The Doctrine of Christ

A Series of Bible Studies for Use in Churches and Seminaries

[First edition: A Series of Bible Studies Covering the Doctrines of the Scriptures, for Use in Colleges and Seminaries, as Outlined and Recommended by the Bible and History Teachers' Council, held in Washington, D. C., from July 20 to August 9, 1919]

By W. W. PRESCOTT

"Christ is All."

"If any man will do His will,
he shall know of the doctrine."

REVIEW AND HERALD PUBLISHING ASSOCIATION
TAKOMA PARK, WASHINGTON, D. C.

New York City South Bend, Ind.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

INTRODUCTORY NOTE 3

Section I-THE WORD OF GOD 5

Section II-THE CENTRAL TRUTH IN CHRISTIANITY, THE PERSON OF CHRIST 17

Section III-CHRIST THE ONLY SAVIOUR 29

Section IV-THE GREAT FACTS CONCERNING CHRIST 37

Section V-THE DEITY OF CHRIST 40

Section VI-THE INCARNATION OF CHRIST 43

Section VII-THE ATONING DEATH OF CHRIST 55

Section VIII-THE RESURRECTION OF CHRIST 70

Section IX-THE ASCENSION OF CHRIST 78

Section X-THE MEDIATORIAL WORK OF CHRIST 81

Section XI-LIVING THE LIFE OF CHRIST 108

Section XII-THE SECOND COMING OF CHRIST 126

Section XIII-THE HOLY SPIRIT AND HIS WORK 176

Section XIV-THE SABBATH OF THE LORD 195

Section XV-THE CHURCH OF CHRIST 218

Section XVI-PRAYER 258

Section XVII-GIVING TO CHRIST HIS PLACE 266

Section XVIII-MISCELLANEOUS 281

BIBLIOGRAPHY 294

INTRODUCTORY NOTE

The aim of these lessons is to present the essential doctrines of the everlasting gospel in their direct relation to the person of Christ, in order that the student may see and lay hold upon the truth as it is in Jesus. No effort has been made to develop a scheme of systematic theology, and there is no discussion of a merely abstract theology; but the emphasis has been placed upon the meaning of the revelation of Christ as an experience in the life. A doctrine which is a mere theological proposition has no power to deliver one from the bondage of sin, and does not impart that peace and rest which are found in Christ. If lie is to be to us a Savior from sin, we must receive him as "the way, the truth, and the life," and we must not permit the knowledge of doctrines about him to obscure him in his blessed, fullness. In all our study we must behold with a clear vision "the Lamb of God, that takes away the sin of the world."

Only the Holy Spirit, the promised teacher of the truth, van make known to us "the deep things of God," and his aid should be definitely sought when we attempt to comprehend the revelation of Christ in the Scriptures. Every lesson should he studied and taught in the atmosphere of prayer.

All quotations in the notes taken from the spirit of prophecy are duly credited to book and page. The other quotations have been selected from many sources, but as they are not given as authority, but are used merely for the expression of the thought, no credit has been given. It is the earnest hope of both the writer and the publishers that these studies that they may prove to be a spiritual blessing to those who use them. W. W. P.

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[Graphic of man rejecting a throne to accept Christ and the cross, with caption, "God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ."]

Section I–THE WORD OF GOD

LESSON ONE The Need of a Revelation

1. An adequate knowledge of God cannot be obtained through the unaided intellect of man. Job 11:7-9 (read RV, margin); Job 23:8, 9; 1 Corinthians 2:7-12; Romans 11:33; Ecclesiastes 8:17; Job 36:26; 37:23. Ephesians 4:18.

2. Man must search, but God gives the knowledge. Proverbs 2:1-6.

3. This knowledge is imparted by revelation from God. Daniel 2:22, 28; Deuteronomy 29:29; Ephesians 3:3-5; Romans 1:17; Matthew 11:25; John 17:8; Romans 16:25, 26.

4. This revelation has been preserved for us in the Bible. Revelation 1:1, 2; Psalm 119:105.

NOTE: A revelation absolutely necessary in order to know God

We can only know what the mind of God is toward a sinful creature by a revelation of that mind. 'For who hath known the mind of the Lord?' Romans 11:34. In fact, to know God at all, we must have a revelation. 'For who by searching can find out God?' Job 11:7. 'No man knows the Father save the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son shall reveal him.' Matthew 11:27. We can only know whether there be forgiveness with God by revelation. Psalm 130:4; Exodus 34:7; Daniel 9:9; 1 John 1:9.

"Only by revelation can we know the method of the divine grace. Romans 1:17. Indeed, all the unseen and eternal things which most deeply concern us are matters of pure revelation. 1 Corinthians 11:9,10. But for the revelation which God has given us by his Son Jesus Christ, what could we know of heaven or hell, of the state of the dead, of life and immortality, or of any of the things that 'must shortly come to pass' Revelation 1:1; 22:66

"It is well to remember that the current and popular opinions held and advanced by men on all these great questions are modified imaginings, drawn from the revelation God has made in his word. Therefore, instead of listening to what man may say, or caring for what may be any man's opinion, let us go direct to the word of God and get knowledge that is able to make us wise unto salvation. 2 Timothy 3:16."

LESSON TWO The Revelation of God in Nature, in Providence, and in the Written Word

1. The visible creation is a channel for the revelation of the invisible. Romans 1:20.

2. The heavens testify of God. Psalm 19:1.

3. The earth and every living thing teach concerning God. Job 12:7-10.

4. The operations of nature are the acts of a personal God. Job 36:26-33; Jeremiah 10:12, 13; Acts 14:17; Job 26:7-14.

5. God reveals himself in his control of the affairs of men. Daniel 4:17, 25, 32; 2:21; Deuteronomy 4:34, 35; Acts 13:17-22; 17:26; Isaiah 45:1-7.

6. The revelation through the written word is the basis of certainty. Luke 1:1-4.

7. The written word is the interpreter both of nature and of providence. John 15:1; Luke 21:29-31; 1 Corinthians 10:11; Galatians 4:22-26.

NOTES: The testimony of nature

"While the works of nature may arouse us to devotional feelings, they cannot guide our devotions. They but give evidence of the existence of an almighty Designer, but they cannot reveal him to us."

The failure of reason apart from a written revelation

"Confined in our views to the present state, and to observation alone, or merely to reason without a written revelation, it is impossible to vindicate the justice of the controlling power, whether that power be called God or nature."

Nature under the curse provides only an inadequate revelation,

"All created things, in their original perfection, were an expression of the thought of God."-"Education," pp. 16, 17.

"Nature still speaks of her Creator. Yet these revelations are partial and imperfect. And in our fallen state, with weakened powers and restricted vision, we are incapable of interpreting aright. We need the fuller revelation of himself that God has given in his written word."-"Education," p. 17.

"God saw that a clearer revelation than nature was needed to portray both his personality and his character. He sent his Son into

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the world to reveal, so far as could be endured by human sight, the nature and the attributes of the invisible God."-"Testimonies for the Church," Volume 8, p. 265.

"Apart from Christ we are still incapable of interpreting rightly the language of nature. The most difficult and humiliating lesson that man has to learn is his own inefficiency in depending upon human wisdom, and the sure failure of his efforts to read nature correctly. Of himself he cannot interpret nature without placing it above God." "Testimonies for the Church," Volume 8, p. 257.

The value of the written revelation

"The written word of God is the grand medium of revealing to us his will and ways. It penetrates the ages of a put eternity, and unveils the glories of that which is to come. It opens out to our adoring view the mysteries of the divine name. It lays bare the most secret workings of the human heart. It reveals the Father; it testifies of the Son; it bears witness of the Spirit. It unfolds the glorious chart of our redemption and salvation. It is history, and law, and poetry, and oratory, and parable, and promise, and prophecy."

"Only the written word of God, confidingly followed in the progressive stops of its advance, can lead the weakest or the wisest into the deep blessedness of the life that is in Christy and into the final glory of the city of God."

LESSON THREE The Inspiration of the Scripture

1. All Scripture is inspired. 2 Timothy 3:16.

2. The prophets spoke for God under the influence of the Holy Spirit. 2 Peter 1:21; Acts 1:16; 2 Samuel

23:2; Acts 4:24, 25; 28:25; Hebrews 3:7; 10:15; Ephesians 6:17.

3. God spoke through the prophets. Hebrews 1:1, 7, 13, Jeremiah 9:12; Matthew 1:22; 2:15; Acts 3:18-21; 13:47.

4. The word of God was thus given through the prophets. Jeremiah 22:1, 2; 23:28; 26:1, 2. Luke 8:21; 11:28; Hebrews 4:12; 1 Thessalonians 2:13.

NOTES: The real Author of Scripture

"Inspired of God means that the Spirit of God is the author of this Scripture, influencing the men who wrote in such a manner that their writings are pure and absolute truth."

Inspiration a fact

"The inspiration of Scripture is a fact, not a theory. We find great difficulty in framing a theory even of those influences of the Spirit which we ourselves have experienced, such as regeneration and conversion. How can we, with any degree of certainty, propound a theory of an influence of which we have no personal experimental knowledge. We receive the fact, asserted by the Scriptures themselves, and abundantly confirmed by them, that, though written by men, they are of God, and that the ideas they unfold are clothed in such words as he, in his wisdom and love, intended, so that they may be safely and fully received as expressing his mind, and the thoughts which he purposed to convey to us for our instruction and guidance."

The word of God

"We take the Bible in its entirety with the same assurance that it is the word of God, as if Jesus Christ himself had written every word of it, instead of Moses, David, Isaiah, Ezra, Daniel, Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Peter, Paul, and James. It is all God's word to us; and we receive and interpret it, not on the authority of any theory, but simply as the word of God."

God's word written

"There can be no doubt that Christ and his apostles accepted the whole of the Old Testament as inspired in every portion of every part; from the first chapter of Genesis to the last chapter of Malachi, all was implicitly believed to be the very word of God himself. And ever since their day the view of the universal Christian church has been that the Bible is the word of God; as the twentieth article of the Anglican Church terms it, it is God's word written.

"The Bible as a whole is inspired. 'All that is written is God inspired.' That is, the Bible does not merely contain the word of God; it is the word of God. It contains a revelation. 'All is not revealed, but all is inspired."

"This is the conservative and, up to the present day, the almost universal view of the question. There are, it is well known, many theories of inspiration. But whatever view or theory of inspiration men may hold, plenary, verbal, dynamical, mechanical, superintendent, or governmental, they refer either to the inspiration of the men who wrote, or to the inspiration of what is written. In one word, they imply throughout the work of God the Holy Ghost, and are bound up with the concomitant ideas of authority, veracity, reliability, and truth divine."

"Thus said the Lord."

"Dr. James H. Brookes is authority for saying that the phrase, Thus said the Lord,' or its equivalent, is used by them [the Old Testament writers] 2,000 times. Suppose we eliminate this phrase and its necessary context from the Old Testament in every instance, one wonders how much of the Old Testament would remain."

Life in the word

"God, who 'breathed into man the breath of life and he became a living soul,' has also breathed into his Book the breath of life, so that it is 'the word of God which lives and abides forever.'"

Christ's view of the Scriptures

"The Lord Jesus, our Savior and our Judge, believed then in the most complete inspiration of the Scriptures; and for him the first rule of all hermeneutics, and the commencement of all exegesis, was this simple maxim, And the scripture cannot be broken."

One organic whole

"All Scripture is one great organic whole, possessed of the self same spirit and life, inspired by the Holy Ghost, who saw the end from the beginning, and who unfolded, through successive developments, the manifold fullness which existed from the very earliest commencement of God's dealings with the children of men."

The divine and the human

"The union of the divine and the human, manifest in Christ, exists also in the Bible. The truths revealed are all given by inspiration of God. Yet they are expressed in the words of men, and are adapted to human needs. Thus it may be said of the Book of God, as it was of Christ, that "the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us." And this fact, so far from being an argument against the Bible, should strengthen faith in it as the word of God."-"Testimonies for the Church," Volume 5, p. 747.

The present danger

"The danger of our present day, the 'down grade' as it has been called, of doctrine, of conviction, of the moral sentiment, a decline more constantly patent as it is more blatantly proclaimed, does it not find its first step in our lost hold upon the very inspiration of the word of God?"

The source of authority

"The Bible is authority because in it, from cover to cover, God is the speaker."

For the common people

"The Bible with its precious gems of truth was not written for the scholar alone. On the contrary, it was designed for the common people; and the interpretation given by the common people, when aided by the Holy Spirit, accords best with the truth as it is in Jesus. The great truths necessary for salvation are made clear as the noonday; and none will mistake and lose their way except those who follow their own Judgment instead of the plainly revealed will of God."-"Testimonies for the Church," Volume 5, p. 331.

The oracles of God

"Men spoke, and thus the words retain the individual characteristics of those who uttered them; but the inspiring breath was that of the Holy Ghost, and thus their utterances are nothing less than the oracles of the living God."

God's voice

"The word of the living God is not merely written, but spoken. The Bible is God's voice speaking to us, just as surely as though we could hear it with our ears. If we realized this, with what awe would we open God's word, and with what earnestness would we search its precepts! The reading and contemplation of the Scriptures would be regarded as an audience with the Infinite One."-"Testimonies for the Church," Volume 6, p. 393.

LESSON FOUR The Central Theme of the Scriptures

1. Man was created king. Genesis 1:26.

2. As king, man was given a crown of glory. Psalm 8:4-6.

3. Through sin man lost this crown. Romans 3:23.

4. Those who accept the righteousness of Christ will have this crown restored at the Second Advent of Christ. 1 Peter 5:4; 2 Timothy 4:8.

5. The restoration of the kingdom, which includes the restoration both of the territory and the character of its citizens, is the subject of prophecy. Daniel 2:44; 7:13, 14, 27; 2 Samuel 7:12, 13, 16; Isaiah 9:6, 7:1 Luke 1:32-33.

6. It has not yet been accomplished, but will be accomplished at the Second Advent of Christ. Matthew 6:10; Acts 1:3, 6; 8:19-21; Revelation 11:15-18.

7. Christ preached concerning the kingdom. Matthew 4:23; 9:35; 13:24, 31, 33, 44, 45, 47; 25:1.

8. The apostles preached concerning the kingdom. Acts 8:12; 19:8; 20:25; 28:23, 30, 31.

9. Just before the end there will be a world-wide proclamation of the gospel of the kingdom. Matthew 24:14; Revelation 14:6-14.

NOTES: A history of redemption

"We find in the Bible a history of redemption, or of the great work of the recovery of mankind from a condition of sin and ruin which God has been carrying on from age to age."

The redemption plan

"Immeasurably superior in value to the productions 'of any human author are the Bible writings, even when thus considered; but of infinitely wider scope, of infinitely greater value, are they when viewed in their relation to the grand central thought. Viewed in the light of this thought, every topic has a new significance. In the most simply stated truths are involved principles that are as high as heaven and that compass eternity.

"The central theme of the Bible, the theme about which every other in the whole book clusters, is the redemption plan, the restoration in the human soul of the image of God. Prom the first intimation of hope in the sentence pronounced in Eden to that last glorious promise of the Revelation, 'They shall see his face; and his name shall be in their foreheads' (Revelation 22:4), the burden of every book and every passage of the Bible is the unfolding of this wondrous theme. Man's uplifting, the power of God, which gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. 1 Corinthians 15:57"-"Education," pp. 125, 126.

Jesus and the word

"Jesus is the life and the light of man. The same is true of the Scriptures. Jesus said: 'The words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.' The psalmist said, 'Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.' In an inexplicable way Jesus is identified with, the word. 'The Word was God, and the Word became flesh.' And when the victories of the gospel shall have been finally accomplished, and Jesus shall assert his regal rights, his name is called, The Word of God."

The two kingdoms

"As the message of Christ's first advent announced the kingdom of his grace, so the message of his Second Advent announces the kingdom of his glory. And the second message, like the first, is based on the prophecies. The words of the angel to Daniel relating to the last days were to be understood in the time of the end. At that time, 'many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased.' 'The wicked shall do wickedly; and none of the wicked shall understand; but the wise shall understand.' The Savior himself has given signs of his coming, and he says, 'When you see these things come to pass, know you that the kingdom of God is nigh at hand.' 'And take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and so that day come upon you unawares.' 'Watch

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ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man.' Luke 21:31, 34, 39.

"We have reached the period foretold in these scriptures. The time of the end is come, the visions of the prophets are unsealed, and their solemn warnings point us to our Lord's coming in glory as near at hand.

"The Jews misinterpreted and misapplied the word of God, and they knew not the time of their visitation. The years of the ministry of Christ and his apostles, the precious last years of grace to the chosen people, they spent in plotting the destruction of the Lord's messengers. Earthly ambitions absorbed them, and the offer of the spiritual kingdom came to them in vain. So today the kingdom of this world absorbs, men's thoughts, and they take no note of the rapidly fulfilling prophecies, and the tokens of the swift-coming kingdom of God."-"The Desire of Ages," pp. 265, 266.

LESSON FIVE The Central Person in the Scriptures

1. The great purpose of the Old Testament was to bear witness of Christ. John 5:39, 46; John 1:45; Luke 24:27, 44; Psalm 40:8.

2. From the beginning of the New Testament to its close the most prominent name is the name of Jesus Christ. Matthew 1:1; Revelation 22:21.

3. Under various titles Christ is presented in the Old Testament. Genesis 3:15; 49:10; Numbers 24:17; Deuteronomy 18:15; Joshua 5:13-15; Judges 13:3, 17-20; Isaiah 9:6, 7; Jeremiah 23:5, 6; Daniel 7:13; Zechariah 6:12; Malachi 3:1.

4. Some of the greatest characters of the Old Testament were types of Christ. Examples: Adam, Melchizedek, Joseph, Moses, Joshua, David.

5. The whole purpose of the ancient sanctuary and its services was to reveal Christ as the Savior of the world. 1 Corinthians 5:7; Hebrews 8:1,2; Colossians 2:16,17; Hebrews 9:8-14; 8:5, 10:1; 9:23-26; 8:4, 5.

6. The same name is applied to him as to the Holy Scriptures Mark 7:13; Revelation 19:13.

NOTES: Christ in the word

"If, when we look into the word of God, we do not see Christ there, we look to no purpose, for he is everywhere in the book."

Beholding the Redeemer

"As the student of the Bible beholds the Redeemer, there is awakened in the soul the mysterious power of faith, adoration, and love. Upon the vision of Christ the gaze is fixed, and the beholder grows into the likeness of that which he adores."-"Education," p. 192.

That glorious face

"Thus it is with Christ in the Scriptures, especially in the Old Testament. Many persons-even many who know Christ-read rapidly through and over the pages of the book, and declare that they do not see Christ in them. Well, read it again and again; look a little more intently upon those sacred pages; draw a little nearer into the light which the Holy Spirit gives to them that ask him. Read it on your knees, calling upon God to open your eyes that you may see wonderful things out of his law; and presently the beauteous, glorious face of him whom your soul loves will shine forth upon you. Sometimes you will see that wondrous face in deep shadow, marred more than the face of any man; and again lie will seem fair as the lily of the valley, and his face will shine above the brightness of the sun."

A prophetic biography

"The whole life of the Savior, from his birth to his ascension and his sending forth the Spirit, may be narrated in the words of Moses and the prophets."

A fulfilled outline

"The whole picture of Jesus given us in the Gospels is the fulfillment of that outline which was sketched in word, and sign, and fact, in Israel's record. The Gospels declare that Jesus is he. 'We have found him.' He is come that was to come. But who and what that glorious and divine he is, Moses and the prophets explain."

Christ the substance of Scripture

"Christ being thus the Spirit of Scripture as well as the Spirit of Israel, the substance of Scripture throughout is himself. All divine revelations have Christ not merely for their Mediator, but for their center. We have not merely a succession of prophetic announcements of his coming, his work, and glory, but in all God's dealings with Israel he revealed himself to them in Christ."

Christ the center of scripture

"Christ is the center of all Scripture, as he is the center of all God's purposes and counsels. The four evangelists take up the life and

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the moral glory of the Son of man, and they place it alongside of the picture of the Messiah as sketched by the prophets, the historical by the side of the prophetic, and they show how exactly the two match."

Christ in the Old Testament

"I cannot but express grief and astonishment at the prevalent neglect of the Jewish Scripture. The term Old Testament may partly have contributed to this, people imagining that what is old is antiquated. We have already seen that these Scriptures are full of Christ; and were it but for the circumstance that they are the only writings of which we know that Christ used and loved them, they ought to be most precious to us. Christ's favorite book! Christ's only book! The book he always read, always quoted; his guide and companion during life; his meditation and comfort in his sufferings and on his cross. If you love Jesus, you ought dearly to love and diligently to read this book."

Christ the kernel of the record

"It is impossible for us to understand the nature of Scripture unless we view it in relation to the Son of God, the Messiah of Israel, the Redeemer of God's people; for he is the center and kernel of the inspired record."

The Incarnate Word and the written Word

"In the Bible God himself comes down and speaks, not in the Old Testament alone, and not alone by proxy. The New Testament presents us, says Dean Burgon, with the august spectacle of the Ancient of days holding the entire volume of the Old Testament Scriptures in his hands, and interpreting it of himself. He, the Incarnate Word, who was in the beginning with God, and who was God, that same Almighty One is set forth in the Gospels as holding the volume of the Book in his hands, as opening and unfolding it, and explaining it everywhere of himself."

The face of Christ

"In Christian character the image of Christ is marred by imperfections, but in the Scriptures the portrait is perfect. A friend described to me a painting which hung on the wall of his boyhood home. When you first saw it, it was a beautiful landscape with trees, streams, houses, and people, but while gazing upon it all these beautiful things began to form into a human face. On a closer inspection you perceived that the whole picture was intended to give the face of Christ. The devout student of the Scriptures is constantly having experiences like this. He sees in the Bible trees of faithfulness, streams of truth, landscapes of loveliness in deed and character, but they are all so arranged in their relation to Christ as to bring out the features of his character. While we thus see him as he is, we become more and more like him, until by and by we shall see his unveiled face and be completely transformed into his likeness. 'Search the Scriptures' for a vision of the Lord Jesus Christ."

The Word and Christ

"Whatever the word is, it is because of its relation to Christ. Is the word of God quick, that is, living? It is because Christ is the life. Is it powerful? It is because Christ is the power of God. Is it sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow? It is because Christ is set for the fall and rising again of many in Israel; because Christ divides between Peter who confesses him as the Son of God, and Peter who savors the things of men. Is it a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart? It is because Christ knows what is in men; because he sees Nathanael when he is under the fig tree, and the Pharisees who think evil in their hearts. Is it said of the word, Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight. But all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do. It is because the spoken and written word is identified with the Lord himself, whose eyes are as a flame of fire, even the Son of man unto whom the Father hath committed all judgment. Is the word spoken of as the sincere milk, the nourishing food of the soul? It is because Christ is the bread of life. Is it commended as light shining into darkness? It is because Christ is wisdom.

"The essence of Scripture is that Savior in whom are all things which pertain unto life and godliness. The soul that has found Jesus Christ, sees him in Scripture, always and throughout. Jesus is the door by which alone we can enter the sanctuary of the word. And, when we come to Jesus, we enter into possession of the word, for he has the words of eternal life. They are his, and he only can give the word. John 17:14. And as we have the word through him and in him, so we find him in every portion of Scripture.

"When I listen to the accordant voice of all the holy prophets, and of the apostles of our Lord and Savior, me thinks I stand in Jerusalem at our Lord's triumphant entry, and hear the multitudes of those who go before, and of those who follow after, crying, Hosannah to the Son of David, blessed is he that comes in the name of the Lord to save."

Jesus only

"Jesus only' is the true center of Scripture in all its manifold revelations."

"In Christ the Eternal lodged his purpose and laid his plans for the world. It is his fullness that the fullness of the times dispenses. The Old Testament, the reservoir of precious revelation, had him for its close-kept secret, 'held in silence through eternal times.' Romans 16:25-27. The drift of its prophecies, the focus of its converging lights, the veiled magnet toward which its spiritual indications pointed, was 'Christ.' He was the spiritual rock that followed Israel in its wanderings, from whose springs the people drank, as it answered to the touch of one and now another of the holy men of old.

The revelation of Christ

"The revelation of Jesus Christ gives unity, substance, and meaning to the history of Israel, which is otherwise a pathway without goal, a, problem without solution. Priest and prophet, law and sacrifice. The kingly Son of David, and the suffering Servant of Jehovah. The Seed of the woman with bruised foot bruising the serpent's head; the Lord whom his people seek, suddenly coming to his temple; the Stone hewn from the mountains without hands, that grows till it fills the earth the manifold representations of Israel's ideal center in the Lord Jesus Christ. The lines of the great figure drawn on the canvas of prophecy-disconnected as they seemed and without a plan, giving rise to a thousand dreams and speculations are filled out and drawn into shape and take life and substance in him. They are found to be parts of a consistent whole, sketches and studies of this fragment or of that belonging to the consummate Person and the comprehensive plan manifest in the revelation of Jesus Christ."

Christ the key to the Bible

"Christ is indeed the key to them, all; he is the key of the types, and the key to the Bible. Of him God has given us more than sketches; the word from end to end is full of him. In the word we have a whole Christ presented to us: Christ in his offices, in his character, in his person. Christ in his relations to God and man; Christ in his body the church; Christ as giving to God all that God required from man. Christ as bringing to man all that man required from God; Christ as seen in this dispensation in suffering. Christ as seen in the next dispensation in glory. Christ as the first and the last, as 'all and in all' to his people. The different books are but God's chapters in which he arranges and illustrates some one or more of these or other aspects of his Beloved."

Section II–THE CENTRAL TRUTH IN CHRISTIANITY, THE PERSON OF CHRIST

LESSON SIX Christ the Revealer and the Revelation of God

1. The Son is the channel for all revelation of the Father. Matthew 11:27; John 1:18; 3:11; 17:6,26; 15:15; Matthew 17:5.

2. Christ was himself the revelation of God. Matthew 1:23; 2 Corinthians 5:19; Hebrews 1:1-3; Colossians 1:12-15; 2 Corinthians 4:6.

3. Christ was the full revelation of God. Colossians 1:19; 2:8, 9; John 10:30; 14:9; 1 John 1:5 with John 8:12 and 1:9.

NOTES: The definition of Son

"The only definition of the Son that will satisfy the argument is God the revealer of God."

The personal revelation

"The whole word is articulately uttered by the Son, in whom he has spoken unto us in these last times. The imperfect revelation, by means of those who were merely mediums for the revelation, leads up to him who is himself the revelation, the revealer, and the revealed."

Christ the speech of God

"In all things He was the speech of God to men no more giver or mere gift, but the supreme revealer-the way and the truth, in short, as well as the life."

The Heir as the Revealer

Everywhere the reference is to the Son's final glory as Redeemer. At the same time the act of appointing him heir may have taken place before the world was. We must, accordingly, understand the revelation here spoken of [Hebrews 1:13] to mean more especially the manifestation of God in the work of redemption. Of this work also Christ is the ultimate purpose. He is the heir to whom the promised inheritance originally and ultimately belongs. It is this that befits him to become the full and complete revealer of God."

A revelation in life

"Evidently our Lord conceived that his great message to men was a message of God as Father revealed in his own life."

The revelation of the Father in Christ

"The lesson would seem to be the inadequacy of any religious faith that does not recognize the revelation of the Father in Jesus Christ and that does not know Jesus Christ as God."

A personal revelation

"The mind whose thoughts about God and the unseen world are not built on the personal revelation of God in Christ, will have no solid certainties which cannot be shaken, but, at the best, opinions which .cannot have more fixedness than belongs to human thoughts upon the great problem."

"In the Teacher sent from God, heaven gave to men its best and greatest. He who had stood in the councils of the Most High, who had dwelt in the innermost sanctuary of the Eternal, was the one chosen to reveal in person to humanity the knowledge of God."-"Education," p. 73.

"The believer obtains power just in the degree in which he is able to ascribe to the Father the perfections and the loveliness of Christ to Christ the power, majesty, and unlimited authority of God."

"Why do we lay such stress on the fact, the person, and the work of Christ? The answer is, Because Christ is before everything else a revelation of God. This, and nothing short of it, is the one and complete explanation of Christ. The idea of God is the dominating idea in all religions, and the idea of Christ as the revealer of God is the dominating idea in Christianity. The supreme message of Christianity is, 'There is one God and one mediator between God and man, himself man, Jesus;' one God, and one unique mediator as the personal revealer of God to man. No one can doubt that this is the meaning of the place given to Christ in the New Testament.

The name of Christ is found everywhere therein, and always in connection with his personal, revelation of God. It meets our gaze at all points, and proclaims with no uncertain sound that to us men God has revealed himself in Christ Jesus, that for us, for religion, for Christianity, for salvation, for life, Christ is God.

"The disciple's question addressed to Christ, 'Show us the Father,' is at once an admission of his own need and a confession of his belief that Christ could supply it; and the relation of Jesus Christ to God is set forth in the New Testament with no uncertain sound. 'All things are delivered unto me of my Father.' Matthew 11:27. 'He that hath seen me hath seen the Father.' John 14:9. He is the image of the invisible God, the effulgence of his glory. Hebrews 1:3. Jesus Christ, divine and

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human, is for all time and for all men the final, complete, and sufficient manifestation of God."

The manifestation of the divine

"The truth which Paul opposed to them [the Gnostic errors] is all important for every age. It was simply the person of Christ as the only manifestation of the divine the link between God and the universe, its Creator and Preserver, the light and life of men, the Lord and inspirer of the church."

The Revealer to be received

"While, therefore, we rejoice to trace the wisdom, seen even in the form of that revelation which God in his rich grace has given to us, let none be content intellectually to trace this detail, unless with this, from his in most heart, he also embraces him of whom this Gospel speaks. The wisdom of God in grace as in nature may be coldly contemplated, like any other piece of skill or wondrous workmanship, without a soul-saving and personal appropriation of the grace, which is yet by the understanding discerned so clearly. But, as one has said, the gospel has not been revealed that we may have the pleasure of feeling or expressing fine sentiments, but that we may be saved: the taste may receive the impression of the beauty and sublimity of the Bible, and the nervous system may halve received the impression of the tenderness of its tone, and yet its meaning, its deliverance, its mystery of holy love, may remain, all unknown."

Christ reveals the knowledge of God

"Holiness is agreement with God. By sin the image of God in mw has been marred and well-nigh obliterated; it is the work of the gospel to restore that which has been lost; and we are to co-operate with the divine agency in, this work. And how can we come into harmony with God, how shall we receive his likeness, unless we obtain a knowledge of him? It is this knowledge that Christ came into the world to reveal unto us."-"Testimonies for the Church," Volume 6, p. 743.

"All that man needs to know or can know of God has been revealed in the life and character of his Son. 'No man bath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, he bath declared him."

"Taking humanity upon him, Christ came to be one with humanity, and at the same time to reveal our heavenly Father to sinful human beings. He was in all things made like unto his brethren. He became flesh, even as we are. He was hungry and thirsty and weary. He was sustained by food and refreshed by sleep. He shared the lot of men, and yet he was the blameless Son of God. He was a stranger and sojourner on the earth, in the world, but not of the world; tempted and tried as men and women today are tempted and tried, yet living a life free from sin."-"Testimonies for the Church," Volume 8, p. 286.

LESSON SEVEN Christ the Son of God

1. Christ acknowledged himself to be the Son of God. John 9:35-37; 10:36; 17:5; 5:23; Matthew 27:41-43.

2. Christ assented to the testimony of others that he was the Son of God. Matthew 16:15-17; John 11:27. 1:32-34, 48, 49.

3. There are other testimonies to the fact that Christ was the Son of God. Romans 1:14; John 19:7; 20:30, 31; Acts 9:20; 2 Corinthians 1:19; Hebrews 4:14; 2 Peter 1:16, 17; Matthew 3:16, 17; John 10:37, 38; Matthew 26:63, 64.

NOTES: A divine Sonship

"Of this essential element of Christ's person, this other title, Son of God, though not in such frequent and familiar use as the former [the Son of man], is a direct and clear expression. Appropriated by him without the slightest reserve or moral shock, with the utmost freedom and frankness confessed to him, nor he timidly putting it away from him, it is the one title that embodies in the most explicit way the fact of a divine Sonship."

The revelation between Father and Son

"We may conceive the Father existing from eternity and possessing infinite powers, simply because he wills so to exist, without any cause external to himself, eternal and infinite and underived; and of the Son existing with the Father from eternity, and possessing to the full the Father's infinite powers, but these received from the Father, existing because the Father wills him so to exist, eternal and infinite and derived. This conception will account for the entire language of the New Testament about the Son of God."

"The Son is equal to the Father in everything except that which is conveyed by the terms Father and Son. He is equal to the Father in that he shares to the full the Father's existence from eternity and his infinite power and wisdom and love. But inasmuch as the Father possesses these divine attributes from himself alone, whereas the Son possesses them as derived from the Father, in this real sense and in this sense only, the Father is greater than the Son."

"Evidently in an eternal Father and an eternal Son the ideas of older and younger can have no place. As we lift up the conception of son ship out of time into eternity, these elements of it, ever present in human fathers and sons, at once disappear. When they fall away, does

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any conception essential to our idea of son ship remain? Yes; there still remains the chief idea, viz., personal existence and powers derived from another person. And this idea is plainly embodied in John 5:26, and in other express assertions from the lips of Christ describing his own relation to God."

LESSON EIGHT Christ the Son of Man

1. The first time that the title, "the Son of man," appears in the New Testament, it is applied to Jesus as a homeless wanderer. Matthew 8:20.

2. The last time the same title appears, it is applied to Jesus as a king. Revelation 14:14.

3. As Son of man he came to save the lost. Luke 19:10.

4. As Son of man Jesus claimed authority to forgive sins. Matthew 9:1-8.

5. As Son of man he sowed the seed of truth in the world. Matthew 13:37.

6. As Son of man he was betrayed. Matthew 17:22; Luke 22:48.

7. As Son of man he was crucified. Matthew 26:2.

8. As Son of man he rose from the dead. Mark 9:9, 31.

9. As Son of man he ascended to heaven. John 6:62.

10. As Son of man he is in heaven. Acts 7:56.

11. As Son of man he watches over his church on earth. Revelation 1:12, 13, 20.

12. As Son of man he will come in the clouds of heaven. Matthew 24:30; 25:31.

13. As Son of man he will execute judgment. John 5:27.

14. As Son of man he will receive the kingdom. Daniel 7:43, 14.

NOTES: Christ's genuine humanity

"An essential element here is genuine humanity. Of this essential element of Christ's person, this one title, Son of man, used about eighty eight times in the Gospel, is most expressive."

"His was a real and a true humanity, one which must pass through the various stages of growth like any other member of the race."

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"It is the same King's Son who today dwells in the palace of 'his Father, and tomorrow, out of love to his rebellious subjects in a remote corner of the kingdom, renouncing his princely glory, comes to dwell among them in the form of a servant, and is known only by the dignity of his look and the star of royalty on his breast, when the mean cloak is opened for a moment, apparently by accident."

"As Son of man he was compassed about with all the sinless infirmities that belong to our nature. He has needs common to all, need of food, of rest, of human sympathy, and of divine assistance. He is subject to Joseph and Mary, he is a worshiper in the synagogue and the temple; he weeps over the guilty and hardened city, and at the grave of a loved one; he expresses his dependence on God by prayer. Nothing is more certain than that the Gospel narratives present the Lord Jesus as a true man, a veritable member of our race."

Christ's divinity and his manhood

"How full his own mind was of the overwhelming wonder of the fact that He, whose majesty he has been setting forth in such deep words, should veil his eternal glories and limit his far-reaching energies within a fleshly body. He would point the contrast between the divine dignity of the eternal Word, the Creator and Lord of the universe, and the lowliness of his incarnation. On these two pillars, as on two solid piers, one on either continent, with a great gulf between, the divinity of Christ on one side, his manhood on the other, is built the bridge by which we pass over the river into the glory."

LESSON NINE Christ the Messiah

1. Christ declared himself to be the Messiah. John 4:25, 26; Isaiah 61:1 with Luke, 4:16-21 and Acts 10:38. (The Messiah is the Anointed One.)

2. He was recognized as the Messiah. John 1:40, 41.

3. The time of the coming of the Messiah was definitely foretold. Daniel 9:25.

4. When Christ came, he announced the fulfillment of this prophecy. Mark 1:14, 15.

5. After the ascension of Christ, the disciples applied to him the prophecy concerning the Anointed One. Acts 4:24-28.

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6. The works of Jesus of Nazareth testified that he was the Messiah. John 20:30, 31. (Christ is the Greek equivalent of the Hebrew for the Anointed, the Messiah.)

NOTES: The hope of the people

"Thenceforth the name [Messiah] stood for that ideal character whose actual coming was, under one form or another, the burden of Jewish literature, the center of Jewish faith and feeling, the key to that wonderful sacrificial system which divinely obtained, the image, in dim and distant outline, before the prevision of the seer, the theme of psalmist, the hope of the people through centuries, a belief broadly popular."

Christ's consciousness of his Messiah ship

"That Jesus believed himself to be the Messiah is another fact that emerges from a careful reading of the Gospels. At the baptism it is evident that Jesus Christ was conscious of his Messiah ship. Matthew 3:15. The name Messiah was frequently applied to Jesus Christ by others. There are three occasions on which he accepted it for himself. Matthew 16:17; Mark 14:61; John 4:26. And although he refused from time to time to reveal himself to the Jews, who were only too ready to mistake his words and oppose his claim, the evidence of the Gospels is far too weighty to allow of any denial of the Messiah ship of Jesus Christ acclaimed, allowed, and implied by him."

Not an Impostor

"Jesus Christ was the Messiah of God, because he pursued that course which would, from the nature of the case, result in his rejection by the nation; which conduct, in an impostor, would be impossible, but in the true Messiah it was the necessary course."

LESSON TEN Christianity Is Christ

1. Saving faith lays hold upon the person of Christ. Acts 16:29-31; John 3:18, 36; 1:12; 2:11; 6:29; 14:1; Galatians 2:16; Colossians 2:6, 7.

2. Truth becomes living in the person of Christ. John 14:6; 18:37; 8:32, 36 ("the truth" in verse 32 is "the Son" in verse 36); Ephesians 4:20, 21.

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3. Christ is himself the reality of all doctrines. 1 Corinthians 1:30; Jeremiah 23:5, 6.

4. All the blessings of the gospel are found in Christ. Ephesians 1:3, 7; Philippians 3:8, 9; 2 Corinthians 5:17; Colossians 2:9, 10.

5. Preaching the gospel is preaching Christ. 1 Corinthians 1:23, 24; 2:1-5; Galatians 1:15, 16; Ephesians 3:8; Colossians 1:27, 28; Philippians 1:15-18; Acts 5:42; 2 Corinthians 4:5; Acts 8:5; 11:20; 2 Corinthians 1:19; Acts 19:13.

NOTES: The embodiment of Christianity

"Study Christ, for Christianity is Christ. All the truths of Christianity, all its motives, all its glory, are summed up in him. He is its alpha and omega; the embodiment of all it teaches, all it prescribes, all it promises."

"Christ embodied the perfection he taught, and embodies the glory be promises. He is his own religion; the object of its faith, its love, its hope; the soul and secret of its life."

The truth "in Jesus."

"The truth is God personalized in his Son."

"The truth, in its absolute substance, stands revealed and accessible to all men in the incarnate Word."

"Truth, the highest truth, the truth it most concerns Christian men to know, is 'in Jesus.' Truth can never be rightly known when separated from him."

"Truth is not a thing of mere words, a string of formula, as the long-established principles of law."

"Truth, however, as will presently appear, stands here for no merely abstract quality, but is a concrete and eternal reality."

The life of truth

"Back of all summaries of the faith, back of apostles and prophets, back of the writers of Holy Scriptures, earlier and later, there must be the life of truth-its eternal reality and root."

The substance of truth

"From Jesus Christ in person Paul had received his knowledge of the gospel, without human intervention. In the revelation of Christ to his soul he possessed the substance of the truth he was afterward to teach."

The written and the incarnate Word

"In Philippians 2:16 we have the expression, 'The word of life.' The same expression occurs in 1 John 1:1. It is here used of Jesus Christ, the incarnate Word, whereas, in Philippians it is apparently

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the written word that is spoken of. The written word and the incarnate Word are so identified in Scripture that it is not always clear which is referred to. The same things are said of each, and the same characters attributed to each. The fundamental resemblance lies in the fact that each is the revealer or tangible expression of the invisible God. As the written or spoken word expresses, for the purpose of communicating to another the invisible and inaccessible thought, so Jesus Christ as the incarnate Word, and the Holy Scriptures as the written word, express and communicate knowledge of the invisible and inaccessible God."

"He is the living power back of creeds, theologies, philosophies, the truth."

A sevenfold revelation

"Studying the whole manifestation of God in Christ, we are led, especially in John's Gospel, to conceive him as light, life, love, righteousness, wisdom, power, and glory-a sevenfold revelation. Christ comes forth from the bosom of the Father, makes an end of law for righteousness unto every one that believes, and brings life and immortality to light."

Fact and truth

"The gospel is not speculation, but fact. It is truth, because it is the record of a Person who is the truth. The history of his life and death is the one source of all certainty and knowledge with regard to man's relations to God, and God's loving purposes to man."

Not philosophy

"The gospel is redemptive fact, not philosophy. It is only apprehended in its own proper sense and scope as it is seen to be a work of grace linked to the divine-human person of Christ, starting in his birth, running through all his history, coming to its consummation and crown in the glory of his ascension one grand, continuous work."

The person

"Jesus Christ, crucified and risen, as the object of faith; Jesus, dwelling in the heart by the Spirit, as the object of love; Jesus Christ returning for us, as the object of hope, such was the simple and comprehensive evangelist."

"What we receive, when from human lips we hear the gospel and accept it, is not merely the word about the Savior, but the Savior himself."

"Christ is the sum of all Christian teaching, and where the message of his love is welcomed, he himself comes in spiritual and real presence, and dwells in the spirit."

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"Christ is himself Christianity; not any scheme of doctrine to which rightly his name is affixed. His Saviourhood resides, not in his words as such, but even in the mysterious constitution of his Person."

All blessings and gifts "in Christ!"

"Whatever perfection of righteousness, whatever depth of peace, whatever intensity of joy, what great fullness of divine knowledge, reveal the power of the Spirit of God in the spiritual life of man, every spiritual blessing has been made ours in Christ."

"We cannot get his gifts without himself."

A personal Savior

"The power of redemption is lodged, not in theories of the atonement, nor in theologies, nor in doctrinal systems, nor in confessions, nor in creeds, nor in sermons, nor even in the Bible as such. These all are but finger-boards. One is our Savior, even Christ."

"Christ offers himself, not in the way of mere verbal sympathy, but as the absolute, personal source of all true and solid comfort."

The Christian teachers theme is not to be a theory or a system, but a living Person. One peculiarity of Christianity is that you cannot take its message and put aside Christ, the speaker of the message, as you may do with all men's teachings. His person is inextricably intertwined with his teaching, for a very large part of his teaching is exclusively concerned with, and all of it centers in, himself. He is not only true, but he is the truth. His message is, not only what he said with his lips about God and man, but also what he maid about himself, and what he did in his life, death, and resurrection."

A threatening error

"The, error that was threatening the Colossian church, and has haunted the church in general ever since, was that of fancying Christianity to be merely a system of truth to be believed, a rattling skeleton of abstract dogma, very many and very dry. An unpractical heterodoxy was their danger. An unpractical orthodoxy is as real a peril. You may swallow all the creeds bodily, you may even find in God's truth the food of very sweet and real feeling; but neither knowing nor feeling is enough. The one all-important question for us is, Does our Christianity work? It is knowledge of his will, which becomes an ever active force in our live."

Our need

"What we poor men need! A certitude of a God who loves us and cares for us, has an arm that can help us, and a heart that win. The God of pure theism is little better than a phantom, so unsubstantial that you can see the stare shining through the pale form; and when a man tries to lean on him for support, it is like leaning on a wreath of mist. There is nothing. There is no certitude firm enough

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for us to find sustaining power against life's trials in resting upon it, but in Christ."

The science of salvation

"Christ crucified for our sins, Christ risen from the dead, Christ ascended on high, is the science of salvation that we are to learn and to teach."-"Testimonies for the Church," Volume 8, p. 287.

The truths of the third angel's message have been presented by some as a dry theory; but in this message is to be presented Christ the Living One. He is to be revealed as the first and the last, as the I AM, the root and the offspring of David, and the bright and morning star. Through this message, the character of God in Christ is to be manifested to the world. . . .

"There is a great work to be done, and every effort possible must be, made to reveal Christ as the sin-pardoning Savior, Christ as the sin-bearer, Christ as the bright and morning star."-"Testimonies for the Church," Volume 6, p. 200, 201.

The Comforter's witness to Christ

"The Comforter bears witness to the Crucified. No other theme in the pulpit can be sure of commanding his co-operation. Philosophy, poetry, art, literature, sociology, ethics, and history are attractive subjects to many minds, and they who handle such themes in the pulpit may set them forth with alluring words of human genius; but there is no certainty that the Holy Ghost will accompany their presentation with his divine attestation. The preaching of the Cross, in chastened simplicity of speech, has the demonstration of the Spirit pledged to it, as no secular, or moral, or even formal religious discourse has."

The preacher's theme

"The true Christian minister has to preach the person and the office-Jesus the Christ. To preach Christ is to set forth the person, the facts of his life and death, and to accompany these with that explanation which turns them from being merely a biography into a gospel. So much of 'theory' must go with the 'facts,' or they will be no more a gospel than the story of another life would be. The apostle's own statement of the gospel which he preached distinctly lays down what is needed-'how that Jesus Christ died.' That is biography, and to say that and stop there is not to preach Christ; but add, 'For our sins, according to the Scripture, and that he was raised again the third day,'-preach that, the fact and its meaning and power, and you will preach Christ."

Preaching Christ and preaching about Christ

"Thus there has been, to a great extent, text preaching instead of word of God preaching. The word 'outside' of us, instead of 'dwelling' in us. And our testimony is different in tone and power from that of the apostles and primitive Christians; for their testimony

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was in the Spirit and of Christ according to Scripture, while ours has become testimony concerning the Bible in reference to Christ and the Holy Ghost. The apostles spoke of Christ, and confirmed and illustrated their testimony by the prophecies of Scripture. They looked to the Man in the first place, and secondarily to the portrait given of him in the Book. Whereas the pseudo apostolic preaching fixes its own eye and that of the hearer in the first place on the Book, and deduces from it the existence and influence of the Person. The impression in the one case is: that the preacher announces a message from Christ, who is a reality to him; and this his experience of Christ, he asserts, is according to Scripture. The impression in the other case is that Isaiah, Paul, John teach, according to the preacher's exposition, such and such doctrine. The one is preaching Christ; the other, about Christ. The one is life and spirit; the other is possible without the spirit and vitality. The one is testimony; the other is an exposition of another man's inspired testimony. The one is preaching the word (with or without text); the other is text-preaching without the word. Paul preached Christ; our tendency is to preach that Paul preached Christ."

Section III–CHRIST THE ONLY SAVIOUR

LESSON ELEVEN The Origin, Nature, and Result of Sin

1. Sin originated with Satan. 1 John 3:8; John 8:44; Ezekiel 28:14-17; Genesis 3:1-7; Revelation 12:7-9.

2. Sin is disloyalty to God, rebellion claims his government and a disregard of the law of the kingdom. Daniel 9:5, 7-9; 1 Samuel 12:14, 15; Isaiah 1:2; 1 John 3:4, ARV.

3. Sin means the exaltation of self, the dethronement of God and Christ, and putting self in the place of God. Isaiah 14:12-14; Daniel 5:22, 23; 2 Thessalonians 2:3, 4; Matthew 23:12.

4. Sin separates from God, and such separation means death. Isaiah 59:1, 2; Proverbs 8:35, 36; Ezekiel 18:4, 20; Romans 6:23; 8:6; James 1:15; 1 Corinthians 15:56.

5. Sin brought a curse upon the earth. Genesis 3:17, 18; Romans 8:22.

6. The whole human family was involved in the sin of Adam. Romans 5:12. 1 Corinthians 15:21,22.

NOTES: Sin originated with Lucifer

"Sin originated with him who, next to Christ, had been most honored of God, and who stood highest in power and glory among the inhabitants of heaven. Before his fall, Lucifer was first of the covering cherubs, holy and undefiled."-"The Great Controversy," pp. 493, 494.

"According to Scripture, sin first made its appearance in the angelic race, though nothing more is recorded than the simple fact that the angels sinned (2 Peter 2:4) and kept not their first estate (or principality), but left their own (or proper) habitation (Jude 6), their motive or reason for doing so being passed over in silence. The obvious deduction is that the sin of these fallen spirits was a free act on their part, dictated by dissatisfaction with the place which had been assigned to them in the hierarchy of heaven, and by ambition to secure for themselves a loftier station than that in which they had been placed."

No excuse for sin

It is impossible to explain the origin of sin so as to give a reason for its existence. Yet enough may be understood concerning both the

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origin and the final disposition of sin, to make fully manifest the justice and benevolence of God in all his dealings with evil. Nothing is more plainly taught in Scripture than that God was in no wise responsible for the entrance of sin; that there was no arbitrary withdrawal of divine grace no deficiency in the divine government, that gave occasion for the uprising of rebellion. Sin is an intruder, for whose presence no reason can be given. It is mysterious, unaccountable; to excuse it, is to defend it. Could excuse for it be found, or cause be shown for its existence, it would cease to be sin. Our only definition of sin is that given in the word of God; it is the transgression of the law; it is the outworking with the great law of love which is the foundation of a principle at war of the divine government."-"The Great Controversy," pp. 492-493.

The Meaning of sin

"Its [sin] very essence is self-will; a nature, in its deepest powers, torn away from its true center and orbit; a life out of harmony with God and at war with itself."

"There is but one sin in the world, properly speaking, and that is the sin of not loving God. The sins that we commonly speak of are but different manifestations of this one sin-different in degree, diverse in various respects, diverse in enormity; but the enormity is chiefly to be determined by the measure of the revelation made of the character of God unto us."

"Sin is a terrific fact in the human world, and not simply an idle fancy; the soul's intolerable burden, and not merely a sort of horrid nightmare from which a sense of relief comes with the morning light."

"Christ is the supreme revelation of God; and the most fearful and fatal form of sin is a persistent and blasphemous rejection of the truth when it comes with the clearest conviction of the Spirit to one's heart."

The horror of Sin

"We should beware of treating sin as a light thing. Terrible is its power over the wrong-doer. His own iniquities shall take the wicked himself, and he shall be held with the cords of his sins."-"Education," p. 291.

"Sin is not the rough path to good, but its frightful overthrow; not the elevation but degradation of man."

"The Biblical conception of sin may be fairly summed up in the words of the Westminster Confession: 'Sin is any want of conformity unto or transgression of the law of God."

The horror of sin is that it wrenched the, race from God. It dashed God from his throne and placed self thereupon. It reversed the relationship of man and God. Its blight and its passion have alienated mankind, enslaved it, condemned it, doomed it to death, exposed it to wrath. The sacrifice of the cross is the explanation of the enormity of sin, and the measure of the love of the redeeming Trinity."

Modern ideas of sin are unscriptural

"Modern ideas about sin receive no countenance from Scripture, which never speaks about sin as 'good in the making,' as 'the shadow cast by man's immaturity,' as a necessity determined by heredity and environment,' as 'a stage in the upward development of a finite being,' as 'a taint adhering to man's corporeal frame,' as 'a physical disease,' 'a mental infirmity,' 'a constitutional weakness,' and least of all as 'a figment of the imperfectly enlightened, or theologically perverted, imagination,' but always as the free act of an intelligent, moral, and responsible being asserting himself against the will of his Maker, the Supreme Ruler of the universe."

The result of sin

"By sin man was shut out from God. Except for the plan of redemption, eternal separation from God, the darkness of unending night, would have been his."-"Education," p. 28.

Sin is rebellion

"In this all-inclusive sin, this root of sin, which carries in itself that which is the very damning essence of all sin (the rebellion, namely, of self and its will. against God and his will, the absolute defiance of God when so ever his will crosses any form of self-will, or contradicts any gratification on which self-will may be set), there is further inherent a special jealousy and envy, a special conscious rejection, of that royal heir ship and present eternal sovereignty over the whole realm of created existence which belongs inherently, by right of his first-born Sonship, to the Only Begotten. Hence arises an essential antagonism, absolute and irreconcilable, so long as the counter claim of rival sovereignty is maintained against him by the author of evil."

"The inherent and essential evil of sin, which the Son of God came from heaven as the Son of man to undo, and so to destroy the works of the devil, is its being defiance of God, mistrust of God, separation from God, opposition to God. Sin means war against God; war against his law and will, in obedience to which the creature's happiness and perfection must necessarily consist. It involves a perversion on the part of man of all the elements of his nature into instruments of this opposition. All the minor forces, agencies, and circumstances, intended to be subservient to the glory of God and the happiness of man, to which man's will and man's influence can reach, are degraded and abused by sin."

The power of sin

"No thoughtful mail but has felt himself encompassed by sin, not merely as a temptation, but much more as an overpowering force, silent, passive, closing in upon him on all sides, a constant pressure from which there is no escape. The sin and misery of the world has staggered reason, and left men utterly powerless to resist or to alleviate the infinite evil. Faith alone surmounts these preliminary difficulties

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of the Christian life. Faith delivers us from grossness of spirit, from lethargy, earthliness, stupor. Faith will also lift us above the terrible pressure of the world's sin."

An enormous evil

"Hell enters at the smallest breach of God's law, and the smallest sin is thus an enormous evil."

Works do not take away sin

"To cover the sin which lies on the conscience with a layer of earnest efforts to do right, will not take the sin away; the underlying sin will assimilate all the dead works that may be heaped upon it, and the result will be a greater mass of sin."

The work of grace

"God does not annul his laws. He does not work contrary to them. The work of sin he does not undo. But he transforms. Through his grace the curse works out blessing."-"Education," p. 148.

"He gives men the consciousness that they are known; he begets the consciousness that it is not with sin in the abstract he takes to do, but with sinners he can name, and whose weaknesses are known to him."

Sin and nature

"The Bible gives no support to the theory that matter itself is evil. God created all things, land God saw everything that he had made; and, behold, 'it was very good.' When, therefore, we read in the Bible that the earth is cursed, we read that it is cursed for man's sake; when we read of its desolation, it is as the effect of man's crime. The flood, the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, the plagues of Egypt, and other great physical catastrophes happened because men' were stubborn or men were foul. We cannot help noticing, however, that matter was thus convulsed or destroyed, not only for the purpose of punishing the moral agent, but because of some poison which had passed from him into the unconscious instruments, stage, and circumstance of his crime.

"According to the Bible, there would appear to be some mysterious sympathy between man and nature. Man not only governs nature; he infects and informs her. As the moral life of the soul expresses itself in the physical life of the body for the latter's health or corruption, so the conduct of the human race affects the physical life of the universe, to its farthest limits in space. When man is reconciled to God the wilderness blossoms like a rose; but the guilt of man sullies, infects, and corrupts the place he inhabits and the articles he employs; and their destruction becomes necessary, not for his punishment so much as because of the infection and pollution that is in them."

An organic ruin

"In that sublime ordeal, but terrific catastrophe, Adam stood not alone. He was the first man, not individually simply, but the first

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comprehensively. We stood with him, because we were in him. He was, in its deepest and widest sense, the representative man; not a man merely, but emphatically the man: the race generically; humanity, in its widest expansion in space, in its longest possible duration in time, across all the centuries, and with its strangest diversities. At that initial point, then, he was the bearer of more than a single individual life; he was mankind in its grand totality; and, therefore, was the ruin effected in and by him a truly-organic ruin."

An organic redemption

"This idea of the race, a vast, comprehensive organism standing originally in the same generic headship, is essential to a right understanding, both of the terrific ruin in which it was involved by the sin of the first Adam, and of the full redemption brought in by the spotless life of the last Adam, himself thoroughly human yet thoroughly divine."

Sin entered through disobedience

Some of the inspired penmen make it clear that the entrance of sin into this world was effected through the disobedience of the first man who stood and acted as the representative and surety of his whole natural posterity (Romans 5:12), and that the first man's fall was brought about by temptation from without, by the seductive influence of Satan, the lord of the fallen spirits already mentioned, the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now works in the children of disobedience."

The lesson of Satan's rebellion

"Satan's rebellion was to be a lesson to the universe through all coining ages, a perpetual testimony to the nature and terrible results of sin. The working out of Satan's rule, its effects upon both men and angels, would show what must be the fruit of setting aside the divine authority. It would testify that with the existence of God's government and his law is bound up the well-being of all the creatures he has made. Thus the history of this terrible experiment of rebellion was to be a perpetual safeguard to all holy intelligences, to prevent them from being deceived as to the nature of transgression, to save them from committing sin and suffering its punishment."-"The Great Controversy," p. 499.

Read "Patriarchs and Prophets," p. 29-31.

LESSON TWELVE Man's Need of a Saviour

1. Man is unable to save himself from sin and death. Psalm 89:48; 22:29; 1 Kings 8:46; Proverbs 20:9; Ecclesiastes 7:20; Romans 8:7; Jeremiah 13:23.

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2. A new nature must be imparted to man. John 3:3, 5, 6; 2 Peter 1:3, 4; Galatians 6:15; John 10:10.

3. There is only one Savior. Isaiah 43:11; 45:21, 22; Acts 4:10-12.

4. Jesus Christ is an all-sufficient Savior. Matthew 1:21; Luke 2:11; Acts 13:23; John 4:42; 1 Timothy 1 1:15; 1 John 4:14; Hebrews 7:25.

NOTES: A present Savior needed

"Is not the deepest religious question, after all, for each man this: whether there be in Christ a present Savior, who can cover me now with the robe of his righteousness? No historic research, no exposition of the doctrines of an Old World teacher, removes the burden of the friendlessness of my sin-stained soul in a universe ruled by a holy God. If by your scholarship you so make to live again the classic scenes in which the Nazarene moved and taught that I am made painfully conscious of the long centuries that intervening divide him from me: then all the more, if you would secure the abiding of my faith in him, you must let me see how he can still reach me, and stand for me, the wings of his affluent personality outstretched to cover me."

Deeper answers to deeper

"The deeper this sense of personal sinfulness, deeper always the need of a personal Redeemer!" Read the chapter, "The Sinner's Need of Christ," in "Steps to Christ."

LESSON THIRTEEN The Acceptance of a Personal Saviour

1. The love which provided salvation for us extends to the world, to the church, and to me. John 3:16; Ephesians 5:25; Galatians 2:20.

2. There must be a personal application of this salvation. Mark 1:40-42; 10:46-52; John 6:57; Mark 9:23, 24; Revelation 22:17.

3. God deals with us as individuals. Isaiah 57:15; 66:1, 2; Matthew 16:24; Luke 5:20; Romans 2:1; 7:24; Matthew 16:27; 20:9; Romans 12:3; Hebrews 2:9; 1 Peter 1:17.

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4. The provision made for salvation avails for those only who personally, accept Christ, by believing on him. Mark 16:16; John 3:18, 5:24; 1:12; 1 John 5:13; Acts 10:43; 13:39; Romans 1:16; 3:26; 1 John 5:5.

NOTES: The failure of mere culture

"Mere intellectual culture is not enough. Learning and righteousness, knowledge and faith, are not interchangeable terms-mere synonyms."

Delay and unbelief

"Men may spend some time in search before they embrace salvation in Christ; they may dignify delay by the name of search, but its true name is unbelief. Alas for the thief upon the cross, had he spent any time in such search!"

The incarnate Christ

"The truth summed up in the word 'incarnation' is one that satisfies the soul of man, who finds in the incarnate Christ what he can find nowhere else the revelation of a spiritual world, a definite and rational conception of a Supreme Being, an authoritative code of morals above all, a Mediator through whom he may draw near to God, and enjoy communion with him."

The conquering power

"There is only one thing that will put the collar on the neck of the animal within us, and that is the power of the indwelling Christ. The evil that is in us all is too strong for every other fetter."

The distinguishing feature

"Is it not indeed the distinguishing feature of the Christian system that it placed the foundation of salvation in living relation with a living Person, rather than in the adoption, of opinions or of habits?"

Attachment and detachment

"If we have got hold of Christ as our Savior, and have found in his cross the anchor of souls, that experience will deaden us to all which was our life, and the measure in which we are joined to Jesus by our faith in his great sacrifice will be the measure in which we are detached from our former selves and from old objects of interest and pursuit."

Union with Christ

"Faith unites the believer to Christ, so that he receives of Christ's fullness. The believer is by his faith united to Christ even as the branch is to the vine. The influences and efficiencies of the vine all reveal themselves in the branches."

Sonship through Christ

"The capacity for receiving the divine life is native to us; that we should receive it is an essential part of the divine idea of human nature. But the actual realization of our son ship is possible only through Christ. Even apart from sin it was possible only through him. If the divine life is to be ours, and with the divine life divine son ship, we must be one with Christ. And those to whom the gospel comes are made one with Christ in 'response to their faith in him."

The one method

"An eagerness in acquiring knowledge about Christ may as effectually as any other pursuit retard us in making acquaintance with him. It is mere trifling to be always inquiring about one who is himself with us; the way to secure that we shall have him when we need him is to go with him now. How can we expect our difficulties to be removed while we do not adopt the one method God recognizes as effectual for this purpose, fellowship with Christ?"

Faith necessary

"If we do not, by faith and meditation, realize the principles which flow from the truth as it is in Jesus, and obtain the strength which is stored in him, we shall not grow by him or like him. No matter how mighty be the renewing powers of the gospel wielded by the divine Spirit, they can only work on the nature that is brought into contact with and continues in contact with them by faith. The measure in which we trust Jesus Christ will be the measure in which he helps us."

"The gracious provision of God in giving his Son that the world through him might be saved, becomes effectual in the individual believer only as he personally accepts the wonderful gift of the Father's love, and inwardly appropriates the living bread from heaven."

"Lot it be remembered that the study of the testimony is one thing, and the enjoyment of the salvation is another; and that the record of the things which Jesus did and said has attained its end with those only who, 'believing, have life through his name."

Read the chapter, "Faith and Acceptance," in Steps to Christ.

Section IV–THE GREAT FACTS CONCERNING CHRIST

LESSON FOURTEEN The Great Facts

"The gospel is not a mere philosophy. It is the good news concerning Christ, the Son of God and Son of man. It has its basis in those facts concerning him which are set clown in the four records of his life. These facts are wrought into doctrine for us in the Acts of the Apostles, and are further interpreted for us in the Epistles. Our Christian experience depends upon our personal relation to those facts as thus interpreted to us. "The history deposits the material of the doctrine, for that material is nothing else than Christ manifest in the flesh-his incarnation, his obedience, his holiness, love, grace, and truth, his death and passion, his resurrection and ascension, and then, beyond these, his glorified life, and his coming and his kingdom, in which the past history finds its necessary and predicted issues." "The gospel which the apostles preached consisted of two elements, a testimony of external facts which fell within the region of the senses, and a testimony of the virtue of those facts in the predestined government of God, and of the consequences of them in the spiritual history of men, neither of which was it possible for the senses to certify." The foundation of the gospel is in facts which have come to pass, and will yet come to pass. Christ died, he ascended, he will come again, he will reign in glory. These are external facts. They enter the region of doctrine (as we commonly use the term) through their consequences to ourselves, through their effect on our own inward consciousness, through the uses and applications which may be made of them. If Christ died to bear our sins; if he ascended to be manifested in the presence of God for us; if he will come again to judge our state; if he will reign in glory to perfect our salvation; then these, facts, in themselves

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external to us, are external no longer. They are among the grounds of a whole system of thought and habit of feeling, and when taught as such they grow into a scheme of doctrine." "The importance in the whole course of instruction of first fixing on the mind both the objective reality of the facts and the living portrait of the person, is further intimated by the fourfold repetition of the history. Four times does the Lord walk before us in the glory of grace and truth, and whatever correspondences or variations the Gospels may exhibit in other parts of their narratives, four times are the great facts of the death and resurrection of Christ rehearsed to us in the minuteness of circumstantial detail." "Christian doctrine does not ground itself on speculation. It begins from the region and the testimony of the senses. Its materials are facts, and it is itself the interpretation and application of them."

Seven facts

"In the manifestation of the person of Christ, the great center of the gospel, seven facts, around which many minor events cluster, stand out prominently. They are: The deity of Christ; the incarnation of Christ; the atoning death of Christ; the resurrection of Christ; the ascension of Christ; the mediatorial work of Christ; the Second Advent of Christ. The testimony to these facts is found in the history, the types, and the predictions of the Old Testament. They appear in, concrete form in the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Gospels, and are interpreted and applied in personal experience in the other writings of the New Testament. "We have not followed cunningly devised fables." "The Christian doctrine is a doctrine concerning facts which have occurred and a person who has been manifested within the sphere of human observation. The foundations of all that is to be known of the Word of life was laid in that which was seen with the eyes, and heard with the ears, and handled with the hands of men. In the facts of Christ's life and death, as we ponder them and grow up to understand them, we get to see more and more the key to all things. For thought, as for life, he is the alpha and omega, the beginning and the ending. All that we can or need

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know about God or man, about present duty or future destiny, about life, death, and the beyond, all is in Jesus Christ, and to be drawn from him by patient thought and by abiding in him."

"We shall now study these facts, their interpretation, and their application to Christian experience. We shall thus see how that all the vital doctrines of the gospel are rooted in these facts, and that our hope of salvation, and our message to the world, do not rest upon a collection of theoretical dogmas evolved from isolated texts in the Bible, but upon the manifestation of a person, Jesus Christ, "in whom are all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge hidden."

NOTES: Facts, not philosophy

"The gospel is pre-eminently factual. It stands in the facts of the incarnation and the atonement, and not in any philosophies or theories of them."

Recognizing the facts

"We must duly recognize all the great facts of his incarnation, and his resurrection and ascension, and the apostolic teaching that he ever lives to make intercession for us."

The meaning of the facts

"The complete exposition of the gospel was the result of a combination of the facts and the words of the old dispensation with the facts and the words of the new, a combination effected in the minds of the apostles under the teaching of the Holy Ghost, who thus brought to light the meaning and the scope of his own earlier inspirations, preserved in the law and the prophets."

The sum of Paul's preaching.

"The three historic facts of the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ, viewed in their relation to sin and salvation, constituted the sum and substance of the preaching of this great apostle."

The interpretation of the facts

"The facts are finished when Jesus is glorified; the manifestation of the Son of God is perfect, the redemption is accomplished, and the conditions of human salvation are complete. The history must now be treated as a whole, of which the plan and purpose have become apparent. The time is come for the full interpretation of the facts, of their effects in the world of spirit, and of their results in human consciousness."

Section V–THE DEITY OF CHRIST

LESSON FIFTEEN The Deity of Christ

1. The Word who became flesh was God. John 1:1, 14; Matthew 1:23; 2 Corinthians 5:19; Romans 9:5; Colossians 2:9; 1 John 5:20; John 20:28.

2. The "I AM" of the Old Testament was manifested in the person of Jesus. Exodus 3:14 and John 8:58 (compare Isaiah 41:4; 43:10-13; 44:46; 45:22; 46:4, 9); John 4:26; 8:24, 28; 6:20 ("It is I" may be translated "I AM"); 6:48; 8:12; 10:11; 11:25; 14:6; 15:1; Revelation 1:17, 18; 22:13, 16.

3. The claims and admissions of Jesus himself establish his deity. John 5. 25; 9:35; 11:4; Matthew 19:28; John 14. 2, 3; 2:19-21; 8:24; 10:17, 18; 12:47; 5:20-23; Matthew. 28:18-20.

4. The deity of Christ is assumed throughout the New Testament. "Come to me." Matthew 11:28. "Learn of me!" Matthew 11:29. "Believe also in me!" John 14:1. "Follow me!" Mark 10:21. "Abide in me!" John 15:4; Matthew 13:41 (note "his angels," and "his kingdom"); Matthew 16:27 (compare 2 Corinthians 5:10) Matthew 24:31 (note "his angels," and "his elect") Luke 24:46, 47; Mark 2:5-7; Galatians 1:1; Ephesians 4:32, ARV. "The deity of Christ is in solution in every page of the New Testament."

5. The religious leaders of Christ's time were convinced that he claimed to be God. John 5:17, 18; 10:32, 33; 19:7; Luke 22:70, 71; Matthew 27:41-43.

NOTES: Christ was God revealed

"The only possible explanation of Christ and Christianity is that he was God revealed in human form. His uniqueness in relation to God makes the Christian doctrine of the incarnation the only adequate explanation

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of his personality and work. It is utterly impossible to hold to a merely human Christ. The Christ who proclaims God, who forgives sin, who unites men to God, who is and has ever been honored and worshiped in the church is the only satisfying solution of the problem of how God and man may be brought together, and man's life find its full realization and satisfaction."

Christ Is the I AM

He unveils a consciousness of eternal being. He speaks as one on whom time has no effect, and for whom it has no meaning. He is the I AM of ancient Israel; he knows no past, as he knows no future; he is un beginning, unending Being; he is the eternal Now."

Christ is Immanuel

"A so-called Savior, whose only power to save lies in the excellent moral precepts that he gave and the pure life that he lived; who is no longer the God-man, but the mere man; whose blood had no sacrificial atoning or propitiatory power in the moral government of Jehovah, but was simply a martyr's witness to a superior system of ethics is not the Savior of the four Gospels, or of Paul, or Peter, or John. It is not under the banners of such a Messiah that the church of God has achieved its triumphs. The Christ of the New Testament, of the early church, of universal Christendom; the Christ, the power of whose name has revolutionized the world and raised it to its present level, and under whose guidance the sacramental host of God's redeemed are advancing and shall advance to yet greater victories over superstition and sin, is Immanuel, God with us, in our nature, whose blood 'cleanses us from all sin,' and who is able to save, even to the uttermost, all that come unto God through him."

Christ's assurance

"Nothing is more remarkable about our Lord than the calmness and assurance with which he utters the most astounding statements. The ablest and most enlightened men have their hesitations, their periods of agonizing doubt, their suspense of judgment, their labored inquiries, their mental conflicts. With Jesus there is nothing of this. Prom first to last he sees with perfect clearness to the utmost bound of human thought, knows with absolute certainty whatever is essential for us to know. His is not the assurance of ignorance, nor is it the dogmatism of traditional teaching nor the evasive assurance of a superficial and reckless mind. It is plainly the assurance of one who stands in the full noon of truth and speaks what he knows."

The crowning proof

"The crowning proof of the revelation of the Christ of the Gospels and of experience is that he is capable of being reproduced by the Holy Spirit in the lives of his followers.' The culminating evidence of the Godhead of Christ is that he is able by the Holy Spirit to bestow' his divine life on the lives of all who are willing to receive him. 'As many

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as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name.' John 1:12. He thus assures us at once of the certainty of human access to God and of divine approach to man. All other views of Christ f ail either on one side or the other. A human Christ would be unable to satisfy us as to access to God, while a Christ who is not directly in touch with God could not assure us of any direct approach of God to man. Like Jacob's ladder, which was set up on earth with the top reaching to heaven, Jesus Christ in his human life is a solid foundation, and in his divine life is a sure guaranty for every soul that wishes to come to God by him and to commune with God, through him."

"The supreme proof to every Christian of the deity of his Lord is then his own inner experience of the transforming power of his Lord upon the heart and life."

Section VI–THE INCARNATION OF CHRIST

LESSON SIXTEEN The Pre-Existence of Christ

1. Moses knew Christ and wrote of him. Hebrews 11:24-26; John 5:46.

2. The prophets testified of Christ. Acts 10:43; 3:18; 1 Peter 1:10, 11.

3. A new being was not brought into existence at the birth of Christ, but a change was made in the order of his being. John 1:14, ARV; Philippians 2:5-7; 2 Corinthians 8:9.

4. Christ himself recognized that he had been with the Father before he appeared in this world. John 17:5, 24.

5. Christ declared that he came down from heaven. John 6:38, 51; 3:13.

6. Christ repeatedly speaks of himself as one who came from another place to this world. John 16:28-30; 8:42; 17:8; 8:14; 18:37; 9:39; 12:46; Hebrews 10:5-7.

7. Further testimony is borne to the same fact. 1 Timothy 1:15.

8. The Son of God existed before the world was created. John 1:3; Hebrews 1:1, 2; Colossians 1:12-16; Proverbs 8:22-26.

NOTES: Christ's tremendous claim

"Nothing is more plain than that over and over again, in all sorts of ways, by implication and by direct statement, to all sorts of audiences, friends and foes, He reiterated this tremendous claim to have dwelt in the bosom of the Father long before he lay on the breast of Mary."

Co-eternal with the father

"From the days of eternity the Lord Jesus Christ was one with the Father; he was 'the image of God,' the image of his greatness and majesty, 'the outshining of his glory.' It was to manifest this glory that he came to our world."-"The Desire of Ages," p. 19.

Christ and creation

"It was Christ that spread the heavens, and laid the foundations of the earth. It was his hands that hung the worlds in space, and

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fashioned the flowers of the field. . . . it was he that filled the earth with beauty and the air with song. And upon all things in earth, and air, and sky, he wrote the message of the Father's love."-Id., p. 20.

Christ's humiliation

"Jesus might have remained at the Father's side. He might have retained the glory of heaven and the homage of the angels. But he chose to give back the scepter into the Father's hands, and to step down from the throne of the universe, that he might bring light to the benighted and life to the perishing."-Id., p. 23.

The I AM came in the likeness of men

"It was Christ who from the bush on Mount Horeb spoke to Moses saying, 'AM THAT I AM. . . . Thus shall thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM bath sent me unto you.' This was, the pledge of Israel's deliverance. So when he came 'in the likeness of men,' he declared himself the I AM. The child of Bethlehem, the meek and lowly Savior, is God 'manifest in the flesh.' And to us he says, 'I AM the good shepherd.' 'I AM the living bread.' 'I AM the way, the truth, and the life.' 'All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.' 'I AM the assurance of every promise.' 'I AM; be not afraid.' 'God with us' is the surety of our deliverance from sin, the assurance of our power to obey the law of heaven."-Id., pp. 24, 25.

In eternal light

"He had dwelt in eternal light, as one with God, but his life on earth must be spent in solitude."-Id., p. 111.

The eternal Son

"The writers of the New Testament believed that in the human body of Jesus of Nazareth lived one who existed from eternity as a person distinct from the Father yet in closest relation to him, the eternal Son of God. This implies that at the birth of Jesus the eternal Son, already the creator of man, entered into a new and very intimate relation to our race."

"Our Lord's earthly life is, as it were, a jewel unclosed within the flashing gold of his eternal dwelling with God."

A former real existence

"Certainly I cannot believe that the real teaching of such passages as these [already quoted by the author], and of the Old Testament facts alluded to in them, is exhausted by the hypothesis of a merely typical 'prophetic reference to Christ and his work for or his gracious gifts to the Christian church; as if he as well as they were as yet wholly future; as if he had not then a real existence in active, though hidden, relation to the then dispensation and to those who were his people under that dispensation."

The Son in olden times

"God the Father, as he at first framed and created the world through his Son, so through the same Son did he afterward manifest himself to the world. Therefore the Son of God, although in the last times of his incarnation he has at length held familiar intercourse with mankind, still always from the very earliest period of its existence presided over the church; and even under the Old Testament, though by a hidden and secret dispensation, showed himself to holy men."

"We understand the divine person, the Lord God, who thus first preached the gospel in the hearing of our first parents, and revealed the great central truth that the triumph over evil should be achieved by One in our nature, to have been himself the Son of God, thus entering on a new phrase of his inherent mediator ship, and beginning to manifest himself as the Savior and champion of man against the evil one, man's seducer and oppressor, and his own envious adversary and rival."

LESSON SEVETEEN The Incarnation

1. Scripture testimony to the fact. Matthew 1:18-21; 2:1, 2; Luke 1:26-35; 2:1-12.; 2:25-35; John 1:1, 14; Acts 13:23; Romans 1:1-3; 9:5; 8:3; Galatians 4:4; Philippians 2:5-8; Hebrews 2:14.

2. Christ shared in our common humanity. Hebrews 2:16, 17, ARV; 4:15; Luke 2:40, 52; Matthew 4:2; John 4:5, 6; Matthew 8:23, 24; John 11:35.

3. Christ still retains his humanity. Luke 24:36-40, 51; John 20:17, 26, 27; Acts 1:9; 7:55; 1 Timothy 3:16; 2:5.

4. There was, and is, an experimental knowledge of the incarnation. 1 John 1:1-3.

NOTES: The most influential fact

"The incarnation, the most stupendous and influential fact in the whole history of the world."

A transcendent revelation

"The descent of the Son of God from his eternal majesty to the infirmities and sorrows and temptations of this mortal condition, is so transcendent a revelation both of the love of God and the possible greatness

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and blessedness of man that we need not be surprised that to many profound Christian thinkers the incarnation has seemed to constitute the whole of the Christian gospel."

The incarnation absolutely essential

"The truth, then, of the incarnation was, from the evangelists' point of view, absolutely essential to the Christian religion."

The union of the Godhead with humanity

"God was manifest in the flesh: in Christ we behold the union of the Godhead with humanity-the divinity not destroying the humanity, the humanity remaining in its integrity in order that the divinity might be revealed by it."

"They that cannot see in Christ the finite as well as the infinite, cannot rightly see the glory of God shining in the face of Jesus Christ."

"We have in the life of Christ a flesh and blood translation of the holy will of God which he who runs may read."

The expression of a great truth

"The incarnation was the mature expression in the fullness of time of the truth that 'God is love;' a truth which by implication carries with it the divine passion; for what is love without self-imposed pain and sacrifice?"

Love and Omnipotence

"We never shall have any proper conception of what true dignity is until we understand that Love is upon the throne of the universe. He that sits upon the throne came into the world and washed the feet of those Galilean fishermen, that believers might be blissfully aware that Love is wedded to Omnipotence."

An accomplished fact

"In the incarnation we see what God has actually done. Here we have, not a fancy, not a hope, not a vague expectation, not a promise, but accomplished fact, as solid and unchangeable as our own past life."

An incarnate revelation

"Man's knowledge of God, and of himself as related to God, is the subject of revelation a progressive revelation that culminated in the coming of the Son of God in our nature. By the incarnate Christ has, been supplied this fundamental need of knowledge; through him has been declared what God is and what man ought to be. Jesus Christ is not only the revelation of Godhead, he is also the revelation of manhood."

The twin pillars

"The Inspired Word and the Incarnate Word, God's word written and the Word made flesh-these are the twin pillars of our faith."

God in Christ

"The God who dwells in the thick darkness, remote from sense and above thought, has come forth and made himself known to man, even in a very real way has come within the reach of man's senses, in the manhood of Jesus Christ."

A new mode of existence

"We read in John 1:14 that the Word, not only came in flesh as in 1 John 4:2, but 'became flesh.' These last words imply that the eternal Son entered at his incarnation a mode of existence new to him, and became what he was not before; that he not only took upon him human bodily form, but accepted the limitations of human bodily life as the mode of his own existence while on earth."

The golden ladder

"Jacob's vision has come true. There is the golden ladder, with its foot resting on the cold, stony earth, and its top on heaven's starry platform, with its angels ascending and descending through the darkness; and you may climb its steps, high as you will! So humanity receives its crown of life. Heaven and earth are linked, God and man reunited, in the person of Jesus Christ."

Manhood wedded to divinity

"Forevermore, manhood is wedded to divinity in the perpetual humanity of Jesus Christ."

The abode of the divine nature

"So we are pointed to the glorified corporeal humanity of Jesus Christ in His exaltation as the abode, now and forever, of all the fullness of the divine nature, which is thereby brought very near to us. This grand truth seems to Paul to shiver to pieces all the dreams of these teachers about angel mediators, and to brand as folly every attempt to learn truth and God anywhere else but in him."

A representative humanity

"From the first, penitence has found its expression, its relief, its satisfaction, in the cross of Christ, because with varying degrees of intelligence and apprehension, this fundamental truth has been grasped, namely, that the humanity of Christ is representative identified with the race by nothing less than the incarnation."

The true consolation

"He who returned to the throne carried with him the manhood which he had assumed, and bore it thither into the glory in which the Word had dwelt from the beginning. And this is the true consolation which Christ offered to these his weeping servants, and which he still offers to us his waiting children, that now the manhood of Jesus Christ is exalted to participation in the divine glory, and dwells there in the calm, invisible sweetness and solemnity of fellowship with the Father."

Heaven and earth united

"Henceforth it was to be no visionary ladder, swept away by the dawn, which was to lead up to heaven, but that in Jesus God himself is permanently made over to us; that he, in his one, visible person, unites heaven and earth, God and man; that there is an ever-living union-between the highest height of heaven and the lowest depth of earth. Profound and wide as the humanity of Christ, to the most forgotten and remote outcast, to the most sunken and despairing of men, do God's love and care and helpfulness now come; high and glorious as the divinity of Christ may the hopes of all men now rise. He who understands the incarnation of the Son of God has a surer ground of faith, and a richer hope and a straighter access to heaven, than if the ladder of Jacob stood at his bed head and God's angels were ministering to him."

The man Christ Jesus

"In Christ, the eternal Son of God became man; and he has not ceased to be man. In Christ, a divine person once made human nature the organ of a life of perfect obedience; in Christ, a divine person now makes human nature the organ of supreme and universal sovereignty. In Christ, the eternal Son of God accepted all the limitations of human life, taking the form of a servant, being made in the likeness of men; and being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, becoming obedient unto death, yea, the death of the cross; and in Christ the eternal Word is now enthroned above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and God has put all things under his feet."

The most important event

"The incarnation was to be some time, and it is as real having occurred then as if it were occurring now. It occurred in its fit time; but its bearing on us is not dependent on the time of its occurrence. If it had been accomplished in our day, what should we have thought of it? Would it have been nothing to us to see God, to hear him, perhaps to have had his eye turned upon us with personal observation, with pity, with remonstrance? Would it have been nothing to us to see him taking the sinner's place, scourged, mocked, crucified? Is it conceivable that in presence of such a manifestation of God we should have been indifferent? Would not our whole nature have burned with shame that we and our fellow men should have brought our God to this? And are we to suffer the mere fact of Christ's being incarnate in a put age and not in our own, to alter our attitude toward him, and blind us to the reality? Of more importance than anything that is now happening in our own life is this incarnation of the Only Begotten of the Father."

The union of the Creator with the creature

"'The Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us.' The Son of God, who had all along been the angel of mercy to the human race, as he had ever been the one mediator of life and light from the Godhead to the created universe, now, at length, 'for us men and for our salvation, came down from heaven, and was incarnate, by the Holy Ghost, of

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the Virgin Mary; and was made man.' By this act his mediator ship was, at length and forever, constituted in its full absolute preordained completeness and perfection. That which all along had been prepared for and foretold, that toward which all things had before been tending, at length was fully realized. The most stupendous event happened which thought can conceive; the most stupendous, whether in itself or in its consequences, consequences which can have no limit, whether in the ranks of created existence or through the process of the unending future. The actual union of the Creator with the creature was effected in the person of the eternal Son."

The Eternal in time

"Within the kingdom of the incarnation, the true law of man's life is no longer an ideal which eludes and disheartens us. It may be realized. That his creatures might no longer shrink from him in their weakness and Pollution; that he might be their strong God in a deeper sense than he could be the strength of David; that Christians might fold him to their inmost souls with a wondering yet triumphant sense of possession, with a trembling, yet endearing intimacy of touch, which else had been inconceivable-the Incomprehensible has submitted to bonds, the Eternal has entered into conditions of time, the Most Holy has been a victim for sin.

The essential faith

"This is the central, the essential, the imperishable faith of Christendom. It makes God the God of those who cling to him in strong and simple confidence, after a manner and measure which they only can know who have the happiness to do so. For them the past is pardoned through the atoning blood. For them the problem of life is simple. The sky above their heads may be overclouded by a passing difficulty, but they have within themselves him whose very dwelling-place is hidden from other men. Through the Spirit and the sacraments they lay true hold upon that Sacred Humanity in which dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily. Christ in them is the hope of glory. Their thoughts, their affections, their resolves, are gradually interpenetrated by the intellect, and heart, and will of the Son of Man. They live, yet not they, but Christ lives in them. He is at once their philosophy, and their robe of righteousness, and the internal principle of their progressive sanctification. They are made to sit with him together in heavenly places; they live beneath his smile, and partake of his bounty; and they know that, if they be only true to him, he will not leave them, and that the land which lies beyond that horizon of time on which the strained eye of their souls rests with eager hope, they will be his, and he will be theirs, yet more intimately, and that forever."

The adoption of human nature

"God has adopted human nature in the person of his Son, and has carried the same into the highest heaven. It is the 'Son of man' who shares the throne of the universe. It is the 'Son of man' whose name

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shall be called, 'Wonderful, Counselor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.' The I AM is the days man between God and humanity, laying his hand upon both. He who is 'holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners,' is not ashamed to call us brethren. In Christ the family of earth and the family of heaven are bound together. Christ glorified is our brother. Heaven is enshrined in humanity, and humanity is infolded in the bosom of Infinite Love."-"The Desire of Ages," pp. 25, 26.

The new breath of life

"Look steadily at the incarnation, at the love which made Christ take our place and identify himself with us; consider the new breath of life that this one act has breathed into human life, ennobling the world and showing us how deep and lovely are the possibilities that lie in human nature; and new thoughts of your own conduct will lay hold of your mind. Come to this great central fire, and your cold, hard nature will be melted;-try in some sort to weigh this divine love and accept it as your own, as that which embraces and cares for and carries you on to all good, and you will insensibly be imbued with its spirit."

Read Chapter One in "The Desire of Ages."

LESSON EIGHTEEN Prophecies Concerning the Incarnation

1. A seed was promised. Genesis 3:15; 12:7; 22:18; Psalm 89:3, 4; 2 Samuel 7:12.

2. The promised seed was Christ in the flesh. John 7:40-42; Acts 3:25, 26; 13:33; Romans 1:3; 2 Timothy 2:8; Galatians 3:16-19.

3. In the Old Testament there is a prophetic biography of Christ in the flesh. Genesis 3:15; 12:3; 49:8-10; Isaiah 7:14; 9:6; 11:1-5; 2 Samuel 7; Micah 5:2; Daniel 9 Hosea 11:1; Isaiah 40:9-11; Malachi 3:1; Isaiah 42 and 53 Zechariah 11:13; 12:10; 13:7; Psalm 41:9; Exodus 12:46 Psalms 22 and 16; 68:18; 110:1; 118:22, 23.

NOTES: The purpose of the ages

"The great purpose of the ages, hidden from times eternal but disclosed through the manifestation and the mediation of Christ, was marvelous incarnation of Deity."

The key of history

"The incarnation is no strange and sudden, isolated, unrelated fact in the history of man, but is rather the center and key of all history. All before it led up to it: all that follows grows out of it or is subordinate to it."

Holy Scripture and the incarnation

"The whole teaching of Holy Scripture places the incarnation at the center of the methods of God with a sinning race. Toward that incarnation everything moved until its accomplishment, finding therein fulfillment and explanation. The messages of the prophets and seers and the songs of the psalmists trembled with more or less certainty toward the final music which announced the coming of Christ: All the results also of these partial and broken messages of the past led toward the incarnation."

The historical meaning

"Do not forget the meaning of the incarnation historically. It was the invasion of human history by one who snatched the scepter from the usurper. It was the intrusion of forces into human history which dissolved the consistency of the works of the devil and caused them to break and fail."

The answer to the world's need

"I Back of kings. and priestly men, back of seers and psalmists, stands a silent and majestic Figure, shaping the thought of those expectant ages, and so 'preparing and making ready the way' for his advent and welcome who, in God's time, came in as his personal answer to the world's great need and hope."

The central fact

"The central fact in human history is that God was in Christ reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing, their trespasses unto them; for he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. 2 Corinthians 5:19, 21. All beside in history is subservient to this great act. The works of God in the world during the whole space of time from the fall to the incarnation were all preparatory to this. The separation of a particular nation from the rest of the world to receive the law, the types, and the promises, that from them the gospel might shine forth to the rest of the world, constituted the religious preparation for the advent of Christ; the Greek language and literature contributed the intellectual preparation; while Roman conquests and laws afforded the political preparation for that great event, and for the kingdom of God as founded by Christ."

The consummation of all revelation

"While our heavenly Father left not himself without witness among the nations, all other and previous revelations of himself have been

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eclipsed by the incarnation and mediation of Jesus Christ, 'who as manifested in the flesh, justified in the spirit, seen of angels, preached among the nations, believed on in the world, received up into glory.' 1 Timothy 3:16. All the marvelous revelations of God given in the books of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the Psalms, are consummated in the manifestation of the Christ of God."

LESSON NINETEEN The Purposes of the Incarnation

1. To reveal God to the world. John 1:14, 18; 3:11; 17:6, 26; 1 Timothy 3:16.

2. To bear sin. Isaiah 53:6, 11; 1 Peter 2:24; Hebrews 9:28; John 1:29, margin; 1 John 3:5, ARV, margin.

3. To destroy the devil and his works. Hebrews 2:14; 1 John 13:8; John 12:31; 16:33; Romans 8:1-4.

4. To bring God and man together. Genesis 28:12; John 1:51; Matthew 1:23; 1 Peter 3:18.

NOTES: The incarnation and our salvation

"The incarnation is a true entrance of the eternal Son of God into our nature for the purposes of man's salvation."

"His birth was the entrance of the eternal Son into human life in order to save from destruction the human race."

"If the incarnation of Christ mean anything real in this direction, anything for human need and hope to rest upon, it is that God, then and there, joined in mysterious but harmonious union divinity and humanity for the world's actual redemption from the penalty and power of sin."

"In some actual and fundamental, though to us inexplicable, way, the divine Savior so united himself with the sinful race of man that he bare in his own body, in his own personal experience, not only the weight of its sorrow, but also the weight, though not the guilt, of its sin."

"He shows us . . . the purpose of this whole manifestation of God in Christ to be the presenting of men perfect in purity, before the perfect judgment of God."

Our way to God is a person

"Then is our way back to God a person-a divine-human person not any spoken, word of God simply, however true and potent, but 'the Word made flesh, and dwelling among us."

A vast moral achievement

"Christ assumed, not the original sinless, but our fallen humanity. In this second experiment, he stood not precisely where Adam before him had, but with immense odds against him-evil, with all the prestige of victory and its consequent enthronement in the very constitution of our nature, armed with more terrific power against the possible realization of this divine idea of man-perfect holiness. All this considered, the disadvantages of the situation, the tremendous risks involved, and the fierceness of the opposition encountered, we come to some adequate sense both of the reality and greatness of that vast moral achievement: human nature tempted, tried, miscarried in Adam, lifted up in Christ to the sphere of actualized sinlessness."

The problem stated

"The problem which in the assumption of fallen human nature, Christ proposed and accepted for himself, was none other than this namely, by personally identifying himself with all its ill fortunes, and sharing the very lameness super induced by sin, to master, in it and for it, the infernal power which had wrought all the mischief and woe."

God meeting our need

"He was God manifest in the flesh, and came to this earth 'that he might bring us to God.' It is this that makes Christ central and dominant in every life that receives him, winning trust, redeeming from sin, eliciting devotion, and inspiring hope. It is because he is God manifest, God entering into human life, God meeting human need."

The two halves of the story

"The revelation of the love of God in the incarnation of the Lord Jesus Christ and his death f or the sin of the race, and the wonderful blessings with which the Christian life is enriched even in this world, are but the assurance of other manifestations of the divine grace in the golden ages of the endless future. We have only told half the story of the divine love when we have spoken of the descent of the Son of God from his greatness and majesty to the sorrows and conflicts of this earthly life; and that half of the story is incredible until we make it clear that he came in order to lift up the race to the heights of God."

I am He

"He was manifested and let us not read into the 'he' anything small or narrow. If we do, we shall at once be driven into the place of having to deny the declaration that he can take away sins. If he was man as a man merely, then though he be perfect and sinless, he cannot take away sins if into the 'he' we will read all that John evidently meant according to the testimony of his own writing, we shall begin to see something of the stupendous idea, and something of the possibility at least of believing the declaration that 'he was manifested to take away sins."

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"Consider the manifestation and sins, as to man. The terms of the final promise of the incarnation were, 'Thou shall call his name Jesus; for it is he that shall save his people from their sins.' When the songs to which the shepherds listened were heard, what said they? 'There is born to you this day . . . a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.' The promise of the incarnation was that of the coming of one to lift sins."

He in us and we in him

"And if there be some, as, alas there are, who know not man's calling, as chosen in Christ to be the heir of all things, let them, looking in the face of Jesus, see God's love to man, who so loved us that he gave his Son to be for us a perfect man; to know our relationships, and our sorrows, and our toils, and at last our death, that in everything he might be linked with us, and through his death, still not loosing us, might in himself lift us up, to sit in heavenly places, angels, and principalities, and powers, all subject to him as man, a pledge that to us also they shall be subject in due season. Oh, might the mystery of his incarnation come home to us as befits its glory! O that we might understand what it witnesses of God's purpose touching the sons of men; that he should be our everlasting dwelling-place, and we his temples; that he should be seen in us, and we be hid in him!"

Section VII–THE ATONING DEATH OF CHRIST

LESSON TWENTY The Death of Christ

1. The death of Christ was a subject of prophecy. Isaiah 53:7-12; Daniel 9:26; Zechariah 12:10; 13:7; Psalm 22:16.

2. During his earthly ministry, Christ spoke of his coming death. John 2:19; 3:14; 6:51; Matthew 16:21; 17:22, 23; 20:18; John 12:23, 24.

3. His death and the events leading directly to it are made very prominent in the Gospels. Matthew 20:17 to 27:66; Mark 10:32 to 15:47; Luke 19:28 to 23:55; John 12:1 to 19:42.

4. His death was a voluntary act. John 10:11, 15, 17, 18; 15:13; 1 John 3:16, Matthew 26:52-54.

NOTES: An awful crisis

"To Christ his death was not a mere martyrdom, but an awful and glorious crisis in his own history and in the history of the human race."

The supreme achievement

"The laying down of his life was the supreme achievement of his self-sacrifice, his great and unique act of submission on behalf of the race to the justice of the evils which the race had deserved by sin. And if this is true, then, although no theory of the relations between his death and the forgiveness of sin may afford us intellectual satisfaction, and though there are times and moods in the life of most of us when the greatness and sacredness of the mystery seem to forbid as irreverent and profane all attempts to speculate on the manner in which his death accomplished its great redemptive purposes, we may still receive with awe and wonder, with faith and hope and immeasurable joy, the blessed assurance that he suffered for sins once, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God."

Of supreme significance

"We cannot help observing the prominence of the story of the last week of our Lord's earthly life in the record of the Gospels. Taking an ordinary Bible, it is surprising to observe the space devoted to the

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last week of the life and ministry of Christ, those days which were spent in full expectation of and preparation for his imminent death. For example, out of thirty pages devoted to the first Gospel, no less than ten are given to the record of the last week. In the second Gospel, out of nineteen pages seven axe occupied with the story from Palm Sunday to Easter Day. In St. Luke's Gospel no less than one fourth is taken up with the story of these days; and out of twenty-four pages in the fourth Gospel ten are actually concerned with the same period. This prominence given to the events of the last few days demands attention and calls for explanation. In view of the crowded three years of Christ's ministry, is it not striking that there should be such fragmentariness in the story of those years until we come to the last few days! Surely the conspicuous place given to the death in the Gospels must mean that the writers regarded it as of supreme significance."

A different death

"No mere man ever laid down his life for others in the sense in Which Christ laid down his life for the world. Every man must die at some time; 'there is no discharge in that warfare.' When a man sacrifices his life, he does but sacrifice a few days or years; he does but lay it down earlier instead of later. But Christ did not choose between dying at one time rather than at another; he chose between dying and not dying. Thus, viewed in any light whatever, the voluntary sufferings of Christ surpass our powers of thought and imagination, reaching infinitely beyond all human experience."

The great Sacrifice

"Savior, I lift my trembling eyes To that bright seat, where, placed on high, The great, the atoning Sacrifice, For me, for all, is ever nigh."

A vicarious death

"To cancel the curse, to lift the ban, to inoculate the antitoxin of grace, to restore life, to purchase pardon, to ransom the enslaved, to defeat Satan's work; in one word, to reconcile and restore a lost race; for this, Jesus Christ, the Son of God and Son of man, came into this world and offered up his divine-human person, body and soul. Christ's death upon the cross, both as a substitute and as the federal representative of humanity, voluntary, altruistic, vicarious, sinless, sacrificial, purposed not accidental, from the standpoint of humanity unconsciously brutal, but from the standpoint of love indescribably glorious, not only satisfied all the demands of the divine righteousness, but offered the most powerful incentive to repentance, morality, and self-sacrifice."

The meaning of Christ's death

"St. Paul became, in the providence of God, the constructive genius of Christianity. His place in history, through the Spirit, was that of the elucidator of the salient facts of Christianity, and especially of that

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one great subject which Christ left in a measure unexplained, his own death. That great subject, its cause, its meaning, its result, became the very fundamental of his gospel. It was the commencement, center, and consummation of his theology. It was the elemental truth of his creed. He began with it. It pervaded his life. He gloried in it to the last. The sinner is dead, enslaved, guilty, and hopeless, without the atoning death of Jesus Christ. But Christ died for him, in his stead, became a curse for him, became sin for him, gave himself for him, was an offering and a sacrifice to God for him, redeemed him, justified him, saved him from wrath, purchased him by his blood, reconciled him by his death."

A propitiatory and substitutionary death

"Christ's death was a death for sin; Christ died for our sins; that is, on behalf of, instead of, our sins. There was something in sin that made his death a divine necessity. His death was a propitiatory, substitutionary, sacrificial, vicarious death. Its object was to annul sin; to propitiate divine justice, to procure for us God's righteousness; to ransom us, and to reconcile us. Christ's death was conciliating, in that by it men are reconciled to God, and sin's curse and the sinner's slavery and liability to death, and incapability of returning to God, are overcome by the death of the Lamb who was slaughtered as a victim and immolated as a sacrifice. 1 Corinthians 5:7. To Paul the life of the Christian emerged from the death of Christ. All love, all regeneration, all sanctification, all liberty, all, joy, all power, circles around the atoning work of the Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us, and did for us objectively something that man could never do, and who wrought that incredible, that impossible thing, salvation by the substitution of his life in the place of the guilty."

LESSON TWENTY-ONE The Ancient Sacrificial System Found Its Fulfillment in Christ

1. The Passover lamb was a type of Christ. Exodus 12:3-14; 1 Corinthians 5:7.

2. The continual burnt offering was a type of Christ. Exodus 29:39-42; Hebrews 9:25, 26.

3. The sin offering was a type of Christ. Leviticus 4:32, 33; Isaiah 53:6, 7; John 1:29.

4. The tabernacle was itself a type of the incarnate Christ. Exodus 25:8; 29:43-45; 40:34; John, 1:14; 2:19-21.

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5. All other ceremonial observances were as shadows of the reality Christ. Colossians 2:16, 17; Hebrews 10:1.

6. The typical system was abolished by the incarnation and death of Christ. Matthew 27:50, 51; Colossians 2:14; Hebrews 10:4-9.

NOTES: Fact-prophecies of Christ

"Sacrifice, altar, priest, temple, spoke of Him."

"The whole elaborate ritual of the Jew had sacrifice for its vital center, and the prediction of the Great Sacrifice for its highest purpose."

"Their temple and all that was done in it, their law, their prophets, their institutions, their history, and their daily life, all spoke to them of God, and reminded them that God dwelt among them and would come to his own."

The shadow

"Those symbolical and typical ministrations of mediation were a shadow of the good things to come. They serve to illustrate and in their measure reveal the greater and more perfect sacrifice of Christ, and the nature of his divine-human mediation."

High priest and victim

"Christ is the high priest of the human race who is offering a victim in expiation of human sin, and that victim himself. He is the one real sacrificer of whom all the Jewish priests had for those long centuries been only shadows, and his sacrifice is the one offering which throughout all ages has power in heaven."

Incomplete services

"The redemption yearly commemorated by the Passover lamb; burnt offerings and sin offerings, day by day; and, more than all besides, the great day of atonement by specific priestly act gathering up and carrying through the veil, and to definite issue, an expiatory service, altogether extraordinary and unique, inclusive of the entire nation these all, incipient and incomplete in themselves, looked forward to and came at last to their full atoning significance in the awful tragedy of Calvary."

The true sacrifice

"Christ is the dwelling place of Deity, the meeting-place of God and man, the place of sacrifice; and, built on him, we in him become a spiritual house. There are none other temples than these.

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Christ is the great priest, and in his presence all human priesthood loses its consecration, for it could offer only external sacrifice, and secure a local approach to a 'worldly sanctuary.' He is the real Aaron, and we in him become a royal priesthood. There are none other priests than these. Christ is the true sacrifice. His death is the real propitiation for sin, and we in him become thank offerings, moved by his mercies to present ourselves living sacrifices. There are none other offerings than these. So the law as a code of ceremonial worship is done to death in the cross, and, like the temple veil, is torn in two from the top to the bottom."

Through his blood

"The impossibility of drawing near to a holy God without the intervention of an ordained, and so acceptable sacrifice of atonement, the principle that without shedding of blood there is no remission (Hebrews 9:22), these were to be deeply and lastingly imprinted. in the conscience of the Jewish race, and through them on that of mankind; in order that so the necessary moral foundation might be laid, in the inner conviction of sin and in the sense of guiltiness before God (Romans 3:19), for the joyful acceptance of the gospel of salvation; i.e., of forgiveness and justification through faith in the blood of Christ. Hebrews 9:25.

"To this great object tended the special institutions of the sin offering, as an addition to the primitive whole burnt offering and peace offering; of the tabernacle, with its holy of holies, unapproachable save by the high priest alone; of the peculiar and significant ritual of the great day of atonement; and of the constant daily morning and evening sacrifice. All spoke, in striking and varied. ways, of One who was to come; of One who should be at once 'himself the victim and himself the priest,' at once the Lamb of God without blemish and without spot, and the one true and only and abiding priest, the true Aaron and the true Melchizedek, in whose one offering of himself, made once for all, 'single and complete,' this whole elaborate and complicated, this burdensome, yet highly significant and expressive, system should be completely fulfilled and realized; its whole substance and essential purpose absolutely secured forever; so completely, so absolutely, as to render its longer actual continuance first needless and then mischievous; while the standing record of its divinely ordained, though only temporary, provisions, was still preserved in the inspired volume of the Pentateuch, to teach the abiding principles which underlay them, and to point forever, as the Christian student sees it to point to him who is the sum and substance of them all; and so to throw a most instructive and always needed light on the whole redemptive, work of the Christ."

A compacted prophecy

"In every page, whether history or precept or prophecy, the Old Testament Scriptures are irradiated with the glory of the Son of God. So far as it was of divine institution, the entire system of Judaism was a compacted prophecy of the gospel. To Christ 'give all the prophets witness.' John 3:17. From the promise given to Adam down through the patriarchal line and the legal economy, heaven's glorious light made plain the footsteps of the Redeemer. Seers beheld the Star of Bethlehem, the Shiloh to come, as future things swept before them in mysterious procession. In every sacrifice, Christ's death was shown. In every cloud

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of incense his righteousness ascended. By every jubilee trumpet his name was sounded. In the awful mystery of the holy of holies his glory dwelt."-"The Desire of Ages," pp. 211, 212.

Type and antitype

"The ceremonial system was made up of symbols pointing to Christ, to his sacrifice and his priesthood. This ritual law, with its sacrifices and ordinances, was to be performed by the Hebrews until type met antitype in, the death of Christ, the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world. Then all the sacrificial offerings were to cease. It is this law that Christ took out of the way, nailing it to his cross." Patriarchs and Prophets," p. 351.

LESSON TWENTY-TWO As Our Representative, Christ Died for Our Sins

1. The whole human family died in the person of Christ, the head of the family. 2 Corinthians 5:14, ARV; Romans 5:19.

2. Christ bore the penalty of sin in our stead. 1 Corinthians 15:3; Galatians 1:4; Romans 5:7, 8; Hebrews 2:9; 2 Corinthians 5:21; 1 Peter 3:18; Isaiah 53:5, 6; John 10:11; 11:51.

3. By his death Christ paid the price of redemption. Matthew 20:28; 1 Timothy 2:5, 6; 1 Peter 1:18, 19; Galatians 3:13; Acts 20:28; Revelation 5:9; Romans 3:24; 8:32; Ephesians 1:7; 5:25.

NOTES: A ransom

"And now the Lord of Glory was dying, a ransom for the race. . . . Christ was the prince of sufferers; but this suffering was from a sense of the malignity of sin, a knowledge that through familiarity with evil man had become blinded to its enormity. Christ saw how deep is the hold of sin upon the human heart, how few would be willing to break from its power. He knew that without help from God, humanity must perish, and he saw multitudes perishing within reach of abundant help.

"Upon Christ as our substitute and surety was laid the iniquity of us all. He was counted a transgressor, that he might redeem us from the condemnation of the law. The guilt of every descendant of Adam was pressing upon his heart. The wrath of God against sin, the terrible manifestation of his displeasure because of iniquity, filled the soul of his Son with consternation. . . .

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Now with the terrible weight of guilt he bears, he cannot see the Father's reconciling face. The withdrawal of the divine countenance from the Savior in this hour of supreme anguish pierced his heart with a sorrow that can never be fully understood by man. So great was this agony that his physical pain was hardly felt."-"The Desire of Ages," pp. 752, 753.

Redeemed by his blood

"Thus it is abundantly shown that Christ, the Son of the Most High, the Word, by whom the worlds were made, in whom all things consist, the first and the last, the image of the invisible God, in whom all fullness dwells, was made flesh, and laid down his life to purge us from sin, and to redeem us to God by his own blood."

The sin-bearer

"The spotless Son of God hung upon the cross, his flesh lacerated stripes; those hands so often reached out in blessing, nailed to the wooden bars; those feet so tireless on ministries of love, spiked to the tree; that royal head pierced by the crown of thorns; those quivering lips shaped to the cry of woe. And all that he endured, the blood drops that flowed from his head, his hands, his feet, the agony that racked his frame, and the unutterable anguish that filled his soul at the hiding of his Father's face, speaks to each child of humanity, declaring, It is for thee that the Son of God consents to bear-this burden of guilt; for thee he spoils the domain of death, and opens the gates of Paradise. He who stilled the angry waves and walked the foam-capped billows, who made devils tremble and disease flee, who opened blind eyes and called forth the dead to life, offers himself upon the cross as a sacrifice, and this from love to thee. He, the Sin-bearer, endures the wrath of divine justice, and for thy sake becomes sin itself." "The Desire of Ages," pp. 754, 755.

A subject for study

"It would be needful for his church in all succeeding ages to make his death for the sins of the world a subject of deep thought and study. Every fact connected with it should be verified beyond a doubt." Id., p. 571.

Things which cannot be described

"Men can paint the cursed tree, but not the curse of the law that made it so. Men can paint Christ bearing the cross to Calvary, but not Christ bearing the sins of many. We may describe the nails piercing hi s sacred flesh. But who can describe eternal justice piercing both' flesh and spirit? We may describe the soldier's spear, but not the arrow of the Almighty; the cup of vinegar which he but tasted, but not the cup of wrath which he drank out to the lowest dregs; the derision of the Jews, but not the desertion of the Almighty forsaking his Son, that he might never forsake us who were his enemies."

Bearing our sins

"Christ is set forth as a propitiation, that through faith in his blood we may receive the remission of sins that are past, that God may be just, and the justifier of him that believeth in Jesus.

Romans 3:23-26. No one can imagine that Christ bore our sins on the tree except in the sense of suffering in his death the desert of our sins, for death is that desert. He hath made him to be sin for us 'not that he was a sinner, for he knew no sin,' but he was counted a sinner-sin-was imputed to him, if you please, for our sake, 'that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.' 2 Corinthians 5:21. We cannot imagine how he was made sin for us, except by his bearing our sins, which he did, and standing in our stead before the violated law."

Liberation from the penalty

"In what sense does Paul assert in Romans 3:24 that there is redemption in Christ Jesus? Wherever the word and its cognates are found we have the idea of liberation. And in the passage before us this idea is already suggested by the word justified: for the justification of men who 'have all sinned' involves their liberation from the due penalty of their sins. That this liberation is brought about by the violent death of Christ on the cross, is implied in the conspicuous words 'in his blood' in verse 25. In verse 26 Paul adds that the purpose for which 'God set forth' Christ 'in his blood' was to harmonize with his own justice the justification of those that believe in Christ. If so, Christ's death was absolutely needful for our salvation: for God cannot possibly be unjust. And if so, it was, in the full sense of the word, the redemption price of our salvation."

Salvation refused

"God's purpose of salvation through the death of Christ embraced all men, and . . . consequently they who perish do so, not because they were excluded by God from his purpose of salvation, but simply and only because they refused the offered salvation."

The Lamb of God

"He gave himself for our sins. He came to a world steeped in wickedness, seething with rebellion against God, hating him because it hated the Father that sent him, sure to say as soon as it saw him, 'We will not have this man to reign over us.' Not therefore by way of incarnation and revelation alone, as it might have been for an innocent race; but by way of sacrifice, as a victim on the altar of expiation, 'a lamb led to the slaughter,' he gave himself up for us all."

The basis of forgiveness

Christ's death has so met the requirements of the divine law that the divine love can come freely forth, and embrace and forgive sinful men. That fact is the very center of the revelation of God in Christ, the very secret of his power. He has died. Voluntarily and of his own

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love, as well as in obedience to the Father's loving will, he has borne the consequences of the sin which he had never shared."

The costly means

"As the costly means absolutely needful for man's salvation, the various writers of the New Testament speak of the death of Christ as a ransom for men. This metaphor implies that Christ died in our stead: For the ransom takes conspicuously the place of the captives set free. We may now describe the use of this family of words in the New Testament by saying that evangelical redemption is the deliverance of sinners from the penalty and power of sin by the costly means of the death of Christ."

LESSON TWENTY-THREE The "Servant" of Isaiah 42 to 53

1. The servant as a worker.

a. The prophecy. Isaiah 42:1-7; 49:5-9.

b. The fulfillment. Matthew 12:17-21; 3:17; 17:5.

2. The servant as a witness.

a. The prophecy. Isaiah 43:10.

b. The fulfillment. John 18:37.

3. The servant as a sufferer.

a. The prophecy. Isaiah 52:13-15; 53:3-5, 11.

b. The fulfillment. Matthew 8:16, 17; Luke 18:31-33; Acts 3:13-15, ARV; 4:27, 28, ARV; 8:32-35.

All of chapters 42 to 53 should be read in connection with this lesson.

NOTES: Jesus the servant

"With the four Gospels in existence, no one doubts or can doubt that Jesus of Nazareth fulfilled the cry, 'Behold my Servant.' With him it ceased to be a mere ideal, and took its place as the greatest achievement iii history."

"It is in the New Testament that we see the most perfect reflection of the Servant of the Lord."

A great prophecy fulfilled in Jesus

"None but prejudiced Jews have ever denied that this great prophecy, known as the fifty-third of Isaiah, was fulfilled in one person, Jesus of Nazareth, and achieved in all its details by him alone."

An unmistakable parallel

"All this parallel between Jesus of Nazareth and the Servant of the Lord is unmistakable enough, even in this mere outline; but the details of the Gospel narrative and the language of the evangelists still more emphasize it. Christ's herald hailed him with words which gather up the essence of Isaiah 53:'Behold the Lamb of God.' He reads his own commission from chapter 61: 'The Spirit of the Lord is upon me.' To describe his first labors among the people, his disciples again used words from chapter 53:1 Himself bare our sicknesses.' To paint his manner of working in face of opposition they quoted the whole passage from chapter 42. 'Behold my servant. . . . He, shall not strive.' The name Servant was often upon his own lips in presenting himself: 'Behold, I am among you as one that serves.' When his office of prophecy passed into martyrdom, he predicted for himself the treatment which is detailed in chapter 50-the smiting, plucking, and spitting; and in time, by Jew and Gentile, this treatment was inflicted on him to the very letter." The Servant and the church.

"The divine ideal which our prophet saw narrowing down from the nation to an individual, was owned and realized by Christ. But in him it was not exhausted. With added warmth and light, with a new power of expansion, it passed through him to fire the hearts and enlist the wills of an infinitely greater people than the Israel for whom it was originally designed. With this witness, then, of history to the prophecies of the Servant, our way in expounding and applying them is clear. Jesus Christ is their perfect fulfillment and illustration. But we who are his church are to find in them our ideal and duty, our duty to God and to the world. In this, as in so many other matters, the unfulfilled prophecy of Israel is the conscience of Christianity."

LESSON TWENTY-FOUR Reconciliation Through Christ

1. Man is reconciled to God through Christ. 2 Corinthians 5:18. (To us it would seem that something needed to be done to reconcile God to man; but the sacrifice of Christ was not to appease God, but to win man. John 12:32.)

2. This reconciliation was accomplished through the manifestation of God in the flesh. Hebrews 2:17; 2 Corinthians 5:19; Colossians 1:21, 22, A. R. V.

3. This reconciliation extends to things in the heavens as well as upon the earth. Colossians l:19, 20. (Compare verse 16.)

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4. This reconciliation is due to the death of Christ. Romans 15:8-10; Ephesians 2:16.

5. Christ thus became the propitiation for all sin. 1 John 4:10; 2:2.

NOTES: The provision for reconciliation

"Christianity would never have supplied the spiritual wants of the world had it made no provision for the fundamental need of reconciliation. This provision was made in the incarnation."

The all-sufficient sacrifice for sin

"The one thing that makes us ground our rebellious arms and say, Lord, I surrender, thou hast conquered, is to see in Christ's life the perfect image of God, and in his death the all-sufficient sacrifice for sin."

The corn of wheat

"He came to do the Father's will, through death to lift man to the place of the Son oven in the Father's bosom. So the corn of wheat tell into the ground and abode not alone, and has sprung up to bear much fruit."

The sentence of death upon sin

"The atonement makes for righteousness to all who receive it. There can be no white-washing done at Calvary. The man who accepts pardon on the ground of Christ's atonement cannot willfully continue in sin that grace may abound. The death by which his pardon is sealed becomes a sentence of death in his own heart upon all his own sin. The impenitent or insincere cannot, find forgiveness at the cross."

Removing, the barrier

"It. must be carefully borne in mind that, throughout the apostolic writings, Jesus Christ is set forth as a Redeemer, making reconciliation, bringing about a reunion between God and man. His death, consummating a life of sinless obedience to the divine will, is represented as removing the barrier that separated man from God."

A unique death

"The one and only adequate explanation of the death of Jesus Christ in the prime of life, when he might have continued to exercise a powerful and marvelous influence over all the land of Palestine, is that it was a sacrifice. And this is the account given to us in the Gospels. It was the death of one who was consciously innocent of one whose lifework has been completed, of one who had come into this world for the very purpose of dying, of one whose death was foreseen, foretold, provided for. It is thus exceptional and unique, and this is clearly the impression of those who wrote the Gospels, and the impression of every one who reads those Gospels honestly, fairly, and as a whole."

A continuous work

"The efficiency of Christ's redeeming work is perpetual. So long as sin and trespass and death continue in Adam's posterity, so long the Christly redeeming grace continuously avails to counteract the evil, and is not therefore to be conceived as a finished work. Because of Adam's trespass, sin abounds and death reigns; because of Christ's redemptive mediation, grace abounds more exceedingly and reigns through righteousness unto eternal life."

Three things

"To understand fully the atonement were to understand these three things and their ultimate relation to each other-the greatest thing n God, which is his love; the strongest thing in the universe, which is law; and the darkest thing in man, which is sin."

An eternal salvation

"The complete redemption is, accordingly, not only a remission of sins through the mediating death of Jesus, but a continuous and eternal salvation, in which the believer, being reconciled to God, lives the new life of 'righteousness by faith, and realizes that there is no enmity in his heart toward God, but a glorious state of reconciliation."

A universal sacrifice

"The sacrificial death of Jesus Christ transformed the relations of God to mankind, and of Israel to the Gentiles. In him God reconciled not a nation, but a world to himself. 2 Corinthians 5:19. The death of the Son of man could not have reference to the sons of Abraham alone. If sin is universal and death is not a Jewish but a human experience, and if one blood flows in the veins of all our race, then the death of Jesus Christ was a universal sacrifice; it appeals to every man's conscience and heart, and puts away for each the guilt which comes between his soul and God."

LESSON TWENTY-FIVE Crucified with Christ

1. In baptism we acknowledge our acceptance of the death of Christ, our representative, as our own death to sin. Romans 6:1-3; 1 Peter 2:24.

2. This crucifixion of the old nature sets us free from the bondage of sin. Romans 6:6, 7.

3. This crucifixion with Christ is the first and necessary step toward receiving the life of Christ. Galatians 2:20.

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4. This union with Christ in his death puts an end to the fleshly life. Galatians 5:24; Colossians 2:20; Romans 6:11.

5. This union with Christ in his death involves the putting off of the old man and the putting on of the new man. Colossians 3:3, 5-11.

6. When we partake of the Lord's supper, we testify to our acceptance of his death. 1 Corinthians 11:26.

(The American Revised Version must be used in the study of this lesson.)

NOTES: A common experience

"Other things, therefore, may be doubtful, but this is sure: the cross and resurrection must be ours, if we are his."

An intimate relation

"The relations between Christ and those who are in him are so intimate that his death is their death and his resurrection their' resurrection. They were crucified with him, buried with him, and they arose again with him. The truth has been verified in the spiritual consciousness of devout men. The death of Christ is the death of sin."

Dying with Jesus

"They died with Christ when they clave with penitent trust to the truth that Christ died for them. When a man unites himself by faith to the dying Christ as his peace, pardon, and Savior, then he too in a very real sense dies with Jesus."

"If we know nothing of dying with Christ, it is to be feared we know as little of Christ's dying for us."

Power through his sacrifice

"We must learn 'to die daily,' I to be made conformable unto his death, But when we ask how this can be, how can we follow his example and be made like unto him? Then we enter upon the second line of truth-Christ our sacrifice. There is no thought of merit or atonement for sin in our following of Christ, nor does a perfect pattern give sinful man any new power to live a holy life. The question of atonement, of acceptance, must have been already settled. The power to follow Christ our example comes through the virtue of Christ our sacrifice. His death has established a new relationship between God and man. His resurrection has brought a new life power within our reach. If, we would follow Christ, 'we must know him and the power of his resurrection."

A continuous union

"Our union with him is not dissolved. Through his death we receive forgiveness, through his death we die to the sin which brought the

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death upon him; and in his resurrection and ascension we see the visible manifestation of that eternal life which we have already received, and which will some day be manifested in us as it has been manifested in him."

Deliverance through his death

"Death with Christ to the world should deliver us from the temptation of making much of the things which perish with the using, whether that temptation is presented in the form of attaching exaggerated religious importance to ascetic abstinence from them or in that of exaggerated regard and unbridled use of them."

The basis of union

"By spiritual birth we are joined to the Second Man, and share in his righteousness and salvation. When we ask how we are joined to Christ, how and by what right we enter the new family of which he is head, we must look, not to the incarnation, but to the atoning death upon the cross f or our answer. For 'except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abides alone; but if it die, it brings forth much fruit.' There is no communication of life except through death and resurrection. The basis of union with Christ is not the birth at Bethlehem, but the death at Calvary."

A dying to sin

"Meanwhile, as to the elements of this world, the life which stands in these must die, or they must die to it, growing into the mind of their Lord.

"It is difficult to speak of this without, on the one hand, conveying a strained and unreal view of the Christian's attitude toward the present life, or, on the other hand, weakening too much the sense of 'conformity to his death.' In the first place, the Christian's dying is mainly, and certainly it is first of all, a dying to sin, a mortifying the flesh with the affections and lusts. It is the practical renunciation of evil, along with the maintenance of the watchfulness and self-discipline, needed in order to be ready to renounce evil when it comes. Evil has to be rejected, not merely by itself, but at the cost of those earthly interests which are involved in the surrender to it, however dear or constraining those interests may seem to be; so that conformity to Christ's death, if it covered no more, would still cover a great deal of ground. But it seems to cover something more-namely, a general loosening of the grasp upon this life, or on the temporary and sensible elements of it, in view of the worth and certainty of the higher and the better life."

The doctrine of the cross

"The boast of our day is that Christ crucified is preached. But is he, even in this one respect, fully preached, or the doctrine of the cross fully apprehended? Let the walk of those who make the boast answer. It is not insinuated that such are chargeable with licentiousness or immorality.

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But are they therefore not chargeable with 'walking after the flesh,' and 'making provision to fulfill its desires'? In the multitude of particulars it is difficult to make a selection. But what, then, is the high regard in which blood and ancestry and family connection are held by some? What is the regard to personal appearance and dress in others? What the attention to ease and comfort, and often times profuse expenditure, not to speak of actual luxuries, in the arrangement of the houses, tables, etc., of almost all! Is all this, and a thousand things too numerous to particularize, consistent with reckoning ourselves dead as to the old or natural man? Is this what the Scriptures intend by crucifixion of the flesh. Alas full well do many of the professing Christians of our day show that they are but half taught the very doctrine in which they make their boast: that they have but half learned the lesson which even the cross teaches. They have learned that Christ was crucified for them, but they have not learned that they are to be crucified with him."

Section VIII–THE RESURRECTION OF CHRIST

LESSON TWENTY-SIX The Fact of Christ's Resurrection

1. Those who had seen Christ put to death and laid in the tomb, afterward found the tomb empty. Luke 23:49, 55; 24:1-12; Matthew 28:5-7; Mark 16:5-8; John 20:1-9.

2. Many persons saw Christ after his resurrection. Matthew 28:16, 17; Acts 1:3; 1 Corinthians 15:5, 6; Acts 10:40, 41; 13:31.

3. These facts convinced his intimate associates, who had been with him before his death, that he had been raised from the dead, although they were not predisposed to believe it. Matthew 28:17; John 20:9, 19, 20; Acts 2:32. (Compare Acts 1:8, 22.)

4. Saul of Tarsus, who had been a persecutor of those who believed in the resurrection of Jesus, became convinced that Jesus had risen from the dead. Galatians 1:13-16; 1 Corinthians 15:8; Acts 26:12-15, 19, 20.

5. The resurrection of Christ was foretold by the prophet David. Psalm 16:9, 10; Acts 2:25-31.

6. Christ foretold his' own resurrection. John 2:19-21; Matthew 16:21; 27:62, 63.

NOTES: A fundamental truth

"The resurrection of Jesus Christ is one of the two fundamental truths of the gospel, the other being his atoning death."

"Of vital character to Christianity is the question touching the proper place and import of Christ's resurrection in the scheme of redemption."

An impregnable foundation

"While the literal bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ is the cornerstone of Christian doctrine, it is also the Gibraltar of Christian evidence and the Waterloo of infidelity and rationalism. If the Scriptural assertions of Christ's resurrection can be established as historic certainties, the claims and doctrines of Christianity rest upon an impregnable foundation."

Evidences of the resurrection

The resurrection of Christ is at once the most important, and the best authenticated fact in. the history of the world, says Dr. Charles Hodge, and he gives the following resume of the evidence of its occurrence:

1. It was predicted in the Old Testament.

2. It was foretold by Christ himself.

3. It was a fact admitting of easy verification.

4. Abundant, suitable, and frequently repeated evidence was afforded of its actual occurrence.

5. The witnesses to the fact that Christ was seen after his death on the cross, were numerous, competent, and on every account worthy of confidence.

6. Their sincerity of conviction was proved by the sacrifices, even that of life, which this testimony entailed upon them."

The evidence of Sonship

"Had the first disciples analyzed the process by which they came to believe in Jesus Christ as the Son of God in an altogether unique sense, they would have ascribed a higher degree of importance to the resurrection than to any other branch of evidence."

"We have now nothing to set against the overwhelming evidence which attests that Jesus of Nazareth announced salvation for all who believe his words, that in support of this announcement he claimed to be the Son of God, and that in proof of this claim he rose from the dead."

The empty tomb

"And so we come again to that insuperable barrier, the empty tomb, which, together with the apostolic witness, stands impregnable against all the attacks of visional and apparitional theories. It is becoming more evident that these theories are entirely inadequate to account for the records in the Gospels, as well as for the place and power of those Gospels in the early church and in all subsequent ages. The force of the evidence for the empty grave and the disappearance of the body is clearly seen by, the explanations suggested by various modern writers. It will suffice to say that not one of them is tenable without doing serious violence to the Gospel story, and also without putting forth new theories which are not only improbable in themselves, but are without a shred of real historical or literary evidence. The one outstanding fact which baffles all these writers is the empty grave."

Beyond doubt

"We have, then, several independent lines of argument pointing decisively and conclusively to the, resurrection of Christ from the dead. Some of them taken separately prove the fact, but taken together they constitute an argument that makes doubt of the resurrection of Christ impossible to the candid mind."

The real historical evidence

"The real historical evidence for the resurrection is the fact that it was believed, preached, propagated, and produced its fruit and effect in the new phenomenon of the Christian church, long before any of our Gospels were written. This is not said to disparage the Gospel, or to depreciate what they tell, but only to put the question on its true basis. Faith in the resurrection was not only prevalent, but immensely powerful before any of our New Testament books were written."

The conviction of the resurrection

"The four Gospels, the book of Acts, and the epistles of Paul agree to say that Christ rose from the dead on the second morning after his crucifixion; that on that morning his grave was found empty; that he appeared several times to one or more of his disciples, men or women, in a manner which produced in them complete conviction that his body had returned to life; and that shortly afterward the body thus raised from the dead was taken up to heaven. The documentary evidence before us proves that all this was firmly believed by the apostles, that it was soon afterward believed by multitudes in the city in which he died, that it became the deep conviction of a friend of his murderers, and of the followers of Christ throughout the world. In other words, as we trace to its source the great religious impulse which has rescued the world from ruin and turned it into a path of sustained progress, we find it inspired by a serene conviction that Christ had trampled death under foot by returning alive from the grave; and this conviction we have traced to Jerusalem and to within a few days of his death."

The resurrection of Jesus

"There is no real doubt that Christ anticipated and spoke of his own resurrection. His veracity is therefore at stake if he did not rise. Surely the word of such a one as Jesus Christ must be given due credence. We are therefore compelled to face the fact that the resurrection of which the Gospels speak is the resurrection of no ordinary man, but of Jesus, that is of one whose life and character had been unique, and for whose shameful death no proper explanation was possible or conceivable."

Preaching a risen Savior

"The apostles were witnesses of the resurrection of Jesus-but how! Why did Jesus himself not appear after his resurrection to the unbelieving Jews? The apostles preached, not evidence proving the miraculous fact of the resurrection, but a risen Savior: resurrection power was theirs, and the Spirit convinced their hearers of that life in a risen Savior! Our faith is not to stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God. When the word of the Lord comes to the soul, it brings its authority, power, and attraction with it, and the response of the heart is, not 'What is this Book?' but, 'Who art thou, Lord?'"

LESSON TWENTY-SEVEN The Resurrection as a Fundamental Truth of the Gospel

1. The apostles made very prominent in their teaching the fact of the resurrection.

a. As the explanation of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost. Acts 2:32, 33.

b. As the explanation of the healing of the lame man. Acts 3:12-16; 4:10.

c. As the basis of their message to the Gentiles. Acts 10:36-43.

2. Their testimony to the resurrection was attended with such results as showed that God approved of it. Acts 2:37-41; 4:1-4, 33; 5:29-33.

3. The apostle Paul emphasized in his teaching the fact of the resurrection. 1 Corinthians 15:1-8; Acts 13:30-39; 17:18, 31; 25:18, 19; Galatians 1:1; Romans 1:14; 4:23, 24; 8:11; 10:9; Ephesians 1:19, 20; Colossians 3:1; 1 Thessalonians 1:9-10; 4:14; 2 Timothy 2:8; Hebrews 13:20; 1 Corinthians 15:20-23. .

4. Our hope of salvation from sin depends upon the resurrection of Christ. 1 Corinthians 15:12-19.

NOTES: The corner-stone of Christ fan doctrine

"The resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead is the corner-stone of Christian doctrine. It is mentioned directly one hundred and four or more times in the New Testament. It was the most prominent and cardinal point in the apostolic testimony."

The evidence of eyewitnesses

"The account of an eyewitness is readily distinguishable from the account of one who is merely retailing what others have told him. Any one who is accustomed to weigh evidence in court or in historical study noon learns how to distinguish the report of an eyewitness from mere here say evidence. Any careful student of the Gospel records of the resurrection will readily detect many marks of the eyewitness."

Through His empty grave

Through his empty grave we see not only the smile of a pardoning God, but a bright vision of a new earth and heaven."

A foundation truth

"Christianity itself, both historically and theologically, rests upon the belief that Christ rose from the dead, that he is the only begotten Son of God, and that he preached the gospel set forth in the New Testament. If this belief be not true, modern civilization and progress are conterminous with a deep delusion.

"From the above it is evident that to deny the bodily resurrection of Christ is to accept an alternative which contradicts all the known sequences of human life, and to reduce the history of the past into a complex tissue of impossibilities."

"Beyond a question, the foundation truth preached in the early years of the church's history was the resurrection. This was the one doctrine upon which the apostles were ever ringing the changes."

An uncontradicted declaration

"If the facts were as recounted in the Gospels, there is no possible escaping the conclusion that Jesus actually arose. Still further, if Jesus had not risen, there would have been evidence that he had not. His enemies would have sought and found this evidence, but the apostles wept up and down the very city where he had been crucified, and proclaimed right to the faces of his slayers that he had been raised, and no one could produce evidence to the contrary. The very best they could do was to say the guards went to sleep, and the disciples stole the body while the guards slept. Men who bear evidence of what happens while they are asleep are not usually credible witnesses."

Two simple facts

"Leaving for further and fuller consideration the general question of the church's existence and progress, we are now concerned only With its commencement as recorded in the early chapters of the book of the Acts of the Apostles, and there we see two simple and incontrovertible facts: (1) The Christian society was gathered together by preaching; (2) The substance of the preaching was the resurrection of Jesus Christ. The apostolic church is thus a result of a belief in the resurrection of Jesus Christ."

The choice between two things

"We must believe either that Christ rose from the dead or that they who gained for him the homage of mankind and through whom he became the Savior of the world, were in error, not merely touching his supposed resurrection, but also touching the gospel he preached and his relation to, God and the nature of God."

One hundred and twenty proofs

"On the day of Pentecost the Jews saw before them a hundred and twenty proofs of the resurrection of Christ. Each believer was seen to be clothed with a life such as had never before been beheld, and each believer was to the astonished multitude as a risen Christ."

LESSON TWENTY-EIGHT Raised with Christ

1. Those who believe on Christ share with him in his resurrection. Romans 6:5, 8, 11; Ephesians 2:4 5; Colossians 2:12, 13.

2. As the result of this union with Christ, his resurrection, a new life is imparted to the believer. Romans 6:4; Ephesians 4:23; Colossians 3:10; 2 Corinthians 4:10, 11.

3. This gift is manifested in a devotion to heavenly things. Colossians 3:1; Philippians 3:20.

4. The power of Christ's resurrection is thus made' available to the believer. Philippians 3:10; Ephesians 1:19, 20; Hebrews 7:16.

NOTES: He is risen

"Art thou a Christian? Wilt thou roll back the stone upon the, sepulcher, and make the world believe that Christ is still there?"

The resurrection life

"Christian experience is that of resurrection life. Two great analogous events are set before us in the New Testament, and declared to have been accomplished by the same power, the resurrection of Christ from the dead, and the quickening of souls to newness of life."

Christian experience a proof of the resurrection

"The resurrection of Christ is established by stronger evidence than exists for any other historical fact; but apart altogether from the historical evidence, the entire experience of God's people goes to show that Christ, as the mediator between God and man, as the representative of God and the channel of his influence upon us, must be now alive, and must be in a position to exert a personal care; and a personal influence, and to yield a present and inward assistance."

"Our personal experience of this quickening of the soul, and this liberating action of the Spirit of life is a witness to the reality of Christ's resurrection, an inward witness of which no argument can rob the believer. He knows he was once dead in sin; he knows that he is now alive to God and spiritual things. He feels the workings of the old nature in him and of the new, of flesh and spirit, and the warfare which exists between them; that he is crucified with Christ, and that Christ lives in him. He knows what it is to walk in the Spirit by which he lives; and he knows that this is life in a risen Savior, the risen Christ who sent forth the quickening Pentecostal Spirit, and maintains by that Spirit the life of his church."

Another rising from the dead

"When a human soul awakes from its trespasses and sins, when the love of God is poured into a heart that was cold and empty, when the Spirit of God breathes into a spirit lying powerless and buried in the flesh, there is as true a rising from the dead as when Jesus our Lord came out from his sepulcher."

The Spirit's quickening

"But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the 'dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quickened your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwells in you.' Romans

8:11. It is not our dead bodies which are here spoken of as the objects of the Spirit's quickening, but our mortal bodies-bodies liable to death, and doomed to death if the Lord tarry, but not yet having experienced death. Hence the quickening referred to has to do rather with the vivifying of, the living saints - than the resurrection of the dead saints."

Verifying our expectation

"The resurrection is promised to believers. It is promised to arise to them in sequel to a certain course-a history of redemption, made good in their lives. How shall the disciple verify his expectation of this final benefit? Not surely without verifying the intermediate history. The way must point forward the end-at least, must point toward it. A resurrection state, if it be like Christ's, how much must it include! What purity, what high aptitudes, what delicate congenialities. The desires of the true Christian life, its aspirations and efforts as well as the promises which animate and the influences which sustain it, all point in this direction."

LESSON TWENTY-NINE The General Resurrection

1. The resurrection of the dead is a subject of prophecy and' promise. Isaiah 26:19; Ezekiel 37:12, 13; Matthew 22:31, 32; John 5:28, 29; 1 Corinthians 15:21, 22.

2. Both the righteous and the wicked will be raised. Acts; 24:15; John 5:28, 29.

3. The righteous will be raised at the coming of the Lord! 1 Thessalonians 4:16; 1 Corinthians 15:23; John 11:23, 24.

4. The wicked will be raised one thousand years, later. Revelation 20:5.

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5. The resurrection body will be different from the one we now have. 1 Corinthians 15:35-44; Philippians 3:20, 21.

6. Those who have part in the first resurrection will not be subject to the power of death. Revelation 20:6; Luke 20:35, 36.

7. The resurrection of the dead depends upon Christ and his resurrection. John 11:25; 1 Corinthians 15:17, 18.

NOTES: The consequences of Christ's resurrection

"The fifteenth chapter of First Corinthians is classic on the subject: The resurrection of Christ necessary to and carrying with it the resurrection and full glorification of believers."

The antitype of the wave sheaf

"All created beings live by the will and power of God. They are dependent recipients of the life of God. From the highest seraph to the humblest animate being, all are replenished from the Source of life. Only he who is one with God could say, I have power to lay down my life, and I have power to take it again. In his divinity, Christ possessed the power to break the bonds of death. Christ arose from the dead as the first fruits of those that slept. He was the antitype of the wave sheaf, and his resurrection took place on the very day when the wave sheaf was to be presented before the Lord. For more than a thousand years this symbolic ceremony had been performed. From the harvest fields the first heads of ripened grain, were gathered; and when the people went up to Jerusalem to the Passover, the sheaf of first fruits was waved as a thank offering before the Lord. Not until this was presented could the sickle be put to the grain, and it be gathered into sheaves. The sheaf dedicated to God represented the harvest. So Christ the first fruits represented the great spiritual harvest to be gathered for the kingdom of God. His resurrection is the type and pledge of the resurrection of all the righteous dead. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him." "The Desire of Ages," page 785, 786.

Section IX–THE ASCENSION OF CHRIST

LESSON THIRTY The Ascension of Christ

1. Jesus himself spoke of his ascension. John 6:62; 20:17.

2. Those who had associated with him saw him ascend. Luke 24:51; Acts 1:9.

3. Stephen saw him in heaven. Acts 7:55.

4. Jesus appeared to Saul after his ascension. Acts 9:3.

5. He is now at the right hand of God. Mark 16:19; Colossians 3:1; Hebrews 1:1-3; 8:1, 2; 10:12; 12:1, 2.

6. The believer, through his union with Christ, is both raised with him and ascends with him to the heavenly places. Ephesians 2:6; Hebrews 10:19, 20.

7. It is this experience which enables one to live the heavenly life "in Christ." Colossians 2:6, 7; 1 John 2:6; 1 Peter 3:16; Colossians 1:27, 28; 3:17; 2 Corinthians 5:17.

NOTES: A concrete illustration

"In the resurrection of Christ and his ascension to the throne of God he has illustrated the immense expansion and development possible to human nature, and his resurrection and glory are the prophecy of our own."

The true goal

"The narrative of Christ's ascension crowns that of his resurrection, and completes the story of his redeeming work. Not his death to atone for sin, not his resurrection from death and the grave, but his ascension is the true goal to which his incarnation and mediatorial action led."

The great chain of mercy

"His death and resurrection were inseparable links in the great chain of divine mercy, let down to earth in his assumption of our nature, and again carried up to heaven in his triumphant return to his own native skies in his risen and glorified humanity, and so securely fastened 'to that immovable staple-the throne of the eternal Jehovah."

A different ascension

The ascension of Christ was unlike any other ascension referred to in the word of God. It had a character all its own. Not as the rapture

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of Enoch, who 'walked with God,' and 'was not,' having simply disappeared from among men, was the ascension of Christ; but a visible return to his native heaven. Not as the rapture of Elijah, that sudden and startling departure of the prophet in a chariot of fire with horses of fire, was Christ's calm, sublime ascent. Not as Paul's rapture, whether in. the body or out of the body he knew not, to the 'third heaven,' to hear words impossible to be uttered to men on earth, was this ascent of Christ in the body in which he had suffered, transformed and deathless, with the clear light of intelligence and full self-consciousness beaming on his face, to receive revelations in heaven, the opening of the seven-sealed book of futurity, and communicate those revelations to his church on earth in her militant estate."

Our Friend on the throne

"Christ's ascension to the Father is the elevation of our beet and dearest Friend to the throne of the universe, and the hands that were Pierced for us on the cross hold the helm and sway the scepter of creation, and therefore we may calmly meet all events."

The one proof

"The one proof of his ascension to God's right hand which Christ himself promised was the bestowal of his Spirit."

In Christ

"Believers are in Christ, so as to be partakers in all that he does, and. has, and is. They died with him, and rose with him, and live with him, and in him are seated in heavenly places. When the eye of God looks on them, they are found in Christ; and there is no condemnation to those that are in him, and they are righteous in his righteousness, and loved with the love which rests on him, and are sons of God in his son ship, and heirs with him of his inheritance, and are soon to be glorified with him in his glory."

"The churches are in Christ; the persons are in Christ. They are found in Christ and preserved in Christ. They are saved and sanctified in Christ; axe rooted, built up, and 'made perfect in Christ.' Their ways are ways that be in Christ; their conversation is a good conversation in Christ; their faith, hope, love, joy, their whole life is in Christ. They think, they speak, they walk in Christ. They labor and suffer, they sorrow and rejoice, they conquer and triumph in the Lord. They receive each other and love each other in the Lord. The fundamental relations, the primal duties of life, have been drawn within the same circle. 'Neither is the man without the woman, neither the woman without the man in the Lord.' 1 Corinthians 11:11. Wives submit themselves to their husbands in the Lord; children obey their parents in the Lord.' The broadest distinctions vanish in the common bond of this all-embracing relation. As many as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ; there is neither Greek nor Jew, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female; they are all one in Christ

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Jesus.' Galatians 3:28. The influence of it extends over the whole Sold of action, and men do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him."

"With him we are gone up on high,
Since he is ours and we are his;
With him we reign above the sky,
We walk upon our subject seas!"

Christ's experience and ours

"There in an acting over again in us of Christ's crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension, when we realize through faith that which was done for mankind in him."

In the atmosphere of heaven

"The infinite, unfathomable love of God through Christ, became the subject of his [Enoch's] meditations day and night. With all the fervor of his soul he sought to reveal that love to the people among whom he dwelt. Enoch's walk with God was not in a trance or a vision, but in all the duties of his daily life. He did not become a hermit, shutting himself entirely from the world; for he had, in the world, a work to do for God. In the family and in his intercourse with men, as a husband and father, a friend, a citizen, he was the steadfast, unwavering servant of God. His faith waxed stronger, his love became more ardent, with the lapse of centuries. To him prayer was as the breath of the soul. He lived in the atmosphere of heaven."-"Testimonies for the Church," Volume 8, pp. 3.09, 330.

That higher life

"Come, Holy Spirit, still my heart
With gentleness divine;
Indwelling peace thou canst impart;
Oh, make that blessing mine!

"Above these scenes of storm and strife
There spreads a region fair;
Give me to live that higher life,
And breathe that heavenly air!"

Section X–THE MEDIATORIAL WORK OF CHRIST

LESSON THIRTY-ONE Christ the Mediator in the Original Creation

1. All revelation of God has been mediated through his Son. Matthew 11:27.

2. Christ is the mediating agent through whom the Father expresses himself. 1 Corinthians 8:6.

3. All things came into being through the mediatorial agency of the Word who became flesh. John 1:3; Psalm 33:6, 9; 148:5; Hebrews 1:2; John 1:10, ARV.

4. Christ is the mediatorial agent both in the creation and in the administration of the material universe. Colossians 1:1.6, 17; Hebrews 1:3.

5. Christ, the wisdom of God, was with the Father in creation as the master workman. Proverbs 8:27-30, ARV.

NOTES: The eternal Son

"The thought of mediation becomes necessary as soon as from the absolute thought of God we pass to the related thought of creation, and the Bible revelation distinctly attaches that mediation to the person of the eternal Son, in respect alike of the works of creation, of administration, and of redemption."

"The standing truth that, from the first instant of creation there has been a mediator between the Father and creation, one through whom, necessarily, creation came into being, renders it easier for us to apprehend alike the necessity, and (such is the love of God) the probability, of an atoning mediator who should undo the mischief of sin; and, this being so, the impossibility that it can be any other than the uncreated Mediator, through whom and for whom were all things made, the eternal Son."

Mediator defined!

"We use the term mediator, as esteemed theological writers have done before, in its strictly proper and derivative meaning of 'one who is a means of intercourse between two other parties, and through whom action passes from either to other,' a meaning much wider than its too

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commonly restricted application to Christ as the atoning and reconciling mediator between man, as fallen and sinful, and God his Maker. Mediation in this latter sense, as exercised by the eternal Son, however especially necessary and unspeakably precious, is still a part of a larger whole. It is a special function of a larger office, a result of a wider mediatorial relation in which he stands to sinless as well as to fallen natures, indeed, to all created existence."

The eternal Son the medium of God's action

"In places where, the work of creation is alluded to passively, as in John 1:10 (The world was made by him, rather, The world came into being through him), the impression conveyed to an English reader is that of exact equivalence to 'he made the world,' whereas, in reality, they express the means rather than the primary originating cause. But we see clearly that wherever anything further is said of the work of creation, beyond the primary truth that it was the act of God as an almighty personal agent, the, eternal Son is revealed as the medium of his action, the invariable and the sole medium, without whom was not anything made that was made. John 1:3."

The mediating Word

"He is called the Word of God as mediating between the Father and all creatures; bringing them into being, fashioning them, giving the world its laws, imparting reason and conscience to creatures of a higher order, and revealing to them in due season the knowledge of God's will."

The invisible power

"He is the invisible power behind all the forms and forces of the world of sense. He waters the mountains from his chambers, sends forth springs into the valleys, causes the grass to grow, and plants the cedars of Lebanon. Psalm 104. His voice thunders in the heavens, the clouds are his pavilion, the lightning are his arrows, the stormy winds and tempests that move earth and sea are but the blasts of the breath of his nostrils, the foundations of the mountains quake at his presence. Psalm 18."

A loss to Christian theology

"We cannot but think that Christian theology has lost, both in breadth and depth and height, from the general absence of sufficient appreciation of these far-reaching and pregnant truths; and from the customary restriction of the idea of mediation on the part of the Son of God to his redeeming work for man as fallen."

Life and light are mediated

No created mind has immediate and independent knowledge of, or access to, the great Source of life. All must be alike indebted for whatever measure of light they have, whether on the highest or lowest subjects of thought, to the mediation of the Son of God."

LESSON THIRTY-TWO Christ the Mediator in the New Creation

1. The Creator and the Redeemer are the same person, and redemption is creation. Isaiah 43:1; 2 Corinthians 5:17, A. R. V., margin; Ephesians 2:10, 14, 15, ARV; Ephesians 4:24; Galatians 6:15, ARV, margin.

2. The same one who created all things, creates the new heart in man. Psalm 51:10; Ezekiel 36:26.

3. As the original creation was mediated through the Word, so is the new creation. John 15:3; 17:17.

4. As Christ was the mediator in the original creation, so is he in redemption. John 14:6; Romans 5:1, 2; Ephesians 2:18; 3:12; Hebrews 10:19, 20; 1 Timothy 2:5; Romans 3:24; Hebrews 13:20, 21.

NOTES: The only Mediator

"Christ's mediatorial office in the physical creation was the starting point of the apostle's teaching. His mediatorial office in the spiritual creation is its principal theme. If the function of Christ is unique in the universe, so it is also in the church, He is the sole and absolute link between God and humanity. Nothing short of his personality would suffice as a medium of reconciliation between the two. Nothing short of his life and work in the flesh, as consummated in his passion, would serve as an assurance of God's love and pardon. His cross is the atonement of mankind with God. He is the head with whom all the living members of the body are in direct and immediate communication, who suggests their manifold activities to each, who directs their several functions in subordination to the healthy working of the whole, from whom they individually receive their inspiration and their strength. And being all this, he cannot consent to share his prerogatives with others. He absorbs in himself the whole function of mediation. Through him alone, without any interposing link of communication, the human soul has access to the Father."

The need met in mediation

"The need of man, in one word, was mediation; the work of Christ is that of mediator. The life of man, as a spiritual being, is from first to last a mediated life, a life mediated through the incarnate Son of God."

The solution of all problems

From a New Testament point of view it appears that all the mysterious problems of the moral world center in Jesus Christ, and must find their final solution in the manifestation of his person, his mediatorial activity, and the coming of his kingdom."

The only explanation

"The emphasis placed on 'the name of Jesus Christ,' and on his work as Savior from sin, can be satisfactorily explained only' in the light of his mediatorial office and work as set forth in other scriptures."

The origin of mediation

"The entire mediation of Christ has its origin in the love of God. The sufferings of Christ are not the ground or cause of the exercise of God's saving grace; the love of God is the cause and source of the sufferings."

His person and work

"The redemption that is in Christ Jesus is the divine power in his person and work by the efficiency of which the sinner may be delivered from his sins. It is through this redemption that he is justified freely by his grace."

The eternal Sonship

"It is this eternal son ship which, as it places him above angels and men alike, enables him to work out the redemption of a sinful world, and to be the great high priest of the human race. Hebrews 4:14."

A great difference

"Come to him through Christ, and you shall find him a God of love. Come otherwise, and he will be found of you a consuming fire."

His continual mediation

"Just as we believe that a strictly mediatorial work and function belongs to the Son of God in his divine nature, in respect of his general sovereign relation to the universe, in its origination and in its continuance and administration (and this apart from the special work of redemption), so we believe that, in the special work of redemption, his gracious interest in and intervention for his creature man is not to be restricted, if we would rightly understand it in its due connection and place, to the period since his actual incarnation. Rather is that the climax of a long course of previous visitations and dispensations of mercy."

"Our Savior was a mediator even in the giving of the law, and previous to the incarnation; and, therefore, is not a mediator merely in respect to his human nature, seeing that he had not as yet assumed it."

LESSON THIRTY-THREE The Spirit of God in the Old and New Creation

1. The Spirit of God acted a part in the original creation. Genesis 1:2; Job 33:4; 26:13; Psalm 33:6; Isaiah 40:12, 13.

2. A creative and life-giving power is manifested through the Spirit of God. Psalm 104:29, 30; Job 27:3; 32:8; Ezekiel 37:9, ARV, margin; Genesis 2:7; John 6:63, first clause, ARV; 2 Corinthians 3:6, last clause, ARV; Romans 8:2; John 3:5.

3. The same one who breathed the breath of life in the original creation, breathes the Holy Spirit in the new creation. John 20:22.

4. As mediator in his ministry in the heavenly sanctuary, Christ imparts the Holy Spirit as the recreating agent. Hebrews 8:1, 2; Acts 2:32, 33; John 15:26.

NOTES: Life In the Spirit

"The impartation of the Spirit is the impartation of the life of Christ." "Gospel Workers," p. 285.

"In his intimate union with his Son, the Holy Spirit is the unique organ by which God wills to communicate to man His own life, the supernatural life, the divine life."

The recreating Spirit

"The Spirit recreates."-Id., p. 287.

"As God in creation breathed into man the breath of life and he became a living soul, so the Lord Jesus, by the word of his mouth, which is the breath of life, recreates man and makes him alive unto God. And not life only, but likeness as well, is thus imparted."

"The special work of the Spirit in creation is in harmony with his work in grace. This principle is distinctly recognized by the apostle Paul, when he says to the Corinthians, God who commanded the light to shine out of darkness bath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the j knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. In the old creation he did so, as we have seen, by the Spirit, and in the new creation it is the same. The parallel between the two works of the Spirit holds extensively. He perfected the creation, and he perfects redemption."

The God of nature

"Many theories would lead minds to suppose that nature was a self-sustaining agency apart from the Deity, having its own inherent power with which to work. In this men do not know what they are talking about. Do they suppose that nature has a self-existing power without the continual agency of Jehovah! The Lord does not work through his laws to supersede the laws of nature. He does his work through the laws and properties of his instruments, and nature obeys a Thus said the Lord."

"The God of nature is perpetually at work. His infinite power works unseen, but manifestations appear in the effects which the word produces."-"Testimonies for the Church," Volume 6, p. 186.

The crowning blessing

"His enthronement as King in the kingdom of God must precede the full restoration of the great gift of the Holy Spirit of God, man's true, man's highest life. For that great result, that crowning blessing, was to be at once the fruit of the all-prevailing intercession of the great High Priest in the true, the heavenly sanctuary."

LESSON THIRTY-FOUR The Mediator of the New Covenant

1. The covenant of grace is God's promise of the blessings of the gospel. Galatians 3:17. (The "promise" in the latter part of this Verse is that which is designated as the "covenant" in the former part.)

2. The first covenant-promise, which included all the blessings of the gospel, was made in Eden. Genesis 3:15.

3. The covenant-promise of these blessings was renewed to Abraham. Genesis 12:1-3; 22:16-19; Acts 25:9.

4. This covenant-promise included the whole gospel of mercy and salvation. Galatians 3:8; Luke 1:72-75.

5. Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is the, mediator through whom the promises of God are fulfilled. 2 Corinthians l:19, 20; Romans 15:8.

6. Jesus Christ is therefore the mediator of the new covenant. Hebrews 12:24; 9:15.

7. The new covenant is God's promise, to write his law in the heart of man. Hebrews 8:8, 10.

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8. Christ mediates this covenant-promise by having the law in his own heart, and, then dwelling by faith in the heart of the believer. Psalm 40:7, 8; Hebrews 10:5-7; Ephesians 3:17.

9. This is the impartation of a life which enables the believer to do God's will. Hebrews 13:20, 21.

10. Those who preach the covenant of God's grace should be ministers of "the new covenant of which Christ is the mediator. 2 Corinthians 3:5, 6, ARV.

NOTES: The Son of God

"Jesus, as the mediator of the new covenant, represents 'in his redemptive work the interests of both God and man. These considerations serve to show also how, in the mind of the writer, covenant maker, mediator, and sacrificial offering all unite in the Son of God, who is so remarkably described in the opening words of this epistle [to the Hebrews]. This adorable Mediator is heir of an things, maker of the ages, effulgence of the glory of God, upholder of all things, and purifier from all sin. Only such a transcendent Son of God can be at once maker, mediator, and sacrificial victim of an eternal covenant."

The better promise

"The new covenant was established upon better promises, the promise of forgiveness of sins, and of the grace of God to renew the heart, and bring it into harmony with the principles of God's law."

-"Patriarchs and Prophets," p. 370.

The covenant of grace

"As the Bible presents two laws, one changeless and eternal, the other provisional and temporary so there are two covenants. The covenant of grace was first made with man in Eden, when, after the fall, there was given a divine promise that the seed of the woman should bruise the serpent's head. To all men this covenant offered pardon, and the assisting grace of God for future obedience through faith in Christ. It also promised them eternal life on condition of fidelity to God's law. Thus the patriarchs received the hope of salvation."

"This same covenant was renewed to Abraham in the promise, 'In thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed.' Genesis 22:18. This promise pointed to Christ. So Abraham understood it (see Galatians 3:8, 16), and he trusted in Christ for the forgiveness of sins. It was this faith that was accounted unto him for righteousness. The covenant with Abraham also maintained the authority of God's law. The Lord appeared unto Abraham, and said, 'I am the Almighty God; walk before me, and be thou perfect.' Genesis 17:1. The testimony of God concerning his faithful servant was, 'Abraham obeyed my voice, and kept my charge,

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my commandments, my statutes, and my laws.' Genesis 26:5. And the Lord declared to him, 'I will establish my covenant between me and thee, and thy seed after thee in their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be a God unto thee, and to thy seed after thee.' Genesis 17:7." Id., p. 370.

A needed lesson

In their bondage the people had to a great extent lost the knowledge of God and of the principles of the Abrahamic covenant. In delivering them from Egypt, God sought to reveal to them his power and his mercy, that they might be led to love and trust him. He brought them down to the Red Sea-where, pursued by the Egyptians, escape seemed impossible-that they might realize their utter helplessness, their need of divine aid; and then he wrought deliverance for them. Thus they were filled with love and gratitude to God, and with confidence in his power to help them. He had bound them to himself as their deliverer from temporal bondage.

"But there was a still greater truth to be impressed upon their minds. Living in the midst of idolatry and corruption, they had no true conception of the holiness of God, of the exceeding sinfulness of their own hearts, their utter inability, in themselves, to render obedience to God's law, and their need of a Savior. All this they must be taught.

"God brought them to Sinai; he manifested his glory; he gave them his law, with the promise of great blessings on condition of obedience. 'If you will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then . . . you shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and a holy nation.' Exodus 19:5, 6. The people did not realize the sinfulness of their own hearts, and that without Christ it was impossible for them to keep God's law; and they readily entered into covenant with God. Peeling that they were able to establish their own righteousness, they declared, 'All that the Lord hath said we will do, and be obedient.' Exodus

24:7. They had witnessed the proclamation of the law in awful majesty, and had trembled with terror before the mount; and yet only a few weeks passed before they broke their covenant with God, and bowed down to worship a graven image. They could not hope for the favor of God through a covenant which they had broken; and now, seeing their sinfulness and their need of pardon, they were brought to feel their need of the Savior revealed in the Abrahamic covenant, and shadowed forth in the sacrificial offerings. Now by faith and. love they were bound to God as their deliverer from the bondage of sin. Now they were prepared to appreciate the blessings of the new covenant."-Id., pp. 371, 372.

The law in the heart

"The same law that was engraved upon the tables of stone, in written by the Holy Spirit upon the tables of the heart. Instead of going about to establish. our own righteousness, we accept the righteousness

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of Christ. His blood atones for our sins. His obedience is accepted for no. Then the heart renewed by the Holy Spirit will bring forth 'the fruits of the Spirit.' Through the grace of Christ we shall live in obedience to the law of God written upon our hearts."-Id., p. 370.

LESSON THIRTY-FIVE The Two Covenants

1. The Scriptures recognize two covenants. Hebrews 8:13; Romans, 9:4.

2. One of these covenants is called the first, or old, covenant, and the other is called the second, or new, covenant. Hebrews 8:7, 13, 8.

3. The old covenant, which was made at Sinai, was a mutual agreement between God and the people, according to which the fulfillment of God's promises was conditioned upon the fulfillment by the people of their promise to keep his law, a promise which was made without a due sense of their inability to live a righteous life by their own unaided effort. Exodus 19:5, 6; Galatians 4:24; Jeremiah 31:32; Romans 10:2, 3; Matthew 7:17, 18; 12:33; 1 John 3:7.

4. This covenant was ratified by the blood of animals, which could not take away sin or supply power for obedience. Exodus 24:7, 8; Hebrews 9:16-21; 10:4.

5. The people quickly broke their covenant-promise, and would have perished if Moses had not interceded for them, pleading the covenant with Abraham in their behalf. Exodus 32:14; 7:14, 30-35; Hebrews 8:9.

6. The foundation of the new covenant was laid in the beginning. Revelation 13:8; Matthew 25:34. See also propositions 1, 2, 3, 4, in the preceding lesson.

7. The new covenant was ratified by the blood of Christ, and is therefore spoken of as the new, or second, covenant. Luke 22:20; Hebrews 9:15, 22.

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8. Through the promises of the new covenant are found forgiveness, cleansing from sin, and the power to do the will of God, or to keep his law. Hebrews 8:10-12; 1 John 1:7; Hebrews 13:20, 21.

9. Jesus Christ is the surety of the better, or new, covenant. Hebrews 7:22.

NOTES: In daily experience

"The two covenants have a personal application in daily experience. He who depends for salvation upon works of righteousness which he has done, is living under the old covenant; but he who accepts righteousness as a gift to be received and revealed in the life by faith, is living under the new covenant."

The two covenants

"Another compact-called in Scripture the old covenant-was formed between God and Israel at Sinai, and was then ratified by the blood of a sacrifice. The Abrahamic covenant was ratified by the blood of Christ, and it is called the second, or new, covenant, because the blood by which it was sealed was shed after the blood of the first covenant. That the new covenant was valid in the days of Abraham, is evident from the fact that it was then confirmed both by the promise and by the oath of God, the two immutable things, in which it was impossible for God to lie. Hebrews 8:18." Patriarchs and Prophets, page 371.

The one true Priest

Whatever blessing was enjoyed by the people of those times before the ratification of the new covenant, was due as it could only have been, due, to the unseen action of the one true and only Priest, whose priestly function, in the making of an effectual atonement, in the acceptable presentation of worship, in an all-prevailing intercession, it was the one glory, as it was the underlying purpose, of the Mosaic ritual to prefigure and to set forth."

The one Mediator

As it cannot be doubted that whatever knowledge of spiritual truth came to the saints of the olden times came to them through the Son of God, the one revealer to man, in whatever condition, of the things of God; so neither can it be doubted that whatever spiritual grace, whether of forgiveness or of sanctification, was vouchsafed to them and the high level of possible spiritual attainment may be estimated by the examples of Elijah and Daniel and the Baptist, not to speak of Mary-was so vouchsafed through the secret action of the one Mediator through whom alone all good things are given by God to man."

God's eternal covenant

"From the beginning, God and Christ knew of the apostasy of Satan, and of the fall of man through the deceptive power of the apostate. God did not ordain that sin should exist, but he foresaw its existence, and made provision to meet the terrible emergency. So great was his love for the world, that he covenanted to give his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. John 3:16." The Desire of Ages, p. 22.

The new covenant defined.

"Though this covenant was made with Adam and renewed to Abraham, it could not be ratified until the death of Christ. It had existed by the promise of God since the first intimation of redemption had been given; it had been accepted by faith; yet when ratified by Christ, it is called a new covenant. The law of God was the basis of this covenant, which was simply an arrangement for bringing men again into harmony with the divine Will, placing them where they could obey God's law."-"Patriarchs and Prophets," pp. 370, 371.

LESSON THIRTY-SIX The Law and the Gospel

1. The law of the Ten Commandments sets forth the standard of righteousness, and consequently it makes known sin. Isaiah 51:7; Psalm 119:172, 138, 142. Romans 9:31; 10:5; Deuteronomy 6:24,.25; Philippians 3:6; Romans 2:20; 3:20; 4:15; 5:13, 20; 7:7, 1 Corinthians 15:56.

2. The law of God is founded upon the principle of love, and teaches us how to express our love to God and to man. Matthew 22:35-40 (compare Deuteronomy 6:4, 5 and Leviticus 19:18); Romans 13:8-10; Galatians 5:14; James 2:8 (compare John 13:34 and Matthew 7:12); 1 John 5:3; 2 John 1:6; Deuteronomy 30:20.

3. Love is of God; and man, separated from God through sin, is utterly unable to fulfill the law of love. Romans 7:12, 14-19; Galatians 5:17.

4. In the gospel is revealed the righteousness described in the law, and the law witnesses to the genuineness of this righteousness. Romans 1:16, 17; 3:21.

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5. This righteousness is received through believing on Christ. Romans 3:22, 25; Philippians 3:9; Galatians 2:21.

6. Thus, to meet the need created by the weakness of the law, the power of the indwelling Christ is provided for us. Romans 7:24 to 8:4; Philippians 4:13.

7. Faith in Christ establishes the law in our lives by laying hold of the power which enables us to obey. Romans 3:31; Hebrews 10:8, 9; 11:8.

8. Christ did not abolish the law, but by his own death he abolished death, the penalty of disobedience to the law. Matthew 5:17; 2 Timothy 1:10; 1 Corinthians 15:26, ARV.

9. The gospel of God's grace brings salvation, and delivers us from the transgression of the law. Titus 2:11; Romans 6:12-14.

10. The law reveals the sin from which it is unable to save, and thus urges us to Christ as the one who can supply the righteousness required. Galatians 3:21-24; Romans 10:4.

11. Those in whose hearts the law of God has been written through Christ's mediation of the new covenant, have peace with God and are kept from sin. Psalm 1:1-3; 119:165; 37:31; Romans 5:1; Psalm 119:11.

NOTES: Righteousness defined

"Righteousness is defined by the standard of God's holy law, an expressed in the ten precepts given on Sinai."-"Steps to Christ," p. 66.

A great mirror

"The law is a great mirror let down from heaven in which a man may see himself as he is. That is why the law brings condemnation and death."

Obedience the sign of discipleship

"The law of God is an expression of his very nature; it in an embodiment of the great principle of love, and hence is the foundation of his government in heaven and earth. If our hearts are renewed in the likeness of God, if the divine love is implanted in the soul, will not the law of God be carried out in the life. When the principle of love is implanted in the heart, when man is renewed after the image of him that created him, the new covenant promise is fulfilled, 'I will put my lawn into their hearts, and in their minds will I write them.' Hebrews 10:16. And if the law is written in the heart, will it not shape the life! Obedience-

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the service and allegiance of love-is the true sign of discipleship."-"Steps to Christ" p. 65.

Law and grace

"The law is 'just' (Romans 7:12), and therefore heartily approves goodness, and unsparingly condemns badness; but, save Jesus of Nazareth, the law never saw a man righteous through obedience. Grace, on the contrary, is not looking for good men whom it may approve, for it is not grace, but mere justice, to approve goodness; but it is looking for condemned, guilty, speechless, and helpless men whom it may save through faith, sanctify and glorify."

"Law always has a place and work distinct and wholly diverse from that of grace. Law is God prohibiting, and requiring (Exodus 20:1, 17); grace is God beseeching, and bestowing (2 Corinthians 5:18, 21). Law is a ministry of condemnation (Romans 3:19); grace, of forgiveness (Ephesians 1:7). Law curses (Galatians 3:10); grace redeems from that curse (Galatians 3:1). Law kills (Romans 7:9, 11); grace makes alive (John 10:10). Law shuts every mouth before God; grace opens every mouth to praise him. Law puts a great and guilty distance between man and God (Exodus 20:18, 19); grace makes guilty man nigh to God (Ephesians 2:13). Law says, An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth (Exodus 21:24); grace says, Resist not evil; but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also' (Matthew 5:39). Law says, Hate your enemy; grace, Love your enemies, bless them that despitefully use you. Law says, Do and live (Luke 10:26, 28); grace, Believe and live (John 5:24). Law utterly condemns the best man (Philippians 3:4, 9); grace freely justifies the worst (Luke 23:24; Romans 5:5; 1 Timothy 1:15; 1 Corinthians 6:9, 11). Law is a system of probation; grace, of favor. Law stones an adulteress (Deuteronomy 22:21); grace says, Neither do I condemn thee (John 8:1, 11). Under law the sheep dies for the shepherd; under grace the Shepherd dies for the sheep (John 10:11)."

The everlasting gospel

"The Old Testament is as verily the gospel in types and shadows as the New Testament is in its unfolding power. The New Testament does not present a new religion; the old Testament does not present a religion to be superseded by the New. The New Testament is only the advancement and unfolding of the Old."-"Testimonies for the Church," Volume 6, p. 392.

Two errors

"So fundamental is the correct understanding of the Christian's relation to the law, that if Satan is not able to beguile Christians into staying in bondage under the law, he will seek to drive them into an opposite error that is just as deadly to true liberty. This is the notion that a Christian has nothing to do with the law, and is under no obligation to have his life conform to it."

The law's receipt in full

"If the Holy Spirit shows us the wounds of the dying Christ for condemning us, he immediately shows us the wounds of the exalted Christ for comforting us, His glorified body is death's certificate of discharge, the law's receipt in full, assuring us that all the penalties of transgression have been endured, and the Sin-bearer acquitted."

The way of acceptance

"It was possible for Adam, before the fall, to form a righteous character by obedience to God's law. But he failed to do this, and because of his sin our natures are fallen, and. we cannot make ourselves righteous. Since we are sinful, unholy, we cannot perfectly obey a holy law. We have no righteousness of our own with which to meet the claims of the law of God. But Christ has made a way of escape for us. He lived on earth amid trials and temptations such as we have to meet. He lived a sinless life. He died for us, and now he offers to take our sins and give us his righteousness. If you give yourself to him, and accept him as your Savior, then, sinful as your life may have been, for his sake you are accounted righteous. Christ's character stands in place of your character, and you are accepted before God just as if you had not sinned."-"Steps to Christ," p. 67.

Obedience guaranteed

"If we are appropriating the promise of the Spirit, our inheritance through faith, we are having fulfilled in us the law of God at this present moment. That is what the word of God gays. That is what happens when we are under grace and not under the law. Obedience to the law is guaranteed while we are under grace, walking in the Spirit. Disobedience to the law can come only when the Christian is living under law, walking after the flesh."

Magnifying the law

"That law which, resting on the solemn authority of its firm and unalterable requirements, demanded a fulfillment up to the last jot and tittle of it, has been magnified and has been made honorable by one illustrious Sufferer, who put forth the greatness of his strength in that dark hour of the travail of his soul when he bore the burden of all its penalties."

Legally free

"This condition of death for sin having been effected for us by our Savior, we are held legally or judicially free from the penalty of the violated law, if by our personal faith we will consent to the translation."

Fulfilling the law

"The law of God is pure and holy and spiritual, and has never been abrogated. The new covenant does not take away the law: it provides a way of fulfilling the law."

The law permanent

"The law here in view was the whole revealed will of God touching man's behavior, coming as a will of authority, requiring obedience. The discussion in the earlier chapters of the epistle to the Romans makes this plain. And Paul's way of keeping the law in those old days, though it was necessarily too external, had not been so merely external as is sometimes supposed. His obedience had been zealous and resolute, with as much heart and meaning as he could put into it. But law-keeping for righteousness had been the principle of it. The Jew was placed under a law; obedience to that law should be his pathway to a destiny of incomparable privilege and gladness. That was the theory. So believing, Paul had given himself with zeal to the work, 'living in all good conscience before God.' A great change had now befallen him; but that could not imply on his part a renunciation of God's law. The law, better understood indeed, and far more inwardly apprehended, still retained for Paul its great outlines, and was reverenced as divine. It was holy and just and good. It was felt still to shed its steadfast light on human duty, awakening and illuminating the conscience; and therefore it revealed most authentically the moral situation, with its elements of failure, and danger, and need. The law stood fast. But the scheme of life which stood in keeping the law for righteousness had passed away for Paul, vanishing in the light of a new and better day."

LESSON THIRTY-SEVEN Life in Christ

1. God is the source of all life. Psalm 36:9; Jeremiah 2:13; Job 12:9, 10; Psalm 66:8, 9; John 5:26; Acts 17:24, 25, 28.

2. Life from God was imparted to man in the original creation. Genesis 2:7.

3. This life was forfeited through sin. Genesis 2:17; 3:6; Romans 5:12, 15, A. R. V.

4. The Son of God has life in himself, and he came to bring life to the human family. John 5:25; 14:6; Colossians 3:4; John 10:10, 27, 28; 5:21; 6:33, 48; Romans 6:23; John 17:2; 1:4; 1 John 1:1-3.

5. This life is received by receiving the Son of God. 2 Timothy 1:1; 1 John 5:11-13; John 3:15, ARV, 3:36; 20:30, 31; 6:53-57; 1 Timothy 1:16; John 6 40; 4:14; 3:16.

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6. Those who reject Christ choose death. Proverbs 8:36.

7. Every sinner who turns to Christ is saved from death. James 5:19, 20.

NOTES: Life from God alone

"Human nature has no enduring life apart from God. Separated from him 'who only has immortality,' our nature not only sinks into degradation, it is destined to 'eternal destruction.' Death has begun in every man who by his 'trespasses and sins 1 has separated himself from the eternal fountains of life that are in God. The noblest elements of his nature are dead already, and unless he is raised from the dead, the death will extend until he is completely and irrevocably destroyed."

Life through Christ

"One thing is plain-Christ's exhibition of himself as the one source and indispensable support of life, spiritual and eternal."

"Christ is the source of all nourishment. From him flows the lifeblood which feeds the whole, and by which every form of supply is ministered whereby the body grows."

Life from the head

"Popular physiology regards the head as the seat of life. So the fundamental idea in the familiar metaphor [the head], when applied to our Lord, is that of the source of the mysterious spiritual life which flows from him into all the members, and is sight in the eye, strength in the arm, swiftness in the foot, color in the cheek, being richly various in its manifestations, but one in its nature, and all his."

A new life

"Those united with Christ are through grace delivered from their state of death, not only in the sense that the resurrection and exaltation of Christ redound to their benefit as divinely imputed to them; but by the life-giving energy of God they are brought out of their condition of death into a new and actual state of life."

The Bread from heaven

"The bread from heaven, the life-giving Bread of God, was not some new doctrine, some higher truth, some occult religious observance: it was Jesus himself. They were to come to him and believe on him. Christ was to become their spiritual sustenance; from him their souls were to receive all the life and strength and satisfaction that food imparts to our natural bodies."

Christ our life

"To be a Christian, then, is to live a Christian life; not only to hold certain doctrines, to adopt certain principles, but to live like Christ. But for this we must take Christ as our life."

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"We are born again the moment we believe. Then we become members of Christ and share his life as the branches share the life of the vine. This is a great mystery. In experience, thank God, as simple as can be, we know that as we trust in Christ new strength to overcome, new patience to endure, new love, new purity, new hope, new joy fill our hearts. Christ does become our life."

"We share the resurrection life that starts from the atoning death. Christ from Bethlehem to Calvary is our example. Christ risen and ascended and yet present in our hearts by the Holy Ghost, is our life, our food, our spiritual sustenance."

Love through life

"Because we are by nature so wholly without heavenly affection, God, through the indwelling Spirit, gives us his own love with which to love himself. Herein is the highest credential of discipleship: 'By this shall all men know that you are my disciples, if you have love one to another.' John 13:35. As. Christ manifested to the world the love of the Father, so are we to manifest the love of Christ,-a manifestation, however, in only possible because of our possessor ship of a common life."

Life through the Spirit

"In his intimate union with his Son, the Holy Spirit is the unique organ by which God wills to communicate to man his own life, the supernatural life, the divine life, that is to say, his holiness, his power, his love, his felicity. To this end the Son works outwardly, the Holy Spirit inwardly."

Christ the truth and the life

"Christ, then, is 'the truth' because he is the revealer of God. In him we learn what God is and how to approach him. But knowledge is not enough. It is conceivable that we should have learned much about God, and yet have despaired of over becoming like him. It might gradually have become our conviction that we were forever shut out from all good, although that is incompatible with a true knowledge of God; for if God is known at all, he must be known as love, as self communicating. Put the possibility of having knowledge which we cannot use is precluded by the fact that he who is the truth is also the life. In him who is the revealer we at the same time find power to avail ourselves of the revelation." Read the "Source Book," pages 315-331.

LESSON THIRTY-EIGHT The Temple of God

1. The sanctuary in the wilderness was built to furnish a dwelling place for God. Exodus 25:8.

2. Solomon built the temple for the same purpose. Acts 7:44-47; 1 Kings 8:20.

3. Both the tabernacle and the temple were types of Christ as the temple of God's glory upon earth. John 2:19-21; 1:14, ARV, margin.

4. When Christ dwells in our hearts through his ministry of the Holy Spirit, we become temples of God. John 14:20, 23; Ephesians 3:16, 17; Romans 8:9-11; 2 Corinthians 6:16; Ephesians 2:22.

5. Then the same glory which was manifested through Christ will be manifested through us, and we shall become a light to the world, as he was. Isaiah 60:1; John 17:22; 8:12; Matthew 5:14, 16.

6. The most forcible reason why the Christian should do nothing to defile or injure his body, is the fact that it is the temple of God. 1 Corinthians 6:19, 20; 3:16, 17, ARV; 10:31.

NOTES: A prefiguring of Emmanuel

"The tabernacle was a revelation of love, a representation of God coming down from heaven and dwelling with men as their Savior, a prefiguring of the Emmanuel through whom the Christian has fellowship with God; and as revealing not only the God they love, but the attributes of God they most delight in, is even now, when it exists only in history, an object of interest to those who would acquaint themselves as much as possible with their Father in heaven."

Through grace the heart becomes God's temple

"From eternal ages it was God's purpose that every created being, from the bright and holy seraph to man, should be a temple for the indwelling of the Creator. Because of sin, humanity ceased to be a temple for God. Darkened and defiled by evil, the heart of man no longer revealed the glory of the Divine One. But by the incarnation of the Son of God, the purpose of, heaven is fulfilled. God dwells in

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humanity, and through saying grace the heart of man becomes again his temple."-"The Desire of Ages," p. 161.

The church the temple

"After his ascension and, the sending clown of the Spirit, the church takes the name her Lord had borne before; she is the temple of God, and the only temple which he has on earth during the present dispensation."

Cleansing the temple

"In cleansing the temple from the world's buyers and sellers, Jesus announced his mission to cleanse the heart from the defilement of sin, from the earthly desires, the selfish lusts, the evil habits, that corrupt the soul."-"The Desire of Ages," p. 178.

The ark teaches of Christ

"As it [the ark] was made of wood, and covered with gold, thus consisting of two materials, one ordinary and the other exceedingly precious, so Christ has two natures, the human and the divine, the former represented by the wood, and the latter by the gold; which two natures, however, make only one Christ, as the wood and the gold, one ark. The acacia was a very durable wood, not liable to decay like other species of timber, and it was in this respect a type of the body of Christ, which, though laid in the grave, was not suffered to see corruption. The ark had a border of gold around its lid: so Christ was crowned with glory and honor. Within the ark were the two tablets of the law; and Christ says, 'I delight to do thy will, O my God; yea, thy law is within my heart.' Over the ark was its lid, covering the tablets: so Christ covers all our sins which we have committed against the law. This lid was called the mercy scat, because God was here enthroned above his covered law as a God of mercy; but Christ is the true mercy seat, since it is through him that God is reconciling the world to himself, not imputing to them their sins. Prom the mercy seat God communed with Moses: through Christ he communes with us. The ark, with the mercy seat which covered it, was the place where God dwelt: in Christ dwells all the fullness of the Godhead. Over the ark were two cherubs, turning their faces toward the mercy seat as if in wonder and delight: so the angels are said to study with interest the work of Christ in the redemption of men. The ark had four rings, one on each of its corners, by means of which it, was carried from place to place as the people journeyed in the wilderness: so Christ through the preaching of his gospel is carried into the four quarters of the world."

Caring for the temple

God is not honored when the body is neglected or abused, and is thus unfitted for his service."-"The Ministry of Healing," p. 322.

"The knowledge that man is to be a temple for God, a habitation for the revealing of his glory, should be the highest incentive to the care and development of our physical powers. Fearfully and wonderfully

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has the Creator wrought in the human frame, and he bids us make it our study, understand its needs, and act our part in preserving it from harm and defilement."-Id., p. 271.

The temple of the heart

"Fling wide the portal of your heart;
Make it a temple set apart
From earthly, use, for heaven's employ,
Adorned with prayer and love and joy;
So shall your Sovereign enter in,
And new and nobler life begin.

"Redeemer, come we open wide
Our hearts to thee; here, Lord, abide!
Let us thy inner presence feel,
Thy grace and love in us reveal,
Thy Holy Spirit guide us on,
Until the glorious crown be won!"

LESSON THIRTY-NINE Christ Our Priest

1. In order that he might become a priest to make propitiation for sin, Christ partook of the same flesh and blood which we have. Hebrews 2:17; 4:15.

2. Christ is priest after the order of Melchizedek, and not after the order of Aaron. Hebrews 5:6; 7:11-14, 1-3.

3. The priesthood of Christ is superior in various particulars. Hebrews 7:15-17, 20-24.

4. Christ is priest in the heavenly sanctuary. Hebrews 8:1, 2, 4; 9:11, 12, 24.

5. Christ is priest upon the throne of grace to minister mercy and grace. Zechariah 6:12, 13; Hebrews 4:14-16.

6. Christ's ministry is a more excellent one. Hebrews 8:6.

7. As priest he pleads in our behalf the offering up of himself for sin. Hebrews 7:26, 27; 9:25-28.

8. That offering is effectual for our salvation. Hebrews 10:10-14.

9. As our priest Christ gives himself wholly to securing salvation for us through his continual intercession. Hebrews 7.25.

NOTES: The meaning of the sacrificial worship

"Christ was the foundation and life of the temple. Its services were typical of the sacrifice of the Son of God. The priesthood was established to represent the mediatorial character and work of Christ. The entire plan of sacrificial worship was a foreshadowing of the Savior's death to redeem the world." The Desire of Ages, p. 165.

The Heavenly reality

"The Levitical system, the tabernacle, its arrangements, its ritual, were the earthly copies of a heavenly pattern and original, revealed first to Moses in the mount (Exodus 25:9, 40; 26:30; Numbers 8:4; Acts 7:44; Hebrews 8:5); and again, by special inspiration, to David when he was preparing the plans for the temple on Moriah (1 Chronicles 28:12, 19). Above it all (so to speak) and behind and through it all, the eye of faith can, now at any rate, discern a heavenly reality then existing, yet kept in the background until the actual incarnation and the completed work on earth of Christ an the real minister of the sanctuary, and of the true tabernacle which the Lord pitched, and not man (Hebrews 8:2), should render its full disclosure possible."

The abiding presence

"In 1 John 2:1, Jesus Christ the righteous is himself called an advocate with the Father; that is, one who acts as intercessor and mediating high priest for us (compare Hebrews 7:25; 9:24; Romans 8:34). Being such an advocate, he must needs also be our helper and comforter, and hence his own words in John 14:16-20, where our Lord implies that he in himself the Comforter, but will come to his disciples in the abiding presence of the Spirit of Truth."

"While Jesus ministers in the sanctuary above, he is still by his Spirit, the minister of the church on earth. He is withdrawn from the eye of sense, but his parting promise is fulfilled, 'Lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world.' Matthew 28:20. While he delegates his power, to inferior ministers, his energizing presence is still with his church." The Desire of Ages, p. 166.

Our High Priest

"After his ascension, our Savior was to begin his work as our high priest. Says Paul, 'Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands, which are the figures of the true; but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us.' Hebrews 9:24. As Christ's ministration was to consist of two great divisions, each occupying a period of time and having a distinctive place' in the heavenly sanctuary, so the typical ministration consisted of two divisions, the daily and the yearly service, and to each a department of the tabernacle was devoted. As Christ at his ascension appeared in the presence of God to plead his blood in behalf of penitent believers, so the priest in the daily ministration

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sprinkled the blood of the sacrifice in the holy place in the sinner's behalf."-"Patriarchs and Prophets," p. 357.

"In the offering of incense the priest was brought more directly into the presence of God than in any other act of the daily ministration. As the inner vale of the sanctuary did not extend to the top of the building, the glory of God, which was manifested above the mercy scat, was partially visible from the first apartment. When the priest offered incense before the Lord, he looked toward the ark; and as the cloud of incense arose, the divine glory descended upon the mercy seat and, filled the most holy place, and often so filled both apartments that the priest was obliged to retire to the door of the tabernacle. As in that typical service, the priest looked by faith to the mercy seat which he could not ace, so the people of God are now to direct their prayers to Christ, their great high priest, who, unseen by human vision, is pleading in their behalf in the sanctuary above."-"Patriarchs and Prophets," p. 353.

"By virtue of his death and resurrection he [Christ] became the minister of the 'true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, and not man.' Hebrews 8:2. Men reared the Jewish tabernacle; men built the Jewish temple; but the sanctuary above, of which the earthly was a type, was built by no human architect. 'Behold the man whose name is the Branch; he shall build the temple of the Lord; and he shall bear the glory, and shall sit and rule upon his throne; and he shall be a priest upon his throne.' Zechariah 6:12, 13. The sacrificial service that had pointed to Christ passed away; but the eyes of men were turned to the true sacrifice for the sins of the world. The earthly priesthood ceased; but we look to Jesus, the minister of the new covenant, and 'to the blood of sprinkling, that speaks better things than that of Abel.' Hebrews 12:24." The Desire of Ages," pp. 165, 166.

"As a priest, Christ is now set down with the Father in his throne. Revelation 3:21. Upon the throne with the eternal, self-existent One, is he who 'has borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows,' who 'was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin' 'that he might be able to succor them that are tempted.' 'If any man sin, we have an Advocate with the Father.' Isaiah 53:4; Hebrews 4:15; 2:18; 1 John 2:1. His intercession is that of a pierced and broken body, of a spotless life. The wounded hands, the pierced side, the marred feet, plead for fallen man, whose redemption was purchased at such infinite cost." The Great Controversy," p. 416.

The two sanctuaries

"Here [Hebrews 8:1, 2] is revealed the sanctuary of the new covenant. The sanctuary of the first covenant was pitched by man, built by Moses; this is pitched by the Lord, not by man. In that sanctuary the earthly priests performed their service; in this, Christ, our great high priest, ministers at God's right hand. One sanctuary was on earth, the other in. in heaven."-Id., p. 413.

LESSON FORTY The False Mediatorial System

The True and False Systems Contrasted

1. In the true system the Mediator is both God and man; but in the false system the mediator attempts to take the place of God, but is only man. John 1:1, 14; 1 Timothy 2:5; 2 Thessalonians 2:3, 4.

"The priest stands as a mediator between God and man." The Pilot (R. C.), Boston, May.29, 1915.

2. He who is the mediator in the true system is the eternal Son of God who was the mediator in the original creation; but in the false system a man professes to take the place of God. Hebrews 4:14. (See Lesson 31.)

"We hold upon this earth the place of God Almighty."-Pope Leo XIII, in an encyclical letter dated June 20, 1894, "The Great Encyclical Letters of Leo XIII," p. 304.

3. In the true system the offering is Christ himself, who offered himself once for all; but in the false system a wafer is offered which it is claimed has been changed into the body of Christ, and therefore is the same as the sacrifice on Calvary. Hebrews 9:25, 26.

"The mass is the sacrifice of Christ's body and blood, offered to God, under the appearances of bread and wine."-"Manual of Christian Doctrine," by a seminary professor (R. C.), p. 438.

"The holy sacrifice of the mass does not differ in its essence from the sacrifice offered up upon Mt. Calvary. As we find on Calvary and in the mass the same identical victim and the same principal offered, Jesus Christ, the two sacrifices are essentially the same."-"Catholic Belief," Rev. Joseph Fad di Bruno, D, D. (R. C.), p. 101.

4. In the true system the sanctuary is in heaven; but in the false system every Roman Catholic church is regarded as a sanctuary. Hebrews 8:1, 2.

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"The real presence of our divine Lord in the blessed eucharist makes every Catholic church a tabernacle of the Most High."-The True Voice (R. C.), Omaha, Nebr., April 18, 1913.

5. In the true system the priest is Christ himself; but in the false system a man is priest, who claims authority to act in the person of Christ. Hebrews 3:1; 5:5; 6:20; 7:26; 10:21.

"The priest is the man of God, the minister of God, the portion of God, the man called of God, consecrated to God, wholly occupied with the interests of God; he that despises him, despises God; he that hears him hears God; he remits sins as God, and that which he calls his body at the altar is adored as God by himself and by the congregation. This shows Jesus Christ as God-man [italics his]."-Catholic Doctrine as Defined by the Council of Trent," Rev. A. Nampon, S. J. (R. C.), p. 543.

6. In the true system the law of God as given from Sinai is written in the heart; but in the false system the law of God is changed into the law of the church, and various precepts are added. Hebrews 8:6, 8, 10.

"Ques.-Have you any other way of proving that the church has power to institute festivals of precept?

"Ans.-Had she not such power, she could not have done that in which all modern religionists agree with her,-she could not have substituted the observance of Sunday the first day of the week, for the observance of Saturday the seventh day, a change for which there is no Scriptural authority."-"A Doctrinal Catechism," Rev. Stephen Keenan (R. C.), p. 174.

NOTES:

In connection with this lesson read, on the "mass," pages 295-300 of the "Source Book," giving special attention to the following quotations: "A Propitiatory Sacrifice," page 295; "Some Canons On," page 296; "Compared with Calvary," page 297; "Christ Adored In," page 298; "Relation to the 'Continual Sacrifice,'" page 299.

On the "priesthood," read pages 389-393 of the "Source Book."

LESSON FORTY-ONE The False Mediatorial System

In Prophecy and Its Fulfillment

1. To the prophet Daniel it was revealed that the little horn (representing ecclesiastical Rome) would lift itself up against Christ, the Prince of the host, and rob him of his exclusive mediatorial function by substituting the false sanctuary service for the true one. Daniel 8:11 ARV.

2. To the apostle Paul the same great apostasy was made known, and was declared by him to be the man of sin sitting in the temple of God. 2 Thessalonians 2:3, 4.

3. Political Israel was given into the hands of political Babylon, on account of transgression. Daniel 1:1, 2; 1 Chronicles 9:1.

4. Modern Israel was given into the hands of modern Babylon for the same reason. Daniel 7:25; 8:12, ARV.

5. It is openly asserted that in the system of mediation established in the Roman Catholic Church is found the full realization of all that was foreshadowed in the typical service of the sanctuary. Read "Source Book," p. 392, art. "Priesthood, The Jewish and Roman Systems."

6. In thus putting a false mediatorial service in the place of the true service, the Roman Catholic Church has subverted the vital doctrine of the gospel of Christ's saving work.

"The center in Christian theology is the mediatorial principle. The center of the Christian system is neither God nor man, but the God-man the Mediator. Christianity is the religion of reconciliation. 'All religion is union between God and man.' But 'the religion of the Bible is a reunion, a reinstated fellowship.' In the accomplishing of this reunion, or reconciliation, Jesus Christ is the sole mediator. 'God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself.' Hence the central idea in Christian theology is mediatorial." "Creation Centered in Christ," H. Grattan Guinness, D. D., p. 86.

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7. The Sabbath of the fourth commandment is the sign of the creative power which was revealed through the one Mediator both in the original creation and the new creation; the false Sabbath is the sign of the power of the Roman Catholic Church which has instituted the false mediatorial service. Exodus 20:11; 31:12, 17.

"It was the Catholic Church which, by the authority of Jesus Christ, has transferred this rest to the Sunday in remembrance of the resurrection of our Lord. Thus the observance of Sunday by the Protestants is an homage they pay, in spite of themselves, to the authority of the [Catholic] church." "Plain Talk About the Protestantism of Today," Mgr. Segur, p. 213.

NOTES

The mystery of iniquity

"It must be remembered, in dealing with this subject, that the Roman Catholic Church is the mystery of iniquity, and that it perverts the gospel of Christ while at the same time claiming to be the one efficient conserver of the gospel. Roman Catholic teaching professes to give to Christ his place as the one mediator, but it gives to the church such exclusive power in the ministry of this mediation as in reality makes the Roman Catholic priesthood the practical mediatorial agency. The following extract makes this clear:

"Catholics believe that our Lord Jesus Christ is alone the great center of the, Christian religion, the fountain of all grace, virtue, and merit, as in the natural world (if the comparison may be allowed) the sun is the center and enlivening source of light, heat, and growth.

"This grand truth they believe to be the vital, essential part of Christianity, 'for other foundation no man can lay but that which is laid; which is Christ Jesus.' 1 Corinthians 3:11."

"They believe that union with Jesus Christ is the highest and noblest aim of man, and that only the Holy Catholic Church supplies the means for this union with Jesus Christ [italics ours]."-"Catholic Belief," Rev. Joseph Fad di Bruno, D. D. (R. C.), p. 33.

The work of Satan

"Satan invents unnumbered schemes to occupy our minds, that they may not dwell upon the very work with which we ought to be best acquainted. The arch deceiver hates the great truths that bring to view an atoning sacrifice and an all-powerful Mediator. He knows that with him everything depends on his diverting minds from Jesus and his truth." The Great Controversy," p. 488.

An earthly mediator

"The accession of the Roman Church to power marked the beginning of the Dark Ages. As her power increased, the darkness deepened. Faith was transferred from Christ, the true foundation, to the pope of Rome. Instead of trusting in the Son of God for forgiveness of sins and for eternal salvation, the people looked to the pope, and to the priests and prelates to whom he delegated authority. They were taught that the pope was their earthly mediator, and that none could approach God except through him; and further, that he stood in the place of God to them, and was therefore to be implicitly obeyed."-Id., p. 55.

A vain mediation

"Many were undeceived [by the preaching of the Reformers] in regard to the claims of Rome. They saw how vain is the mediation of men or angels in behalf of the sinner. As the true light dawned upon their minds, they exclaimed with rejoicing, 'Christ is my priest; his blood is my sacrifice; his altar is my confessional." Id., p. 74.

"Looking to Jesus."

"The eyes of the people, so long directed to human rites and earthly mediators were turning in penitence and faith to Christ, and him crucified."-Id., p. 133.

Section XI–LIVING THE LIFE OF CHRIST

LESSON FORTY-TWO Repentance

1. Repentance is necessary to salvation. Luke 13:1-3; Acts 3:19; 17:30; Mark 1:4; Luke 24:47; 2 Peter 3:9.

2. Repentance means a sorrow for sin which leads to the forsaking of sin, and not merely sorrow for the consequences of sin. 2 Corinthians 7:9, 10; Psalm 38:18.

3. Repentance is the gift of God through Christ. Acts 5:30, 31; 11:18; 2 Timothy 2:24, 25.

4. The revelation of God's goodness in the provisions of the gospel is the efficient cause of repentance. Romans 2:4.

5. The results of true repentance will be seen in a changed life. Matthew 3:7, 8; Acts 26:19, 20.

6. Heavenly beings are so desirous of our salvation that there is joy among them whenever one sinner repents. Luke 15:7, 10.

7. There is great danger in resisting the call to repentance. Revelation 2:5; 3:3, 19; Hebrews 12:16, 17.

NOTES

A Pharisee's work

The Pharisees were the best people of their day; and yet they were the greatest failures. Against no others did Jesus hurl so fierce denunciations. Why? Because they put reformation in the place of repentance and faith; because they were employing human means for accomplishing what only the Holy Spirit could accomplish. And so, today, every device for the betterment of society which does not strike at the root of the disease and apply the remedy to the scat of life, the human soul, is Pharisaical and is doing a Pharisee's work."

The power for repentance

"The Bible does not teach that the sinner must repent before he can heed the invitation of Christ, 'Come unto me, all you that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.' Matthew 11:28.

It is the virtue that goes forth from Christ, that leads to genuine repentance. Peter made the matter clear in his statement to the Israelites, when he said, 'Him has God exalted with his right hand to be a Prince and a Savior, for to give repentance to Israel, and forgiveness of sins.' Acts

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5:31. We can no more repent without the Spirit of Christ the conscience than we can be, pardoned without Christ."-"Steps to Christ," p. 30.

The evidence of repentance

"There is no evidence of genuine repentance, unless it works reformation. If he restore the pledge, give again that he had robbed, confess his sins, and love God and his fellow men, the sinner may be sure that he has passed from death unto life."-Id., p. 63.

Turning from sin

"Repentance includes sorrow for sin, and a turning away from it. We shall not renounce sin unless we see its sinfulness; until we turn away from it in heart, there will be no real change in the life."-Id., p. 26.

Coming home to God

"Repentance is a turning back upon one's self, a retracing of one's footsteps, a confession and acknowledgment of what one has abandoned. It is a coming back and a coming home to God, exactly m Jesus himself has described in the parable of the prodigal."

"Misery alone never led either man or nation to repentance: the sorrow of this world works only death. Repentance is the return to God; and it is the awakening to the truth about God, to the facts of his nature and his grace, which alone makes repentance possible."

True repentance

"True repentance will load a man to bear his guilt himself, and acknowledge it without deception or hypocrisy. Like the poor publican, not lifting up so much as his eyes unto heaven, he will cry, 'God be merciful to me a sinner;' and those who do acknowledge their guilt will be justified; for Jesus will plead his blood in behalf of the repentant soul."-"Steps to Christ," pp. 45, 46.

LESSON FORTY-THREE Faith

1. In dealing with God it is absolutely necessary that we should exercise faith. Hebrews 11:6; 1 John 3:23; John 6:29.

2. Faith is grounded upon the word of God, and is the confidence concerning the unseen things set forth in that word, and the demonstration in experience of the reality of the unseen. Romans 10:17; Hebrews 11:1.

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3. The provisions of the gospel are applied to us individually through our exercise of that faith which takes God at his word Romans 1:16, 17; 3:21, 22; Mark 16:16; Galatians 3:15; 2 Timothy 3:15; John 3:18, 36; Acts 16:30, 31; Hebrews 4:2.

4. Faith sees and accepts as real those invisible things which are set forth in the word of God, and thus brings to us the experience of eternal things. John 8:56; Hebrews 11:24-27; 11:7; 2 Corinthians 4:17, 18; Hebrews 6:12; 2 Corinthians 5:7; 1 Corinthians 2:9, 10.

5. Faith is not merely the assent of the mind to a demonstrated fact, but a living principle which bears fruit good works. James 2:19; Galatians 5:6; James 2:22, 23 compare Hebrews 11:32-34).

6. Faith implies three things: the conviction of sin, an understanding of the remedy for sin, and confidence that God can and will fulfill his promises. John 16: 9, ARV; Romans 3:11, 12, 20-26; 4:21; Hebrews 10:22, 23, 36.

NOTES

Genuine faith

"Where there is not only a belief in God's word, but a submission of the will to him; where the heart is yielded to him, the affections fixed upon him, there is faith, faith that works by love, and purifies the soul. Through this faith the heart is renewed in the image of God. And the heart that in its unrenewed state is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be, now delights in its holy precepts."-"Steps to Christ," p. 68.

Believing God's promise

"You cannot atone for your past sins, you cannot change your heart, and make yourself holy. But God promises to do all this for you through Christ. You believe that promise. You confess your sins, and give yourself to God. You will to serve him. Just as surely as you do this, God will fulfill his word to you. If you believe the promise, believe that you are forgiven and cleansed then God supplies the fact; you are made whole, just as Christ gave the paralytic power to walk when the man believed that he was healed. It is so if you believe it. Do not wait to feel that you are made whole, but say, I believe it; it is so, not because I feel it, but because God has promised."-Id., p. 55.

Faith and presumption

"Faith says, 'It is written,' and uses God's word to keep from sin; presumption says, 'It is written,' and uses God's word as an excuse for

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committing sin. Read Matthew 4:5-7. Compare Deuteronomy 1:21, 29 with verses 41-45.

Faith claims God's promises, and brings forth fruit in obedience. Presumption also claims the promises, but uses them as Satan did, to excuse transgression. Faith would have led our first parents to trust the love of God and to obey his commands. Presumption led them to transgress his law, believing that his great love would save them from the consequences of their sin. It is not faith that claims the favor of Heaven without complying with the conditions on which mercy is to be granted. Genuine faith has its foundation in the promises and provisions of the Scriptures."-"Gospel Workers," p. 260.

The meaning of faith

"Faith covers the whole ground of man's relation to God."

"Faith is a personal relation of the soul to a living, present Christ, whereby its isolated, separate, selfish life is given up."

"The reason, the will, and the conscience, memory and, hope, love, reverence, awe joy, and gratitude, are all of them blended in a great and perfect faith."

"Faith underlies consecration and is the parent of holiness, for he only will yield, himself to God who trustfully grasps the mercies of God and rests on Christ's great gift of himself."

"The very idea of faith implies solid assurance and fixed confidence."

Faith unites with Christ

"Faith is our soul-contact with the Son of God, setting up (upon our side) that union with him in his life of which Scripture is so full. And thus it is open to us, surely, to say that justification by faith means, from one momentous aspect, justification because of the Christ with whom through faith we are made mysteriously but truly one. Believing, we are one with him, one in the common life with which the living members live with the Head, by the power of his Spirit. One with him in life, we are therefore, by no mere legal fiction but in vital fact, capable of oneness with him in interest also."

Faith accepts the blessings

"Faith is trusting in God, believing that he loves us, and knows what is for our best good. Thus, instead of our own way, it leads us to choose his way. In place of our ignorance, it accepts his wisdom; in place of our weakness, his strength; in place of our sinfulness, his righteousness. Our lives, ourselves, are already his; faith acknowledges his ownership, and accepts its blessing. Truth, uprightness, purity, are pointed out as secrets of life's success. It is faith that puts us in possession of these. Every good impulse or aspiration is the gift of God; faith receives from God the life that alone can produce true growth and efficiency."-"Gospel Workers," p. 259.

Faith lays hold of Christ

The obstacles that hinder our progress will never disappear before a halting, doubting spirit. Those who defer obedience till every uncertainty disappears, and there remains no risk of failure or defeat, will never obey. Faith looks beyond the difficulties, and lays hold of the unseen, even Omnipotence, therefore it cannot be baffled. Faith is the clasping of the hand of Christ in every emergency."-Id., p. 2620.

"That is not faith which knows Christ in the future only. That is not eternal life which might exist apart from Christ. He that believeth hath eternal life because he hath Christ; and as Christ was when in the world, so are we, because we have Christ; consequently the divorcing of salvation and of holiness is an absurdity. If we are the elect of Christ, we are elected to live a Christ like life upon the earth-elected to be branches in the True Vine and to bring forth fruit."

"Faith, as concerned with our salvation, needs a certain and trustworthy object, even Jesus Christ. Having him, we have the condition for exercising faith, reliance in the dark, trust in his skill power on our behalf in unknown or mysterious circumstances."

Reasonable to believe

"Those who refuse to believe without scientific demonstration, show that they misunderstand the nature and purpose of faith. A forced belief could not bring men nearer to God. But we do not in the least degree escape from these difficulties, but rather multiply them, when we abandon faith. The difficulties of infidelity are greater than the difficulties of faith. It is more reasonable to believe than to doubt; but reason will, never compel faith."

Faith is life

"The faith that is unto salvation is not a mere intellectual assent to the truth. He who waits for entire knowledge before he will exercise faith, cannot receive blessing from God. It is not enough to believe about Christ; we must believe in him. The only faith that will benefit us is that which embraces him as a personal Savior; which appropriates his merits to ourselves. Many hold faith as an opinion. But saying faith is a transaction, by which those who receive Christ join themselves in covenant relation with God. Genuine faith is life. A living faith means an increase of vigor, a confiding trust, by which the soul becomes a conquering power. Faith takes God, at his word, not asking to understand the meaning of the trying experiences that come."-"Gospel Workers," pp. 260, 261.

A phantom faith

"Faith that does not hearken to Christ, that hearkens rather to one's own heart, is a mere phantom faith; it is the demon of unbelief under the angelic mask of faith."

Christ the object of faith

"Faith is reliance. But then, when the reliance is directed upon an object infinitely great and good, when it reposes upon God in Christ, upon him in his promise, his fidelity, his love, upon his very self, what is not this reliance in its effectual It is the creature laying hold upon the Creator. It is our reception of God himself in his word. So, it is the putting ourselves in the way of his own almighty action in the fulfillment of his word, in the keeping of his promise. 'The virtue of faith lies in the virtue of its object.' That object, in this matter of justification, so the Scriptures assure us abundantly and with the utmost clearness, is our Lord Jesus Christ himself, who died for us and rose again."

The faith needed

"Without a living faith in Christ as a personal Savior, it is impossible to make your faith felt in a skeptical world. You would draw sinners out of the swift-running current, your own feet must not stand on slippery places."-Id, p. 274.

Unbelief possible

"There will still be difficulties, both in the Bible and in the deep things of God. For there must be an element of uncertainty in the exercise of true faith. If it had been in accordance with God's purpose, the truths of God might have been so brought home to men by vision and portent that every one would be compelled to believe. The Jews were always seeking for some unmistakable sign that should make unbelief impossible. Christ never gave it them. If unbelief were impossible, there would be no moral value in faith."

Reliance on the Promises

"The whole chapter [Hebrews 11] confirms our simple definition of faith. Nosh, Abraham, Joseph, Moses-they all treated the hoped for and the unseen as solid and certain because they all relied upon the faithful Promises. Their victories were mysteriously great, their lives were related vitally to the Unseen. But the action to this end was on their part sublimely simple. It was reliance on the Promises. It was taking God at his word."

LESSON FORTY-FOUR Conversion

1. The change designated as conversion, or the new birth, is a necessary one. Matthew 18:3; John 3:3.

2. Repentance and confession of sin, are a part of the experience of conversion. Acts 3:19; Matthew 3:1, 2, 5, 6; 1 John 1:9; Romans 10:10.

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3. Conversion, or the new birth, is accomplished through the agency of the word and Spirit of God. 1 Peter 1:23; John 3:5,

4. The evidences of conversion, or the new birth, will appear in the life. 1 John 3:14; John 13:35; 1 John 2:29; 5:4.

5. A converted person should be a help to others. Luke 22:31, 32.

NOTES

Conversion means self-surrender

"Conversion means to turn about or upon. When the unsaved sinner is convinced, of sin and resolves to turn from his transgressions and commit his ways unto the Lord, he has repented; and when he acts upon that resolve, and yields himself to God in absolute self-surrender, he is converted."

The divine life brought down

"Regeneration is not our natural life carried up to its highest point of attainment, but the divine life brought down to its lowest point of condescension, even to the heart of fallen man."

In Adam and in Christ

"As we are 'in Adam,' not merely by the imputation of Adam's sin, but by an actual community of a corrupt nature, derived to us, from him by our natural descent from him, so that we have a sad share in him, as having been in him, and being from him, and of him, bone of his bone and flesh of his flesh; so, on the other hand, are we 'in Christ,' not merely by the imputation of his righteousness, but by an actual, real, spiritual origin from him, not physical, but still as real as our descent from Adam. As we are really 'sons of man' by physical birth, so are we as really and as actually 'sons of God' by spiritual birth; sons of man by being born in Adam, sons of God by being members of him who is the Son of God."

Children of God by the new birth

"It is this new, or second, birth which produces children of God. The declaration of John (3:3) puts to confusion the very common claim that God is the Father of universal humanity, and makes it absurd to talk of 'the Fatherhood of God,' 'the heavenly Father,' 'the divine Fatherhood,' and other such phrases with which we are surfeited in these modern days. Nothing is farther from truth, and nothing is more dangerous and seductive than the claim that the children of Adam are, by nature, God's children."

This new birth, not in any feeble metaphorical sense, but 'm a sense most gloriously real and transcending the metaphor instead of falling below it, is precisely what is possible to you through Christ. As

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your present life, which has been so miserable a failure, came' to you from your parents, and boars in it the deep and ineffaceable impression of what your parents were and of what their ancestors were, a new life may come to you from Christ, the beginning of that life being the new' birth."

"There is but one way through which the relation of son ship can be established, and that is by begetting. That God has created all men does not constitute them his sons in the evangelical sense of that word. The son ship on which the New Testament dwells so constantly is based absolutely and solely on the experience of the new birth, while the doctrine of universal son ship rests either upon a daring denial or a daring assumption,-the denial of the universal fall of man through sin, or the assumption of the universal regeneration of man through the Spirit. In either ease the teaching belongs to 'another gospel,' the recompense of whose preaching is not a beatitude but an anathema."

"Here we have at least twenty different expressions-born again, born of the Spirit, born of God, born of the incorruptible seed of the word, being quickened, arising from the dead, conversion, circumcision of the heart, the creation of a new heart and new spirit, the heart of stone becoming the heart of flesh, repentance, faith, reconciliation with God, receiving Christ, believing God's record to his Son, awaking from sleep, coming out of darkness into light, darkness becoming light, passing from death to life, a new creation, salvation by the washing of regeneration and by the renewing of the Holy Ghost expressions in which many and various figures are employed, but all indicating how great and radical the change is. This is the new birth of the soul to God by the operation of the Holy Ghost."

Reformation without conversion

"A man may be changed from worse to better; from a notorious sinner to a civil, honest man. From civil honesty he may pass on to a formal Christianity, and do and perform religious services, and yet lie in his sins and want the power of inward sanctification. He may by a general power of the word in some sort be inwardly enlightened. He may have some degree of understanding and joy in the word, and do some things after it, and forsake many sins; yet for all this he comes short of a sound conversion."

The confession of sin

"True confession is always of a specific character, and acknowledges particular sins. They may be of such a nature as to be brought before God only; they may be wrongs that should be confessed to individuals who have suffered injury through them; or they may be of a public character, and should then be as publicly confessed. But all confession should be definite and to the point, acknowledging the very sins of which you are guilty."-"Steps to Christ," p. 43.

Confession brings forgiveness

"Only believe that God is your helper. He wants to restore his moral image in man. As you draw near to him with confession and repentance; he will draw near to you with mercy and forgiveness."

-Id., p. 60.

The one way into the kingdom

"If any who read these pages have reason to fear that this mighty birth of the soul, has never taken place change, this new creation, this in them, God of his infinite mercy grant that they may lay to heart the words of our Lord, to Nicodemus, from which all who touch this subject must feel its exceeding moment, 'Except a man be born again, he cannot see, he cannot enter, the kingdom of God.' Men may enter the visible church by baptism; they may enter the societies and the assemblies of the people of God; they may enter the circle of those who gather round the table of their Lord. But unless they are born again, they cannot enter the kingdom of God."

LESSON FORTY-FIVE Justification by Faith

1. The question which was asked by Job is a universal one. Job 9:2; Acts 16:30.

2. In himself man is unrighteous, helpless, and hopeless. Romans 3:10-18; Titus 3:3-5; Romans 7:18; Ephesians 2:11, 12.

3. We cannot make ourselves righteous, but we are accepted or accounted as righteous in God's sight if we become united to Christ by faith. Galatians 2:16; Isaiah 45:25; Genesis 15:4-6; Romans 4:3, 9; Philippians 3:4-9; Romans 9:30-33; 4:20-25; 2 Corinthians 5:21.

4. There are four aspects of justification:

a. Justification by grace-the source. Romans 3:24; Titus 3:7.

b. Justification by blood-the means. Romans 5:9; 3:25.

c. Justification by faith-the method of receiving. Romans 5:1.

d. Justification by, works-the evidence. James 2:20-24.

(Either aspect involves the other three, and all four are present in every experience of justification.)

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5. We receive the gift of the righteousness of Christ by receiving him. Romans 5:17; Jeremiah 23:5, 6; 1 Corinthians 1:30.

6. The acceptance of the gift of righteousness by faith includes the forgiveness of our sins. Romans 4:6-8; 3:25.

NOTES

The work of God

"Justification by faith is the work of God in laying the glory of man in the dust and doing for him a work which he cannot do for himself."

What justification means

"Justification is no Savior, nor is faith. Justification by faith what is it? It is the acceptance of the guilty by reason of a trusted Christ"

Justification, in the evangelical sense, is but another name for judgment prejudged and condemnation ended."

Our only hope

"So we have nothing in ourselves of which to boast. We have no ground for self-exaltation. Our only ground of hope is in the righteousness of Christ imputed to us, and in that wrought by his Spirit working in and through us."-"Steps to Christ," p. 68.

A free gift

The thought that the righteousness of Christ is imputed to us, not because of any merit on our part, but as a free gift from God, is a precious thought. The enemy of God and man is not willing that this truth should be clearly presented; for he knows that if the people receive it fully, his, power will be broken. If he can control minds so that doubt and unbelief and darkness shall compose the experience of those who claim to be the children of God, he can overcome them with temptation. That simple faith which takes, God at his word should be encouraged."-"Gospel Workers," p. 161.

All of faith

Faith saves from first to last. The present righteousness and future glory of the sons of God alike have their source in faith. The act of reliance by which the initial justification of the sinner was attained, now becomes the habit of the soul, the channel by which its life is fed, rooting itself ever more deeply into Christ and absorbing more completely the virtue of his death and heavenly life."

All of grace

"Grace, like Christ, insists on being all in all. If salvation is by grace, it is no longer of works; and 'if of works, it is no more grace.'

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Romans 11:6. These two methods of justification imply different moral tempers, an opposite set and direction of the current of life."

Proof of God's righteousness

"In Romans 3:25, 26, while, expounding 'the redemption which is in Christ Jesus,' Paul asserted that the aim of the propitiation in his blood was to give proof of God's righteousness, a proof rendered needful by his forbearing oversight of sins committed in days gone by, and that its ultimate aim was that God may be 'himself righteous and a justifier of him who has faith in Jesus.' This aim implies that apart from the propitiation in the blood of Christ and the proof thus afforded of the righteousness 'of God, God could not have been at the same time himself righteous and also a justifier of those that believe."

A great problem

"The word 'justification' does not of itself imply that the justified person is a sinner. To see this as plainly as possible, recollect that God himself is said to be justified, in Psalm 51:4, and Christ himself, in 1 Timothy 3:16. In a human court of law, it is a supreme duty of the judge to 'justify the righteous' (Deuteronomy 25:1), and the righteous only. In all such cases justification bears its perfectly proper meaning, unperplexed, crossed by no mystery or problem. But then, the moment we come to the concrete, practical question, How shall we be justified, and before God? or, to bring it closer home, How shall the sinner, be welcomed by my offended Lord as if I were satisfactory? then the thought of justification presents itself to us in a new and most solemn aspect. The word keeps its meaning unshaken. But how about its application? Here am I, guilty. To be justified is to be pronounced not guilty, to be vindicated and accepted by Lawgiver and law. Is it possible? Is it not impossible! Justification by faith, in the actual case of our salvation, is thus a 'short phrase.' It means, in full, the acceptance of guilty sinners, before God, by faith. Great is the problem so indicated. And great is the wonder and the glory of the solution given us by the grace of God."

"The problem raised, then, in religion, by the word 'justification,' is, How shall man be just before God? How shall we be accounted righteous before God? In other words, How shall we, having sinned, having broken the holy law, having violated the will of God, be treated, as to our acceptance before him, as to our 'peace with him' (Romans 5:1), as if we had not done so? Its question is not, directly, How shall I a sinner become holy, but, How shall I a sinner be received by my God, whom I have grieved, as if I had not grieved him?"

Deliverance from the guilt of sin

"The word 'justification,' alike in religious and in common parlance, is a word connected with law. It has to do with acquittal, vindication, acceptance before a judgment seat. To use a technical term, it is a forensic word, a word of the law courts in old Rome stood

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in the forum). In regard of 'us men and our salvation' it stands related not so much not so directly, to our need of spiritual revolution, amendment, purification, holiness, as to our need of getting, somehow in spite of our guilt, our liability, our debt, our deserved condemnation-a sentence of acquittal, a sentence of acceptance, at the judgment seat of a holy God. Not that it has nothing to do with our inward spiritual purification. It has intense and vital relations that way. But they are not direct relations. The direct concern of justification is with man's need of a divine deliverance, not from the power of his sin, but from its guilt."

The atonement and righteousness by faith

"Christ's atonement is the way which grace has taken to bring in the righteousness of faith. In particular, we are made righteous (in this sense) through Christ, in a manner corresponding to that in which he was made sin for us. 2 Corinthians 5:21. Hence the blood, the sacrifice, the obedience of Christ, are referred to on all occasions, in connection with the righteousness of faith, as explicative causes to which this is to be traced. The relation is first of all a relation completely grounded and made good in Christ; and then we are participant in it with him, in virtue of our faith in him.

"Clearly the apostle thinks of this righteousness of faith as something very wonderful. It is for him fundamental. It is the first article in which he celebrates the worth of the knowledge of Christ; no doubt, because he felt it transforming his whole moral and spiritual experience; and, in particular, because it contrasted so vividly with the nugatory righteousness of earlier days.

"In earlier days Paul sought righteousness-an approved and accepted standing with God-by the works of the law. That project failed when the great discovery on the road to Damascus showed him to himself as all astray; in particular, when the law itself, coming home to him in the fullness of its meaning, both revealed to him the beggarliness of his own performance, and at the same time stung into appalling activity ungodly elements within him. Then he saw before him the law rising from its deep foundations in eternal strength and majesty, imperative, unalterable, inexorable; and over against it his own works lay withered and unclean."

But another vision came. He saw the Son of God in his life, death, and resurrection. Mere love and pity wore the inspiration of his coming: obedience and sacrifice were the form of it. So in that great vision one element or aspect that rose into view was righteousness-righteousness grounded as deep as the law itself, as magnificent 'in its great proportion', as little subject to change or decay, radiant with surpassing glory. As he saw, and bowed, and trusted, he became conscious of a new access and nearness to God himself; he passed into the fellowship of God's dear Son; he found acceptance in the Beloved. Here was the answer to that woeful problem of the law: righteousness in Christ for a world of sinners, coming to them as a free gift to faith."

The truth of the Reformation

"Justification by faith; the phrase is weighty alike With Scripture and with history. In Holy Scripture it in the main theme of two great dogmatic epistles, Romans and Galatians. In Christian history it was the potent watchword of the Reformation movement in, its aspect an it vast spiritual upheaval of the church. It is not by any means the only great truth considered in the two epistles; we should woefully misread them if we allowed their message about justification by faith to obscure their message about the Holy Ghost, and the strong relation between the two messages. It was not the only great truth which moved and animated the spiritual leaders of the Reformation. Nevertheless, such is the depth and dignity of this truth, and so central in some respects is its reference to other truths of our salvation, that we may fairly say that it was the message of St. Paul, and the truth that lay at the heart of the distinctive messages of the non-Pauline epistles too, and that it was the truth of the great Reformation of the Western church."

LESSON FORTY-SIX The Victorious Life

1. Christ was victorious over every temptation, and committed no sin. Matthew 4:10, 11; Luke 4:13, 14; 22:28; John 14:30; Hebrews 2:18; 4:15; 1 Peter 2:22; John 8:46; Isaiah 53:9.

2. Christ voluntarily made himself entirely dependent upon his Father, and did not avail himself of his divine power to save himself from committing sin. Psalm 22:9-11; Philippians 2:7; John 5:19, 30; 8:28; Hebrews 2:13, first clause.

3. Christ depended, as a man upon the life of another, that of his Father, to work the works of righteousness in him. John 14:10, 11.

4. Christ in his earthly experience was an example for us.-1 Peter 2:21; Matthew 16:24; 1 John 2:6.

5. It is our privilege to live the same victorious life which he lived. Matthew 5:48; 1 Corinthians 10:13, ARV; James 1:12; 1 Peter 1:15, 16; 1 John 3:9.

6. As Christ made himself dependent upon the Father, so we are entirely dependent upon Christ. John 15:5; 2 Corinthians 4:7.

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7. As Christ depended upon the life of another, that of his 'Father, to work the right works in him, so we must depend upon the life of another, that of Christ, to work the right works in us, it being God who works in and through Christ. 2 Corinthians 4:10, 11; Galatians 2:20; Hebrews 13:20, 21; Philippians 2:12, 13; 4:13; Colossians 1:29; Ephesians 1:19, 20; 3:20; Romans 8:10; 1 Corinthians 12:6, 11; 2 Corinthians 12:9.

8. The victorious life of Christ appropriated by faith is revealed in us as our victory. John 16:33; 2 Corinthians 2:14; Romans 8:3, 4, 37; 1 Corinthians 15:57; 1 John 4:4; 5:4.

9. He who receives and reveals the victorious life of Christ will have no ground for boasting. 1 Corinthians 4:4; 2 Corinthians 1:12; Philippians 3:13, 14; Psalm 34:2; 92:15.

NOTES

Salvation by grace applied

"The victorious life is nothing other than salvation by free grace, in present action, applied to each temptation and problem."

Our motto

"Our victory motto must be the motto that Jesus lived by: I will put my trust in him."

A life of victory

"The victorious life is not a life free from temptation, but a life of victory over temptation."

The contrast

"What is that spirit of the evil one! It is written large in the two words that stand out in that Isaiah passage: 'I will.' Set these words against those other words: Not my will, but yours,"

Victory's secret

"Victory's final secret is to believe that Christ is doing his part, that his grace is sufficient, that we are free from the law of sin, that we are under grace and not under law, and that therefore sin is not having dominion over us, that he is meeting all our needs, but we are walking in the Spirit."

Jesus had no advantage over us

"Jesus lived the victorious life, not because he was God, but because he was perfect man; he lived as God planned that man should live. In a very true sense our Lord took to himself no more advantage in the matter of winning victory over temptations than have we, his brethren."

Christ our victory

"This is the victory which overcomes the world, even our Christ made present with all his glorious power by faith, so that we may boldly say, The Lord is my helper, whom shall I fear."

The time to fear

"To fear is to have more faith in your antagonist than in Christ. When you have found one greater than Christ, then you may fear."

The purpose of Christ's work

"The highest purpose of Christ's work, for which he both 'died and rose and revived,' is to change us into the likeness of his own beauty of perfect purity. That risen life is no mere exaggeration of mystical rhetoric, but an imperative demand of the highest morality, and the plain issue of it is: Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body."

"It is not more true that Christ died to save us than that he died to procure for us the means of living a divine life upon the earth a life of wonderful communion with God and with Christ, in which an Christian experiences should undergo a transfiguration, and Christian peace, joy, faith, become a thousand times the things they are in an ordinary Christian life."

Kept through faith

"This same resurrection power is that which gives life to the soul dead in trespasses and sins.' Ephesians 2:1. That spirit of life in Christ Jesus, 'the power of his resurrection,' sets men 'free from the law of sin and death.' Philippians 3:10; Romans 8:2. The dominion of evil is broken, and through faith the soul is kept from sin. He who opens his heart to the Spirit of Christ becomes a partaker of that mighty power which shall bring forth his body from the grave."-"The Desire of Ages," pp. 209, 210.

God's ideal

"God's ideal for his children is higher than the highest human thought can reach. 'Be you therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.' This command is a promise. The plan of redemption contemplates our complete recovery from the power of Satan. Christ always separates the contrite soul from sin. He came to destroy the works of the devil, and he has made provision that the Holy Spirit shall be imparted to every repentant soul, to keep him from sinning."-Id., p. 311.

Wholly under grace

"The reason for this life of defeat is that Christians mingle law and grace, and this makes complete victory an impossibility. When we are in defeat, it is because we are under the old covenant which can make nothing perfect. It may be that we are clear intellectually on the distinction between law and grace, but it is the mingling of them in daily experience that, results in defeat before sin. The secret of victory, then,

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is to get entirely from under the law and get wholly under grace for the needs of the present moment."

A greater heresy

"If we regard the doctrine of sinless perfection as a heresy, we regard contentment with sinful imperfection as a greater heresy. And we gravely fear that many Christians make the apostle's words, 'If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves,' the unconscious justification f or a low standard of Christian living. It were almost better f or one to overstate the possibilities of sanctification in his eager grasp after holiness, than to understate them in his complacent satisfaction with a traditional unholiness. Certainly it is not an edifying spectacle to see a Christian worldling throwing stones at a Christian perfectionist."

The prevailing life

"If through the communication of the Holy Spirit the life of Christ is constantly imparted to us, that life will prevail within us. That life is absolutely sinless, as incapable of defilement as the sunbeam which has its fount and origin in the sun. In proportion to the closeness of our abiding in him will be the completeness of our deliverance from sinning. And we doubt not that there are Christians who have yielded themselves to God in such absolute surrender, and who through the upholding power of the Spirit have been so kept in that condition of surrender, that sin has not had dominion over them."

Perfection through faith

"Christ is the ladder that Jacob saw, the base resting on the earth, and the topmost round reaching to the gate of heaven, to the very threshold of glory. If that ladder had f ailed by a single step of reaching the earth, we should have been lost. But Christ reaches us where we are. He, took our nature and overcame, that we through taking his nature might overcome. Made 'in the likeness of sinful flesh' (Romans 8:3), he lived a sinless life. Now by his divinity he lays hold upon the throne of heaven, while by his humanity he reaches us. He bids us by faith in him attain to the glory of the character of God. Therefore are we to be perfect, even as our 'Father which is in heaven is perfect."-"The Desire of Ages," pp. 311, 312.

A new life needed

"It is impossible for us, of ourselves, to escape from the pit of sin in which we are sunken. Our hearts are evil, and we cannot change them. 'Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean? Not one.' 'The carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.' Job 14:4; Romans 8:7. Education, culture, the exercise of the will, human effort, all have their proper sphere, but there they are powerless. They may produce an outward correctness of behavior, but they cannot change the heart; they cannot purify the springs of life. There must be a power working from within, a new life from above, before men can be changed from sin to holiness. That power is Christ."-"Steps to Christ," p. 20.

Defeat or victory

"There is ever before the Christian the possibility of tailing. There is no state of grace from which he may not, before some temptation, step into awful sin! But God's word, which. cannot be broken, stands pledged to us that in every temptation there is 'the way of escape.' And our Lord Jesus is 'the way.' Victory over temptation was won by Christ. Satan is an already defeated foe. Defeat in temptation came to Adam. It is for every man, and every Christian, to decide whether he will share the first Adam's defeat or the last Adam's victory."

The whole Christ

"These four facts-the dwelling with the Father; the voluntary coming to earth; the voluntary leaving earth; and, again, the dwelling with the Father-are the walls of the strong fortress into which we may flee and be sale. With them it stands four square to every wind that blows. Strike away one of them and it totters into ruin. Make the whole Christ your Christ; for nothing less than the whole Christ, is conceived of the Holy Ghost, born of the Virgin Mary, crucified, dead, and buried, ascended into heaven, and sitting at the right hand of God, is strong enough to help your infirmities, vast enough to satisfy your desires, loving enough to love you as you need, for able to deliver you from your sins and to lift you to the glories of his own throne."

Seek the indwelling Spirit

"The one purpose for which there has been a Christ in the world, for which there is now a Holy Spirit, was that sin may be conquered and made an end of. This is the great object for which the baptism of the Spirit and of fire was given, that in and through believers he might convince of sin, and deliver from it. Put yourself into contact with the world's sin. Meet it in the love and faith of Jesus Christ, as the servant and helper of the needy and the wretched. Give yourself to prove the reality of your faith in Christ by your likeness to him: so will the Spirit convince the world of its unbelief. Seek the full experience of the indwelling Spirit, not for your own selfish enjoyment, but for this one end, that he can do the Father's work through you as he did through Christ. Live, in unity of love with other believers to work and pray that men may be saved out of sin: 'then will the world believe that God hath sent him.' It is the life of believers in self sacrificing love that will prove to the world that Christ is a reality, and so convince it of its own of unbelief."

Christ's resurrection the pledge of victory

"The resurrection of Christ marked the acceptance of his work by the Father, and revealed the triumph in which that work ended. Death and all the power of the enemy were overcome, and victory wag attained. For one thing, the resurrection of Christ made sure the righteousness of faith. He rose again for our justification. So every passage of the

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apostle's life which proved that his confidence in that respect was not vain, that God in Christ was truly his God, was an experience of the power of Christ's resurrection. But the resurrection of Christ was also his emergence-his due emergence-into the power and blessedness of victorious life. In the person of Christ, life in God, and unto God, had descended into the hard conditions set for him who would associate a world of sinners to himself. In the resurrection the triumph of that enterprise came to light. Now, done with sin and free from death, and asserting his superiority to all humiliation and all conflict, he rose in the fullness of a power which he was entitled also to communicate. He rose, with full right and power to save. And so his resurrection denotes Christ as able to inspire life, and to make it victorious in his members."

My all in all

"Holy Jesus, fount of light!
As crystal clear, forever bright,
Thou stream overflowing, pure and free;
The brightness of the cherubim,
The glow of burning seraphim,
Are darkness when compared with thee.
Be thou my pattern bright,
My study and delight,
My all in all.
Oh, teach thou me, that I may be
All pure and holy, like to thee."

Section XII–THE SECOND COMING OF CHRIST

LESSON FORTY-SEVEN The Consummation of the Gospel

1. The full purpose of the gospel is to undo the ruin which sin has caused, to restore the image of God in man, to bring man into personal fellowship with God in his immediate presence, and to restore the earth from the effects of the curse. 1 John 3:8; Romans 8:3; 1 Corinthians 15:49; Romans 8:29; John 14:3; Revelation 22:4; Genesis 3:17, 18; Mark 15:17; Revelation 22:3.

2. All this is not accomplished merely through a gradual process of developing the good, but culminates in a marked crisis. Romans 7:18; Job 14:4; 2 Corinthians 5:17, ARV, margin; Daniel 2:34, 35; Isaiah 65:17; Romans 8:21, 22; 1 Corinthians 15:51, 52; 1 John 3:2; 2 Peter 3:11-13.

3. Not death, but the second coming of Christ in glory introduces the saved to the immediate presence of Christ and of God. Isaiah 38:9, 10; John 5:28, 29; 1 Thessalonians 4:15-17.

4. It is at the second personal advent that the saints are gathered to enjoy the fullness of the blessings provided for them through the gospel. Matthew 24:30, 31; 25:31-34.

NOTES

The completion of redemption

"Redemption is not complete until the second coming of the Lord."

"One of the most solemn and yet most glorious truths revealed in the Bible is that of Christ's second coming, to complete the great work of redemption. To God's pilgrim people, so long left to sojourn in 'the region and shadow of death,' a precious, joy-inspiring hope is given in the promise of his appearing, who is 'the resurrection and the life,' to 'bring home again his banished.' The doctrine of the Second Advent is the very keynote of the Sacred Scriptures. From the day when the first pair turned their sorrowing steps from Eden, the child n of faith have waited the coming of the Promised One to break the destroyer's power and bring them again to the lost Paradise."-"The Great Controversy," p. 299.

Essential to salvation

"The doctrine of Christ's second coming is not a teaching apart from the atonement, but is necessary to the atonement. That is, God's plan of redemption for us cannot be completed apart from the coming of Christ and the events connected with that coming. His coming, therefore, is essential to salvation. Not that the understanding of the doctrine is essential to individual salvation. A sinner needs to know very little Scripture in order to be saved; when the Spirit has convicted him of sin, a single sentence of glad tidings will save him. But it requires the whole redemptive purposes of God to make that salvation possible. And those redemptive purposes include the appearing a second time of the God-man, our Lord Jesus Christ. The importance of our Lord's second coming, then, is exactly parallel with the importance of his first coming and of his present ministry for the believer."

A connected series

"As surely as the incarnation led to the cross, and the cross to the empty grave, and the empty grave to the throne, so surely does the throne lead to the coming again in glory."

One completed movement

"The facts of Christ's life are inseparable. The Second Advent belongs to the first as the necessary and complementing part of the same divine movement. His coming again 'in glorious majesty to judge both the quick and the dead' is made to be the last sense and meaning of his original coming in the flesh. The incarnate, crucified, risen, glorified Redeemer is one with him who at last 'cometh with clouds, every eye seeing him, and they who pierced him."

The coronation day of the Christian

"That the real coronation day of the Christian is not at death but at 'the appearing of Christ,' was strikingly suggested by Paul when, realizing that he was, to die before the Lord returned, he gave to Timothy his triumphant farewell: 'I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith: henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord the righteous Judge shall give to me at that day: and not to me only, but also to all them that have loved his appearing.' 2 Timothy 4:7, 8. So Peter encourages pastors to be faithful, by the familiar promise: 'And when the Chief Shepherd shall be manifested, you shall receive the crown of glory that fades not away.' 1 Peter 5:1-4."

Nothing can take its place

"The amelioration of the world and remedy of its ills by works of faith and love, is Christ like work. The world cannot want it; the fruit of it will not be withheld; and the hopeful ardor with which it is pursued is Christ's gift to his people. For Christ himself healed and fed the multitudes. Yet all this shall not replace the coming of Christ,

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and the redemption that draws nigh with him. The longing eyes that gaze into the prospects of public-spirited beneficence and Christian philanthropy, do well; but they must also look higher up and further on."

The best of all promises

"No conversation is complete, no spiritual blessing is of the highest order, unless it leads to this, that we learn to wait for the return of our Lord. We must not think to find our portion, even our full spiritual portion, in this world. The best of all promises is the promise, 'Surely I come quickly.' The church's brightest prospect is the return of her Lord, when the church militant will give place to the church triumphant, the spiritual kingdom to the visible and personal reign of Christ. Our faith must be sadly defective if we cast no longing glances upward, if we are never looking forward to our Lord's return."

Looking to the coming of the Lord

"The Christian spirit is giving way in that man who, in whatever posture of his worldly affairs, does not feel that the present is a state entangled with evil, including much darkness and much estrangement from the soul's true rest. He ought to be minded so as to own the hope of being saved out of it, looking and hastening to the coming of the Lord. If we lived out this conviction with some consistency, we should not go far wrong in our dealings with this present world. But probably there is no feature in which the average Christianity of today varies more from that of the early Christians, than in the faint impressions, and the faint influence, experienced by most modern Christians in connection with the expectation of the Lord's return."

Read the "Source Book," page 6, "Crowning Event of Redemption."

LESSON FORTY-EIGHT The Hope of the Church

1. The church has always been taught to look forward to the coming of the Lord. Acts 3:21; Titus 2:11-13; Hebrews 9:28; 1 Thessalonians 1:9, 10; Philippians 3:20.

2. Complete salvation or redemption will be revealed at the coming of the Lord. Romans 13:11; 1 Peter 1:3-5; Luke 21:27, 28.

3. Christ in us is now the hope of glory, and that glory will be fully realized at the Second Advent of Christ. Colossians 1:27; 1 Peter 5:4; 2 Timothy 4:7, 8.

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4. The duty of the watching and waiting church is to proclaim the gospel of the coming King. Matthew 28:18-20; 24:14; Revelation 14:6-14.

NOTES

The polestar of the church

"The hope of the church, then, is the personal return of her Lord. As Dr. David Brown stated it in his book on the Second Advent sixty years ago, 'the Redeemer's second appearing is the very polestar of the church."

The next great event

"The next great event in God's program for the redemption of the world is the coming again to the earth of the Lord Jesus Christ. The last chapter of the Old Testament points forward to his second coming. The last recorded words of the Lord Jesus are his words of promise, 'Surely, I come quickly,' in the last chapter of the New Testament. The last recorded prayer of God's people in the Word is the answer of their heart to this promise, 'Even so, come, Lord Jesus."

Read the "Source Book," page 8, "The Hope of the Church."

A personal coming

"The Bible describes the second coming of Christ as personal, glorious, imminent. By 'personal' is meant all that may be suggested by the words 'visible,' 'bodily,' 'local;' and all that may be contrasted with that which is spiritual, providential, figurative."

"The blessed hope."

"The coming of the Lord has been in all ages the hope of his true followers. The Savior's parting promise upon Olivet, that lie would come again, lighted up the future for his disciples, filling their hearts with joy and hope that sorrow could not quench nor trials dim. Amid suffering and persecution, 'the appearing of the great God and our Savior Jesus Christ' was the 'blessed hope.' When the Thessalonian Christians wore filled with grief as they buried their loved ones, who had hoped to live to witness the coming of the Lord, Paul, their teacher, pointed them to the resurrection, to take place at the Savior's advent. 'Then the dead in Christ should rise, and together with the living be caught up to meet the Lord in the air. And so, he said, shall we ever be with the Lord. Wherefore comfort one another with these words.' On the rocky Patmos the beloved disciple hears the promise, 'Surely I come quickly,' and his longing response voices the prayer of the church in all her pilgrimage, 'Even so, come, Lord Jesus."-"The Great Controversy," p. 302.

The church waits for him

"The door of the unseen world closed behind Christ as he ascended from Olivet, but not forever. It will open again; and this same Jesus

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shall so come in like manner as the apostles beheld him go. He has gone to prepare a place f or those who love him and keep his word; but 'if I go,' he says, 'and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and take you to myself; that where I am, there you may be also.' That is the final hope of the Christian faith. It is for the fulfillment of this promise that the church waits. The second coming of Christ and his resurrection stand and fall together; and it will not long be possible for those who look askance at his return to receive in all its fullness the revelation of life which he made when he rose again from the dead."

"The expectation of the coming of Christ out of the world of supreme truth and purity, where God is known and served aright', to fulfill all his promises, this is the church's and the believer's great hope. It is set before us in the New Testament as a motive to every duty, as giving weight to every warning, as determining the attitude and character of all Christian life. In particular, we cannot deal aright with any of the earthly things committed to us, unless we deal with them in the light of Christ's expected coming. This expectation is to enter into the heart of every believer, and no one is warranted to overlook or make light of it. His coming, his appearing, the revelation of him, the revelation of his glory, the coming of his day, and so forth, are pressed on us continually. In a true waiting for the day of Christ, is gathered up the right regard to what he did and bore when he came first, and also a right regard to him as he is now the pledge and the sustainer of our soul's life: the one and the other are to pass onward to the hope of his appearing."

The Second Advent and modern thought

"The hope of the second coming of our Lord has an important bearing upon Christian life and doctrine. It has a vital relation especially to some points of our faith which are being attacked or obscured by the subtle tendencies of modern thought.

"1. It is bound up with belief in the supreme and infallible authority of the Holy Scriptures."

"2. It bears testimony to the presence of God in human history."

"3. It exalts the divine person and work of the incarnate Son of God."

"4. It takes due account of the fall of the human race."

"5. It presents a sublime view of God's great purpose in his creation."

"6. It provides the most inspiring motive for Christian life and service. The great leaders who have left their impress on the history of the church did not discard this doctrine, but made it a real hope in their own lives. Martin Luther, in. the midst of the throes of the Reformation, wrote, 'I ardently hope that, amidst these internal dissensions on the earth, Jesus Christ will hasten the day of his coming.'

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"The acute and learned Calvin saw that this was the church's true hope. 'We must hunger after Christ,' he said, 'till the dawning of that great day when our Lord will fully manifest the glory of his kingdom. The whole family of the faithful will keep in view that day.' The intrepid soul of John Knox was nerved by this hope. In a letter to his friends in England he wrote: 'Has not the Lord Jesus, in despite of Satan's malice, carried up our flesh into heaven? And shall he not return? We know that he shall return, and that with expedition.' John Wesley believed this same truth, as is shown by his comment on the closing verses of Revelation: 'The spirit of adoption in the bride in the heart of every true believer says, with earnest desire and expectation, Come and accomplish all the words of this. prophecy.' It formed the burden of Milton's sublime supplication: 'Come forth out of thy royal chambers, O Prince of all the kings of the earth; put on the visible robes of thy imperial majesty; take up that unlimited scepter which thy' Almighty Father hath bequeathed thee. For now the voice of thy bride calls thee, and all creatures sigh to be renewed.' It was the ardent longing of the seraphic Rutherford: 'Oh, that Christ would remove the covering, draw aside the curtains of time, and come down. Oh, that the shadows and the night were gone.' It was the prayer of Richard Baxter in the 'Saints' Everlasting Rest: 'Hasten, O my Savior, the time of thy return. Send forth your angels and let that dreadful, joyful trumpet sound. Thy desolate bride said come. The whole creation said come. Even so, come, Lord Jesus.' And if we would follow in the steps of these men, we will return to the simple, unmistakable New Testament type of experience, and, with faces uplifted towards the veil, within which the Lord of Glory waits, and with hearts all aglow with a personal love for him, we will carry on through all our life and service the same apostolic prayer."

A test of our personal relation to Christ

"The hope of the Lord's personal return enables us to realize Jesus as the living One, the same yesterday, today and forever. We remember his past-this is the object of faith; we have communion with him now in love, and we look forward to hi elf coming to us this is our hope. God is the God who was, and is, and is to come; hence the Scripture must needs be prophetic; communion with the living God must include the expectation of the future kingdom. Our personal relation to Christ is tested by our attitude to his promised second coming. If we trust in him, we know that when he comes again without sin, it is to receive us unto Himself. It we love him, and our life is hid with him in God, we know that when he shall appear, we also shall appear with him in glory. If we are faithful and loyal, suffering for his sake, and patiently fulfilling the work assigned to us, we know that at his coming he will give us the crown, and associate us with himself in his kingdom. The hope of the return of the Lord Jesus illumines and quickens every Christian grace and energy. It gives the right direction and aim; it supplies the true motive and strength."

The great apostasy

"In the first four centuries the doctrine of Christ's return to establish the kingdom was held almost unanimously by believers. In the apostolic churches the hope of Christ's coming was the joy and strength of Christians. They realized that they belonged not to this world or age; they waited for their absent Lord; and the martyrs were able to suffer and die with joy unspeakable and full of glory, because they held fast the promise given to all that overcome, and they looked forward to the glory of Christ in his kingdom. Primitive Christians were unworldly, because they were other worldly, citizens of the age to come.

"As the church gained a position of worldly ease and power, she forgot that during this dispensation, the times of the Gentiles, Christians are to be a little flock, whose only mission is to testify, to suffer, and to wait, whose only weapons are those of the Spirit, whose only protection is the promise of Christ, and whose only glory the hidden glory of the indwelling Savior. As the pagan element entered the church, the Jewish Scriptural element disappeared. Instead of hoping for the coming of Christ, the church rejoiced in her outward power, and the recognition and help of the world. Romanism is a false and carnal anticipation of the millennium. The true church is a widow, poor and helpless, trusting in her Lord, and waiting for his return; the false church is a queen, and no widow at all, giving thanks for her prosperous condition, and boasting of her power and splendor. The true church calls herself an election, a witness for God, separated from the world, shining as a light in darkness; the false church boasts of her comprehensiveness, her large numbers, her increasing popularity, embracing all nations and all civilization. The doctrine of the second coming of Christ and his kingdom could never be held in a church which is in its inmost essence a false anticipation of the millennial kingdom-a confusion of church and kingdom. The rights which Rome as a harlot usurped shall then be exercised in holiness by the bride of the Lamb."

Coming!

"Thou art coming, O my Savior,
Thou art coming, O my King,
In thy beauty all resplendent;
In thy glory all transcendent;
Well may we rejoice and sing:
Coming! In the opening East
Herald brightness slowly swells;
Coming! O my glorious Priest,
Hear we not thy golden bells?"

LESSON FORTY-NINE Prophecies and Promises

1. Christ in the prophets of old testified concerning his coming. 1 Peter 1:10, 11; Psalm 50:24; Isaiah 9:7; 32:1; 40:10; Ezekiel 21:26, 27; Daniel 12:1, 2.

2. Christ in the flesh testified concerning his coming. Matthew 16:27; 24:27, 30, 37; Mark 8:38; John 14:3.

3. At the time of his ascension a promise of his return was definitely made to his disciples. Acts 1:9-11.

4. After Christ's ascension to heaven the Holy Spirit inspired various additional testimonies concerning his return. Acts 3:21; 1 Corinthians 1:7; 15:22:23; Galatians 3:19; Colossians 3:4; Philippians 3:20; 1 Thessalonians 4:15, 16; 2:19; 2 Thessalonians 2:8, 9; 2 Timothy 4:8; Hebrews 10:36, 37; James 5:7, 8; 2 Peter 3:3, 4, 10; Revelation 1:7; 3:11; 22:7, 12, 20.

5. There are several lines of prophecy which lead up to the Second Advent. Let each student submit a list of such as he is able to find.

NOTES

The prominence of the teaching

"Few, perhaps, realize the remarkable prominence given to this truth throughout Holy Scripture. In the 260 chapters of the New Testament there are 318 references to the second coming of Christ."

Unfair to banish it

"If the Lord committed to his disciples the promise of his personal return, and if it occupied so large a place in the lives of the early Christians, surely it is unfair to banish it from the church today. It is unfair to the world, for this truth is part of the gospel which should be delivered to the world. It is unfair to the church, for it deprives the people of Christ of one of the most powerful motives for spiritual life and service. It is unfair to Christ himself, for it obscures the reality of his personal presence within the heavenly veil, and substitutes for it the thin air of a mere spiritual influence."

A little longer

"Christ is coming with clouds and with great glory. A multitude of shining angels will attend him. He will come to raise the dead, and to change the living saints from glory to glory. He will come to honor those who have loved him, and kept his commandments, and to take them to himself. He has not forgotten them nor his promise. There

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will be a re-linking of the family chain. When we look upon our dead, we may think of the morning when the trump of God shall sound, when 'the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed,' A little longer, and we shall see the King in his beauty. A little longer, and he will wipe all tears from our eyes. A little longer, and he will present us 'faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy.' Wherefore, when he gave the signs of his coming, he said,

When these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draws nigh.' But the day and the hour of his coming, Christ has not revealed. He stated plainly to his disciples that he himself could not make known the day or the hour of his second appearing. Had he been at liberty to reveal this, why need he have exhorted them to maintain an attitude of constant expectancy? There are those who claim to know the very day and hour of our Lord's appearing. Very earnest are they in mapping out the future. But the Lord has warned them off the ground they occupy. The exact time of the second coming of the Son of man is God's mystery."-"The Desire of Ages," pp. 753, 754.

Waiting and watching

"Christians are further described as 'those that wait for him,' and as 'those that love his appearing.' They are everywhere in the New Testament exhorted to 'watch,' and to be ready for the return of their Lord. His coming is their constant encouragement and inspiration and hope."

Marvelous and startling

"More marvelous than the scenes at Pentecost, more startling than the fall of Jerusalem, more blessed than the indwelling of the Spirit or the departure to be with the Lord, will be the literal, visible, bodily return of Christ. No event may seem less probable to unaided human reason; no event is more certain in the light of inspired Scripture. 'This same Jesus which is taken up from you into heaven shall so come in like manner as you have seen him go into heaven.' Behold, he cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him."

A deception

"The teaching so widely echoed from popular pulpits, that, the Second Advent of Christ is his coming to each individual at death, is a device to divert the minds of men from his personal coming in the clouds, of heaven. For years Satan has thus been saying, 'Behold, he is in the secret chambers;' and many souls have been lost by accepting this deception."-"The Great Controversy," p. 525.

Watching and working

"The expectation of Christ's coming is to make men fear the Lord, and fear his judgments upon transgression. It is to awaken them to the great sin of rejecting his offers of mercy. Those who are

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watching for the Lord, are purifying their souls by obedience to the truth. With vigilant watching they combine earnest working. Because they know that the Lord is at the door, their zeal is quickened to cooperate with the divine intelligences in working for the salvation of souls. These are the faithful and wise servants who give to the Lord's household 'their portion of meat in due season.' They are declaring the truth that is now specially applicable. As Enoch, Noah, Abraham, and Moses, each declared the truth for his time, so will Christ's servants now give the special warning for their generation."-"The Desire of Ages," pp. 757.

No counterfeit possible

"Satan is not permitted to counterfeit the manner of Christ's advent. The Savior has warned his people against deception upon this point, and has clearly foretold the manner of his second coming. 'There shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall show great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect. Wherefore if they shall say unto you, Behold, he is in the desert; go not forth: behold, he is in the secret chambers; believe it not. For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shines oven unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.'

This coming, there is no possibility of counterfeiting-It will be universally known-witnessed by the whole world."-"The Great Controversy," p. 625.

Only a partial fulfillment

"This tragedy of history [the fall of Jerusalem] is supposed by many to fulfill the prophecies spoken by Christ in his great discourse on the Mount of Olives, recorded in Matthew 24, and Mark 13, and Luke 21. When one combines these predictions, it becomes evident that the capture of the Holy City by Titus was a real but only a partial fulfillment of the words of Christ. As in the case of so many Old Testament prophecies, the nearer event furnished the colors in which were depicted scenes and occurrences which belonged to a distant future, and in this case to 'the end of the age.' When Jerusalem fell, the people of God were not delivered nor the enemies of God punished, nor did the sign of the Son, of man appear in the heavens, as was predicted of the time when he comes again; and long after the fall of the city, John wrote in Gospel and in Apocalypse of the coming of the King."

One glorious future

"The whole life and work of the New Testament church has the coming of the Lord in view. All the lines of her activity and experience lead to this event. The sanctification of the disciple is a preparation for the coming of the Lord. Paul writes to the Thessalonians. 'The very God of peace sanctify you wholly, and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.' 1 Thessalonians 5:23. John puts the same

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thing in his own tender way: 'And now, little children, abide in him, that, when he shall appear, we may have confidence and not be ashamed before him at his coming.' 1 John 2:28. Christian service gets its encouragement in the same inspiring issue. Paul exhorts Timothy to fidelity, charging him to 'keep the commandment, without spot, with out reproach, until the appearing of our Lord Jesus. Christ.' 1 Timothy 6:14. And Peter writes to his fellow elders: 'Feed the flock of God which is among you, and when the Chief Shepherd shall appear, you shall receive a crown of glory that fades not away.' 1 Peter 5:2, 4.

The patience of the early Christians in suffering and. trial is bounded by the same event. 'Be patient therefore, brethren, until the coming of the Lord. Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand James 5:7, 8. 'Let your forbearance be known unto all men. The Lord is at hand.' Philippians 4:5. Their life of fellowship and brotherly love reaches its holy consummation at the Lord's return. 'The Lord make you. to increase and abound in love one toward another, and toward all men, even as we also do toward you, to the end he may establish your hearts unblamable in holiness before our God and Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all his saints.'

1 Thessalonians 3:12, 13. Their acts of worship, as, for example, their observance of the Lord's Supper, have the same end in view. As often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you do show the Lord's death till he come.' 1 Corinthians 11:26. Thus, whatever aspect of the church's life and work we consider; we find it to be a stream which moves on to ward one glorious future. The appearing of the Lord Jesus himself fills the whole horizon."

The subject of Christian aspiration

"He will 'so come in like manner as' he has gone. We are not to water down such words as these into anything short of a return precisely corresponding in its method to the departure; and as the departure was visible, corporeal, literal, personal, and local, so the return is to be visible, corporeal, literal, personal, local too. And he will come as he went; a visible Manhood, only enthroned amongst the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. This is the aim that he sets before him in his departure. He leaves in order that he may come back again.

"And oh dear friends, remember and let us live in the strength of the remembrance-that this return ought to be the prominent subject of Christian aspiration and desire. There is much about the conception of that solemn return, with all the convulsions that attend it, and the judgment of which it is preliminary, that may well make men's hearts chill within them. But for you and me, if we have any love in our hearts and loyalty in our spirits to that King, 'his coming' should be 'prepared as the morning,' and we should join in the great burst of rapture of many a psalm, which calls upon rocks and hills to break forth into singing, and trees of the field to clap their hands, because he cometh as the King to judge the earth. His own parable tells us how we ought to regard his coming. When the fig tree's branch begins to supple,

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and the little leaves to push their way through the polished stem, then we know that summer is at hand. His coming should be as the approach of that glorious, fervid time, in which the sunshine has tenfold brilliancy and power, the time of ripened harvests and matured fruits, the time of joy for all creatures that love the sun. It should be the glad hope of all his servants."

LESSON FIFTY The Setting Up of God's Kingdom

l. Two kingdoms are recognized in the Scriptures, the kingdom of grace and the kingdom of glory. Zechariah 6:12, 13; Hebrews 4:14-16; Matthew 25:31; 19:28.

2. The message of the first advent announced the kingdom of grace. Matthew 3:1, 2; 4:17; 10:7; Luke 4:43.

3. The message of the Second Advent announces the kingdom of glory. Matthew 24:14; Revelation 14:6-14.

4. The establishment of God's kingdom upon the earth is predicted in prophecy. 2 Samuel 7:12, 13, 16; Isaiah 9:6, 7; Daniel 2:44; 7:13, 14, 27; 12:1; Luke 1:32, 33; Revelation 11:15, ARV.

5. The Second Advent of Christ is a necessary factor in the setting up of the everlasting kingdom. Matthew 25:31-34; 1 Corinthians 15:23, 24; 2 Thessalonians 1:4-10; 2 Timothy 4:1.

6. Those who respond to the call to this kingdom through the preaching of the gospel, will share in all its glories. 1 Thessalonians 2:12; Daniel 7:18, 27; Romans 8:16, 17.

7. We should pray for the coming of the kingdom as our Lord has taught us, and then co-operate with him for the answer to our prayer. Matthew 6:10; 24:14.

NOTES

A visible prophecy

"The national existence of the Jewish people, their national history, their national institutions, were a visible prophecy and assurance of the ultimate establishment of the kingdom of God."

The foundation laid

"After his frustration of the first rival attempt at a world supremacy in the case of Babel, the Son of God lays the first foundations of his

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own special kingdom, in the world but not of it, in his summons to Abram to get him out of his country, and from his kindred, and from his father's house, and his promise to make him a blessing in whom should all families of the earth be blessed."

A needed lesson

"What men needed to be taught then, and what we need to remember still, is that each nation holds its position in subordination too thee ends of God's government, that no power or wisdom or refinement will save a state from destruction when it ceases to serve the interests of his kingdom."

The central idea of the kingdom

"The term 'kingdom of God' is found over one hundred times in the Gospels and in every part of the ministry from the outset to the end. Its central idea is the reign and rule of God over human, life, and it was the theme of Christ's preaching from the first. 'The kingdom of God' was the earliest word in Jerusalem (John 3:3) and in Galilee (Mark 1:15), and the theme is found in sermon, parable, and prophecy to the close of his ministry. Man ruled over by God, and thereby finding the full realization of life: this is the essence of the idea of the kingdom of God."

The kingdom of grace and of glory

"As used in the Bible, the expression 'kingdom of God' is employed to designate both the kingdom of grace and the kingdom of glory. The kingdom of grace is brought to view by Paul in the epistle to the Hebrews. After pointing to Christ, the compassionate intercessor who is 'touched with the feeling of our infirmities,' the apostle sys, 'Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace.' The throne of grace represents the kingdom of .grace; for the existence of a throne implies the existence of a kingdom. In many of his parables, Christ uses the expression, 'the kingdom of heaven,' to designate the work of divine grace upon the hearts of men.

"So the throne of glory represents the kingdom of glory; and this kingdom is referred to in the Savior's words, '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: and before him shall be gathered all nations.' This kingdom is yet future. It is not to be set up until the Second Advent of Christ.

"The kingdom of grace was instituted immediately, after the fall of man, when a plan was devised for the redemption of the guilty race. It then existed in the purpose and by the promise of God; and through faith, men could become its subjects. Yet it was not actually established until the death of Christ. Even after entering upon his earthly mission, the Savior, wearied with the stubbornness and ingratitude of men, might have drawn back from the sacrifice of Calvary. In Gethsemane the cup of woe trembled in his hand. He might even then have wiped the

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blood-sweat from his brow, and have left the guilty race to perish in their iniquity. Had he done this, there could have been no redemption for fallen men. But when the Savior yielded up his life, and with his expiring breath cried out, 'It is finished,' then the fulfillment of the plan of redemption was assured. The promise of salvation made to the sinful pair in Eden was ratified. The kingdom of grace, which had before existed by the promise of God, then established."-"The Great Controversy," p. 347, 348.

The signs of his coming unheeded

"The Savior himself has given signs of his coming, and he says, When you see these things come to pass, know you that the kingdom of God is nigh at hand.' And take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and so that day come upon you unawares.' 'Watch you therefore, and pray always, that you may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man.' We have reached the period foretold in these scriptures. The time of the end is come, the visions of the prophets are unsealed, and their solemn warnings point us to our Lord's coming in glory as near at hand. The Jews misinterpreted and misapplied the word of God, and they knew not the time of their visitation. The years of the ministry of Christ and his apostles, the precious last years of grace to the chosen people, they spent in plotting the destruction of the Lord's messengers. Earthly ambitions absorbed them, and the offer of the spiritual kingdom came to them in vain. So today the kingdom of this world absorbs men's thoughts, and they take no note of the rapidly fulfilling prophecies, and the tokens of the swift-coming kingdom of God."-"The Desire of Ages," p. 266.

The kingdom received at the Second Advent

"Not until the personal advent of Christ can his people receive the kingdom. The Savior said: '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: and before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats: and he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left. Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, you blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.' We have seen by the scriptures just, given [1 Corinthians 15:51-53; 1 Thessalonians 4:16, 17] that when the Son of man comes, the dead are raised incorruptible, and the living are changed. By this great change they are prepared to receive the kingdom; for Paul says, 'Flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption.' Man in his present state is mortal, corruptible; but the kingdom of God will be incorruptible, enduring forever. Therefore man in his present state cannot enter into the kingdom of God. But when comes, he confers immortality upon

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his people; and then he calls them to inherit the kingdom of which they have hitherto been only heirs. These and other scriptures clearly proved to Miller's mind that the events which were generally expected to take place before the coming of Christ, such as the universal reign of peace and the setting up of the kingdom of God upon the earth, were to be subsequent to the Second Advent. Furthermore, all the signs of the times and the condition of the world corresponded to the prophetic description of the last days. He was forced to the conclusion, from the study of Scripture alone, that the period allotted for the continuance of the earth in its present state was about to close."-"The Great Controversy," pp. 320, 323.

LESSON FIFTY-ONE The Signs of the Second Advent

1. Christ declared that there would be signs of his coming both in the heavens and upon the earth. Luke 21:25-27.

2. He stated the time when these signs would appear. Matthew 24:29, 30.

3. A general apostasy in the religious world constitutes a sign of the last days. 2 Timothy 3:1-5; Luke 18:7, 8.

4. The strained relations between capital and labor are indications of the last days. James 5:1-5, ARV.

5. A most definite sign of the end is the preaching of the gospel of the kingdom to all the world. Matthew 24:14; Revelation 14:6-14.

NOTES

The signs fulfilled

"Prophecy not only foretells the manner and object of Christ's coming, but presents tokens by which men are to know when it is near. Said Jesus: 'There shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars.' 'The sun shall be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars of heaven shall fall, and the powers that are in, heaven shall be shaken. And then shall they see the Son of man coming in the clouds with great power and glory.' The revelator thus describes the first of the signs to precede the Second Advent: 'There was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood.' These signs were witnessed before the opening of the nineteenth century. In fulfillment of this prophecy there

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occurred, in the year 1755, the most terrible earthquake that has ever been recorded. Though commonly known as the earthquake of Lisbon, it extended to the greater part of Europe, Africa, and America. It was felt in Greenland, in the West Indies, in the island of Madeira, in Norway and Sweden, Great Britain and Ireland. It pervaded an extent of not less than four million square miles. In Africa the shook was almost as severe as in Europe."-"The Great Controversy," p. 304.

"Twenty-five years later appeared the next sign mentioned in the prophecy, the darkening of the sun and moon. What rendered this more striking was the fact that the time of its fulfillment had been definitely pointed out."-Id., p. 306.

"May 19, 1780, stands in history as 'The Dark Day.' Since the time of Moses, no period of darkness of equal density, extent, and duration, has ever been recorded. The description of this event, as given by eyewitnesses, is but an echo of the words of the Lord, recorded by the prophet Joel, twenty-five hundred years previous to their fulfillment: 'The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and the terrible day of the Lord come."-Id. p. 308.

"Said Jesus: 'The stars shall fall from heaven' and John in the Revelation declared, as he behold in vision the scenes that should herald the day of God, 'The stars of heaven fell unto the earth, even as a fig tree casts her untimely figs, when she is shaken of a mighty wind.' This prophecy received a striking and impressive fulfillment in the great meteoric shower of November 13, 1833. That was the most extensive and wonderful display of falling stars which has ever been recorded." Id., p. 333.

When traveling on a railway train, we sometimes read over the list of stations to be passed before we arrive at our destination, and as one after another is left behind, we note with increasing interest that the end of what may have been a long journey is rapidly approaching. When only one station remains on the list, we feel that it is time to be making the final preparations for leaving the train. All articles must be packed again, the final washing and brushing must be done, and everything must be in readiness for the announcement that our journey is at an end.

In order that believers may know when the coming of their Lord is near, he himself has listed a series of signs which lead up to that event, and has told them when to look f or the first of the series. The sun would be darkened 'immediately after the tribulation of those days.' The light of the moon would fail, the stars would fall, the powers of the heavens would be shaken, the sign of the Son of man would appear, and then the Son of man himself would be seen coming on the clouds of heaven. Three of the signs mentioned by Matthew have been fulfilled, and only one remains before the sign, which marks the great crisis will close the series.

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The conditions in the world, the church, and the business community which would indicate the nearness of the great day are adding their emphatic testimony to that borne by other events, so that it will be impossible to plead ignorance as an excuse for not making the necessary preparation to meet the Lord. 'Ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief.' A little time remains in which to make the necessary preparation for meeting our Lord in peace. 'Prepare to meet thy God."

A memorable year

"The year 1919 was memorable for the extent and the intensity of the struggle between capital and labor. The number of strikes was unprecedented. In New York City alone there were more than one hundred strikes in progress at one time. The whole number of strikes officially reported was nearly two thousand. Most notable among these was the steel strike and the soft-coal strike. In each case hundreds of thousands of workers were directly involved, and hundreds of thousands of those employed in other industries were temporarily thrown out of employment as an indirect result. The whole country was kept in h state of unrest and turmoil, and the cost of living was greatly enhanced, on account of this industrial warfare.

"The situation was forcibly set forth in the following paragraph from the announcement of a new book dealing with the social unrest:

"Riots, strikes, social and industrial unrest of all kinds, communistic movements, socialistic movements, movements to nationalize industry a new crop of them springs up every night. On every hand, wherever you go, you find placards: 'On Strike Keep Away!' Thousands of people have to walk to their work or snatch a ride on some chance vehicle-because the car men are on strike. Thousands of others are thrown out of work for lack of materials because the railway men are on strike. Ships are held at their piers, while food spoils and millions in Europe hunger-because the dock workers are on strike. People wander from place to place throughout the big cities seeking homes, seeking apartments, but no new buildings are going up-because the construction men are on strike. Even the theaters send their patrons home-because the actors are on strike."

"We express no opinion concerning the merits of the case, but merely record these facts as constituting one of the many signs of the times indicating that the great climax of the world's history is fast approaching.

The crisis near

"Everything in the world is in agitation. The signs of the times are ominous. Coming events cast their shadows before. The Spirit of God is withdrawing from the earth, and calamity follows calamity by sea and land. There are tempests, earthquakes, fires, floods, murders of every grade. Who can read the future? Where is security? There is assurance in nothing that is human or earthly. Rapidly are men ranging

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themselves under the banner they have chosen. Restlessly are they waiting and watching the movements of their leaders. There are those who are waiting and watching and working for our Lord's appearing. Another class are falling into line under the generalship of the first great apostate. Few believe with heart and soul that we have a hell to shun and a heaven to win.

"The crisis is stealing gradually upon us. The sun shines in the heavens, passing over its usual round, and the heavens still declare the glory of God. Men are still eating and drinking, planting and building, marrying and giving in marriage. Merchants are still buying and selling. Men are jostling one, against another, contending for the highest place. Pleasure lovers are still crowding to theaters, horse races, gambling bells. The highest excitement prevails, yet probation's hour is fast closing, and every case is about to be eternally decided. Satan sees that his time is short. He has set all his agencies at work that men may be deceived, deluded, occupied, and entranced, until the day of probation shall be ended, and the door of mercy be forever shut."-"The Desire of Ages," p. 759.

The Scripture a shield from delusion

"Only those who have been diligent students of the Scriptures, and who have received the, love of the truth, will be shielded from the powerful delusion that takes the world captive. By the Bible testimony these will detect the deceiver in his disguise. To all, the testing time will come. By the sifting of temptation, the genuine Christian will be revealed. Are the people of God now so firmly established upon his word that they would not yield to the evidence of their senses? Would they, in such a crisis, cling to the Bible, and the Bible only? Satan will, if possible, prevent them from obtaining a preparation to stand in that day. He will so arrange affairs as to hedge up their way, entangle them with earthly treasures, cause them to carry a heavy, wearisome burden, that their hearts may be overcharged with the cares of this life, and the day of trial may come upon them as a thief."-"The Great Controversy," pp. 605, 606.

Read the "Source Book," pages 527, 528, 134-142, 162-167, 145, 146.

The Star of day

"Hope of our hearts, O Lord, appear,
Thou glorious Star of day!
Shine forth, and chase the dreary night,
With all our tears, away!

"No resting place we seek on earth,
No loveliness we see;
Our eye is on the royal crown
Prepared for us and thee."

LESSON FIFTY-TWO The Judgment

1. There will be a general judgment. Ecclesiastes 12:14; Acts 17:31; 2 Corinthians 5:10; Hebrews 9:27; Romans 2:16; Psalm 98:8, 9; Romans 14:10; Matthew 12:42, ARV; Jude 1:6; Daniel 7:9, 10.

2. That judgment was still in the future in the time of the apostle Paul. Acts 24:25; 2 Timothy 4:1.

3. All judgment has been committed to the Son of man. John 5:22, 27; 2 Timothy 4:1; Acts 10:42.

4. Every verdict will be a righteous one, and in strict accordance with the life of each individual. Psalm 96:13; Revelation 20:12, 18; 22:12.

5. All those who accept the provisions of the gospel are free from condemnation now, and will not be condemned in the judgment. Romans 8:1; 8:34, ARV, margin; John 5:24.

6. All those who reject the salvation offered in Christ thereby incur judgment, which will be confirmed in the last day. John 3:18; Hebrews 10:26, 27; Revelation 20:11, 12.

NOTES

The appointed day

"God 'has appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world.' Christ tells us when that day shall be ushered in. He does not say that all the world will be converted, but that 'this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come. By giving the gospel to the world it is in our power to hasten our Lord's return. We are not only to look for, but to hasten, the coming of the day of God. Had the church of Christ done her appointed work as the Lord ordained, the whole world would before this have been warned, and the Lord Jesus would have come to our earth in power and great glory."-"The Desire of Ages," pp. 755, 756.

No defect in God's government

"In the day of final judgment, every lost soul will understand the nature of his own rejection of truth. The cross will be presented, and its real bearing will be seen by every mind that has been blinded by transgression. Before the vision of Calvary with its mysterious Victim, sinners will stand condemned. Every lying excuse will be swept away. Human apostasy will appear in its heinous character. Men will see

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what their choice has been. Every question of truth and error in the long-standing controversy will then have been made plain. In the judgment of the universe, God will stand clear of blame for the existence or continuance of evil. It will be demonstrated that the divine decrees are not accessory to sin. There was no defect in God's government, no cause for disaffection. When the thoughts of all hearts shall be revealed, both the loyal and the rebellious will unite in declaring, 'Just and true are thy ways, thou King of saints. Who shall not fear thee, 0 Lord, and glorify thy name? For thy judgments are made manifest." Id., p. 59.

The basis of condemnation

"The True Witness says, 'Behold, I stand at the door, and knock. Every warning, reproof, and entreaty in the word of God or through his messengers is a knock at the door of the heart. It is the voice of Jesus asking for entrance. With every knock unheeded, the disposition to open becomes weaker. The impressions of the Holy Spirit, if disregarded today, will not be as strong tomorrow. The heart becomes less impressible, and lapses into a perilous unconsciousness of the shortness of life, and of the great eternity beyond. Our condemnation in the judgment will not result from the fact that we have been in error, but from the fact that we have neglected Heaven sent opportunities for learning what is truth." Id., p. 584.

The basis of commendation

"Those whom Christ commands in the judgment, may have known little of theology, but they have cherished his principles. Through the influence of the divine Spirit they have been a blessing to those about them. Even among the heathen are those who have cherished the spirit of kindness; before the words of life had fallen upon their ears, they have befriended the missionaries, men ministering to them at the peril of their own lives. Among the heathen are those who worship God ignorantly, those to whom the light is never brought by human instrumentality, yet they will not perish. Though ignorant of the written law of God, they have heard his voice speaking to them in nature, and have done the things that the law required. Their works are evidence that the Holy Spirit has touched their hearts, and they are recognized as the children of God."-Id., pp. 762, 763.

A sufficient sacrifice

"The intercession of Christ in man's behalf in the sanctuary above is as essential to the plan of salvation as was his death upon the cross. By his death he began that work which after his resurrection he ascended to complete in heaven. We must by faith enter within the veil, 'whither the Forerunner is for us entered.' There the light from the cross of Calvary is reflected. There we may gain a clearer insight into the mysteries of redemption. The salvation of man is accomplished at an

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infinite expense to heaven; the sacrifice made is equal to the broadest demands of the broken law of God. Jesus has opened the way to the Father's throne, and through his mediation the sincere desire of all who come to him in faith may be presented before God."-"The Great Controversy," p. 489.

LESSON FIFTY-THREE The Investigative Judgment

1. Both the living and the dead will be judged. 1 Peter 4:5, ARV.

2. The judgment is represented as involving the examination of books of record. Daniel 7:10; Revelation 20:12.

3. This investigative judgment precedes the doming of Christ. Revelation 14:6, 7, 14.

4. Earthly history is still being made while this judgment is in progress. Daniel 7:11, 12.

5. As the result of this investigative judgment, sins will be blotted out or retained in the books of record, and names will be blotted out or retained in the book of life. Psalm 51:1, 9; Isaiah 43:25; Acts 3:19; Revelation 3:5; 21:27.

6. There is more reason for rejoicing because our names are written in the book of life than because the demons are subject to us. Daniel 12:1; Luke 10:20.

NOTES

A work of investigation

"As anciently the sins of the people were by faith placed upon the sin offering, and through its blood transferred, in figure, to the earthly sanctuary; so in the new covenant the sins of the repentant are by faith placed upon Christ, and transferred, in fact, to the heavenly sanctuary. And as the typical cleansing of the earthly was accomplished by the removal of the sins by which it had been polluted, so the actual cleansing of the heavenly is to be accomplished by the removal, or blotting out, of the sins which are there recorded. But before this can be accomplished, there must be an examination of the books of record to determine who, through repentance of sin and faith in Christ, are entitled to the benefits of his atonement. The cleansing of the sanctuary therefore involves a work of investigation, a work of judgment. This work must

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be performed prior to the coming of Christ to redeem his people; for when he comes, his reward is with him to give to every man according to his works."-"The Great Controversy," pp. 421, 422.

The cases considered

"In the typical service, only those who had come before God wit confession and repentance, and whose sins, through the blood of the sin offering, were transferred to the sanctuary, had a part in the service of the day of atonement. So in the great day of final atonement and investigative judgment, the only cases considered are those of the professed people of God. The judgment of the wicked is a distinct and separate work, and take place at a later period."-Id., p. 480.

The book of life

"The books of record in heaven, in which the names and the deeds of men are registered, are to determine the decisions of the judgment. Says the prophet Daniel, 'The judgment was set, and the books were opened.' The revelator, describing the same scene, adds, 'Another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works.'

"The book of life contains the names of all who have ever entered the service of God. Jesus bade his disciples, 'Rejoice, because your names are written in heaven.' Paul speaks of his faithful fellow workers, 'whose names are in the book of life.' Daniel, looking down to 'a time of trouble, such as never was,' declares that God's people shall be delivered, 'every one that shall be found written in the book.' And the revelator says that those only shall enter the city of God whose names 'are written in the Lamb's book of life.'

"All who have truly repented of sin, and by faith claimed the blood of Christ as their atoning sacrifice, have had pardon entered against their names in the books of heaven; as they have become partakers of the righteousness of Christ, and their characters are found to be in harmony with the law of God, their sins will be blotted out, and they themselves will be accounted worthy of eternal life. The Lord declares, by the prophet Isaiah, 'I, even I, am he that blots out thy transgressions for mine own sake, and will not remember thy sins." Id., p. 483.

The new covenant promise fulfilled

"The divine Intercessor presents the plea that all who have overcome through faith in his blood be forgiven their transgressions, that they be restored to their Eden home, and crowned as joint heirs with himself to the 'first dominion.' Satan, in his off orts to deceive and tempt our race, had thought to frustrate the divine plan in man's creation; but Christ now asks that this plan be carried into effect, as if man had never fallen. He asks for his people not only pardon and justification, full and complete, but a share in his glory and a seat upon his throne.

"While Jesus is pleading for the subjects of his grace, Satan accuses them before God as, transgressors. The great deceiver has sought to

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lead them into skepticism, to cause them to lose confidence in God, to separate themselves from his love, and to break his law. Now he points to the record of their lives, to the defects of character, the unlikeness to Christ, which has dishonored their Redeemer, to all the sins that he has tempted them to commit and because of these he claims them as his subjects.

"Jesus does not excuse their sins, but shows their penitence and faith, and, claiming for them forgiveness, he lifts his wounded hands before the Father and the holy angels, saying, 'I know them by name. I have graven them on the palms of my hands.' 'The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.' And to the accuser of his people he declares, 'The Lord rebuke thee, O Satan; even the Lord that hath chosen Jerusalem rebuke thee: is not this a brand plucked out of the fire?' Christ will clothe his faithful ones with his own righteousness that he may present them to his Father, 'a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any ouch thing.' Their names stand enrolled in the book of life, and concerning them it is written, They shall walk with me in white: for they are worthy.'

"Thus will be realized the complete fulfillment, of the new covenant promise, I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more."-Id., pp. 481, 485.

LESSON FIFTY-FOUR The Time of the Investigative Judgment

1. A definite period is emphasized in the Scriptures as "the day of judgment." Matthew 10:15; 11:22; 12:36; 2 Peter 2:9; 3. 7; 1 John 4:17; Acts 17:31.

2. The investigative judgment is the first step in the cleansing of the heavenly sanctuary, be,-inning at the time indicated by the expiration of a great prophetic period. Daniel 8:13, 14.

3. This period began with the commandment to restore and build Jerusalem, BC 457, and extended to 1844. Daniel 9:25; Ezra 6:15; 7:7, 11-26.

4. A special message announced to the world the expiration of this period. Revelation 14:6, 7.

5. The investigative judgment was foreshadowed by the typical day of atonement. Leviticus 16:29, 30, 33, 34.

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6. On the typical day of atonement the people were required to recognize in a special way the work which was being done for them by the high priest. Leviticus 23:26-32.

7. The typical day of atonement was a time for cleansing from sin, and found its fulfillment in the cleansing of the sanctuary. Leviticus 16:30; Daniel 8:13, 14.

NOTES

The heavenly sanctuary

"The term 'sanctuary,' as used in the Bible, refers, first, to the tabernacle built by Moses, as a pattern of heavenly things; and, secondly to the 'true tabernacle' in heaven, to which the earthly sanctuary pointed. At the death of Christ the typical service ended. The 'true tabernacle' in heaven is the sanctuary of the new covenant. And as the prophecy of Daniel 8:14 is fulfilled in this dispensation, the sanctuary to which it refers must be the sanctuary of the new covenant. At the termination of the 2300 days, in 1844, there had 'been no sanctuary on earth for many centuries. Thus the prophecy, 'Unto two thousand and three hundred days; then shall the sanctuary be cleansed,' unquestionably points to the sanctuary in heaven."-"The Great Controversy," p. 417.

An important date

"Thus far every specification of the prophecies is strikingly fulfilled, and the beginning of the seventy weeks is fixed beyond question at BC 457, and their expiration in AD 34. From this data there is no difficulty in finding the termination of the 2300 days. The seventy weeks-490 days-having been cut off from the 2300, there were 1810 days remaining. After the end of 490 days, the 1810 days wore still to be fulfilled. From AD 34, 1810 years extend to 1844. Consequently the 2300 days of Daniel 8:14 terminate in 1844. At the expiration of this great prophetic period, upon the testimony of the angel of God, 'the sanctuary shall be cleansed."-Id., p. 308.

The day of atonement

"The types which relate to the Second Advent must be fulfilled at the time pointed out in the symbolic service. Under the Mosaic system, the cleansing of the sanctuary, or the great day of atonement, occurred on the tenth day of the seventh Jewish month, when the high priest, having made an atonement for 'all Israel, and thus removed their sins from the sanctuary, came forth and blessed the people. So it was believed that Christ, our great High Priest, would appear to purify the earth by the destruction of sin and sinners, and to bless his waiting people with immortality. The tenth day of the seventh month, the great day of atonement, the time of the cleansing of the sanctuary, which in the year 1844 fell upon the twenty-second of October, was regarded as the time of the Lord's coming. This was in harmony with the proofs already presented, that the 2300 days would terminate in the, autumn, and the conclusion seemed irresistible."-Id., pp. 399, 400.

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"We are now living in the great day of atonement. In the typical service, while the high priest was making the atonement for Israel, all 'were required to afflict their souls' by repentance of sin and humiliation before the Lord, lest they be cut off from among the people. In like manner, all who would have their names retained in the book of life, should now, in the few remaining days of their probation, afflict their souls before God by sorrow for sin and true repentance. There must be deep, faithful searching of heart. The light, frivolous spirit indulged by so many professed Christians must be put away. There is earnest warfare before all who would subdue the evil tendencies that strive for the mastery. The work of preparation is an individual work. We are not saved in groups. The purity and devotion of one will not offset the want of these qualities in another. Though all nations are to pass in judgment before God, yet he will examine the case of each individual with as close and searching scrutiny as if there were not another being upon the earth. Every one must be tested, and found without, spot or wrinkle or any such thing.

"Solemn are the scenes connected with the closing work of the atonement. Momentous are the interests involved therein. The judgment is now passing in the sanctuary above. For many years this work has been in progress. Soon-none know how soon-it will pass to the cases of the living. In the awful presence of God our lives are to come up in review. At this time above all others it behooves every soul to heed the Savior's admonition, 'Watch and pray: for you know not when the time is.' 'If therefore thou shall not watch, I will come on thee as a thief, and thou shall not know what hour I will come upon thee." Id., pp. 489, 490.

A disappointment explained

"Both the prophecy of Daniel 8:14, 'Unto two thousand and three hundred days; then shall the sanctuary be cleansed,' and the first angel's message, 'Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come,' pointed to Christ's ministration in the most holy place, to the investigative judgment, and not to the coming of Christ for the redemption of his people and the destruction of the wicked. The mistake had not been in the reckoning of the prophetic periods, but in the event to take place at the end of the 2300 days. Through this error the believers had suffered disappointment, yet all that was foretold by the prophecy, and all that they had any Scripture warrant to expect, had been accomplished. At the very time when they were, lamenting the failure of their hopes, the event had taken place which was foretold by the message, and which must be fulfilled before the Lord could appear to give reward to his servants."-Id., p. 424."

The judgment before the second advent

"That the judgment of the saints is fully accomplished while the Savior is in the sanctuary in heaven, before his coming, and therefore before the resurrection, is evident; for (1) their judgment must be closed

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while Jesus is their advocate, that he may procure their acquittal; and (2) they are raised immortal, which is the evidence of their acquittal. The judgment of the wicked must be subsequent to the redemption of the righteous, for the saints will take part in that transaction (see 1 Corinthians 6:1-3), and yet previous to the second resurrection. It is quite reasonable to consider that the wicked are merely rejected while Christ is a priest, their cases being passed over for future consideration; indeed, this is the only view that will harmonize all Scripture; and as the resurrection of the righteous to immortality and eternal life is the announcement of the decision of the judgment to them, so the wicked are raised to condemnation and the second death, which is the execution of the judgment before determined in regard to them."

The everlasting gospel

"This message of Revelation 14:6, 7, is called 'the everlasting gospel,' though it is different from any proclamation made in the ministry of Christ and his apostles. Paul reasoned of judgment to come. Acts 24:25. He said God has appointed a day in which he will judge the world. Acts 17:31. He did not and could not say that that day was then present that it had come. Yet it is not 'another gospel,' but an essential part of the same gospel which they preached a part which could not be preached in their day, as the judgment had not then yet come."

The day of atonement not closed

"One of the most complete types of the history of redemption is to be found in the ceremonies of the day of atonement. It was an essential part of the work of the high priest on that day that he should come forth within the veil, and laying aside his linen garments, reappear to bless the waiting congregation. Our great High Priest is now within the veil. He has offered the atoning sacrifice on the altar of Calvary, and with the merit of that sacrifice he has gone in to appear in the presence of God for us. But the great day of atonement is not yet closed. When his work within the veil is ended, he shall come forth, arrayed again in his garments of glory and beauty, for the final blessing of his waiting people. 'Having been once offered to bear the sins of many, he shall appear a second time, apart from sin, to them that wait for him, unto salvation."

The type and the reality

"Important truths concerning the atonement are taught by the typical service. A substitute was accepted in the sinner's stead; but the sin was not canceled by the blood of the victim. A means was thus provided by which it was transferred to the sanctuary. By the offering, of blood, the sinner acknowledged the authority of the law, confessed his guilt in transgression, and expressed his desire for pardon through faith in a Redeemer to come; but he was not yet entirely released from the condemnation of the law. On the day of atonement the high priest,

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having taken an offering from the congregation, went into the most holy place with the blood of this offering, and sprinkled it upon the mercy seat, directly over the law, to make satisfaction for its claims. Then, in his character of mediator, he took the sins upon himself and bore them from the sanctuary. Placing his hands upon the head of the scapegoat, he confessed over him all these sins, thus in figure transferring them from himself to the goat. The goat then bore them away, and they were regarded as forever separated from the people.

"Such was the service performed 'unto the example and shadow of heavenly things.' And what was done in type in the ministration of the earthly sanctuary, is done in reality in the ministration of the heavenly sanctuary."-"The Great Controversy," p. 400.

Scoffers in the last generation

"It is a very solemn thought that the last generation of men, living upon the earth just before the Lord appears, and up to the hour of his appearing, will remain here, busied with the things of this world after probation has closed. The great majority having turned away from the alarm which has been sounded, having rejected the warning which has been given by the servants of the Lord, will not understand the great change which has taken place in the position of the Son of God; they will scoff at the idea of his coming being near, and become bolder in sin as the restraining influence of God's Spirit leaves them."

LESSON FIFTY-FIVE The Standard in the Judgment

1. The rendering of a decision by a judge implies the existence of a law. Acts 23:3; 24:6; John 7:51.

2. Transgressions of God's law are considered in "the day of judgment." 1 Timothy 5:24; 1 John 3:4.

3. There would be no sins to be considered if there were no law. Romans 4:15; 7:7; 3:20; James 2:9; Romans 5:13; 1 Corinthians 15:56.

4. The same law which makes known sin will be the standard in the judgment. Romans 7:7; 2:12; James 2:10-12.

5. Only the righteousness of God which is revealed in the gospel and received through faith in Christ, will meet the requirements of the law. Romans 1:16, 17; 3:21, 22; 2 Corinthians 5:21.

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6. The acceptance of Christ as our "righteousness will result in that likeness to him which will be the ground of boldness in the day of judgment. 1 John 2:28:4:17, 18.

7. Such righteousness will express itself in good works which will be rewarded as if they were our own works. Ephesians 2:10; Titus 2:14; Revelation 20:13; 22:12.

NOTES

Jesus the advocate

"The law of God is the standard by which the characters and the lives of men will be tested in the judgment. Says the wise man: 'Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man. For God shall bring every work into judgment.' The apostle James admonishes his brethren, 'So speak you, and so do, as they that shall be judged by the law of liberty."

"Those who in the judgment are 'accounted worthy,' will have a part in the resurrection of the just. Jesus said, 'They which shall be accounted worthy to obtain that world, and the resurrection from the dead, are equal unto the angels; and are the children of God, being the children of the resurrection.' And again he declares that 'they that have done good shall come forth unto the resurrection of life.' The righteous dead will not be raised until after the judgment at which they are accounted worthy of 'the resurrection of life.' Hence they will not be present in person at the tribunal when their records are examined and their cases decided. Jesus will appear as their advocate, to plead in their behalf before God. 'If any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous."-"The Great Controversy," p. 482.

The doctrine of reward.

"We are not to shrink from the doctrine of reward because it has been perverted. It is true the good works of a Christian cannot be the foundation of his title to life eternal. They proceed from the grace of God; they are very imperfect and mixed at their best. Yet they are precious fruits of Christ's death, and of God's grace, arising through the faith and love of souls renewed and liberated. When a penitent and believing man is found devoting to God what he is and has,' doing so freely and lovingly, that is a blessed thing. God sets value on it. It is accepted as fruit which the man brings, as the offering which he yields. The heart of Christ rejoices over it. Now it is fit that the value set on this fruit should be shown, and the way God takes to show it is to reward the service. Such a man 'shall in no wise lose his reward.' God orders the administration of his mercy so that it really comes in a way of recompense for works of faith and labors of love."

LESSON FIFTY-SIX The Executive Judgment

1. The Scriptures teach that the sentence against evil will be executed. Ecclesiastes 8:11.

2. The delay in the execution of the sentence is owing to the mercy of God. 2 Peter 3:9.

3. Inevitable punishment awaits a wicked world. Isaiah 13:11; 26:21; 2 Peter 2:9; 3:10.

4. The punishment meted out to unrepentant sinners is death. Ezekiel 18:4, 20; Romans 6:23; 8:13, 2; James 1:15.

5. The punishment is also called destruction. Isaiah 1:28; 13:6; Matthew 7:13; Philippians 3:18, 19; 2 Thessalonians 1:9-, 2 Peter 2:1; 1 Thessalonians 5:3.

6. The destruction which the wicked bring upon themselves is utter extinction. Malachi 4:1; Psalm 37:10; 2 Thessalonians 1:9; Revelation 20-7-9.

7. The execution of judgment is in the hands of the Son of man. John 5:27.

8. Provision has been made for shelter in the day of the Lord's anger. Isaiah 26:20; 1 Thessalonians 5:9; Zephaniah 2:3; Matthew 3:7; 1 Thessalonians 1:9, 10.

NOTES

The wrath to come

"We all know the penal consequences which sin brings in its train even in this world. Remorse, unavailing sorrow, shame, fear, the sight of injury which we have done to those we love and which we cannot undo, incapacity for service, all these are part and parcel of the fruit which sin bears. But they are not the wrath to come. They do not exhaust the judgment of God upon evil. Instead of discrediting it, they bear witness to it; they are, so to speak, its forerunners; the lurid clouds that appear here and there in the sky, but are finally lost in the dense mass of the thunderstorm. When the apostle preached the gospel, he preached the wrath to come; without it, there would have been a missing link in the circle of Christian ideas.' 'I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ,' he says. Why? Because in it the righteousness of God is revealed, a righteousness which is God's gift and acceptable in God's sight. But why is such a revelation of righteousness necessary! Because the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men. The gospel

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is a revelation made to the world in view of a given situation, and the most prominent and threatening element in that situation is the impending wrath of God."

The Son is Judge

"The risen Son is enthroned in power; he is judge of all; he died for all; he is able to save to the uttermost all that come unto God by him. To commit everything definitely to him; to leave him to undertake for us; to put on him the responsibility of our past and our future as he invites us to do: to put ourselves for good and all at his side-this is to find deliverance from the wrath to come."

High treason

"The whole wicked world stand arraigned at the bar of God, on the charge of high treason against the government of heaven. They have none to plead their cause; they are without excuse; and the sentence of eternal death is pronounced against them."-"The Great Controversy," p. 668

God's judgments near

"Is there not enough taking place about us to show us the dangers that beset our path? Everywhere are, seen wrecks of humanity, neglected family altars, broken-up families. There is a strange abandonment of principle, a lowering of the standard of morality; the sins are fast increasing which caused the judgments of God to be poured upon the earth in the flood and in the destruction of Sodom by fire. We are nearing the end. God has borne long with the perversity of mankind, but their punishment is no less certain."-"Testimonies for the Church," Volume 5, p. 601.

The terrors of the judgment

"God's dealings with rebellion will result in fully unmasking the work that has so long been carried on under cover. The results of Satan's rule, the fruits of setting aside the divine statutes, will be laid open to the view of all created intelligences. The law of God will stand fully vindicated. It will be seen that all the dealings of God have been conducted with reference to the eternal good of his people, and the good of all the worlds that he has created. Satan himself, in presence of the witnessing universe, will confess the justice of God's government, and the righteousness of his law.

The time is not far distant when God will arise to vindicate his insulted authority. 'The Lord cometh out of his place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity.' But who may, abide the day of his coming? and who shall stand when he appears! The people of Israel, because of their sinfulness, were forbidden to approach the mount when God was about to descend upon it to proclaim his law, lest they should be consumed by the burning glory of his

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presence. If such manifestations of his power marked the place chosen f or the proclamation of God's law, how terrible must be his tribunal when he comes for the execution of these sacred statutes. How will those who have trampled upon his authority endure his glory in the great day of final retribution? The terrors of Sinai were to represent to the people the scenes of the judgment. The sound of a trumpet summoned Israel to meet with God. The voice of the archangel and the trump of God shall summon, from the whole earth, both the living and the dead to the presence of their Judge. The Father and the Son, attended by a multitude of angels, were present upon the mount. At the great judgment day, Christ will come 'in the glory of his Father with his angels.' He shall then sit upon the throne of his glory, and before him shall be gathered all nations."-"Patriarchs and Prophets," p. 338, 339.

The day of vengeance

"The day of vengeance is equivalent to the day of judgment, for men are not only judged in that day, but in that day rewards are given to all. Revelation 11:18 says the dead are judged and reward given to the saints in that time; 2 Peter 3:7 calls it 'the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men.' This earth is reserved unto fire against that day. 'The day of judgment' is a period, more than one thousand years in length, how much more is not revealed, covering the judgment of investigation of the cases of all the righteous, and the giving of reward to them; followed by the further investigation of the cases of the wicked, in which the saints take part (1 Corinthians 6:1-3; Revelation 20:1-4), and their final overthrow, or entire destruction."

The scapegoat

"It was seen also, that while the sin offering pointed to Christ as a sacrifice, an the high priest represented Christ as a mediator, the scapegoat typified Satan, the author of sin, upon whom the sins of the truly penitent will finally be placed. When the high priest, by virtue of the blood of the sin offering, removed the sins from the sanctuary, he placed them upon the scapegoat. When Christ, by virtue of his own blood, removes the sins of his people from the heavenly sanctuary at the close of his ministration, he will place them upon Satan, who, in the execution of the judgment, must bear the final penalty. The scapegoat was sent away into a land not inhabited, never to come again into the congregation of Israel. So will Satan be forever banished from the presence of God and his people, and he will be blotted from existence in the final destruction of sin and sinners."-"The Great Controversy," p. 422.

LESSON FIFTY-SEVEN The Millennium

1. A period Of one thousand years, usually called the millennium, intervenes between the resurrection of the righteous and that of the wicked. Acts 24: 14, 15; Revelation 20: 4-6.

2. At the beginning of this period the living wicked are destroyed by the glory of Christ's coming. 2 Thessalonians 1:7-10.

3. During this period the righteous, both those who were translated and those who were raised at the coming of Christ, 'will reign with Christ in heaven. 1 Thessalonians 4: 16, 17; Revelation 20: 6.

4. They will then have a part in the final work of the judgment. Daniel 7: 21, 22; 1 Corinthians 6: 2, 3.

5. During the same period, Satan will be kept as a prisoner upon the desolated earth. Revelation 20: 1-3.

6. At the close of this period the wicked are raised, Satan is loosed, and he leads the wicked in a final effort to overthrow the government of God. Revelation 20:7, 8.

7. The second death is then visited upon the wicked, and the three great foes of God's church, the dragon, the beast, and the false prophet, are cast into the lake of fire. Revelation 20:9, 10; 19:20; Matthew 25 41.

8. Then will begin the eternal reign of the saints with Christ on this earth. Daniel 7: 18; Revelation 22: 5.

NOTES

The time of the millennium

"There are other positive statements of Scripture which intimate that the millennium follows the coming of Christ. According to Daniel, it is after the Son of man comes with the clouds of heaven that he is given 'dominion and glory and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him. . . . and the kingdom and the dominion and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven are given to the people of the saints of the Most High; . . . and all dominions shall serve and obey him.' Daniel 7:13, 14, 27. According to the Psalms, the appearing of the Lord in flaming fire upon his adversaries, prepares the way for the establishment of his glorious kingdom, as 'he comes to rule the world with righteousness and the peoples with equity.' Psalms

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96, 97, 98, etc. According to Paul (2 Thessalonians 1 and 2), the advent described by Daniel is not to an earth which is enjoying millennial peace, but it is 'in flaming fire' to destroy an existing 'man of sin' whose career is the culmination of the lawlessness already manifest and to continue until the personal coming of Christ."

"Taking the manner in which the prophecies had been fulfilled in the past, as a criterion by which to judge of the fulfillment of those which were still future, he [William Miller] became satisfied that the popular view of the spiritual reign of Christ-a temporal millennium before the end of the world-was not sustained by the word of God. This doctrine, pointing to a thousand years of righteousness and peace before the personal coming of the Lord, put far off the terrors of the day of God. But, pleasing though it may be, it is contrary to the teachings of Christ and his apostles, who declared that the wheat and the tares are to grow together until the harvest, the end of the world; that 'evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse;' that 'in the last days perilous times shall come;' and that the kingdom of darkness shall continue until the advent of the Lord, and shall be consumed with the spirit of his mouth, and be destroyed with the brightness of his coming.

"The doctrine of the world's conversion and the spiritual reign of Christ was not hold by the apostolic church. It was not generally accepted by Christians until about the beginning of the eighteenth century. Like every other error, its results were evil. It taught men to look far in the future for the coming of the Lord, and prevented them from giving heed to the signs heralding his approach. It induced a feeling of confidence and security that was not well founded, and led many to neglect the preparation necessary in order to meet their Lord."-"The Great Controversy," p. 301.

The earth desolated

"When the righteous are taken away from the earth, and all the wicked slain, the earth will be left empty, and without inhabitants. Therefore the following scriptures refer to that time: Jeremiah 4: 19

29. Verse 23 says the earth was without form and void; in the same chaotic state in which it was when first created, before the Spirit of God, in formative power, moved upon the face of the deep-the abyss. 'Behold, the Lord makes the earth empty, and makes it waste, and turns it upside down, and scatters abroad the inhabitants thereof.' Isaiah 24: 1. The entire chapter is on this subject.

"I will utterly consume all things from off the land, said the Lord. . . . The great day of the Lord is near, it is near, and hastens greatly, even the voice of the day of the Lord: the mighty man shall cry there bitterly. That day is a day of wrath, a day of trouble and distress, a day of wasting and desolation. . . . Neither their 'silver nor their gold shall be able to deliver them in the day of the Lord's wrath; but the whole land shall be devoured by the, fire of his jealousy: for he shall make even a speedy riddance of all them that dwell in the land.' Zephaniah 1:2-18.

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"Thus the Scriptures clearly prove that the earth is yet to be desolated, without an inhabitant, broken down, without form and void, even as it was when first created, before man was made to dwell upon it. In this condition it was called 'the deep,' 'the abyss,' which in our version is rendered 'bottomless pit.' He who has been 'the prince of the power of the air,' will be confined thereon during the thousand years (Revelation 20: 4), to behold the desolation which his rebellion has caused. And thus the antitype of the scapegoat will be sent away, with the sins of God's true Israel upon his head, 'to a land not inhabited.' Leviticus 16: 22. Of all that God has revealed by his holy prophets, nothing else fulfils, to the letter, the type of the scapegoat upon whom the high priest placed the sins of Israel after the atonement was fully made when he came out from the presence of God to pronounce the benediction of heaven upon his waiting people."

The binding of Satan

"We well know that Satan, in order to work, must have subjects upon whom to work. Without these, he can do nothing. But during the thousand years of his confinement to this earth, all the saints are in heaven, beyond the power of his temptations; and all the wicked are in their graves, beyond his power to deceive. His sphere of action is circumscribed, he being at this time confined to this earth; and thus is he bound, being condemned throughout this period to a state of hopeless inactivity. This, to a mind that has been so busy as his has been for the past six thousand years in deceiving the world, must be a punishment of the most intense severity. According to this exposition, the 'binding' of Satan means simply the placing beyond his reach of the subjects upon whom he works, and his being 'loosed' means their being brought again, by a resurrection, to a position where he can again exercise his power upon them."-"Daniel and the Revelation," p. 824.

Satan's last struggle

"Now Satan prepares for a last mighty struggle for the supremacy. While deprived of his power, and cut off from his work of deception, the prince of evil was miserable and dejected. But as the wicked dead are raised, and he sees the vast multitudes upon his side, his hopes revive, and he determines not to yield the great controversy. He will marshal all the armies of the lost under his banner, and through them endeavor to execute his plans. The wicked are Satan's captives. In rejecting Christ they have accepted the rule of the rebel leader. They are ready to receive his suggestions and to do his bidding. Yet, true to his early cunning, he does not acknowledge himself to be Satan. He claims to be the prince who is the rightful owner of the world, and whose inheritance has been unlawfully wrested from him. He represents himself to his deluded subjects as a redeemer, assuring them that his power has brought them forth from their graves, and that he is about to rescue them from the most cruel tyranny. The presence of Christ having been removed, Satan works wonders to support his claims.

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He makes the weak strong, and inspires all with his own spirit and energy. He proposes to lead them against the camp of the saints, and to take possession of the city of God. With fiendish exultation he points to the unnumbered millions who have been raised from the dead, and declares that as their leader he is well able to overthrow the city, and regain his throne and his kingdom."-"The Great Controversy," p. 663.

"At the end of the one thousand years, the holy city, the New Jerusalem, in which the saints have dwelt in heaven during that period, comes down, and is located upon the earth, and becomes the camp of the saints, around which the resurrected wicked come up, numberless as the sand of the sea. The devil, deceives them, and thus brings them up to this battle. They are induced to commence an impious warfare upon the holy city, in prospect of some advantage to be gained by fighting against the saints. Satan doubtless persuades them that they can overcome the saints, dispossess them of their city, and still hold possession of the earth. But fire comes down from God out of heaven, and devours them. The word here rendered 'devoured,' Professor Stuart admits is 'intensive,' and signifies 'to eat up, devour, so that it de notes utter excision.' Hudson's 'Christ Our Life,' p. 146. This is the time of the perdition of ungodly men, the time when the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also, and when the works that are in the earth shall be burned up. 2 Peter 3:7, 10. In the light of these scriptures, we can see how the wicked are to receive their recompense in the earth (Proverbs 11:31); we can see also that this recompense is not eternal life in misery, but an 'utter excision,' entire and complete destruction.".-"Daniel and the Revelation," pp. 827, 828.

LESSON FIFTY-EIGHT The Inheritance

1. Man's sin brought a curse upon the earth, and the salvation of man includes the deliverance of the earth. Genesis 3: 17, 18; Romans 8: 20-22; Luke 19: 10.

2. The first promise of the land of Canaan, afterward interpreted to extend to the whole earth, was made to the seed of Abraham, or Christ. Genesis 12: 7; Romans 4: 13; Galatians 3:16.

3. The land thus promised was the new earth, regarded as an inheritance, and the promise was confirmed to Abraham, by a covenant. Genesis 15: 7, 8, 12-18; Psalm 105: 8-12; Galatians 3: 17, 18.

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4. Faithful believers, through their union with Christ and their adoption as sons, share with him in all the inheritance to which he is heir. Galatians 4: 4, 5; Romans 8:16, 17; Revelation 21:7; Matthew 25:34; Hebrews 1:2; Galatians 3: 29.

5. The same truth is taught in another way when the inheritance is promised to those who reveal the character of Christ. Psalm 37: 11, 29, 34; Matthew 5: 5; Isaiah 60: 21; Hebrews 9: 15; 1 Corinthians 6: 9, 10; Acts 20:32; 26:18; Colossians 1:12.

6. In the complete restoration which is accomplished through the gift and the work of Christ, all things will become new, including man and the earth. Revelation 21:5; Ephesians 2: 15; 4: 24; Revelation 21:1.

NOTES

The earth restored

"To carry out the original counsel or purpose of the Creator, the work of redemption must include more than the recovery of man from sin and death; it must include the restoration of the earth. The curse must be removed, and the earth be restored to that state of freedom from evil in which it was when God pronounced everything 'very good.' Without the redemption of the earth, creation would never be entirely recovered from the foul blot brought upon it by sin. Satan would triumph thus far, that a reproach and a stain would not only be cast upon the work of the Creator, but it would be perpetuated; the evil would be immortalized."

Joint heirs with Christ

"But if children, then also heirs. God's heirs, Christ's coheirs, possessors in prospect of our Father's heaven (toward which the whole argument now gravitates), in union of interest and life with our Firstborn Brother, in whom lies our right. From one hand a gift, infinitely merciful and surprising, that unseen bliss will be from another the lawful portion of the lawful child, one with the Beloved of the Father. Such heirs we are, if indeed we share his sufferings, those deep but hallowed pains which will surely come to us as we live in and for him in a fallen world, that we may also share his glory, for which that path of sorrow is, not indeed the meriting, but the capacitating, preparation."

The goodly land

"The goodly land! I can hardly forbear, before I close, casting a glance forward to that heavenly inheritance which is the objective point of all our struggles, our toils, and our desires. I see there a land which stands in a wonderful contrast to this. As the hymn says,

'Oh! how unlike the present world,
Will be the one to come!'

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"I see fields smiling in living green, trees majestic in their wealth of verdure, flowers dazzling with their rainbow hues, and on neither field nor tree nor flower do I see the touch of frost, or the pale hand of decay. I ace no footprints of the curse, no sears of sin. I see no pestilence walking in darkness, nor destruction wasting at noonday. I see no forms distorted with pain, nor brows furrowed with anxiety and care. I see no mournful shafts telling where weary forms and sad and broken hearts have gone down into dust and darkness. I see no painful messages passing over that land, as two days ago we received one here, telling that a friend, a brother, a fellow laborer, had fallen beneath the cruel stroke of a relentless foe. I see no darkened room where the tide of a precious life is ebbing slowly away. I see no bosoms heaving with anguish, no badges of mourning, no funeral trains, no yawning, insatiate grave. But on the other hand, I see a glorious company who bear bright palms of victory over death and the grave. I see, as one of our hymns says, that-

'The glory of God like a molten sea, Bathes the immortal company.'

"I see every eye sparkling with the fullness of the joy that reigns within. I see on every cheek the bloom of eternal youth and everlasting health. I see every limb lithe and strong. I see the lame man leaping as a hart. I see the blind gazing with rapture on the celestial glory. I see the deaf listening enchanted to the heavenly melody. I see the dumb joining with loud voice in the anthems of praise. I see the mother clasping to her bosom the children she had lost awhile in the land of the enemy, but now recovered forever. I see long-parted friends meet in eternal reunion. I see a river so pure and clear, so charged with every element of refreshment and life, that it is called 'the river of life.' I see a tree overarching all, so healing in its leaves, so vivifying in its fruits, that it is called 'the tree of life.' I see a great white throne in whose effulgence there is no need of moon or sun to give us light. I hear a voice saying to that victorious company, 'This is your rest forever, and you shall no more be acquainted with grief; for there shall be no more pain or death, and sorrow and mourning have forever fled away.' And in all the universe then see no trace of sin or suffering, but I hear from every world and from every creature, a joyous anthem, like the sound of many waters, going up to God; and they say, 'Blessing, and honor, and glory, and power, be unto him that sits upon the throne, and unto the Lamb forever and ever.'

"Such is the goodly land we may go up and possess. Such is the land that awaits every laborer who is faithful to the end. The Spirit and bride say, Come; and' whosoever will, may come. If any here have not yet turned their feet Zion ward, let me say, 'Come with us, and we will do thee good."-From a sermon by Elder Uriah Smith, October 26, 1889.

LESSON FIFTY-NINE The Holy City

1. The promise to Abraham was gradually enlarged and interpreted until it came to mean to him the whole earth transformed, with the holy city of God, the New Jerusalem, as its capital. Genesis 12:7; Romans 4:13; Hebrews 11:13-16, 9, 10; Revelation 21:2; Galatians 4:26; Hebrews 13:14.

2. The apostle John saw the heavenly Jerusalem and has given us a full description of it. Revelation 21:9-21.

3. The New Jerusalem, brought down to earth, will be in a special sense the dwelling place of God, in which his glory will be manifested, where the family of God will reside, the capital city in which his throne will be located, and in which will center that dominion in which his saints will share. Revelation 21:3, 23; Hebrews 12: 22, 23; Revelation 22: 3-5.

4. The children of promise who have overcome the world, who have been cleansed from sin, who have been delivered from the idolatry of Babylon, that great city, and whose names have been recorded as citizens of heaven, will be admitted to the heavenly Jerusalem. Galatians 4: 26-28; Revelation 3: 12; 21:27; 22: 14, ARV; Luke 10: 20.

5. To be deprived of a place in this holy city means eternal death. Revelation 22: 19, 1, 2.

6. The god of this world, the invisible king of ancient Babylon, sought to establish a rival city as his capital of the world, and to bring all peoples under his dominion, in his effort to prevent the establishment of the kingdom of God upon this earth. Genesis 11:1-4, 9; Isaiah 14:4, 12-14, 22; Daniel 4: 29, 30; Revelation 13: 8.

7. When this scheme first began to be developed, God called Abraham (and all the children of Abraham in him Galatians 3: 7) out of Babylon, and he has sought during all these centuries to keep them out of Babylon, and the last call of the gospel is for his people to come out of Babylon to escape her destruction. Genesis 12: 1-3; 15: 7; 2 Chronicles 36: 15-18; Jeremiah 51:6; Revelation 18: 1-5.

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8. The utter overthrow of Babylon is one of the steps in preparing the way for the deliverance of God's people and the appearance of the holy city. Jeremiah 51:61-64; Revelation 18: 21-24; 19:6, 7; 21:9, 10.

NOTES

Heirs to the heavenly estate

"The over comers are Abraham's seed; and heirs according to the promise. Galatians 3: 29. The promise embraces the world (Romans 4:13); and the saints will go forth upon the new earth, not as servants or aliens, but as lawful heirs to the heavenly estate and proprietors of the soil."-"Daniel and the Revelation," p. 843.

The mansions In the Father's house

"A fear of making the future inheritance seem too material has led many to spiritualize away the very truths which lead us to look upon it as our home. Christ assured his disciples that he went to prepare mansions for them in the Father's house. Those who accept the teachings of God's word will not be wholly ignorant concerning the heavenly abode. And yet, '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.' Human language is inadequate to describe the reward of the righteous. It will be known only to those who behold it. No finite mind can comprehend the glory of the Paradise of God."-"The Great Controversy," pp. 674, 675.

The holy city

"In connection with the view which John has of the holy city coming down from God out of heaven, a voice is heard, saying, 'The tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them.' The conclusion naturally follows that the tabernacle here mentioned is the city. This same city is called in John 14 the Father's house in which are many mansions. If an objection should arise in any mind that this is too permanent a place to be called a tabernacle, we reply that the word 'tabernacle' sometimes has the signification of a permanent dwelling place. The great God takes up his abode on this earth; but we do not suppose that God is confined to this, or any other one of the worlds of his creation. He here has a throne, and the earth enjoys so much of his presence that it may be said that he dwells among men. And why should this be thought a strange thing? God's only begotten Son is here as ruler of his special kingdom; the holy city, which is called the Father's house, and which it is natural to suppose will be the most beautiful and glorious object in the universe, will be here; and the heavenly hosts take an interest in this world probably above what they feel in any other; yea, reasoning from one of the Savior's parables, there will be

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more joy in heaven over one world redeemed than over ninety and nine which have needed no redemption."-"Daniel and the Revelation," pp. 839, 840.

The New Jerusalem

"There is the New Jerusalem, the metropolis of the glorified new earth, 'a crown of glory in the hand of the Lord, and a royal diadem in the hand of thy God.' 'Her light was like unto a stone most precious, even 'like a jasper stone, clear as crystal.' 'The nations of them which are saved shall walk in the light of it and the kings of the earth do bring their glory and honor into it.' Said the Lord, 'I will rejoice in Jerusalem, and joy in my people.' 'The tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God him self shall be with them, and be their God.'

"In the city of God 'there shall be no night.' None will need or desire repose. There will be no weariness in doing the will of God and offering praise to his name. We shall ever feel the freshness of the morning, and shall ever be far from its close. 'And they need no candle, neither light of the sun; for the Lord God gives them light.' The light of the sun will be superseded by a radiance which is not painfully dazzling, yet which immeasurably surpasses the brightness of our noontide. The glory of God and the Lamb floods the holy city with unfading light. The redeemed walk in the sunless glory of perpetual day."-"The Great Controversy," p. 676.

Our eternal home

"If we consider this description exclusively metaphorical, as is done by the great mass of those who profess to be Bible teachers, and spiritualize away this city into aerial nothingness, how unmeaning, yea, even bordering upon folly, do these minute descriptions appear; but if we take it, as it is evidently designed to be understood, in its natural and obvious signification, and look upon the city as the Revelator evidently designed we should look upon it, as a literal and tangible abode, our glorious inheritance, the beauties of which we are to look upon with our own eyes, how is the glory of the scene enhanced!

"It is in this light-though it is not for mortal man, of himself, to conceive of the grandeur of those things which God has prepared for those that love him, that men may delight to contemplate the glories of their future abode. We love to dwell upon those descriptions which convey to our minds, as well as language can do it, an idea of the loveliness and beauty which shall characterize our eternal home. And as we become absorbed in the contemplation of an inheritance tangible and sure, courage springs up anew, hope revives, faith plumes her wings; and with feelings of thanksgiving to God that he has placed it within our power to gain an entrance to the mansions of the redeemed, we resolve anew, despite the world and all its obstacles, that we will be among the sharers in the proffered joy."-"Daniel and the Revelation," pp. 848-851.

The city of God

"Ever since Cain went forth and built the first city the long experiment has continued. and he who surveys the results, in the communities which have filled, and now fill, the habitable world, will return from his inspection wearied and disheartened, and little able to anticipate the perfection of man from the progress of society and the education of the world.

"And yet human nature is to find the realization of its tendencies and the fulfillment of its hopes. The Bible opens the prospect of which history had led us to despair. It is one long account of the preparation of the city of God. That is one distinct point of view from which the Bible ought to be regarded, and one from which its contents will appear in clearer light. We axe accustomed in the present day to read it too exclusively from the individual point of view, as the record for each man of that will of God and that way of salvation with which he is personally concerned. This it is, but it is more than this. It places before us the restoration, not only of the personal, but of the social life; the creation, not only of the man of God, but of the city of God; and it presents the society or city, not as a mere name f or the congregation of individuals, but as having a being and life of its own, in which the Lord finds his satisfaction and man his perfection. The 'Jerusalem which is above' is, in relation to the Lord, 'the bride, the Lamb's wife,' and in relation to man, it is 'the mother of us all,' Revelation 21:9; Galatians 4: 26. In its appearance the revealed course of redemption culminates, and the history of man is closed: and thus the last chapters of the Bible declare the unity of the whole book, by completing the design which has been developed in its pages, and disclosing the result to which all preceding steps have tended.

"Take from the Bible the final vision of the heavenly Jerusalem, and what will have been lost! Not merely a single passage, a sublime description, an important revelation; but a conclusion by which all that went before is interpreted and justified. We shall have an unfinished plan, in which human capacities have not found their full realization, or divine preparations their adequate result. To the mind that looks beyond individual life, or that understands what is necessary to the perfection of individual life, a Bible that did not end by building for us a city of God would appear to leave much in man unprovided for, and much in itself unaccounted for. But as it is, neither of these deficiencies exists. The great consummation is there, and we axe instructed to observe, that, from the first, the desires of men and the preparations of God have been alike directed towards it.

"At the beginning of the sacred story, the father of the faithful comes forth into view, followed by those who are heirs with him of the same promise; and they separate themselves to the life of strangers because they are 'looking for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God.' Hebrews 11:10. In due time solid pledges of the divine purpose follow. We behold a peculiar people, a divinely framed polity, a holy city, a house of God.

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"It is a wonderful spectacle-this system of earthly types, thus consecrated and glorified by miraculous interventions and inspired panegyrics. Do we look on the fulfillment of patriarchal hopes, or on the types of their fulfillment on the final form of human society, or on the figures of the true? The answer was given by prophets and psalmists, and then by the word of the gospel, finally by the hand of God, which swept the whole system from the earth. It was gone when the words of the text [Revelation 21:2] were written, and when the closing scene of the Bible presented the New Jerusalem, not as the restoration, but as the antitype of the old.

"This vision teaches us, that the drama of the world must be finished and its dispensation closed, that the Lord must have come, the dead have been raised, the judgment have sat, the heavens and the Earth which are now have passed away, and the new creation have appeared, before the chosen people shall see the city of their habitation."

The call out of Babylon

"This scripture [Revelation 18: 1, 2] points forward to a time when the announcement of the fall of Babylon, as made by the second angel of Revelation 14, is to be repeated, with the additional mention of the corruptions which have been entering the various organizations that constitute Babylon, since that message was first given, in the summer of 1844. A terrible condition of the religious world is here described. With every rejection of truth, the minds of the people will become darker, their hearts more stubborn, until they are entrenched in an infidel hardihood. In defiance of the warnings which God has given, they will continue to trample upon one of the precepts of the Ten Commandments, until they are led to persecute those who hold it sacred. Christ is set at naught in the contempt placed upon his word and his people. As the teachings of Spiritualism are accepted by the churches, the restraint imposed upon the carnal heart is removed, and the profession of religion will become a cloak to conceal the basest iniquity. A belief in spiritual manifestations opens the door to seducing spirits, and doctrine~ of devils, and thus the influence of evil angels will be felt in the churches.

"Of Babylon, at the time brought to view in this prophecy, it is declared, 'Her sins have reached unto heaven, and God hath remembered her iniquities.' She has filled up the measure of her guilt, and destruction is about to fall upon her. But God still has a people in Babylon; and before the visitation of his judgments, these faithful one's must be called out, that they 'partake not of her sins, and receive not of her plagues.' Hence the movement symbolized by the angel coining down from heaven, lightening the earth with his glory, and crying mightily with a strong voice, announcing the sins of Babylon. In connection with his message the call is heard, 'Come out of her, my people.' These announcements, uniting with the third angel's message, constitute the final warning to be given to the inhabitants of the earth."-"The Great Controversy," pp. 603, 604.

The New Babylon

"Throughout the extent of Bible history, from Genesis to Revelation, one city remains, which in fact and symbol is execrated as the enemy of God and the stronghold of evil. In Genesis we are called to see its foundation, as of the first city that wandering men established, and the quick ruin which fell upon its impious builders. By the prophets we hear it cursed as the oppressor of God's people, the temptress of the nations, full of cruelty and wantonness. And in the book of Revelation its character and curse are transferred to Rome, and the New Babylon stands over against the New Jerusalem.

"The tradition and infection, which have made the name of Babylon as abhorred in Scripture as Satan's own, are represented as the tradition and infection of pride! The pride, which, in the audacity of Youth, proposes to attempt to be equal with God: 'Go to, let us build us a city and a tower, whose top may touch heaven, and let us make us a name; 'the pride, which, amid the success and wealth of later years, forgets that there is a God at all: 'Thou said in your heart, I am, and there is none beside me.' Babylon is the Atheist of the Old Testament, as she is the Antichrist of the New."

"The shell of Babylon, the gorgeous city which rose by the Euphrates, has indeed sunk into heaps; but Babylon herself is not dead. Babylon never dies. To the conscience of Christ's seer, this mother of harlots, though dead and desert in the East, came to life again in the West. To the city of Rome, in his day, John transferred word by word the phrases of our prophet and of the prophet who wrote the fifty-first chapter of the book of Jeremiah. Rome was Babylon, in so far as Romans were filled with cruelty, with arrogance, with trust in riches, with credulity in divination, with that waste of mental and moral power which Juvenal exposed in her."

LESSON SIXTY The Threefold Message

1. The prophecies disclose God's purposes and plans for this world. Amos 3: 7; 2 Peter 1:19.

2. When events of great importance are impending, the Lord gives due warning and instruction through a message for that special occasion, or through the interpretation and application of messages previously given. Genesis 6: 13, 18; Hebrews 11:7; Luke 3: 2-6; Isaiah 40: 6-9; Matthew 3: 9, 10; John 1:29.

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3. The prophecy of Isaiah, upon which the message and work of John the Baptist were based, includes the Second Advent, the judgment, and the reward; consequently, the warning message previous to the Second Advent will be a revival and extension of the work of John the Baptist, applying it to the changed conditions. Isaiah 40: 10; Revelation 22: 12; Matthew 3: 2, 3; Mark 1:15; Luke 1:17.

4. The distinctive setting for the gospel message of preparation for the coming of the Lord is given in prophecy. Revelation 14: 6-16.

a. The message to be proclaimed is "the everlasting gospel." Verse 6, first clause.

b. This will constitute a world-wide, last-day movement. Verse 6, last clause.

c. In every previous announcement of the gospel the judgment has been future, but in this announcement it is a present event, and is the special reason for giving the message. Verse 7, first clause.

d. In this message emphasis is placed upon creation as the work of a personal Creator. This is because the gospel calling for a re-creation and because of the subversion of this fundamental truth by modern evolution. Verse 7, last clause.

e. The apostasy and fall of modern Babylon are announced. Verse 8.

f. The consequence of fellowship with this apostasy is fully set forth. Verses 9-11.

g. Those who remain loyal to God are so described as to show that the great issue is over the law of God. Verse 12.

h. The blessing pronounced upon those who die in the Lord indicates the troublous conditions prevailing. Verse 13.

i. These conditions are immediately followed by the Second Advent. Verse 14.

j. The harvest of the earth is then reaped. Verses 15, 16.

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5. A mere knowledge of these facts is not sufficient, but there must be a personal experience in fellowship with Christ. 2 Peter 3:17, 18.

NOTES

A direct message

"In this age, just prior to the second coming of Christ in the cloud of heaven, such a work as that of John is to be done. God calls for men who will prepare a people to stand in the great day of the Lord. The message preceding the public ministry of Christ was, 'Repent, publicans and sinners; repent, Pharisees and Sadducees; repent you; for the kingdom of heaven is at hand?' As a people who believe in Christ's soon appearing, we have a message to bear, 'Prepare to meet thy God.' Our message must be as direct as was the message of John. He rebuked kings for their iniquity. Notwithstanding that his life was imperiled, he did not hesitate to declare God's word. And our work in this age must be done as faithfully. In order to give such a message as John gave, we must have a spiritual experience like his. The same work must be wrought in us. We must behold God, and in beholding him lose sight of self."-"Testimonies for the Church," Volume 8, pp. 332, 333.

The Lord's message

"In every generation God has sent his servants to rebuke sin, both in the world and in the church. But the people desire smooth things spoken to them, and the pure, unvarnished truth is not acceptable. Many reformers, in entering upon their work, determined to exercise great prudence in attacking the sins of the church and the nation. They hoped, by the example of a pure Christian life, to lead the people back to the doctrines of the Bible. But the Spirit of God came upon them as it came upon Elijah, moving him to rebuke the sins of a wicked king and an apostate people; they could not refrain from preaching the plain utterances of the Bible's doctrines which they had been reluctant to present. They were impelled to zealously declare the truth, and the danger which threatened souls. The words which the Lord gave them they uttered, fearless of consequences, and the people were compelled to hear the warning. Thus the message of the third angel will be proclaimed. As the time comes for it to be given with greatest power, the Lord will work through humble instruments, leading the minds of those who consecrate themselves to his service. The laborers will be qualified rather by the unction of his Spirit than by the training of literary institutions. Men of faith and prayer will be constrained to go forth with holy zeal, declaring the words which God gives them."-"The Great Controversy," p. 606.

The need of the gospel message

"The threefold message is 'the everlasting gospel' proclaimed with special reference to 'the hour of his judgment' and the nearness of the Second Advent. In this message the fundamental truths of the gospel

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should therefore be emphasized. The need of such an emphasis is apparent when we observe how complete is the apostasy from these truths, and to what an extent a new gospel, the product of human rather than divine philosophy, has superseded the old gospel which Jesus and Paul preached.

"In this time of stress and trouble, when so many homes have been made desolate, and when the very foundations of society seem to be seriously disturbed, there is the greatest need of a gospel of consolation, a gospel which shall reveal sin in its full meaning as an attempt to overthrow the divine government, but at the same time shall present an all sufficient Savior 'in whom we have redemption,' who is able to save 'to the uttermost,' and through whom the everlasting kingdom of God will soon be established. Only through the cooperation of the Holy Spirit, the Comforter, can such a message be effectively given, and the promise of his presence should be claimed with an unwavering faith."

LESSON SIXTY-ONE A World-Wide Movement

1. Just before the end of all things there will be a proclamation of the gospel of the kingdom to all the world. Matthew 24: 14.

2. In this proclamation, prominence will be given to the law of God, the apostasy of modern Babylon will be announced, and it will culminate in a call for a complete separation from all that is of Babylon. Revelation 14: 6-12; 18: 1-4.

3. Such. a movement ought to arise at the commencement of the investigative judgment. Revelation 14:6, 7.

4. That the work of Seventh-day Adventists answers to the movement called for by the prophecies is shown by the following facts:

a. It arose at the right time, immediately after the expiration of the 2300 days of Daniel 8: 13, 14, which extend to the judgment hour of Revelation 14: 7.

b. It has emphasized faith in Christ as the only mediator and high priest in the heavenly sanctuary, and obedience to all the commandments of' God as the fruit of such faith.

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c. It commenced in the United States of America, the only country since the captivity in ancient Babylon, in whose fundamental law the Christian principle of the separation of church and state has been recognized.

d. It, has extended within a single generation until at the present time (January 1, 1920) it is conducting gospel work in 92 countries in 123 languages, and is producing, publications in 94 languages.

e. Present, conditions abundantly justify the interpretation of some of the leading prophecies concerning the last days as set forth in the publications put out by this people.

f. No other people has arisen to proclaim to the world the message due at this particular time.

NOTES

A warning message

"To prepare a people to stand in the day of God, a great work of reform was to be accomplished. God saw that many of his professed people were not building for eternity, and in his mercy he was about to send a message of warning to arouse them from their stupor, and lead them to make ready for the coming of the Lord. This warning is brought to view in Revelation 14."-"The Great Controversy," p. 311.

A world-wide work

"The angel who unites in the proclamation of the third angel's message, is to lighten the whole earth with his glory. A work of world-wide extent and unwonted power is here foretold. The Advent Movement of 1840-1844 was a glorious manifestation of the power of God; the first angel's message was carried to every missionary station in the world, and in some countries there was the greatest religious interest which has been witnessed in any land since the Reformation of the sixteenth century; but these are to be exceeded by the mighty movement under the last warning of the third angel."

"The work will be similar to that of the day of Pentecost. As the 'former rain' was given, in the outpouring of the Holy Spirit at the opening of the gospel, to cause the up-springing of the precious seed, so the 'latter rain' will be given at its close, for the ripening of the harvest. Then shall we know, if we follow on to know the Lord: his going forth is prepared as the morning; and he shall come unto us as the rain, as the latter and former rain unto the earth. 'Be glad then, you children of Zion, and rejoice in the Lord your God: for he hath given you the former rain moderately, and he will

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cause to come down for you the rain, the former rain, and the 'latter rain.' In the last days, said God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh.' 'And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved."

"Servants of God, with their faces lighted up and shining with holy consecration, will hasten from place to place to proclaim the message from heaven. By thousands of voices, all over the earth, the warning will be given. Miracles will be wrought, the sick will be healed, and signs and wonders will follow the believers. Satan also works with lying wonders, even bringing down fire from heaven in the sight of men. Thus the inhabitants of the earth will be brought to take their stand."

"The message will be carried not so much by argument as by the deep conviction of the Spirit of God. The arguments have been presented. The seed has been sown, and now it will spring up and bear fruit. The publications distributed by missionary workers have exerted their influence, yet many whose minds were impressed have been prevented from fully comprehending the truth or from yielding obedience. Now the rays of light penetrate everywhere, the truth is seen in its clearness and the honest children of God sever the bands which have held them."-"The Great Controversy," pp. 611, 612.

LESSON SIXTY-TWO The Needed Preparation for the Second Advent

1. The righteous who are living on the earth at the time of the Second Advent will be taken to heaven without seeing death. 1 Thessalonians 4: 16, 17.

2. One must have a special experience in order to be ready for translation. Hebrews 11:5, 6.

3. The man whose ways please the Lord is one who reveals the life of Christ in his life-a life in perfect harmony the will of God as shown by keeping his commandments. John 8: 29; 6: 38; 15: 10.

4. This experience is attained only through the indwelling presence of Christ and the consequent fellowship with him. Galatians 2:20; 1 John 1:1-3, 7.

5. Provision is made for this experience of the indwelling presence by the outpouring of the Holy Spirit in the latter rain. Isaiah 44:3; Joel 2:23.

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6. Only those who are ready will go in to the marriage, and after the door is shut it will be too late to make the necessary preparation. Matthew 25:1-13.

NOTES

The preparation for translation

"To such communion God is calling us. As was Enoch's must be their holiness of character who shall be redeemed from among men at the Lord's second coming."-"Testimonies for the Church," Volume 8, p. 331.

The needed faith

"The season of distress and anguish before us will require a faith that can endure weariness, delay, and hunger, a faith that will not faint, though severely tried. The period of probation is granted to all to prepare for that time. Jacob prevailed because he was persevering and determined. His victory is an evidence of the power of importunate prayer. All who will lay hold of God's promises, as he did,. and be as earnest and persevering as he was, will succeed as he succeeded. Those who are unwilling to deny self, to agonize before Gold, to pray long and earnestly for his blessing, win not obtain it. Wrestling with God-how few know what it is! How few have ever had their souls drawn out after God with intensity of desire until every power is on the stretch. When waves of despair which no language can express sweep over the suppliant, how few cling with unyielding faith to the promises of God."

"Those who exercise but little faith now, are in the greatest danger of falling under the power of satanic delusions and the decree to compel the conscience. And oven if they endure the test, they will be plunged into deeper distress and anguish in the time of trouble, because they have never made it a habit to trust in God. The lessons of faith which they have neglected, they will be forced to learn under a terrible pressure of discouragement."

"We should now acquaint ourselves with God by proving his promises. Angels record every prayer that is earnest and sincere. We should rather dispense with selfish gratifications than neglect communion with God. The deepest poverty, the greatest self-denial, with his approval, is better than riches, boner, ease, and friendship without it. We must take time to pray. If we allow our minds to be absorbed by worldly interests, the Lord may give us time by removing from us out idols of gold, of houses, or of fertile lands."

"The young would not be seduced into sin if they would refuse to enter any path save that upon which they could ask God's blessing. If the messengers who bear the last solemn warning to the world would pray for the blessing of God, not in a cold, listless, lazy

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manner, but fervently and in faith, as did Jacob, they would find many places where they could say, 'I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved.' They would be accounted of Heaven as princes, having power to prevail with God and with men.

"The 'time of trouble such as never was,' is soon to open upon us; and we shall need an experience which we do not now possess, and which many are too indolent to obtain. It is often the case that trouble is greater in anticipation than in reality; but this is not true of the crisis before us. The most vivid presentation cannot reach the magnitude of the ordeal. In that time of trial, every soul must stand for himself before God. 'Though Noah, Daniel, and Job' were in the land, as I live, said the Lord God, they shall deliver neither son nor daughter; they shall but deliver their own souls by their righteousness.'

"Now, while our great High Priest is making the atonement for us, we should seek to become perfect in Christ. Not even by a thought could our Savior be brought to yield to the power of temptation. Satan finds in human hearts some point where he can gain a foothold; some sinful desire is cherished, by means of which his temptations assert their power. But Christ declared of himself, 'The prince of this world cometh, and hath nothing in me.' Satan could find nothing in the Son of God that would enable him to gain the victory. He had kept his Father's commandments, and there was no sin in him that Satan could use to his advantage. This is the condition in which those must be found who shall stand in the time of trouble."

"It is in this life that we are to separate sin from us, through faith in the atoning blood of Christ. Our precious Savior invites us to join ourselves to him, to unite our weakness to his strength, our ignorance to his wisdom, our unworthiness to his merits. God's providence is the school-in which we are to learn the meekness and lowliness of Jesus. The Lord is ever setting before us, not the way we would choose, which seems easier and pleasanter to us, but the true aims of life. It rests with us to cooperate with the agencies which Heaven employs in the work of conforming our characters to the divine model. None can neglect or defer this work but at the most fearful peril to their souls."-"The Great Controversy," pp. 621-623.

Section XIII–THE HOLY SPIRIT AND HIS WORK

LESSON SIXTY-THREE The Promise of the Spirit

1. When Christ was about to leave the world, he promised that the Father would send "another Comforter" to take his place. John 14: 16.

2. In his talk with his disciples, Christ called the Comforter the Holy Spirit, and the Spirit of truth. John 14: 26; 15:26.

3. Through the coming of this Comforter, Christ would come to dwell in believers. Compare John 14: 17 and 20, and observe that the Spirit of truth "in you" (verse 17) is the same as "I in you" (verse 20). John 14: 18.

4. Christ thus present by the Holy Spirit, the Comforter, the world cannot receive, because it deals with tangible and visible things, but his presence is real to the believing disciple. John 14: 17, 22, 23.

5. Recognizing his equality with his Father, Christ told the disciples~ that he would send the Comforter to them after his departure from them. John 16: 7.

6. When Christ returned to heaven, his presence through the Holy Spirit was still with his disciples on the earth. Compare John 14: 26 with 1 John 2: 1, ARV, margin. (The same Greek word is translated "Comforter" in John 14: 26 as is translated "advocate" in 1 John 2: l.)

7. This is the provision for the fulfillment of Christ's promise of his presence with his followers. Matthew 28: 18-20.

NOTES

The most essential gift

"Before offering himself as the sacrificial victim, Christ sought for the most essential and complete gift to bestow upon his followers, a gift that would bring within their reach the boundless resources of grace.

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'I will pray the Father,' he said, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you forever; even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it sees him not, neither knows him, but you know him; for he dwells with you, and shall be in you. I will not leave you orphans: I will come to you."

"Before this the Spirit had been in the world; from the very beginning of the work of redemption he had been moving upon men's hearts. But while Christ was on earth, the disciples had desired no other helper. Not until they were deprived of his presence would they feel their need of the Spirit, and then he would come.

"The Holy Spirit is Christ's representative, but divested of the personality of humanity, and independent thereof. Cumbered with humanity, Christ could not be in every place personally. Therefore it was for their interest that he should go to the Father, and send the Spirit to be his success or on earth. No one could then have any advantage because of his location or his personal contact with Christ. By the Spirit the Savior would be accessible to all. In this sense he would be nearer to them than if he had not ascended on high."-"The Desire of Ages," p. 799.

His nature a mystery

"It is not essential for us to be able to define just what the Holy Spirit is. Christ tells us that the Spirit is the Comforter, 'the Spirit of truth, which proceeds from the Father.' It is plainly declared regarding the Holy Spirit, that in his work of guiding men into all truth, 'he shall not speak of himself.'

"The nature of the Holy Spirit is a mystery. Men cannot explain it, because the Lord has not revealed it to them. Men having fanciful views may bring together passages of Scripture and put a human construction on them; but the acceptance of these views will not strengthen the church. Regarding such mysteries, which are too deep for human understanding, silence is golden."-"The Acts of the Apostles," pp. 51, 52.

A universal presence

"In the place of Christ's visible, bodily, local, limited presence is now substituted an invisible but universal presence, in and with his body mystical. [the church], through his Holy Spirit."

The Spirit of truth

In promising the Holy Spirit to his disciples, our Lord speaks of him as the Spirit of truth. That truth, which he himself is, that truth and grace and life which he brought from heaven as a substantial spiritual reality to communicate to us, that truth has its existence in the Spirit of God: he is the Spirit, the inner life of that divine truth. And when we receive him, and just as far as we receive him' and give up to him, he makes Christ, and the life of God, to be truth in us divinely real; he gives it to be in us of a truth."

The successor of Jesus

"Jesus is about to vacate his office on earth as teacher and prophet; but before doing so he would introduce us to his successor. As in a complex problem we seek to determine an unknown quantity by the known, so in this paschal discourse Jesus aims to make us acquainted with the mysterious, invisible coming personage whom he names the 'Paraclete' by comparing him with himself, the known and the visible one."

The Comforter and Christ

"But if Christ thus distinguishes the Comforter from himself, he also identifies him with himself: 'I will not leave you orphans: I will come to you.' John 14:18. By common consent this promise refers to the advent of the Spirit, for so the connection plainly indicates. And yet almost in the same breath he says: 'The Comforter whom I will send unto you.' John 14: 26. Thus our Lord makes the same event to be at once his coming and his sending; and he speaks of the Spirit now as his own presence, and now as his substitute during his absence."

Christ and the Father

"In the first part of his talk with his disciples, Christ said, 'I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter," but later he said, 'I will send him unto you." This is one of the many incidental evidences that even while he was here on the earth Christ assumed his equality with the Father. The Father sent the Comforter, and so did Christ."

The indwelling presence

"All the fullness of God becomes operative and personally present in the world and in the spirit of man by the power of the Holy Spirit. This, the Lord Christ and the Father dwell personally and lovingly in him who loves Christ and keeps his word."

The promise for us

To us today, as verily as to the first disciples, the promise of the Spirit belongs. God will today endow men and women with power from above, as he endowed those who on the day of Pentecost heard the word of salvation. At this very hour his Spirit and his grace are for all who need them and will take him at his word."-"Testimonies for the Church," Volume 8, p. 20.

Christ and the Spirit

"The name Paraclete is applied to Christ as well as to the Spirit; and properly: for it is the common office of each to console and encourage us and to preserve us by their defense. Christ was their [the disciples] patron so long as he lived in the world; he then committed them to the guidance and protection of the Spirit. If any one asks us whether we are not under the guidance of Christ, the answer is easy:

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Christ is a perpetual guardian, but not visibly. As long as he walked on the earth he appeared openly as their guardian: now he preserves us by his Spirit. He calls the Spirit 'another Comforter,' in view of the distinction which we observe in the blessings proceeding from each."

"Christ is our Advocate with the Father, and the Holy Spirit is Christ's Advocate with us. As Christ pleads for us at the throne of grace, so the Spirit pleads for Christ in our hearts."

The needed experience

"Is not the great thing wanted this, that the Spirit of God should be so poured out upon Christ's people that men should be made aware of his presence with them, and of the presence of Christ at the right hand of God? so poured out that there should be a coming together, in some sense, of the blessed God and of that world which has separated itself from him, that the powers of the world to come should take hold upon men and constrain them to cry out, 'Men and brethren, what must we do?"

"We need the power of Christ brought to bear upon our hearts by the Spirit of Christ within us. When Christ was on the earth, he was yet at an immeasurable distance from his disciples. By the gift of the Holy Spirit this distance is annihilated. He comes nearer to his people now than when he washed their feet. He comes into their hearts, and takes possession of their wills, their understandings, their energies."

The third person of the Godhead

"Not only individual Christians, but whole communities of disciples are found who have been so imperfectly instructed that they have never known that there is a Holy Spirit, except as an influence, an impersonal something to be vaguely recognized. Of the Holy Ghost as a divine person, dwelling in the church, to be honored and invoked and obeyed and implicitly trusted, they know nothing."

How to receive the gift

"How shall the heart of the believer be changed into a holy of holies, where the fullness of the Godhead shall dwell? Let us fix our eyes steadily on the means that Christ hath pointed out to us. Let us love him and keep his commandments. Let our love to him express itself in the utmost deference to his behests. Let us lovingly obey him. Let us obediently love him. Let us recognize him in his word, and render to his word the honor due to him. Let his word rule in our hearts. We shall no sooner have begun heartily to do this than we shall find the Spirit of truth, the Comforter, with us, and shall be wonderfully aided to discover Christ in his word: and in Christ the Father will be revealed to us, and in all this nothing fictitious, nothing even symbolical. It would be difficult to conceive any addition to this promise. It contains within itself all conceivable wealth of blessing."

The promised presence of Christ

"Jesus read the future of his disciples. He saw one brought to the scaffold, one to the cross, one to exile among the lonely rocks of the sea, others to persecution and death. He encouraged them with the promise that in every trial he would be with them. That promise has lost none of its force. The Lord knows all about his faithful servants who for his sake are lying in prison or, who are banished to lonely islands. He comforts them with his own presence. When for the truth's sake the believer stands at the bar of unrighteous tribunals, Christ stands by his side. All the reproaches that fall upon him, fall upon Christ. Christ is condemned over again in the person of his disciple. When one is incarcerated in prison walls, Christ ravishes the heart with his love. When one suffers death for his sake, Christ says, 'I am he that lives, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive forevermore. . . . and have the keys of hell and of death.' The life that is sacrificed for me is preserved unto eternal glory. At all times and in all places, in all sorrows and in all afflictions, when the outlook seems dark and the future perplexing, and we feel helpless and alone, the Comforter will be sent in answer to the prayer of faith. Circumstances may separate us from every earthly friend; but no circumstance, no distance, can separate us from the heavenly Comforter. Wherever we are, wherever we may go, he is always at our right hand to support, sustain, uphold, and cheer."-"The Desire of Ages," pp. 799, 800.

LESSON SIXTY-FOUR Christ with Us

1. The glorification of Christ by his death, and his ascension to heaven, were necessary to the fulfillment of his' promised presence in the Spirit. John 7: 38, 39; 16:7; Acts 2:33.

2. The promise of the Holy Spirit is the provision for the presence of Christ in his disciples. John 17: 26.

3. The presence of the indwelling Christ through his Spirit is essential for every Christian. Romans 8: 810; John 15: 5.

4. This is the fellowship with Christ into which every believer is called. 1 Corinthians 1:9; 1 John 1:3.

NOTES

Fellowship with God

"When the Son of God came to earth, and revealed the Father, it was that such intercourse with God, and the assurance of his favor,

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might become clearer, and be the abiding portion of every child of God. When he was exalted to the throne of glory, it was that he might send down into our hearts the Holy Spirit, to maintain in us, in divine power, the blessed life of fellowship with God."

The one need

"Has, the Holy Spirit the place in the church which our Lord Jesus would wish him to have? When our hearts open to the inconceivably glorious truth that he is the mighty power of God dwelling in us, that in him the living Christ works through, us, that he is the real presence with us of the glorified Lord on the throne, we shall feel that the one need of the ministry and the church is this: to wait at the footstool of the, throne without ceasing for the clothing with the power that, comes from on high. The Spirit of Christ, in his love and power, in his death and life, if; the Spirit of the ministry."

Christ restored

"All that Christ had been to them, the Spirit was to restore in greater power, and in a blessedness that should know no break. They were to be far, happier and safer and stronger with Jesus in heaven, than they ever could have been with him on earth. This, the chief beauty and blessedness of their discipleship of such a Master, that he was so wise and patient to give to each one just what he needed, and to make each one feel that he had in him his best friend, could never be left out. The indwelling of the Spirit was meant to restore Christ's most personal intercourse and guidance, his direct personal friendship."

The Spirit of the God-man

"But now there comes the last, the long-promised, an entirely new manifestation of the divine Spirit. The Spirit that has dwelt in Jesus Christ, and, in his life of obedience, has taken up his human spirit into perfect fellowship and unity with himself, is now the Spirit of the exalted God-man. As the man Christ Jesus enters the glory of God and the full fellowship of that Spirit-life in which God dwells, he receives from the Father the right to send forth this Spirit into his disciples, yea, in the Spirit to descend himself, and dwell in them."

A Personality

"The Spirit here spoken of is a personal existence. Throughout all that our Lord says in this last conversation regarding the Spirit, personal epithets are applied to him, and the actions ascribed to him are personal actions. He is to be the substitute of the most marked and influential, Personality with whom the disciples had ever been brought in contact. He is to supply his vacated place."

An unappreciated promise

"Christ declared that the divine influence of the Spirit was to be with his followers unto the end. But the promise is not appreciated as it should be; and therefore its fulfillment is not seen as it might be.

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The promise of the Spirit is a matter little thought of and the result is only what might be expected, spiritual drought, spiritual darkness, spiritual declension and death. Minor matters occupy the attention, and the divine power which is necessary for the growth and prosperity of the church, and which would bring all other blessings in its train, is lacking, though offered in its infinite plenitude.

"It is the absence of the Spirit that makes the gospel ministry so powerless. Learning, talent, eloquence, every natural or acquired endowment, may be possessed; but, without the presence of the Spirit of God, no heart will be touched, no sinner won to Christ. On the other hand, if they are connected with Christ, if the gifts of the Spirit are theirs, the poorest and most ignorant of his disciples will have a power that will tell upon hearts. God makes them channels for the out flowing of the highest influence in the universe."

"Why do we not hunger and thirst for the gift of the Spirit, since this is the means by which we are to receive power? Why do we not talk of it, pray for it, preach concerning it? The Lord is more willing to give the Holy Spirit to us than parents are to give good gifts to their children. For the baptism of the Spirit every worker should be pleading with God. Companies should be gathered together to ask for special help, for heavenly wisdom, that they may know how to plan and execute wisely. Especially should men pray that God will baptize his missionaries with the Holy Spirit."

"The presence of the Spirit with God's workers will give the presentation of the truth a power that not an the honor or glory of the world could give. The Spirit furnishes the strength that sustains striving, wrestling souls in every emergency, amidst the unfriendliness of relatives, the hatred of the world, and the realization of their own imperfections and mistakes."-"Testimonies for the Church," Volume 8, pp. 21, 22.

A personal agent

"The Spirit performs such actions as a person only can perform. Thus we read in Scripture:

He strives with the ungodly.

"He convicts the world of sin, righteousness, and judgment. He performs miracles.

"He caused the Virgin Mary to conceive. He inspired the sacred writers.

"He speaks expressly of events in the latter times.

"He said to the churches the messages of the Son of man. He appoints ministers in the church.

"He commands and forbids.

"He new creates the soul.

"He intercedes for us in prayer.

"He teaches, and comforts, and guides us into all truth. He sheds abroad the love of God in the heart.

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"He seals the soul unto the day of redemption.

"He cries in our heart, until he teaches us to cry, Abba, Father.

"He testifies with personal witnesses. 'He shall testify, and you also testify.'

"He approves with personal counselors. 'It seemed good to the Holy Ghost and to us.'

"He invites with personal messengers. 'The Spirit and bride say, Come.'

"He repeats the beatitude pronounced on those who die in the Lord. 'Yea, said the Spirit, they rest from their labors and their works do follow them.' Here are some twenty different actions, some of them standing forth as the greatest facts in the past history of the church of Christ, and many of them being repeated continually in the experience of believers, but all proving beyond contradiction, the operation of an intelligent and personal agent."

LESSON SIXTY-FIVE The Coming of the Comforter

1. Just before his ascension, Christ instructed his disciples to remain in Jerusalem until the promised Comforter should come to them. Luke 24: 49; Acts 1:4.

2. On the day of Pentecost, Christ's promise that he would send the Comforter was fulfilled. Acts 2: 1-4, 32, 33.

3. That the Holy Spirit, the Comforter, remained with the church is shown by the experiences which followed Pentecost. Acts 4: 8, 31; 6: 3-5; 9: 17; 13: 9, 52; 11:15-17.

4. The Spirit of God was in the world from the beginning, but after the resurrection of Christ that same Spirit assumed so new an office as the Comforter, that in this sense the Spirit was not given until Christ was glorified by his death and resurrection. Genesis 1:2; John 14:26; 7:38, 39, ARV.

5. The presence of the Holy Spirit, the Comforter, is the presence of Christ the power of God for the work of witnessing for Christ. Luke 24: 49; 1 Corinthians 1:23, 24; Acts 1:8.

NOTES

The token of the Redeemer's inauguration

"Christ's ascension to heaven was the signal that his followers were to receive the promised blessing. For this they were to wait before they entered upon their work. When Christ passed within the heavenly gates, he was enthroned amidst the adoration of the angels. As soon as this ceremony was completed, the Holy Spirit descended upon the disciples in rich currents, and Christ was indeed glorified, even with the glory which he had with the Father from all eternity. The Pentecostal outpouring was Heaven's communication that the Redeemer's inauguration was accomplished. According to his promise he had sent the Holy Spirit from heaven to his followers, as a token that he had, as priest and king, received all authority in heaven and on earth, and was the Anointed One over his people."-"The Acts of the Apostles," pp. 38, 39.

The power from on high

"All human efficiency in the ministries of the gospel and the propagation of the truth of God in the world must needs be through the power of the Holy Spirit, which is the only real 'power from on high."

"Truths which the Holy Ghost has taught us may be retained in the mind by the mere natural power of memory. Because they have the truth, they imagine they have the Spirit of truth. Perhaps the word of Christ to them is, 'Tarry you in Jerusalem until endued with power from on high."

"Of theology, in every possible shape, we have no lack. But it is as if, with all our writing, and preaching, and working, there is some thing wanting. Is not the power from on high the one thing we lack? May it not be that, with all our love for Christ and labor for his cause, we have not made the chief object of our desire what was the chief object of his heart when he ascended the throne to have his disciples as a company of men waiting for the clothing with the power of the Holy Ghost, that in that power of the presence of their Lord they might testify of him?"

A twofold revelation

"Our Father has given us a twofold revelation of himself. In his Son he reveals his holy image, and setting him before men invites them to become like him by receiving him into their heart and life. In his Spirit he sends forth his divine power, to enter into us, and from within prepare us for receiving the Son and the Father."

The power supplied

"In the presence of a perverse and rebellious race your hearts sink within you, and you ask yourselves, How shall we ever be able to bring men over to our views of Christ? You feel your need of some unknown power, by which the minds of men may be rendered obedient to the

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truth. You are ready to ask, Is there not something beyond miracles, even? Something beyond a holy life? Is there not in the resources of God some means of reaching the hearts of men, and subduing that hostility by which they are hindered from receiving the testimony of a holy life, of a blessed gospel? There is, I die, I ascend on high that the Comforter may come unto you. Then shall you be strengthened with a strength of which you have hitherto had no consciousness."

The heavenly current

"In Christ the cry of humanity reached the Father of infinite pity. As a man he supplicated the throne of God, till his humanity was charged with a heavenly current that should connect humanity with divinity. Through continual communion he received life from God that he might impart life to the world. His experience is to be ours."-"The Desire of Ages," pp. 424, 425.

Christ enthroned

"Self cannot cast out self. Christ must be enthroned for self to be denied. And Christ can only be enthroned when the Comforter is come."

The conquering power

"Self is not powerful enough to conquer self, the human spirit to get the victory over the human flesh. That were like a drowning man with his right hand laying hold on his left hand, only that both may sink beneath the waves. 'Old Adam is too strong for young Melanchthon,' said the Reformer. It is the Spirit of God overcoming our fleshly nature by his indwelling life, on whom is our sole dependence. Our principal care therefore must be to 'walk in the Spirit' and 'be filled with the Spirit,' and all the rest will come spontaneously and inevitably. As the ascending sap in the tree crowds off the dead leaves which in spite of storm and frost cling to the branches all winter long, so does the Holy Ghost within us, when allowed full sway, subdue and expel the remnants of our sinful nature."

Filled with the Spirit

"As the disciples, filled with the power of the Spirit, went forth to proclaim the gospel, so God's servants are to go forth today. Filled with an unselfish desire to give the message of mercy to those who are in the darkness of error and unbelief, we are to take up the Lord's work. He gives us our part to do in co-operation with him, and he will also move on the hearts of unbelievers to carry forward his work in the regions beyond. Already many are receiving the Holy Spirit, and no longer will the way be blocked by listless indifference."-"Testimonies for the Church," Volume 7, pp. 32, 33.

"O that we might take these perishing sinners, who compass us about in such countless numbers, to the very sea of glass before the throne where Jesus sits in glory, and give them just one view of the

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majesty and grace of him whom all the heavenly hosts adore, that they might hasten to believe upon him and submit themselves to Him! Well, Jesus has appointed you to something like this very office you so much desire. Be filled with the Spirit, and let the mighty Spirit in you testify to Jesus and convince the multitude around of the glory and unspeakable beauty of him whose promises they have so long disdained."

A revelation in power

"On the day of Pentecost the Infinite One revealed himself in power to the church. By his Holy Spirit he descended from the heights of heaven as a rushing, mighty wind, to the room in which the, disciples were assembled. It was as if for ages this influence had been held in restraint, and now Heaven rejoiced in being able to pour upon the church the riches of the Spirit's power."-"Testimonies for the Church," Volume 7, p. 31.

"It plainly appears that the dispensation of the Spirit is the dispensation of the mighty power of Christ, and that there is no form, or measure of opposition which Christ on his throne in heaven is not competent, by the omnipotent Spirit acting through his church, to overcome."

"He that is surrounded by the seraphim with veiled faces, who looks and the earth melts, before whom the nations are less than nothing, and vanity, he draws near to the believer and takes up his abode with him."

To whom the Spirit is given

"Christ has promised the gift of the Holy Spirit to his church, and the promise belongs to us as much as to the first disciples. But like every other promise, it is given on conditions. There are many who believe and profess to claim the Lord's promise; they talk about Christ and about the Holy Spirit, yet receive no benefit. They do not surrender the soul to be guided and controlled by the divine agencies. We cannot use the Holy Spirit. The Spirit is to use us. Through the Spirit God works in his people 'to will and to do of his good pleasure.' But many will not submit to this. They want to manage themselves. This is why they do not receive the heavenly gift. Only to those who wait humbly upon God, who watch f or his guidance and grace, is the Spirit given. The power of God awaits their demand and reception. This promised blessing, claimed by faith, brings all other blessings in its train. It is given according to the riches of the grace of Christ, and he is ready to supply every soul according to the capacity to receive."-"The Desire of Ages," p. 804.

LESSON SIXTY-SIX The Office and Work of the Comforter

1. The Comforter makes known Christ to the world, and is his true vicar. . Romans 8: 9, 10. (In this scripture the Spirit of God, the Spirit of Christ, and Christ are used in such a way as to show that the presence of one involves the presence of the others.) John 16:14; Acts 16:7; 1 Corinthians. 15:45; 2 Corinthians 3: 17; 4:10, 11; Galatians 4: 6; Ephesians 3: 16, 17; Philippians 1:19.

2. The Comforter transforms our characters, and bears witness that we are the children of God. 2 Corinthians 3: 18; Colossians 1:27; Acts 5: 32; John 15: 26; Romans 8: 16; 1 John 5: 7.

3. The Comforter convicts the world of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment. John 16: 7-11.

4. The Comforter is the Spirit of truth, the teacher of truth. John 15:26; 14:26; 1 John 5: 7; John 16:13, 14.

5. The Comforter, the Holy Spirit, is the director of the church. Acts 13:14; 16:6-10; 10:17-20, 44-48; 15:28.

6. The Comforter, the Holy Spirit, seals believers. Ephesians 1:13; 4: 30; Revelation 7: 3.

NOTES

The Spirit shows Christ to us

"The office of the Spirit is to take of Christ and show unto us."

"He is with us to make Christ known to us, and it will never do for us to think so meanly of his capacity as to doubt that he can make him known to us so that he shall be to us the chief among ten thousand, the one altogether lovely."

The desired gift

"The gift of the Holy Ghost to others is not a gift whereby they originate the knowledge of new truths, but a gift whereby they recognize and apprehend the old unchanging mystery, still receiving afresh the one revelation of Christ, ever approaching, never surpassing the comprehensive but immovable boundaries of the faith once delivered to the saints. This is the gift, the only gift, which we desire for our church and for ourselves; for it is one which makes the written word a living word, which fills a church with joy, and seals a soul for glory."

Father, Son, and Spirit

"To know the Father we must know the Son: to know Christ we must know the Spirit."

The function of the Spirit

"The meaning of Christ's manifestation is the essential thing for men to understand. In manifesting himself he has revealed the Father. He has in his own person shown what a divine nature is; and therefore in order to his glorification all that is required is that light be shed upon what he has done and been, and that the eyes of men be opened to see him and his work. The recognition of Christ and of God in him is the blessedness of the human race; and to bring this about is the function of the Spirit."

The gift of the Indwelling Christ

"Without the Holy Ghost we have no Christ. Christ, with all his infinite resources, with all his love, all his glory, is brought nigh to the individual believer and made a part of his being by the gift of the indwelling Christ. The Spirit of God and the truth of God are not to be divorced. Without the Spirit there is no saving truth for us; without the truth there is no Holy Ghost for us. The truth and our own natures are in necessary and violent enmity, without the conciliating Spirit. The truth lives and our own nature lives when the life-giving Spirit comes to us in the Word. Our own spirit is not a divine spirit of truth until permeated by the divine Spirit."

The mission of the Comforter

"The world, which knows not what sin really is, knows not what true righteousness is. Men imagine an external morality will suffice, and desire not the righteousness of God. Hence, when the perfectly righteous One came to his own, his own received him not: they condemned the Holy One of God as a malefactor; but he, rejected of men, ascended to the Father, and there presented his own spotless obedience to the scrutiny of infinite justice and infinite love. The world saw him no more; but the Great Surety having paid man's debt on the cross, appears in heaven for man, our sinless advocate and mediator, the man Christ Jesus. His mission of the Comforter proved the acceptance of his mighty work. This likewise resulted in the saving conviction of some, the condemning conviction of others. Thus, as the divine Spirit in convincing of sin does not stop short at any sinful acts, but goes down to and exposes the very germ and source of sin, which is unbelief, so in convincing of righteousness he does not stop short at any works of the law, which can never justify the sinner before God, but rises up to and exhibits the only justifying righteousness, even that which is of God by faith, and which is the only spring of acceptable and evangelical holiness."

Dealing with unbelief

"The way to war with all other sins is to war with unbelief, for the life of every sin is hid in unbelief, and if you slay this last you slay all."

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"The Holy Spirit convinces us of the sin of unbelief, by teaching us to recognize righteousness in Christ, not in ourselves. The great quarrel between the unbeliever and Christ is on this ground: the unbeliever says that he is righteous, and denies that Christ is. Unbelief in Christ is an affirmation of one's own righteousness."

The work of the Spirit

"The great office of the Spirit in the present economy is to communicate Christ to his church which is his body. And what is so truly essential of Christ as holiness? In him is no sin; whosoever abides in him sins not."

"What then is the office of the Holy Ghost, so far as we can interpret it, but that of communicating and applying the work of Christ to human hearts? If he convinces of sin, it is by exhibiting the gracious redemptive work of the Savior and showing men their guilt in not believing on him. If he witnesses to the penitent of his acceptance, it is by testifying of the atoning blood of Jesus in which that acceptance is grounded; if he regenerates and. sanctifies the heart, it is by communicating to it the life of the risen Lord."

"The indwelling of Christ in the human spirit-the whole process of sanctification, growing conformity to the divine image, increasing meekness for the inheritance of the saints in light-all this is by his [the Comforter's] action."

An absolute used

"We are baffled, bewildered, confounded, by our utter unfitness to convince men of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment to come. Is it not that we fail to realize how absolute is our need of the mighty and manifest advent of the Spirit?"

"In these days of skepticism and of an accommodated Bible, what thanks can we render to the God of all grace that he is pleased to pour out his Spirit in such a way on Christendom as to give authority to the awful truths of the final judgment, and thus by convincing men of the inevitable day of wrath, of the triumphant righteousness of, Christ, of that all-comprehending sin of unbelief, to dispose them to look unto the Crucified One whose blood cleanses from all sin!"

Comfort, in the truth

"The Comforter is called 'the Spirit of truth.' His work is to define and maintain the truth. He first dwells in the heart as the Spirit of truth, and thus he becomes the Comforter. There is comfort and peace in the truth, but no real peace or comfort can be found in falsehood."-"The Desire of Ages," p. 802.

The advocate in the heart

"The Holy Spirit is Christ's advocate in the heart, pleading his cause, urging his claims, vindicating him from the unworthy representations made by that which is earthly in our nature. In order that we may

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be taught to see Christ glorious, it is necessary that the Spirit of God should liberate us from all those false ideas of glory which so universally obtain among men. If we are intent upon our own glory and pine inwardly for the admiration of men, if we desire to have our faults ignored and our virtues magnified by men, if we are cultivating a spirit of self complacency, it is impossible that we should advance in the knowledge of the glory of Christ. We must decrease that he may increase."

The means of constant victory

"We do consider it possible that one may experience a great crisis in his spiritual life in which there is such a total self-surrender to God and such an infilling of the Holy Spirit, that he is freed from the bondage of sinful appetites and habits, and enabled to have constant victory over self, instead of suffering constant defeat."

An assuring conviction

"This witness of the Spirit is the assuring conviction of the new birth and of the spiritual life which is wrought in the heart by the direct agency of the Holy Spirit of God."

A question answered

"The question is, Shall the sinner's pretensions be sustained, or shall the assertions of Christ be ratified? This question is answered by the outpouring of the Spirit of God. He makes known the righteousness of Christ, and the fact of his righteousness overwhelms with the deep confusion of a manifest and gigantic unrighteousness the miserable sinner who so long rejected the Savior."

A threefold work

"The Comforter in every part of his threefold work glorifies Christ. In convincing of sin he convinces us of the sin of not believing on Christ. In convincing us of righteousness, he convinces us of the righteousness of Christ, of that righteousness which was made manifest in Christ going to the Father, and which he received to bestow on all such as should believe in him. And lastly, in convincing of judgment, he convinces us that the prince of the world was judged in the life and by the death of Christ. Thus throughout, Christ is glorified; and that which the Comforter shows to us relates in all its parts to the life and work of the incarnate Son of God."

The only effectual teacher

The preaching of the word will be of no avail without the continual presence and aid of the Holy Spirit. This is the only effectual teacher of divine truth. Only when the truth is accompanied to the heart by the Spirit, will it quicken the conscience or transform the life. One might be able to present the letter of the word of God, he might be familiar with all its commands and promises; but unless the Holy Spirit sets home the truth, no souls will fall on the Rock and be broken. No

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amount of education, no advantages, however great, can make one a channel of light without the co-operation of the Spirit of God."-"The Desire of Ages," p. 803.

"Jesus had opened before his disciples a vast tract of truth. But it was most difficult for them to keep his lessons distinct from the traditions and maxims of the scribes and Pharisees. They had been educated to accept the teaching of the rabbis as the voice of God, and it still held a power over their minds, and molded their sentiments. Earthly ideas, temporal things, still had a large place in their thoughts. They did not understand the spiritual nature of Christ's kingdom, though he had so often explained it to them. Their minds had become confused. They did not comprehend the value of the scriptures Christ presented. Many of his lessons seemed almost lost upon them. Jesus saw that they did not lay hold of the real meaning of his words. He compassionately promised that the Holy Spirit should recall these sayings to their minds. And he had left unsaid many things that could not be comprehended by the disciples. These also would be opened to them by the Spirit. The Spirit was to quicken their understanding, that they might have an appreciation of heavenly things. 'When he, the Spirit of truth, is come,' said Jesus, 'he will guide you into all truth."-Id., pp. 801, 802.

"It is to be feared that there are very few who are not cutting themselves off from important discoveries of Christ's glory by the habit of secret self-laudation, and by a desire for the applauding regards of men. There is not anything more utterly opposed to the mind of the Spirit. While these self-complacent thoughts prevail, the Spirit of God is vanquished. It is the mission of the Spirit to correct this error, and cause us to discover all glory in Christ, and count all things but loss for the excellence of the knowledge of him who gave himself for us."

The sin of sins

"The sin of not believing on Christ is to be estimated by the character of Christ; the things that he suffered; the reason for which he suffered; his present exaltation; the glory of his mediatorial reign; his long-suffering toward the unbeliever; the disastrous influence of unbelief; the unspeakable blessing called down upon the world by faith. Rightly ponder any of these considerations, and the sin of unbelief will be seen to be infinite. And yet there is no sin that so lightly burdens the consciences of men as the sin of not having believed in Christ. Men condemn themselves bitterly for other sins for a lie, for instance, into which they may have been surprised; and yet there is not in their heart a whisper of self-reproach for having made Christ a liar. This is that one sin which gives all other sins a perpetuity of damning power."

The highest of all gifts

"In describing to his disciples the office work of the Holy Spirit, Jesus sought to inspire them with the joy and hope that inspired his own heart. He rejoiced because of the abundant help he had provided

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for his church. The Holy Spirit was the highest of all gifts that he could solicit from his Father for the exaltation of his people. The Spirit was to be given as a regenerating agent, and without this the sacrifice of Christ would have been of no avail. The power of evil had been strengthening for centuries, and the submission of men to this satanic captivity was amazing. Sin could be resisted and overcome only through the mighty agency of the third person of the Godhead, who would come with no modified energy, but in the fullness of divine power. It is the Spirit that makes effectual what has been wrought out by the world's Redeemer. It is by the Spirit that the heart is made pure. Through the Spirit the believer becomes a partaker of the divine nature. Christ has given his Spirit as a divine power to overcome all hereditary and cultivated tendencies to evil, and to impress his own character upon his church."-"The Desire of Ages," pp. 800, 803.

The only guide

"Christ was the truth; and none but the Spirit of truth could guide them into anything like a worthy apprehension of his character and work, his sufferings, his death, his will, his help."

"In the guidance of the Holy Ghost we enjoy that which is fully equal to the guiding, comforting, and strengthening influence of the Lord Jesus as enjoyed by the apostles."

"We put on freedom just in the measure that we bring to the study of the word of God the sense of our absolute dependence upon the Spirit of God to guide us into the truth. Without his guidance it will prove a mere labyrinth to us. He that gave the truth gave the Spirit of truth."

"Without the Spirit of truth our memories will remain unacquainted with the words of Jesus. But before the Spirit thus makes the chambers of memory redolent with the fragrance of the things of Christ, he subdues the affections and guides the will."

"What magnificent revelations may we not expect from such a teacher! What sublime views of Christ must those be that the Spirit himself entertains! How far doubtless do they transcend our highest conceptions of him who is fairer than the sons of men!"

A blessed truth

"Language could not be more express as to the great and blessed truth that, under the dispensation of the Spirit, Jesus comes nearer to his people, and makes more intimate and enriching communications to them, than was possible in the days when He dwelt upon the earth."

The key to the prophecies

"Other things being equal, the man who has enjoyed the richest and fullest experience of the operations of the Spirit in his own heart will be most competent to interpret the prophecies to his fellow men.

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These prophecies were originally given by the medium of holy men of old, the holiest of their generation, who spoke as they were moved by the Holy Ghost, and the key to them will be placed by the same Spirit in the hands of Lim who yields himself heartily, fearlessly, and unflinchingly to the guidance of the Spirit."

A special gift

"And when He had said this, he breathed on them, and said unto them, Receive you the Holy Ghost; 'whosesoever sins you remit, they are remitted unto them; and whosesoever sins you retain, they are retained.' 'The Holy Spirit was not yet fully manifested; for Christ had not yet been glorified. The more abundant impartation of the Spirit did not take place till after Christ's ascension. Not until this was received could the disciples fulfill the commission to preach the gospel to the world. But the Spirit was now given for a special purpose. Before the disciples could fulfill their official duties in connection with the church, Christ breathed his Spirit upon them. He was committing to them a most sacred trust, and he desired to impress them with the fact that without the Holy Spirit this work could not be accomplished."

-"The Desire of Ages", p. 964.

The presiding Spirit

"In the simple story of the primitive mission, as recorded in the thirteenth of Acts, we see how every step in the enterprise was originated and directed by the presiding Spirit. We observe this:

"1. In the selection of missionaries: 'The Holy Ghost said, Separate me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I have called them.' 13:2.

"2. In their thrusting forth into the field: So they, being sent forth by the Holy Ghost, departed unto Seleucia.' 13:4.

"3. In empowering them to speak: 'Then Saul, who also is called Paul, filled with the Holy Ghost, said.' 13: 9.

"4. In sustaining them in persecution: 'And the disciples were filled with joy and with the Holy Ghost.' 13: 52.

"5. In setting the divine seal upon their ministry among the Gentiles: 'And God, which knows the hearts, bare them witness, giving them the Holy Ghost, even as he did unto us.' 15:8.

"6. In counseling in difficult questions of missionary policy: 'It seemed good to the Holy Ghost and to us.' 15: 28.

7. In restraining the missionaries from entering into fields not yet appointed by the Lord: They were forbidden of the Holy Ghost to preach the gospel in Asia. . . . They assayed to go into Bithynia: but the Spirit suffered them not." 16: 6, 7.

"Very striking is this record of the ever present, unfailing, and minute direction of the Holy Ghost in all the steps of this divine enterprise."

All gifts in the one Gift

Thus we have had the endowment of the Spirit presented to us under three aspects-sealing, filling, and anointing-all of which terms, so far as we can understand, signify the same thing the gift of the Holy Ghost appropriated through faith. Each of these terms is connected with some special divine endowment-the seal with assurance and consecration; the filling with power; and the anointing with knowledge. All these gifts are wrapped up in the one gift in which they are included, and without whom we are excluded from their possession."

The pledge of purchase

"The allusion to the seal as a pledge of purchase would be peculiarly intelligible to the Ephesians, for Ephesus was a maritime city, and an extensive trade in timber was carried on there by the shipmasters of the neighboring ports. The method of purchase was this: The merchant, after selecting his timber, stamped it with his own signet, which was an acknowledged sign of ownership. He often did not carry on his possession at the time; it was left in the harbor with other floats of timber; but it was chosen, bought, and stamped; and in due time the merchant sent a trusty agent with the signet, who, finding that timber which bore a corresponding impress, claimed and brought it away for the master's use. Thus the Holy Spirit impresses on the soul now the image of Jesus Christ; and this is the sure pledge of the everlasting inheritance."

Section XIV–THE SABBATH OF THE LORD

LESSON SIXTY-SEVEN Origin and Nature of the Sabbath

1. The Sabbath was instituted at the close of the work of creation, and was made for man. Genesis 2:1-3; Mark 2: 27.

2. The Sabbath was observed by the children of Israel before the law was proclaimed at Sinai. Exodus 16: 21-30.

3. During their long bondage in Egypt, the children of Israel lost, to a large degree, their knowledge of the true God and of his requirements, therefore at Sinai their duty to God and to man, which had been enjoined before the experience in Egypt (Genesis 26:5), was summarized in the Ten Commandments, the fourth of which called attention to the Sabbath already existing and referred to the creation as its basic reason. Exodus 20: 8-11.

4. The presence of God gives rest and makes holy, and it was the blessing of his presence which made the Sabbath a day of spiritual rest and "hallowed it," or constituted it a holy day. Exodus 33: 14; 3: 4, 5; Joshua 5: 15; Genesis 2: 3, ARV.

5. The rest from physical work on the seventh day of the week is an outward token of our rest from our own works, which are sinful, and our entrance into that spiritual rest which comes as the result of ceasing from sin. Hebrews 4: 1-5, 10, ARV.

NOTES

The meaning of "Sabbath."

Read the "Source Book," pages 458-462.

"The term 'Sabbath' is transferred from the Hebrew language, and signifies rest. The command, 'Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy,' is therefore exactly equivalent to saying, 'Remember the rest day, to keep it holy.' The explanation which follows sustains this statement: 'The seventh day is the Sabbath [or rest day] of the Lord thy God.' The origin of this rest day is given in these words: 'For in six days the

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Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day, and hallowed it.' That which is enjoined in the fourth commandment is to keep holy the rest day of the Lord. And this is defined to be the day on which he rested from the work of creation. Moreover, the fourth commandment calls the seventh day the Sabbath day at the time when God blessed and hallowed that day; therefore the Sabbath is an institution dating from the foundation of the world. The fourth commandment points back to the creation for the origin of its obligation; and when we go back to that point, we find the substance of the fourth commandment given to Adam: 'God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified: it;' i.e., set it apart to a holy use. And in the commandment itself, the same fact is stated: 'The Lord blessed the Sabbath day, and hallowed it;' i.e., appointed it to a holy use. The one statement affirms that 'God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it;' the other, that 'the Lord blessed the Sabbath day, and hallowed it.'

"These two statements refer to the same acts. Because the word Sabbath does not occur in the first statement, it has been contended that the Sabbath did not originate at creation, it being the seventh day merely which was hallowed. From the second statement it has been contended that God did not bless the seventh day at all, but simply the Sabbath institution. But both statements embody all the truth. God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it; and this day, thus, blessed and hallowed, was his holy Sabbath, or rest day. Thus the fourth commandment establishes the origin of the Sabbath at creation."

"Moses says, That in just six days the world, and all that is therein, was made; and that the seventh day was a rest, and a release from the labor of such operations; whence it is that we celebrate a rest from our labors on that day, and call it the Sabbath, which word de notes rest in the Hebrew tongue."

-"Antiquities of the Jews," Josephus, book 1, chapter 1, section 1.

The foundation of the Sabbath

"Although the work of the Creator was finished, the first week of time was not yet completed. Each of the six days had been distinguished by the Creator's work upon it. But the seventh was rendered memorable in a very different manner. 'And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made.' In yet stronger language it is written: 'On the seventh day he rested, and was refreshed.'

"Thus the seventh day of the week became the rest day of the Lord. How remarkable is this fact! 'The everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth, faints not, neither is weary.' He needs no rest; yet it is written, 'On the seventh day he rested, and was refreshed.' Why does not the record simply state the cessation of the Creator's work? Why did he at the close of that work employ a day in rest? The answer will be learned from the next verse-Genesis 2:3.

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He was laying the foundation of a divine institution, the memorial of his own great work.

"The second act of the Creator in instituting this memorial was to place his blessing upon the day of his rest. Thence forward it was the blessed rest day of the Lord. A third act completes the sacred institution: the day already blessed of God is now, last of all, sanctified, or hallowed, by him. To sanctify is 'to make sacred or holy; to set apart to a holy or religious use; to consecrate by appropriate rites; to hallow.' To hallow is 'to make holy; to set apart for holy or religious use; to consecrate."

"The time when these three acts were performed is worthy of special notice. The first act was that of rest. This took place on the seventh day; for the day was devoted to rest. The second and third acts took place when the seventh day was past. 'God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it he had rested from all his work.' Hence it was on the first day of the second week of time that God blessed the seventh day, and set it apart to a holy use. The blessing and sanctification of the seventh day, therefore, relate, not to the first seventh day of time, but to the seventh day of the week for time to come, in memory of God's rest on that day from the work of creation."

Luther on the Sabbath

Martin Luther, in his 'Sermons on Genesis,' thus clearly testifies to the existence of the Sabbath before man sinned:

"Seeing the Scriptures mention the Sabbath before Adam, was not he then commanded to work six days, and rest on the seventh? Doubtless go, for we hear that he should labor in Eden, and have dominion over the fishes, birds, and beasts.'

"That man would have kept the Sabbath, had he not fallen into sin, Luther shows, as follows:

"And this labor and dominion would have remained, yet without toil and misery. Woman would also have borne children, yet without anguish, wailing, or travail: but on the seventh day all would have been quiet and at rest."

The Sabbath for man

"Testimony of our divine Lord relative to the origin and design of the Sabbath is of peculiar importance. He is competent to testify; for he was with the Father in the beginning of the creation. 'The Sabbath was made for man,' said he, 'not man for the Sabbath.' The following grammatical rule is worthy of notice: 'A noun without an adjective is invariably taken in its broadest extension; as, Man is accountable.' The following texts will illustrate this rule, and also this statement of our Lord's: 'Man lies down, and rises not: till the heavens be no more, they shall not awake, nor be raised out of their sleep.' 'There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man.' It is appointed unto men once to die.' In these texts, 'man' is used without restriction, hence all mankind are necessarily intended. The

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Sabbath was therefore made for the whole human family, and consequently originated with mankind. 'The seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God;' yet he made the Sabbath for man. 'God made the Sabbath his by solemn appropriation, that he might convey it back to us under the guaranty of a divine charter, that none might rob us off it with impunity."

The Sabbath at creation

"The Sabbath institution, which originated in Eden, is as old as the world itself. It was observed by all the patriarchs, from creation down. During the bondage in Egypt, the Israelites were forced by their taskmasters to violate the Sabbath, and to a great extent they lost the knowledge of its sacredness. When the law was proclaimed at Sinai, the very first words of the fourth commandment were, 'Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy,' showing that the Sabbath was not then instituted; we are pointed back for its origin to creation. In order to obliterate God from the minds of men, Satan aimed to tear down this great memorial. If men could be led to forget their Creator, they would make no effort to resist the power of evil, and Satan would be sure of his prey."-"Patriarchs and Prophets," p. 336.

What a history!

"Although the Sabbath was trodden underfoot and generally neglected during the long period of papal supremacy it has never wholly ceased to be observed. From creation all along down the ages a holy line of witnesses for the Sabbath of the Bible may be traced. And now since the darkness of the world's midnight has been dispelled, thousands of witnesses for the Sabbath of creation, Sinai, and the cross are springing up in all lands.

"What a history, therefore, has the Sabbath! Instituted in Paradise; honored by God; set apart by divine appointment and given to man; observed by patriarchs, prophets, apostles, and the Lord Jesus Christ himself; trampled in the dust for over one thousand years by the man of sin; and finally restored by the remnant people of God such, in brief, is its record."

LESSON SIXTY-EIGHT The Sign of the Old Creation and of the New Creation

1. The Sabbath is a sign of the original creation and of God's rest at its close. Exodus 20: 11; 31:16, 17.

2. The Sabbath is a sign of the creative power of God working through Christ, since all things were created through Christ. John 1:3; 1 Corinthians 8: 6; Hebrews 1:2.

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3. The Sabbath is further a sign of the everlasting power and divinity of Christ, since these are revealed through the creative work. Romans 1:20.

4. The Sabbath is a sign of God's power working unto sanctification or salvation. Exodus 31:12, 13; Ezekiel 20: 12.

5. The Sabbath is a sign of God's power working through Christ in the new creation, since salvation from sin is a creative work. Ephesians 2: 10; 2 Corinthians 5: 17, ARV, margin.

6. The Sabbath is therefore a sign of our acceptance of God's power working through Christ for our salvation from sin, and true Sabbath keeping is the experience of the rest from sin which is a consequence of faith in Christ as our all-sufficient Savior. Ephesians 3:20, 21; Hebrews 7:25; Romans 1:16; 1 Peter 1:5.

NOTES

The Sabbath a sign

"The Sabbath was a sign between God and the children of Israel, because they alone were the worshipers of the Creator. All other nations had turned from him to 'the gods that have not made the heavens and the earth.' For this reason the memorial of the great Creator was committed to the Hebrews. Thus was the Sabbath a golden link uniting the Creator and his worshipers."

"The sign, or seal, of God is revealed in the observance of the seventh-day Sabbath, the Lord's memorial of creation. 'The Lord spoke unto Moses, saying, Speak thou also unto the children of Israel, saying, Verily my Sabbaths you shall keep; for it is a sign between me and you throughout your generations; that you may know that I am the Lord that doth sanctify you.' Exodus 31:12, 13. Here the Sabbath is clearly designated as a sign between God and his people.

"The mark of the beast is the opposite of this, the observance of the first day of the week. This mark distinguishes those who acknowledge the supremacy of the papal authority from those who acknowledge the authority of God."-"Testimonies for the Church," Volume 8, p. 117.

"The Sabbath is a sign of the relationship existing between God and his people,-a sign that they are his obedient subjects, that they keep holy his law. The observance of the Sabbath is the means ordained by God of preserving a knowledge of himself and of distinguishing between his loyal subjects and the transgressors of his law." - Id., p. 198.

"The Sabbath is ever the sign that distinguishes the obedient from the disobedient. With masterly power Satan has worked to make null and void the fourth commandment, that the sign of God may be lost sight of. The Christian world have trodden underfoot the Sabbath of

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the Lord, and observe a Sabbath instituted by the enemy. But God has a people who are loyal to him. His work is to be carried forward in right lines. The people who bear his sign are to establish churches and institutions as memorials to him. These memorials, however humble in appearance, will constantly bear witness against the false Sabbath instituted by Satan, and in favor of the Sabbath instituted by the Lord in Eden, when the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy."-Id., Volume 7, p. 105.

"The line of demarcation between our people and the world must ever be kept unmistakably plain. Our platform is the law of God, in which we are enjoined to observe the Sabbath day; for, as is distinctly stated in the THIRTY-first chapter of Exodus, the observance of the Sabbath is a sign between God and his people. 'Verily my Sabbaths you shall keep,' he declares; 'for it is a sign between me and you throughout your generations; that you may know that I am the Lord that doth sanctify you.' 'Ye shall keep the Sabbath therefore; for it is holy unto you. It is a sign between me and the children of Israel forever; for in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day he rested, and was refreshed."

"We are to heed a 'Thus said the Lo rd,' even though by our obedience we cause great inconvenience to those who have no respect for the Sabbath."-Id., p. 122.

LESSON SIXTY-NINE The Sabbath in the Old Testament

1. The Sabbath was known and observed before the law was proclaimed at Sinai. Genesis 2:2-3; Exodus 16: 27-30.

2. After the deliverance from Egypt the Sabbath was set forth as a sign of the power which wrought in that deliverance. Deuteronomy 5: 15.

3. The Sabbath was recognized in the instruction concerning the sanctuary service. Leviticus 23: 15, 16; 24: 8.

4. When the Babylonish captivity was impending, a definite promise was made that Jerusalem would stand forever, if the people would regard the Sabbath. Jeremiah 17: 21-25.

5. In the time of the restoration of Jerusalem the people were told that the captivity came because of the disregard of the Sabbath, and Nehemiah took action to prevent the continued desecration of the day. Nehemiah 13: 15, 16, 19-22.

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6. Through the prophet Isaiah special blessings were promised to those who kept the Sabbath. Isaiah

56:1, 2, 6, 7.

7. A merely formal observance of the Sabbath is mentioned by the prophet Amos. Amos 8: 4, 5.

8. Throughout the whole period previous to the first advent the Sabbath stood as a sign of the power of God for the sanctification of his people. Exodus 31:12, 13; Ezekiel 20: 12.

NOTES

Why not mentioned in Genesis

"It is objected that there is no precept in the book of Genesis for the observance of the Sabbath, and consequently that no obligation existed on the part of the patriarchs to observe it. There is a defect in this argument not noticed by those who use it. The book of Genesis was not a rule given to the patriarchs to walk by. On the contrary, it was written by Moses twenty-five hundred years after creation, and long after the patriarchs were dead. Consequently, the fact that certain precepts are not found in Genesis is no evidence that they were not obligatory upon the patriarchs. Thus the book does not command men to love God with all their hearts, and their neighbors as themselves; nor does it prohibit idolatry, blasphemy, disobedience to parents, adultery, theft, false witness, or covetousness. Who will affirm from this that the patriarchs were under no restraint in these things? As a mere record of events, written long after their occurrence, it was not necessary that the book should contain a moral code. But had the book been given to the patriarchs as a rule of life, it must have contained such a code."

No argument from this silence

"There is not on record a single instance of the observance of the great day of atonement, notwithstanding the work in the holiest on that day was the most important service connected with the earthly sanctuary. And yet the observance of the other and less important festivals of the seventh month, which are so intimately connected with the day of atonement, the one preceding it by ten days, the other following it in five, is repeatedly and particularly recorded. It would be sophistry to argue from this silence respecting the day of atonement, when there were so many instances in which its mention was almost demanded, that that day was never observed; and yet it is actually a better argument than the similar one urged against the Sabbath from the book of Genesis."

What Exodus 16 shows

"This narrative [Exodus 16] shows: 1. That God had a law and commandments prior to the giving of the manna. 2. That God, in giving his people bread from heaven, designed to prove them respecting his law. 3. That in this law was the holy Sabbath; for the test relative to walking in the law pertained directly to the Sabbath; and when God said, 'How long refuse you to keep my commandments and my laws?' it was

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the Sabbath which they had violated. 4. That in proving the people respecting this existing law, Moses gave no new precept respecting the Sabbath, but remained silent relative to the preparation for the Sabbath until after the people of their own accord had gathered a double portion on the sixth day. 5. That by this act the people proved, not only that they were not ignorant of the Sabbath, but that they were disposed to observe it. 6. That the reckoning of the week, traces of which appear through the patriarchal age, had been rightly kept; for the people knew when the sixth day had arrived. 7. That had there been any doubt existing on that point, the fall of the manna on the six days, the withholding of it on the seventh, and the preservation of that needed for the Sabbath over that day, must have settled that point incontrovertibly. 8. That there was no act of instituting the Sabbath in the Wilderness of Sin; for God did not then make it his rest day, nor did he then bless and sanctify the day. On the contrary, the record shows that the seventh day was already the sanctified rest day of the Lord. 9. That the obligation to observe the Sabbath existed and was known before the fall of manna; for the language used implies the existence of such an obligation, but does not contain a new enactment until after some of the people had violated the Sabbath. God says to Moses, 'On the sixth day they shall prepare that which they bring in,' but he does, not speak of the seventh. And on the sixth day, Moses said, 'Tomorrow is the rest of the holy Sabbath unto the Lord,' but he does not command them to observe it. On the seventh day he says that it is the Sabbath, and that they would find no manna in the field. 'Six clays you shall gather it; but on the seventh day', which is the Sabbath, in it there shall be none.' But in all this there is no precept given, yet the existence of such a precept is plainly implied. 10. That when some of the people violated the Sabbath, they were reproved in language which clearly indicated a previous transgression of this precept. 'How long refuse you to keep my commandments and my laws?' 11. And that this rebuke of the Lawgiver restrained for the time the transgression of the people, for the record says, 'So the people rested on the seventh day.'"

LESSON SEVENTY The Sabbath in the New Testament

1. It was the custom of Jesus to observe the Sabbath. Luke 4:16; Mark 6:1, 2.

2. By his acts of healing on the Sabbath, Jesus taught the gospel of restoration. Mark 3: 1-5; Luke 13:10-13.

3. Jesus taught that acts of mercy were consistent with true Sabbath keeping. Matthew 12: 12.

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4. Jesus sought to free the Sabbath from the burdensome traditions which the Pharisees had added to the commandment. Matthew 12: 1-8; John 5: 8-11; 7: 22-24.

5. In his great prophecy our Lord recognized that the Sabbath would be in existence at the time of the destruction of Jerusalem. Matthew 24: 20.

6. At the time of the crucifixion the Sabbath of the commandment was observed. Luke 13: 56.

7. At the same time the Sabbath was recognized as the day just preceding the first day of the week. Matthew 28: 1.

8. In the Acts of the Apostles the same Sabbath is recognized as the weekly day of rest and worship. Acts 13: 14, 27, 42, 44; 16: 13; 18: 4.

9. The same Sabbath which is closely associated with the sanctuary in the Old Testament, is introduced in the interpretation of the sanctuary in the epistle to the Hebrews & Leviticus 19:30; 26:2; Hebrews 4:3, 4. (When the Lord gave to Moses the instruction concerning the sanctuary and its services, he connected therewith instruction concerning the Sabbath; and when Moses repeated the instruction to the people, he did the same. See Exodus 25 to 31; 35: 1-3)

10. The revelations made to the apostle John were given to him on the Sabbath. Compare Isaiah 58: 13 with Revelation 1:10.

NOTES

The Lord of the Sabbath

"Having divested the Sabbath of all Pharisaic additions, our Lord concludes with this remarkable declaration: 'Therefore the Son of man is Lord also of the Sabbath.' 1. It was not a disparagement to the Sabbath, but an honor, that God's only Son should claim to be its Lord. 2. Nor was it derogatory to the character of the Redeemer to be the Lord of the Sabbath; with all the high honors pertaining to his Messiah-ship, he is also Lord of the Sabbath. Or, if we take the expression in Matthew, he is 'Lord even of the Sabbath day,' it shows that it is not a small honor to possess such a title. 3. This title implies that the Messiah should be the protector, and not the destroyer, of the Sabbath; and hence that he was the rightful one to decide the proper nature of Sabbath observance."

False views of the Sabbath

"From open disregard and wanton desecration of the Sabbath in the time of the prophets, Israel, the professed and chosen people of God,

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had swung to the other extreme, that of a rigorous, burdensome, and unreasonable observance of it, in the time of Christ. Because of the former, and of their refusal to heed the messages of reproof, warning, and reform sent by God through the prophets, their city and temple were destroyed, and they were carried away into the seventy years' captivity. Because of the latter, and their refusal to accept Christ, the great Prophet, Teacher, and Sabbath Reformer sent of God, and his messages of reproof, warning, and reform, their city and temple were again to be destroyed, and they led away captive into every nation under heaven, there to remain till the gospel of the kingdom should be preached as a witness unto all nations. So wedded were they to their traditions, and so tenacious were they for their views respecting the Sabbath and its observance, that they would crucify the Lord of the Sabbath himself before they would yield their false views and accept Christ and his teachings, even though indorsed of God by the most wonderful miracles performed among men."

Observance by the apostolic church

"That the apostolic church did sacredly regard the Sabbath, as well as all the other precepts of the moral law, admits of no doubt. The fact is proved by several considerations: (1) The early Christians were not accused of its violation by their most inveterate enemies; (2) They held sin to be the transgression of the law, and that the law was the great standard by which sin is shown, and that by which sin becomes exceeding sinful, facts which are certainly very decisive evidence that the apostolic church did keep the fourth commandment; (3) the testimony of James relative to the Ten Commandments, that he who violates one of them becomes guilty of all, is another strong evidence that the primitive church did sacredly regard the whole law of God; but (4) besides these facts, we have, a peculiar guaranty that the Sabbath of the Lord was not forgotten by the apostolic church. The prayer which our Lord taught his disciples, that their flight from Judea should not be upon the Sabbath, was, as we have seen, designed to impress its sacredness deeply upon their minds, and must have secured that result."

Sabbath-keeping churches

"At this place [Corinth], also, Paul found Gentiles as well as Jews in attendance upon the worship of God on the Sabbath. The first members of the church at Corinth were therefore observers of the Sabbath at the time they received the gospel; and, as we have seen, they followed the example of the Sabbath-keeping church of Thessalonica, which in turn patterned after the churches in Judea.

"The first churches were founded in the land of Judea. All their members had from childhood been familiar with the law of God, and well understood the precept, 'Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.' Besides this precept all these churches had a peculiar reminder of the Sabbath. They knew from our Lord himself that the time was coming when they must all suddenly flee from that land; and in view of

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this fact they were to pray that the moment of their sudden flight might not be on the Sabbath, a prayer which was designed, as we have seen, to preserve the sacredness of the Sabbath. That the churches in Judea were composed of Sabbath-keeping members is, therefore, established beyond controversy."

The Lord's day is the Sabbath

"That the Lord's day is the Bible Sabbath admits of clear and certain proof. The argument stands thus: When God gave to man six days of the week for labor, he expressly reserved for himself the seventh, on which he placed his blessing in memory of his own act of resting upon that day, and thenceforward, through the Bible, has ever claimed it as his holy day. As he has never put away this sacred day and chosen another, the Sabbath of the Lord is still his holy day. These facts may be traced in the following scriptures. At the close of the Creator's rest, it is said:

"'And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made.'

"After the children of Israel had reached the Wilderness of Sin, Moses said to them on the sixth day:

"'Tomorrow is the rest of the holy Sabbath unto the Lord.'

"In giving the ten commandments, the Lawgiver thus stated his claim to this day:

"The seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God: for in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day, and hallowed it."

"He gave to man the six days on which he himself had labored, and reserved as his own that day upon which he had rested from all his work. About eight hundred years after this, God spoke by Isaiah as follows:

"If thou turn away thy foot from the Sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on my holy day.... then shall thou delight thyself in the Lord; and I will cause thee to ride upon the high places of the earth."

"This testimony is perfectly explicit; the Lord's day is the ancient Sabbath of the Bible."

The Sabbath at the crucifixion

"At last Jesus was at rest. The long day of shame and torture was ended. As the last rays of the setting sun ushered in the Sabbath, the Son of God lay in quietude in Joseph's tomb. His work completed, his hands folded in peace, he rested through the sacred hours of the Sabbath day.

"In the beginning the Father and the Son had rested upon the Sabbath after their work of creation. When the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host 'of them,' the Creator And all heavenly beings rejoiced in contemplation of the glorious scene. 'The morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy.' Now Jesus rested from the work of redemption; and though there was grief among those who loved him on earth, yet there was joy in heaven. Glorious to

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the eyes of heavenly beings was the promise of the future. A restored creation, a redeemed race, that having conquered sin could never fall, this, the result to flow from Christ's completed work, God and angels saw. With this scene the day upon which Jesus rested is forever linked. For 'his work is perfect; and whatsoever God doeth, it shall be forever.' When there shall be a 'restitution of all things which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began,' the creation Sabbath, the day on which Jesus lay at rest in Joseph's tomb, will still be a day of rest and rejoicing. Heaven and earth will unite in praise, as 'from one Sabbath to another,' the nations of the saved shall bow in joyful worship to God and the Lamb."-"The Desire of Ages," pp. 923, 924.

LESSON SEVENTY-ONE The First Day of the Week in the New Testament

1. The first day of the week is mentioned as the day on which Christ rose from the dead. Matthew 28:1; Mark 16: 2, 9; Luke 24: 1-3; John 20: 1.

2. The disciples refused to believe the testimony of those who declared that Christ was risen from the dead. Mark 16: 9-14; Luke 24: 25, 26, 36-43; John 20: 9.

3. It was recommended to the churches of Galatia and at Corinth that a proper share of their 4ncome should be laid aside at home on the first day of the week, for the benefit of the needy Christians. 1 Corinthians 16: 1-3.

4. On the first day of the week Paul journeyed from Troas to Assos, after holding a meeting during the first half of the previous night. Acts 20: 7-13.

5. It was thought proper to do on the first day of the week, work which had been deferred on account of the Sabbath. Luke 23: 55 to 24: 1.

NOTES

Sunday observance not an apostolic institution

"Taken separately, perhaps, and even all together, these passages [which mention the first day of the week in the New Testament] seem scarcely adequate to prove that the dedication of the first day of the week to the purposes above mentioned as a matter of apostolic institution, or oven of apostolic practice."-Smith's "Bible Dictionary," art. "Lord's Day" by J. A. Hessey.

No command for it

"The religious observance of the first day of the week rests on no recorded command."-"The Expositor's Bible," Colossians, Alexander MacLaren, p. 232.

Human appointment makes no time holy

"Nor could any general consent to set apart a day for religious uses make the day sacred as the Sabbath was sacred. No person, no place, no time could be set apart for God by any human appointment, and so made holy. Every consecrated person, place, and time was consecrated, not by the fervor of human devotion, but by the authority of the divine will."-"Lectures on the Ephesians," R. W. Dale, pp. 18, 19.

The meaning of "by him."

"The whole question [concerning 1 Corinthians 16:1-3] turns upon the meaning of the expression 'by him;' and I marvel greatly how you can imagine that it means 'in the collection box of the congregation.' Greenfield, in his Lexicon, translates the Greek term, 'with one's self, i.e., at home.' Two Latin versions, the Vulgate and that of Castellio, render it 'apud se,' with one's self; at home. Three French translations, those of Martin, Osterwald and De Sacy, 'chez soi,' at his own house; at home. The German of Luther, 'bei sich selbst,' by himself; at home. The Dutch, 'by hemselven,' same as the German. The Italian of Diodati, 'appresso di se,' in his own presence, at home. The Spanish of Felippe Scio, 'en su casa,' in his own house. The Portuguese of Ferreira, 'para isso,' with himself. The Swedish, 'naer sig self,' near himself."-"Vindication of the True Sabbath," J. W. Morton, pp. 51, 52.

The meeting at Troas

"The labors of the early days of the week that was spent at Troas are not related to us but concerning the last day we have a narrative which enters into details with all the minuteness of one of the Gospel histories. It was the evening which succeeded the Jewish Sabbath [italics ours]. On the Sunday morning the vessel was about to sail. The Christians of Troas were gathered together at this solemn time to celebrate that feast of love which the last commandment of Christ has enjoined on all his followers."

"But the time came when Paul too must depart. The vessel might arrive at Assos before him, and, whatever influence he might have with the seamen, he could not count on any long delay. He hastened, therefore, through the southern gate past the hot springs, and through the oak woods, then in full foliage, which cover all that shore with greenness and shade, and across the wild watercourses on the western side of Ida. Such is the scenery which now surrounds the traveler on his way from Troas to Assos."

"And strength and peace were surely sought and obtained by the apostle from the Redeemer as he pursued his lonely road that Sunday

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afternoon [italics ours] in spring among the oak woods and the streams of Ida."-"The Life and Epistles of the Apostle Paul," Conybeare and Howson, pp.520-522. New York: T. Y. Crowell And Co.

The origin of Sunday observance

"Protestants now urge that the resurrection of Christ on Sunday made it the Christian Sabbath. But Scripture evidence is lacking. No such honor was given to the day by Christ or his apostles. The observance of Sunday as a Christian institution had its origin in that 'mystery of lawlessness' which, even in Paul's day, had begun its work."-"The Great Controversy," p. 54.

Some important admissions

The following NOTES from the Bampton Lecture on 'Sunday' contain some admissions which really strengthen the conviction that the Sabbath was never changed by divine authority, and also show the nature of some of the reasons adduced in order to defend the observance of a day which the Lord never designated as the Sabbath:

"If you desire dogmatic statements on this class of subjects, I may say to the Sabbatarians, you will not find them in Scripture, in reference to confirmation, orders, infant baptism, any more than in reference to the ordinance [Sunday keeping] now in question."-'Sunday', (Bampton Lectures), J. A. Hessey, p. 29.

"Nothing Sabbatical, either in the sense of commanded rest (though rest to a certain extent would be a necessary condition to the fulfillment of its duties, and indeed, as we shall show hereafter, is implied in the very idea of the Lord's day), or in the way of implication that the whole of it is to be employed in directly religious observances, or that such religious observances as are employed should be cast in a particular mold, or that such and such acts are prohibited during its continuance; nothing, I say, of this sort is to be found in what we may call the charter deed of the institution of the Lord's day. Whatever of this sort afterward formally belonged to it, is of ecclesiastical ruling in the lower sense of the term is obligatory in a secondary degree only, in deference to the voice of the ancient church, or to that of our own or as suggested by the nature of the case, or by Christian charity, or by (what no good man will disregard), considerations of public utility." Id., p. 40.

"It has been imagined that whatever evidence can be brought that the Sabbath exists still, will assist in the transfer of the spirit of the Sabbath, or of the Sabbath itself to the Lord's day. It would do nothing of the sort. It would merely strengthen that very extreme opinion that the seventh day, or Saturday Sabbath, is binding upon Christians. The difficulty of the transfer would remain. Scripture does not sanction it. The Fathers do not sanction it."-Id., p. 131.

"Those who judge that in the place of the Sabbath the Lord's day was instituted as a day to be necessarily observed, are greatly mistaken. Scripture abrogated the Sabbath, and teaches that all the Mosaic ceremonies

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may be omitted now that the gospel is revealed. And yet, forasmuch as it was needful to appoint a certain day that the people might know when they ought to assemble together, it appears that the church destined the Lord's day for this purpose."-Id., pp.168, 169.

"None of them [the early writers on the Sabbath question] transfuse the spirit of the Sabbath into the Lord's day, or refer either to the fourth commandment, or to God's rest after the creation, for the sanctions of the Lord's day."-Id., p. 54.

"The Eastern Church, professedly for reasons of its own, but no doubt in consequence of the greater proportion of Jewish elements in its composition, gradually came to rank the Sabbath as a festival, co-ordinate, or nearly so, with the Lord's day. It is not exactly known when this became general in that branch of the church."-Id., pp. 56, 57.

"With every abatement for the state of things already existing, we may justly call the edict of Constantine the inauguration of a new era in the history of the Lord's day. Christians had now a document, and that not necessarily a Christian document, provided for the observance of a day which had here to fore been reverenced solely as an ordinance existing in and dating from the lifetime of the inspired apostles. Men are always more inclined to lean on visible and living authorities than on authorities passed out of sight, however venerable: and, if both exist, to refer to the former than to the latter. And the former sort of authority having once established itself and having once felt its power, is inclined to extend it. So it was oven in matters of the church. The Lord's day had, as a festival, hitherto stood almost, alone in the Christian ritual (with the exception of Pentecost, or the interval between the resurrection and Whitsunday). But now, the church seeing the Lord's day so unreservedly recognized, began to establish other festivals, more or less resembling it, though destitute of the same sure foundation. These were multiplied, as time went on, in great abundance, and the aid of the state, so efficient in one case, as it seemed, was called in for other cases. And in order to justify this, by the time that the Reformation commenced, the following state of things, which may in a manner be called Sabbatarian, had completely set in. The Jewish law, or at least the supposed analogy of it, was continually and systematically quoted in favor of these multiplied festivals. Exact and stringent rules had been laid down, professedly for the guidance of consciences, but really to their serious entanglement, in the observance of these festivals. The results were, that the ideas of the Lord's day and of the Sabbath, originally quite distinct, and indeed almost antagonistic, became confused; and that the reverence especially due to the Lord's day was swamped amid claims to reverence on the part of other days, depending solely on ecclesiastical authority in the lower sense of that phrase."-Id., pp. 66, 67.

"With one blow, as it were, and with one consent, the Continental Reformers rejected the legal or Jewish title which had been set up for it; the more than Jewish ceremonies and restrictions by which, in

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theory at least, it had been encumbered; the army of holy days of obligation by which it had been surrounded. But they did more. They left standing no sanction for the day itself which could commend itself powerfully to men's consciences. They did not perceive that, through the apostles, it was of the Lord's founding. They swept away together with the upper-works which were not the Lord's the under-works which were the Lord's. And when they discovered that men, that human nature in fact, could not do without it, they adopted the day, indeed, but with this reservation expressed or implied: 'The Lord's day is to be placed in the category of ordinances which, being matters of indifference, any particular or national church hath authority to ordain, change, or abolish;' or, which was worse still, they made it a purely civil institution, dependent if not for its origin, at least for its continuance, on the secular power."-Id., pp. 165, 166.

"That the Lord's day is a positive ordinance of Scriptural and apostolic Christianity, standing on grounds and supported by considerations peculiarly its own, and not borrowed or continued from the older dispensation; that the Sabbath was not held to be of obligation upon Christians, so far as the apostles and the early church may be cited as authorities; and that attempts to regulate the Lord's day by the exactness of the precedent of the Sabbath, or to found it primarily on the command given to the Jews for the establishment of the Sabbath, seem therefore to be a rebuilding of things which have been destroyed, and to make those who do so transgressors-has been the argument of the previous lectures."-Id., p. 97.

No word of God for Sunday observance

"The Jews have the word of God for their Saturday, with it is the seventh day, and they were commanded to keep the seventh day solemn. And we have not the word of God for us, but rather against us; for we keep not the seventh day, as the Jews do, but the first, which is not commanded by God's law."-Fryth's Works, p. 69, cited in "Sunday," J. A. Hessey, p. 1-8.

LESSON SEVENTY-TWO The Attempted Change of the Sabbath

1. According to prophecy a power would arise which would attempt to change the law of God. Daniel 7: 25.

2. The specifications of the prophecy indicate clearly that this power is the Papacy. Daniel 7: 7, 8, 11, 24, 25.

3. Such an assumption of unwarranted authority is in harmony with the spirit of self-exaltation ascribed, to the' man of sin," the Papacy. 2 Thessalonians 2: 3, 4.

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4. The change was accomplished gradually at first, and later by the authority of church councils. "Source Book," pp 470-477.

5. If there were any divine authority for this change, the commandment which supersedes the fourth should be just as explicit and should be recorded just as plainly as was the original Sabbath commandment. There is no difficulty in finding divine authority for baptism and the Lord's Supper, ordinances which took the place of those prescribed in the ceremonial law. "The Great Controversy," pp. 446-448.

NOTES

The fourth commandment in Roman Catholic catechisms

"The fourth commandment as printed in many of the Roman Catholic catechisms in general use reads thus: 'Remember that thou keep holy the Sabbath day."

In a Roman Catholic catechism prepared by Cardinal Bellarmine, now in use in Italy, the fourth commandment reads thus in the Italian: 'Recordati di sanctificare le Feste [Remember to keep holy the festivals]-"Dottrina Cristiana Breve," Rome, 1836; English translation, London, 1839.

A Roman Catholic claim

"It was the Catholic Church which, by the authority of Jesus Christ, has transferred this rest to the Sunday in remembrance of the resurrection of our Lord. Thus the observance of Sunday by the Protestants is an homage they pay, in spite of themselves, to the authority of the [Catholic] church."-"Plain Talk About the Protestantism of Today," Mgr. Segur, p. 213.

Church legislation

"Christians shall not Judaize and be idle on Saturday [Sabbath, original], but shall work on that day; but the Lord's day they shall especially honor, and, as being Christians, shall, if possible, do no work on that day. If, however, they are found Judaizing, they shall be shut out from Christ."-Synod of Laodicea, canon 29, cited in "A History of the Councils of the Church, from the Original Documents," Right Reverend Charles Joseph Hefele, D. D., Bishop of Rottenburg (R. C.), book 6, Section 93 (Volume 2, p. 316). Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark, 1896.

Changing the law

"They [the Catholics] allege the changing of the Sabbath into the Lord's day, contrary, as it seems, to the Ten Commandments; and they have no example more in their mouths than the change of the Sabbath. They

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will needs have the power to be very great, because it hath done away with a precept of the Ten Commandments."-Augsburg Confession, part 2, article 7, paragraph 10. "The Library of Original Sources," Vol. V, pp. 173, 174.

No Bible text for Sunday observance

You may read the Bible from Genesis to Revelation, and you will not find a single line authorizing the sanctification of Sunday. The Scriptures enforce the religious observance of Saturday, a day which we never sanctify."-"The Faith of Our Fathers," James Cardinal Gibbons, edition 1893, p. 111.

A human ordinance

"The festival of Sunday, like all other festivals, was always only a human ordinance, and it was far from the intentions of the apostles to establish a divine command in this respect, far from them, and from the early apostolic church, to transfer the laws of the Sabbath to Sunday. Perhaps, at the end of the second century a false application of this kind had begun to take place; for men appear by that time to have considered laboring on Sunday as a sin."-"The History of the Christian Religion and Church," Augustus Neander, Rose's translation, first German edition, London, 1831, Volume 1, p. 33.

The reason for Sunday observance

"Ques.-Which is the Sabbath day?

"Ans.-Saturday is the Sabbath day.

"Ques.-Why do we observe Sunday instead of Saturday?

"Ans.-We observe Sunday instead of Saturday because the Catholic Church, in the Council of Laodicea (AD 336), transferred the solemnity from Saturday to Sunday."-"The Convert's Catechism of Catholic Doctrine," Revelation Peter Geiermann (R. C.), third edition, 1913, p. 50.

"The observance of Sunday, under the new law, follows the keeping of the Sabbath, not in consequence of a legal precept, but from the decision of the church and the custom of Christians. But this observance is not typical, as the keeping of the Sabbath was under the old law. And therefore the prohibition of work on Sunday is not so strict as on the Sabbath."-"Summa Theologia," Thomas Aquinas, Qu. 122. art. 4.

A gradual change

"The Christian church made no formal, but a gradual and almost unconscious transference of the one day to the other."-"The Voice from Sinai," Archdeacon F. W. Farrar (Church of England), p. 150.

Dr. Eck on the change

"Concerning the Authority of the Church.-The Scripture teaches. Remember that you keep the Saturday; six days shall thou labor and do all thy work, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord

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thy God, etc. However, the church has transferred the observance from Saturday to Sunday by virtue of her own power, without Scripture, without doubt under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit.

"Concerning Holidays and Fast Days.-The Sabbath is commanded in various places in the Scriptures. But there is no mention of the cessation of the Sabbath and the institution of Sunday in the Gospels, or in Paul's writings, or in all the Bible; therefore this has taken place by the apostolic church instituting it without Scripture.

"If, however, the church has had power to change the Sabbath of the Bible into Sunday and to command Sunday keeping, why should it not have also this power concerning other days, many of which are based on the Scriptures such as Christmas, circumcision of the heart, three kings, etc. If you omit the latter, and turn from the church to the Scriptures alone, then you must keep the Sabbath with the Jews, which has been kept from the beginning of the world."-"Enchiridion," Dr. Eck (R. C.), 1533, pp. 78, 79.

Not changed by the apostles

"The church established her own weekly festival. Nor is it true to say that the apostles changed the Sabbath into Sunday, the observance of the seventh day to the observance of the first. For on the one hand there is no trace of such a transference taking place, and, on the other, the Christian Sunday differs widely from the Jewish Sabbath,"-"The First Age of Christianity and the Church," J. J. von Dillinger (R. C.), Volume II, pp. 206, 2907.

No transference of the obligations

"The strange and inconsistent notion of a transference of the obligations of the Judaical religion and its institutions to those of Christianity, more especially of a change in the day of the Sabbath, had been partially adopted by some writers of early times, though not acknowledged by the church. But the notion of Christian ordinances succeeding in the place of those of Judaism first began to be systematically upheld, among other refinements and corruptions, by the schoolmen, especially by Thomas Aquinas."-"Christianity Without Judaism," Baden Powell, p. 163.

The work of the schoolmen,

"Not the apostles, not the first Christians nor the councils of the ancient church, have stamped Sunday with the name and seal of the Sabbath, but the church of the Middle Ages, and the schoolmen."-"Geschichte des Sonntags" (History of Sunday), Bishop Grimelund, p. 46.

LESSON SEVENTY-THREE The Sabbath Reform

1. Mere human precepts, or tradition, do not constitute a sufficient authority for setting aside one of God's commandments. Mark 7: 6-13.

2. Those who accept the threefold message, and refuse to worship the beast or his image, are designated as those who keep the commandments of God rather than the commandments of men. Revelation 14:12.

3. Special blessings are promised to those who stand for Sabbath reform when the Sabbath is being trodden underfoot. Isaiah 58: 13, 14.

4. The call to come out of modern Babylon will involve the rejection of the false Sabbath instituted

through the great apostasy. Revelation 18: 4.

5. The center and source of idolatry is Babylon. The very essence of the idolatry of heathenism is found in turning from the Creator to the creature. The last gospel message urges the worship of the Creator rather than the creature, and restores the observance of the Sabbath of the fourth commandment as the sign of God's power in creation and in re-creation. Jeremiah 50:38: Romans 1:25, ARV; Revelation 14:7; Isaiah 58: 12.

6. After this reform message has been fully proclaimed, the world will be divided into two classes, those who have the mark of God and those who have. the mark of the beast, the former class being observers of the true Sabbath and the latter class the observers of the false Sabbath., Ezekiel 9: 4-6; Revelation 13:15-17; 16:1, 2.

NOTES

The subject of prophecy

"The work of Sabbath reform to be accomplished in the last days is foretold in the prophecy of Isaiah: 'Thus said the Lord, Keep you judgment, and do justice: for my salvation is near to come, and my righteousness to be revealed. Blessed is the man that doeth this, and the son of man that lays hold on it; that keeps the Sabbath from polluting it, and keeps his hand from doing any evil.' The sons of the stranger, that join themselves to the Lord, to serve

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him, and to love the name of the Lord, to be his servants, every one that keeps the Sabbath from polluting it, and takes hold of my covenant; even them will I bring to my holy mountain, and make them joyful in my house of prayer.'

"These words apply in the Christian age, as shown by the context: 'The Lord God which gathers the outcasts of Israel said, Yet will I gather others to him, beside those that are gathered unto him.' Here, is foreshadowed the gathering in of the Gentiles by the gospel. And upon those who then honor the Sabbath, a blessing is pronounced. Thus the obligation of the fourth commandment extends past the crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension of Christ, to the time when his servants should preach to all nations the message of glad tidings.

"The Lord commands by the same prophet, 'Bind up the testimony, seal the law among my disciples.' The seal of God's law is found in the fourth commandment. This only, of all the ten, brings to view both the name and the title of the Lawgiver. It declares him to be the Creator of the heavens and the earth, and thus shows his claim to reverence and worship above all others. Aside from this precept, there is nothing in the Ten Commandments to show by whose authority the law is given. When the Sabbath was changed by the papal power, the seal was taken from the law. The disciples of Jesus are called upon to restore it by exalting the Sabbath of the fourth commandment to its rightful position as the Creator's memorial and the sign of his authority.

"To the law and to the testimony.' While conflicting doctrines and theories abound, the law of God is the one unerring rule by which all opinions, doctrines, and theories are to be tested. Says the prophet, 'If they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them.'

"Again, the command is given, 'Cry aloud, spare not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and show my people their transgression, and the house of Jacob their sins.' It is not the wicked world, but those whom the Lord designates as 'my people,' that are to be reproved for their transgressions. He declares further, 'Yet they seek me daily, and delight to know my ways, as a nation that did righteousness, and forsook not the ordinance of their God.' Here is brought to view a class who think themselves righteous, and appear to manifest great interest in the service of God; but the stern and solemn rebuke of the Searcher of hearts proved them to be trampling upon the divine precepts.

"The prophet thus points out the ordinance which has been forsaken: 'Thou shall raise up the foundations of many generations; and thou shall be called, The repairer of the breach, The restorer of paths to dwell in. If thou turn away thy foot from the Sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on my holy day; and call the Sabbath a delight, the holy of the Lord, honorable; and shall honor him, not doing your own ways, nor finding your own pleasure, nor speaking your own words: then shall thou delight thyself in the Lord.' This prophecy also applies in our time. The breach was made in the law of God when the

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Sabbath was changed by the Roman power. But the time has come for that divine institution to be restored. The breach is to be repaired, and the foundations of many generations to be raised up."-"The Great Controversy," pp. 451-453.

The reform opposed

"As the attention of the people was called to the subject of Sabbath reform, popular ministers perverted the word of God, placing such interpretations upon its testimony as would best quiet inquiring minds. And those who did not search the Scriptures for themselves were content to accept conclusions that were in accordance with their desires. By argument, sophistry, the traditions of the Fathers, and the authority of the church, many endeavored to overthrow the truth. Its advocates were driven to their Bibles to defend the validity of the fourth commandment. Humble men, armed with the word of truth alone, withstood the attacks of men of learning, who, with surprise and anger, found their eloquent sophistry powerless against the simple, straightforward reasoning of men who were versed in the Scriptures rather than in the subtleties of the schools.

"In the absence of Bible testimony in their favor, many with unwearying persistence urged, forgetting how the same reasoning had been employed against Christ and his apostles, 'Why do not our great men understand this Sabbath question? But few believe as you do. It cannot be that you are right, and that all the men of learning in the world are wrong."

"To refute such arguments it was needful only to cite the teachings of the Scriptures and the history of the Lord's dealings with his people in all ages. God works through those who hear. and obey his voice, those who will, if need be, speak unpalatable truths, those who do not fear to reprove popular sins. The reason why he does not oftener choose men of learning and high position to lead out in reform movements, is that they trust to their creeds, theories, and theological systems, and feel no need to be taught of God. Only those who have a personal connection with the Source of wisdom are able to understand or explain the Scriptures. Men who have little of the learning of the schools are sometimes called to declare the truth, not because they are unlearned, but because they are not too self-sufficient to be taught of God. They learn in the school of Christ, and their humility and obedience make them great. In committing to them a knowledge of his truth, God confers upon them an honor, in comparison with which earthly honor and human greatness sink into insignificance."-"The Great Controversy," pp. 455, 456.

The mark of the beast

"Christians of past generations observed the Sunday, supposing that in so doing they were keeping the Bible Sabbath; and there are now true Christians in every church, not excepting the Roman Catholic communion, who honestly believe that Sunday is the Sabbath of divine

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appointment. God accepts their sincerity of purpose and their integrity before him. But when Sunday observance shall be enforced by law, and the world shall be enlightened concerning the obligation of the true Sabbath, then whoever shall transgress the command of God, to obey a precept which has no higher authority than that of Rome, will thereby honor popery above God. He is paying homage to Rome, and to the power which enforces the institution ordained by Rome. He is worshiping the beast and, his image. As men then reject the institution on which God has declared to be the sign of his authority, and honor in its stead that which Rome has chosen as the token of her supremacy, they will thereby accept the sign of allegiance to Rome 'the mark of the beast.' And it is not until the issue is thus plainly set before the people, and they are brought to choose between the commandments of God and the commandments of men, that those who continue in transgression will receive 'the mark of the beast.'-"The Great Controversy," p. 449.

Read the "Source Book," pages 22-25.

Section XV–THE CHURCH OF CHRIST

LESSON SEVENTY-FOUR The Body of Christ

1. The Son of God took the flesh and revealed himself in a human body. Hebrews 2: 14; 10: 5; 1 Peter 2: 24.

2. Before leaving the world to return to the Father, Jesus promised that the Comforter would come to dwell in believers. John 14: 16, 17.

3. Through this impartation of the Holy Spirit who ministers the life of Christ to his followers, the church became the body of Christ. l Corinthians 6: 19; Ephesians l.: 22, 23; Colossians 1:24; Ephesians 5:23.

4. Christ is both the head of creation and the head of the church, the head of the original creation and of the new creation. Colossians 1:16-18.

5. The fact that the husband "that loves his own wife loves himself," and that "no man ever hated his own flesh," is used to show the closeness of the union between Christ and his body, the church. Ephesians 5: 28-30, ARV.

6. The growth of the body, the church, is dependent upon this union with Christ, the Head. Ephesians 4:15, 16.

7. So complete is the identification of Christ with the church, his body, that the church bears his name. 1 Corinthians 12: 12.

8. When Christ dwells in his body, the church, by the Holy Spirit, the decisions made concerning sin and righteousness are accepted in heaven. John 20: 22, 23; Matthew 16: 19; 18: 15-18.

NOTES

The Head and the body are one

"'The church, which is his body,' began its history and development at Pentecost. Believers had been saved, and the influences of the Spirit had been manifested to men in all previous dispensations from Adam to Christ. But now an ecclesia, an outgathering, was to be

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made to constitute the mystical body of Christ, incorporated into him the. Head and indwelt by him through the Holy Ghost. The definition which we sometimes hear, that a church is a voluntary association of believers, united together for the purposes of worship and edification, is most inadequate, not to say incorrect. It is no more true than that hands and feet and eyes and ears are voluntarily united in the human body for the purposes of locomotion and work. The church is formed from within; Christ present by the Holy Ghost, regenerating men by the sovereign action of the Spirit, and organizing them into himself as the living center. The Head and the body are therefore one, and predestined to the same history of humiliation and glory. And as they are one in fact, so are they one in name. He whom God anointed and filled with the Holy Ghost is called 'the Christ,' and the church, which is his body and fullness, is also called 'the Christ.' 'For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body, so also is the Christ.' 1 Corinthians 12:12. Here plainly and with wondrous honor the church is named , commenting upon which fact Bishop Andrews beautifully says: 'Christ is both in heaven and on earth; as he is called the Head of his church, he is in heaven; but in respect of his body which is called Christ, he is on earth.'"

The glory of Immanuel

"Christ has made provision that his church shall be a transformed body, illumined with the light of heaven, possessing the glory of Immanuel."-"Testimonies for the Church," Volume 8, p. 19.

Christ's supremacy

"The supremacy of Christ is to be asserted in his union with his saints. God gave him to, the church 'to be head over all things.' He is supreme in the church as well as in the rest of the universe; and the church is 'his body,' in which all the wealth and the energy of his life are revealed, the perfect organ of his will, the very home of his glory."

The church may be a corpse

"The Spirit is the breath of God in the body of his church. While that divine body survives and must, multitudes of churches have so shut out the Spirit from rule and authority and supremacy in the midst of them that the ascended Lord can only say to them: 'Thou hast a name to live and art dead.' In a word, so vital and indispensable is the ministry of the Spirit, that without it nothing else will avail. Some trust in creeds, and some in ordinances; some suppose that the church's security lies in a sound theology, and others locate it in a primitive simplicity of government and worship; but it lies in none of these, desirable as they are. The body may be as to its organs perfect and entire, wanting nothing; but simply because the Spirit has been withdrawn from it, it has passed from a church into a corpse."

Christ given to the church

"At the topmost height of his glory, with thrones and princedoms beneath his feet, Christ is given to the church! The Head over all things, the Lord of the created universe, he and none less or lower is the Head of redeemed humanity. For the church 'is his body' (this clause is interjected by way of explanation): she is the vessel of his Spirit, the organic instrument of his divine-human life. As the spirit belongs to its body, by the like fitness the Christ in his surpassing glory is the possession of the community of believing men. The body claims its head, the wife her husband. No matter where Christ is, however high in heaven, he belongs to us. Though the bride is lowly and of poor estate, he is hers and she knows it, and holds fast his heart. She seeks little of the people's ignorance and scorn if their Master is her affianced Lord, and she the best beloved in his eyes. How rich is this gift of the Father to the church in the Son of his love, the concluding words of the paragraph declare: 'Him he gave to the church [gave] the fullness of him that fills all in all.' In the risen and enthroned Christ God bestowed on men a gift in which the divine plenitude that fills creation is embraced."

Christ and his church

"The church of Christ, enfeebled and defective as it may be, is the only object on earth on which he bestows his supreme regard. While he extends to all the world his invitation to come to him and be saved, he commissions his angels to render divine help to every soul that cometh to him in repentance and contrition, and he comes personally by his Holy Spirit into the midst of his church."

"The Lord has a people, a chosen people, his church, to be his own, his own fortress; which he holds in a sin-stricken, revolted world; and he intended that no authority should be known in it, no laws be acknowledged by it, but his own.

"The Lord has provided his church with capabilities and blessings, that they may present to the world an image of his own sufficiency, and that his church may be complete in him, a continual representation of another, even the eternal world, of laws that are higher than earthly laws. His church is to be a temple built after the divine similitude, and the angelic architect has brought his golden measuring rod from heaven, that every stone may be hewed and squared by the divine measurement, and polished to shine as an emblem of heaven, radiating in all directions the bright, clear beams of the Sun of Righteousness. The church is to be fed with manna from heaven, and to be kept under the sole guardianship of his grace. Clad in complete armor of light and righteousness, she enters upon her final conflict."

"To his church, Christ has given ample facilities, that he may receive a large revenue of glory from his redeemed, purchased possession, The church, being endowed with the righteousness of Christ,

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is his depository, in which the wealth of his mercy, his love, his grace, is to appear in full and final display."

The life-giver to his body

"Not until our Lord took his place at God's right hand did he assume his full prerogative as life-giver to us. He was here in the flesh for our death; he took on him our nature that he might in himself crucify our Adam-life and put it away. But when he rose from the dead and sat down on his Father's throne, he became the life-giver to all his mystical body, which is the church."

Christ manifests himself through his body

"The glorified Christ manifests himself to man through his body. If there is a perfect correspondence between himself and his members, then there will be a true manifestation of himself to the world."

The invisible presence

"The Holy Spirit during the present time is in office on earth; and all spiritual presence and divine communion of the Trinity with men are through him. In other words, while the Father and Son are visibly and personally in heaven, they are invisibly here in the body of the faithful by the indwelling of the Comforter."

What is needed

"Jesus Christ, the ever-living Son of God, is the one supreme answer to the restlessness and travail of our day. But he cannot, he will not reveal himself. Each person in the Holy Trinity reveals another. The Son reveals the Father, but his own revelation awaits the testimony of the Holy Ghost, which, though often given directly, is largely through the church. What we need then, and what the world is waiting for, is the Son of God, borne witness to and revealed in all his radiant beauty of the ministry of the Holy Spirit, as he energizes with and through the saints that make up the holy and mystical body, the church."

The church God's temple

"After his ascension and the sending down of the Spirit, the church takes the name her Lord had borne before; she is the temple of God, and the only temple which he has on earth during the present dispensation."

The clue to the apostasy

"Would one desire to find the clue to the great apostasy whose dark eclipse now powers two thirds of nominal Christendom, here it is the rule and authority of the Holy Spirit ignored in the church; the servants of the house assuming mastery and encroaching more and more on the prerogatives of the Head, till at last one man sets himself up as the administrator of the church, and daringly usurps the name of 'the Vicar of Christ."

The sin of sacerdotalism

"Of course Catholic writers claim that the Pope is the 'Vicar of Christ' only as being the mouthpiece of the Holy Ghost. But the Spirit has been given to the church as a whole that is to the body of regenerated believers, and to every member of that body according to his measure. The sin of sacerdotalism is, that it arrogates for a usurping few that which belongs to every member of Christ's mystical body."

The Holy Spirit In the church

"The Holy Spirit not only dwells in the church as his habitation, but also uses her as the living organism whereby he moves and walks forth in the world, and speaks to the world and acts upon the world. He is the soul of the church which is Christ's body."

The Son revealed through the church

"After Christ had returned to the Father, and the world saw him no more, he sent the Paraclete to be incarnated in his mystical body, the church. As the Father revealed himself through the Son, so the Son by the Holy Spirit now reveals himself through the church; as Christ was the image of the invisible God, so the church is appointed to be the image of the invisible Christ; and. his members, when they are glorified with him, shall be the express image of his person."

The body to he taken to heaven

"The Comforter, who on the day of Pentecost came down to form a body out of flesh, will at the Parousia return to heaven in that body, having fashioned it like unto the body of Christ, that it may be presented to him 'not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing. . . . holy and without blemish."

God's voice in the church

"The voice of the Lord must be heard in his church, and to the Holy Ghost alone has been committed the prerogative of communicating that voice. Is there any likelihood that that, voice will be heard when the king or prime minister of a civil government holds the sole function of appointing the bishops, as in the case of state churches? Is there any certainty of it when an archbishop or bishop puts pastors over flocks by the action of his single will? We may congratulate ourselves that we are neither in a state church nor under an episcopal bishop; but there are methods of ignoring or repressing the voice of the Holy Ghost, which though simpler and far less apparent than those just indicated, are no less violent."

Anarchy or unity

"Whether the authority of this one ruling sovereign Holy Ghost be recognized or ignored, determines whether the church shall be an anarchy or a unity. a synagogue of lawless ones or the temple of the living God."

The experience of the church

"The church, which is the fullness of him 'that fills all in all,' completes in the world his crucifixion as well as his resurrection. This is certainly Paul's profound thought, when he speaks of filling up 'that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh, for his body's sake, which is the church.' Colossians 1:24. In other words, the church, as the complement of her Lord, must have a life experience and a death experience running parallel."

"A self-indulgent church disfigures Christ; an avaricious church bears false witness against Christ; a worldly church betrays Christ, and gives him over once more to be mocked and reviled by his enemies."

The basis of spiritual life

"He is head and beginning to his church by means of his resurrection. He is the first-born from the dead, and his communication of spiritual life to his church requires the historical fact of his resurrection as its basis, for a dead Christ could not be the source of life; and that resurrection completes the manifestation of the incarnate Word, by our faith in which, his spiritual life flows into our spirits."

A paraphrase of Ephesians 4:16

"We may paraphrase the sentence [Ephesians 4: 16] thus: 'Drawing its life from Christ, the entire body knit together in a well-compacted frame, makes use of every link that unites its members and of each particular member in his place to contribute to its sustenance, thus building itself up in love evermore."

The church and the word

"It is certain that the church existed before the Bible, and Christianity before the New Testament Scriptures; but it is also certain that the church and Christianity derived their own existence from the word which those Scriptures contain. The word was antecedent to the existence of the church, as the cause is to the effect; the writing of that word, and its reception when written, were subsequent to the formation of the church, but the writing only made permanent for future time the word by which the church had been created; and the reception of the writings only recognized them as the same word in its form of permanence. Thus while the church is chronologically before the Bible, the Bible is potentially before the church; since the written word, which is the ground of faith to later generations of Christians, is one in origin, authority, and substance with the oral word, which was the ground of faith to the first generation of Christians."

Added to the Lord

"The story of Pentecost culminates in the words, 'and the same day there were added about three thousand souls.' Acts 2:41. Added to whom? We naturally ask. And the King James translators have answered our question by inserting in italics 'to them.' But not so speaks the Holy Ghost. And when, a few verses further on in the same

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chapter, we read: 'And the Lord added to the church daily such ass should be saved,' we need to be reminded that the words 'to the church' are spurious. All such glosses and interpolations have only tended to mar the sublime teaching of this first chapter of the Holy Spirit's history. 'And believers were the more added to the Lord.' Acts 5:14. 'And much people were added unto the Lord.' Acts 11:24. This is the language of inspiration-not the mutual union of believers, but their divine communing with Christ; not voluntary association of Christians, but their sovereign incorporation into the Head and this incorporation effected by the Head through the Holy Ghost."

Dealing with a wrong-doer

"No church officer should advise, no committee should recommend, nor should any church vote, that the name of a wrongdoer shall be removed from the church books, until the instruction given by Christ has been faithfully followed. When this instruction has been followed, the church has cleared herself before God. The evil must then be made to appear as it is, and must be removed, that it may not become more and more widespread. The health and purity of the church must be preserved, that she may stand before God unsullied, clad in the robes of Christ's righteousness.

"If the erring one repents and submits to Christ's discipline, he is to be given another trial. And even if he does not repent, even if he stands outside the church, God's servants still have a work to do for him. They are to seek earnestly to win him to repentance. And, however aggravated may have been his offense, if he yields to the striving of the Holy Spirit, and, by confessing and forsaking his sin, gives evidence of repentance, he is to be forgiven and welcomed to the fold again. His brethren are to encourage him in the right way, treating him as, they would wish to be treated were they in his place, considering themselves, lest they also be tempted.

"Verily I say unto you,' Christ continued, 'whatsoever you shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatsoever you shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.' Matthew 18: 18.

"This statement holds its force in all ages. On the church has been conferred the power to act in Christ's stead. It is God's instrumentality for the preservation of order and discipline among his people. To it the Lord has delegated the power to settle all questions respecting its prosperity, purity, and order. Upon it rests the responsibility of excluding from, its fellowship those who are unworthy, who by their un-Christ like conduct would bring dishonor on the truth. Whatever the church does that is in accordance with, the directions given in God's word will be ratified in heaven."-"Testimonies for the Church," Volume 7, pp. 262, 263.

God's glory in the church

"Christ came not to save men only, but mankind. It is 'in the church' that God's consummate glory will be seen. No man in his

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fragmentary selfhood, no number of men in their separate capacity can conceivably attain 'unto the fullness of God.' It will need all humanity for that, to reflect the full-orbed splendor of divine revelation. Isolated and. divided from each other, we render to God a dimmed and partial glory. 'With one accord, with one mouth we are called to glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.' Wherefore the apostle bids us 'receive one another, as Christ also received us, to the glory of God.' Romans 15: 6, 7.

"The church, being the creation of God's love in Christ and the receptacle of his communicative fullness is the vessel formed for his praise. Her worship is a daily tribute to the divine. majesty and bounty. The life of her people in the world, her witness for Christ and warfare against sin, her ceaseless ministries to human sorrow and need, proclaim the divine goodness, righteousness, and truth. From the heavenly places there she dwells with Christ, she reflects the light of God's glory and makes it shine into the depths of evil at her feet."

An appeal

"I would fain press on every conscience the sharp-pointed appeal. What is this Christ to us? Is he any thing to us but a name? Do our 'hearts leap up with a joyful Amen when we read these great words of this text [Colossians 1:15-18]? Are we ready to crown him Lord of all? Is he our head, to fill us with vitality, to inspire and to command? Is he the goal and the end of our individual life? Can we each say, I live by him, in him, and for Him."

"Happy are we, if we give to Christ the pre-eminence, and if our hearts set Him first, him last, him midst and without end."

A distinguishing feature

"The one feature of the worship of the church, which distinguishes it radically and totally from that of the temple is that it is mutual. Under the law there were priests and Levites to minister and people to be ministered to; under the gospel there is a universal spiritual priesthood, in which all minister and all are ministered to. Every act of service belonging to the Christian church is so described. There must be prayer, and the exhortation is, 'Pray one for another.' James 5:16. There must be confession, and the injunction is: 'Confess your sins one to another.' James 5:16. There must be exhortation, and the command is: Exhort one another.' Hebrews 3: 13. There must be love, and we are enjoined to 'love one another.' 1 Peter 1:22. There must be burden bearing, and the exhortation is: 'Bear you one another's burdens.' Galatians 6:2. There lust be comforting, and the command is: 'Wherefore comfort one another.' 1 Thessalonians 4:18. So with the worship of song. Its reciprocal character is emphasized, not only in the passage just quoted, but also in the epistle to the Colossians: 'Teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and spiritual songs.' Colossians 3:16. This is according to the clearly defined method of the Spirit in this dispensation.

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He establishes our fellowship with the Head of the church, and through him with one another. All blessing in the body is mutual, and the worship which is ordained to maintain and increase that blessing is likewise mutual."

The wondrous unity

Lord, in thy people thou dost dwell,
Thy people dwell in thee;
O blessedness unspeakable!
O wondrous unity!

One with thee all thy life they know,
And all thou hast possess;
In thee they underwent all woe,
And wrought all righteousness.

They rose upon thy rising day,
With thee to heaven did soar:
Thou lives evermore, and they
Shall live forevermore.

When thou thy kingdom shall obtain
And put thy glory on,
Your endless reign shall be their reign,
The King and they are one."

LESSON SEVENTY-FIVE The Relation of Members

1. Each member of the church is a member of the one body of Christ. 1 Corinthians 12: 27, 14; 6: 15; 10: 17.

2. The members of the church are not only members of the body of Christ, but are also members one of another. Romans 12: 4, 5; Ephesians 4: 25.

3. The members of Christ's body, the church, have the same intimate relation one with another as do the members of the physical b6dy. 1 Corinthians 12: 14-21.

4. Each member is necessary in his place in order that the body may do its work perfectly and that there may be no schism. 1 Corinthians 12: 23-25.

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5. So close is the union between the members of Christ's body, the church that what happens to one member is felt by all the others. 1 Corinthians 12: 26.

6. Mutual love and a spirit of self-sacrifice and of helpfulness will make each member a blessing to the other members. Eph, 4: 31, 32; Colossians 3: 12-14; 1 Peter 3: 8, 9.

NOTES Each member serves

"It is the body of Christ, and each member has its own appointed functions; each member not only receives life and vigor for itself, but has to serve the whole body and to contribute to its vigor and perfection. 'Unto each one of us was the grace given according to the measure of the gift of Christ.' The grace was given, as the apostle shows in subsequent verses, that we may each do our part toward 'the building up of the body of Christ; and our function is measured and determined by the light and power we receive from Christ for discharging it."

The union of members

"The relations between every Christian man and the whole body of Christ are of such a kind that whatever light, or power, or righteousness comes to an individual comes to the whole church. If 'one member is honored, all the members rejoice with it.' In Christ we have no separate and private rights. When Christ blesses any Christian man, he blesses all Christians. Where the deepest wisdom is given, the clearest knowledge of God, the firmest faith, the most ardent love, the brightest hope, there Christ completes the blessing by appointing to the most responsible service."

"It is the purpose of God that his children shall blend in unity. Do they not expect to live together in the same heaven? Is Christ divided against himself? Will he give his people success before they sweep away the rubbish of evil-surmising and discord, before the laborers, with unity of purpose, devote heart and mind and strength to the work so holy in God's sight? Union brings strength; disunion weakness. United with one another, working together in harmony for the salvation of men, we shall indeed be 'laborers together with God."-"Testimonies for the Church," Volume 8, p. 240.

Members of one family

"In the Church of God today brotherly love is greatly lacking. Many of those who profess to love the Savior neglect to love those who are united with them in Christian fellowship. We are of the same faith, members of one family, all children have the same heavenly Father, with the same blessed hope of immortality. How close and tender should be the tie that binds us together. The people of the world are

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watching us to see if our faith is exerting a sanctifying influence upon our hearts. They are quick to discern every defect in our lives, every inconsistency in our actions. Let us give them no occasion to reproach our faith."-Id., p. 242.

The care of the members for each other

"By his baptismal vows, every member of the church has solemnly pledged himself to guard the interests of his brethren. All will be tempted to cling to their own cherished plans and ideas, which appear sound to them. But they should watch and pray, and endeavor, to the utmost of their ability, to build up the kingdom of Jesus in the world. Every Christian is required by God, as far as it is in his power, to ward oft from his brethren and sisters every influence which will have the least tendency to divide them or to separate their interests from the work for this present time. He should not only have a regard for his own spiritual interests, but should manifest a burden for the souls of those to whom he stands related; and he should, through Christ, have a constraining power over other members of the church. His words and deportment should have an influence to lead them to follow Christ's example in self-denial, self-sacrifice, and love for others." Id., Volume 5, p. 480.

LESSON SEVENTY-SIX Officers and Their Duties

1. The officers of the church recognized in the New Testament are bishops, or elders, and deacons. Philippians l:1.

2. The terms "bishop" and "elder," defining officers of the church, are used synonymously. Titus 1:5-7.

3. According to the record found in the New Testament, the elders were appointed by the apostles, or some one designated by them. Acts 14: 23; Titus 1:5.

4. The seven men who had charge of "the daily ministration," usually considered as filling the office of deacon, were nominated by the brethren, but appointed by the twelve." Acts 6:1-3.

5. The qualifications of a bishop or elder are fully set forth in the following scriptures: 1 Timothy 3:1-7; Titus 1:5-9.

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6. It is the duty of the elders to feed the church with spiritual food. Acts 20:28.

7. The qualifications of deacons are also clearly stated. 1 Timothy 3: 8-12.

8. The elders of the church at Jerusalem sat with the apostles in the first council, and the decision made then was sent out in the joint name of the apostles and elders. Acts 15:6, 22; 16:4.

NOTES

Care to he taken in selecting leaders

"Said the inspired apostle, 'Lay hands suddenly on no man.' In some of our churches the work of organizing and of ordaining elders has been premature; the Bible rule has been disregarded, and consequently grievous trouble has been brought upon the church. There should not be so great haste in electing leaders as to ordain men who are in no way fitted for the responsible work, men who need to be converted, elevated, ennobled, and refined, before they can serve the cause of God in any capacity.

"The gospel net gathers both good and bad. It takes time for character to be, developed; there must be time to learn what men really are. The family of the one suggested for office should be considered. Are they in subjection? Can the man rule his own house with honor! What character have his children? Will they do honor to the father's influence? If he has no tact, wisdom, or power of godliness at home in managing his own family, it is safe to conclude that the same defects will be carried into the church, and the same unsanctified management will be seen there. It will be far better to criticize the man before he is put into office than afterward; better to pray and counsel before taking the decisive step, than to labor to correct the consequences of a wrong move.

"In some churches the leader has not the right qualifications to educate the members of the church to be workers. Tact and judgment have not been used to keep up a living interest in the work of God. The leader is slow and tedious; he talks too much and prays too long in public; he has not that living connection with God which would give him a fresh experience.

"The leaders of churches in every place should be earnest, full of zeal and unselfish interest; men of God, who can give the right to the work. They should make their requests of God in faith may devote all the time they wish to secret prayer, but in public they should make their prayer's and their testimonies short and to the point. Long, dry prayers and long exhortations should be avoided. If the brethren and sisters would have something to say that will refresh and edify others, it must first be in their hearts. They must daily be connected with God, drawing their supplies from his exhaustless storehouse, and bringing there from things new and old. If their own souls have been vivified by the Spirit of God, they will cheer,

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strengthen, and encourage others; but if they have not drunk at the living fountain of salvation themselves, they will not know how to lead others there."-"Testimonies for the Church," Volume 5, pp. 617-619.

Pastors of the flock

"The apostle does not profess to enumerate all grades of ministry [in Ephesians 4: 11]. The 'deacons' are wanting; although we know from Philippians 1:1 that this order already existed in Pauline churches. Pastors (shepherds) a title only employed here by the apostle is a fitting synonym for the 'bishops' (i.e., overseers) of whom he speaks in Acts 20: 28, Philippians 1:1, and largely in the epistles to Timothy and Titus, whose functions were spiritual and disciplinary as well as administrative. Addressing the Ephesian elders at Miletus four years before, St. Paul bade them 'shepherd the church of God.'

In 1 Peter 5: 1, 2, the same charge is laid by the Jewish apostle upon his 'fellow elders,' that they should 'shepherd the flock of God, making themselves examples' to it; Christ himself he has previously called 'Shepherd and Bishop of souls.' 1 Peter 2: 25. The expression is derived from the words of Jesus recorded in John 10, concerning the true and false shepherd of God's flock, and himself the Good Shepherd, words familiar and dear to his disciples."

The church a Christocracy

"We acknowledge the church to be 'subject to Christ in everything.' We proclaim ourselves, like the apostle, 'slaves of Christ Jesus.' But this subjection is too often a form rather than a fact. In protesting our independence of popish and priestly lords of God's heritage, we are sometimes in danger of ignoring our dependence upon him, and of dethroning, in effect, the one Lord Jesus Christ. Christian communities act and speak too much in the style of political republics. They assume the attitude of self-directing and self-responsible bodies.

"The church is no democracy, any more than it is an aristocracy or a sacerdotal absolutism: it is a Christocracy. The people are nit rulers in the house of God; they are the ruled, laity and ministers alike. 'One is your Master, even the Christ; and all you are brethren.' We acknowledge this in theory; but our language and spirit would oftentimes be other than they are, if we were penetrated by the sense of the continual presence and majesty of the Lord Christ in our assemblies. Royalties and nobilities, and the holders of popular power-all whose 'names are named in this world,' along with the principalities in heavenly places, when they come into the precincts of the church must lay aside their robes and forget their titles, and speak humbly as in the Master's presence. What is it to the glorious church of Jesus Christ that Lord-So and so wears a coronet and owns half a county? Or that Midas can fill her coffers, if he is pleased and humored? Or that this or that orator guides at his will the fierce democracy? He is no more than a man who will die, and appear before the judgment seat of Christ. The church's protection from human

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tyranny, from schemes of ambition, from the intrusion of political methods and designs, lies in her sense of the splendor and reality of Christ's dominion, and of her own eternal life in him."

New demands to be met

"The ascendancy of physical science, the political enfranchisement of the masses, the universal spread of education, the emancipation of critical thought, the gigantic growth of the press, the enormous increase and aggregation of wealth, the multiplication of large cities, the worldwide facilities of intercourse, these and other causes more subtle are rapidly transforming human society. Old barriers have disappeared; while new difficulties are being created, of a magnitude to over task the faith of the strongest. The church is confronted with problems larger far in their dimensions than those our fathers knew. Demands are being made on her resources such as she' has never had to meet before. Shall w6 be equal to the needs of the coming times?"

LESSON SEVENTY-SEVEN The Ordinances of the Church

1. Among the leading ordinances of the ancient church were the day of Atonement, the Passover, and Pentecost. Leviticus 16:29, 30; 23:5, 15, 16.

2. All these ordinances pointed forward to Christ and his work, and when he had come, baptism and the Lord's Supper were appointed in their place to direct attention to Christ. Matthew 28:19; 26:26-28.

3. Baptism is the outward sign of an inward experience a union with Christ in his death and resurrection. Romans 6: 3, 4.

4. This experience involves the death of the old man and the putting on of the new man. Romans 6: 6; Galatians 3: 27. Colossians 3:5-11.

5. The Lord's Supper is an expression of that intimate fellowship with Christ which means a sharing with him in his own life. 1 Corinthians 10: 16, 17.

6. The Lord's Supper brings to mind the death of Christ in behalf of our sins, and has a forward look to his coming. 1 Corinthians 11:23-26.

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7. In connection with the institution of the Lord's Supper Jesus gave to his disciples a wonderful example of true humility in service. John 13: 2-5.

8. Having set the example, Jesus then instructed his followers that they should follow it, doing as he had done. John 13: 12-17.

NOTES

Two monumental pillars

"The ordinances of baptism and the Lord's Supper are two monumental pillars, one without and one within the church. Upon these ordinances Christ has inscribed the name of the true God.

"Christ has made baptism the sign of entrance to his spiritual kingdom. He has made this a positive condition with which all must comply who wish to be acknowledged as under the authority of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Before man can find a home in the church, before passing the threshold of God's spiritual kingdom, he is to receive the impress of the divine name, 'the Lord our Righteousness." Jeremiah 2: 6.

"Baptism is a most solemn renunciation of the world. Those who are baptized in the threefold name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, at the very entrance of their Christian life declare publicly that they have forsaken the service of Satan, and have become members of the royal family, children of the heavenly King."-"Testimonies for the Church," Volume 6, p. 91.

No efficacy in the form

"It is the grace of Christ that gives life to the soul. Apart from Christ, baptism, like any other service, is a worthless form."-"The Desire of Ages," p. 202.

The means of validity

"The 'word' that makes Christian ordinances valid, is not the past utterance of God alone, which may remain a dead letter, preserved in the oracles of Scripture or the official forms of the church, but that word alive and active, respok6n and transmitted from soul to soul by the breath of the Holy Spirit."

The meaning of the baptismal vows

"The vows which we take upon ourselves in baptism embrace much. In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, we are buried in the likeness of Christ's death, and raised in the likeness of his resurrection, and we are to live a new life. Our life is to be bound up with the life of Christ. Henceforth the believer is to bear in mind that he is dedicated to God, to Christ, and to the Holy Spirit. He is to make all worldly considerations secondary to this new relation. Publicly he has declared that he will no longer live in

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pride and self-indulgence. He is no longer to live a careless, indifferent life. He has made a covenant with God. He has died to the world. He is to live to the Lord, to use for him all his entrusted capabilities, never losing the realization that he bears God's signature, that he is a subject of Christ's kingdom, a partaker of the divine nature."-"Testimonies for the Church," Volume 6, pp. 98, 99.

A profession of death and resurrection

"The water is a mystic grave: and we do not bury live things but dead things; and our old man is buried there in hope of resurrection. Therefore it is said again, 'We are buried with him by baptism into death, that like as Christ was raised from the dead, even so we should walk in newness of life. For if we have been planted together with him in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection.' Thus baptism is our profession of death and resurrection." Baptism and faith-

"Baptism manifestly presupposes faith. To imagine that the mechanical performance of the rite apart from faith present or anticipated in the subject, 'clothes us with Christ,' is to hark back to Judaism. It is to substitute baptism for circumcision a difference merely perform, so long as the doctrine of ritual regeneration remains the same. This passage is as clear a proof as could well be desired, that in the Pauline vocabulary 'baptized' is synonymous with 'believing."

A symbol of regeneration

"The cleansing and withal refreshing virtues of water made it an obvious symbol of regeneration. The emblem is twofold; it pictures at once the removal of guilt, and the imparting of new strength. One goes into the bath exhausted, and covered with dust; one comes out clean and fresh. Hence the baptism of the new believer in Christ had, in St. Paul's view, a double aspect. It looked backward to the old life of sin abandoned, and forward to the new life of holiness combined. Thus it corresponded to the burial of Jesus (Romans 6:4), the point of juncture between death and resurrection. Baptism served as the visible and formal expression of the soul's passage through the gate of forgiveness into the sanctified life."

The seal and the promise

"Baptism is rather the initiatory rite into the Christian church, the body of Christ. Acts 2:41; 5:14. It gives the seal to all previous spiritual experiences, and is the promise of growth with the body of Christ, of which the baptized is an integral part; for, in the language of Paul, he that had 'put on Christ' was not only in a personal, but in an integral, relation to him as a member of his body, so that the church is one man in Christ Jesus. Galatians 3: 27, 28.

"Baptism is a highly symbolical act. The washing of the body symbolizes the cleansing from sin, spoken of as forgiveness (Acts 2:38, cf. 22:16, and 1 Corinthians 6:11), as a cleansing by the word (Ephesians 5: 26), as the restoration of a good conscience (Hebrews 10: 22, 23).

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"The power, however, to effect these changes, lies not in the water, but in God. It also symbolizes the burial with Christ (Romans 6:3, 4; Colossians 2:12), by reason of which the recipient is bound to be unto sin. The same idea is brought out in the analogy between baptism and the circumcision of Christ: the 'putting off of the body of the flesh.' Colossians 2:11. It has also been considered by some a symbol of regeneration. John 3:5; Titus 3:5. There is no trace of infant baptism in the New Testament."-Schaff Herzog "Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge," Volume 1, p. 200.

Baptism is Immersion

"The uniform meaning of 'dip' for baptize and the use of the river Jordan as the place for baptizing by John the Baptist, makes inevitable the notion of immersion unless there is some direct contradictory testimony. It is a matter that should be lifted above verbal quibbling or any effort to disprove the obvious facts. The simple narrative in Matthew 3: 6 is that 'they were baptized of him in the river. Jordan.' In Mark 1:9, 10, the baptism is sharpened a bit in the use of eis and ek. Jesus 'was baptized of John in [eis] the Jordan. And straightway coming up out of [ek] the water, he saw.' So in Acts 8:38 we read: 'They both went down into [eis] the water, both Philip and the eunuch; and he baptized him. And when they came up out of [ek] the water, the Spirit . . . caught away Philip.' If one could still be in doubt about the matter, Paul sets it at rest by the symbolism used in Romans 6:4: 'We wore buried therefore with him through baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we also might walk in newness of life.' The submergence and emergence of immersion thus, according to Paul, symbolize the death and burial to sin on the one hand and the resurrection to the new life in Christ on the other. Sanday and Headlam (Church of England) put it thus in their commentary on Romans (p. 153): 'It expresses symbolically a series of acts corresponding to, the redeeming acts of Christ. Immersion beneath. Submersion burial (the ratification of death). Emergence=Resurrection.' In Colossians 2: 12 Paul again says: 'Having been buried with him in baptism, wherein you were also raised with him through faith in the working of God, who raised him from the dead.' The same image is here presented. Lightfoot (Church of England) on Colossians (p. 182) says: 'Baptism is the grave of the old man, and the birth of the new. As he sinks beneath the baptismal waters, the believer buries there all his corrupt affections and past sins; as he emerges thence, he rises regenerate, quickened to new hopes and new life. There is nothing in the New Testament to offset this obvious and inevitable interpretation."-"The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia," Volume 1, p. 386, 387.

The emblems of Christ's sacrifice

"Christ is still at the table on which the paschal supper has been spread. The unleavened cakes used at the Passover season are

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before him. The Passover wine, untouched by fermentation, is on the table. These emblems Christ employs to represent his own unblemished sacrifice. Nothing corrupted by fermentation, the symbol of sin and death, could represent the 'Lamb without blemish and without spot.' And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and blessed it, and brake it, and gave it to the disciples, and said, Take, cat: this is my body. And he took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, Drink you all of it; for this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed f or many for the remission of sins. But I say unto you, I will not drink henceforth of this fruit of the vine, until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father's kingdom."-"The Desire of Ages," pp. 781, 780.

In union with Christ

As faith contemplates our Lord's great sacrifice, the soul assimilates the spiritual life of Christ. That soul will receive spiritual strength from every communion. The service forms a living connection by which the believer is bound up with Christ, and thus bound .up with the Father. In a special sense it forms a connection between dependent human beings and God.

"As we receive the bread and wine symbolizing Christ's broken body and spilled blood, we in imagination join in the scene of communion in the upper chamber. We seem to be passing through the garden consecrated by the agony of him who bore the sins of the world. We witness the struggle by which our reconciliation with God was obtained. Christ is set forth crucified among us.

"Looking upon the crucified Redeemer, we more fully comprehend the magnitude and meaning of the sacrifice made by the Majesty of heaven. The plan of salvation is glorified before us, and the thought of Calvary awakens living and sacred emotions in our hearts. Praise to God and the Lamb will be in our hearts and on our lips; for pride and self-worship cannot flourish in the soul that keeps fresh in memory the scenes of Calvary."-Id., pp. 790, 791.

The presence of unworthy persons no excuse for absence

"None should exclude themselves from the communion because some who are unworthy may be present. Every disciple is called upon to participate publicly, and thus bear witness that he accepts Christ as a personal Savior. It is at these, his own appointments, that Christ meets his people, and energizes them by his presence. Hearts and hands that are unworthy may even administer the ordinance, yet Christ is there to minister to his children. All who come with their faith fixed upon him will be greatly blessed. All who neglect these seasons of divine privilege will suffer loss."-Id., pp. 786, 797.

Till he come

"The communion service points to Christ's second coming. It was designed to keep this hope vivid in the minds of the disciples. Whenever they met together to commemorate his death, they recounted

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how 'he took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, Drink you all of it; for this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins. But I say unto you, I will not drink henceforth of this fruit of the vine, until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father's kingdom.' In their tribulation they found comfort in the hope of their Lord's return. Unspeakably precious to them was the thought, 'As often as you eat this bread, and drink this cup, you do show the Lord's death till he come.'

"These are the things we are never to forget. The love of Jesus, with its constraining power, is to be kept fresh in our memory. Christ has instituted this service that it may speak to our senses of the love of God that has been expressed in our behalf. There can be no union between our souls and, God except through Christ. The union and love' between brother and brother must be cemented and rendered eternal by the love of Jesus. And nothing less than the death of Christ could make his love efficacious f or us. It is only because of his death that we can look with joy to his second coming. His sacrifice is the center of our hope. Upon this we must fix our faith."-Id., pp. 788, 789.

Exclusiveness forbidden

"Christ's example forbids exclusiveness at the Lord's Supper. It is true that open sin excludes the guilty. This the Holy Spirit plainly teaches. But beyond this none are to passed judgment. God has not left it with men to say who shall present themselves on these occasions. For who can read the heart? Who can distinguish the tares from the wheat? 'Let a man examine himself, and so, let him eat of that bread, and drink of that cup.' For 'whosoever shall eat this bread, and drink this cup of the Lord, unworthily, shall be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord.' 'He that eats and drinks unworthily, eats and drinks damnation to himself not discerning the Lord's body.'

"When believers assemble to celebrate the ordinances, there are present messengers unseen by human eyes. There may be a Judas in the company, and if so, messengers from the prince of darkness are there, for they attend all who refuse to be controlled by the Holy Spirit. Heavenly angels also are present. These unseen visitants are present on every such occasion. There may come into the company persons who are not in heart servants of truth and holiness, but who may wish to take part in the service. They should not be forbidden." Id., pp. 785, 786.

The time for the foot washing

"In order to account for what follows, the precise time is defined in the words 'supper being served' or 'supper time having arrived;' not, as in the Authorized Version, 'supper being ended,' which plainly was not the case; nor, as in the Revised Version, 'during supper.' The difficulty about washing the feet could not have arisen after or during supper, but only as the guests entered and reclined at, table."-"The Gospel of Saint John," Marcus Dods, D. D., Volume 2, pp. 75, 76.

An example of humility

"On ordinary occasions it is probable that the disciples would perform, this humble office by turns, where there was no slave to discharge it for all. But this evening, when they gathered for the last supper, all took their places at the table with a studied ignorance of the necessity, a feigned unconsciousness that any such attention was required. As a matter of course, the pitcher of cool water, the basin, and the towel had been set as part of the requisite furnishing of the upper chamber; but no one among the disciples betrayed the slightest consciousness that he understood that any such custom existed. Why was this? Because, as Luke tells us (22:24), 'there had arisen among them a contention, which of them is accounted to be the greatest.'

"For any one to wash the feet of the rest was to declare himself the servant of all; and that was precisely what each one was resolved he, for his part, would not do. No one of them had humor enough to see the absurdity of the situation. No one of them was sensitive enough to be ashamed of showing such a temper in Christ's presence. There they sat, looking at the table, looking at the ceiling, arranging their dress, each resolved upon this that he would not be the man to own himself servant of all.

"But this unhealthy heat quite unfits them to listen to what their Lord has to say to them that last evening. Occupied as they are, not with anxiety about him nor with absorbing desire for the prosperity of his kingdom, but with selfish ambitions that separate them alike from him and from one another, how can they receive what he has to say? But how is he to bring them into a state of mind in which they can listen wholly and devotedly to him 9 How is he to quench their heated passions and stir within them humility and love? He rises from the supper table, and laid aside his garments, and took a towel, and girded himself. After that he pours water into the basin, and began to wash the disciples' feet, and to wipe them with the towel wherewith he was girded. Each separate action is a fresh astonishment and a deeper shame to the bewildered and conscience stricken disciples."-Id., pp. 76, 77.

Jesus at the feet of the traitor

"Still another circumstance which seemed to John to accentuate the grace of the foot-washing was this-that Judas was among the guests, and that the devil had now put into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon's son, to betray him.' Instead of unmasking him, Jesus makes no difference between him and the others, kneels by his couch, takes his feet in his hands, washes and gently dries them. However difficult it is to understand why Jesus chose Judas at the first, there can be no question that throughout his acquaintance with him he had done all that was possible to win him. The kind of treatment Judas had received throughout may be inferred from the

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treatment he received now. Jesus knew him to be a man of a low type and impenitent; he knew him to be at that very time out of harmony with the little company, false, plotting, meaning to save himself by bringing ruin on the rest. Yet Jesus will not denounce him to the others. His sole weapon is love. Conquests which he cannot achieve with this he will not achieve at all. In the person of Judas the utmost of malignity the world can show is present to Him, and he meets it with kindness. Well may also exclaim: 'Jesus at the feet of the traitor-What a picture! What lessons for us!"-Id., pp. 81, 82.

The preparation for the communion

"Now, having washed the disciples' feet, He said, 'I have given you an example, that you should do as I have done to you.' In these words Christ was not merely enjoining the practice of hospitality. More was meant than the washing of the feet of, guests to remove the dust of travel. Christ was here instituting a religious service. By the act of our Lord this humiliating ceremony was made a consecrated ordinance. It was to be observed by the disciples, that they might ever keep in mind his lessons of humility and service.

"This ordinance is Christ's appointed preparation for the sacramental service. While pride, variance, and strife for supremacy are cherished, the heart cannot enter into fellowship with Christ. We are not prepared to receive the communion of his body and his blood. Therefore it was that Jesus appointed the memorial of his humiliation to be first observed."-"The Desire of Ages," pp. 776, 777.

An example to be followed

"Our Lord was not content to let his action speak for itself; he expressly explains (John 13: 1217) the meaning of what he had now done. He meant that they should learn to wash one another's feet, to be humble and ready to be of service to one another, even when to serve seemed to compromise their dignity. No disciple of Christ need go far to find feet that need washing, feet that are stained or bleeding with the hard ways that have been trodden. To recover men from the difficulties into which sin or misfortune has brought them; to wipe off some of the soil from men's lives; to make them purer, sweeter, readier to listen to Christ; even unostentatiously to do the small services which each hour calls for, is to follow him who girt himself with the slave's apron. As often as we thus condescend we become like Christ. By putting himself in the servant's place, our Lord has consecrated all service. The disciple who next washed the feet of the rest would feel that he was representing Christ, and Would suggest to the minds of the others the action of their Lord; and as often as we lay aside the conventional dignity in which we are clad, and gird ourselves to do what others despise, we feel that we are doing what Christ would do, and are truly representing him."-"The Gospel of St. John," Marcus Dods, D. D., Volume 2, p. 88.

A pledge to service

"To those who receive tie spirit of this service, it can never become a mere ceremonial. Its constant lesson will be, 'By love serve one another.' In washing the feet of his disciples, Christ gave evidence that he would do any service, however humble, that would make them heirs with him of the eternal wealth of heaven's treasure. His disciples, in performing the same rite, pledge themselves in like manner to serve their brethren. Whenever this ordinance is rightly celebrated, the children of God are brought into a holy relationship, to help and bless each other. They covenant that the life shall be given to unselfish ministry. And this, not only for one another. Their field of labor is as wide as their Master's was. The world is full of those who need our ministry. The poor, the helpless, the ignorant, are on every hand. Those who have communed with Christ in the upper chamber, will go forth to minister as he did."-"The Desire of Ages," pp. 778, 779.

LESSON SEVENTY-EIGHT Spiritual Gifts

1. When Jesus ascended to heaven after overcoming the world (John 16:33), he shared the fruits of his victory with those still left upon the earth by bestowing upon them rich gifts. Ephesians 4: 7, 8.

2. These gifts were in the nature of special experiences of service which would be ministered unto them. Ephesians 4: 11, 12; Romans 12: 6-8.

3. The relative importance of these gifts to the church seems to be indicated by the order in which they are mentioned. 1 Corinthians 12: 28.

4. All the gifts are the manifestation of the working of the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Christ, in the different members of the church. 1 Corinthians 12: 4-11.

5. These gifts must be exercised in that love which is shed abroad in the heart by the Holy Spirit, in order that the service may be acceptable to God. 1 Corinthians 13: 1, 2; Romans 5: 5.

6. All the gifts are to be desired, but especially the privilege of speaking for God. 1 Corinthians 14: 1.

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7. It is more profitable for the church that one should speak in a tongue which all can understand. 1 Corinthians 14: 2-5.

8. If one speaks in a tongue not understood by all, he should seek to be able to interpret his instruction to the people. 1 Corinthians 14: 8-13, 18, 19.

9. The gift of tongues and the gift of prophesying are for different purposes. 1 Corinthians 14: 22-25.

10. In the exercise of all these gifts care should be taken to avoid anything like confusion. 1 Corinthians 14: 26, 31-33, 39, 40.

NOTES

The measure of the gifts

"The three short clauses of the citation [Ephesians 4: 8] supply, in effect, a threefold measure of the gifts of Christ to his church. They are gifts of the ascended Savior. They are gifts bestowed from the fruit of his victory. And they are gifts to men. Measure them, first, by the height to which he has risen from what a depth! Measure them, again, by the spoils he has already won. Measure them, once more, by the wants of mankind, by the need he has undertaken to supply. As he is, so he gives; as he has, so he gives; as he has given, so will he give till we are filled unto all the fullness of God."

The equipment for ministry

"He gave gifts to men-he gave some apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers, with a view to the full equipment of the saints for work of ministration, for building up of the body of Christ. Yes, and some martyrs, some missionaries, some church rulers and Christian statesmen, some poets, some deep thinkers and theologians, some leaders of philanthropy and helpers of the poor; all given for the same end-to minister to the life of his church, to furnish it with the means for carrying on its mission, and to enable every saint to contribute his part to the commonwealth of Christ according to the measure of Christ's gift to each."

Duty to be learned from the Scriptures

"The gifts of the Spirit have been manifested in the rise and development of the threefold message proclaimed by Seventh-day Adventists, and from its early beginnings the instruction given through the spirit of prophecy has guided the movement. This gift has been instrumental, under the blessing of God, in preserving the spirit of unity, in warning against specious errors, in fostering the spiritual life of the church, and in inspiring courage to undertake and vigorously, to press a world-wide work. The NOTES in this book selected from the instruction derived from this gift are an emphatic testimony to its practical and spiritual value.

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"The gifts of the Spirit should all have their proper places. The Bible is an everlasting rock. It is our rule of faith and practice. In it the man of God is 'thoroughly furnished unto all good works.' If every member of the church of Christ were holy, harmless and separate from sinners, and searched the Holy Scriptures diligently and with much prayer for duty, with the aid of the Holy Spirit, we think, they would be able to learn their whole duty in 'all good works.' Thus 'the man of God may be perfect.' But as the reverse exists, and ever .has existed, God in much mercy has pitied the weakness of his people, and has set the gifts in the gospel church to correct our errors, and to lead us to his living Word. Paul says that they are for the 'perfecting of the saints,' 'till we all come in the unity of the faith.' The extreme necessity of the church in its imperfect state is God's opportunity to manifest the gifts of the Spirit.

"Every Christian is therefore in duty bound to take the Bible as a perfect rule of faith and duty. He should pray fervently to be aided by the Holy Spirit in searching the Scriptures for the whole truth, and for his whole duty. He is not at liberty to turn from them to learn his duty through any of the gifts. We say that the very moment he does, he places the gifts in a wrong place, and takes an extremely dangerous position. The Word should be in front, and the eye of the church should be placed upon it, as the rule to walk by, and the fountain of wisdom, from which to learn duty in 'all good works.' But if a portion of the church err from the truths of the Bible and become weak and sickly, and the flock become scattered, so that it seems necessary for God to employ the gifts of the Spirit to correct, revive, and heal the erring, we should let him work. Yea more, we should pray for him to work, and plead earnestly that he would work by the Spirit's power, and bring the scattered sheep to his fold."-James White, in the Review and Herald, April 21, 1851.

The design and the importance of the gifts

"When the design of the gifts is clearly seen, then the importance of this subject will be understood. They were given for the perfecting of the church of Christ. When the apostolic church was pure and holy, having just learned the gospel from the great Head. of the church, and having been baptized with the Holy Ghost on the day of Pentecost, the gifts of the Spirit were given to them, for their edification and profit. And we have no Scripture evidence that they were designed for a limited portion of the gospel age, to be taken away from the church in a few years; but the proof is abundant that they were designed to exist in the church as long as the saints in their mortal state needed the teaching of the Bible and the Holy Spirit.

"It is universally admitted that a portion of the gifts exist in the church at this day, such as 'the word of wisdom,' and 'the word of knowledge,' and no one denies that 'pastor s' and 'teachers' were to be in the church until its perfection. Then, if a portion of the gifts were to remain in the church, why not all of them remain? Why

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should the professed church of Christ pick out from that catalogue of gifts, so freely bestowed by the great Head of the church, those that suit them best, and trample the others in the dust? It is sometimes asserted, by those who oppose the operations of the Spirit of God, that the gifts were designed for the apostles alone: but if this is true, then the church of Christ has been destitute of 'the word of wisdom,' 'the word of knowledge,' and the, gift of 'faith' for about 1800 years, and those who have professed to be 'teachers' and 'pastors' have assumed a calling which ceased to exist at the death of the apostles. It is therefore very evident that all the gifts run parallel with each other, none of them ending before the rest, and that they were to extend quite through the gospel age.

"The gifts were given for 'the perfecting of the saints,' and as the church is in an imperfect state, they are all needed. They were to be employed for this purpose 'till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.' The church has never yet reached this state of unity, knowledge, fullness, and perfection; therefore the gifts should not be dismissed, until the object for which they were given is gained."-Ibid.

A rational conclusion

"As God has ever distributed his spiritual blessings according to the necessities of his people, it is rational and right to conclude that the abundant manifestations of the Holy Spirit, mentioned by the prophet Joel and the apostle Peter, were designed for the 'remnant,' just before they enter the 'time of trouble, such as never was,' the 'great and terrible day of the Lord.' Before the world was drowned with the flood, God interposed, and Noah was instructed to prepare the ark. The divine power moved upon the beasts, cattle, fowls, and creeping things, and they two by two moved along into the ark with Noah and his family, land the Lord shut them in.' Just before fire and brimstone was rained upon Sodom. and Gomorrah, two angels were sent to hasten Lot in his escape. God showed signs and wonders to his people in Egypt, through Moses and Aaron. He also parted the Red Sea before them. When the powers of earth and hell were arrayed against Christ and his apostles, the covenant was confirmed by signs and wonders and mighty deeds of the Holy Ghost. And can we believe that the saints are to pass through the perils of the last days, the 'time of trouble, such as never was,' unaided by the power of the Spirit? Certainly we cannot. He whose ways are equal and who knows our wants, will pour out his Spirit, according to the prophet Joel, and will impart strength to the meek, to enable them to 'stand in the battle in the day of the Lord."-Ibid.

For the last days

"The Jewish age, notwithstanding its apostasies, opened and closed with special manifestations of the Spirit of God. And it is not

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reasonable to suppose that the Christian age, the light of which, compared with the former dispensation, is as the light of the sun to the feeble rays of the Moon, should commence in glory and close in obscurity. And since a special work of the Spirit was necessary to prepare a people for the first advent of Christ, how much more so for his Second Advent!

"God has never manifested his power to his people simply for their gratification; but according to their necessities has he wrought for them. Then we may safely conclude that as his people are passing through the perils of the last days in the final struggle with the aroused powers of darkness, when false prophets were to have power to show great signs and wonders, insomuch that, if it were possible, they would deceive the very elect, our gracious God will bless and strengthen his fainting people with the gifts, as well as the graces, of the Holy Spirit."-Id. January 25, 1870.

The gifts to be revived

"Since the great apostasy these gifts have rarely been manifested; and for this reason professed Christians generally suppose that they were designed to be limited to the period of the primitive church. But from the time of the primitive Christians to the present there have been manifestations among the most devoted followers of Jesus, which have been recognized by nearly all of the leading denominations as the gifts of the Holy Spirit. Then should not the errors and the unbelief of the church be assigned as a reason why these manifestations have been so seldom, rather than that God has taken these blessings from the church? When the people of God attain to primitive faith and practice, as they most certainly will under the last message, the latter rain will be poured out, and all the gifts will be revived. The former rain was given at the commencement of the Christian age, in the time of the sowing of the gospel seed, to cause it to germinate and take good root. Then the church enjoyed the gifts. And when the latter rain shall be poured out at the close of the dispensation, to ripen the golden harvest for the garner of God, then will the gifts of the Holy Spirit be manifested in all their fullness."-Ibid.

The latter rain

"We say, then, that one great reason why the gifts of the Spirit are no more manifest among us, is because the church is not humble enough to bear them. Will the Lord trust those whose affections are still attached to this world, and who have a large share of pride left, with the gifts of the Spirit? If he should, it would be very likely to build them up in their errors, and ruin them. This he will not do. The latter rain is coming, and God is waiting to be gracious. The refreshing will come from the presence of the Lord, and it should be our concern to be ready for it, so as to share it largely."-Id., April 21, 1851.

LESSON SEVENTY-NINE The Support of the Gospel

1. God is the creator of all things and therefore the rightful owner of all things. Ephesians 3:9; Revelation 4:11; Acts 14:15; Jeremiah 10:16; Genesis 14:19, 22; 1 Chronicles 29:11; Haggai 2:8; Psalm 50:10, 11.

2. All that man has, even what he has seemed to acquire by his own efforts, is the gift of God. Deuteronomy 8: 11-18; Acts 17: 24, 25; John 3: 27; 1 Corinthians 4: 7.

3. We are not the absolute owners of the gifts bestowed upon us, but they are entrusted to us as stewards, to be used for our Master's benefit. Matthew 25: 14, 24-27; 1 Chronicles 29: 16.

4. As a constant reminder that he is the real owner of all, God reserved to himself one tenth of all the increase of man's possessions, making him the steward of the remaining nine tenths only. Leviticus 27:30-32.

5. The tenth thus reserved was given by the Lord to those who devoted their time to ministering in holy things. Numbers 18:21.

6. While upon earth; and later by the inspiration of his Spirit, our Lord approved of this way of supporting ministers of the gospel. Matthew 23: 23; 1 Corinthians 9:11-14.

7. In addition to the tithe and all the offerings of obligation, such as thank offerings, peace offerings, sin offerings, and trespass offerings, God expected his people to make freewill offerings. Deuteronomy 12:5, 6; Numbers 29: 39.

8. All offerings are to be given willingly, and their value is computed by the Lord according to the ability of each one to give rather than according to the market value. 2 Corinthians 9:6, 7; 8:12; Deuteronomy 16:16, 17; Mark 12:41-44.

9. Tithe paying was recognized and practiced in very early times. Genesis 14: 18-20; Hebrews 7: 1, 2; Genesis 28: 20-22.

10. The principle of stewardship applies not only to material possessions, but also to the gifts of God's grace. 1 Corinthians 4: 1; 1 Peter 4:10.

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11. God's stewards are expected to be faithful to their trust. 1 Corinthians 4: 2; Luke 12: 42.

12. We can honor God by paying tithes on the right basis, or we can rob him by withholding tithes and offerings. Proverbs 3: 9, 10; Malachi 3: 8.

NOTES

The best system

"There is no system of giving that has ever been proposed that produces greater results than that which teaches that God is the owner of all things, that we are stewards of all that comes into our hands, and that one tenth is the minimum that we should lay aside for the advancement of God's kingdom in the world."

Personal consecration before purse consecration

"The first essential to right giving of our substance is the giving of ourselves. The Lord looks upon the heart. The heart must be right before the act can be acceptable. We ourselves are of more value to God than any material offering we can bring to him. He wants us. The devotement of all that we are to God must precede the devotement of all that we have. Persons before possessions. 'And this they did, not as we expected, but first gave their own selves to the Lord.' 'Personal consecration must come before purse,' consecration, self-consecration before wealth consecration. It is not the gold that sanctifies the temple, but the temple that sanctifies the gold.' This is one point at which the great body of believers need to be put right. We have too 'readily supposed that we have discharged our whole duty and met our obligations when we have made liberal offerings to the Lord. But to give our possessions and not to give our own selves is a very faulty sort of consecration. The giving of money, however much, can never be accepted by God as a substitute for the giving of ourselves. Nor, on the other hand, is our consecration complete if, with the giving of ourselves to Christ, there is no surrender of our property and possessions to him. He who gives himself and does not give his property is dangerously near becoming a follower of Ananias."

Love the spring

"Love to God and men must be the 'gracious spring from which all our gifts shall flow. Giving, that flows from love, is godlike. 'God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son.' We must give because we love. Loveless giving is lifeless giving."

Christ's teaching

"The basis of Christ's teaching about money is the fundamental conception of stewardship. Luke 12: 42; 16:1-8. Not only money, but every gift of God, is received in trust for his use. Man is not an owner, but a trustee managing another's goods and estates, God

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being the one original and inalienable owner of all. The two things required of stewards are that they be 'faithful and wise,' that they study to employ God's gifts with fidelity and sagacity fidelity so that God's instruments be not perverted to self-indulgence; sagacity, so that they be converted into as large gains as possible.

"This is a perfectly plain and simple basal principle, yet it is not the accepted foundation of our money making and using. The vast majority even of disciples, practically leave God out of their thoughts when they engage in finance."

"Our Lord's teachings as to money gifts, if obeyed, would forever banish all limitations on church work and all concern about supplies. These teachings are radical and revolutionary. So far are they from practical acceptance that, although perfectly explicit, they seem more like a dead language that has passed out of use, than like a living tongue that millions know and speak. Yet, when these principles and precepts of our Lord on giving are collated and compared, they are found to contain the materials of a complete ethical system on the subject of money, its true nature, value, relation, and use. Should these sublime and unique teachings be translated in living the effect not only upon benevolent work, but upon our whole spiritual character, would be incalculable."

As a trust

"All life takes on a new significance as soon as we realize that whatever we have is ours as a trust."

The divine law of giving

"The interests of the kingdom of God should be supreme in all our stewardship. Whenever we receive our income, we should recognize God's ownership of all we receive and our stewardship by at once laying aside a portion for God. We are not to spend, and spend, until only a little is left, and then offer the great Creator and Giver of all things the mere leavings of our income. God should be first in our giving, not last. This is a divine law in connection with our giving that opens the door to the greatest joy and blessing."

Larger giving

"We need a new vision of the magnitude and urgency of the work of world-wide evangelization. We need to see that the time has come for Christian men and wom6u to give on a very much larger scale than ever they have, in order that the great and pressing needs of the work may be met, and the glad news of redemption carried to the waiting millions of earth."

The result of tithing

"Tithing fosters devotion to the cause of Christ. Some have contended that tithing makes giving formal and mechanical, and that it is a hindrance rather than a help to spirituality. Tithing may,

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of course, become a mere habit. So may prayer. So may any spiritual exercise. The facts are, however, that the continual practice of tithing holds the Christian in line with the movements of the kingdom of God,. keeps him in constant touch with those movements as he distributes the tenth, and thereby his interest in, and devotion to, the great work God is doing in the world is fostered."

Stewardship and tithing

"It should be clearly understood at the outset that stewardship is more than tithing and comes before it. A great mistake has been made by some in placing such emphasis on tithing that the duties of stewardship have been overlooked. Tithing is not all of stewardship, it is only a part, and therefore should not be made to eclipse the responsibilities of the steward in the administration of his entire income for the glory of God."

Giving and Christianity

"It is just as incumbent on us to labor to earn for giving on six days as to rest on the seventh day. You cannot eliminate the spirit of giving without eliminating Christianity itself. It is a crime for the head of the family to do all the giving. It is a part of each personal worship and life.

"Every two dollars wasted by a Christian means that somewhere in this world some one goes un-reached. Self-sacrifice is the first law of grace. Before every purchase we need to ask, 'Is this the thing for a person to buy who is living for the evangelization of the world?"

Liberality to be cultivated

"Liberality is not so natural to us that we gain this virtue by accident. It must be cultivated. We must deliberately resolve that we will honor God with our substance; and then we must let nothing tempt us to rob him of the tithes and offerings that are his due. We must be intelligent, systematic, and continuous in our acts of charity to men and our expressions of gratitude to God for his bounties to us. This is too sacred a duty to be left to chance, or to be controlled by impulse or feeling. We should regularly reserve something for God's cause, that he may not be robbed of the portion which he claims. When we rob God, we rob ourselves also. We give up the heavenly treasure for the sake of having more of this earth. This is a loss that we cannot afford to sustain."-"Testimonies for the Church," Volume 5, pp. 271, 272.

An act of grateful acknowledgment

"The Lord requires that we return to him in tithes and offerings, a portion of the goods he has lent us. He accepts these offerings as an act of humble obedience on our part, and a grateful acknowledgment of our indebtedness to him for all the blessings we enjoy."-Id., p. 267.

God's ownership

"As between me and my fellow men, what I hold belongs to me, and I have a right to defend my title to it; but as between me and God, it belongs to him; and because of his ownership of all things, he has the right to determine to whom he will entrust his wealth, how long they shall retain it, the terms on which they shall hold it, the uses they shall make of it, and when and what kind of a settlement they shall make to him. If the landlord and the money-lender, whose titles to their property are relative only, have this right, how much more God, whose title is absolute. The tenant does not dictate to the landlord what crops he shall raise or what rent he shall pay; neither does the borrower decide what interest he shall pay to the lender. A man has no more right to determine the terms and conditions of his stewardship than he has to determine the terms and conditions of his admission into the kingdom of heaven. This prerogative belongs to God, and in his holy word he has clearly set them forth."

"God allows man to use his possessions, but he never surrenders his ownership. We are not owners, for we brought nothing into this world, and we can take nothing out. What we use and enjoy was all here before we came. We do not create anything. We may gather more or less of material wealth around our own personality, but all we gather belongs to the great Creator of all things. As between each other men may be owners. We may have rights and titles to certain estates to which no one else has any rights or titles'. But those rights and titles are simply an earthly, human arrangement between man and man. Between us and God, he is the owner."

A solemn obligation

"Every church member should feel under obligation to consecrate his tithe to God. None are to follow the sight of their eyes, or the inclination of their selfish hearts, and thus rob God. They should not use their means to gratify vanity, or for any other selfish indulgence; for in so doing they entangle themselves in Satan's snares. God is the giver of tact, of ability to accumulate wealth, and therefore all is to be laid upon his altar. The requirement is, 'Honor the Lord with thy substance.' The tendency to covetousness must be constantly restrained, else it will cat into the hearts of, men and women and they will run greedily after gain."-"Testimonies for the Church," Volume 5, p. 481.

Abraham's tithing

"The giving of one tenth of all by Abraham to Melchizedek is the first recorded instance of tithing in the Old Testament. It is the model for us. Abraham's tithing is free from all the objections that are made against tithing on the ground that it is a Jewish institution. Abraham's tithing emphasizes the fact that it was a moral obligation. It was not as some new thing that Abraham did when he gave a tenth of all to Melchizedek, but as a duty universally

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recognized by the nations in Abraham's time, and long before. 'Traces of it m something old, and well understood, appear in the earliest historic times among nations having little or no intercourse with the Jews or with each other. To suppose that so many people all hit upon the tenth is out of the question, and the only reasonable conclusion is that they all got it like the altar, and the sacrifices for sin, from a common source; that it was a part of God's moral law originally revealed to man, and as such was obeyed by Abraham and afterward incorporated by Moses in the Levitical code."

"Abraham's tithing was free from ceremonialism. With the Jews tithing was a matter of ceremony and ritual. The tendency of all ritual is to mere formalism. Abraham's act was of a more spiritual nature. It was undoubtedly an expression of his gratitude to God for his goodness to him in the victory he had just gained. Our giving is to be spiritual and not a matter of mere form and ceremony. Tithing is to be a spiritual act."

"Abraham's tithing is distinctly said to be associated with a perpetual priesthood, and therefore it also is to be perpetual. The fact that it is such a high order of tithing, and is so clearly linked with Christ, is a good reason why it should have a place in the practice of Christian stewardship.

"It is said sometimes that we axe living in the dispensation of grace, and therefore we are not under obligation to any such law as tithing. But this tithing was by a man who lived his life on the basis of grace and faith. In the fourth chapter of the epistle to the Romans, Abraham is held up before us as the great and striking instance of all previous history of how men are saved, not by works of righteousness which they have done, but by grace through faith. If there was nothing incompatible with Abraham's life of faith in the giving of tithes, there can be nothing incompatible with the fact that we are living in the dispensation of grace when we give tithes to Christ. Since tithing was practiced in the first instance recorded in the Bible under the principles of grace and faith, surely the proportion is not to be less when the dispensation of grace and faith and love has fully come in. 'Were it not that we are so bent on keeping our money at any cost we would never offer such a senseless excuse to the Lord for falling short of our duty, as when we say, "We are not living under the law, but under grace."'"

Christ our example

"In the time of the great Indian famine there were relief agents to whom were entrusted great sums of money with which to feed the hungry, but who kept that money for themselves, while hundreds of starving creatures died under their very eyes. God has given us wealth that we may relieve the spiritual famine of the world. Shall we keep for ourselves, or spend upon our own pleasures, what belongs to the perishing? What should we think of the professed Christian

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who, when the bread was passed to him at the Lord's Supper, should keep it all for himself, and refuse to pass it on! When the Lord multiplies the loaves to feed the live thousand, shall the apostles keep the loaves to themselves, and pile them till they form such a barricade that the five thousand are hid from sight? And shall John be excused from distributing simply because Peter will not do his part? Ah, my brethren, this is a matter between each one of us and Christ! Each of us is charged with maintaining and extending a spiritual church, by our giving, as well as by our witnessing and teaching. And not our brethren, but only Christ, is our example, our lawgiver, and our judge."

The offering of love

"The Lord never requires his people to offer more than they are," able, but according to their ability he is pleased to accept and bless their thank offerings. Let willing obedience and pure love bind upon the altar every offering that is made to God; for with such sacrifices he is well pleased, while those that are offered grudgingly are an offense to him. When churches or individuals have no heart in their offerings, but would limit the cost of carrying forward the work of God, and gauge it by their own narrow views, they show decidedly that they have no living connection with God. They are at variance with his plan and manner of working, and he will not bless them."-"Testimonies for the Church," Volume 5, pp. 269, 270.

Christ commends tithing

"In other words, Christ said to the Pharisees, 'You carry your respect for the ancient law of the tenth so far that you even tithe mint and rue and every little herb. But I do not censure you for that; you cannot be too strict or too careful in paying such debts to God. These ought you to have done. What I do reproach you for is that you content yourselves with this and omit the equally important matters of justice and real love to God. You ought not to leave these undone.' Christ commended tithing, and we should be slow to disregard what he commended. 'What Christ commends is my command,' says Dr. O. P. Gifford."

An unreasonable course

"It is as unreasonable as it is wrong, for God's stewards to be forever increasing their personal and household expenses with every increase of their income while God's work of redemption in the world drags and suffers for lack of funds."

The hinge of stewardship

"Our stewardship is primarily a stewardship of the gospel. In 1 Corinthians 9: 17 the apostle Paul says, 'A stewardship of the gospel is committed unto me.' In Ephesians 3: 2 he says, 'If so be that you have heard of the stewardship of that grace of God which was given

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me to you ward. Every believer is a steward of the manifold grace of God. Not simply those who are called to be pastors, or evangelists, or missionaries, but all believers. This stewardship of the gospel is All-inclusive. It takes in all we are, all we do, all we have, and all we acquire. It has many parts. There is the stewardship of personality, the stewardship of all the faculties and powers with which God has been pleased to endow us. We are to be good, stewards of personality in order that we may be good stewards of the gospel. That is, we are to use the powers God has entrusted to us for the furthering of his cause and kingdom. There is the stewardship of time. Time is God entrusted. We have no right to do as we please with it. We are to use it as a part of our one great stewardship of the manifold grace of God for the good of men. There is the stewardship of opportunity, and of privileges, and of every blessing that may come into our lives. With all these there is the stewardship of property or wealth. These are all parts of the stewardship of the gospel which has been so definitely committed to the church and to every believer in the church.

"Our faithfulness in this stewardship hinges at the money point. The man who is true to God as his steward in the acquisition and use of wealth, who goes into business or wage-earning as God's steward, there definitely to adjust his daily activities to the great business of the kingdom of his Lord and Master Jesus Christ, will be faithful in his stewardship all along the line. He will be a faithful steward of personality, time, opportunity, and all else, for a man cannot be true to the resolve to be faithful in his stewardship of wealth in the interest of the gospel without being true in all these other respects. It is exceedingly important, therefore, that what is involved in the stewardship of wealth should be clearly understood."

The true estimate of giving

"She who cast her two mites into the sacred treasury, by so doing became rich in good works and in the praise of God. Had she kept them she had been still only the same poor widow. Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? And the two mites 'make a farthing.' He who, as the superintending providence of nature, watches the fall of a sparrow, so that 'one of them is not forgotten before God,' also, as the overseer of the treasury, invisibly sits and watches the gifts that are dropped into the chest, and even the widow's mite is not forgotten.

"He tells us here how he estimates money gifts-not by what we give, but by what we keep-not by the amount of our contributions, but by their cost in self-denial. This widow's whole offering counted financially for but a farthing (a quadrant, equal to four mills, or two fifths of a cent, as three fourths of an English farthing). What could be much more insignificant? But the two mites constituted her whole means of subsistence. The others reserved what they needed or wanted for themselves, and then gave out of their superabundance. The

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contrast is emphatic; she 'out of her deficiency,' they out of their supersufficiency."

"Not all giving-so called-has rich reward. In many cases the keeping hides the giving, in the sight of God. Self-indulgent hoarding and spending spread a banquet; the crumbs fall from the table, to be gathered up and labeled 'charity.' But when the one possession that is dearest, the last trusted resource, is surrendered to God, then comes the vision of the treasure laid up in heaven."

How to give

"Give as you would if an angel
Awaited your gift at the door;
Give as you would if tomorrow
Found you where giving would be no more;
Give as you would to the Master
If you met his searching look;
Give as you would of your substance
If his hand your offering took."

LESSON EIGHTY The Work of the Church

1. The followers of Christ are sent into the world to continue the work which he was sent to do. John 17: 18.

2. The disciples of Christ have received a commission to preach the gospel to all the world. Matthew 28:19, 20; Mark 16:15; Acts 1:8

3. As Christ in his individual body was the light of the, world, so he is to fulfill the same mission in his mystical body, the church. John 8: 12; Matthew 5: 14; Philippians 2: 14-16.

4. It is the purpose of God that through the body of Christ upon the earth, the church, the wisdom of God revealed in the plan of salvation should be made known e even to heavenly beings. Ephesians 3: 10, 11.

5. The churches at Rome and Thessalonica were examples of the influence which a consecrated church can exert. Romans 1:8; 2 Thessalonians 1:3, 4.

6. Each member of the church is to be a neighbor to those who need help. Luke 10: 29-37.

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7. In the midst of the, moral darkness of this world the glory of the Lord is to be revealed through his church. Isaiah 60: 1, 2; Philippians 1:9-11; John 17: 5.

NOTES

The Spirit given for service

"We conceive that the great end for which the endowment of the Spirit is bestowed is our qualification for the highest and most effective service in the church of Christ. Other effects will certainly attend the blessing, a fixed assurance of our acceptance in Christ, and a holy separateness from the world; but these results will be conducive to the greatest and supreme end, our consecrated usefulness."

Each member a worker

"The 'work of ministering' and the building up of the body of Christ are not assigned to special orders of ministry as their exclusive calling. Such honor have all his saints. It is the office of the clergy to see that the laity do their duty, of 'the ministry' to make each saint a minister of Christ, to guide, instruct, and animate the entire membership of Christ's body in the work he has laid upon it. Upon this plan the Christian fellowship was organized and officered in the apostolic times."

The aim of Christ's servants

"The gifts pertaining to special office in the church were bestowed to promote its corporate efficiency and to further its general growth. Ephesians 4:11, 12. Now, the purpose of these endowments sets a limit to their use. 'Christ gave apostles, prophets,' and the rest 'till we all arrive at our perfect manhood and reach the stature of his fullness.' Such is the connection of verse 13 with the foregoing context. The aim of the Christian ministry is to make itself superfluous, to raise men beyond its need. Knowledge and prophesyings, apostles and pastorates, the missions of the evangelist and the schools of the teacher, will one day cease; their work will be done, their end gained, when all believers are brought 'to the unity of faith, to the full knowledge of the Son of God.' The work of Christ's servants can have no grander aim, no further goal lying beyond this."

Power for work

"It is in doing Christ's work that the church has the promise of his presence. Go teach 'all nations, he said; and, lo, I am with you always, oven unto the end of the world.' To take his yoke is one of the first conditions of receiving his power. The very life of the church depends upon her faithfulness in fulfilling the Lord's commission. To neglect this work is surely to invite spiritual feebleness and decay. Where there is no active labor for others, love wanes, and faith grows dim. Christ intends that his ministers shall be educators

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of the church in gospel work. They are to teach the people how to seek and save the lost."-"The Desire of Ages," pp. 989, 990.

"The church of Christ is God's agency for the proclamation of truth; she is empowered by him to do a special work; and if she is loyal to God, obedient to his commandments, there will dwell within her the excellence of divine power. If she will honor the Lord God of Israel, there is no power that can stand against her. If she will be true to her allegiance, the forces of the enemy will be no more able to overpower her than is the chaff to resist the whirlwind."-Id., Volume 8, p. 11.

An eternal law

It is an eternal law of Jehovah that he who accepts the truth that the world needs is to make it his first work to proclaim this truth."-"Testimonies for the Church," Volume 7, p. 13.

The church a light

"God has called his church in this day, as he called ancient Israel, to stand as a light in the earth. By the mighty cleaver of truth, the messages of the first, second, and third angels, lie has separated them from the churches and from the world to bring them into a sacred nearness to himself. He has made them the depositaries of his law, and has committed to them the great truths of prophecy for this time. Like the holy oracles committed to ancient Israel, these are a sacred trust to be communicated to the world. The three angels of Revelation 14 represent the people who accept the light of God's messages, and go forth as his agents to sound the warning throughout the length and breadth of 'the earth. Christ declares to his followers, 'Ye are the light of the world.' To every soul that accepts Jesus, the cross of Calvary speaks, 'Behold the worth of the soul. Go you into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.' Nothing is to be permitted to hinder this work. It is the all-important work for time; it is to be far-reaching as eternity. The love that Jesus manifested for the souls of men in the sacrifice which he made for their redemption, will actuate all his followers,"-Id., Volume 5, pp. 455, 456.

The watchword

"Every one who connects himself with the church makes in that act a solemn vow work for the interest of the church, and to hold that interest above every worldly consideration. It is his work to preserve a living connection with God, to engage with heart and soul in the great scheme of redemption, and to show, in his life and character, the excellence of God's commandments in contrast with the customs and precepts of the world. Every soul that has made a profession of Christ has pledged himself to be all that it is possible for him to be as a spiritual worker, to be active, zealous, and efficient in his Master's service. Christ expects every man to do his duty; let this be the watchword throughout the ranks of his followers."-Id., p. 460.

For service

"All prayer for the guiding and gladdening influence of the Holy Spirit in the children of God ought to have this as its aim: fitness to witness for Christ and do effective service in conquering the world f or him."

Treason!

"It is treason to humanity to propose working out your own salvation in a way that should secure your salvation and nothing else."

Debtors

"The church of Christ is God's appointed agency for the salvation of men. Its mission is to carry the gospel to the world. And the obligation rests upon all Christians. Every one, to the extent of his talent and opportunity, is to fulfill the Savior's commission. The love of Christ, revealed to us, makes ns debtors to all who know him not. God has given us light, not for ourselves alone, but to shed upon them."-"Steps to Christ," p. 85.

The permanent revelation

"As Christ in his own person and life had brought clearly before their minds the presence of the Father, so must they by their person and life manifest in the world the existence and the grace of Christ. They must make permanent and universal the revelation he had brought, that all the world might believe that he was the true representative of God. Christ had lighted them, and with their light they were to kindle all men, till the world was full of light. A share in this work is given to each of us."

A special favor

"Our function, the kind of service we are able to render to the church, varies 'according to the measure' of the wisdom and the strength of the divine life and divine inspiration given us by Christ.

"There is something infinitely beautiful in this use which Paul made of the word 'grace.' To be appointed to render a special service to men was to receive a special favor from God. 'It is more blessed to give than to receive; the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister."

Coworkers with Christ

"The Savior's commission to the disciples included all the believers. It includes all believers in Christ to the end of time. It is a fatal mistake to suppose that the work of saying souls depends alone on the ordained minister. All to whom the heavenly inspiration has come, are put in trust with the gospel. All who receive the life of Christ are ordained to work for the salvation of their fellow men. For this work the church was established, and all who take upon themselves its sacred vows are thereby pledged to be coworkers with Christ.

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"The Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that hears say, Come.' Every one who hears, is to repeat the invitation. Whatever one's calling in life, his first interest should be to win souls for Christ. He may not be able to speak to congregations, but he can work for individuals. To them he can communicate the instruction received from his Lord. Ministry does not consist alone in preaching. Those minister who relieve the sick and suffering, helping the needy, speaking words of comfort to the desponding and those of little faith. Nigh and afar off are souls weighed down by a sense of guilt. It is not hardship, toil, or poverty that degrades humanity. It is guilt, wrongdoing. This brings unrest and dissatisfaction. Christ would have his servants minister to sin-sick souls."-"The Desire of Ages", p. 985.

Work for all

"Men who axe not called to the ministry are to be encouraged to labor for the Master according to their several ability. Hundreds of men and women now idle could do acceptable service. By carrying the truth into the homes of their friends and neighbors, they could do a great work f or the Master. God is no respecter of persons. He will use humble, devoted Christians, even if they have not received so thorough an education as some others. Let such ones engage in service for him by doing house-to-house work."-Testimonies for the Church," Volume 7, p. 21.

The importance of the time

"Unless we understand the importance of the moments that are swiftly passing into eternity, and make ready to stand in the great day of God, we shall be unfaithful stewards. The watchman is to know the time of night. Everything is now clothed with a solemnity that all who believe the truth f or this, time should realize. They should act in reference to the day of God. The judgments of God axe about to fall upon the world, and we need to be preparing for that great day.

"Our time is precious. We have but few, very few days of probation in which to make ready for the future, immortal life. We have no time to spend in haphazard movements. We should fear to skim the surface of the word of God."-Id., Volume 6, p. 407.

A possible program

"Had the apostolic missions been sustained more adequately throughout Christian history, and had the apostolic gospel been better maintained in the church in all the energy of its divine simplicity and fullness, the globe would have been covered-not indeed in a hurry, yet ages ago now-with the knowledge of Jesus Christ as fact, as truth, as life. We are told even now by some of the best informed advocates of missionary enterprises that if Protestant Christendom (to speak of it alone) were really to respond to the missionary call, and 'send' its messengers out not by tens but by thousands (no chimerical

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number), it would be soberly possible within thirty years so to distribute the message that no given inhabited spot should be, at furthest, one day's walk from a center of evangelization. This program is not fanaticism, surely. It is a proposal for possible action, too long deferred, in the line of St. Paul's precept and example. It is not meant to discredit any present form of well-considered operation. And it does not for a moment ignore the futility of all enterprise where the sovereign power of the Eternal Spirit is not present. Nor does it forget the permanent call to the church to sustain amply the pastoral work at home, in 'the flock of God which is among you.' 1 Peter 5:2. But it sees and emphasizes the fact that the Lord has laid it upon his church to be his messenger to the whole world, and to be in holy earnest about it, and that the work, as to its human side, is quite feasible to a church awake."

Learning to live

"Largely thou givest, gracious Lord,
Largely thy gifts should be restored;
Freely thou givest, and thy word
Is, 'Freely give.'
He only, who forgets to hoard,
Has learned to live."

Section XVI–PRAYER

LESSON EIGHTY-ONE The Essential Features of Prayer

1. The basis of true prayer is the recognition of the character of God and of his relationship to us. Matthew 6: 9.

2. The purpose of prayer is to glorify God. Psalm 50:23; Daniel 5:23; Revelation 4:10, 11; 1 Chronicles 29:11-13.

3. Praise is a primary element of prayer. Psalm 65:1; 100:4; 35:18; 67:5; 22:22, 23; 150.

4. The recognition of the character of God involves thanksgiving for the constant manifestation of his love and mercy as "our Father." Psalm 95:2; 116:17; Philippians 4:6; 1 Thessalonians 5:17, 18; Daniel 6:10; Hebrews 13: 15; Ephesians 5: 20.

5. The recognition of God's sovereignty and of his universal dominion should precede any requests made concerning ourselves. Matthew 6:10; Psalm 103:19.

6. Three classes of petitions concerning our own welfare are legitimate in prayer: Those which recognize God as the one who provides our necessary food; those which recognize our sinfulness and the need of forgiveness; those which recognize God as our refuge against the working of Satan. Matthew 6:11-13, ARV.

NOTES

Prayer Is the sum, substance, and crown of the teaching of Jesus

Jesus teaches prayer. This is the sum and substance of his teaching; the object of his life and death. He came to bring us unto. God; he died for our sins, that the love of God may now come freely and fully into our souls, and that eternal life may be ours. He became man, that we, through him, might obtain the adoption of sons. He is a High Priest that we, gathered round him, should be priests unto God and his Father. That his disciples may pray in Christ's name, as one with him, as standing in a filial relation to God through him, this is the high end of the incarnation and of the sufferings of the Son of God, this is the glorious fruit of his resurrection and of the Pentecostal

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gift. For prayer is not one among many manifestations of spiritual life; it is not even enough to say that it is the first and most important. It stands by itself, and pre-eminent. It in, the manifestation of our personal relation to God; it is the essential and immediate expression of our filial relation in Christ to the Father. 'Behold, he prays,' is the beginning of the new life; 'Abba, Father,' is the first word of the regenerate. And as the spiritual life commences so its continuation. Thus it is true, that Jesus teaches to pray, and that the sum and substance, the summit and crown of the teaching of Jesus, is prayer in his name."

Six to one for spiritual blessings

"In the Lord's Prayer there are six petitions for spiritual blessings; only one refers to our temporal wants. What discipline in constantly needed, if we are to enter sincerely into the spirit of this proportion!"

Neglect of prayer is sin

"He who prays merely from a sense of duty cannot have tasted yet that the Lord is gracious. Yet it is good to bear in mind that when we neglect prayer, we not merely forego a privilege, but neglect a duty and commit sin. How strange it is that we avail ourselves so rarely of the inestimable right of drawing near unto the Most High! This convinces us more than anything else of the worldliness and hardness of our hearts. But God in his Word demands that we should take, as it wore, also a lower and sterner view of the neglect of prayer; for he rebukes his people severely for not taking him diligently, and calling upon him in earnest and persevering prayer. He who gives up regularity in prayer deprives himself of the emblem and safeguard of submission and obedience to God. The bowing of the knee before the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ is both the symbol and nourishment of the spirit of filial obedience, of the surrender of out will and the dedication of our energies to God. We should therefore view prayer not merely as an enjoyment, but as a sacrifice in which we present ourselves to God, a sacrifice living, holy, acceptable unto him, which is our reasonable service."

Prayer a mystery of light

"There is no antagonism between prayer in time and the unchangeable will of God in eternity, for Christ is the bridge, the solution of all problems, the peaceful light in our darkness. He reveals prayer an a mystery, but a mystery of light, dark by excess of brightness. Jesus is the archetype of prayer. We are made the sons of God in him, and our great High Priest enables us to enter with him into the holy of holies. We pray because Christ is in us, and the Father is in Christ. Even before his incarnation, and before Pentecost, the saints of God prayed, anticipating the revelation of the mystery of union. David prayed in Christ, and Christ in him, so that Christ could

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adopt the words of David's prayer, which he himself by his Spirit had wrought in David's heart.' But as the revelation of God increases in clearness, the union with his people increases in depth. Jesus, the Son of man, who lived, suffered, and died, exalted at the right hand of God; that same Son whom God bath appointed the heir of an things, by whom he made the world, who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, by himself purged our sins, is the Word in whom God spoke unto us he is the Word in whom we speak unto the Father. Praying in the name of Christ, we pray according to the eternal purpose of God, and we are lifted above sin and death, and all the imperfections of the creature; we are beyond the clouds of time, in the bright region of divine love."

Jesus in the Lord's Prayer

"But do you not see Jesus in every word of the Lord's Prayer? This prayer has well been designated as the condensed substance of all previous prayers. Here all the desires, petitions, hopes, of God's servants are summed up; all the strings of David's harp, all aspirations of patriarchs and prophets, are blended in perfect harmony. And if the Lord's Prayer were only this, would it not necessarily be full of Christ! How full of Christ are the Psalms! But here is more than the Psalms. Here is the Son of God, there only longed for, and seen from a distance, Jesus, the great Immanuel, the mouth of God speaking, the very heart of the Father revealing to us the fullness of divine love.

"'Our Father which art in heaven.' The very invocation is Pentecostal. It is based on the cross, and it breathes the air of the resurrection morn. 'I ascend to my God and to your God, to my Father and to your Father,' 'the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.' He is not ashamed to call us brethren. Ye have received the Spirit of adoption, crying, Abba.'

"'Hallowed be thy name.' Jesus is the messenger in whom is God's name. He that bath seen him hath seen the Father. And the name of-Jesus is the name above every name given unto the Son, as our Redeemer, who was obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.

"'Thy kingdom come.' Is not Jesus the King, the Son of man, who shall come with the clouds of heaven, and to whom shall be given dominion and glory, and a kingdom, that an people, nations, and languages shall serve him."

"'Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.' Christ is the only one who fulfilled God's will, and through whom this petition will find its realization. We are sanctified by that will according to which Christ offered himself."

"'Give us this day our daily bread.' I am the living bread, which came down from heaven.' The bounty and forbearance of God are f or the sake of Christ and his salvation.

"'Forgive us our debts.' Here we behold the sufferings and the death of Christ. If any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father.

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"'Lead us not into temptation.' This is the petition taught and offered by the High Priest, who was tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin; whose sympathy is perfect and whose prayer for us, when Satan desires to have us that he may sift us as wheat, is that our faith-fail not.

"'Deliver us from evil.' Here is the great Conqueror, who bruised the Serpent's head, and shall yet bruise Satan under our feet.

"'For yours is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory forever,' And the seventh angel sounded, and there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of the world are become the kingdoms of our Lord and of his Christ, and he shall reign forever and ever.'

"'Amen.' The very name by which the Savior calls himself: 'These things said the Amen, the faithful and true Witness, the beginning of the creation of God.'"

LESSON EIGHTY-TWO Acceptable Prayer

1. Prayer demands the exercise of faith. Hebrews 11:6; James 1:6-8.

2. Prayer involves the purpose to turn away from all known sin. Psalm 66:18; John 9:31; Psalm 145:19; James 4:3.

3. Prayer must be earnest and constant. Jeremiah 29:12, 13; Daniel 9:3; Colossians 4:2; 1 Thessalonians 5:17; Luke 18:1-8; Psalm 55:16, 17.

4. Prayer should be offered both publicly and privately. Psalm 22:22-25; Matthew 6:5, 6; 1 Kings 8: 22.

5. Prayer presupposes complete submission to the revealed will of God. Proverbs 15: 8; 28: 9.

6. Prayer must be accompanied with the spirit of forgiveness and love. Mark 11:25; Matthew 5:44; Luke 23:34.

7. Prayer must be in the name of Jesus. John 14:13, 14; 15:16; 16:23, 24.

NOTES

Read the chapter in "Steps to Christ" on "The Privilege of Prayer."

Influence of habit an the life

The, influence of this habit on the life of Daniel shows how the Father, which sees in secret, rewards openly. The king and all the nobles noticed there was an excellent spirit in Daniel. The world

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may not be able to appreciate orthodoxy of religious opinion, or fervor of religious sentiment; it may not be able to me the height of your lofty doctrine, or the depth of your spiritual affections; but the world notices the excellent spirit of a man, his tone, the tenor of his life, his unfeigned humility, his unostentatious love of good works, his kindliness of heart, his integrity, his firmness and constancy; they recognize the man who is actuated by an inward principle and a heavenly influence."

The most natural seasons for prayer

"Morning and evening are the most natural seasons of prayer. Each day we rise, let us bless God. As every morning is a renewal of our natural life, let it be also a renewal of our true life, which is hid with Christ in God. Jesus speaks of our taking up our cross daily; does not this imply a daily dedication of ourselves unto God! It is good to we the face of God ere we see the face of man, and to breathe the atmosphere of eternity, before we commence our earthly and transitory occupations."

"Evening prayer has a retrospective character. It is a time of looking back on the past day; of confessing sin and praying for forgiveness; of giving thanks for blessings received, for work done by God's aid, of collecting and fixing our heart, which may have been scattered during the day; and of committing ourselves, in childlike faith, and with perfect peace, into the hands of our heavenly Father."

"The morning and evening sacrifices, which were offered in the temple by the priest in the name of Israel, are fulfilled now in the intercession of our Savior at the right hand of God; and it is a blessed thought that, while Christ is praying for us from morn to eve, and from eve to morn, we unite more especially our supplication and worship with his at the beginning and conclusion of the day."

Praying in Christ's name

"Praying 'in Christ's name is not so easy an achievement as we are apt to think. Praying in Christ's name means, no doubt, that we go to God, not in our own name, but in his. He has given us power to use his name, as when we send a messenger we bid him use our name."

"But praying in Christ's name means more than this. It means that we pray for such things as will promote Christ's kingdom. . . . To pray in Christ's name is to seek what he seeks, to ask aid in promoting what he has at heart. To come in Christ's name and plead selfish and worldly desires is absurd. To pray in Christ's name is to pray in the spirit in which he himself prayed and for objects he desires. When we measure our prayers by this rule, we cease to wonder that so few seem to he answered Is God to answer prayers that positively lead men away from him! Is he to build them up in the presumption that happiness can be found in the pursuit of selfish objects and worldly comfort? It is when a man stands, as these disciples stood, detached from worldly hopes and finding all in Christ so clearly apprehending

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the sweep and benignity of Christ's will as to see that it comprehends all good to man, and that life can serve no purpose if it do not help to fulfill that will it is then a man prays with assurance and finds his prayer answered."-"The Gospel of St. John," Marcus Dods, D. D., Volume II, pp. 148, 149.

"To pray in the name of Jesus is something more than a mere mention of that name at the beginning and the ending of a prayer. It is to pray in the mind and spirit of Jesus, while we believe his promises, rely upon his grace, and work his works."-"Steps to Christ" p. 105.

LESSON EIGHTY-THREE Experiences in Prayer

1. Job received rich blessings from God when he prayed for his "miserable comforters," who were "forgers of lies." Job 42:8, 10.

2. Jacob's bloodless victory over Esau was gained in his night of prayer. Genesis 32:24-30; Hosea 12:4.

3. Among the most beautiful prayers on record is that of Moses the man of God! Psalms 90.

4. When Hannah had been given a son in answer to her prayer, she poured out her soul in rejoicing and praise. 1 Samuel 1:20; 2:1-10.

5. David's acknowledgment of God's saving power when he was in. trouble has brought confidence to many distressed souls. 2 Samuel 22:1-51.

6. Daniel's prayer for the restoration of Jerusalem is a model of humble confession and reliance upon God, Daniel 9: 4-19.

7. The prayer of Jonah was most remarkable in its extraordinary circumstances and immediate results. Jonah 2: 1-10.

8. The Savior's public prayers are models of brevity, simplicity, and directness. Matthew 6:7-13; John 17:1-26.

9. As the Son of man the Savior depended upon his seasons of prayer as the means of obtaining the needed help for his work. Matthew 14:23; Mark 1:35; Luke 6:12, 9:28.

NOTES

Prayer the pivot of Piety.

"The pivot of piety is prayer."-Arthur T. Fierson, D. D.

"We have the records of many prayers in Scripture. What a treasure do. we possess in the prayers of Abraham, the friend of God; of Jacob, who became Israel; of Moses, whom the Lord called emphatically 'My servant;' in the thanksgiving of Hannah, whose silent supplication and trembling lips were changed into joyous praise and jubilant song; the soul-communing of David, the man after God's heart, so wonderful in their breadth, the variety of outward and inward condition which occasioned them, and in their depth, the intensity of their feeling; the prayers of Daniel, the man of strong and fervent desires heavenward; and of Jonah, and Isaiah, and Jeremiah; nor ought we to forget, as belonging to Israel, the song of praise uttered by Mary, true daughter of believing Abraham and royal-hearted David; and the praise of Zachariah the Aaronite, who served God in uprightness and humility. What a stream of prayer flowing through so many centuries, amid scenes so grand and varied, until it reaches at last that blessed fulfillment, which is also its source-Jesus, at once the answer and the teacher of all prayer."

"Prayer not only puts us in touch with God, and gives knowledge of him and his ways, but it imparts to us his power. It is a touch which brings virtue out of him. It is a hand upon the pole of a celestial battery, and it makes us charged with his secret life, energy, efficiency. Things which are impossible with man are possible with God, and with a man in whom God is. Prayer is the secret of imparted power from. God, and nothing else can take its place." Arthur T. Pierson.

Jesus, often in prayer

"Jesus himself, while he dwelt among men, was often in prayer. Our Savior identified himself with our needs and weakness, in that he became a suppliant, a petitioner, seeking from his Father fresh supplies of strength, that he might come forth braced for duty and trial. He is our example in all things. He is a brother in our infirmities, 'in all points tempted like as we are;' but as the sinless one, his nature recoiled from evil; he endured struggles and torture of soul in a world of sin. His humanity made prayer a necessity and a privilege. He found comfort and joy in communion with his Father. And if the Savior of men, the Son of God, felt the need of prayer, how much more should feeble, sinful mortals feel the necessity of fervent, constant prayer."-"Steps to Christ," pp. 97, 98.

Christ's prayer and ours united

The prayers of believers, and of all who are coming unto God, must be viewed as connected with his prayer. Christ, whom we worship, is also the first of worshipers. The Father regards Christ and

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the church as one. Jesus identifies himself with us, and thus his prayer and our prayers are united; the Father, strictly speaking, hears only one voice, the voice of the Son, whom he hears always. On the other hand, Jesus, identifying himself with the Father, sends the Spirit into our hearts, and it is no longer we that pray, but Christ in us-the Spirit, as the representative of Christ, enabling us to pray in Christ's name."

"In the Lord Jesus Christ we see most clearly the union of prayer and life, the harmony and continual interpenetration of the two spheres of life-communion with God and the works of earth. The Son of man, while he lived on earth, was in heaven and in uninterrupted fellowship with God; he glorified the Father on earth by word and deed. Always in communion with the Father, he thought it no interruption when his disciples or the people demanded his help or his teaching; and without any effort, he passed from quiet retirement to activity, and from activity and tumult of life to the more direct and special act of prayer. Nor must we forget that, sinless as he was, he had a work not merely in regard to the world around him but also with regard to himself. We shrink from applying the word 'self discipline' to him whose humanity was free from all sin and imperfection. But we read of Jesus that he came not to do his own will. Looking up to God,-that is, by prayer, he continually kept all that was within him in harmony with the divine will. For the joy that was set before him, he endured the cross, painful as it was, despising the shame, which he felt as such.

"We are to be conformed to Christ: as he was, so are we in the world. It is in virtue of our union with him that we pray aright, and that our prayer becomes the center and power of our whole inner and outer life."

Section XVII–GIVING TO CHRIST HIS PLACE

LESSON EIGHTY-FOUR God's Eternal Purpose

1. God created man for his glory, and the earth to be inhabited by man, who should have dominion over all upon the earth. Isaiah 43: 6, 7; 45: 18; Genesis 1:26.

2. After the first Adam had betrayed his trust and had yielded his dominion to Satan, God sent his Son as the last Adam to recover the lost dominion. Luke 19: 10; Galatians 4: 4, 5; 1 Corinthians 15: 25, 45-49.

3. God's original purpose that the world should be ruled by man will be realized, but it will be through "the second man," who takes the place of "the first man." Psalm 2:7-9; 115:16; Ephesians 1:7-10. (The tenth verse has been rendered thus: "To unite all things under one head in union with Christ." The Greek word rendered "to gather together" in the Authorized Version and "to sum up" in the Revised Version, corresponds to our English word "recapitulate.") Daniel 7: 13, 14; Revelation 11:15.

4. In order that God's purpose for man may be carried out, his Son will retain his humanity forever, and always be the Son of man:

a. He ascended to heaven in his human form. Luke 24:51.

b. Stephen recognized him by his earthly name. Acts 7:55.

c. When he appeared to Saul, he called himself by his earthly name. Acts 9:5.

d. When John saw him in vision, he recognized him, as "the Son of man." Revelation 1:13.

e. In his last words to us through the apostle John he refers to himself as "Jesus the root and the offspring of David." Revelation 22: 16.

NOTES

The controversy between Christ and Satan repeated in every heart

"Many look on this conflict between Christ and Satan as having no special bearing on their own life; and for them it has little interest. But within the domain of every human heart this controversy in repeated. Never does one leave the ranks of evil for the service of God without encountering the assaults of Satan. The enticements which Christ resisted, were those that we find it so difficult to withstand. They ware urged upon him in as much greater degree as his character is superior to ours. With the terrible weight of the sins of the world upon him, Christ withstood the test upon appetite, upon the love of the world, and upon that love of display which leads to presumption. These were the temptations that overcame Adam and Eve, and that so readily overcome us.

Adam's failure redeemed in our humanity

"Satan had pointed to Adam's sin as proof that God's law was unjust, and could not be obeyed. In our humanity, Christ was to redeem Adam's failure. But when Adam was assailed by the tempter, none of the effects of sin were upon him. He stood in the strength of perfect manhood, possessing the fun vigor of mind and body. He was surrounded with the glories of Eden, and was in daily communion with heavenly beings. It was not thus with Jesus when he entered the wilderness to cope with Satan. For four thousand years the race had been decreasing in physical strength, in mental power, and in moral worth; and Christ took upon him the infirmities of degenerate humanity. Only thus could he rescue man from the lowest depths of his degradation.

We bear nothing that Jesus did not bear

"Many claim that it was impossible for Christ to be overcome by temptation. Then he could not have been placed in Adam's position; he could not have gained the victory that Adam failed to gain. If we have in any sense a more trying conflict than had Christ, then he would not be able to succor us. But our Savior took humanity, with all its liabilities. He took the nature of man, with the possibility of yielding to temptation. We have nothing to bear which he has not endured."

Where ruin began there redemption must begin

"With Christ as with the holy pair in Eden, appetite was the ground of the first great temptation. Just where the ruin began, the work of our redemption must begin. As by the indulgence of appetite Adam fen, so by the denial of appetite Christ must overcome. 'And when he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was afterward an hungered. And when the tempter came to him, he said, If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread.

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But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.'

"From the time of Adam to that of Christ, self-indulgence had increased the power of the appetites and passions, until they had almost unlimited control. Thus men had, become debased and diseased, and of themselves it was impossible for them to overcome. In man's behalf, Christ conquered by enduring, the severest test. For our sake he exercised a self-control stronger than hunger or death. And in this first victory were involved other issues that enter into all our conflicts with the powers of darkness."-"The Desire of Ages," pp. 125, 126.

Christ's a work of restoration

Christ's work is essentially a work of restoration. The Christ is not simply the climax of the past-the Son of man and the recapitulation of humanity, as man is of the creatures below him, summing up human development and lifting it to a higher stage though he is all that. Christ rehabilitates man and the world. He reasserts the original ground of our being, as that exists in God. He carries us and the world forward out of sin and death, by carrying us back, to God's ideal. The new world is the old world repaired, and in its reparation infinitely enhanced-rich in the memories of redemption, in the fruit of penitence and the discipline of suffering, in the lessons of the cross."

The subjection of all powers to Christ

"The gathering into one of this text [Ephesians 1:10] includes the reconciliation of Colossians 1:20, and more. It signifies, beside removal of the enmities which are the effect of sin (Ephesians 2: 1416), thee subjection of all powers in heaven and earth to the rule of Christ (verses 21, 22), the enlightenment of the angelic magnates as to God's dealings with men (3: 9, 10), in fine, the rectification and adjustment of the several parts of the great whole of things, bringing them into full accord with each other and with their Creator's will. What St. Paul looks forward to is, in a word, the organization of the universe upon a Christian basis. This reconstitution of things is provided for and is being effected 'in the Christ.' He is the rallying point of the forces of peace and blessing. The organic principle, the .organizing head, the creative nucleus of the new creation is there. The potent germ of life eternal has been introduced into the world's chaos; and its victory over the elements of disorder and death is assured."

Nothing to warrant any in presuming on the mercy of God

There is nothing in this text to warrant any man presuming on the mercy or the sovereignty of God, nothing to justify us in supposing that, deliberately refusing to be reconciled to God in Christ, we shall yet be reconciled in the end, despite ourselves.

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"St. Paul assures us that God and the world will be reunited, and that peace will reign through all realms and orders of existence. He does not, and he could not say that none will exclude themselves from the eternal kingdom. Making men free, God bas made it, possible for them to contradict him, so long as they have any being. The apostle's words have their note of warning, along with their boundless promise. There is no place in the future order of things for aught that is out of Christ. There is no standing ground anywhere for the unclean and the unjust, for the irreconcilable rebel against God. 'The Son of man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend and them that do iniquity.'

"In Christ dying, risen, reigning, God the Father has raised believing men to a new heavenly life. From the first inception of the work of grace to its consummation, God thinks of men, speaks to .them, and deals with them in Christ."

Christ has achieved more than recovery from ruin

"By his life and his death, Christ has achieved even more than recovery from the ruin wrought through sin. It was Satan's purpose to bring about an eternal separation between God and man; but in Christ we become more closely united to God than if we had never fallen. In taking our nature, the Savior has bound himself to humanity by a tie that is never to be broken. Through the eternal ages he is linked with us. 'God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son.' He gave him not only to bear our sins, and to die as our sacrifice; he gave him to the fallen race. To assure us of his immutable counsel of peace, God gave his only begotten Son to become one of the human family, forever to retain his human nature. This the pledge that God will fulfill his word. 'Unto us a child is born; unto us a Son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder.' God has adopted human nature in the person of his Son, and has carried the same into the highest heaven. It is the 'Son of man' who shares the throne of the universe. It is the 'Son of man' whose name shall be called 'Wonderful, Counselor, the mighty God, the everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace.' The I AM is the Daysman between God and humanity, laying his hand upon both. He who is 'holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners,' is not ashamed to call us brethren. In Christ the family of earth and the family of heaven are bound together. Christ glorified is our brother. Heaven is enshrined in humanity, and humanity is enfolded in the bosom of Infinite Love."-"The Desire of Ages," pp. 26, 27.

LESSON EIGHTY-FIVE In Union with Christ

1. The promises have been made to the seed of Abraham, the seed of David, or Christ, and we receive the benefit of these promises through our oneness with Christ. Genesis 12:7; 2 Samuel 7:12, 13, 16; Galatians 3:16; Romans 1:1-3; Matthew 1:1; Romans 8:17.

2. To provide for this union on his part, the Son of God was born into the human family, taking the same flesh which we have. Isaiah 9: 6; Luke 2: 11; Romans 8: 3.

3. As the result of this wonderful condescension, it is the privilege of each one of us to have personal fellowship with the Son of God, and through him to have fellowship with the Father also. 1 Corinthians 1:9; Ephesians 2: 18; 1 John 1:1-3.

4. For this union Christ interceded with his Father in. his prayer at the close of his ministry. John 17: 20, 21, 26, A. R. V.

5. All the blessings of the gospel are bestowed "in Christ," and can be enjoyed only through union with Christ. Ephesians 1:3; Romans 8: 32; Galatians 3: 27-29.

NOTES

The covenant with mankind In Christ

"The covenant did not lie between God and Abraham alone. It embraced Abraham's descendants in their unity, culminating in Christ. It looked down the stream of time to the last ages. Abraham was its starting point; Christ its goal. To thee and to thy seed: these words span the gulf of two thousand years, and overarch the Mosaic dispensation. So that the covenant vouchsafed to Abraham placed him, even at that distance of time, in close personal relationship with the Savior of mankind. No wonder that it was so evangelical in its terms, and brought the patriarch an experience of religion which anticipated the privileges of Christian, faith. God's covenant with Abraham, being in effect his covenant with mankind in Christ, stands both first and last."

Christ the seed

"Paul appears to infer from the fact that the word 'seed' [in Galatians 3:16] is grammatically singular, and not plural, that it designates

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a single individual, who can be no other than Christ. On the surface this does, admittedly, look like a verbal quibble. The word 'seed' in Hebrew and Greek as in English, is not used, and could not in ordinary speech be used in the plural to denote a number of descendants. It is a collective singular. The plural applies only to different kinds of seed. The apostle, we may presume, was quite as well aware of this as his critics. It does not need philological research or grammatical acumen to establish a distinction obvious to common sense. This piece of wordplay is in reality the vehicle of a historical argument, as unimpeachable as it is important. Abraham was taught, by a series of lessons, to refer the promise to the single line of Isaac. Paul elsewhere lays great stress on this consideration; he brings Isaac into close analogy with Christ; for he was the child of faith, and represented in his birth a spiritual principle and the communication of a supernatural life. The true seed of Abraham was in the first instance one, not many. In the primary realization of the promise, typical of its final accomplishment, it received a singular interpretation; it concentrated itself on the one, spiritual offspring, putting aside the many, natural and heterogeneous (Hagarite or Keturite) descendants. And this sifting principle, this law of election which singles out from the varieties of nature the divine type, comes into play all along the line of descent, as in the case of Jacob, and of David. It finds its supreme expression in the person of Christ. The Abrahamic testament devolved under a law of spiritual selection. By its very nature it pointed ultimately to Jesus Christ. When Paul writes, 'Not to seeds, as of many,' he virtually says that the word of inspiration was singular in sense as well as in form; in the mind of the Promiser, and in the interpretation given to it by events, it bore an individual reference, and was never intended to apply to Abraham's descendants at large, to the many and miscellaneous children according to flesh."

Every spiritual blessing ours in Christ

"He [Paul] attributes to Christ the whole development of his spiritual life. The larger knowledge of God and of the ways of God, which came to him from year to year, had come from Christ; and he felt sure that whatever fresh discoveries of God might come to him would also come from Christ. Faith, hope, joy, peace, patience, courage, zeal, love for God, love for men he had found them all in Christ. It was on the ground of his own personal experience that he was able to ten men that the 'riches of Christ' are 'not searchable.' And when he exclaims, 'Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in Christ,' he is expressing the deep and passionate gratitude created by the happy and sacred memories of many years; he himself had found in Christ 'every spiritual blessing."

"He defines the blessings with which God has blessed us in Christ as a 'spiritual' blessing; he does not intend simply to distinguish them from material, physical, or intellectual blessings, he means to

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attribute them to the Spirit of God. Those who are 'in Christ' receive the illumination and inspiration of the Holy Spirit. Whatever perfection of righteousness, whatever depth of peace, whatever intensity of joy, whatever fullness of divine knowledge, reveal the power of the Spirit of God in the spiritual life of man, 'every spiritual blessing' has been made ours in Christ."

No man is elect except he is in Christ

"Calvinism teaches that God's choice falls on men when they are not 'in Christ,' and brings them into union with him that they may receive the forgiveness of sins and eternal life; Paul teaches that the elect are those who are 'in Christ,' and that being in him they enter into the possession of those eternal blessings which before the foundation of the world it was God's purpose, his decree, to confer upon all Christians. According to the Calvinistic conception, some men who are still 'children of wrath, even as the rest,' to use a phrase which occurs later in this epistle, are among the 'elect' and will therefore some day become children of God. That is a mode of speech foreign to Paul's thought; according to Paul no man is elect except he is 'in Christ.' We are all among the non-elect until we are in him, But once in Christ we axe caught in the currents of the eternal purposes of the divine love; we belong to the elect race; all things are ours; we are the children of God and the heirs of his glory. God has blessed us with every spiritual blessing . . . in Christ."

"That God had blessed him with every spiritual blessing in heavenly places in Christ was with Paul not a matter of speculation; it was not even a matter of faith; it was a matter of experience. He knew it, just as he knew that the sun warmed him and that the water quenched his thirst. The blessings had actually become his. For five and twenty or thirty years he had been receiving them.

In Christ man finds God and God finds man

"He knew that he was 'in Christ.' This too was not a matter of bare faith, but of experience. Long before he wrote this epistle [to the Ephesians] he had said: 'I have been crucified with Christ; yet I live; and yet no longer I, but Christ lives in me.' A little later lie had told his own story in the memorable words, 'If any man is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things are passed away; behold they are become new.' And in this union with Christ he had found a freedom, a force, a fullness of life, which to him were the assurance that only 'in Christ' could man fulfill the divine idea of human perfection and blessedness. In Christ he had received the light of God and the strength of God, and the joy of God. As a blind man whose sight has been restored to him knows that while he was unable to see the shining heavens and the mountains and the stars and the faces of those whom he loved, he was not living his true life, so Paul knew that until he was in Christ he had never approached the perfection and glory which God had made possible to the race. It was by no

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accident that union with Christ exalted and transfigured the whole spiritual nature of man, and raised him to diviner levels of life. Man was made for this; 'before the foundation of the world' God had determined that 'in Christ' man should find God and God find him."

LESSON EIGHTY-SIX Substituting Something in Place of Christ

1. All worship is due to God the Creator, and is rendered through Jesus Christ our High Priest and Mediator. Psalm 95:3-7; 99:9; 1 Peter 2:4, 5; Hebrews 13: 15.

2. The Son shares with the Father in the worship which is thus offered. Hebrews 1:5, 6; John 5: 22, 23; Revelation 5: 11-13.

3. The worship of other beings is strictly forbidden. Exodus 20:2, 3; 34:14; Deuteronomy 6:14; Psalm 81:9; Revelation 22:8, 9.

4. Satan has sought to secure from the human family the worship which is due to God. Isaiah 14: 12-14; Matthew 4: 8, 9; Revelation 12: 9; 13: 4.

5. The very essence of idolatry is the worship of something else in place of God, the Creator. Romans 1:23, 25, A. R. V.

6. Both ancient Babylon and modern Babylon, the Papacy, are notably guilty of idolatry. Jeremiah 50:38, 2; 2 Thessalonians 2: 3, 4, 11. (In verse 11 read "the lie," in place of "a lie," and understand that "the lie" is the substitution of the false worship for the true. Read Isaiah 44: 19, 20, and Jeremiah 10: 14 and note that an idol is a lie.)

7. To teach the precepts of men in the place of the commandments of God is just as vain a worship as the worship of idols. Mark 7: 6-9. (Cf. Acts 14: 13-15 and 1 Thessalonians 1:8, 9.)

8. To perform divinely prescribed duties in a merely formal manner while the heart is estranged from God, is just as offensive to God as pagan idolatry. Isaiah 1:4, 10-14; 66: 3, 4.

9. To seek to be justified by the works of the law is to subvert the gospel of salvation through faith in Christ, and is in effect a return to heathenism. Galatians 5: 2-4; 1:6, 7; 4: 8-11.

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10. Idolatry in any form, which is the substitution of something in place of Christ, will shut the idolater out of the holy city, and therefore one of the last injunctions of the aged apostle John is to shun idolatry. Revelation 21:27; 1 John 5:21. (1 Corinthians 10: 7, 19, 20; Psalm 106: 34-39.)

NOTES

True religion defined

"True religion is a conviction of the character of God, and a resting upon that alone for salvation."

False worship starves and stunts

"It has been held as a reason for the worship of idols that they excite the affection and imagination of the worshiper. They do no such thing: they starve and they stunt these. The image reacts upon the imagination, infects it with its own narrowness and poverty, till man's noblest creative faculty becomes the slave of its own poor toy."

The Son not a creature, but the Creator

"If the Son is the effulgence of God's glory and the express image of his essence, he is not a creature, but is the Creator. The Son is so from God that he is God. He so emanates from him that he is a perfect and complete representation of his being. He is not in such a manner an effulgence as to be only a manifestation of God, nor in such a manner an image as to be a creature of God. But, in fellowship of nature, the essence of God is communicated to the Son in the distinctness of his mode of subsisting. The apostle's words fully justify perhaps they suggested-the expressions in the Nicene and still earlier creeds, 'God of God, Light of Light, very God of very God.' If this is his relation to God, it determines his relation to the universe, and the relation of the universe to God. Philo had described the Word as an effulgence, and spoken also of him as distinct from God. But in Philo these two statements are inconsistent. For the former means that the Word is an attribute of God, and the latter means that he is a creature. The writer of the epistle to the Hebrews says that the Word is not an attribute, but a perfect representation of God's essence. He says also that he is not a creature, but the sustainer of all things."

Self-serving and love of ease are idolatry

"The apostle's words of warning to the Corinthian church are applicable to all time, and are especially adapted to our day. By idolatry he meant not only the worship of idols, but self-serving, love of ease, the gratification of appetite and passion. A mere profession of faith in Christ, a boastful knowledge of the truth, does not make a man a Christian. A religion that seeks only to gratify the eye, the ear,

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and the taste, or that sanctions self-indulgence, is not the religion of Christ."-"The Acts of the Apostles," p. 317.

On proposition 5 read the "Source Book," pages 214-217.

On proposition 6 read the "Source Book," pages 61-65, 218, 219.

The Reformers' protest was against substituting things for Christ

"The protest of the Reformers was directed, not only against the worship of the Virgin and saints, but against the priestly assumptions of the clergy and the principle of sacramental efficacy, and it was the protest against the latter which evoked the chief fury of their persecutors. Their protest, in short, was against the principle of Catholicism, which is idolatry, or the substitution of material and created things for Christ. For whether it is the mediation of the Virgin and saints, or a trust in the guidance of the priesthood and in the spiritual efficacy of the sacraments administered by them, or a belief in the virtue of holy water, holy oil, images, crucifixes, relies, and other material symbols and ritual acts, they one and all combine to take the place of Christ to the sinner, and keep him from going to him for life.

"Instead of these things, the Reformers asserted that salvation was dependent on Christ alone, and that the sinner, instead of assuming himself to be a Christian in the virtue of the rite of baptism, could only become so by a true, living, and constant faith in Christ; and that the word of God and the Spirit of God, and not the priesthood, were the only guide to the truth."

Revelation not magical but rational and moral

"God reasons with man-that is the first article of religion according to Isaiah. Revelation is not magical, but rational and moral. Religion is reasonable intercourse between one intelligent being and another. God works upon man first through conscience.

Evils of a failure to think

"Over against the prophetic view of religion sprawls and reeks in this same chapter [Isaiah 1] the popular religion as smoky sacrifice, assiduous worship, and ritual. In this hour of extreme danger the people are waiting on Jehovah with great pains and cost of sacrifice. They pray, they sacrifice, they solemnize to perfection. But they do not know, they do not consider; this is the burden of their offense.

To use a better word, they do not think. They are God's grown-up children (verse 2) children, that is to say, like the son of the parable, with native instincts for their God; and grown up, that is to say, with reason and conscience developed. But they use neither, stupider than very beasts. 'Israel doth not know, my people doth not consider.' In all their worship conscience is asleep, and they are drenched in wickedness. Isaiah puts their life in an epigram wickedness and worship: 'cannot away,' said the Lord, 'with wickedness and worship."

Popery's denial of Bible doctrine

"The policy of popery is not to deny truth; it ever acts as a vice-Christ, as a pretended friend; its policy is to pervert truth, to metamorphose it, and make it fight against itself. There is not a doctrine in the Bible which popery does not in appearance admit; there is not a doctrine in the Bible which popery does not in reality deny, and. the saving effects of which it does not make void."

"The all-deceivableness of unrighteousness."

"Popery has a god of its own. It has a savior of its own the church, to wit. It has a sacrifice of its own-the mass. It has a mediator of its own-the priesthood. It has a sanctifier of its own-the sacrament. It has a justification of its own that even of infused righteousness. It has a pardon of its own the pardon of the confessional; and it has in the heavens an infallible, all-prevailing advocate unknown to the gospel the 'mother of God.' It thus presents to the world a spiritual and saving apparatus for the salvation of men, and yet it neither sanctifies nor saves any one. It looks like a church; it professes to have all that a church ought to have; and, yet, it is not a church. It is a grand deception-'the all-deceivableness of unrighteousness.'"

Two mysteries contrasts

"The 'mystery of godliness,' beginning in the cradle, ends on the throne-the throne of heaven. The 'mystery of iniquity,' beginning in the silent and hidden workings of early times, ends on the throne-the throne of earth."

Christ the true corner-stone

"That 'Christ is the Son of God,' is the corner-stone of the gospel church. Out of that root the whole gospel springs. It is the 'rock' on which Christ, addressing Peter, said that he would build his church.

"That the 'Pope is the vicar of Christ' is the corner-stone of the papal church. Out of that root does the whole of popery spring. On that 'rock,' said Boniface III in the seventh century, and Gregory VII, with yet greater emphasis in the eleventh, will I build my church.

The church rests on a person

"And let us further mark that both churches rest not on a doctrine, but on a person. The church of God rests on a Person, even Christ. No one is saved by simply believing a system of truth. The truth is the light that shows the sinner his way to the Savior. He is united to Christ by his faith which takes hold of the Savior, and by the Spirit who comes to dwell in his heart. Thus is he a member of the spiritual body. The Bible, ministers, and ordinances are the channels through which the life of the Head flows into the members of the body. Thus are they built up a spiritual house, a holy temple-'built

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on the foundation of prophets and apostles, Jesus Christ himself the chief corner-stone.'

"All this is most adroitly counterfeited in the Pope's church. It is only in the way of the members of that church resting on Peter, or what is the same thing, on the Pope, that they can be saved. Romanists tell us that it is essential to the salvation of every human being that he be subject to the authority of the Pope. Peter-that is, the Pope-is the one reservoir of grace; from him it flows down through the grand conduit of apostolic succession to all the members of the 'church,' and thus are they built up a spiritual house-built upon the foundation of traditions, sacraments, priests, bishops, cardinals, the Pope himself being the chief corner-stone."

Can that be Christianity which denies Christ?

"Can that be truly called Christianity, then, which is the reverse of it? Can that be fitly treated as Christianity which hates it, denounces it, and tries to destroy it? Can that be Christianity which forbids liberty of conscience, and the rights of private judgment? Which commands the Bible to be burned! Which teaches the worship of saints and angels! Which makes the Virgin Mary command God? Which calls her the mother of God, and the queen of heaven? Which sets aside the mediation of Christ, and puts others in his place? Which makes salvation depend on confession to man, and this in a confessional so filthy that Satan himself might well be ashamed of it? Can that be Christianity which condemns the way of salvation through faith, as a damnable heresy? Can that be Christianity which, by the bulls of its popes, and decrees of its councils, requires both princes and people to persecute Christians? Which actually swears its bishops and archbishops to persecute them with all their might? Can that be Christianity which has set up, and still maintains, the Inquisition? That which has been so cruel, so bloodthirsty, that the number slain by it of the servants of Christ, in about 1,200 years, is estimated at 50,000,000, giving an average of 40,000 a year for that long period! No, it cannot be! With a voice of thunder, let Protestants answer, No!"

The spiritual and the ritualistic

"The apostle regards the higher element in heathen religion as corresponding, however imperfectly, to the lower in the Mosaic law. For we may consider both the one and the other as made up of two component parts, the spiritual and the ritualistic. Now viewed in their spiritual aspect, there is no comparison between the one and the other. In this respect the heathen religions, so far as they added anything of their own to that sense of dependence on God which is innate in man and which they could not entirely crush, were wholly bad. On the contrary, in the Mosaic law the spiritual element was most truly divine. The ritualistic, element alone remains to be considered, and here is the meeting point of Judaism and heathenism. In Judaism this was as much lower than its spiritual element, as in heathenism it was higher. Hence the two systems approach within such a distance

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that they can, under certain limitations, be classed together. They have at least so much in common that a lapse into Judaism can be regarded as a relapse into the position of unconverted heathenism."

The root of Christian life is not the law, but Christ

"The pregnant force of Paul's Greek [in Galatians 5: 24] is untranslatable. Literally his words run, 'You were nullified from Christ brought to naught (being severed) from him, you that in law are seeking justification.' He puts his assertion in the past (aorist) tense, stating that which ensues so soon as the principle of legal justification is indorsed. From that moment the Galatians cease to be Christians. In this sense they 'are abolished,' just as the cross is virtually abolished if the apostle preaches circumcision (verse 11), and 'death is being abolished' under the reign of Christ (1 Corinthians 15: 26). He has said in verse 2 that Christ will be made of none effect to them; now he adds that they 'are made of none effect' in relation to Christ. Their Christian standing is destroyed. The joyous experiences of their conversion, their share in Abraham's blessing, their divine son-ship witnessed to by the Holy Spirit all this is nullified, canceled at a stroke, if they are circumcised. The detachment of their faith 'from Christ' is involved in the process of attaching it to Jewish ordinances, and brings spiritual destruction upon them. The root of the Christian life is faith in him. Let that root be severed, let the branch no longer 'abide in the vine' it is dead already."

LESSON EIGHTY-SEVEN Lord of All

1. When Christ returned to heaven after his humiliation upon earth, he was hailed as "the King of Glory." Psalm 24:7-10, ARV. (It should be remembered that Jehovah of the Old Testament was manifested in Jesus of the New Testament.)

2. On the day of Pentecost the apostle Peter testified concerning the exalted position which had been given to Jesus, the crucified. Acts 2: 36.

3. In his first address to the Gentiles the same apostle recognized Jesus Christ as "Lord of all." Acts 10:36. (Cf. Romans 10: 12.)

4. The apostle Paul testifies that Christ is "over all," and that he is "the Lord of Glory." Romans 9: 5; 1 Corinthians 2: 7, 8. (Cf. James 2:1).

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5. The Lamb that was slain was later declared to be "Lord of lords." Revelation 17: 14. (Cf. Revelation 19:16; 1 Timothy 6:15.)

6. Salvation is assured by recognizing Jesus as Lord. Romans 10: 9, ARV. (Note the reading in the margin.) (Cf. John 13: 13.)

7. In the final triumph of the cross every living being in the universe will acknowledge Christ as Lord. Philippians 2: 8-11.

NOTES

Christ the King of Glory

"After Jesus had blessed his disciples, he was parted from them, and taken up. And as he led the way upward, the multitude of captives who were raised at his resurrection followed. A multitude of the heavenly host were, in attendance, while in heaven an innumerable company of angels awaited his coming. As they ascended to the holy city, the angels who escorted Jesus, cried out, 'Lift up your heads, 0 you gates, and be you lift up, you everlasting doors, and the King of Glory shall come in.' The angels in the city cried out with rapture, 'Who is this King of Glory?' The escorting angels answered in triumph, 'The Lord strong and mighty! The Lord mighty in battle! Lift up your heads, O you gates, even lift them up, you everlasting doors, and the King of Glory shall come in!' Again the waiting angels asked, 'Who is this King of Glory?' and the escorting angels answered in melodious strains, 'The Lord of hosts! He is the King of Glory!' And the heavenly train passed into the city of God."-"Early Writings," pp. 190, 191.

Justified, accepted, and kept by faith only

"Faith is unto righteousness; confession is unto salvation. Why is this? Is faith after all not enough for our union with the Lord and for our safety in him? Must we bring in something else, to be a more or less meritorious makeweight in the scale? If this is what he means, he is gainsaying the whole argument of the epistle [to the Romans] on its main theme. No; it is eternally true that we are justified, that we are accepted, that we are incorporated, that we are kept, through faith only; that is, that Christ is all for all things in our salvation, and our part and work in the matter is to receive and hold him in an empty hand. But then this empty hand, holding him, receives life and power from him. The man is vivified by his Rescuer. He is rescued that he may live, and that he may serve as living. He cannot truly serve without loyalty to his Lord. He cannot be truly loyal while he hides his relation to him. In some articulate way he must 'confess him;' or he is not treading the path where the Shepherd walks before the sheep.

The meaning of confession with the mouth

"The confession with the mouth' here in view is, surely, nothing less than the believer's open loyalty to Christ. It is no mere recitation o even the sacred catholic creed; which may be recited as by an automaton. It is the witness of the whole man to Christ, as his own discovered life and Lord. And thus it means in effect the path of faithfulness along which the Savior actually leads to glory those who are justified by faith."

"Angels-Archangels! glorious
Guards of the church victorious!
Worship the Lamb!
Crown him with crowns of light,
One of the Three by right, Love,
Majesty, and Might, The great I AM!

Highly exalted of God

"Therefore God also bath highly exalted him, and given him the Name that is above every name.' For still we must think of him as One that has come down into the region of the creatures, the region in Which we are distinguished by names, and are capable of higher and lower in endless degrees. God, dealing with him so situated, acts in a manner rightly corresponding to this great self-dedication, so as to utter God's mind upon it. He has set him on high, and given him the Name that is above every name; so that divine honor shall be rendered to him by all creation, and knees bowed in worship to him everywhere, and all shall own him Lord that is, partaker of divine sovereignty. All this is 'to the glory of the Father,' seeing that in all this the worthiness and beauty of God's being and ways come to light with a splendor heretofore unexampled.

"So then, we may say, perhaps, that as in the humiliation he who is God experienced what it is to be man, now in the exaltation he who is man experiences what it is to be God."

"To Him who loved the souls of men,
And washed them in his blood,
To royal honors raised our heads,
And made us priests to God,

"To him let every tongue be praise,
And every heart be love;
All grateful honors paid on earth,
And nobler songs above.

"Thou art the First, and thou the Last, Time centers all in thee, The mighty Lord, who was, and is, And evermore shall be."

Section XVIII–MISCELLANEOUS

LESSON EIGHTY-EIGHT Spiritualism

1. Some of the angels sinned, and they, with their leader, Satan, were cast out of heaven and took up their abode in the regions of darkness. 2 Peter 2:4; Revelation 12:9.

2. These rebellious beings are recognized in the Scriptures as evil spirits. Revelation 16:13, 14; Luke 7:21; 8: 2.

3. Dealing with these evil spirits was called witchcraft, and those who followed this practice were shut out from God's people. 1 Samuel 15: 23; Deuteronomy 18: 10, 11.

4. The people of God were instructed to have nothing to do with those who practiced witchcraft in any form. Leviticus 19:31, ARV; Isaiah 8:19.

5. Although Saul had expelled these mediums from his kingdom, yet when Jehovah refused to communicate with him on account of his wicked course, he resorted to one who dealt with the evil spirits. 1 Samuel 28:3, 6, 7.

6. In the sÈance which followed, one of these evil spirits impersonated Samuel. 1 Samuel 28: 8-19.

7. This lapse into Spiritualism was one of the reasons why Saul was deprived of his kingdom. 1 Chronicles 10: 15.

8. Among the evil things which Manasseh did is mentioned his dealing with these mediums. 2 Kings 21:6.

9. The apostle Paul dealt with one of these agents of Satan at Philippi. Acts 16: 16-18.

10. We are warned of the working of these same evil spirits "in later times." 1 Timothy 4:1.

11. These evil spirits have clear knowledge concerning God and his Son, Jesus, and understand that they are to be destroyed. Mark 1:23, 24; Matthew 8:28, 29. (Cf. James 2: 19.)

12. Any communion with these evil spirits shuts one out from fellowship with Christ. 1 Corinthians 10: 20, 21.

NOTES

Evil spirits personating the dead

"Familiar spirits. These are evil spirits personating dead human beings, and attaching themselves only to 'mediums' and those who give up their will to them."-"The Companion Bible," comment on Leviticus 19: 31.

Read the "Source Book," pages 529-532.

Spiritualism breaks down the defenses of the soul

"When Satan has undermined faith in the Bible, he directs men to other sources for light and power. Thus he insinuates himself. Those who turn from the plain teaching of Scripture and the convicting power of God's Holy Spirit, are inviting the control of demons.

Criticism and speculation concerning the Scriptures have opened the way for Spiritualism and Theosophy-those modernized forms of ancient heathenism-to gain a foothold even in the professed churches of our Lord Jesus Christ. Side by side with the preaching of the gospel, agencies are at work which are but the medium of lying spirits. Many a man tampers with these merely from curiosity, but seeing evidence of the working of a more than human power, he is lured on and on, until he is controlled by a will stronger than his own. He cannot escape from its mysterious power. The defenses of the soul are broken down. He has no barrier against sin."-"The Desire of Ages," p. 294.

Fallen angels

"The principalities and powers of darkness were assembled around the cross, casting the hellish shadow of unbelief into the hearts of men. When the Lord created these beings to stand before his throne, they were beautiful and glorious. Their loveliness and holiness were in accordance with their exalted station. They were enriched with the wisdom of God, and girded with the panoply of heaven. They were Jehovah's ministers, But who could recognize in the fallen angels the glorious seraphim that once ministered in the heavenly courts?"-Id., p. 913.

Results of fanciful views of God

"The sophistries regarding God and nature that are flooding the world with skepticism are the inspiration of the fallen foe, who is himself a Bible student, who knows the truth that it is essential, for the people to receive, and whose study it is to divert minds from the great truths given to prepare them for what is coming upon the worn I have seen the results of these fanciful views of God, in apostasy, Spiritualism, and free-lovism. The free-love tendency of these teachings was so concealed, that at first it was difficult to make plain its real character. Until the Lord presented it to me, I knew not what to call it, but I was instructed to call it unholy spiritual love."-"Testimonies for the Church," Volume 8, p. 292.

A threefold union of Romanism, Spiritualism, and apostate Protestantism

"When Protestantism shall stretch her hand across the gulf to grasp the hand of the Roman power, when she shall reach over the abyss to clasp hands with Spiritualism, when, under the influence of this threefold union, our country shall repudiate every principle of its Constitution as a Protestant and republican government, and shall make provision for the propagation of papal falsehoods and delusions, then we may know that the time has come for the marvelous working of Satan, and that the end is near. As the approach of the Roman armies was a sign to the disciples of the impending destruction of Jerusalem, so may this apostasy be a sign to us that the limit of God's forbearance is reached, that the measure of our nation's iniquity is full, and that the angel of mercy is about to take her flight, never to return."-Id., Volume 5, p. 451.

An evil spirit impersonated Samuel

There are several things to be noted in the record of the experience of Saul in seeking a message from the dead prophet. The Lord refused to give him any answer through channels of communication which he himself had established. 1 Samuel 28:6. Saul then tried to secure some information through a channel which the Lord had expressly forbidden to be used. When he resorted to the woman who had the familiar spirit, he voluntarily placed himself on Satan's ground, and submitted to his working. The sÈance which followed is the exact parallel of modern sÈances. It was held "at night." Verse 8. Darkness is the abode of the evil angels, or spirits. Jude 1:6. After Saul had told the medium that he wished to see Samuel the medium saw Samuel, just as mediums now see those who are called for. The same evil spirit who impersonated Samuel told the medium who her caller was. The conversation was between the medium and Saul, or there would have been no occasion for the, presence of the medium. Saul did not see anything, but from the woman's description he recognized the appearance of Samuel as he had seen him. Saul confessed that God had departed from him (verse 15), and he therefore resorted to one who professed to deal with evil spirits, although he himself had driven all such mediums from the country. Verse 3. It was impossible for Samuel to answer the call of the medium and to talk with Saul. Ecclesiastes 9:5, 6, 10; 3:22, ARV. (Cf. 2 Samuel 12:21-23.) Satan made Eve see what was not true (Genesis 3: 6), and he caused this woman to see some one who was not there, but one who was impersonating Samuel. (Cf. 2 Corinthians 11:14.) From first to last this experience has a bad flavor, and it is plain that the example of Saul is one to be shunned rather than to be followed.

Saul's intercourse not with the prophet of God, but with an evil spirit

"The Scripture account of Saul's visit to the woman of Endor has been a source of perplexity to many students of the Bible. There are some who take the position that Samuel was actually present at

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the interview with Saul, but the Bible itself furnishes sufficient ground for a contrary conclusion. If as claimed by some, Samuel was in heaven, he must have been summoned thence, either by the power of God or by that of Satan. None can believe for a moment that Satan had power to call the holy prophet of God from heaven to honor the incantations of an abandoned woman. Nor can we conclude that God summoned him to the witch's cave; for the Lord had already refused to communicate with Saul, by dreams, by Urim, or by prophets. These were God's own appointed mediums of communication, and he did not pass them by to deliver the message through the agent of Satan.

The message itself is sufficient evidence of its origin. Its object was not to lead Saul to repentance, but to urge him on to ruin; and this is not the work of God, but of Satan. Furthermore, the act of Saul in consulting a sorceress is cited in Scripture as one reason why he was rejected by God and abandoned to destruction: 'Saul died for his transgression which he committed against the Lord, even against the word of the Lord, which he kept not, and also for asking counsel of one that had a familiar spirit, to inquire of it; and inquired not of the Lord; therefore he slew him, and turned the kingdom unto David the son of Jesse.' Here it is distinctly stated that Saul inquired of the familiar spirit, not of the Lord. He did not communicate with Samuel, the prophet of God; but through the sorceress he held intercourse with Satan. Satan could not present the real Samuel, but he did present a counterfeit, that served his purpose of deception. . . .

Evil spirits deceive even professed Christians

"The belief in communion with the dead is still held, even in professedly Christian lands. Under the name of Spiritualism, the practice of communicating with beings claiming to be the spirits of the departed, has become widespread. It is calculated to take hold of the sympathies of those who have laid their loved ones in the grave. Spiritual beings sometimes appear to persons in the form of their deceased friends, and relate incidents connected with their lives, and perform acts which they performed while living. In this way they lead men to believe that their dead friends are angels, hovering over them, and communicating with them. Those who thus assume to be the spirits of the departed, are regarded with a certain idolatry, and with many their word has greater weight than the word of God.

Spiritualistic phenomena not human imposture, but satanic deception

"There are many, however, who regard Spiritualism as a mere imposture. The manifestations by which it supports its claims to a supernatural character are attributed to fraud on the part of the medium. But while it is true that the results of trickery have often been palmed off as genuine manifestations, there have also been marked evidences of supernatural power. And many who reject Spiritualism as the result of human skill or cunning, will, when confronted with

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manifestations which they cannot account for upon this ground, be led to acknowledge its claims.

"Modern Spiritualism, and the forms of ancient witchcraft and idol worship, all having communion with the dead as their vital principle, are, founded upon that first lie by which Satan beguiled Eve in Eden: 'Ye shall not surely die; for God doth know that in the day you eat thereof, you shall be as gods.' Alike based upon falsehood and perpetuating the same, they are alike from the father of lies."-"Patriarchs and Prophets," pp. 683-685.

The work of evil spirits In the days of the apostles

"As the messengers of the cross went about their work of teaching, a woman possessed of a spirit of divination followed them, crying, 'These men are the servants of the most high God, which show unto us the way of salvation. And this did she many days.'

"This woman was a special agent of Satan, and had brought to her masters much gain by soothsaying. Her influence had helped to strengthen idolatry. Satan knew that his kingdom was being invaded, and he resorted to this means of opposing the work of God, hoping to mingle his sophistry with the truths taught by those who were proclaiming the gospel message. The words of recommendation uttered by this woman were an injury to the cause of truth, distracting the minds of the people from the teachings of the apostasy and bringing disrepute upon the gospel; and by them many were led to believe that the men who spoke with the Spirit and power of God were actuated by the same spirit as this emissary of Satan.

"For some time the apostles endured this opposition; then under the inspiration of the Holy Ghost, Paul commanded the evil spirit to leave the woman. Her immediate silence testified that the apostles were the servants of God, and that the demon had acknowledged them to be such and had obeyed their command."-"The Acts of the Apostles," pp. 212, 213.

Satanic witchery captivating many minds today

"Every day adds its sorrowful evidence that faith in the sure word of prophecy is' decreasing, and that in its stead superstition and satanic witchery are captivating the minds of many. Today the mysteries of heathen worship are replaced by the secret associations and sÈances, the obscurities and wonders; of spiritualistic mediums. The disclosures of these mediums are eagerly received by thousands who refuse to accept light from God's word or through his Spirit. Believers in Spiritualism may speak with scorn of the magicians of old, but the great deceiver laughs in triumph as they yield to his arts under a different form. There are many who shrink with horror from the thought of consulting spirit mediums, but who are attracted by more pleasing forms of Spiritualism. Others are led astray by the teachings of Christian Science, and by the mysticism of Theosophy and other Oriental religions."-"Prophets and Kings," p. 210.

LESSON EIGHTY-NINE The Two Laws

1. The moral law is based upon the character of God, and teaches us the true expression of that character in our relation to both God and man. 1 John 4: 8; Matthew 22: 35-40; Romans 13: 10.

2. After man had transgressed the moral law, the ceremonial law was instituted as the announcement in concrete form of the gospel of Christ, the Savior from sin. Hebrews 9: 6-14, A. R. V.

3. The moral law was written by the finger of God on tables of stone, which were put in the ark. Exodus 24:12; 31:18; 32:15, 16; 34:1, 28; 25:21.

4. The ceremonial law was written by Moses in a book which was put by the side of the ark. Deuteronomy 31:24-26; 2 Kings 22:8-11; 23:2, 3, 21-25.

5. The moral law is eternal in its character, and through the promises of the new covenant it is written in the heart. 1 Corinthians 13: 8; Psalm 119:43, 44; Hebrews 8:10.

6. The ceremonial law foreshadowed Christ and his mediation for sinners; and when Christ came in fulfillment of these types, this law was abolished. Colossians 2: 16, 17; Ephesians 2: 13-15; Colossians 2:13, 14; Matthew 27: 50, 51.

7. The moral law makes known sin and witnesses to the righteousness received through faith, while the ceremonial law pointed to Christ the Savior from sin. Romans 3:20, 21; Genesis 22:7, 8; Isaiah 53:7; John 1:29.

NOTES

Origin, purpose, and nature of the ceremonial law

"In order to win the transgressors back to that law, and teach them his character, and hold them to himself, God devised the ceremonial law, by which his children could from the very beginning express their faith in him. In the patriarchal age it was very simple. In the Mosaic age it was complex, but every act that was performed had its lesson respecting sin and salvation; and sin is, ever has been, and ever will be, the transgression of the moral law of Ten Commandments. Sometimes this ceremonial law has been so intertwined in its moral aspects with the moral law that to the casual observer they have

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seemed almost the same. It is like a strong growing green vine on an oak. When the vine is cut, it falls and dies, but the oak stands just the same. The life of each is different. So it is with the two laws."

Laws delivered by Moses were of three kinds

The laws 'thus delivered by Moses, were of three kinds-moral, ceremonial, and judicial; expressed by three Hebrew words, which are sometimes put together in Scripture to signify the whole, as Deuteronomy 6:1; Ezra 7:10; Malachi 4:4. The first respected them as men, the second as a church; the third as a commonwealth. The first, or moral law, being the law of universal or unalterable right, is binding upon all men, and is still in force. The third, or judicial law, is of a mixed nature, participating of the nature of those laws for the sanction of which it is intended; consequently, the judicial enactments which serve for the defense of the moral law, have something of its equity and moral necessity in them, and like it are still in force. For example, 'He that sheds man's blood, by man shall his blood be shed,' is the sanction and defense assigned by God to the sixth commandment, and remains in force in every age and nation. But other judicial edicts attaching to the ceremonial law must necessarily be abolished with it.

The law of which our text [Hebrews 10:1] speaks is neither of these; but only the ceremonial law of Moses, called in Ephesians 2:15, 'The law of commandments contained in ordinances;' and in Colossians 2:14, 'The handwriting of ordinances.' It cannot mean the moral law, which had no shadow of gospel benefits. Nor the judicial, which was but accessory to the other two; while the ceremonial law was entirely of a shadowy nature, intended to show forth the things that were to be thereafter."

The Law of God handed down from father to son through successive generations

"Adam taught his descendants the law of God, and it was handed down from father to son through successive generations. But not withstanding the gracious provision for man's redemption, there were few who accepted it and rendered obedience. By transgression the world became so vile that it was necessary to cleanse it by the flood from its corruption. The law was preserved by Noah and his family, and Noah taught his descendants the Ten Commandments. As men again departed from God, the Lord chose Abraham, of whom he declared, 'Abraham obeyed my voice, and kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws.' To him was given the rite of circumcision, which was a sign that those who received it were devoted to the service of God, a pledge that they would remain separate from idolatry, and would obey the law of God. The failure of Abraham's descendants to keep this pledge, as shown in their disposition to form alliances with the heathen and adopt their practices, was the cause of their sojourn and bondage in Egypt. But in their intercourse with idolaters, and their forced submission to the Egyptians, the divine precepts became still further corrupted with the vile and cruel teachings of heathenism. Therefore when

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the Lord brought them forth from Egypt, he came down upon Sinai, enshrouded in glory and surrounded by his angels, and in awful majesty spoke his law in the hearing of all the people."

The Law of God committed to writing

"He did not even then trust his precepts to the memory of a people who were prone' to forget his requirements, but wrote them upon tables of stone. He would remove from Israel all possibility of mingling heathen traditions with his holy precepts, or of confounding his requirements with human ordinances or customs. But he did not stop with giving them the precepts of the Ten Commandments.. The people had shown themselves so easily led astray, that he would leave no door of temptation unguarded. Moses was commanded to write, as God should bid him, judgments and laws giving minute instruction as to what was required. These directions relating to the duty of the people to God, to one another, and to the stranger, were only the principles of the Ten Commandments amplified and given in a specific manner, that none need err. They were designed to guard the sacredness of the ten precepts engraved on the tables of stone.

The writing of the law made necessary by Sin

"If man had kept the law of God, as given to Adam after his fall, preserved by Nosh, and observed by Abraham, there would have been no necessity for the ordinance of circumcision. And if the descendants of Abraham had kept the covenant, of which circumcision was a sign, they would never have been seduced into idolatry, nor would it have been necessary for them to suffer a life of bondage in Egypt; they would have kept God's law in mind, and there would have been no necessity for it to be proclaimed from Sinai or engraved upon the tables of stone. And had the people practiced the principles of the Ten Commandments, there would have been no need of the additional directions given to Moses."

The moral law written on stone, the ceremonial law in a book

The sacrificial system, committed to Adam, was also perverted by his descendants. Superstition, idolatry, cruelty, and licentiousness corrupted the simple and significant service that God had appointed. Through long intercourse with idolaters, the people of Israel had mingled many heathen customs with their worship; therefore the Lord gave them at Sinai definite instruction concerning the sacrificial service. After the, completion of the tabernacle, he communicated with Moses from the cloud of glory above the mercy-seat, and. gave him full directions concerning the system of offerings, and the forms of worship to be maintained in the sanctuary. The ceremonial law was thus given to Moses, and by him written in a book. But the law of Ten Commandments spoken from Sinai had been written by God himself on the tables of stone, and was sacredly preserved in the ark."

The distinction between the two systems broad, and clear

"There are many who try to blend these two systems, using the texts that speak of the ceremonial law to prove that the moral law has been abolished; but this is a perversion of the Scriptures. The distinction between the two systems is broad and clear."-"Patriarchs and .Prophets," pp. 363365.

The ceremonial law given by Christ

"The ceremonial law was given by Christ. Even after it was no longer to be observed, Paul presented it before the Jews in its true position and value, showing its place in the plan of redemption and its relation to the work of Christ; and the great apostle pronounces this law glorious, worthy of its divine Originator. The solemn service of the sanctuary typified the grand truths that were to be revealed through successive generations. The cloud of incense ascending with the prayers of Israel represents his righteousness that alone can make the sinner's prayer acceptable to God; the bleeding victim on the altar of sacrifice testified of a Redeemer to come; and from the holy of holies the visible token of the divine presence shone forth. Thus through age after age of darkness and apostasy, faith was kept alive in the hearts of men until the time came for the advent of the promised Messiah."-Id., p. 367.

A strong current today toward ritualism

"The tendency to turn Christianity into a religion of ceremonial is running with an unusually powerful current today. We are all more interested in art, and think we know more about it than our fathers did. The eye and the ear are more educated than they used to be, and a society as 'esthetic' and 'musical' as much cultured English society is becoming, will like an ornate ritual. So, apart altogether from doctrinal grounds, much in the conditions of today works toward ritual religion. Nonconformist services are less plain; some go from their ranks because they dislike the 'bald' worship in the chapel, and prefer the more elaborate forms of the Anglican Church, which in its turn is for the same reason left by others who find their tastes gratified by the complete thing, as it is to be enjoyed full blown in the Roman Catholic communion. We may freely admit that the Puritan reaction was possibly too severe, and that a little more color and form might with advantage have been retained. But enlisting the senses as the allies of the spirit in worship is risky work. They are very apt to fight for their own hand when they once begin, and the history of all symbolic and ceremonial worship shows that the experiment is much more likely to end in making sensual religion than in spiritualizing sense. The theory that such aids make a ladder by which the soul may ascend to God is perilously apt to be confuted by experience, which finds that the soul is quite as likely to go down the ladder as up it. The gratification of taste, and the excitation of esthetic sensibility, which are the results of such aids to worship, are not worship, however they may be mistaken as such. All ceremonial is in danger of becoming opaque instead of transparent as it

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was meant to be, and of detaining mind and eye instead of letting them pass, on and up to God. Stained glass is lovely, and white windows are 'barn like,' and 'starved,' and 'bare;' but perhaps, if the object is to get light and to see the sun, these solemn purples and glowing yellows are rather in the way. I for my part believe that of the two extremes, a Quaker's meeting is nearer the ideal of Christian worship than high mass, and so far as my feeble voice can reach, I would urge, as eminently a lesson for the clay, Paul's great principle here, that a Christianity making much of forms and ceremonies is a distinct retrogression."-"The Expositor's Bible," The Epistle to the Colossians, pp. 192, 193.

Old Testament ceremonies illuminated by the gospel

"The Old Testament ceremonies may still teach the contrite sinner what to do; and do teach him, if he read them by that gospel light which, as it once shined faintly in them, now shines fully and beautifully upon them. They tell him to take his sacrifice to the priest, and by him to God: Jesus Christ is at once the priest, the sacrifice, and the altar. Go with him into the presence of God, and present him by faith to the Father; and the sacrifice that he has offered for all men shall be accepted for thee, to make atonement for thee; and thy sin, whatever it be, shall be forgiven thee. And if we have done this, if we do it daily, what sweet consolation, what abundant assurance is there to be gathered from all these types and shadows. Do but lay thy hand upon the head of the sacrifice, confess thy sins over the head of thy burnt offering, lay thy burdens upon him in faith, and he is yours: and all that he has done and suffered was for thee; as much and infinitely more than if thou had done it and suffered it thyself."

LESSON NINETY The Ministry of Angels

1. Angels are beings of a higher order than man, but created, and they were brought into existence before the creation of the world. Hebrews 2: 7; 2 Peter 2: 10, 11; Colossians 1:16, 17; Job 38: 4-7.

2. Some of the angels sinned and fell. 2 Peter 2: 4; Jude 1:6.

3. Angels are not themselves the objects of worship, but are to render worship to the Son of God. Colossians 2: 18; Hebrews 1:6; 1 Peter 3: 21, 22.

4. The number of the angels is more than we are able to compute or to comprehend. Daniel 7: 9, 10; Matthew 26: 53; Hebrews 12: 22; Revelation 5: 11.

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5. This unnumbered host of angels is subject to God's direction, and they are the agents through whom he carries on his work. Psalm 103: 20; Genesis 28: 12; Psalm 91:11; Matthew 13: 39, 49; 24: 31; Galatians 3:19; Hebrews 1:14; 2: 2.

6. Each person has a guardian angel. Matthew 18: 19.

7. Angels are interested in the work of the gospel, and they rejoice when sinners return to God. Luke 2: 13, 14; 1 Peter 1:12; Luke 15:10.

8. There are many remarkable instances of the ministry of angels in behalf of members of the human family, including Jesus the Son of man. Genesis 19:15-17; Daniel 3:28; 6:22; Luke 1:26-30; 2:8-11; Matthew 4:11; Luke 22:43. (Let the students cite other cases from the Scriptures.)

9. The angels that have sinned will suffer punishment with unrepentant sinners, but the loyal angels will live eternally in the kingdom of God. Matthew 25:41; Luke 20:35, 36.

NOTES

Angels minister to the heirs of salvation

The angels of heaven are sent forth to minister to those who shall be heirs of salvation. We know not who they are; it is not yet made manifest who shall overcome, and share the inheritance of the saints in light; but angels of heaven are passing throughout the length and breadth of the earth, seeking to comfort the sorrowing, to protect the imperiled, to win the hearts of men to Christ. Not one is neglected or passed by. God is no respecter of persons, and he has an equal care for all the souls he has created."-"The Desire of Ages," p. 763.

Heaven still close to earth

"Heaven and earth are no wider apart today than when shepherds listened to the angels' song. Humanity is still as much the object of heaven's solicitude as when common men of common occupations met angels at noonday, and talked with the heavenly messengers in the vineyards and the fields. To us in the e6mmon walks of life, heaven may be very near. Angels from the courts above will attend the steps of those who come and go at God's command."-Id., p. 49.

Angels oversee the Lord's work in the earth

"One part of the ministry of heavenly angels is to visit our world and oversee the work of the Lord in the hands of his stewards. In every time of necessity they minister to those who as coworkers with God are

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striving to carry forward his work in the earth. These heavenly intelligences are represented as desiring to look into the plan of redemption, and they rejoice whenever any part of God's work prospers."-"Testimonies for the Church," Volume 6, p. 456.

Angels of God contend with prevailing power for trusting souls

"The spirits of darkness will battle for the soul once under their dominion, but angels of God will contend for that soul with prevailing power."-"The Desire of Ages," p. 295.

Apparently helpless, but really invincible

"Nothing is apparently more helpless, yet really more invincible, than the soul that feels its nothingness, and relies wholly on the merits of the Savior. God would send every angel in heaven to the aid of such a one, rather than allow him to be overcome."-"Testimonies for the Church," Volume 7, p. 17.

Angels will crown our efforts with success

"Jesus watches our efforts with the deepest interest. He knows that men with all the infirmities of humanity, are doing his work; and he NOTES their failures and discouragements with the most tender pity. But the failures and defects might be far less than they are. If we will move in harmony with heaven, ministering angels will work with us, and crown our efforts with success."-Id., Volume 5, p. 420.

Believers always accompanied by angels

"Christians who live in the light of God's countenance are always accompanied by unseen angels, and these holy beings leave behind them a blessing in our homes."-Id., Volume 6, p. 340.

Jesus was guarded by angels

"From his earliest years Jesus was guarded by heavenly angels, yet his life was one long struggle against the powers of darkness."-"The Desire of Ages," p. 73.

The heavenly messengers who had been by His side in the synagogue were with him in the midst of that maddened throng. They shut him in from his enemies, and conducted him to a place of safety. So angels protected Lot, and led him out safely from the midst of Sodom. So they protected Elisha in the little mountain city. When the encircling hills were, filled with the horses and chariots of the king of Syria, and the great host of his armed men, Elisha beheld the nearer hill slopes covered with the armies of God 'horses and chariots of fire round about' the servant of the Lord. So, in all ages angels have been near to Christ's faithful followers. The vast confederacy of evil is arrayed against all who would overcome; but Christ would have us look to the things which axe not seen, to the armies of heaven encamped about all who love God, to deliver them. From what dangers, seen and unseen, we have been preserved through the interposition of the angels, we shall never know,

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until in the light of eternity we see the providences of God. Then we shall know that the whole family of heaven was interested in the family here below, and that messengers from the throne of God attended our steps from day to day."-Id., p. 273.

Jesus was not forsaken

"Though no miraculous deliverance was granted John, he was not forsaken. He had always the companionship of heavenly angels, who opened to him the prophecies concerning Christ, and the precious promises of Scripture. These were his stay, as they were to be the stay of God's people through the coming ages."-Id., p. 258.

Laborers together with heavenly angels

"We are to be laborers together with the heavenly angels in presenting Jesus to the world. With almost impatient eagerness the angels wait for our co-operation; for man must be the channel to communicate with man. And when we give ourselves to Christ in whole-hearted devotion, angels rejoice that they may speak through our voices to reveal God's love."-Id., p. 344.

Angels of God are ever passing to and fro between heaven and earth

"Here Christ virtually says, On the bank of the Jordan the heavens were opened, and the Spirit descended like a dove upon me. That scene was but a token that I am the Son of God. If you believe on me as such, your faith shall be quickened. You shall see that the heavens are opened, and are never to be closed. I have opened them to you. The angels of God are ascending, bearing the prayers of the needy and distressed to the Father above, and descending, bringing blessing and hope, courage, help, and life, to the children of men. The angels of God are ever passing from earth to heaven, and from heaven to earth. The miracles of Christ for the afflicted and suffering were wrought by the power of God through the ministration of the angels."-Id., pp. 157, 158.

Angels will protect God's people in the time of trouble

"Fearful tests and trials await the people of God. The spirit of war is stirring the nations from one end of the earth to the other. But in the midst of the time of trouble that is coming, a time of trouble such as has not been since there was a nation, God's chosen people will stand unmoved. Satan and his host cannot destroy them; for angels that excel in strength will protect them."-"Testimonies for the Church." Vol. IX, p. 17.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

IN the general field of investigation covered by the foregoing lessons the following books will be found helpful, in addition to those whose titles are given in the notes. It is, of course, understood that unqualified endorsement is not necessarily given to all the volumes here listed, but they are suggested as valuable aids if read with some discrimination.

"The Fundamentals." Four volumes. Los Angeles, California: Published by The Bible Institute of Los Angeles.

"The Progress of Doctrine in the New Testament," the Bampton Lecture of 1864, Thomas Dehany Bernard, M. A.

"The Characteristic Differences of the Four Gospels," Andrew Jukes. London: James Nisbet & Co.

"The Bible: Its Divine Origin and Inspiration," L. Gaussen, D. D. New York: Phillips and Hunt.

"Christ and the Scriptures," Reverend Adolph Saphir, D. D. London: Morgan and Scott.

"Christ and the Comforter," Reverend F. S. Webster, M. A. London: Marshall Brothers.

"Christianity Is Christ," W. H. 'Griffith Thomas, D. D. New York: Longmans, Green & Co.

"The Church's One Foundation," Reverend W. Robertson Nicoll, M. A. New York: A. C. Armstrong & Son.

"The Incarnation," G. S. Streatfeild, M. A. New York: Longmans, Green & Co.

"The Epistle to the Ephesians," R. W. Dale, M. A. London: Hodder and Stoughton.

"The I AMS of Christ," Samuel H. Giesy, D. D. New York: Anson D. F. Randolph & Go.

"Deeper Spiritual Life," Reverend George Bowen. Edinburgh: D. Douglas.

"The Ministry of the Spirit," A. J. Gordon, D. D. Philadelphia: American Baptist Publication Society.

"On This Rock," H. Grattan Guinness, D. D. New York: Fleming H. Revell Company.

"The Lord's Prayer," Adolph Saphir, D. D. London: J. Nisbet & Co.

"Aspects of Christ," W. B. Selbie, M. A. New York: George H. Doran Company.

We regret to say that nearly all these books are probably now out of print, having been published some years ago. Some of them may possibly be found in the larger secondhand bookstores in this country, and those published abroad can generally be obtained through a dealer in secondhand books in London, who would quote prices on request. We have dealt satisfactorily with R. D. Dickinson & Company, 89 Farringdon St., London, EC4, England.

GENERAL INDEX

[CD-ROM Editor's Note: The index is missing in this electronic edition. It was on pp. 295-304.]