13 give Scriptural proof of this common dependence by presenting instances where Christ calls those who are sanctified, brethren, children, etc. Finally, in verse 14 we come to the proof that he who was to be the Leader of the salvation of these many sons by trusting and suffering like them, must himself become man like them, in order for his death to have any efficacy towards his purpose. “The death of Christ brought to naught the agency of the Devil in death, because Christ’s death, being not the penalty of his own sin, but the atoning sacrifice for the sin of the world, all those who by faith are united to him can now look on death no longer as the penalty for sin. . . . But for those who are not united to Him, death, retaining its character of a punishment for sin, retains also therewith all its manifold terrors.”—Dean Alford. The text also proves that the Devil himself will be destroyed through the death of Christ.
C. C. L.
THE MODEL TEACHER.
By H. F. Phelps
WHAT is a model teacher? and what are his characteristics? and may this point of excellence be reached?
It is more than likely that every teacher has a desire to excel; and although he may not expect to reach the goal of perfection, yet no doubt he would be glad to attain that desirable end. To point out, if possible, some of the means by which we may reach this position, is my object. And if I may be able to increase the desire of any for more thoroughness in this important part of the Sabbath-school work, I shall feel more than paid.
First, then, let me enumerate some of the things that a model teacher will not do. He will not let the whole week go by without study, meditation, and careful preparation, leaving all this for Sabbath morning. He will not come late to the Sabbath-school. He will not come into the class dependent upon the lesson sheet or class-book. He will not notice every little failure with a reproof. He will never speak in a fretful tone or find fault. He will not look for perfection in any one.
He will do quite the opposite of all this. He will realize the worth of time, and will commence early in the week to prepare for the next Sabbath, and that preparation will be so thorough, and the lesson will be so carefully studied in all its points, and looked at from all sides, that he will become so fully conversant with the subject as not to need the lesson sheet. He will feel the need of attending the teacher’s meetings, and thus lend his influence to encourage his fellow-teachers. When the hour of Sabbath-school arrives, he will invariably be at his post, greeting his class in a pleasant manner. He will be very desirous that all shall be done at the right time, and in the proper manner. His eyes will be open to take in the whole class at once. Thus he will be able to detect the first departure from right, or the first appearance of a lack of interest in any member, and he will always be able to apply the proper remedy at the right time and in the right manner. He will not only labor that his class may understand and appreciate the lesson, but he will seek, by the aid of the Spirit of God, to so impress the lesson truth that it shall find a deep place in the heart of each scholar; and finding deep soil, it will spring up and bear fruit to the glory of God. He will also seek day by day, both in the school and out of it, to have his department in accordance with the holy truths he tries to impress upon the hearts of others. He will also feel these truths himself. He will realize that a responsibility of soul rests upon him,—that he must give an account to God for those souls committed to his care; and, feeling this, he will labor that he may render this account with joy and not with grief. He will also see the necessity of seeking God very earnestly for himself.
And right here lies the secret of the success of every teacher, and without this we can do nothing. We may do all the work here indicated, and still make a miserable failure because we do not get down to rock bottom. A model teacher will never be satisfied with surface work. He may never reasonably expect the blessing of God upon his work unless he seeks for it. He will seek God for wisdom, and for an understanding heart that he may be able to apply the wisdom that God gives him.
Let me point you to a model teacher, that you may study his example; for the more we study a perfect pattern, the more perfect will our work be. That teacher is Christ. He spake as never man spake. He taught as never man taught. The truths he uttered came from a heart that felt the force of those truths. Thus it should be with us. His sympathies were fully enlisted in his work. Ours must not be divided. He felt and realized the value of a soul. We must feel the same. He labored in an unselfish manner. Should we do less?—Never, if we expect to meet the approbation of the great Teacher. A model teacher should be a co-worker with Christ. If a co-worker, he will make personal efforts to save the members of his class, he will make personal appeals. Christ came to seek and to save the perishing. He came to those that needed his help, and made their sorrows, sufferings, and weaknesses his own. There was no cold formality in his work. He loved the world and loved his work, and gave his life to save those whom he loved. And, truly, greater love hath no man than this, “that a man lay down his life for his friends.”
May God help us, one and all, to study more and more the life and example of our model Teacher. May we strive to attain to the standard that is set before us, and never become discouraged in our work till we shall reach the standard of perfection that shall enable us to do good work for the Master, and at last hear the well done.
H. F. PHELPS.
The True Portion of the Gospel
By Bridges
—To drink and thirst again is the disappointment of the world. To drink and never thirst is the portion of the gospel. “My blessed hope,” said a dying Christian, “is worth a thousand worlds.” This is the grand discovery—the summum bonum indeed. God would have us rejoice in our labor—enjoy our earthly blessings, but not rest in them. Let earth be the cistern only, not the fountain. Let its best blessing be loved after him, for him, as the sunbeam of his love. Let nothing of earth be our rest. God never intended so poor a portion for his redeemed ones. Our rest is built upon unchangeable promises. Meanwhile the real joy is when God is the center, and the Saviour (as one of the German Reformers beautifully expresses it) is to us the treasure and the key of all the good things of God.—Bridges.
Sin Ends Dark as Night
—Sin may open bright as the morning, but it will end dark as night.
THE JUDGMENT OF THE GREAT DAY.
(Continued.)
To the foregoing reasons for considering the scape-goat a type of Satan, another may be added; and that is, that Satan is so brought to view in connection with the cleansing of the heavenly sanctuary, and is assigned to such a condition, as to furnish a most striking antitype of the ceremony of sending away the goat into the wilderness on the typical day of atonement.
Tracing out in the type the various steps by which the removal of sin was effected, the following acts are conspicuous: 1. The sin of the transgressor was imparted to his victim, in the manner already described; 2. In the shed blood of that victim, the sin, inhering therein, was borne into the sanctuary; 3. On the day of atonement, with the blood of the sin-offering for the people, the high priest removed all their sins from the sanctuary, and laid them on the head of the scape-goat; and 4. The goat was then sent away into a land not inhabited.
And each of these movements in the type finds a corresponding movement in the antitype as follows: 1. The great offering for the world was made on Calvary; 2. The sins of all those who avail themselves of the offer of Christ’s blood by faith in him, are represented in that blood, with which he entered into the sanctuary on high (Heb. 9:12), and are through that transferred to that sanctuary; 3. After Christ, the minister of the true tabernacle (Heb. 8:2), has finished his ministration, and by the atonement has released the sins of his people from the sanctuary, he will lay them upon the head of their author, the antitypical scape-goat, the Devil; and 4. The Devil will then be sent away, loaded with these sins, into a land not inhabited.
In what will this last-named event consist? and do the Scriptures anywhere describe it? If we mistake not, Rev. 20:1–3 brings to view this very scene: “And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit, and a great chain in his hand. And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil and Satan, and bound him a thousand years, and cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more till the thousand years should be fulfilled.”
On the supposition that Satan is the antitype of the ancient scape-goat, the movement here described is exactly such as we might expect to occur in reference to him. Having become satisfied that he is the antitype of this goat, we carefully scan the prophecies pointing out the events in which he is concerned, to see if we can anywhere find an event which would fitly correspond to the sending away of the goat into the wilderness. To find this event we naturally look to the close of the work of cleansing the heavenly sanctuary. We reach a point of time just subsequent to that work, the time when, in the order of the sanctuary work, the scape-goat in the antitype should be sent away with all the sins of pardoned penitents laid upon him, and lo, an angel comes down from heaven, lays hold upon this very being, Satan, binds him, casts him into the bottomless pit, and shuts him up for a thousand years. And as we look upon this scene, we are not able to restrain the thought that here is the sending away of the antitypical scape-goat. With this view of the subject the relation of the scene described in Rev. 20:1–3 to other events, can be clearly shown, and a plain reason be given why it should occur at that very time. But without this view, the narrative here given comes in to all appearance, abruptly, arbitrarily, and aimlessly; for who can tell on any other ground, why just this disposition instead of some other is made of the Devil, and why it is made at this particular time.
This scene occurs, as we have seen, at just the right time to fulfill the antitype; for it is immediately after Christ has finished his work as priest. Secondly, the right agent is employed. The goat anciently was not led away by the high priest, but by the hand of another person. So here it is not Christ, our great High Priest, who casts Satan into the bottomless pit, but an angel; this angel corresponding most fittingly to that “fit man,” who, in the type, led away the goat. Thirdly, Satan is cast into the right place to fulfill the type. Anciently the goat was sent away into a waste wilderness, a land not inhabited. The Devil is cast into what is here called “the bottomless pit;” and this place answers most accurately to the “wilderness” of the type, as will now be made to appear.
The words “bottomless pit” in our English version, are from the single Greek word ἄβυσσος, which signifies “an abyss, bottomless, deep, profound.” It is used in a way to show that it signifies any place of darkness, desolation, and death. Thus in Rev. 9:1, 2, it is applied to the barren wastes of the Arabian desert, and in Rom. 10:7, to the grave. In Gen. 1:2, we have the declaration that “darkness was upon the face of the deep;” and for the word here rendered “deep” the Septuagint uses ἄβυσσος, the same word which is rendered “bottomless pit” in Rev. 20:3. The Hebrew word תהום, from the root הום (to perturb, harass, move, excite, to heave, swell, and be tumultuous), designates a waste, desolate, broken up condition. This is applied to the earth in its original state of chaos, when it was “without form and void.” And let it be borne in mind that the earth is to be reduced again to the same condition, when the same word will apply to it. The prophet Jeremiah, describing the scenes of the last days, and the effect of the convulsions then spread through all nature, says: “I beheld the earth, and lo, it was without form, and void; and the heavens, and they had no light.” Jer. 4:19–26. When will this be brought about? At the very time when Rev. 20:3 applies; for that immediately follows the coming of Christ as described in Rev. 19:11–21; and when Christ comes, the earth is transformed into a vast charnel house of desolation and death; for the voice of God has then shaken it to its foundations (Heb. 12:26; Joel 3:16; Rev. 16:17); the islands and mountains have been moved out of their places (Rev. 6:14; 16:20); the seven last plagues have left their withering and blasting footprints over all the fair face of nature, and the earthquake and the hail, with which they close, have shaken down, beaten down, and leveled to the earth, the mightiest works of men (Rev. 16); the burning glory attending the coming of the Son of man has borne its part in accomplishing the general desolation (2 Thess. 2:8; 1:7, 8; Jer. 66:15; Ps. 50:3); the wicked have been given to the slaughter, and lie unsepulchered from one end of the earth to the other (Jer. 25:22, 23); and thus the earth is at this time made empty and waste and turned upside down (Isa. 24:1), and thus is brought back again to its original chaotic condition, as described by Jeremiah. And then what better term could be used to describe it rolling on in its disorganized condition of darkness and desolation for a thousand years than the term ἄβυσσος, “abyss,” or “bottomless pit,” that was used to describe it when in the same condition in the beginning?
Here is the place to which we therefore believe the arch-deceiver will be consigned at last under the load of the sins of the righteous, which he incited them, while in the flesh, to commit, but from which they have escaped by repentance and pardon through Jesus Christ. This world will then indeed be a desolate “wilderness,” or “land not inhabited,” well befitting the great antitypical scape-goat. And what more fitting retribution could at this point overtake the author of all our woe, than that he should through all these slow-circling thousand years be confined to the world which he has tried to ruin, amid the desolation which his own hands have indirectly wrought, unable to flee from his habitation of woe or to repair in the least degree its hideous wretchedness?
It may be asked, by way of objection to the view here presented, if Paul does not say that Christ “appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself,” and if this does not show that sins were all put away upon the cross. Paul indeed uses such an expression; but if we allow him to interpret it as he does in other statements which he elsewhere makes, he means simply that Christ by his crucifixion made provision for the taking away of all sin. But sins could not have been put away, as they are by the atonement, on the cross; for millions of those who will be saved were then unborn, and sins cannot be put away in advance—Christ is not the author of the pernicious system of indulgences. But the provision having been made upon the cross, all sins that are confessed and repented of are taken into the provisions of God’s grace, atoned for in the final work of the sanctuary and laid at last upon the head of the scape-goat, and thus put away forever. Under this load of sins the great scape-goat, or Satan himself, will ultimately perish.
Another seeming objection may arise relative to the punishment of these atoned-for sins in the person of Satan. If Satan is punished for the sins of the righteous, are not those sins, it is asked, punished twice, once in the person of Christ when he suffered for sins on the cross, and again in the person of Satan upon whom they are finally laid? The answer comes immediately, that the sins of the righteous are no more punished twice than the sins of the wicked. Christ suffered for all alike—just as much for the sins of those who will finally be lost, as for the sins of those who will be saved. But the lost will at last be punished for their own sins in full measure.
The whole trouble arises, we apprehend, from a mistaken view of the position and work of Christ, our substitute. The idea which the query proposes is that Christ in his own person suffered all punishment, that is, the aggregate amount of physical pain, which all the saved would have suffered had they been lost. But, having suffered for all, as the Scriptures assure us he did, did he not, on this view, suffer the aggregate amount of physical pain which will be endured by all the lost as well? If not, we have the most ultra Calvinism to swallow; and in either case those who believe in the eternal misery of the lost have an insurmountable problem with which to grapple. Is not this rather the truth, that Christ appeared before the law as an innocent victim, to meet in behalf of others the sentence, “The soul that sinneth, it shall die.” The offering was voluntary, and therefore involved no injustice; it was from so exalted a position that God could accept it as an equivalent for the injured majesty of his law; and it was of such infinite worth as to be equivalent in value to the life of every member of the human family from first to last taken all together, so that the law could without dishonor to itself release its claims from all those who would accept this precious sacrifice as their substitute, even if all the world should do so.
But we have learned from the type that the removal of sin from the penitent by the death of a substituted victim, did not cancel the sin itself, only transferred it to some other object. The forgiveness, or removal, of the sin was relative not absolute; that is, as related to the sinner, it was forgiven, it no longer stood against his account; the sin itself was considered as still in existence, transferred to the sanctuary, and to be disposed of by other services yet to follow. Christ has done for us in fact what the ancient offering of animals did for the sinner in figure; that is, he has provided a medium in his own blood through which sin’s guilt may be removed from us, and transferred to some other party. Thus we can be saved; but sins yet remain to be destroyed in some other way.
Let us now consider upon whom the sins of the pardoned sinner, after leaving him in the process of their removal, would naturally lodge. Sin did not originate with mankind. Human beings in this world were not the authors of this evil, nor its foster-fathers. But they were seduced into sin by the temptation of another. And this we apprehend to be the difference between the condition of men and that of evil angels. With the latter, sin had its origin; and an outbreak unprovoked and causeless could have no forgiveness. It would endanger the peace of the universe to take sides in favor of those with whom such a course of sin originated. But with the former class, with men, the case was far different; they were seduced into sin by another party; hence their offense could be condoned, and provision be made for their restoration.
The practice of sin may therefore be fitly compared to a partnership business. In this business Satan is the senior partner; the sinner, the junior. The sinner having been brought into that relationship by deception and seduction, is granted the privilege, under certain conditions, of leaving the company, and retiring from the business with all its assets and its tremendous prospective liabilities. Upon whom, then, will these obligations fall? Upon the only remaining member of the firm, the instigator of the whole business, the senior partner, Satan. If the sinner chooses to maintain his partnership in that illegitimate business, he can do so and receive in his own person at last the terrible retribution that every sin must suffer when it is purged out of existence by the fire of the last day.
And this is what we are taught by the doctrine of the169scape-goat. The penitent goes free, while Satan bears the sins he has incited him to commit, back upon his own head, to answer therefor in the settlement which he at last must meet.
And it must strike every one as right and consistent that this should be the case. The sinner has been led into sin, but he repents. Yet standing behind the overt act, there is one who is the primary author and instigator of all, the inciting agent in every deed. And when the transgressor awakes to the true nature of his course, and sees the enormity of his crimes, and seeks to put away his sins, what can be more fitting than that they should fall back upon the head of him who first gave birth to sin, and who has fostered the growth of every branch from the baleful root. In this the decision of every right-minded intelligence must be that God’s throne is clear, that Satan receives no more than his just deserts. The antitypical scape-goat having thus received the load of sins from which the righteous have been set free, and being confined to this desolate earth a thousand years, is reserved to the day of perdition at the end of that period. This long cycle of time at length expires, and then appears the lake of fire prepared for the Devil and his angels. Into this vortex they are plunged, and all the wicked in the earth with them are committed to the same doom. Thus all the sins ever committed are punished, and all the persons of wicked human beings, evil angels, and Satan the father of all, perish wholly and forever. Then the scape-goat has come to his end, and never is remembrance made of sin any more.
(To be continued.)
SHUT-DOOR DOCTRINE AMONG THE BELIEVERS IN THE THIRD ANGEL’S MESSAGE
By George I. Butler
ADVENT EXPERIENCE.—NO. 6.
SHUT-DOOR DOCTRINE AMONG THE BELIEVERS IN THE THIRD ANGEL’S MESSAGE.
We have now reached a most interesting point. Enemies claim that from the beginning of this which we call the “third angel’s message,” till those engaged in it believed there was no salvation for sinners, and that the visions of Mrs. E. G. White taught the same doctrine. Hence, they say, visions are not reliable, and the work itself is discredited. These charges have been repeated over and over, and some souls have been deceived and thrown into darkness thereby. For the sake of helping such and saving others from the same fate, we propose to investigate these charges thoroughly, and see what truth there is in them. We shall admit all the truth they contain, and expose the error. If this is God’s truth, it can afford to be fair. If it will not bear the test of careful examination, and a full knowledge of the subject, the quicker those engaged in it learn the truth, the better for them. They, of all others, are most interested to know the truth. Nothing can ever be gained by concealing any fact or by deception. We believe it is always best to admit all the truth there is in any matter rather than to conceal it. Honesty is the best policy. In saying this, however, we wish to be understood that we have no idea that there is anything connected with the rise of this message that any one should wish to conceal. In order that it may be thoroughly understood as we enter upon an examination of this subject, we will briefly state positions which we shall undertake to maintain by plainest proof; viz.:—
1. That in common with the great body of Adventists at the passing of the time in 1844, and a few months following, those who afterward believed in the third message did feel that “their work for the world was done.” They thought that probation had ended, and that the Lord would come very soon.
2. That while the larger part of the Adventists, a few months after the passing of the time, had given up the movement as a mistake, and had gone to work to “re-arouse the old churches,” other believers clung to it as a fulfillment of prophecy, and earnestly sought for light and found it in the great sanctuary and in the messages, etc. These explained the disappointment, and their work now opened out before them.
3. That because of their acquaintance with these they now had an intelligent understanding of the “shut door doctrine.” At the close of the 2300 in 1844 Christ changed his ministration from the holy to the most holy place, and commenced the work of judgment, his last and final work. In this change the door of the first apartment was closed, and the door into the most holy was opened. This is brought to view in Rev. 3:7, 8, and in other scriptures. All the believers in the message recognized this change, and do yet. It was a real change, and led to the discovery of important truths.
4. That they had, therefore, much to say about a “shut door” because they thus recognized the past movement as genuine in distinction from those Adventists who had given it all up. They did also believe that those who had rejected and bitterly opposed the first message were rejected of God; and as late as 1851 they had much to say of the “shut door;” for up to that time their efforts to proselyte were largely confined to those who had believed the advent doctrine in 1844.
5. But that their belief in the “shut door doctrine” was not such as to forbid the salvation of those who had not rejected the first message, or those who had come to years of accountability since the passing of the time; for plenty of instances can be found where they labored for the salvation of such persons.
6. That the vision of Mrs. E. G. White so often quoted is in perfect harmony with these positions.
7. And finally that the Scriptures themselves are in perfect harmony with such a kind of shut door as this; and indeed, that various texts really teach the same thing.
We have already considered quite fully the first point, relative to the great body of Adventists after the passing of the time. We have shown that Wm. Miller and other ministers and leading men for a few months fully believed that their work for the world was done. They were looking for the Lord to come immediately, and they studied carefully those Scriptures which speak of probation closing previous to Christ’s appearing. We will quote from Mr. Miller in the Advent Herald of Dec. 11, 1844:—
“We have done our work in warning sinners, and in trying to awake a formal church. God in his providence has shut the door. We can only stir one another up to be patient; and be diligent to make our calling and election sure. We are now living in the time specified in Mal. 3:18, also Dan. 12:10; Rev. 22:10-12. In this passage we cannot help but see that a little while before Christ should come there would be a separation between the just and the unjust, between the righteous and the wicked, between those who love his appearing and those who hate it. And never since the days of the apostles has there been such a dividing line drawn as was drawn about the 10th or 23d day of the 7th Jewish month. Since that time they say they have no confidence in us. We have now need of patience after we have done the will of God, that we may receive the promise.”
We here see how those texts which do show that probation will close previous to Christ’s coming, were appropriated by the disappointed believers at that time. But after a few months this position was given up, and most of them gave up the ’44 movement altogether. There they went into the dark. Who can tell what might have happened if all that great body had remained faithful till the light on the third message had fully dawned? If the children of Israel could have gone immediately into Canaan had they been true to God, who can say that if the Advent body had all taken hold of the third message, and sounded the warning throughout the world, the work might not have closed long ago? But they showed their lack of faith, and gave up the truth of the past.
Those of them who did not thus give up their faith, but waited for light, held at the time the same views on the shut door that the others did. But when the sanctuary truth was understood, and the truths of the present message, new light broke into their minds in many directions. Now they had something to labor for. Their first efforts naturally were diverted to the old believers who had known of the work of God in the first message. Father Bates and Eld. and Mrs. White traveled much in hunting up these faithful ones in different parts of the country. Many received the truth with the greatest gladness. It explained their difficulties, and gave them something solid upon which to stand. No one, save those who passed through that experience, can realize their joy as they saw the clear light.
For several years there was no interest among unbelievers in general to hear upon the advent doctrine. The stigma resting upon the movement in the past forbade this. The principal thought was to find those who loved the advent doctrine, and get the present truth before them. Therefore the providence of God seemed to shape their labors wholly in the direction of those already believers, and not toward unbelievers. Again, in all those localities where Advent believers lived, the doctrine had been known more or less, and the light had shone. Consequently the people had been tested upon it there. Those who had rejected the doctrine were much in the same position as those Jews who rejected the work of John the Baptist. Christ said these had “rejected the counsel of God against themselves.”
The believers in the third message felt no burden for this class; and as they saw no interest in the truth among the people generally, they felt, very naturally, for awhile after the time passed, that all around them had rejected the light; and therefore they made no special effort to bring the truth before them. They were earnestly engaged in rescuing their brethren from the time-setting theories of the first-day Adventists, and in trying to hold them to their faith in the work, at the same time keeping their own faith warm and earnest. G. I. B.