Table of Contents

Synopsis of the Present Truth

TABLE OF CONTENTS

PREFACE

CHAPTER 1. The Great Image of Daniel Two

CHAPTER 2. The Vision of Daniel Seven

CHAPTER 3. The Vision of Daniel Eight

CHAPTER 4. The 70 Weeks and 2300 Days

CHAPTER 5. The Sanctuary

CHAPTER 6. The Messages of Revelation Fourteen

CHAPTER 7. Revelation Twelve and Thirteen

CHAPTER 8. The Sabbath

CHAPTER 9. Bible View of the Sabbath

CHAPTER 10. The Sabbath Theory of Akers, Jennings, Mede, and Fuller

CHAPTER 11. Sabbath and Sunday - Secular History

CHAPTER 12. Nature and Destiny of Man

CHAPTER 13. Nature and Destiny of Man - (Continued)

CHAPTER 14. State of the Dead

CHAPTER 15. Destiny of the Wicked

CHAPTER 16. The Seven Last Plagues

CHAPTER 17. The Millennium

CHAPTER 18. Matthew 24

CHAPTER 19. The Seven Churches

CHAPTER 20. The Seven Seals

CHAPTER 21. The Seven Trumpets

CHAPTER 22. The Signs of the Times

CHAPTER 23. Spiritualism

CHAPTER 24. The Second Advent

CHAPTER 25. The Two Laws

CHAPTER 26. The First-day Sabbath

CHAPTER 27. Baptism. - Its Relation to the Divine Law in the Work of True Conversion

CHAPTER 28. Gifts of the Spirit

CHAPTER 29. Predestination

CHAPTER 30. The One Hundred and Forty-four Thousand

CHAPTER 31. The Ministration of Angels

CHAPTER 32. The Saints' Inheritance

Synopsis of the Present Truth

A BRIEF EXPOSITION

OF THE

VIEWS OF S. D. ADVENTISTS

BY

Uriah Smith

TABLE OF CONTENTS

PREFACE 3

CHAPTER 1. The Great Image of Daniel Two 5

CHAPTER 2. The Vision of Daniel Seven 11

CHAPTER 3. The Vision of Daniel Eight 17

CHAPTER 4. The 70 Weeks and 2300 Days 22

CHAPTER 5. The Sanctuary 27

CHAPTER 6. The Messages of Revelation Fourteen 39

CHAPTER 7. Revelation Twelve and Thirteen 47

CHAPTER 8. The Sabbath 62

CHAPTER 9. Bible View of the Sabbath 80

CHAPTER 10. The Sabbath Theory of Akers, Jennings, Mede, and Fuller 89

CHAPTER 11. Sabbath and Sunday - Secular History 100

CHAPTER 12. Nature and Destiny of Man 113

CHAPTER 13. Nature and Destiny of Man - (Continued) 123

CHAPTER 14. State of the Dead 139

CHAPTER 15. Destiny of the Wicked 147

CHAPTER 16. The Seven Last Plagues 160

CHAPTER 17. The Millennium 167

CHAPTER 18. Matthew 24 177

CHAPTER 19. The Seven Churches 190

CHAPTER 20. The Seven Seals 202

CHAPTER 21. The Seven Trumpets 210

CHAPTER 22. The Signs of the Times 219

CHAPTER 23. Spiritualism 232

CHAPTER 24. The Second Advent 243

CHAPTER 25. The Two Laws 255

CHAPTER 26. The First-day Sabbath 272

CHAPTER 27. Baptism. - Its Relation to the Divine Law in the Work of True Conversion 283

CHAPTER 28. Gifts of the Spirit 296

CHAPTER 29. Predestination 304

CHAPTER 30. The One Hundred and Forty-four Thousand 314

CHAPTER 31. The Ministration of Angels 320

CHAPTER 32. The Saints' Inheritance 328

PREFACE

This book is the outgrowth of a series of lectures given at Biblical Institutes in various parts of the country. A general desire for an opportunity to study the views thus taught, on the part of those not privileged to attend the Institutes, led to the publication of the substance of the lectures, some years since, in book, form, under the title of "The Biblical Institute." The work is now thoroughly revised, much of it re-written, and many new subjects added, making it what its new name is designed to indicate, a "Synopsis of the Present Truth."

The design has been to give the principal facts, dates, and references, connected with the important subjects presented, in as brief a manner as possible; and these, it is believed, will serve, in connection with the review questions, to give a general idea of the teachings of the Scriptures on these great themes, and furnish a good basis for further study.

We would call especial attention to the questions as a feature upon which rests, in large measure, the value of the book. Those who use the book for class exercises will of course use the questions. And we would recommend their use even by the general reader.

It will be hardly necessary to say to those who may use this work in class exercises, that the Lessons as here divided are not intended to measure the length of the recitations. A Lesson embraces an entire subject; but it will be found profitable to devote quite a number of recitations in many instances to a single lesson. We commend a thorough study of these all-important themes to those everywhere who desire to acquaint themselves with the prophetic word.

CHAPTER 1. The Great Image of Daniel Two

An image of gigantic form was shown to Nebuchadnezzar in a dream. Its head was of gold, breast and arms of silver, sides of brass, legs of iron, feet and toes part of iron and part of clay. Beginning with the most precious metal, there is a uniform descent till it ends with the basest. Finally a stone cut out of the mountain without hands smote the image upon the feet, dashed it to atoms, the wind carried away the fragments like chaff, and the stone became a great mountain and filled the whole earth.

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QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER ONE.

1. What was shown to Nebuchadnezzar?

2. Of what was this image composed?

3. What became of the image?

4. As the stone, in taking the place of the image, occupies the earth, what place had the image occupied?

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This indicates that the image denotes something which occupies the territory of the earth, inasmuch as the stone which succeeds it, expanding into a mountain, occupies its place and fills the earth. With this the dream ends, and the state of things thus introduced is to be eternal. First there is

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change and degeneracy, indicated by the different metals of the image; lastly, a permanent, eternal, glorious condition of things, shown by the mountain filling the earth.

In his interpretation of the image, Daniel told Nebuchadnezzar, Thou art this head of gold. Verse 38. He did not mean Nebuchadnezzar as an individual; for he was speaking of kingdoms. Verses 39,40. One part of the image could not represent a kingdom, and another part an individual. This would be inconsistent. The head of gold, therefore, symbolizes that kingdom over which Nebuchadnezzar was ruler.

Who, then, was Nebuchadnezzar? King of the old Chaldean or Babylonian monarchy. This was the head of gold. It is sometimes objected to Adventism that it has no starting point; that the first steps have to be assumed or taken for granted, whereas its great feature is, as in this instance, that the starting point is given and the stakes set for us in unmistakable language in the Scriptures themselves.

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QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER ONE.

5. What is indicated by the transition from gold to less valuable metals, ending in iron and clay?

6. What did Daniel in his interpretation say to Nebuchadnezzar?

7. Did he mean Nebuchadnezzar as in individual?

8. How do you prove that kingdoms are here represented?

9. Who was Nebuchadnezzar?

10. By whom was the old Assyrian empire founded? Reference.

11. How long did it rule in Asia?

12. What was erected upon its ruins?

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An old Assyrian empire, founded by Nimrod the great grandson of Noah, Gen.10:6-10, had ruled in Asia for 1300 years. On the ruins of this was founded the Chaldean or Babylonian empire of the Scriptures, by Belesis, the Baladan of Is.39:1,

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B.C. 747. In prophecy it dates from B.C. 677, because then it became connected with the people of God, by the capture of Manasseh, king of Judah. 2Chron.33:11. It reached the hight of its glory under Nebuchadnezzar to whom this dream was given.

From this point the road was steep and short to its decline and overthrow. The kings and their reigns were as follows: Nebuchadnezzar 43 years; Evilmerodach, his son, 2 years; Neriglissar, his son-in-law, 4 years; a son of Neriglissar, nine months, not counted in Ptolemy's canon; and lastly Nabonadius, son of Evilmerodach, grandson of Nebuchadnezzar, the Belshazzar of the book of Daniel, who reigned 17 years, and with whom that kingdom came to an end.

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QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER ONE.

13. Where and under what name is the founder of the new empire mentioned in the Scriptures?

14. From what year does it date in prophecy?

15. Why? Reference.

16. When did it reach the hight of its greatness?

17. How many kings reigned after Nebuchadnezzar, and how long?

18. What kingdom succeeded Babylon? Reference.

19. By what is this represented?

20. When did Cyrus overthrow Babylon?

21. How long had Babylon continued from its introduction into prophecy?

22. What marked the end of the Persian kingdom?

23. How long did Persia continue?

24. What kingdom succeeded Persia? Reference.

25. How many universal earthly kingdoms do we look for after Grecia?

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The kingdom that succeeded Babylon, represented by the breast and arms of silver, was Medo-Persia. Dan.5:30.31. Cyrus overthrew Babylon B.C. 538, it having continued from 677, B.C., 139 years. 538 marks the beginning of the Medo-Persian kingdom; and 331, B.C. its close, when Darius was overthrown by Alexander the Great, at the battle of Arbela. The Persian kingdom continued 207 years.

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The third kingdom, the one which succeeded Persia, was Grecia. Dan.8:5-7,21.

We are to look for one more universal kingdom and only one, for there were to be but four in all. Therefore, whatever universal kingdom we find anywhere this side of Grecia, that must be the kingdom represented by the legs of iron. Such a kingdom is brought to view in Luke 2:1. Caesar Augustus sent out a decree that all the world should be taxed. Then he had jurisdiction over all the world. His kingdom was universal. But Caesar Augustus was a Roman Emperor. Here we find the fourth and last universal empire, Rome, the legs of iron. The clay of the feet and toes denotes the degeneracy which come into the kingdom, and the ten toes denote the ten kingdoms into which the Roman empire was finally divided by the incursions of the Northern barbarians. Rome in prophecy dates from its league with the Jews, B.C. 161, seven years after its conquest of Macedonia. Its division into ten parts was accomplished between the years 356 and 483, A.D. Grecia ruled form B.C. 331 to B.C. 161, a period of 170 years; and Rome from B.C. 161, to its division in A.D. 483, a period of 644 years.

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QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER ONE.

26. Where is such a kingdom brought to view?

27. Who was Caesar Augustus?

28. What is denoted by the clay of feet and toes?

29. What is represented by the ten toes?

30. From what point does it date in prophecy?

31. When was it divided into ten parts?

32. How long did Grecia rule?

33. How long did Rome reign to its division into ten kingdoms?

34. Are Eastern and Western Rome symbolized by the two legs of the image?

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The two legs do not denote the division of Rome into the Eastern and Western empires. If they do,

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Rome should have been thus divided from the beginning of its history, or the legs should have been united down to the ankles, as it was not till A.D. 330 that the seat of empire was moved from Rome to Constantinople. But history forbids the former, and consistency forbids the latter.

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QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER ONE.

35. If so, when should Rome have been divided?

36. When, by whom, and where, was the seat of empire moved from Rome?

37. In the days of these kings; what kings?

38. Why may not some one of the first three kingdoms be meant, or Rome before its division?

39. When was the image complete so that it could be smitten upon the feet?

40. Was the kingdom represented by the stone set up in the days of Christ or his apostles?

41. Why not?

42. Is this kingdom a literal kingdom, and why?

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"In the days of these kings" the kingdom of God is to be set up. Not in the days of any one of the previous kingdoms which has passed away, nor of Rome in its undivided state, when it was but one kingdom. It is not till after we find a plurality of kingdoms existing contemporaneously, that we can look for the setting up of the kingdom of God, and we do not find these contemporaneous kingdoms till we find Rome breaking up into its final divisions, 356 to 483, A.D. Not till then was the image complete, ready to be smitten by the stone upon the feet. The kingdom represented by the stone could not therefore have been set up in the days of Christ and his apostles, 483 years before this division was completed. The fact is therefore forever settled that the kingdom represented by the stone is not a spiritual kingdom, but is literal like the four preceding it; and that it is yet future; for nothing to answer to the setting up of this kingdom has taken place since 483, A.D.

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It will be asked if those kings or kingdoms are still in existence in the days in which the God of Heaven was to set up his kingdom. If they were established so long ago as 483, have they not all passed away? We answer, No. They are the kingdoms which, as Dr. Scott remarks, have generally been known since that time as the ten kingdoms of Western Europe. Many of them can easily be traced to the present time. Originally they were the Huns, Ostrogoths, Visigoths, Franks, Vandals, Suevi, Heruli, Burgundians, Anglo-Saxons, and Lombards. And we have now the French from the Franks, the English from the Anglo-Saxons, the Portuguese from the Suevi, the Spanish from the Visigoths, the modern Italians from the Ostrogoths, and the Huns and Lombards from the original stock of that name.

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QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER ONE.

43. Is it yet future, and why?

44. Are those kingdoms still in existence?

45. What is Dr. Scott's remark?

46. What were the names of the ten kingdoms originally?

47. What modern nations do we now find descended from them?

48. Is the image now complete?

49. Are we still in the days of these kings?

50. What is the next event in this line of prophecy?

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The image is all complete. We are still in the days of these kings, and wait for the setting up of the kingdom of God, which is the next and only remaining event in this line of prophecy.

CHAPTER 2. The Vision of Daniel Seven

The symbolic language of the Scriptures is to be explained by the literal. All the figures of the Bible are defined by the literal language of the Bible. We have here the sea, winds, and four great beasts, none of which, of course, are to be regarded as literal. The sea, rivers, or waters, used as figures denote "peoples, multitudes, nations, and tongues." Rev.17:15; Is.8:7. Winds denote political strife and war. Jer.25:32,33. The beasts denote four kingdoms that arose on the earth, one after the other. Dan.7:17,23. The fourth beast is the fourth kingdom; therefore the other beasts denote kingdoms, though they are, like this one, sometimes called kings.

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QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER TWO.

1. How is the symbolic language of Scripture to be explained?

2. Are the figures of the Bible explained by the Bible?

3. What figures are here introduced

4. What is symbolized by the sea? References.

5. What by the winds? Reference

6. What do beasts, when used as symbols, represent?

7. What is said of the fourth beast

8. To what portion of the earth must we therefore look for the fulfillment of this representation?

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The consistency of the figures, as illustrating the events of human history, is at once seen. In the most populous civilized portions of the earth, which

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from earliest history have been Western Asia and Europe, political strife has moved among the people. As a consequence, revolution has succeeded revolution, and four great kingdoms have one after another arisen and fallen.

We have seen from the great image of Dan.2, that there were to be but four universal kingdoms from Daniel's day to the end of time. The fourth beast of this vision of Dan.7, denotes the last one of these earthly governments; for he is given to the burning flame, and the kingdom passes into the possession of the saints with a perpetual title.

The four beasts of Dan.7 therefore denote the same four kingdoms that are represented by the great image: the first beast, the lion, symbolizing Babylon, B.C. 677 to 538; the second, the bear, Medo-Persia, B.C. 538 to 331; the third, the leopard, Grecia, B.C. 331 to 161; the fourth, the great and terrible nondescript, Rome, B.C. 161 to A.D. 483.

The lion had at first two wings as of an eagle, representing the rapid conquests and ruling power of Babylon under Nebuchadnezzar, who raised it to the hight of its power. The wings were plucked and a man's heart given to it - as it was under the last king, the weak and pusillanimous Belshazzar.

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QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER TWO.

9. How many universal kingdoms have existed on the earth beginning in the time of Daniel?

10. By what is the last one of these governments here symbolized?

11. What kingdoms, therefore, are brought to view by these beasts?

12. Give the dates of Babylon.

13. The dates of Persia; of Grecia; of Rome.

14. What was signified by the two wings of the lion?

15. What period of the empire was fitly represented by the lion with a man's heart and no wings?

16. What is shown by the bear raising himself up on one side?

17. What by the three ribs?

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The bear raised itself up on one side, showing the ascendency of the Persian element in the Medo-Persian

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Persian empire, as more fully brought out in the symbol of the ram of chapter 8. The three ribs denote, probably, the three provinces especially devoured by this kingdom, Babylon, Lydia, and Egypt, which greatly stimulated the Persian lust for power, or said to it, Arise and devour much flesh.

The leopard had four wings, denoting the rapidity of Grecian conquests under Alexander; and four heads, signifying the division of the kingdom into four parts after Alexander's death, more particularly noticed under the symbol of the goat of chapter 8.

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QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER TWO.

18. How did they say to it, Arise and devour much flesh?

19. What is shown by the four wings of the leopard?

20. What by the four heads?

21. What do the ten horns of the fourth beast represent?

22. To what do these correspond in the image of chapter 2?

23. Between what years was Rome divided?

24. Name the ten kingdoms and the dates when they arose.

25. Who gives this enumeration of the kingdoms?

26. Who furnishes the dates?

27. What celebrated scholars indorse this work of Machiavel and Bishop Lloyd?

28. What was seen coming up among the ten horns?

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The fourth great and terrible beast had ten horns. These are declared to be ten kingdoms which should arise out of this empire. Dan.7:24. These correspond to the ten toes of the image. Rome was divided into ten kingdoms between the years A.D. 356 and 483, as follows: Huns, A.D. 356; Ostrogoths, 377; Visigoths, 378; Franks, 407; Vandals, 407; Suevi, 407; Burgundians, 407; Heruli, 476; Anglo-Saxon, 476; Lombards, 483. This enumeration of the ten kingdoms is given by Machiavel in his History of Florence, lib. 1. The dates are furnished by Bishop Lloyd, and the whole is approved by Bishop Newton, Faber, and Dr. Hales.

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Among these ten horns another little horn diverse from the others thrust itself up, plucking up three in its course. This was the papacy, established in 538. The decree of Justinian,4 emperor of the East, declaring the pope the head of all the churches, was issued in 533; but before it could be carried out, three Arian powers who stood opposed to papal doctrines and assumptions had to be removed out of the way, namely, the Heruli, Vandals, and Ostrogoths. The Ostrogoths were forced into a final retreat from Rome in March 538, and Justinians's decree was carried into effect.

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QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER TWO.

29. What does this little horn represent?

30. When was the papacy established?

31. When was Justinians's decree issued?

32. Why does not papal supremacy date from the year of this decree instead of 538?

33. What three horns were plucked up by the papacy, and why?

34. When were the Ostrogoths forced to abandon Rome?

35. In what way has the pope spoken great words against the Most High?

36. How has he worn out the saints?

37. What has he thought to change?

38. What reading is given by the Septuagint, German, and Danish versions?

39. How has the papacy endeavored to change the law of God?

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This horn spoke great words. Witness the titles the pope has assumed, and received from his flatterers. He has worn out the saints of the Most High. Between fifty and one hundred millions of martyrs testify on this point. He has thought to change times and laws; the law, say the Septuagint, the German, and Danish translations, pointing out the law of the Most High. This the papacy has thought to do, by endeavoring to change the fourth commandment, substituting the first day of the week for the Sabbath, in place of the seventh, which the commandment enjoins. See Hist. of the Sabbath,

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and Catholic Catechisms. They have been given into his hands a time, times, and dividing of time, or half a time: three times and a half. A time in Scripture signifies a year. Dan.4:16, compared with Josephus who says that the "seven times" were seven years. Three times and a half are therefore three years and a half. As the Bible year consists of 360 days (12 months of 30 days each) three and a half of such years give us 1260 days; and these days being symbolic, a day for a year, Eze.4:6; Num.14:34, we have 1260 years for the continuance of papal supremacy. This is the same as the 1260 days and 42 months of Rev.12 and 13 applied to the same power. Reckoned from 538, they bring us to 1798. Feb.10, of that year, Berthier, acting under the French Directory, took Rome and carried the pope into exile where the next year he died. Here sat the judgment of verse 26, and his dominion was taken away (temporarily overthrown but not consumed), and has been waning away both temporarily and spiritually from that time to the present.

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QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER TWO.

40. Where is proof of this found?

41. For how long a time were the saints, times, and laws given into the hands of this little horn?

42. How long a period is meant by "a time"?

43. How many days in "a time, times, and a half"?

44. Are these days literal or symbolic?

45. How much time is represented by a symbolic day? References.

46. How much literal time have we, therefore, for the continuance of papal supremacy?

47. Where and in what terms is this same period of time elsewhere mentioned?

48. Reckoned from 538, to what year do they bring us?

49. What took place in that year?

50. What judgment is brought to view in verse 26?

51. What in verses 9 and 10?

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In verses 9 and 10 judgement of another kind is brought to view: the investigative Judgment of the Heavenly Sanctuary, commencing in 1844.

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In connection with that a special utterance of great words is heard by the prophet. The great Ecumenical Council, held in Rome in 1870, furnishes a marked fulfillment. There by a deliberate vote of the highest dignitaries of all the Catholic world, 538 against 2, July 21, 1870, the pope was decreed to be infallible. In two months from that time, Sept. 20, 1870, Rome surrendered to the troops of Victor Emanuel, and the last vestige of the pope's temporal power departed. His destruction in the burning flame must be at hand.

The fifth kingdom of this vision, which the saints take and possess forever, is the one under the whole heaven, including the territory of these beast kingdoms. It is therefore the same as the kingdom of Dan.2, which fills the whole earth. What folly, then, to talk of the kingdom of Dan.2 being set up at the first advent of Christ, since it is not set up till after the papacy has run its allotted career, and is destroyed, - an event that takes place only at the second coming of Christ in power and glory! 2Thess.2:8.

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QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER TWO.

52. When were the greatest and most presumptuous words of the papacy heard?

53. On what day was the vote of infallibility taken

54. How did the vote stand?

55. What took place two months later?

56. Into whose hand does the kingdom finally pass?

57. Where is it located and what is its extent?

58. What relation does this show between this kingdom and the kingdom of God of chapter 2?

59. What then shall be said of the idea that the kingdom of Dan.2 was set up at the first advent of Christ?

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CHAPTER 3. The Vision of Daniel Eight

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QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER THREE.

1. What symbols are introduced in Daniel 8?

2. Where are these symbols mostly explained

3. What does the ram with two horns represent?

4. What do the two horns symbolize

5. Which was the higher?

6. How did this come up last

7. Who was Cambyses?

8. Whom did Cambyses marry

9. Who was Cyrus?

10. When was Babylon taken by Cyrus?

11. Who was then placed on the throne of the kingdom?

12. What name is given to Cyaxeres in Dan.5:31?

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The symbols of this chapter are mostly explained in the chapter itself. The ram with two horns, the higher of which came up last, represented the kings, or the kingdom, of Media and Persia, the two horns symbolizing the two elements in the nation, the Medes and Persians. The Persian came up last and attained the controlling influence. Hostilities first broke out between the Babylonians and the Medes, whereupon Cyaxeres, king of the Medes, summoned to his aid his nephew Cyrus, the son of his sister who had been married to Cambyses, the king of Persia. Cyrus, responding with an army of 30,000 Persians, was at once placed by Cyaxeres in command of the joint forces of the Medes and Persians. On the taking of Babylon, B.C. 538, Cyaxeres (who is called Darius in Dan.5:31), as civil ruler, took the throne. On his death, two years later,

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B.C. 536, he made Cyrus his successor, and the same year, Cambyses, the father of Cyrus dying, Cyrus was brought also to the Persian throne. The two were then united in one; and thus was founded the Medo-Persian empire, the ruling house being in the Persian line. This power pushed its conquests especially in the directions named, northward, westward, and southward, till in the days of Ahasuerus, Esther 1:1, it reigned over one hundred and twenty-seven provinces, from India to Ethiopia.

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QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER THREE.

13. When did Darius die?

14. What change then took place in the position of Cyrus?

15. How extensive was the Persian empire in the days of Ahasuerus? Reference.

16. What is symbolized by the rough goat?

17. What by the great horn between his eyes?

18. What does this show in relation to the use of the word king in these prophecies?

19. Who was the first king?

20. When and how did he become master of the world?

21. How was this horn broken?

22. Give the date of his death, and his age at the time?

23. What estimate of Alexander is given by Prideaux?

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The rough goat is explained to be the king of Grecia. Verse 21. The great horn between his eyes was the first king. Id. This shows that the word king as first used has the sense of kingdom; as it would be absurd to speak of the first king of a king. This first king was Alexander the Great, who having defeated the last Persian king, Darius Codomannus, at the battle of Arbela, Oct. 1, B.C. 331, found himself master of the world. This horn was broken and four came up in its place, denoting the four parts into which his empire would be divided. Eight years after the battle of Arbela, Alexander gave himself up to beastly drunkenness to that degree that he died Nov. 12, B.C. 323, aged only 33. Prideaux gives a just estimate of the man when he calls him "the great cut-throat of

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the age in which he lived." In the name of Aridaeus, then called Philip, bastard brother of Alexander's and also an idiot, and by Alexander's two infant sons, Alexander Aegus Hercules, all being under the guardianship of Perdiccas, the unity of the empire was for a time maintained. But it did not take long to put these all out of the way, and within fifteen years after Alexander's death the kingdom was divided into four parts, between his four leading generals: Cassander had Macedon and Greece; Lysimachus had Thrace and those parts of Asia that lay upon the Hellespont and Bosporus; Ptolemy had Egypt, Libya, Arabia, Palestine, and Coele-Syria; and Seleucus had Syria and all the East. These kingdoms are called, in brief, Macedonia, Thrace, Syria, and Egypt. They date from about B.C. 308.

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QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER THREE.

24. How was the unity of the empire for a while maintained?

25. How long before these were all put out of the way?

26. What then took place?

27. Name the four kingdoms.

28. Name their respective rulers.

29. What is the date of their rise?

30. What is denoted by the little horn?

31. To whom is this symbol sometimes applied?

32. Why can it not apply to Antiochus Epiphanes (pronounced An-ti-o-kus E-pif-a-neez)?

33. What kingdom does answer to the little horn of his prophecy?

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The little horn denotes a succeeding kingdom to arise in the latter part of the reign of the four horns, a kingdom of fierce countenance, strange language, a wonderful destroyer, to stand up against the Prince of princes, and at last to be broken without hand. This horn was not Antiochus Epiphanes, as claimed by some, for he was not "exceeding great" in comparison with Medo-Persia and Grecia that went before. He did not increase his dominions, was not another horn, but only one

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(the 8th in order) of the 26 kings that constituted the Syrian horn of the goat. He did not stand up against the Prince of princes (Christ), but died 164 years before our Lord was born.

This horn must symbolize Rome, as in the parallel visions of Dan.2 and 7. Rome came out of one of the horns of the goat, as it conquered Macedonia B.C. 168, and in 161 became connected with the people of God by its league with the Jews; 1Mac.8; Josephus' Antiq., b. xii., c. x., sec.6; Prideaux, vol.ii., p, 166; thus becoming a subject of prophecy, and appearing to the prophet to come out of the Macedonian horn. It extended its conquests toward the east, south, and pleasant land (Palestine), making provinces of the following countries: Syria, B.C. 65,; Palestine, B.C. 63; Egypt, B.C. 30. It stood up against the Prince of princes, nailing Christ to the cross. By Rome the daily was taken away and the transgression of desolation set up; that is, there was a change in the religion of the empire, Paganism (the daily desolation) was taken away, and the papacy (the transgression of desolation, or the abomination that maketh desolate) was set up. Dan.12:11. An host was given him: the hordes of barbarians the overran the empire, but were converted to the papal faith.

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QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER THREE.

34. How can Rome be said to come out of one of the horns of the goat?

35. In what directions did Rome extend its conquests?

36. When were Syria, Palestine, and Egypt made Roman provinces?

37. How did Rome stand up against the Prince of princes?

38. What is meant by the daily?

39. How was the daily taken away by Rome?

40. What was put in its place?

41. To whom was the host of verse 12 given?

42. Who constituted this host?

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This horn of Daniel 8 must not be confounded with the little horn on the fourth beast of Dan.7. That symbolized the papacy exclusively. This embraces Rome through its whole career, both pagan and papal. In other words, this horn of Dan.8 is the same as the great and terrible beast of Dan.7 in both its phases.

In verse 14 is introduced the period of 2300 days, the sanctuary, and its cleansing. All the vision was sufficiently explained to the prophet with the exception of the time. But Daniel says, verse 27, "I was astonished at the vision, but none understood it." Although Gabriel had been commanded to make him understand it, Daniel fainted before an explanation of the time was reached, and the angel was obliged to postpone further instruction.

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QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER THREE.

43. Is this horn the vision of Dan.8 the same as the horn of the fourth beast of Dan.7, and why?

44. What is introduced in verse 14?

45. How much of the vision had been explained to Daniel?

46. Yet what does Daniel say in verse 27?

47. To what must this have reference?

48. Why did not Gabriel go on till he had explained to Daniel every part of the vision?

49. Had he been commanded to explain it?

50. What may we therefore still look for?

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CHAPTER 4. The 70 Weeks and 2300 Days

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QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER FOUR.

1. Where do we find a further explanation of Dan.8

2. Who on this occasion appeared to Daniel?

3. To what does Daniel refer?

4. What vision must this be?

5. What did Gabriel say?

6. How do these words suggest a connection with chapter 8?

7. To what does the angel himself then refer?

8. With what point does the angel here commence his explanation?

9. What are his words?

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In the ninth chapter of Daniel we find a further explanation of Daniel 8. Mark the connection between the two chapters. 1. Gabriel appears again to Daniel, verse 21, the very one who in the vision of chapter 8 had been commanded to make him understand that vision, but who had not yet completed that mission. 2. Daniel refers to the vision at the beginning in which he had seen this angel. This must be the vision of chapter 8, as no other had intervened between that and this. 3. Gabriel said, "I am now come forth to give thee skill and understanding," the very work he was intrusted with in chapter 8, but had been obliged, on Daniel's account, to postpone. 4. The angel then himself refers back to the vision of chapter 8, saying "understand the matter" and consider "the vision." 5. He then commenced with the very matter omitted in chapter 8, namely, the explanation of the time: "Seventy weeks are determined

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upon thy people." The word here rendered determined, signifies "cut off." Seventy weeks are cut off. From what? From the 2300 days. Wherever the 70 weeks commence, there the 2300 days begin.

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QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER FOUR.

10. What does the word rendered "determined" signify?

11. From what are the seventy weeks cut off?

12. Does the commencement of the seventy weeks determine the commencement of the 2300 days?

13. What event does Gabriel name as the starting point of the seventy weeks?

14. What was the first decree issued after the giving of this vision?

15. For what did this decree provide?

16. How and when was this work hindered?

17. Who reaffirmed the decree of Cyrus, and when?

18. What must be said of the provisions of this decree?

19. What was the next decree?

20. Under what king and in what year did this decree go forth? Reference.

21. What provisions were contained in this decree?

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Gabriel then proceeds to give the starting point. When a commandment should go forth to restore and build Jerusalem, the seventy weeks would begin. The first decree that was issued after this time, in any wise affecting Jerusalem, was the decree of Cyrus B.C. 536 for the return of the Jews and the rebuilding of the temple. Ez.1. But this only provided for the temple, and fell far short of granting the "restoration" to which the prophecy points. This work was hindered by the enemies of the Jews in the reign of Artaxerxes the Magian, B.C. 522. Ez.4. The decree of Cyrus was reaffirmed by Darius Hystaspes, B.C. 519, and the work on the temple again went forward. But this decree like that of Cyrus was too limited in its provisions. At length Ezra obtained a decree from Artaxerxes Longimanus, in the seventh year of his reign, B.C. 457, Ex.7:7, containing provisions for the complete restoration of the Jewish State. This decree,

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written in the original in Chaldaic or Eastern Aramaic, the language of the Persian court, is found in full in Ez.7:12-23. When this went forth, the prophecy was met, all three of the decrees constituting "the commandment," as expressed in Ez.6:14, and the date of its going forth being that point when the last one with its full provision, was carried into effect by Ezra. Ez.7:9. The commission to Nehemiah 13 years later, was no decree, and is not to be taken into the account.

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QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER FOUR.

22. In what language was this originally written?

23. Where is it found in full?

24. Was the prophecy met in this decree?

25. How much did it take to constitute the "commandment"? Reference.

26. What can be said of the commission granted to Nehemiah?

27. How much time was allotted to the building of the city?

28. How and when was this completed?

29. What is the next division of time, and to what does it reach?

30. What is the meaning of the word Messiah?

31. When was Christ set forth as the Messiah? References.

32. Does this period then reach to his birth or to the commencement of his ministry?

33. When did Christ's ministry begin?

34. When did John commence his ministry? Reference.

35. What year was the 15th of Tiberius Caesar?

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Seven weeks or 49 years were allotted to the literal work of building the city, and arranging the affairs of the State. This was completed in the last act of reformation by Nehemiah, in the fifteenth year of Darius Nothus, B.C. 408, exactly 49 years from the commencement of the work by Ezra, B.C. 457. Sixty-two weeks, 434 years more, were to extend to Messiah the Prince. Christ was set forth as the Messiah, or the Anointed, at his baptism when he was anointed with the Holy Ghost. Acts 10:37,38; 4:27; Luke 4:18, etc. This period therefore reaches to his ministry, which commenced in A.D. 27. For John began his ministry in the fifteenth year of Tiberius Caesar, Luke 3:1, which

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was in A.D. 27, and Christ entered upon his work six month later, which would bring us to the autumn of that year. And to this point exactly, the 69 weeks or 483 years bring us, reckoned from B.C. 457, in the autumn when Ezra commenced his work at Jerusalem. Here Christ went forth proclaiming, "The time is fulfilled," Mark 1:15, which can have reference to nothing else but the fulfillment of this period which was to bring us to Messiah the Prince.

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QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER FOUR.

36. How long after the commencement of John's ministry did Christ enter upon his? (A priest could not enter upon his office before the age of 30. See Num.4:3,23,35,39,43,47. It is supposed that John and Christ followed the same rule; and as Christ was six months younger than John, he would begin his work six months later. Of him it is said that he was about 30 years old at his baptism, and so was doubtless fully 30 when he began his public ministry.)

37. To what point do the 69 weeks or 483 years bring us, reckoned from the autumn of B.C. 457?

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After the 7 weeks and the 62 weeks he was to be cut off, or in the middle of the 70th week, cause the sacrifice and oblation to cease. These expressions point unmistakably to the crucifixion of Christ. The ministry of Christ continued just three years and a half; for he attended but four passovers, at the last of which he was crucified. John 2:13; 5:1; 6:4; 13:1. If the sixty-ninth week ended in the autumn of A.D. 27, the middle of the 70th week, three and a half years further on would be in the spring of A.D. 31, and right there the crucifixion took place. See Hales' Chronology. We go forward three years and a half more to the termination of that week, and find ourselves at the end of the 70 weeks in the autumn of A.D. 34, How much yet

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remains of the 2300 years? 2300 - 490 = 1810; and 34 + 1810 = 1844, where the whole period of 2300 years expired. So definitely and easily is the application of this period of 2300 years ascertained. The seventh year of Artaxerxes when Ezra received his commission is placed in B.C. 457 by Ptolemy's canon, and the accuracy of that canon is demonstrated by the concurrent agreement of more than 20 eclipses. The starting point for the 2300 days cannot therefore be moved from B.C. 457 without showing the inaccuracy of Ptolemy's record of these eclipses. But Prideaux says that they have been repeatedly calculated and have been found invariably to fall where Ptolemy has placed them. Connections, vol. i. p. 242. BD>

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QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER FOUR.

38. Why did we reckon from the autumn?

39. What announcement did Christ make at the commencement of his preaching?

40. To what must this have had reference?

41. What was to take place after the 7 weeks and the 62 weeks?

42. When were the sacrifice and oblation to cease?

43. To what must these expressions refer?

44. How long was Christ's ministry? References.

45. To what point do 3 1/2 years from the autumn of A.D. 27 bring us?

46. On what authority is the crucifixion placed in the spring of 31?

47. Where did the 70 weeks terminate?

48. How many days remain of the 2300 after the expiration of the 70 weeks?

49. Where, then, did the 2300 days end?

50. What celebrated work fixes the 7th of Artaxerxes to the year B.C. 457?

51. By what is the accuracy of Ptolemy's canon demonstrated?

52. What does Prideaux say of the authority of this work?

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CHAPTER 5. The Sanctuary

The Prophecy of Dan.8:14 simply declares that at the end of the 2300 days the sanctuary shall be cleansed. The subject of the sanctuary thus becomes the central and controlling question in this prophecy. If we regard it as something which is to be cleansed only at the coming of Christ, then the 2300 days must extend to Christ's coming. Many hold it in this light, and hence their continual efforts to readjust the prophetic periods, and set new times for the Lord to come.

The word sanctuary occurs in the Bible 144 times, and both the definition of the word and its use, show it to mean a holy or a sacred place, and a dwelling place for God. This fact should guard any one against applying it to any object which will not bear this definition, or to which it is not applied in the Scriptures.

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QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER FIVE.

1. What is stated in Dan.8:14?

2. How does the subject of the sanctuary affect our views of the coming of Christ?

3. How many times does the word sanctuary occur in the Bible?

4. What is the definition of the word?

5. Why may not the earth be the sanctuary?

6. Why not the land of Canaan?

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The earth is not the sanctuary; for it is not a holy or sacred place; and the Scriptures never call it the sanctuary.

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The land of Canaan is not the sanctuary, for the same reasons. Neither can the term be applied to any limited portion of the land, as to Jerusalem, or Mt. Zion; for though these were spoken of while the Hebrew people maintained the favor of God, as holy, and a place where God would dwell, it is evidently because his temple was there, which he had caused to be erected for his habitation. For this reason Moses once speaks of the mountain of inheritance as the sanctuary, Ex.15:17, just as David calls Judah, in one instance the sanctuary, Ps.114:2, and in another instance, Mt. Zion; Ps.78:68; but the tribe was not the mountain, any more than the mountain was the sanctuary; but the tribe possessed the mountain, and upon the mountain was the sanctuary "built," says David, "like high palaces." Ps.78:69. However, Paul settles the question so far as pertains to the whole Mosaic dispensation, covered by the first covenant, and tells us emphatically that another object was the sanctuary during that time. Heb.9:1,2.

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QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER FIVE.

7. Can the term be applied to any limited portion of the land, as to Mt. Zion or Jerusalem, and why not?

8. What does David say of the tribe of Judah, and how is his language explained?

9. What does David say of the sanctuary in Ps.78:69?

10. How does Ps.78:54,69, explain Ex.15:17?

11. What bearing does Paul's language in Heb.9:1,2 have upon this part of the subject?

12. Is the church the sanctuary?

13. What can be said of Ps.114:2?

14. If at any time the church was the sanctuary, could it be the sanctuary of Dan.8:14, and why?

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The church is not the sanctuary; for it is nowhere called such. One text, mentioned above Ps.114:2, is sometimes quoted to prove the church the sanctuary; but that has been already explained; and even if it was to be taken in its most rigidly

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literal sense, it would only prove that a particular tribe, and not the whole church was the sanctuary. But the statement quoted from Paul, Heb.9:1,2, applies to this very time when Judah constituted a portion of God's people, and he tells us that something else was then the sanctuary. And further, if the church ever constituted the sanctuary, even then it could not be the sanctuary of Dan.8:14; for there the church is brought to view by the term "host" as an object entirely distinct from the sanctuary.

But to return to Paul's statement in Heb.9:1,2. What is that which he says was the sanctuary during the continuance of the first covenant? Answer, The tabernacle built by Moses in the wilderness of Sinai, which was afterward embodied in the temples of Solomon, Zerubbabel, and Herod. This is described in full in Ex.25, and onward. This settles the subject of the sanctuary down to the time of Christ. The only question now to be decided is, Has there been a sanctuary since that time? and if so, what?

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QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER FIVE.

15. What does Paul say was the sanctuary of the first covenant? Reference.

16. Where is this described?

17. How much is settled by Paul's language?

18. What question remains?

19. Has the new covenant a sanctuary?

20. When and by whom was the new covenant introduced and ratified?

21. Where does Christ perform his ministry?

22. While in Heaven of what is he a minister?

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These questions are definitely answered in the writings of Paul. He says that the second covenant has a sanctuary, the same as the first. The new covenant was introduced and ratified by Christ. He is its minister. His ministry is performed in Heaven. He is there a minister of the sanctuary,

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the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched and not man. Heb.8:1,2. The sanctuary of this covenant is, therefore, where the minister is, in Heaven. The sanctuary of the first covenant was a type of the Heavenly sanctuary of the new. Moses, when he made the tabernacle, made it after a pattern. Ex.25:9,40; 26:30; Acts 7:44; Heb.8:5. That was made with hands (by men); Heb.9:24; the one in Heaven, not by men, but by the Lord, Heb.8:2; 9:11. The earthly sanctuary is twice called a figure, and once a pattern of the sanctuary in Heaven. Heb.9:9,23,24. The Heavenly sanctuary is called the greater and more perfect tabernacle, and the true, in comparison with the earthly. Heb.9:11,24.

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QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER FIVE.

23. Where then is the new covenant sanctuary?

24. What relation did the sanctuary of the first covenant bear to that of the new?

25. What was Moses commanded when about to make the tabernacle? References.

26. How is the earthly sanctuary spoken of in Heb.9:9,23,24?

27. What is the Heavenly sanctuary called in comparison with the earthly?

28. What was shown to John in vision? References.

29. What is the Heavenly sanctuary called by David and Habakkuk? References.

30. What by Jeremiah and Zechariah? References.

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But more than this, John in his vision of things in Heaven saw there the antitype of the golden candlestick, the altar of incense, the golden censer, and the ark of God's testament, all instruments of the sanctuary, the presence of which unmistakably proves the existence of the sanctuary where they were seen. And John also had a view of the sanctuary itself, which he brings to view under the name of "the temple of God in Heaven." Rev.4:1,5; 8:3; 11:19. Thus it is called also by David and Habakkuk. Ps.11:4; Hab.2:20. It is called God's "holy habitation" by Jeremiah and Zechariah. Jer.25:30; Zech.2:13.

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QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER FIVE.

31. What was connected with the sanctuary?

32. How many apartments had the sanctuary?

33. What was the first called?

34. The second?

35. What was in the first apartment?

36. What in the second?

37. How was the cover of the ark made, and what was it called?

38. Who ministered in this sanctuary?

39. Where is the ministry described?

40. What was done by a person who had sinned?

41. What was done with the blood on the victim?

42. What effect did this have on the person's sin?

43. How long did services like this go on?

44. What was meanwhile accumulating in the sanctuary?

45. What was the service changed?

46. Where was this special service performed?

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Having found the sanctuary, we now inquire, What is its cleansing? With the sanctuary there were connected instruments of service and a priesthood. The sanctuary contained two apartments, separated by a veil. The first was called the holy place, the second the most holy. In the holy place were the candlestick with seven branches, the table of show-bread, and the altar of incense. In the most holy was the ark, containing the tables of the ten commandments. The cover of the ark, beaten out of a solid piece of gold with the figure of a cherub on either end, was the mercy-seat. In this sanctuary the priests ministered. This ministry is described in Lev.1 and onward. When a person had sinned, he brought his offering to the door of the tabernacle to the priest, laid his hands upon the head of his offering, and confessed upon him his sin, took his life, and the blood was taken by the priest into the sanctuary and sprinkled before the veil. His sin was thus transferred to the sanctuary. This went on through the year continually, sin all the while accumulating in the sanctuary, till the tenth day of the seventh month, when the priest performed a special service in the most holy place,

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to close the yearly round of ministration, called the cleansing of the sanctuary. On this day two goats were brought and set apart by lot to the Lord and to Azazel. See Lev.16:8, margin. The blood of the goat for the Lord was taken and sprinkled by the priest upon the mercy-seat in the most holy place, to make atonement for the sanctuary and for the sins of the people. Coming out he confessed over the scape-goat all the sins of the people and thus placed them upon his head. Lev.16:21. This goat was then sent away by the hand of a fit man into the wilderness. Thus the sanctuary was cleansed, and sin was put away from the people.

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QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER FIVE.

47. What was it called?

48. To perform this service what did the priest first take? Lev.16:5,7.

49. How and to whom were these goats set apart?

50. What was done with the blood of the goat set apart for the Lord?

51. For what purpose was this blood sprinkled upon the mercy-seat?

52. On coming out from the sanctuary, what did the priest do?

53. Where did this place the sins of the people?

54. What was then done with this goat?

55. In what condition did this leave the sanctuary and the people?

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But all this was a figure. That sanctuary, those offerings, the work of the priests, all were figures. Paul says of the priests that they "served unto the example and shadow of heavenly things." Heb.8:4,5. All looked forward to the greater and more perfect priesthood after the order of Melchisedec, performed, Paul says by Christ in Heaven. Christ is at once the antitype of the offering and the priesthood. He first shed his blood and provided the offering. Then he entered upon his work as priest. What the earthly priests did in figure, he does in fact. They transferred the sins of the penitent to the earthly sanctuary in figure. He transfers them to the Heavenly sanctuary in fact.

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We come to Christ for pardon, and this is the way we receive it. To deny this is to deny all that Paul has taught us in the book of Hebrews respecting the relation of the work of those ancient priests to work of Christ as our High Priest in Heaven.

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QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER FIVE.

56. What was the nature of all this service?

57. Unto what did Paul say that these priests served?

58. To what did all their service look forward?

59. Of what is Christ the antitype?

60. What did he first provide?

61. Upon what work did he then enter?

62. What is the nature of his work compared with that of the earthly priests?

63. When we receive pardon from Christ, what disposition is made of our sins?

64. Must the Heavenly sanctuary be cleansed, and why?

65. Where is this stated?

66. From what is it to be cleansed?

67. When was it to be cleansed?

68. What proof that the Heavenly sanctuary must be the one referred to?

69. How is its cleansing to be performed?

70. How often is a round of service performed in the antitype?

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The Heavenly sanctuary must be cleansed for the same reason that the earthly was cleansed. This Paul expressly states. Heb.9:22,23. Any who object to things being cleansed in Heaven, must settle that with the apostle. The cleansing, however, was not from physical uncleanness, but from sin. When was this to be cleansed? At the end of the 2300 days in 1844. There was no other sanctuary then in existence but the Heavenly sanctuary of the new covenant; hence that is the one to which that prophecy applies. How is the cleansing in this case to be performed? Just as in the type, by a closing service in the most holy place. The high priest passes into the most holy which he enters only for this purpose, makes the atonement by the offering of blood upon the mercy-seat, and closes the round of sanctuary service. In the type this round was completed every year. In the antitype it is

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performed once for all. The type and the prophecy of the 2300 days hold us to the conclusion that in 1844 Christ entered upon his final work as priest in the second apartment of the sanctuary in Heaven. In the type one day of the year was set apart to this work, and a portion of the day was actually employed in the service. In the antitype the time is indefinite, but it must be comparatively brief.

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QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER FIVE.

71. What must we conclude, therefore, took place in 1844?

72. In the type how much time was employed in this service?

73. In the antitype, how much?

74. What ends with Christ's work as priest?

75. What is this work of decision?

76. What part of the Judgment must it be?

77. What part of his work does Christ finish before his second advent?

78. What must therefore take place before Christ comes?

79. What scripture sustains this view?

80. How does it meet the necessities of the case?

81. What subject provides for this necessary preliminary work of Judgment?

82. What is the work of Christ during this time?

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As this concludes Christ's work as priest, with it probation ends, as there is no more mercy to be offered. And when that point is reached, all cases are decided for eternity. But this work of decision is a work of Judgment. It must be the first part of that three-fold work of Judgment solemnly declared in God's word to await all mankind: first, to decide all cases; secondly, to determine the rewards or punishments; thirdly, to execute the sentence written. But Christ does not make his second advent till his work as priest is done. Therefore, before the coming of Christ a portion of the work of Judgment transpires and probation ends. This accords with Rev.22:11,12: "He that is unjust let him be unjust still, . . . and he that is holy let him be holy still. And, behold, I come quickly." It accords also with the necessities of the case; for when Christ appears there is no time allotted for a work of Judgment, yet all the righteous dead are then

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raised, leaving the wicked to sleep on for a thousand years, and all the righteous living are changed in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye. This conclusively shows that decision must have been rendered in their cases before the coming of the Lord.

In the cleansing of the sanctuary we have just the time and place for this preliminary or investigative work of Judgment. This is the very nature of the work of Christ at this time to put away sin and so decide who are righteous. This involves an examination of the books of record containing the deeds of every man's life; for all Judgment is rendered according to every man's work written in the books. Rev.20:12. Hence in the account of the opening of this scene in the most holy of the Heavenly sanctuary, as given in Dan.7:9,10, we read that "the Judgment was set and the books were opened." This is before the coming of Christ; for it is before the destruction of the papal beast on account of the great words of the little horn. Verse 11. Here is where the Son of man is brought to the Ancient of Days, and receives his kingdom, which kingdom he receives before his return to this earth. Dan.7:13, 14; Luke 19:12.

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QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER FIVE.

83. What does this involve?

84. From what is all Judgment rendered? Reference.

85. What scene does Dan.7:9,10 describe?

86. What is said of the books at this time?

87. What shows that this is before the coming of Christ?

88. Where does the Son of man receive from the Ancient of Days his kingdom?

89. Does he receive his kingdom before his return to earth? Reference.

90. To what does Acts 3:19,20 apply?

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Here sins, repented of and pardoned, are blotted out; Acts 3:19,20; which work being ended, Christ is sent the second time to this earth. But if

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at this time a person's sins are not in a condition to be blotted out, his name is blotted out of the book of life. Rev.3:5. Here Christ confesses the names of his people before his Father, receiving of the Father acceptance of them through him.

This is the finishing of the mystery of God, brought to view in Rev.10:7. The mystery of God is the gospel to all nations. Eph.3:3 compared with Gal.1:12; Eph.1:9; 3:9; Rom.16:25,26; Col.1:25,27. The finishing of this mystery, must be the close of the gospel work which will cease when Christ's work as priest is done. Therefore the cleansing of the sanctuary, the investigative Judgment, and the finishing of the mystery of God, are all one and the same work.

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QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER FIVE.

91. When will Rev. 3:5 be fulfilled?

92. What is the mystery of God? References.

93. What is the finishing of this mystery?

94. To what does Rev.10:7 apply?

95. How is it shown that Rev.10:6 applies to prophetic time?

96. With what does prophetic time end?

97. To what point does Rev.10:6 bring us?

98. What did the angel say to Daniel and John would then take place?

99. Are these the same?

100. What trumpet marked the commencement of this work?

101. What event is given in Rev.11:19 to mark the sounding of the 7th angel?

102. To what work does this introduce us?

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The commencement of this work is marked by the end of the great period of 2300 days, and the commencement of the sounding of the 7th angel, the last of the series of the 7 trumpets. The angel of Rev. 10 announces the close of prophetic time. Verse 6. This must be prophetic time; for literal time, duration, continues in the days of the 7th angel subsequently mentioned; and the probationary time continues in the announcement of another message of mercy. Verse 11. Prophetic time ends with the 2300 days, which is the longest prophetic period

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and reaches down to the latest point. Hence, Rev.10:6 brings us to the conclusion of the 2300 days. Then, said the angel to Daniel, shall the sanctuary be cleansed. Then, said the angel to John, shall the mystery of God be finished; which is the same thing. This he said would be in the days when the 7th angel should begin to sound; that it would occupy the first years of his sounding. And again John says, when the 7th angel began to sound, the temple of God was opened in Heaven, and there was seen in his temple the ark of his testament. Rev.11:19. This introduces us into the second apartment of the Heavenly sanctuary; but the work in that apartment is the cleansing of the sanctuary, the investigative Judgment, the finishing of the mystery of God, which consequently commenced when the 7th angel began to sound.

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QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER FIVE.

103. What was done with sins borne from the sanctuary?

104. Who is the antitype scape-goat?

105. What does the word Azazel mean?

106. When did Christ bear our sins, and in what sense?

107. When does the scape-goat, or Satan, bear them?

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The sins being borne from the sanctuary in the type, were laid upon the head of the scape-goat, which was then sent away to perish. This was the shadow of some service in connection with the Heavenly sanctuary by which our sins are to be put away in fact forever. Upon whom could they more appropriately fall at last than upon the devil, the author and instigator of sin? Satan is the antitypical scape-goat. Azazel, Lev.16:8, margin, is held on good authority to mean the devil. True, Christ is said to have borne our sins, but that was upon the cross before he commenced his priestly work. He never after bears them except as priest; and the

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last he does with them is to lay them upon the head of their author, the devil, who is sent away with them to a land not inhabited. The account of this binding of Satan is found in Rev.20:1-3. At the end of the thousand years, being loosed out of his prison by the resurrection of the wicked, whom he then again has power to deceive, even to bring them up against the camp of the saints, Rev.20:8,9, he is, with them, forever destroyed by fire from God out of Heaven. Then comes the day of the execution of the Judgment, and perdition of ungodly men. 2Pet.3:7. Sins are then put away forever. Evil is destroyed root and branch. A new heavens and earth succeed the old. Verse 13. The saints enter upon their everlasting inheritance, and the universal song of jubilee goes up from a holy and happy universe to God and the Lamb. Rev.5:13. BD>

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QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER FIVE.

108. Where is the account of the binding of Satan found?

109. What takes place at the end of the thousand years?

110. What day is this? Reference.

111. What follows?

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CHAPTER 6. The Messages of Revelation Fourteen

Having seen that the cleansing of the sanctuary is a work of Judgment, a key is placed in our hands for an explanation of the messages of Rev.14. The first message, verses 6,7, is symbolized by an angel flying in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach to them that dwell on the earth, saying with a loud voice, "Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his Judgment is come; and worship him that made heaven and earth, and the sea and the fountains of waters."

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QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER SIX.

1. How does the subject of the sanctuary help us to understand the three messages of Rev.14?

2. By what is the first message symbolized?

3. What does he have to preach?

4. What are his words?

5. What is the cope of this message?

6. What is the burden of its announcement?

7. What are we therefore to look for?

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Let us see what we are warranted to expect from the terms of the message, that we may know what to inquire for as a fulfillment. The scope of the message is the gospel either as a whole or in some of its special phases; and the burden of its announcement is that the hour of God's Judgment is come. Some Judgment work connected with the gospel we are therefore to look for. But the gospel

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brings to view no work of this kind except that connected with the close of the probation of the human race, near the end of time. Still it cannot be any phase of the Judgment after probation has ended; for two other proclamations to men follow it before the Lord appears as symbolized by one like the Son of man on the white cloud. Verse 14. It can therefore be no other than the work of investigative Judgment which we have seen takes place above, as the sanctuary is cleansed, immediately preceding the coming of Christ. And further, it is a time message, based on the prophetic periods; for it announces the hour of God's Judgment come, and must consequently bring us to the commencement of that work.

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QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER SIX.

8. What Judgment is brought to view by the gospel?

9. Can this be any Judgment that takes place after probation ends?

10. Why?

11. What therefore is the nature of this Judgment, and when and where does it take place?

12. What is the nature of this message, and on what is it based?

13. To what must it bring us?

14. Was this message given by the apostles or reformers?

15. Can such a message be given till we reach the last generation?

16. What did the apostles say about the Judgment? References.

17. How far off did Luther think it was from his day?

18. What has our own generation witnessed?

19. What was this movement?

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With these data before us, where shall be look for that message? We need not stop even to inquire if it was given by the apostles, or the reformers, or any class of religious teachers previous to our own day; for if given at any time before the last generation it would not be true. The apostle reasoned of a Judgment to come, Acts 17: 31; 24:25; and it is recorded of Luther that he thought the day of Judgment was about 300 years distant from his day. But our own generation has witnessed such a proclamation as the message announces.

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In the great Advent movement of 1840 to 1844 and onward, the fulfillment is seen.

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QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER SIX.

20. On what was this Advent movement based?

21. What was its extent?

22. What relation has this angel to the angel of Rev.10?

23. Where is the evidence of this found?

24. From what does this angel utter his oath?

25. In what condition is the little book?

26. What book is probably intended by this?

27. What directions had been given in regard to this book?

28. How long was it to be closed up and sealed?

29. What is shown by the fact that the angel now has the book open?

30. What does this angel proclaim?

31. What is the proclamation of Rev.14:6,7?

32. This being the same angel, what relation does the hour of God's Judgment have to the finishing of the mystery of God?

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This movement was one of the right nature: it was based on the prophetic periods, and proclaimed time. It was of sufficient extent: it went to every missionary station on the globe. See Exposition of Matt.24. This angel of Rev.14:6 is the same as the angel of Rev.10. Evidence of this is found in the chronology of this latter movement, the nature of the message, and the terms in which the proclamation of this angel is uttered. Rev.10:6. But this angel utters his oath on the authority of a little book which he has in his hand open. This is unquestionably the book which Daniel had been told to close up and seal to the time of the end, and the fact that the angel now had it in his hand open, shows that his message is given this side of the time of the end. He proclaims the end of prophetic time, and following that the finishing of the mystery of God. In Rev.14:6,7 it is the finishing of the prophetic periods, and then the hour of God's Judgment. The finishing of the mystery of God, and the hour of God's Judgment, therefore, occupy the same time and bring to view the same work, -

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a work to be fulfilled in the cleansing of the sanctuary, commencing in 1844 and now going forward.

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QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER SIX.

33. In what is this work to be fulfilled?

34. When did it commence?

35. How does locating the first message affect the others?

36. Has the second message received a marked fulfillment?

37. What is the symbol taken to represent Babylon?

38. Why does not this woman, or Babylon, represent the wicked world?

39. Of what is a woman the symbol?

40. Is Babylon confined to any one church, and why?

41. What must be included under this term?

42. What does the term Babylon mean?

43. From what is it derived?

44. What is the great fault charged upon Babylon?

45. What is meant by the wine of the wrath of her fornication? (The word rendered "wrath" has also the definition of "violent passion," which rendering would make the prophet's figure more consistent.)

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Having located the first message, the others must follow in order. The second has received as marked a fulfillment as the first. Babylon is brought to view under the symbol of a woman in Rev.17:5. This does not mean the wicked world, or worldly powers; for the woman is seated upon a beast which represents the civil power. Verse 3. A woman is the symbol of a church; a lewd woman representing a corrupt or apostate church, Eze 16; and a virtuous woman, a pure church. Rev.12:1. But Babylon is not confined to any one church; for this woman of Rev.17:5 has daughters of the same character with herself. Parity of reasoning would lead us to include under this term all heathen systems of religion, as well as portions of the so-called Christian world. Babylon means mixture and confusion. The name is derived from Babel, where God rebuked men's impious attempt to build a tower to Heaven, by confounding their language. The great fault here charged upon Babylon is that she made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, or corrupted them with her false doctrines.

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The fall of Babylon is not the loss of temporal power by the papacy, nor the destruction of the city of Rome. For the papacy does not lose her temporal power because she made the nations drink of her false doctrines; but that is the very means by which she obtained and so long held it. And it cannot mean the destruction of Rome; for Babylon is where the people of God are largely represented. Rev.18:4. But this has never been true of Rome, and especially it was not when the second message of Rev.14 was given. And, secondly, it is after Babylon's fall that the people of God are called out, which would be an absurdity if applied to fall and burning of Rome. And, thirdly after the fall Babylon fills up with hateful birds and foul spirits, which makes the application to the destruction of Rome still more ridiculous.

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QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER SIX.

46. Why is not the fall of Babylon the loss of temporal power by the papacy?

47. Why can it not mean the destruction of the city of Rome?

48. When are God's people called out?

49. What happened to Babylon after her fall?

50. What, therefore, must be the nature of her fall?

51. To what portion of Babylon must this proclamation apply?

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The fall of Babylon is a moral fall, as is shown by Rev.18:1-3. But, the proclamation of this fall being connected with the great Advent movement of our own days, it must apply to some portion of Babylon which was at that time in a condition to experience a moral change for the worse. But this announcement, Babylon is fallen, could not then be said of the heathen world, which has for ages been lost in darkness and corruption; nor of the Romish church, for that has for generations been as low as

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it is possible for any organization, religious or secular, to descend. It must therefore have reference to those classes who have partially come out from Romish errors, but stopped short of receiving all the light that was offered them. This is true of the great mass of Protestant sects. They ran well for a season, and had a large measure of the graces of the Holy Spirit and the blessing of God to witness to what truth they were willing to receive. But their theology is still hideously deformed by enormous errors drawn from Rome, which they refuse to abandon. A reception of the first message would have healed their divisions and made a beginning of the work of correcting their errors. We know this from the effect it did have on those who received it, who came from all these denominations. But they rejected the message, and shut it out of their houses. The cry was then raised, Babylon is fallen: and although the distinctive call of Rev.18:4, "Come out of her my people," which we apply to the future, was not given, yet some 50,000 persons did come out from the theological bondage to which they were subjected, an earnest of a still greater separation to take place, as we believe, in the near future, when Rev.18:2 is more completely fulfilled in them, and the cry of verse 4 shall be given.

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QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER SIX.

52. What must be said of the great mass of the Protestant sects?

53. What condition is their theology still in?

54. What would the first message have done for them?

55. How do we know this?

56. How did they treat the message?

57. What cry was then raised?

58. What was the result?

59. What do we look for in the future?

60. What has marked the condition of these churches since 1844?

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This state of religious declension among the popular churches has been a marked condition with them

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since 1844. The most devoted among them saw and deeply deplored it then. See testimonies in work entitled, The Three Messages. Their condition in this respect has not improved since; and the spasmodic and emotional efforts of a Knapp, Hammond, Moody, and other modern revivalists, are not affording any permanent improvement. There is an advance truth for this age, and no permanent work of religious reform can be accomplished except in connection therewith.

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QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER SIX.

60. What has marked the condition of these churches since 1844?

61. Have they themselves admitted and deplored it?

62. Has their condition improved since?

63. What can be said of the efforts of modern revivalists?

64. Where only can we look for permanent religious reformation?

65. What is the burden of the third message which follows?

66. Against what does it utter its warning?

67. Can this message be understood?

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The third angel followed them; and now the message deepens into a most close and pointed warning, and a denunciation of wrath more terrific than anything elsewhere to be found in the Bible, against uniting with anti-Christian powers in the last work of opposition against God, upon which they will embark before the end. It is announced with a loud voice that if any man worship the beast or his image, or receive his mark in his forehead or hand, he shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation. The terms here employed are without dispute highly figurative; and hence many conclude at once that they cannot be understood. But surely God would never announce judgments so terrible as these and then clothe the warning in such terms that it could not be understood, and so men not know whether they were exposing

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themselves to the punishment or not. This is certainly the last message to go forth before the coming of Christ; for the next scene is one like the Son of man coming on a white cloud to reap the harvest of the earth. None but Christ does this. This message consequently reaches to the close of probation; and whoever is giving the true Advent message, will be urging upon the people a warning of this nature. If we have reached the last days and the coming of Christ is at the doors, the time has come for this message. It is due. Yet there are those who will presume to call themselves Adventists, and proclaim the coming of Christ very near, who entirely ignore this message, leave it out of their preaching, and profess to know nothing about it. Are such standing in the light and giving the true message? Assuredly not.

Seventh-day Adventists claim to be giving this message. People have a right therefore to demand of us an explanation of the terms and figures employed in the message; and we stand ready to give it. This is the burden of our work, to warn against the worship of the beast, and urge in contrast obedience to God. An exposition of the symbols introduced, involves an examination of Rev. 12 and 13.

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QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER SIX.

68. What relation has this message to the coming of Christ?

69. To what point must it reach?

70. Is this message now due?

71. What will that people be doing who are giving the true Advent message?

72. What do S. D. Adventists claim?

73. What have people a right to demand of us?

74. What is the burden of our work?

75. Where do we look for an explanation of the symbols of the message?

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CHAPTER 7. Revelation Twelve and Thirteen

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QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER SEVEN.

1. What is brought to view in the last part of Rev.13?

2. What does the beast with two horns do?

3. Where is this antecedent beast described?

4. From what does this beast receive his seat and great power?

5. Where is this dragon described?

6. With what does this line of prophecy begin?

7. What does the woman represent?

8. What is meant by her being clothed with the sun?

9. By having the moon under her feet?

10. By having upon her head a crown of twelve stars?

11. Who was the man child which then appeared?

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The last part of Rev.13 brings to view the very agents against which warning is uttered in the third angel's message. A beast with two horns like a lamb makes an image to a preceding beast, and enforces the worship and mark of that beast. This antecedent beast is described in Rev.13:1-10. But this beast receives his seat and power and great authority from a symbol still preceding him, - a great red dragon, described in Rev.12:3,4. With this chapter the vision opens. John beholds a woman (the gospel church) clothed with the sun (entering the light of the gospel dispensation), the moon (the typical dispensation) under her feet (just past), and upon her head a crown of 12 stars (the 12 apostles). To the expectant church appears a man child who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron, and who

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was caught up to God and to his throne. This can be none other than Christ. The dragon endeavored to devour this child as soon as he was born. This Rome tried to do when Christ was born. The dragon therefore is here a symbol of Pagan Rome.

The dragon gave his seat, power, and great authority to some other power represented by the following beast like a leopard. Rev.13:1-10. To what power was the dragon's seat, ancient Rome, given up? Answer. To the papacy. The seat of empire was moved to Constantinople, and the bishop of Rome soon ascended, in the city of Rome, a higher throne than her pagan emperors had ever occupied. Great power was given to him; or in other words, supremacy was conferred upon him, by the decree of Justinian, emperor of the East, carried out in 538. The parallel between this beast, Rev.13:5-10, and the little horn of the fourth beast of Dan.7:21,25,27, conclusively shows that it represents the papacy. This being so, the time of his captivity, verse 10, was at the end of the 1260 years in 1798.

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QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER SEVEN.

12. What did the dragon endeavor to do to this man child?

13. What government endeavored to do this?

14. Of what then is the dragon here a symbol?

15. What did the dragon do with the place he had occupied as his seat?

16. To what power was Rome, the dragon's seat, given?

17. What took place in Rome shortly after the seat of empire was moved to Constantinople?

18. How, when, and by whom, was great power given to the Roman bishop?

19. What is shown by the parallel between this beast and the little horn of the 4th beast of Dan.7?

20. When was the time of his captivity?

21. What is introduced at this point of time?

22. Why was not this any part of the papal beast?

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1. At this time another power is introduced upon the scene. "I beheld another beast." This was therefore no part of the papal beast. It was no

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kingdom or nation in Western Europe; for had it been, it would have been one, or some part of one, of the ten horns of the first beast. It was no kingdom of Eastern Europe, Western Asia, or Northern Africa; for these had all been appropriated to the symbols introduced in the 2nd, 7th, and 8th of Daniel. And John does not say, I saw the lion, bear, leopard, the fourth beast, or any of his ten horns, coming up, but "another" beast. We are obliged to look to the Western hemisphere for the territory of this power. And we must look to the leading power which has arisen here, which is our own government.

2. The chronology is equally decisive in fixing the application to our own country. This power was seen coming up when the previous one went into captivity, which was in 1798. If we look the earth all over what new power do we find coming up in a manner to attract the attention of the world, at that time? None but our own government.

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QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER SEVEN.

23. Why not some kingdom in Western Europe?

24. Why not some kingdom in Eastern Europe, Western Asia, or Northern Africa?

25. To what part of the world are we therefore obliged to look for this power?

26. To what government?

27. What can be said of the chronology of this symbol?

28. When was this power seen coming up?

29. What new nation was then arising to the notice of the world?

30. With what is its coming up out of the earth contrasted, and what does this signify?

31. Of what government is this true?

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3. It comes up out of the earth, in contrast with the sea out of which the preceding beast arose; that is, it arose in territory previously unknown and unoccupied by the peoples, nations, and tongues, of civilization. This is true of our own government, but of no other one equally prominent.

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QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER SEVEN.

32. Have the United States "come up" in a manner to meet the prophecy?

33. What was its population in 1775, and what is it now?

34. What was its territory in 1783, and what is it now?

35. What is its present gold-producing capacity?

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4. John saw this two-horned beast coming up in 1798. Our own nation was just then "coming up," and has continued to come up since that time, in a manner that finds no parallel in the history of any nation on the earth. Look at a few items of its progress in a hundred years. The population in 1775 was 2,803,000; now, over 50,000,000. Territory in 1783, at the time our independence was acknowledged, 815,615 square miles; now 3,578,392 square miles. Agricultural interests 100 years ago were small and in the hands of uneducated men. First patent for cast iron plow in 1797. About 400 patents on this implement alone have since been granted. Then the seed was sown and crops harvested by hand. Drills, seed-sowers, cultivators, reapers, mowers, and threshing machines, are inventions all within the memory of living men. Present product (1880), according to the official report of the Statistician of the Department of Agriculture, corn, 1,717,434,543 bushels; wheat, 498,549,868; rye, 24,540,829; oats 417,885,380; potatoes, 167,659,570; hay, 31,925,233 tons; barley, 45,165,346 bushels; cotton, 2,854,471,100 lbs.; sugar, 272,980,000 lbs. Cotton crop in 1792, value, $30,000; now, $280,266,242. Fruit, then unknown; now valued at over $40,000,000. Horned cattle, number, 33,306,355; horses, 11,429,626; sheep, 43,576,899; swine, 36,247,603. In 1848 gold was discovered in California. The product to this time is over $800,000,000, with a present capacity of 70,000,000 a year. Railroads 82,000 miles, enough to reach more

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than three times around the globe. More than 1,000 cotton factories, 580 daily newspapers, 4,300 weeklies, and 635 monthly publications. Between the years 1817 and 1867 the growth of the territorial domain of this country was 1,968,008 square miles. This is over 1,400,000 square miles of territory more than was added by any other one nation during this time, and more than 800,000 square miles more than were added by all the other nations of the earth put together. Mitchel speaks of it as "the most striking instance of national growth to be found in the history of mankind." Emile de Girardin calls it "unparalleled progress." The Dublin Nation speaks of it as a most "wonderful American empire emerging." Can any one doubt what nation has been "coming up" during this time? And the one that has been coming up must be the one symbolized by the two horned beast of Rev.13.

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QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER SEVEN.

36. How many miles of railroad has it?

37. How many cotton factories?

38. How many daily newspapers?

39. How many weeklies?

40. How many monthlies?

41. In the 50 years between 1817 and 1867 what was the territorial growth of this country?

42. How much more was this than that any other nation during this time?

43. How much more than that of all other nations put together during the same time?

44. How does Mitchel speak of this?

45. Emile de Girardin?

46. The Dublin Nation?

47. By what must the nation that has been coming up be symbolized?

48. In what manner has this been accomplished?

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5. And all this has been accomplished in a quiet and peaceful manner. The symbol arose out of the earth. This nation has not been established by the conquest and overthrow of other nations, as the nations of Europe have been, but simply by standing up in defense of its right against the mother country. The word translated "coming up" in Rev.13:11,

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means to grow like a plant out of the earth. And respecting the rise of these United States, the Dublin Nation says: "No standing army was raised, no national debt sunk, no great exertion was made, but there they are." G.A. Townsend. "New World Compared with the Old," p. 462, speaks of "the mystery of our coming forth from vacancy." Again he says, p. 635: "The history of the United states was separated by a beneficent Providence far from the wild and cruel history of the rest of the continent, and like a silent seed we grew into empire." Edward Everett spoke of the "peaceful conquest" through which the banners of the cross have been borne over mighty regions. Mark how wonderfully this harmonizes with the language of the prophecy, which says this power was to come up like a plant out of the earth.

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QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER SEVEN.

49. What does the word translated "coming up" mean?

50. What is the testimony of the Dublin Nation on this point?

51. How does Mr. G.A. Townsend speak of it?

52. What terms does Edward Everett use?

53. How do these expressions compare with the prophecy?

54. What do the two horns of this symbol suggest?

55. What two great principles in this government answer to these?

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6. This power had two horns like a lamb. This at once suggests two things: the youthfulness of the power; and an innocent or lamb-like profession embodied in two great principles. Just these features our own government exhibits, in the great principles of civil and religious liberty, which it guarantees to all citizens. America is recognized as the youngest among the nations. The motto of the Egyptian exhibit at the Centennial was, "The oldest nation of the earth to the youngest sends greeting." These two features, youth and a lamb-like

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exterior, are found in our own government, but in no other.

7. This beast has no crowns upon its horns, showing that it does not represent a kingly or monarchical form of government. Ours is the only notable government answering to this specification.

8. It represents some government where the power is in the hands of the people; for when any acts are to be performed, it says to them that dwell on the earth that they should do it. Rev.13:14. It is, in other words, a republic; and this points unmistakably to our own government.

9. It is also a Protestant government, or at least a non-Catholic power; for it causes them which occupy its territory to worship the first beast, which denotes Catholicism. But if it was a Catholic country it would be the beast itself, and worshiping the beast would be worshiping itself. But the two-horned beast enforces the worship of a power distinct from itself; and that power being Catholicism, the beast itself symbolized not a Catholic, but a Protestant country.

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QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER SEVEN.

56. What is shown by the fact that this beast has no crowns upon his horns?

57. Is our own government such an one?

58. What proves that the law-making power is in the hands of the people?

59. What form of government must it therefore be?

60. Does this fix it to our own government?

61. What kind of a government is it shown to be in regard to its religion, and why?

62. What remarkable acts does it perform?

63. To whom are the same works ascribed in Rev.19:20?

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10. He doeth great wonders, real miracles, makes fire come down from heaven, and deceives them that dwell on the earth. In Rev.19:20 the same works, wrought for the same purpose, are ascribed to the false prophet. The two-horned beast and the false

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prophet are therefore the same power. But Rev.16:13,14 shows that the agency by which the false prophet works his miracles is the spirits of devils that go forth for this purpose. A wonderful work, wrought by spirits of devils, is therefore another feature of this power. And behold it has made its appearance in modern Spiritualism, which has arisen in this country, and from this point has spread to all the nations of the earth.

Considering these facts, that the power represented by the two-horned beast must be located in this hemisphere, and be just coming into notoriety about the year 1798, and be a lamb-like power, republican in form of government, and Protestant in religion, and the place where the wonder workings of Spiritualism should first spring forth, and one that should make such progress as has no parallel in the history of nations, - can any one for a moment doubt that our government is the one represented? No reason can be given why any nation should be noticed in prophecy, which will not apply in a pre-eminent degree to our own nation.

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QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER SEVEN.

64. What relation do the two-horned beast and false prophet therefore have to each other?

65. By what agency does the false prophet work the miracles? Reference.

66. What is therefore revealed to us as another feature of this two-horned beast?

67. In what has this made its appearance?

68. What remains to be fulfilled?

69. What must an image of the beast be?

70. What was the beast?

71. Can we look for a State church here?

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What remains to be fulfilled, is embodied principally in two propositions: This power is to cause an image to be made to the beast, and to enforce the reception of the mark of the beast. An image to the beast must be something resembling the beast. The beast, Catholicism, was a church clothed with

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civil power. An ecclesiastical organization clothed with civil power would bear some resemblance to it, or be an image of it. A State church in this land of multiplied sects, is probably an impossibility. How, then, can we have here such an image? There can be a union formed on such points as the different religious denominations hold in common. The principal of these are three: 1. The first day of the week as the Sabbath, adored from various standpoints and under different titles as the Lord's Day, the Christian Sabbath, the American Sabbath, etc. 2. The Immortality of the Soul. 3. Water Baptism. The question of such a union among the churches, under the seductive title of a "Union in Christ" is now extensively agitated. Papers are published in the interest of the movement and earnest advocates are devoting to it their best powers. It finds a strong undercurrent of favor in all the churches.

The movement in reference to the mark is equally advanced, and bears more openly upon its face its evident design. This will be apparent from a brief consideration of what the mark is, and the movement now on foot in reference to it.

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QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER SEVEN.

71. Can we look for a State church here?

72. In what way then can we have such an image?

73. Is the question of the union of the churches on common points of faith already agitated and urged?

74. What can be said of the movement in reference to the mark?

75. Is the mark of the beast of literal mark?

76. How were marks sometimes used anciently?

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What is the mark of the beast? It is not of course a literal mark. Prophecy would not couple together a symbolic beast, and a literal mark of that beast. Marks were sometimes used by generals and masters in ancient times to distinguished their followers and servants. The mark of the beast must

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be some institution of the beast which will distinguish its followers. But we show ourselves followers or servants of any power only by obeying its authority; and authority is always manifested through law.

From what other company are the followers of the beast distinguished? From the followers of God; inasmuch as the warning which goes forth against the worship of the beast and the reception of his mark is designed to keep men loyal to the requirements of Heaven. "Here are they," says the third message, "which keep the commandments of God." But we can show ourselves followers of God only be keeping his law. Therefore the issue in reference to which the third message warns us is a conflict between the law of God and the law of this beast power, by our action toward which we are to show ourselves either the worshipers of the beast or the followers of God.

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QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER SEVEN.

77. What then must be the mark of the beast?

78. How is authority always manifested?

79. How is it shown that the mark distinguishes beast worshipers from the worshipers of God?

80. With what prophecies does this harmonize?

81. What does Daniel say of this power?

82. What is the reading of the Septuagint, German, and Danish translations?

83. What law is intended?

84. How does Paul speak of the same power?

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This accords with the prophecies which reveal the leading characteristic of this Catholic power, in connection with which we must of course look for the mark of that power. Daniel, describing it under the symbol of the little horn of the fourth beast of his seventh chapter, says: "He shall think to change times and laws." Dan.7:25. The Septuagint, German, and Danish translations read. "the law." Here is meant unquestionably the law of God.

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Among the works of this power we shall therefore find this attempt to change the law of God. Paul states of him the same thing. He speaks of him in 2Thess.2 as the man of sin, son of perdition, etc., and says that he would endeavor to exalt himself above all that is called God, or that is worshiped. How could he do this? He could do it in no other way but by promulgating a law which conflicts with the law of God. To do this independently of the law of God, would be to show himself professedly opposed to God, which this power is not to do; for Paul says that he would sit in the temple of God, and show himself that he is God, or set himself forth as God. He must therefore take hold of the law of God and change it, and demand obedience to the change, as if God was its author. And this is just what Daniel said he would think to do; that is, to change the law of God.

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QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER SEVEN.

85. What is the only way in which this power could exalt itself above God?

86. How does this answer to the words of Daniel?

87. What is therefore the mark of the beast?

88. What change has this power attempted to make in the law of God?

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The mark of the beast is therefore simply this change which he has attempted to make in the law of God. And what is this? We take testimony from its own mouth. See catholic Catechisms. It is its change of the fourth commandment, wherein it has put the first day of the week in place of the seventh, which God has not ceased to enjoin. And this Catholic power has not contented itself with simply making this change, but it admits that God has never enjoined it and that the Scriptures do not sanction it; and further, it sets it forth as an evidence of its right to legislate in divine things. The

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following is a representative question on this point, found in the Catholic catechism called, "Abridgment of Christian Doctrine."

"Ques. How prove you that the church hath power to command feasts and holy days?

"Ans. By the very act of changing the Sabbath into Sunday, which Protestants allow of; and therefore they fondly contradict themselves by keeping Sunday strictly, and breaking most other feasts commanded by the same church.

"Ques. How prove you that?

"Ans. Because by keeping Sunday they acknowledge the church's power to ordain feasts and command them under sin."

See also Andrews' History of the Sabbath, and the following Catholic works: Treatise of Thirty Controversies, Cath. Catechism of Christian Religion, Catholic Christian Instructed, and Doctrinal Catechism.

That the Catholic power is symbolized by the little horn of Dan.7, is beyond question. The prophecy said that it should think to change the law of God; and it steps forth and acknowledges the act. What further evidence can be required? He who, therefore, with the light before him, and the issue pressed upon him between God and this wicked power, deliberately decides to keep the institution of the beast instead of the commandments of God, worships the beast and receives his mark.

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QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER SEVEN.

89. What question and answers are found in the Abridgment of Christian Doctrine?

90. What works give testimony in proof of this position?

91. How then can a person worship the beast and receive his mark?

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We know the objection which will here immediately fly to the lips of an opponent. He will say,

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Then all Sunday-keepers, past or present, however eminent as servants of God, have had, or now have, the mark of the beast. And we as quickly answer, Not one. Why? Because they have not kept it, and are not keeping it, with the issue before them presented in the prophecy. They have supposed they were keeping the fourth commandment according to the will of God. But flashes of truth in these closing hours of time are to dispel all such darkness from every honest mind, and show this work in its true light. And this institution, although in itself the mark of the beast, does not become such in any individual case, till such individual adopts it under the pressure of human laws, well knowing it to be a human institution set forth in opposition to the law of God.

Such is the issue against which the third message now warns us. And the message is not premature; for this issue is evidently soon to come. Already an Association including among its officers, State governors, senators, chief justices, presidents of colleges, and any number of doctors of divinity, has been formed to secure by legal enactments the observance of the first day of the week as the Sabbath. They call for a religious amendment to the constitutions, of such a nature that "all Christian laws, institutions, and usages shall be put upon an undeniable legal basis in the fundamental law of the land."

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QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER SEVEN.

92. What objection is urged at this point?

93. How is it answered?

94. What issue is soon to come?

95. What Association is already formed?

96. For what do they call?

97. When and where did this movement originate?

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This movement originated in Xenia, O., in Feb., 1863, in a convention composed of eleven different religious denominations. National conventions have

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been held in Allegheny, Pa., New York City, Pittsburg, Philadelphia, Chicago, Cincinnati, St. Louis, and other places. At the convention in Pittsburg, Feb. 4, 1874, there were, 1,073 delegates present representing 18 States.

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QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER SEVEN.

98. On what ground will the Sunday law probably be enacted?

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Many affect to scout the idea that such a movement will ever succeed, and the arm of persecution be raised in this country to enforce so-called Christian usages under the penalties of law. But the idea that it should now succeed is no more strange than was the idea a few years ago that any such movement would be made as we now see already accomplished. That Sunday-keeping will ever be enforced by law, from any real religious convictions on the part of a majority of the people would be perhaps too much to expect. Even the barbarous institution of slavery did not yield to moral forces, but fell only as a political necessity. So it would be nothing strange nor improbable if circumstances should so shape in the near future that a religio-political compromise should bring forth the Sunday law full fledged. But we need not speculate as to methods. There is the prophecy which cannot be broken. Religious questions are fast entering into the arena of politics, and there is an irrepressible conflict between present Christian usages and the claims of infidelity, which cannot cease till the Constitution shall become wholly infidel or wholly conformed to nominal Christianity. Infidel it can never become so long as a union of Protestants and Catholics can carry any measure upon which they may agree. We therefore look for it to become the instrument of that type of Christianity which the Amendmentists desire to legalize.

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With these acts in reference to the image and the mark, the career of this power closes. This is the last conflict into which the people of God are brought. They are next seen victorious on Mt. Zion with the lamb. And this two-horned beast, as the false prophet, in company with the beast (Catholicism) before which he has wrought his miracles, goes as a living power into the lake of fire, at the great day.

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QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER SEVEN.

99. Where are the people of God next seen?

100. What is the fate of this beast?

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CHAPTER 8. The Sabbath

As we have seen that the third angel's message brings out a company who are distinguished as keepers of the commandments of God, the inquiry is a natural one in what respect obedience to the message would lead a person to differ with other religionists in his efforts to keep the commandments. The only essential controversy in regard to the commandments among those who hold them to be still binding has reference to that precept which enjoins the Sabbath. If in order to keep the commandments we must keep the seventh day of the week, and almost all professors of religion are keeping the first day of the week, here is a distinction as marked as the language of the third message would lead us to infer. Thus is our attention called directly to the Sabbath by the third angel's message, as well as by the subject of the sanctuary.

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QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER EIGHT

1. By what are believers in the third angel's message distinguished?

2. What inquiry does this suggest?

3. On what one of the commandments is there a difference of opinion?

4. To what is our attention thus called by the message?

5. To what did the first message bring us?

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And there is consistency in this; for as the first message brought us to the hour of God's Judgement, or the cleansing of the sanctuary, when the temple

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of God was opened in Heaven, the ark was seen, and the attention of the people was called to the law contained in the ark, the third message which follows the first, and is the representative of the truth during the period of the cleansing of the sanctuary, ought of consistency to bring out the same fact respecting the law; and we see that it does.

The evidence is now in order, to show that the seventh day is still the Sabbath of the Lord, and must be kept as such. The only command in all the Bible for the observance of the Sabbath is the fourth precept of the decalogue. But the nine other precepts are moral and hence immutable and eternal. Even those who contend for the abolition of the law, would not dare to advocate in any civilized community, that men were not under obligation to do or refrain from doing, just what those commandments say. Is the Sabbath like these others, immutable and perpetual? If not, why was it put in with these as one of them? and again, if not, what reasons can be given to show why and in what respect it is not like them?

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QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER EIGHT

6. What time is covered by the third message?

7. What truth should we therefore expect it to bring out?

8. What and where is the only commandment in all the Bible for the observance of the Sabbath?

9. What is the mature of the other nine precepts?

10. Is the Sabbath commandment like these?

11. In what respect is it more explicit than the others?

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The Sabbath commandment is the only one in which God has seen fit to set fourth the reason why it was given. It is therefore more explicit than the others. Respecting the others we may necessarily infer that they existed from the beginning of the world, but respecting the Sabbath we know that it

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dates from the beginning, from the record itself. The fourth commandment points back to the creation: "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." This day we are to remember and keep holy. It is a marvel that any one should consider this commandment indefinite, enjoining only a seventh part of time, or an institution independent of a day. The act of God in resting had reference to a day. The blessing and sanctification had reference to a day. It is a day that we are required to keep, and it is the particular day on which he rested. Let those who call it indefinite tell us how it could be more definite than it is.

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QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER EIGHT

12. Which way does the fourth commandment point?

13. Is there any such thing as a Sabbatic institution independent of a day?

14. To what did the act of resting, blessing, and sanctifying have reference?

15. How could the commandment be made more definite than it is?

16. Did God perform any part of his work on the seventh day?

17. How is this shown by the fourth commandment?

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Turning to the record to which the fourth commandment points us, Gen.2:2, we read that "on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made. 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." God performed no part of his work on the seventh day. The fourth commandment says that he made the heavens and the earth and all that in them is in six days, which would not be the case if he made any portion of them on the seventh day. Dr. Clarke says that the Septuagint, Syriac, and Samaritan versions read sixth day in Gen.2:2, instead of seventh

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QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER EIGHT

18. What is the meaning of the expression, "On the seventh day God ended his work?"

19. What was the first essential act toward a Sabbatic institution?

20. What was the second?

21. What completed the edifice?

22. What is the meaning of the word sanctify?

23. To what did this sanctification pertain?

24. For whose use was the Sabbath made?

25. What was this sanctification?

26. What can be said of the claim that no command existed before Sinai?

27. Who received that commandment?

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day. But such a criticism is unnecessary, and it is not best to plead for a different translation unless there is clear and urgent reason for so doing. The expression in verse 3, "in it he rested," means the same as in verse 2, "on it he ended his work." It means simply that on that day, and during that day, he ceased from his creative work. The entire day was devoted to rest; and this was the first essential act toward the Sabbatic institution. This made it the Lord's rest-day, but laid no obligation on men concerning it. He then blessed it. This did not pertain to the day that was past; for past time cannot be blessed; but it referred to the seventh day for time to come. Every seventh day from that time was a blessed day. This would indicate how it should be regarded; but the next act completed the work: He sanctified it. Sanctify means to set apart to a holy use. This could not pertain to the day that was past, but to the seventh day for time to come. It was not set apart for God's use; for he needs no such day; but Christ said it was made for man. This sanctification was therefore the giving of a command to Adam for its observance. The claim of Sabbath opponents that there is no command in the Bible for the observance of the Sabbath till Sinai, falls to the ground; for here is the record that such a commandment was given. And all the human race then received that BD>

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command through Adam and Eve their representatives. And this sanctification of necessity introduced the weekly cycle; for Adam must begin to reckon as soon as the commandment was given; and when the next seventh day was past he must begin his count again, and so on. The week owes its origin to these facts. It can be traced to no other.

The Sabbath was not a type; for all types look forward to a work of redemption, and of course could not be introduced till redemption was needed, and till some plan of redemption had been instituted. But the Sabbath was given to Adam before he sinned, before he needed any redemption, and before any system of redemption was devised. Had Adam never sinned, he never would have needed redemption, and no type would ever have been introduced. But he would still have had the Sabbath as recorded in Gen.2:2,3. The Sabbath, therefore, was not a type.

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QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER EIGHT

28. What did this sanctification introduce?

29. Why?

30. Was the Sabbath a type?

31. To what do all types look?

32. When could they be introduced?

33. On this ground how is it shown that the Sabbath was not a type?

34. What two kinds of laws are plainly brought to view in the bible?

35. What would have been man's duty if he had never fallen?

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The Sabbath not being a type, the commandment for the Sabbath is not a typical law. There are plainly two kinds of laws: one class binding on man before he fell, regulating his duty to God and fellow-men; the other class growing out of the changed condition of man after he had fallen and the plan of salvation had been introduced. If man had never fallen, it would have been his duty just the same to render supreme honor to God, and to deal justly with his fellow-men. But if he had

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never fallen, there never would have been any laws regulating ceremonies, sacrifices, offerings, baptism, the Lord's supper etc. These all grow out of man's necessities in consequence of his fall. The first may be called original or primary laws; and they are, in the very nature of things, immutable and eternal; the others are derived, secondary or typical laws, and are temporary and changeable. No one has any excuse for ignoring or denying a distinction so plain.

The transgression of Adam did not change or abolish any of these primary laws. We are under no less obligation to God and our fellow-men than if we were not sinners. To which of these classes of laws does the Sabbath belong? To the original and primary laws which we should have had even if man never had fallen. It is therefore an immutable and perpetual institution.

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QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER EIGHT

36. Would there then have been any laws of ceremonies and sacrifices?

37. What may the first of these laws be called?

38. What the second?

38. Did Adam's transgression change or abolish any of the primary laws?

40. To which of these classes does the Sabbath belong?

41. What does this prove?

42. Is the Sabbath the seventh day of the week as now reckoned?

43. How does the fourth commandment define the day of the week?

44. How does it further appear that it means the seventh day of the week?

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The Sabbath is the seventh day of the week as it is reckoned at the present time. The fourth commandment does not, to be sure, use the term week, and say the seventh day of the week; but its appeal to the record of the great facts of creation for its origin, where the week is defined and the seventh day of that week is the one set apart as the Sabbath, makes it just as explicit. To quibble over the absence of the word week in the commandment, as we have frequently known ministers to do who

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even professed to be candid, is the thinnest kind of sophistry, to use no harder term; for of what is it the seventh day? Not the seventh day of the month, or of the year; not a seventh day, nor every seventh day, allowing us to begin where we will to reckon; but the seventh day of some definite cycle of time. And inasmuch as we have in the Bible a division of time given us, consisting of just seven days, the shortest of all which consist of a number of days, to say that the seventh day of the commandment is not the seventh day of this division, or week, is to go in the clearest manner contrary to reason.

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QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER EIGHT

45. What question is next raised?

46. Was there any danger of losing the reckoning from Adam to Moses?

47. How did God then point out the day of the commandment?

48. How is it shown that the true day was preserved to the time of Christ?

49. Has there been any loss of time or derangement of weeks since?

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But it is asked if the reckoning of the week has not been lost; in other words, can we now tell which is the true seventh day from creation? Once admitting that the seventh day in regular succession is what is required, and there is no difficulty. It could easily be handed down from Adam to Abraham, and from Abraham to Moses. But if anything was out of the way then, God would have set them right when he gave them a written copy of his law. By three distinct miracles wrought every week for the space of forty years, God pointed out what day he meant in the commandment; and it was the seventh day of the Jewish week. From Moses to Christ there was certainly no derangement in the reckoning. They had the true seventh day at that point; and if there has been any mistake

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then, Christ, the son of God, would have known it and set them right. But instead of this he indorsed the day they then observed. From the days of Christ to the present time the methods of computing time have been too accurate, the custom too wide spread, and the agreement too perfect, to admit for a moment of the idea of any loss of time, or derangement of the week. Therefore the week as we now reckon it, is the same as at the creation, and the seventh day of our week is the true seventh day from creation down.

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QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER EIGHT

50. Explain the difference between Old Style and New?

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It is supposed by some that the change from Old Style to New must have changed the reckoning of the week. A few facts will show that this is a mistake. Old and New Styles are simply methods of reckoning time according to the Julian and Gregorian calendars. Old Style follows the Julian manner of reckoning months and days, or the calendar by Julius Caesar, in which every fourth year consists of 366 days, and the other years of 365 days. This is something more than 11 minutes too much in the year; and by the time of pope Gregory XIII. in 1582, it had so disarranged the months as to throw the vernal equinox 10 days from where it was at the council of Nice, A.D. 325. To bring it back, 10 days were taken out of October, 1582, and the 5th day of the month was reckoned as the 15th. Gregory then reformed the calendar so that such a derangement would not again occur, by having every year which is divisible by 4, unless divisible by 100 without being divisible by 400, consist of 366 days, and all other years of 365 days. This makes the calendar year coincide so nearly with the solar, that

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the lapse of centuries makes scarcely any appreciable difference. This is called the Gregorian calendar, and reckoning time by it is called New Style. This change was not adopted by Great Britain till 1751. Then so much time had been gained that to bring the matter right 11 days had to be dropped. Therefore in the following year, 1752, the 3rd of September was reckoned as the 14th; and New Style has since been followed there, and from there brought to America. It will be seen that this simply changed the day of the month, but not the day of the week. For instance, to-day, Sept. 14, 1882, is Thursday; if we should drop 7 days and call it Sept. 21, it would be Thursday still. Russia still reckons by Old Style, and her week corresponds with ours.

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QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER EIGHT

51. What is another attempt to destroy the force of Gen.2:2,3?

52. Where does Moses begin to reckon?

53. According to the position of our opponents, when was the creation performed?

54. How is time distinguished from eternity?

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Another attempt is made to nullify the force of the record of Gen.2:2,3. It is claimed that the seventh day which God blessed was the first day of Adam's existence, and hence the point where the reckoning should commence. If that was the point at which to commence, doubtless Moses, guided by the Spirit of inspiration, would have commenced there. But it so happens that he commenced the reckoning six days before, and has given it to us day by day down to that point. How is it that modern expositors have come to be so wise above what is written? We can answer: They couldn't oppose the Sabbath in any other way. To make this position of any force, the ground must be taken that Adam's first day was the first day of time. Then

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all that went before was eternity. God created the world and all things therein, not in the beginning, but in eternity. But time as distinguished from eternity is duration measured, eternity being unmeasured duration; and these days of creation are measured off to us, and hence belong to time and not to eternity. What blind presumption for men to set a point from which to reckon different from that which the Bible has given us!

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QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER EIGHT

55. On what day was Adam created?

56. What else was done on that day?

57. What shall be said then of the view that the seventh was Adam's first day?

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But the assumption of this objection is entirely false: the seventh day was not the first day of Adam's existence; nothing of the kind. When was Adam created? On the sixth day. All the animals were then brought to him and he named them; no small amount of work. Then he was put to sleep while Eve was created. After that a marriage ceremony took place. And then followed instruction to Adam and Eve in regard to their manner of life, means of support, extent of dominion, etc., before Moses declares that the evening and the morning were the sixth day. Surely here was enough to occupy the greater part of that day, yet so anxious are people to oppose the Sabbath that they will tell us that the next day was the first day of Adam's existence. What! Adam married before he had an existence! If any, still inclined to urge this ghost of an excuse, should plead that the seventh day of the record was Adam's first complete day, then we ask them why they do not celebrate American independence on July 5 instead of July 4, as July 5, 1776, was the first complete day of our independence. This objection cannot be made to

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stand, however men may try to bolster it up. It is the imbecile offspring of prejudice and folly.

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QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER EIGHT

58. What other objection is now urged?

59. Is there any intimation of such a change in the record?

60. What is the object of this view?

61. Did God rest on the seventh day or bless the day at Sinai?

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Again it is said that Moses, writing after God had spoken the ten commandments, stated in Gen.2:2,3 what was done on the seventh day, not at creation, but at Sinai. That is, Gen.2:2 states what took place on the first seventh day of time, but verse three without any change in the narrative, or any intimation that other than a consecutive order of events is introduced, narrates what took place 2500 years afterward. This view is fabricated by those who claim that the Sabbath originated at Sinai. It is very evident from what source it springs. The wish is father to the thought. To barely state a view which rests so utterly on assumption, and is so contrary to the whole tenor of the narrative, ought to be sufficient. There is not the slightest intimation that God blessed and for the first time set apart the day of the Sabbath at Sinai. The record in Genesis states in the same style of narrative that God rested on the seventh day, and that he blessed and sanctified it. God did not perform the act of resting, certainly, at Sinai; the resting was done at creation; then upon what ground or authority does any one throw in between the sentences of an unbroken narrative a period of 2500 years and place the resting at Sinai, when there is not an item of evidence to show that any resting there took place? It is evident that the resting took place at the creation, and the blessing and sanctification immediately thereafter; and if

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the day was not to be used till Sinai, we leave with our friends another question: Why was all this done so long beforehand?

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QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER EIGHT

62. It not to be kept till Sinai, why was the Sabbath blessed so long beforehand?

63. What objection is raised on the authority of geology?

64. How is it answered?

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There is another objection coming to be urged by a certain class very frequently and with a great deal of assurance; and that is, that the record of God's rest upon the seventh day has nothing to do in fixing a weekly Sabbath; for those days are not literal days, but immense periods of time, as is proved by geology. And they affect to look with great disdain upon any one who will not acknowledge so notable a scientific fact. It can readily be seen that this contradicts the Bible; and this many so-called geologists are doubtless very willing to do. But even some professed defenders of the word of God have been frightened by this bugbear of geology into an admission that these days are great periods, and then gone into a theological St. Vitus' dance to harmonize it with the record. Into a controversy with geology it is not our purpose here to enter further than to deny in toto what they call conclusions and we call guess-work, and challenge the proof. In their conclusions geologist assume that the results which modern research has discovered, have been produced in ages past by such agencies only as we see at work at the present time. And right here their theory breaks down; for that is what cannot be proved. The Master Mind in Nature's great laboratory may in remote ages have called into action potent agencies to produce in a short space certain results which by any process now going forward it would take

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ages to accomplish. To reason from that which is present and known to that which is past and unknown, is illogical. The premise being assumed, the conclusion is but an assumption also. And after all the ludicrous mistakes which geologists have made, attributing a pre-Adamic age to bricks found in the delta of the Nile, which subsequent investigations proved belonged to the age of the later Pharaohs, and dancing with delight over the immense antiquity of a strange piece of wood found in the delta of the Mississippi, which was found upon a little more careful scrutiny to be the gunwale of a Kentucky flat-boat, they ought to be a little modest in their assertions.

It will be enough for Bible believers to test this claim on the age of Adam, and dismiss it. Adam was created on the sixth day, the sixth long period, the geologists would say. He lived all that period through, his life covering probably the greater part of it. He then lived the seventh day, or entirely through the seventh long period. By this time he must have been many hundred thousand years old. The record then goes on with his history, introducing the birth of Cain, Abel, and Seth, and when he came to die, lo, he was all of nine hundred and thirty years old! Where now are the long periods during which he lived? Vanished into the moonshine from which they venture now and then to flaunt themselves.

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QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER EIGHT

65. How does the record of Gen.2 now stand?

66. Give a synopsis of the facts established.

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So far as the record in Gen.2:2,3 is concerned, the field is now cleared of every objection. All the raiders upon that citadel of truth are repulsed. The record stands in its native strength and simplicity. The six days of creation were such days as we now

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have, ruled by the sun, determined by a revolution of the earth upon its axis. The seventh of these was devoted by the Creator to rest. It was set apart to be thus used by man. A command was given to Adam, and through him to all his posterity to keep it. It was not a temporary nor a typical institution, but designed to last through all time, like other primary institutions. These facts are established; and we might rest the whole Sabbath question right here; for if these stand, as they surely do, and will, the Sabbath stands. It was all right in the beginning, gleaming like a coronet on the fair brow of a creation unsullied by sin; and if men had always kept it, the world would have presented a very different moral and religious aspect from what it does to-day; for men never could become idolaters so long as they remembered to worship the Creator of all things; and we should not, as we do to-day, behold the sad spectacle of seven hundred millions of idolators, whose dark abodes are the habitations of cruelty.

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QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER EIGHT

67. What effect would it have had upon the world if all men had always kept the Sabbath as God designed?

68. What position of the Sabbath opponent is next noticed? Reference.

69. What is the difficulty with his conclusion?

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But leaving the creation with its established facts and explicit record, we are willing to follow the Sabbath opponent to all his strongholds, and candidly weigh, and compare with Scripture, his strongest arguments. Taking us to Neh.9:13,14, he says that the Sabbath was not known nor given to the children of Israel before God spoke it from Sinai; for Nehemiah says: "Thou camest down also upon Mount Sinai, and spakest with them from heaven, and gavest them right judgments, and true

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QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER EIGHT

70. What does Exodus 16 show?

71. How long was this before the law was spoken on Sinai?

72. How do our opponents make a contradiction between Ex.16 and Neh.9?

73. What does the expression "made known," in Nehemiah mean?

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laws, good statutes and commandments; and madest known unto them thy holy Sabbath, and commandedst them precepts, statutes, and laws by the hand of Moses thy servant." The only trouble with the conclusion drawn from this passage is, that it is contradicted by other scriptures. Thus, Ex.16 gives an account of the Hebrews' having the Sabbath in the second month after their departure from Egypt. When God would prove his people to see whether they would walk in his law or no, he took the Sabbath as the one with which to test their obedience, reproving some who in their unbelief and rebellion went out to gather manna on the Sabbath by saying, "How long refuse ye to keep my commandments and my laws?" This is not the language that would be used with reference to laws new-made and then for the first time introduced. But this was thirty-three days before the law was spoken from Sinai. Therefore the Sabbath was not first made known to them from Sinai, as it is claimed from Neh.9:13,14. How then shall the statements of Nehemiah be harmonized with the record of Ex.16? Our opponents make a contradiction between these two chapters by giving a wrong meaning to the words "made known" in Neh.9:14. These words do not mean that the Sabbath was then for the first time brought to their knowledge, but only that it was more especially unfolded to them by the commandment's being spoken with the voice of God in their hearing, and a copy of it placed in their hands written with his own finger. BD>

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In Eze.20:5, God says that he made himself known unto them in the hand of Egypt, when he lifted up his hand unto them saying, "I am the Lord your God." This does not mean that they then for the first time received a knowledge of God: for they already knew and revered him. Ex.1:17. It simply means that he then gave a more intimate revelation of himself to them; and it only means the same in reference to the Sabbath in Neh.9:13,14.

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QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER EIGHT

74. How is it explained by Eze.20:5?

75. What is further urged to prove that the Sabbath originated at Sinai?

76. What text is quoted to prove this?

77. Is this the original commandment?

78. How long after God had spoken the commandment, was this rehearsal by Moses?

79. Does Moses refer back to the commandment?

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It is further urged in behalf of the idea that the Sabbath originated at Sinai, that God gave it to the Israelites to commemorate their deliverance from Egypt. Deut.5:15 is quoted to prove this: "And remember that thou wast a servant in the land of Egypt, and that the Lord thy God brought thee out thence through a mighty hand and by a stretched out arm; therefore the Lord thy God commanded thee to keep the Sabbath day." This is not the original Sabbath commandment, but a rehearsal by Moses of God's dealings with that people, as he was about to leave them. It was 40 years after the law had been given by the voice of God on Mount Sinai. Moses intimates as much by referring them back to the commandment. See verse 12: "Keep the Sabbath day to sanctify it, as the Lord thy God hath commanded thee." Why then is this rehearsal by Moses, forty years after the giving of the law, always quoted by our opponents instead of the original commandment as found in Ex.20:8-11?

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The answer is obvious: Because in that original commandment there is no mention of the coming out of Egypt, and hence that would not furnish anything which they could torture into proof that the Sabbath originated then, and was limited to that people. But we submit to every candid and honorable mind whether it is a fair method of reasoning thus to ignore the commandment as spoken by God, and then endeavor to draw the origin of the institution from a rehearsal by Moses, forty years afterward.

But we need not leave the question here. There are other duties which certainly did not originate then, and were not confined to that people, but in reference to which the same language is used, They were commanded not to pervert judgment, nor oppress the widow, nor do any unrighteousness, but to do all the commandments; and in reference to all these, as in reference to the Sabbath, it is said, I am the Lord which brought you out of the land, therefore I command you to do this thing. See Deut.24:18,22; Lev.19:35-37. Why do they not use this fact in reference to the other commandments as they do in reference to the Sabbath? The answer again is obvious: They do not want it for any except the Sabbath; hence they studiously shut their own eyes, or endeavor to shut the eyes of their readers, to all the others. But the argument will apply to all alike, and hence proves too much for them.

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QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER EIGHT

80. Why do our opponents appeal to Deut.5 instead of Ex.20 to show the origin to the commandment?

81. What other duties are enjoined for the same reason? References.

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Having shown that there is no proof in the text that the Sabbath was given to that people and confined to them, because they came out of Egypt,

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since if it proves this, it proves that all the commandments were given for the same reason, we have said all that is demanded of us in this argument. But to clear away all doubt it may be remarked that the reference to the deliverance from Egypt was simply an appeal to their gratitude. They had been in Egyptian bondage, where in all probability the severity of their servitude prevented their worshiping God in keeping his commandments and ordinances. But now they had been delivered from that hard state of bondage into perfect freedom. Should they not, therefore, by a ready compliance with his will, show their gratitude to Him who had delivered them? Therefore, in addition to all other obligations, as their great Benefactor he commanded them to keep the Sabbath, not to prevent judgment, nor oppress the widow, but to observe all his commandments. BD>

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QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER EIGHT.

82. Why was reference made to the deliverance of Israel from Egypt?

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CHAPTER 9. Bible View of the Sabbath

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QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER NINE.

1. What are we accused of going back to if we keep the Sabbath?

2. When was the Sabbath instituted?

3. Was a law then given for its observance?

4. What use did God make of it at the exode?

5. Where is it declared to be a sign?

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We are accused of going back to Moses and falling from grace, if we now keep the original Sabbath. It is therefore a matter of interest to mark how God formerly regarded that practice of Sabbath-keeping which some now claim that he considers so heinous in his sight. We have seen how the Sabbath was instituted in Eden before sin had entered our world, and how a law was given for its observance which had its place among the primary, immutable, and eternal laws. We have seen how at the exode God took the Sabbath precept as the one by which to test Israel's allegiance to himself. And now we mark, further, that he took the Sabbath to be permanently a sign between himself and them: "It is a sign between me and you throughout your generations; that ye may know that I am the Lord that doth sanctify you." Ex.31:13. It was the pre-eminent institution through which was to come his acknowledgment of them as his people, and through which they were to manifest their recognition of

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him as their God. This was to endure throughout their generations. When the natural branches were broken off, the Gentiles were grafted in, taking the place of the severed branches, and keeping the olive-tree perfect in all its proportions. Hence the generations of Israel are perpetuated in a spiritual seed, and the Sabbath is still a sign between God and them. A man who does not keep the Sabbath cannot show that he is a worshiper of the true God who made the heavens and the earth.

God further sets forth that his honor is involved in the keeping of his Sabbath. Is.58:13: "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 shalt honor him, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words; then shalt thou delight thyself in the Lord," etc. Thus the observance of the Sabbath is not merely for man's necessities and his physical good; it is to honor God. By keeping it we honor, by disregarding it we dishonor, the Maker of the heavens and the earth.

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QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER NINE.

6. What is meant by its being a sign?

7. How long was it to be a sign?

8. How are the generations of Israel still perpetuated?

9. What does Isaiah show concerning the Sabbath? Reference.

10. What promise did the Lord by Jeremiah attach to Sabbath-keeping?

11. What calamity did he threaten upon the Jews for its violation? Reference.

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The Lord further told the people through Jeremiah what he would do for them if they would keep the Sabbath, and what judgments he would bring upon them if they would not regard it: "It shall come to pass, if ye diligently hearken unto me saith the Lord to bring in no burden through the gates of this city on the Sabbath day, but hallow

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the Sabbath day to do no work therein; then shall there enter into the gates of this city kings and princes sitting upon the throne of David, riding in chariots and on horses, they and their princes, the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem; and this city shall remain forever. . . . But if ye will not hearken unto me to hallow the Sabbath day, and not to bear a burden, even entering in at the gates of Jerusalem on the Sabbath day; then will I kindle a fire in the gates thereof, and it shall devour the palaces of Jerusalem, and it shall not be quenched." Jer.17:24,25,27.

And when Jerusalem was overthrown by the Babylonians, the record states that it was to fulfill the word of the Lord by Jeremiah. 2Chron.36:17-21. Nehemiah recognizes the same fact in the restoration. He says: "There dwelt men of Tyre also therein, which brought fish and all manner of ware, and sold on the sabbath unto the children of Judah and in Jerusalem. Then I contended with the nobles of Judah, and said unto them, What evil thing is this that ye do and profane the Sabbath day? Did not your fathers thus, and did not God bring all this evil upon us, and upon this city? yet ye bring more wrath upon Israel by profaning the Sabbath." Neh.13:16-18.

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QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER NINE.

12. When Jerusalem was overthrown, what prediction did it fulfill?

13. What fact does Nehemiah recognize?

14. What is his testimony? Reference.

15. What does this testimony acknowledge?

16. How long was the Sabbath held in this high regard?

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Here is an explicit acknowledgment that Jerusalem had been destroyed because their fathers had profaned the Sabbath, and that they would bring more wrath upon themselves if they continued in its violation. This is the way the Sabbath stood, the

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light in which it was held, and the promises and threatenings connected with its observance or violation, from Moses to Christ. And now can we for a moment suppose that such an institution that originated in Eden, that was a test of Israel's loyalty to God, that was declared to be a sign between God and them, and that forever, that was declared to be God's peculiar property, holy to him and honorable, one in the keeping of which his honor was involved, and one which if it had always been kept by that people, Jerusalem would have stood to this day, the pride and joy of the nation, and the ornament of all the earth, - can we suppose that this institution so suddenly changed its position and nature at the coming of Christ that it became at once the symbol of apostasy from God, rejection of Christ, and trust in the flesh? or rather, that God so changed his nature that now he abhors that in which he once took such delight, and pronounces a curse upon that to which he once attached the greatest of blessings? The idea is preposterously absurd! What imperfect ideas of God and his plans, must they have who can entertain such a thought!

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QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER NINE.

17. What is the general view of it in the Old Testament?

18. If the Jews had always properly kept the Sabbath, what would have been the condition of Jerusalem to-day?

19. In supposing that we now fall from grace by keeping this institution, what absurdity is involved?

20. What position do the prophecies of the former dispensation assign to the Sabbath in this dispensation?

21. What place does the law occupy under the new covenant?

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In all the prophecies given in the former dispensation concerning the present one, and setting forth the position of the law and Sabbath under this new covenant, and the relation of Christ to these institutions, and the effect of his work upon them, the perpetuity of the law and the continuance of the

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Sabbath is in the strongest manner affirmed. Thus in the prophecy of the new covenant, Jer.31:31-34, God promises to write his law in the hearts and minds of his people. Instead of being abolished, it would thus be enshrined in their inmost affections.

Again, in the prophecy concerning Christ, it is said that he should "magnify the law and make it honorable." Is.42:21. This could not be said of any law which he had to take out of the way by nailing it to his cross. And when Christ came into the world, his motives and purpose of action were set forth in the following language: "I delight to do thy will, O my God; yea thy law is within my heart." Ps.40:8; Heb.10:6,7.

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QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER NINE.

22. What does Isaiah say that Christ would do to the law? Reference.

23. Could this be said of the ceremonial law, and why not?

24. What is the language of Christ respecting the law when he came into the world?

25. Is there any prophecy of the change of the law?

26. What power was to change it?

27. What does the prophet say of the yearly sabbaths of the Jews? Reference.

28. In Christ's first recorded sermon, how does he speak of the law?

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There is one prophecy of a change of the law; but the power that was to change it, or rather think to change it (for that was all he would be able to do) was not Christ, but the little horn of the fourth beast of Dan.7, the blasphemous papal power which was to speak great words against the Most High, wear out the saints of the Most High, and think to change times and laws. The secular history of the Sabbath will show how this has been attempted, and that this prophecy can have been fulfilled in nothing but the change of the Sabbath. The feast days, new moons, and ceremonial sabbaths which as shadows were to cease at the cross, God declared that he would take away. Hos.2:11.

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QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER NINE.

29. What does this text affirm?

30. Why cannot this refer to the ceremonial law?

31. What scriptures speak of the taking away of the ceremonial law?

32. How does Matt.5:20 show what law our Lord refers to?

33. How does this show that the Sabbath is of perpetual obligation?

34. What may be said of the whole and its parts?

35. What admonition does Christ give to his disciples?

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Thus we are brought to the time of Christ; and in his first recorded sermon he speaks thus definitely in regard to the law: "Think not that I am come to destroy the law or the prophets; I am not come to destroy but to fulfill. For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled." Matt.5:17,18. Here is some law the perpetuity of which is affirmed in the strongest terms till the end of time; till all things spoken by the prophets are fulfilled. This certainly is not the law of ordinances and ceremonies, which he took out of the way, nailing it to his cross within less than three years and a half of the time when these words were spoken. Eph.2:15; Col.2:14. The law of which Christ speaks and declares that not a jot or tittle shall pass from it to the end of all things, is that law which determines the degree of our righteousness. Matt.5:20. But man was to be righteous from the beginning, and all laws regulating that were primary laws applicable to him before the fall. The Sabbath law, as we have seen, was one of this kind. The perpetuity of the Sabbath, therefore, throughout this dispensation is most expressly affirmed in this passage. For whatever is affirmed of a code of laws as a whole, is equally affirmed of every precept composing that code. Hence the solemn admonition which Christ utters,

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not to the Jews as such, but to his disciples, that whosoever should break one of these least commandments, and teach men so, he should be called least in the kingdom of Heaven, and the blessed promise to all who should both do and teach them, to be called great in the kingdom of Heaven.

In his ministry, our Lord seems to take especial pains to rescue the Sabbath from the burden of Jewish traditions. He declared that it was made for man, for his good, for Christians as well as Jews. It was not among those laws and requirements which were against us, and contrary to us, and which therefore were taken out of the way. He recognized the Sabbath law by repeatedly declaring that what he did, though contrary to the traditions of the Jews, was lawful to be done on that day. By all his teachings in reference to the law, and in all his life here upon the earth, declaring its holiness and perpetuity, and rendering perfect obedience to it, he magnified it and made it honorable, as the prophet declared he would do. By his death upon the cross he infinitely magnified and made it honorable. There he demonstrated its immutability and perpetuity by showing that nothing less than the death of God's divine Son interposed could release men from its inexorable claims.

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QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER NINE.

36. How did Christ treat the Sabbath in his ministry?

37. What did he recognize by showing what was lawful on the Sabbath?

38.How did he magnify and make honorable the law?

39. What was shown by his death respecting the law?

40. After Christ's death what did Paul say of the law? Reference.

41. What text shows the custom of the apostles respecting the Sabbath?

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The apostles took up the subject, and we hear Paul declaring that the law, the law of which the Sabbath is a part, is not made void by faith in

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Christ, but is established, confirmed, by such faith, Rom. 3:31. This cannot by any possibility refer to the typical law; for the moment we have faith in Christ, we set that law aside as an inevitable consequence. They frequently bring the Sabbath to view, showing that they were accustomed to worship on it, Acts 17:2; that they knew of no other Sabbath but the seventh day then in existence, Acts 15:21; and that that was the regular day upon which they preached not to the Jews merely but also to the Gentiles. Acts 13:42,44. The Sabbath is mentioned in the New Testament, fifty-nine times, always in a way to show its still binding obligation.

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QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER NINE.

42. What passage shows that they knew no other Sabbath but the seventh day?

43. What reference show that they took that day to preach to the Gentiles as well as to the Jews?

44. How many times is the Sabbath mentioned in the New Testament

45. What prophet, and where, points out a great Sabbath reform before the Lord comes?

46. What is meant by the Lord's salvation being near to come?

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Finally, prophecies were given of a great Sabbath reform to take place just before the coming of Christ. Is:56:1,2: "Thus saith the Lord, Keep ye 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 layeth hold on it; that keepeth the Sabbath from polluting it, and keepeth his hand from doing any evil." The Lord's salvation is near when the coming of Christ is near; for it is then brought to us. Heb.9:28; 1Pet.1:5. And at that time a blessing is pronounced upon those who lay hold on the Sabbath. The third angel's message, Rev.14, brings out a company distinguished as

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commandment-keepers, by their observance of the Sabbath, just before the coming of Christ. The remnant, or last generation, of the church are distinguished in the same way. Rev.12:17. And when in the closing testimony of the book, the Lord declares that he is coming quickly, he pauses to pronounce a blessing upon those who at that time are found keeping the commandments of God, and to promise them an abundant entrance into the city and free access to the tree of life. And even there the Sabbath attends them as a day of joy and worship; for about 800 years before this, the Lord, by the pen of Isaiah, had put this promise on record: "For as the new heavens and the new earth, which I will make shall remain before me, saith the Lord, so shall your seed and your name remain. And it shall come to pass that from one new moon to another, and from one Sabbath to another, shall all flesh come to worship before me saith the Lord." Is.66:22,23.

Thus the Sabbath comes to view in Paradise restored, as it stood at first in Paradise lost; and in all the world's dark history between these two bright periods, it has been the golden clasp to bind earth to Heaven, and man to his Creator.

The Sabbath and the first day of the week in the New Testament will be the subject of a separate chapter.

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QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER NINE.

47. what passages in the New Testament point out the same reform?

48. what distinguishes the last generation of Christians?

49. What promise is given to the commandment-keepers who are waiting for the coming of Christ?

50. What is said of the Sabbath in the new earth?

51. What is its office between paradise lost and paradise restored?

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CHAPTER 10. The Sabbath Theory of Akers, Jennings, Mede, and Fuller

A theory of the Sabbath, not newly invented, but an old theory newly modified, and now generally known as Akers' Theory, has come to be received quite largely with a certain denomination, and is therefore here presented in a separate lesson. This theory, briefly stated, is, that the day now known as the first day of the week, and kept as the Sabbath, is the day which God originally blessed and gave to Adam as the Sabbath; so that in keeping the first day of the week, we are keeping the original seventh day according to the commandment. This would be a splendid way out of the Sabbath difficulty if it could be sustained; and multitudes have been made to hope that Mr. A. would confirm them in their practice of Sunday sabbatizing, which they are so unwilling to abandon.

We find objections to this position in two directions: first, in the fact that in many particulars it contradicts the positive testimony of the Scriptures, and secondly, in the self-contradictions and absurdities involved in the theory itself.

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QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER TEN.

1. What is the theory generally known as Akers' Theory?

2. In what respect are there objections to this theory?

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It is certain that if we now are keeping the original seventh day by keeping Sunday, the Jews did not keep that original seventh day; for they did not keep the Sunday, but the day before. It follows, therefore, from this position, that there have been, to the present time, two changes of the Sabbath; first, from the Adamic to the Mosaic or Jewish Sabbath; secondly, from the Jewish to the present, or Christian Sabbath. We have supposed that the necessity of proving one change was a sufficient burden for the first-day Sabbath. That is a bold, and we shall find it a reckless and presumptuous one, which advocates two. To see how they do this, we will look at the position which each one of these men has taken.

First in point of time come Mr. Joseph Mede, who early in the seventeenth century announced to the world a wonderful discovery, namely, that the Hebrew people did not have the original Sabbath which had been binding from creation to Moses, but that Saturday was given them in place of the original Sabbath, because on this day God overthrew Pharaoh in the Red Sea. Mr. M. was very sure the Sabbath was thus changed at this time, but what day it was changed from he could not tell. See Jennings' Jewish Antiquities, pp. 329,330.

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QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER TEN.

3. According to this theory, how many changes of the Sabbath have there been?

4. Who first in point of time suggested this theory?

5. What was Mede's theory?

6. How long after Mede did Jennings appear?

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This theory is too indefinite to be more than simply stated. But the seed had been dropped which was after two hundred years to spring up and bear baleful fruit, If it could only be shown that the Jews had a changed Sabbath and we have the original, that would suit much better than the

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idea that they had the original Sabbath, and we have the one that is changed. So a hundred years from the days of Mr. Mede, Dr. Jennings arises and responds, virtually, "That is a splendid idea of yours, Bro. Mede, that the Sabbath was changed for the Jews at the commencement of their dispensation, but you are altogether wrong in the time when it occurred, and you are wrong in the reference to the place where it occurred and you are wrong in the arguments you adduce to sustain it; but your idea is nevertheless all right and true! However, the overthrow of Pharaoh had nothing to do with this change; it did not take place at the crossing of the Red Sea, but at a later point, when the manna was given."

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QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER TEN.

7. According to Jennings, how far was Mede wrong?

8. Where does Dr. J's theory place the institution of the Sabbath?

9. What change was made at the exodus?

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Dr. Jennings' theory recognizes the institution of the Sabbath at the close of the work of creation, and binding from that time to Moses. But there he contends for a change; and to be a little more definite than Mr. Mede, he proposes to tell what day the Sabbath was changed from when a new one was given to the Hebrews. So he undertakes to "make it appear to be probable" that "the Jewish Sabbath was appointed to be kept the day before the patriarchal Sabbath." Antiquities, p. 320. That is to say, the Sabbath was set back one day for the Jews to Saturday, and the Sabbath in regular succession of seventh days from the creation would come the day following, on Sunday. His principal argument for this position is the following: The manna fell for six days, and was withheld on the seventh, this seventh day was Saturday, and was ever after to be

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observed as the Sabbath by the Hebrews. As the manna had fallen six days before this Saturday on which it was withheld, it begun to fall on Sunday; and the day before it began to fall, or Saturday, was spent by the Israelites journeying from Elim to Sin.

This argument stands on three legs, every one of which breaks down when we bring the pressure of examination upon it. For, first, it cannot be proved that the journey from Elim to Sin was on Saturday; and even Dr. Akers, who labors strenuously to reach the same point Dr. Jennings is trying to prove, denies that this journey was on Saturday, declaring that it took place on Monday. Secondly, it cannot be proved that one or more days did not elapse after Israel arrived at Sin, before the manna began to fall. Thirdly, it cannot be proved that the manna fell six days before the Sabbath spoken of in connection therewith in Ex.16; as the sixth day there mentioned is the sixth day of the week, and has no reference to the number of days upon which the manna had fallen. These assumptions constituting the warp and woof of his position, when they are taken away nothing is left.

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QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER TEN.

10. What is his argument from the manna?

11. In what respects does this argument fail?

12. In what absurdities does this theory end?

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With a glance at the monstrous absurdities, into which this theory explodes like a rocket, and disappears, we leave it: 1. We have the original Sabbath abolished for them five days before the new Sabbath was instituted; 2. We have a period of twelve days without any Sabbath at all; and 3. We have the providence of God in the giving of the manna requiring

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QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER TEN.

13. How long a period does he give us without a Sabbath?

14. Who came to rescue of this theory next after Jennings?

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them to violate the Sabbath, when it was to prove their willingness to keep the Sabbath, that the manna was given. Thus, according to Dr. J., the 15th of Abib, on which they journeyed form Elim to Sin, was Saturday. The next day, Sunday the 16th, which had been the Sabbath from Eden down to that point, the manna began to fall, and they had to go out and gather it, which showed they were no longer to regard that day as the Sabbath. The manna fell six days to the 22nd of Abib, when the people rested. And this was the first rest they had since Sunday, the 9th of Abib, thirteen days before. For the Saturday before, the 15th, had not then been instituted as the Sabbath; if it had been, says Dr. J., they would not have journeyed from Elim to Sin; and the Sunday before, the 16th, had ceased to be the Sabbath for that people, if it had not, the manna would not have begun to fall then, causing the people to go out and engage in their secular labor by gathering it. We have, consequently, a period of twelve full days from the 9th to the 22nd of Abib without any Sabbath; we have the original Sabbath abolished on the 16th of Abib, five days before the new was instituted on the 22nd; we have God saying, I will rain bread from heaven to prove you whether you will walk in my law or no; and lo! the very day that bread begins to fall, it happens to be the original Sabbath, and they are obliged to violate it by going out to gather their food. Thus in following the providence of God in the giving of the manna, they are obliged to break the law of God in disregarding his Sabbath. And what is remarkable, the people express no surprise that they

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are obliged, without any previous instruction, to violate the original Sabbath, and ready as they were to complain and rebel at the slightest grievances, they close up one week's labor with the march from Elim to Sin, and immediately enter upon a second week of labor in gathering the manna, without a murmur.

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QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER TEN.

15. How long?

16. In what year was Akers' work published?

17. In what respect according to Akers, is Jennings' theory wrong?

18. What is Akers' method of argument?

19. What change does Akers' make at the exode?

20. What change does this make necessary at the cross?

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Something more than another hundred years elapse, and there appears that prodigy among chronologists, Dr. Akers. In 1855 he gave to the world the result of his lucubrations. He seizes upon the idea that the Sabbath was changed for the Hebrew in the days of Moses as one too good to be lost, but one which unfortunately had not down to his day been sustained by any adequate proof. But he will remedy this matter, and will retain the kernel of this nut for Sabbatarians, though he does not consider that the efforts of Mede or Jennings, in their attempts to sustain this idea, amount to respectable shucks. He therefore places the change at a different point of time from either of the others, namely, not at the fall of manna, nor at the passage of the Red Sea, but on the 15th of Abib, when the children of Israel started on their exodus from Egypt. And how does she attempt to show that this was Saturday the sixth day of the original week, and should be kept by that people as the Sabbath instead of the day following, which was the Edenic Sabbath, and which had been kept down to that time? He takes his stand at the crucifixion of Christ, which he

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QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER TEN.

21. Will his week change back there?

22. What shows this?

23. With what is Dr. A's count thus brought into direct conflict?

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places on the 28th of March, A.D. 28, in the year of the world 5573. From this he reckons back to the rest-day of the Lord at the close of creation week, and finds just 298,767 weeks, from which he claims that the seventh day of Gen.2, is the first day of Matt.28:1; and that the creation was begun on Monday, Sept 15. From this point he then reckons down to the day Israel left Egypt, and finds the 15th of Abib to be the sixth day of the week. Here he has to rearrange matters generally; and under cover of the institution of the sacred year at this point, slips in a new week, jogging the reckoning back one day, making the last day of the previous week the first day of the new, and the sixth day of the old week the seventh day of the new. And this day that people were to regard as the Sabbath. Having thus readjusted his machine, it runs fist-rate down to the resurrection of Christ, but there it comes to a dead stop, being entirely out of joint with the arrangement that follows. Here that peculiarly Jewish arrangement of Sabbath and weeks should disappear, and the patriarchal arrangement revive. The Sabbath should go back to its original day, Sunday, and the week should resume its old order, which would make Sunday its seventh day. He has no hesitancy in claiming that the Sabbath went back to Sunday; but lo, the week refuses to change; for the Sunday following the Jewish seventh day, four of the inspired writers call plainly the first day of the week. But what does it matter if the inspired writers have inadvertently called this the first day, has not Dr. A. proved by actual count from creation that it is the true BD>

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seventh day, and is that count to be set aside by the simple fact that the evangelists happen to use the word in this manner!!

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QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER TEN.

24. Upon what authority does his computation rest?

25. What is the Septuagint translation and when was it made?

26. How does this differ in chronology from the Hebrew?

27. What does Dr. A. himself confess in regard to the Septuagint?

28. Where does this chronology place the death of Methuselah?

29. How does Dr. A. get over this difficulty?

30. What does he have to do further to make his theory stand?

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On what authority then does Dr. A's count rest? He adopts the chronology of the Septuagint, a Greek translation of the Old testament reputed to have been made at Alexandria in Egypt, about 280 years before Christ, though this is disputed by some. This chronology give us, between the creation and the exodus, 1386 years more than the Hebrew Scriptures, and down to the Christian era, 1426 years more. Dr. A. therefore by adopting the Septuagint, sets aside the Hebrew as entirely unreliable. But is the Septuagint of such undoubted authority in this particular? Dr. A. himself confesses that it sometimes needs correcting. For instance it makes Methuselah survive the flood some fourteen years; and he corrects this strange error only by following those copies of the Septuagint which in this particular case conform to the numbers given in the Hebrew. Thus the doctor shows himself adequate to the task of meeting every difficulty, first by adopting the Septuagint, and rejecting the Hebrew as wholly unreliable, then falling back upon the Hebrew to correct some of the glaring and notorious errors of the Septuagint, and lastly by correcting the Septuagint in other particulars by such authorities as he may judge to be reliable. But what is a

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chronology good for, the value of which depends upon its accuracy even to a day, that rests upon such palpable uncertainties? A more unreasonable claim could scarcely be put forth than this which pretends to give the exact number of days from creation to the present time. Dr. E. O. Haven, formerly president of the University of Michigan, and likewise a Methodist clergyman, whose name overtops that of Dr. A. as the cedar of Lebanon towers above the bramble, pronounces such an effort at chronology a complete failure.

Again, Dr. A. places the creation on Sept. 15, but the Rabbins on Oct. 7, yet he takes up their reckoning to show that Sunday was the original seventh day. But if this date is right, theirs is wrong, and vice versa. But besides this difference of 22 days, the two systems of chronology differ 1785 years to the exodus, yet the doctor has so wonderful a system of chronology that he can prove himself right by either. Whether the world was created Sept. 15 or Oct. 7, some 1785 years later, it is all the same to him. He can show in either case that Sunday is the true seventh day anyway. What further proof is needed that this method of reasoning is altogether sophistical and deceptive?

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QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER TEN.

31. What may and must be said of that claim which professes to give the exact number of days in the age of the world?

32. What is Dr. Haven's testimony?

33. Where does Dr. A. place the creation?

34. Where do the Rabbins place it?

35. How does their chronology differ from Dr. A.'s?

36. Yet what does Dr. A. prove by their chronology?

37. What is the first point we must believe according to Dr. A.'s theory?

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But how does Dr. A. help the matter? Let us see what he asks us to believe: 1. That the first day of time was Monday. 2. That God gave up his own rest-day to be desecrated by his chosen people during

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the whole period of their separate existence, giving them in its stead only a ceremonial Sabbath which they were to sacredly observe. 3. That God gave them a new week made up of the seventh day of one of his weeks, and the first six days of the following. 4. That here was a genuine week, with only six days in it. 5. That when that arrangement ceased, the week refused to go back, and God's seventh day is now our first day. 6. That the sixth day, with which the new week given to Israel closed, was made into a new Sabbath. 7. That this sixth day was then made into the seventh. And. 8. That at Christ's resurrection two Sabbaths came together.

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QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER TEN.

38. What the second?

39. What the third?

40. The fourth?

41. The fifth?

42. The sixth?

43. The seventh?

44. The eighth?

45. Who has since tried to patch up this theory?

46. Where is Akers' failure according to Fuller?

47. What is Fuller's theory?

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It is not to be greatly wondered at that such a tissue of confusion should not be suffered long to remain without some one making an effort to tinker it into greater consistency. So some ten years after the publication of Dr. Akers' book, the Rev. E. Q. Fuller tried his hand at this very desirable, but yet unaccomplished job. He likes the main idea which they are trying to establish. He likes Akers' reckoning of time even to days, and he thinks Akers has fixed the time and place all right, but does not rightly state the change. He will have it that the Sabbath was changed at the exode, not from the seventh day to the sixth, as Dr. A. asserts, but from the first day to the seventh. And this he brings about in this way. The first six days of creation belong to eternity, not time. The seventh day was

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Adam's first day, and there time began, and the week began with its first day as a Sabbath. At the exode the Sabbath was set back from this first day of the week to the seventh; but the week was not changed as Dr. A. asserts. This went on to the resurrection of Christ when this seventh day Sabbath was abolished, leaving the first day Sabbath in all its glory. Thus Fuller gives us a week at the exode with two Sabbaths in it, and one at the resurrection of Christ with no Sabbath in it. It will be seen at once how he contradicts Akers in some of his most essential particulars. But what is most remarkable, he depends on Akers' count of the days; yet he begins with the seventh day, six days later than Dr. A. and proceeding on the same count, comes out exactly the same! Where is all this putty and India-rubber? In these men's hearts, or in their heads?

We have said but little by way of comparing the theories of these men with the Bible; nor is it necessary to speak particularly on that point. Read the record of Gen.2, and the fourth commandment. If the Sabbath given in that commandment is not the very day upon which God rested and which he blessed in the beginning, it is a deception. For an exhaustive examination of the theories of these men and an exposure of the wicked course of the later writers on this subject, the reader is referred to the pamphlet entitled, "Sunday Seventh-day Examined. A Refutation of the teachings of Mede, Jennings, Akers, and Fuller, by Eld. J. N. Andrews."

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QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER TEN.

48. What kind of a week does Fuller give us at the exode?

49. What kind at the crucifixion?

50. What is remarkable about his use of Dr. A.'s count of the days?

51. What day is enjoined as the Sabbath in the commandment?

52. Where and by whom are these theories fully exposed?

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CHAPTER 11. Sabbath and Sunday - Secular History

Thousands upon thousands suppose that history shows a unanimous and uninterrupted observance of Sunday on the part of Christians from the days of Christ, and that just as unanimously and continually, the seventh day which had been the Sabbath to that time, was disregarded by them. Many innocently hold this view in ignorance; others assert it who know better than to believe it.

The popular Sunday view is well expressed in these words of Mosheim: "All Christians were unanimous in setting apart the first day of the week, on which the triumphant Saviour arose from the dead, for the solemn celebration of public worship. This pious custom which was derived from the church of Jerusalem, was founded upon the express appointment of the apostles, who consecrated that day to the same sacred purposes, and was observed universally throughout the Christian churches, as appears from the the united testimonies of the most credible writers."

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QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER ELEVEN.

1. What historian states the Sunday view?

2. What is his language?

3. What historian make a counter statement?

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This reads very much to the mind of the Sunday-keeper; but lo! in the following century another

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historian, equally worthy of credit, arises and says: "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." Neander's Church History, as translated by H. J. Rose, p. 186.

Mosheim was a writer of the 18th, Neander of the 19th, century. From what source did they obtain the information they give us respecting Sunday? No one lived from apostolic times to their day to tell them how it was and had been. They were dependent on the records which have come down from that time. We have the same, and can thus test the truthfulness of their assertions. Mosheim, indeed, declares that it was founded upon the express appointment of the apostles. Where is that appointment? It is not in the New Testament. Mosheim's assertion avails nothing, therefore, for Protestants; for it can be used only by departing from the Protestant ground of "the Bible and the Bible alone," and adopting the Romanist position, "the Bible and tradition."

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QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER ELEVEN.

4. What is his language?

5. When did these historians respectively flourish?

6. Where are they therefore obliged to go for their authority?

7. What rule would Mosheim's statement compels us to adopt?

8. What proposition is the sum of the whole Sunday question?

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The whole question sums itself up in this one proposition: that Sunday was called the Lord's day in the days of John, and from that time onward:

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and that such a title showed that it was the Sabbath of this dispensation. This proposition we deny, and shall now examine.

John in Rev.1:10 does not mean the first day of the week by the term Lord's day; for he twice afterward speaks of that day, but calls it simply first day of the week. John 20:1,19. John's gospel was written in A.D. 98, two years after the book of Revelation. He must mean by that term that day which the Lord has claimed as his, which is the seventh day of the week. Ex.20:10, Is.58:13, and in the New Testament, we have testimony to show that the day which Christ is Lord of is the Sabbath, the seventh day. "The Son of man is Lord even of the Sabbath day," the seventh day. Matt.12:8; Mark 2:27.

We notice all the writers who are claimed to have applied the title of Lord's day to Sunday, down to the close of the second century.

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QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER ELEVEN.

9. What does John mean by the term "Lord's day" in Rev.1:10? References.

10. What Father is first quoted as calling Sunday the Lord's day?

11. In what epistle?

12. What is the nature of that epistle?

13. Does that forged epistle say anything about the Lord's day?

14. Does the term, Lord's day, occur in the entire writings of Ignatius?

15. What writer is referred to as the second authority?

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First. Ignatius is quoted, in his epistle to the Magnesians. But the reader will find history sustaining the following facts in regard to this matter: 1. No epistle was written by Ignatius, the disciple of John, to the Magnesians. That epistle is a forgery. 2. Even that forgery does not say anything about the Lord's day. That has been added by the additional fraud of some subsequent writer. 3. The term, Lord's day, does not occur in the entire writings of this Father, either in the spurious, or those which are supposed to be genuine.

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Secondly. Pliny, A.D. 104, is quoted a saying that this question was put to the martyrs" "Have you kept the Lord's day?" and the answer was, "I am a Christian, I cannot omit it." What splendid testimony this would be, if it were only true. And how many have been confirmed in their false practice by this quotation. The testimony professes to come from a work entitled Acta Martyrum, or The Acts of the Martyrs. But the testimony of Mosheim on this work, is that it is of no authority whatever; and even if it was, it contains no such expression as is here ascribed to it. Gilfillan, unwilling to lose the testimony, refers for authority to Baronius. But what Baronius speaks of, is the martyrdom of Saturninus and his four sons, in Northern Africa; but this was in A.D. 303, not in the time of Pliny, two hundred years before; and the question put was not "Have you kept the Lord's day?" but "Have you celebrated the Lord's supper?" Thus vanishes another famous falsehood put forth in behalf of Sunday.

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QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER ELEVEN.

16. What is the claim urged from Pliny's writing?

17. From what work does this claim to be taken?

18. What is the nature of the Acta Martyrum?

19. Does any such expression occur in that work?

20. What authority does Gilfillan refer to?

21. When did the event referred to by Baronius take place?

22. What was the question then put to the martyrs?

23. Who next is quoted?

24. Does Justin Martyr ever give the title of Lord's day, or any other title, to Sunday?

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Thirdly. Justin Martyr, A.D. 140, is quoted as calling Sunday the Lord's day. But Justin gives no such title to Sunday, nor any other title whatever. He simply says. "On the day called Sunday, all who live in cities or in the country, gather together to one place, and the memoirs of the apostles, or the writings of the prophets are read as long as

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time permits," etc. Justin Martyr's First Apology, chap. LXVII. But some one, wishing his testimony, has deliberately put in "the Lord's day," instead of Sunday, and added, "because that is the day of our Lord's resurrection." Thus Justin is made to testify in behalf of Sunday as the Lord's day only by fraud. (See Complete Testimony of Fathers.)

Fourthly. Theophilus, A.D. 162, is introduced as a witness in behalf of Sunday. Justin Edwards' Sabbath Manual, p. 114, presents this case as follows:-

"Theophilus, bishop of Antioch, about A.D. 162, says: 'Both custom and reason challenge from us that we should honor the Lord's day, seeing on that day it was that our Lord Jesus completed his resurrection from the dead.' "

We have presented the quotation in full because we have the curious fact that nothing of the kind whatever can be found in the writings of Theophilus. He does not once use the term, Lord's day; he does not even speak of the first day of the week. It is astonishing beyond expression that testimony can be thus manufactured from nothing and be deliberately ascribed to these early Fathers.

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QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER ELEVEN.

25. Who is the fourth writer quoted?

26. What is the quotation given from him?

27. Is anything of this kind to be found in the writings of Theophilus?

28. Who is the fifth Father quoted?

29. What term does Dionysius use?

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Fifthly. Dionysius of Corinth, A.D. 170, is quoted. Dionysius does use the term, Lord's day, or rather, "the Lord's holy day," but he makes no application of it to any day of the week. He says nothing to show what day of the week he means. Having found the first four witnesses for Sunday inexcusable frauds, it cannot be claimed that this

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was the familiar name for Sunday and did not need to be defined. And no writer, for a long time after Dionysius, applies such a title as "Lord's holy day" to Sunday. But this was the title of the Sabbath of the Lord; and at this very time, in Greece, the country of Dionysius, the Sabbath was extensively observed as an act of obedience to the fourth commandment. All the probabilities in his testimony, therefore, point to the Sabbath instead of Sunday.

Sixthly. Melito of Sardis, A.D. 177, is brought forward as the sixth witness. His testimony is made to do service on this wise: He wrote several books of which only the titles have been preserved to us. One of these, as given in the English version of Eusebius, is "On the Lord's Day." This of course is claimed to be a treatise on Sunday, though it cannot be shown that any writer down to this point calls Sunday by that name. But the most remarkable thing about it is that the essential word "day" is not found in the original. So it was simply a discourse about something pertaining to the Lord; and it may have been, and doubtless was, a treatise on the life of Christ, as Eusebius uses the expression "Lord's life," kuriakeen zoeen, in connection.

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QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER ELEVEN.

30. Does he tell what day of the week he means?

31. From what country was Dionysius?

32. How was the Sabbath regarded in that country at that time?

33. Who is the sixth writer quoted?

34. What is the testimony drawn from him?

35. Does the word day occur in the title of his last book?

36. What was his treatise then probably concerning?

37. Who is the seventh witness?

38. What is the objection to this testimony from Irenaeus?

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Seventhly. Irenaeus is quoted by Justin Edwards as follows: "On the Lord's day every one of us Christians keeps the Sabbath, meditating on the

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law, and rejoicing in the works of God." The great reason why this is not good testimony for Sunday is that not a word of the kind can be found in Irenaeus. The term "Lord's day" is not to be found in any of his writings, nor in any fragments of his writings preserved in other authors.

These are the seven witness through whom the Romish church, copied by Protestants, trace their Lord's day back to, and identify it with, the Lord's day of the Bible. But the first, second, third, fourth, and seventh of these are inexcusable frauds; the fifth speaks of the Lord's day, but does not tell us what day it is, and the sixth writes something about the Lord, but tells us nothing about the day.

A little later, Clement of Alexandria, A.D. 194, uses the title with reference to the eighth day; but in his explanation he makes this to signify, not the first day of the week, but Heaven itself.

The next writer who uses the term is Tertullian, A.D. 200; and he applies it definitely to the day of Christ's resurrection. This, says Kitto, is the first authentic application of this kind; and this was 104 years after John wrote the book of Revelation, and 169 years after the resurrection of Christ. This sustains the statement of Neander, that perhaps at the end of the second century men had begun to make a false application of the laws of the Sabbath to Sunday: "for men appear," he says, "by that time to have considered laboring on Sunday a sin."

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QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER ELEVEN.

39. How and when does Clement of Alexandria use the term?

40. Where and when do we find the first authentic application of Lord's day to the first day of the week?

41. How long was this after the resurrection of Christ? and how long after John wrote the Revelation?

42. How and when does Origen use the term?

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Origen, A.D. 231, is the third writer who calls the "eight day" the Lord's day. But he uses it in two

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senses: 1. For a natural day, in which sense it ranks with the Preparation day, the Passover, and the Pentecost; and 2. For a mystical day, as did Clement, in which sense it stands for the whole Christian life.

We have thus traced the Lord's day as far as it is needful. This Lord's day as it now exists, first appears in the early apostasy of the church; but between that and the days of the apostles there is a fatal break, which men have endeavored to bridge over by a series of fearful frauds. An honest mind will desert any institution which is obliged to depend on such support.

Two more quotations only remain to be noticed before we come to the time of Constantine, A.D. 321. The first is the so-called epistle of Barnabas, which says, "We observe the eighth day with gladness, in which Jesus arose from the dead." This was not an epistle from Barnabas, the companion of Paul. Mosheim, Neander, Stuart, Dr. Killen, Prof. Hackett, Milner, Kitto, Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge, Eusebius, Domville, and Coleman, all unite in declaring it a forgery, the production of a Jew of mean abilities, who lived at a much later period than that of the true Barnabas. The second is a quotation from Pliny, stating that the Christians were wont to meet together on a "stated day." It is claimed that this stated day was Sunday. But how do they know? The essential link in the evidence is wanting; for he does not say what day of the week it was.

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QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER ELEVEN.

43. What is to be said of the Epistle of Barnabas?

44. Name the authors who condemn it.

45. What can be said of Pliny's "stated day"?

46. What took place in A.D. 321?

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In A.D. 321 a new era dawned upon the Sunday

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institution. In that year Constantine, on the throne of the Roman empire, enacted a law in behalf of the "venerable day of the sun," from which it soon came to be the venerable day in the church. Of the effect of this Mosheim thus speaks:-

"The first day of the week, which was the ordinary and stated time for the public assemblies of the Christians, was in consequence of a peculiar law enacted by Constantine, observed with greater solemnity than it had formerly been."

What, then, did Constantine's law require? It reads as follows:-

"Let all the judges and town people, and the occupation of all trades rest on the venerable day of the sun; but let those who are situated in the country, freely and at full liberty attend to the business of agriculture; because it often happens that no other day is so fit for sowing corn and planting vines: lest the critical moment being let slip, men should lose the commodities granted by Heaven."

It follows, therefore, according to the testimony of Mosheim, that if this law, restraining only town people and trades, caused Sunday to be observed more strictly than formerly, no restraint had previously been laid upon any class from working on that day.

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QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER ELEVEN.

47. What did this law of Constantine's provide?

48. What does Mosheim say of the effect of this law?

49. What follows from this statement?

50. What was the nature of Constantine's law?

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Constantine's law, it will be noticed, speaks not of the lord's day, or the Christian Sabbath, but of "the venerable day of the sun." This was the heathen, not the Christian, name of the day. And this law was in behalf of Sunday as a heathen, not a Christian, institution. This will appear by comparing dates.

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The law was dated A.D. 321. Constantine did not experience his so-called conversion to Christianity till A.D. 323, two years afterward. The day following his Sunday law, he enacted another, regulating the work of the soothsayers who foretold future events by examining the entrails of beasts offered in sacrifice to the gods; fitting companion to the preceding.

But how did this heathen law come to have a bearing upon Sunday as a Christian observance? The pope of Rome cheerfully looked after that matter. When Constantine professed Christianity, his sunday law was left on the statute book unrepealed; and Sylvester, bishop of Rome, since called pope, took advantage of this fact; and giving the day the imposing title of Lord's day, by his apostolic authority, enforced it upon the church as a Christian institution. Constantine also, then deeming himself as much the head of the church as the pope, took upon himself to elevate it still further, by church authority, as a Christian observance, taking "upon him," says Heylyn, not only "to command the day, but also to prescribe the service."

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QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER ELEVEN.

51. When was it enacted?

52. When was Constantine nominally converted to Christianity?

53. What law did he enact the day following his Sunday law?

54. How did this come to be a Christian law?

55. What are the parts paganism and the papacy have played in this matter?

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The parts which paganism and the papacy have acted in the elevation of Sunday are now plain to be seen. From the earliest times, the first day of the week, in the religion of idolatry, was dedicated to the worship of the sun; so that when Christianity come into contact with that false system, Sunday was a venerable day throughout all the heathen world.

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In the Christian church, being the day of Christ's resurrection, it appeared as a festival, observed in the same manner and for the same reason that they observed the day of the crucifixion, the day of the ascension, etc. But as heathenism and Christianity approached each other, and illustrious pagans became half converts to the gospel, seeking to engraft their Gnostic notions upon the Christian scheme, the question of expediency suggested that it would tend to conciliate their heathen neighbors, and also to promote the spread of Christianity among them, for Christians to pay more especial honors to their great festival day. They could do it as Christians, and please them as pagans.

In the days of Constantine so near had the two systems come together that it was not difficult to transfer institutions from one to the other. Sunday had heretofore run on the pagan track; now it could be switched off upon the Christian. Pope Sylvester turned the switch; and henceforth Sunday is a palace sleeping car upon the Christian track, and not upon the heathen.

We need not trace it any further. Roman Catholic catechisms tell us the place it occupies in that church, and the claims they base upon it. They hesitate not to acknowledge that the church has changed the Sabbath from the seventh day to the first day of the week, without any sanction from the Scriptures, or any outward command from God. And they boast of this as an evidence of their power to legislate in sacred things. Says the "Abridgment of Christian Doctrine" (Catholic catechism): -

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QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER ELEVEN.

56. What is the testimony of Roman Catholic catechisms?

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"Ques. How prove you that the church hath power to command feasts and holy days?

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"Ans. By the very act of changing the Sabbath into Sunday, which Protestants allow of; and therefore they fondly contradict themselves by keeping Sunday strictly, and breaking most other feasts commanded by the same church."

In the latter part of the 16th century a controversy broke out between the Presbyterians and the Episcopalians, which brought the Sunday question on Protestant grounds to an issue. The Episcopalians were for retaining all the feasts commanded by the church. The Presbyterians were for rejecting them, as being but popish leaven and superstition; yet they retained Sunday. The Episcopalians retorted that if they gave up the others they must give up the Sunday, or if they kept that they must keep all the others, to be consistent; for they all rested on the same foundation, namely, the authority of the church. Then it was that, driven to find some support form the Scriptures, the "Rev. Nicholas Bound, D.D.," A.D. 1595, invented the seventh part of time fallacy, which is even to this day, with many theologians, their stock in trade on the Sunday question.

The limits of this lesson will not permit a further notice of the Sabbath, historically, than merely to say that Sabbath-keepers can be traced in an unbroken succession all through the gospel dispensation, from the church of Jerusalem to the present time.

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QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER ELEVEN.

57. What controversy arose in the latter part of the 16th century?

58. What doctrine was then brought out, and by whom?

59. Where are the historical facts in regard to the Sabbath and Sunday to be found?

60. What can be said of the Sabbath during the gospel dispensation?

61. Whose statement, then, is correct, Mosheim's or Neander's?

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For the historical facts above stated, we are indebted to "The History of the Sabbath," by Eld. J. N. Andrews, a work of extensive and exhaustive research on this question, unanswered and unanswerable. To this we refer the reader and all others who desire reliable information on this subject.

CHAPTER 12. Nature and Destiny of Man

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QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER TWELVE.

1. What is the subject still under investigation?

2. In what way is the Sabbath connected with this message?

3. What have we found in our investigation of the Sabbath question?2

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The long digression through which we have passed on the Sabbath question, should not cause us to forget that the subject still under consideration is the third angel's message of Rev.14. We have been led to an examination of the Sabbath question from the fact that that message brings out a class distinguished as commandment-keepers; and we have found that to be thus distinguished we must keep all the commandments of God, besides the faith of Jesus; for while we can be commandment-breakers if we break only one of them, to be commandment-keepers we must keep them all. There being no controversy on any point but the Sabbath, that must be the distinguishing commandment. And such in our investigation we have found it to be; for it is an institution which had its origin in the beginning, and from its very nature must exist without change to the end; and the fourth commandment of the decalogue confines us to the seventh day of the week as the Sabbath. The great Sabbath reform is borne upon the front of the

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message; and it is bringing out a people of whom it can be said, "Here are they that keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus."

The message also brings to view the punishment of those who reject the message, and practice the sins against which it warns us; and this will, therefore, next engage our attention. It says of those who worship the beast and receive his mark, that they "shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation;" and they "shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the lamb; and the smoke of their torment ascendeth up forever and ever; and they have no rest day nor night who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name."

This is considered one of the strong texts to prove the eternal misery of the lost, and consequently the immortality of the soul. The whole question, therefore, of the nature of man, the condition of the dead, and the destiny of the wicked, comes up for examination.

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QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER TWELVE.

4. What else does this message bring to view?

5. In what terms is this threatening of punishment expressed?

6. What is this supposed to prove?

7. What question does this therefore bring up?

8. How many times is the word "immortal" used in the English version of the Scriptures?

9. To whom is it then applied?

10. What is the original word from which immortal is translated?

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Is the soul immortal? What saith the Scripture? The word "immortal" occurs but once in the English version of the Scriptures; 1Tim.1:17; and there it is applied, not to man nor any part of man, but to God. The original word, however, from which this come, aphthartos, occurs seven times in

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the New Testament; and in the six other instances of its use it is rendered incorruptible, but is never applied to man. Its entire use is as follows, the rendering of the word being in italics:-

Rom.1:23, the glory of the uncorruptible God. 1Cor.9:25, crown; but we an incorruptible. Chap.15:52, dead shall be raised incorruptible. 1Tim.1:17, unto the King eternal, immortal. 1Pet.1:4, to an inheritance incorruptible. Verse 23, incorruptible, by the word of God. Chap.3:4, that which is not corruptible.

It will thus be seen that in Rom.1:23, it is applied to God; in 1Cor.9:25, to the crown of immortality which we seek; in 1Cor.15:52, to the incorruptible bodies we receive in the resurrection; in 1Pet.1:4, to the future inheritance of the saints; in verse 23, to the principle by which conversion is wrought in us; and in 1Pet.3:4, to the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit which we put on through Christ.

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QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER TWELVE.

11. How many times is that word used in the New Testament?

12. Give the texts of its occurrence.

13. By what word is it usually rendered?

14. To what is it applied?

15. How many times is the word "immortality" found in the English Scriptures?

16. From how many Greek words is "immortality" translated?

17. How many times do these occur in the aggregate?

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But although man is nowhere called immortal, is not the equivalent declaration somewhere made that he has immortality? The word immortality occurs in the English Scriptures but five times; but it comes from two words in the Greek, and these occur in the aggregate eleven times. The first of these, athanasia, occurs but three times, and is every time rendered immortality as follows:-

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1Cor.15:53, this mortal must put on immortality. Verse 54, shall have put on immortality. 1Tim.6:16, who only hath immortality.

In these instances the word is applied to what we are to put on in the resurrection, and to God, who, it is declared, is the only one who by nature hath it. The other word, aphtharsia, occurs eight times as follows:-

Rom.2:7, glory and honor and immortality. 1Cor.15:42, it is raised in incorruption. Verse 50, doth corruption inherit incorruption. Verse 53, must put on incorruption, and Verse 54, shall have put on incorruption, Eph.6:24, love our Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity. 2Tim.1:10, brought life and immortality to Titus 2:7, uncorruptness, gravity, sincerity.

In all these instances it will be seen that the word is not once applied to man, but to that for which we are to seek, to that which we obtain by the resurrection, to our love to Christ, to what Christ has brought to light, and to the doctrine we are to cherish. The way in which these words are used is very significant, and should have great weight in deciding this question.

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QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER TWELVE.

18. What is the first of these?

19. How many times does this word occur?

20. Name the texts.

21. How is it every time rendered?

22. To what is it applied?

23. What is the other word which is rendered immortality?

24. How many times does it occur?

25. Name the texts of its occurrence.

26. To what is it applied?

27. What should we conclude from the fact that man is never called immortal, nor is once said to have immortality?

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There is another fact perhaps more stupendous still. The words, soul and spirit, so often in modern theological parlance joined with the words, immortal,

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deathless, and never dying, come from two words in the Hebrew, nephesh and ruach, and two corresponding words in the Greek, psuche and pneuma; and these words are used in the aggregate in the Old and New Testaments seventeen hundred times, and yet not once are the terms immortal, deathless, or never dying, applied to them, or any other term which would convey the idea of an imperishable nature or continued existence in either the soul or spirit.

But man was made "in the image of God," Gen.1:26, therefore, say our popular theologians, he was made immortal. But this image did not consist of immortality any more than it did in omnipotence, omniscience, omnipresence, or any other attribute of God. It had reference only to outward shape and form; for God is a person and has form. Phil.2:6; Heb.1:3; Rev.5:1; Dan.7:9; Ex.24:10; 33:20-23. Where the word image is used in a figurative sense, it is applied to something which we do not possess by nature, but which we must put on. Col.3:10, explained by Eph.4:23.24.

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QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER TWELVE.

28. What other stupendous fact is discovered in the Bible?

29. What claim is based on Gen.1:26?

30. If image there means immortality, what else does it mean?

31. To what has it reference?

32. Has God a form? Proof.

33. To what is the word image applied in a figurative sense? References.

34. What is the breath of life, in Gen.2:7, supposed to mean?

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It is further said that when God created man, he breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, or, as it is interpreted, imparted to him a deathless spirit, or immortal nature. Gen.2:7. But this breath of life cannot denote an immortal soul, unless we admit that immortality is also an attribute of the brute

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creation: for all animals have the same breath of life. Gen.7:22. If it be urged that the word life in Gen.2:7 is plural, "breath of lives" from which some attempt to argue both the animal life and immortality, we reply that the word is also plural in Gen.7:22, and in Gen.2:9.

But man became a "living soul," which proves that he was endowed with an immortal soul. We answer, not unless we are willing to grant the same to all the lower animals; for they are all called by the same Hebrew terms. In Gen.1:22-24, the "living creature" is from the same Hebrew words that are translated "living soul" in Gen.2:7. And in verse 20, the word "life" is from the Hebrew "soul" margin, and in Rev.16:3 we read about "living souls" in the sea.

Gen. 35:18: "And it came to pass as her soul was in departing; for she died." The word here rendered soul, nephesh, is sometimes rendered breath, and Parkhurst, the distinguished lexicographer, says that it should be so translated here. A parallel case is found in 1Kin.17:17-24. "The soul of the child came into him again." Verse 22. We are told in verse 17 what it was that had left the child. It was the breath; and this, the breath of life, returned, and he lived again.

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QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER TWELVE.

35. If we admit this of man what must we admit of the brute creation?

36. Where is the word in the plural?

37. What argument is based on the term living soul?

38. To what else is this term applied besides man? References.

39. What is the word for soul in Gen.35:18?

40. How does Parkhurst say that it should be translated?

41. What is, then, the explanation of this passage?

42. What parallel case is found and how explained?

43. What does Solomon assert in Eccl.3:21?

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Eccl.3:21 "Who knoweth the spirit of man that

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goeth upward, and the spirit of the beast that goeth downward to the earth?" Solomon does not here assert that there is a difference between the spirit of man and beast, for he had just said that they all have one breath, verse 19, which is the same word that is here rendered spirit. But properly translated, his words are interrogative: "Who knoweth that the spirit of man goeth upward," etc. So Milton, the Douay Bible, Septuagint, Vulgate, Chaldee Paraphrase, and Syriac version, render it.

Eccl.12:7: "The spirit shall return unto God who gave it." Very well, what is this spirit, or what did God give to man? The only record we have of man's creation says that God gave him the "breath of life." How could the breath of life go to God? It could go to him in the same sense in which it could come from him. But if we say, according to the popular view, that the spirit goes to God as a separate, conscious, intelligent entity, it commits us to the doctrine of the pre-existence of souls; for, on that ground, it must have come from him in the same condition.

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QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER TWELVE.

44. Is the word breath in verse 19, from the same Hebrew that is translated spirit in verse 21?

45. What is the proper translation of verse 21?

46. What authorities sustain such a translation?

47. What expression is found in Eccl.12:7?

48. What is this supposed to prove?

49. What did God give man in the beginning?

50. How could the breath of life go to God?

51. If the spirit goes to God as a conscious, intelligent entity, what conclusion are we compelled to admit?

52. Where is found the record of Samuel and the witch of Endor?

53. Was it Samuel's immortal soul that appeared on that occasion?

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Samuel and the witch of Endor, 1Sam.28:3-20. It was not Samuel's immortal soul which appeared on this occasion; because it was an old man covered with a mantle that came up; and immortal souls are not of that age or form, nor clothed in that manner.

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Again, this old man came up out of the earth, but immortal souls are not down there, they're up in Heaven, we are told. Moreover it is not probable that God, having prohibited necromancy, this pretended communication with the dead, and having forsaken Saul so that he would not answer him by prophets, nor in any legitimate way, should now permit this abandoned woman to summon at will the soul of his servant Samuel from the upper spheres. The whole transaction was simply a piece of ancient spiritism, Satanic deception, played off upon God-forsaken Saul.

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QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER TWELVE.

54. What reason can be given for saying that it was not?

55. What was this exhibition?

56. What conclusion is drawn from our Lord's words in Matt.10:28?

57. What does this text prove respecting the immortality of the soul?

58. What is the Greek word here translated soul?

59. How many times is this rendered life in the New Testament?

60. How may the word kill be rendered?

61. What has the Christian which man cannot destroy?

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Matt.10:28: "Fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul; but rather fear him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell." Because the term soul is used here, and it is said that it cannot be killed, the conclusion is at once drawn that here is an immortal part of man that lives right on in death. But this text is conclusive against the immortality of the soul, whatever it is, inasmuch as it is a declaration that God will destroy in hell the souls of all those who do not fear and serve him. And it does not necessarily prove an intermediate conscious state; for the word soul here is from psuche, which is forty times rendered life in the New Testament, and the word to kill, may be rendered to destroy. Now what has the Christian which man cannot destroy? Man can

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destroy the body, he can deprive us of our life here; but he cannot deprive us of our future life, which we have by the promise of the Son of God. "And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son." 1John 5:11. "Ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God." Col.3:3. This life men cannot touch, this soul they cannot destroy. Matt.10:39 furnishes an excellent comment on Matt.10:28. Thus "He that findeth his life shall lose it; and he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it." The word here rendered life is psuche, the same that is rendered soul in verse 28. He that findeth his psuche, life shall lose his psuche, life. What does this mean? Simply this: He that seeks, at the expense of truth and moral integrity, to save his life, psuche, here, shall lose his life, psuche, in the world to come; but he who is willing to lose his life, psuche, here, willing that men should destroy it for the sake of Christ and his truth, shall find his life, psuche in the world to come. Here is the psuche, life soul, which man cannot destroy, and therefore we are not to fear him, for our present life is of no account compared with the eternal life of Heaven; but God can deprive us of this future life, and him we are therefore to fear, instead of fearing men. There is therefore no conscious state brought to view here between death and the resurrection.

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QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER TWELVE.

62. What bearing has Matt.10:39 on verse 28?

63. What is meant by losing and finding one's life?

64. Is there, then, any conscious intermediate state brought to view in Matt.10:28?

65. Where is an account given of the transfiguration?

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The transfiguration. Matt.17:1-9. On the mount of transfiguration Moses and Elias appeared

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with Christ. Moses had died hundreds of years before this; hence it is claimed here was an immortal soul. But this will not do; for this was a representation of the kingdom of God, 2Pet.1:16-18, and there will be no disembodied immortal souls there. We claim that Moses had been raised from the dead, and was there in his resurrected body, as a representative of all those who will be raised from the dead, as Elias was a representative of those who will be translated without seeing death. Dr. Clarke, and other commentators, admit this. The allusion to the body of Moses in Jude 9, proves this. The only objection to it is that Christ was to be the first to rise from the dead. But the reader will find those passages which speak of Christ as the first fruits, 1Cor.15:20,23, or the first begotten, Heb.1:6; Rev.1:5, or the first born among many brethren, Rom.8:29; Col.1:15,18, to refer to his office as antitype, or to his position as head or chief, the one upon whom all depended. While the passage in Acts 26:23 asserts, not that he should be absolutely the first to rise from the dead, for we have the record of six instances before this, but simply that he first by a resurrection from the dead should show light to the Gentiles. The scene of the transfiguration to be accounted for, demands the resurrection of Moses. And the objections all being removed, that hypothesis stands. BD>

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QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER TWELVE.

66. How is this used to prove the immortality of the soul?

67. What did this scene represent? Reference.

68. What class did Moses represent?

69. What does Dr. Clarke admit in reference to Moses?

70. How does Jude 9 prove that resurrection of Moses?

71. What objection is urged against this?

72. What texts speak of Christ as first fruits, first begotten, etc.?

73. To what do they refer?

74. How is the scene of the transfiguration, then, explained?

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CHAPTER 13. Nature and Destiny of Man - (Continued)

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QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER THIRTEEN.

1. What is claimed from the words of Christ to the Sadducees?

2. What was the question under consideration?

3. What was the difficulty the Sadducees presented?

4. How does Christ answer their difficulty?

5. To what does he then appeal?

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Christ and the Sadducees. Matt.22:23-32. "I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. God is not the God of the dead, but of the living." From this it is claimed that Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, though their bodies had been laid in the grave ages before, were still alive when Christ spoke these words, and it must have been as disembodied spirits in the spirit world. But hold, this was not the point under discussion. The question up was the resurrection which Christ taught and the Sadducees denied. They bring up the case of the woman who had had seven husbands, and inquire whose wife she shall be (not whose wife she now is in the spirit world, but whose she shall be) in the resurrection when she is raised, and all the seven men who had been her husbands here, are raised also. Christ first nullifies their objection telling them that in the resurrection we are raised to a higher state of being, and the marriage relation no longer exists. Then he appeals to a

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source of authority which they acknowledge, the writings of Moses, to show that their doctrine of no resurrection, and consequently no future existence, was contrary to their own Scriptures. "But as touching the resurrection of the dead [that is, that the dead will be raised, which you deny] have ye not read that which was spoken unto you by God, saying, I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob?" These words are found in Ex.3:6; and let it be marked that they were not spoken while Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob were living, but to Moses, long after they were dead. Now if they were forever dead, as the Sadducees believed, then God called himself the God of something which did not exist, which would be an impeachment of his wisdom and power. But if they were to have a resurrection and future existence, God could still call himself their God; for he to whom both past and future are an eternal present, can speak of "those things that are not" (but are to be) "as though they were." Rom.4:17. These words of God respecting Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, were, therefore, under the circumstances, conclusive proof that they will live again; and if they, then all the righteous dead; and hence the doctrine of Christ against the Sadducees was maintained. But no conscious intermediate state is here taught.

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QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER THIRTEEN.

6. Where are the words found which Christ quotes?

7. When were they spoken?

8. How did these words disprove the doctrine of the Sadducees?

9. What is the case of the rich man and Lazarus supposed to prove?

10. Does the narrative say anything about the soul of either the rich man or Lazarus?

11. From what word in the Greek is the word "hell" here translated?

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The rich man and Lazarus. Luke 16:19-31. "The rich man also died, and was buried; and in

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hell he lifted up his eyes, being in torments." With the utmost confidence it is claimed that this was the rich man's soul; but the narrative says nothing about his soul. The word rendered "hell" is hades, but hades is not the place of punishment, not the hell, gehenna, of the wicked. It is simply the place of the dead, where all alike go, both righteous and wicked. The narrative says nothing about the soul of Lazarus, but says that he was carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom. When do the angels carry the saints into the kingdom of God? At the second coming of Christ, but not before. As literal events, this scene must have its location beyond the resurrection, and hence proves nothing respecting the intermediate state. But if it is not a literal narrative, it is simply a parable; and then it proves nothing for consciousness in death; for in a parable, language is used figuratively, and life and intelligence are attributed to inanimate objects; and no doctrine can be based on parables; it must have the most literal and explicit language.

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QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER THIRTEEN.

12. Is hades the place of punishment?

13. What is the place of punishment?

14. What is hades?

15. What was carried into Abraham's bosom?

16. When are the saints carried by the angels into the kingdom?

17. If this narrative is literal, where must the scene be located?

18. What then does it prove concerning the intermediate state?

19. If it is not literal, what is it?

20. What does it then prove?

21. Is is literal or a parable?

22. What shows it to be a parable?

23. What was it object?

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The narrative of the rich man and Lazarus is a parable; for it stands in connection with a notable list of narratives which are all acknowledged to be parables. Its object was to rebuke the Pharisees for their covetousness, verse 14, and to correct their false idea, that riches in this world were a mark of

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God's favor, and a sure passport to bliss hereafter. And having represented the rich man as awaking from his terrible delusion, and desiring that his brethren might be informed, it is shown that Abraham does not send one raised from the dead to instruct them, but refers them to Moses and the prophets. While the Jews were thus referred to Moses and the prophets more especially in reference to future reward and punishment, modern theology needs to go to Moses and the prophets for instruction respecting the place, hades, where this scene is located.

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QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER THIRTEEN.

24. To what are they referred for instruction?

25. What is the Hebrew word corresponding to hades?

26. How many times is this word used in the Old Testament?

27. How is it translated?

28. Who go into sheol? References.

29. In what condition do we go there? References.

30. How long does it hold dominion over its subjects? References.

31. Where is it located? References.

32. What is the condition of the righteous there? References.

33. What is the condition of the wicked there? References.

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What have these inspired writers told us about hades, and the condition of those who go there? The word in Hebrew which corresponds to the Greek word hades, and means the same thing, is sheol. This word is used sixty-five times in the Old Testament, and is translated hell and grave thirty-one times each, and pit three times; and we are taught respecting it, 1. That all alike go there. Num.16:30,33; Ps.89:48. 2. That the whole man goes there. Gen.42:38; Ps.30:1,3; Acts 2:27,31. 3. That it holds dominion till the second coming of Christ. 1Cor.15:51-55. 4. That it is located in the earth beneath. Eze.51:15-18. 5. That the righteous dead do not praise the lord there. Ps.6:5; 146:1-4; Is.38:10-19. 6. That the wicked are all silent there. Ps.31:17;1Sam.2:9 7. That it is a place of silence, secrecy, sleep, rest, darkness,

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corruption, and worms, in which there is no work, device, wisdom,or knowledge. Job 14:11-19; 17:13-16; Eccl.9:4-6,10.

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QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER THIRTEEN.

34. What is its general character? References.

35. What other representations have we in the Old Testament on this point? References.

36. How do these explain the parable of the rich man and Lazarus?

37. Where is found the record of Christ's words to the thief on the cross?

38. What are these words supposed to prove?

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We have also in the Old Testament, representations precisely similar to this in Luke 16, respecting the inhabitants of sheol. Multitudes who have gone down to the grave through the oppression of tyrannical kings, are represented as lying with their swords under their heads, and worms covering them, and yet as rising up and paying mock obeisance to their oppressors when they come into sheol, and taunting them with becoming weak as themselves. See the address to the king of Babylon in Is.14:9-11, and the lamentation for Egypt in Eze.32:18-32. So in the case of the rich man and Lazarus. The rich man in hades, where, as they were fully instructed, there was no knowledge, consciousness, nor life, is nevertheless represented by the figure of personification, as living and acting as there represented. And the object was to show that the next state of being after the present (passing over the intermediate unconscious state) will be one of torment and suffering to the ungodly, covetous rich man, but one of happiness and bliss to the righteous poor. With the language of the Old Testament before them respecting sheol, and the parables respecting the king of Babylon and Egypt, the Jews would readily understand it. It was not given to show the nature of hades, nor the condition of those who go there, and hence is not to be used for that purpose.

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QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER THIRTEEN.

39. What was the thief's request?

40. What was Christ's answer?

41. How is the argument then stated?

42. What two objections arise to the common view of this passage?

43. How is it proved that Christ did not go to paradise that day?

44. Where are his words to Mary found?

45. Where is paradise?  References.

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The thief on the cross. Luke 23:39-43 is supposed to contain another strong proof of the conscious state of the dead, in the words of Christ to the thief on the cross. The thief's request was, "Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom." To which Christ made answer, "Verily I say unto thee, To-day shalt thou be with me in paradise." How could the thief be with Christ in paradise that day, it is triumphantly asked, unless by means of a disembodied conscious spirit? If he was to be with him in paradise that very day, it must have been in the form of an immortal soul, unless he had been raised from the dead, or been translated. But there are two objections to the common view of this matter: the first is that Christ did not go to paradise that day, and the second is that the thief did not die that day, so that his immortal soul did not leave his body. Either of these propositions established, destroys entirely the popular view of the passage; and we know that one of them is true, - that Christ did not go to paradise that day, - because he told Mary, on the day of his resurrection, three days after his crucifixion, that he had not yet ascended to his Father. But where his Father was there was paradise. 2Cor.12:2,4; Rev.2:7; 22:1,2. He had not therefore at that time been to paradise; and consequently the thief could not have been with him in paradise on the day of his crucifixion.

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In regard to the second proposition, that the thief did not die that day, we have a strong inference if not absolute proof in this fact: When the Jews desired that the bodies might be taken down from the cross just before the Sabbath, because no bodies could remain there over the Sabbath, the soldiers broke the legs of the two thieves, but coming to to Christ and seeing that he was dead already they brake not his legs. The thieves therefore were not dead. Now the breaking of their legs must have been for one of two purposes, either to hasten their death, or to prevent their escape, after being released from the cross. But their immediate death was not the object sought. It was only to get them off from the cross; and inasmuch as persons on the cross are said to live from three to eight days, it is not at all probable that breaking their legs near the close of the day would cause them to die before the day ended.

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QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER THIRTEEN.

46. From what circumstances do we infer that the thief did not die that day?

47. How then is the passage to be explained?

48. Have we a right to make such changes in the punctuation?

49. When?

50. What is the comparative date when punctuation was first used?

51. When was the comma in its present form invented?

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If, then the Lord did not go to paradise that day, and the thief did not die, and so he did not go, how can the passage be explained? Place the comma after to-day, instead of before it, and all is clear. With this change, Christ does not say to him that he shall be with him that day in paradise, but he simply says to him that day that he shall be with him in paradise when he comes in his kingdom, and this is just what the thief requested. As to the punctuation, we have a right to make this change, if the sense demands it; for the punctuation of the Bible is but the work of men and of comparatively

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recent origin, the comma in its present form not having been invented till the year 1490. A parallel expression is found in Zech.9:12. Some Greek manuscripts, according to Griesbach, place the comma after to-day, in Luke 23:43. Thus punctuated, it is consistent with itself and with other scriptures.

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QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER THIRTEEN.

52. Where do we find a parallel expression?

53. What is Griesbach's testimony?

54. Punctuated in this manner, does this text prove anything in regard to the intermediate state?

55. Where does Paul speak about being absent from the body?

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Absent from the body. In 2Cor.5:8 Paul says: "We are confident, I say, and willing rather, to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord." This text is urged with great assurance as proving a conscious intermediate state. But the essential point in the argument is lacking; for Paul does not say that we are present with the Lord just as soon as we leave the body. Granting that by absence from the body he means our condition in death, he does not tell us how long it is after we are thus absent from the body before we are present with the Lord. The first part of the chapter explains this verse. In our earthly house of this tabernacle, in this present mortal state, we groan, desiring, not to be unclothed, as we are in death, but to be clothed upon with our house from Heaven, or to reach the eternal, immortal state promised to the believer. And when we reach this, "mortality is swallowed up of life." Verse 4. But when is mortality swallowed up of life? When our mortal body is made immortal. Paul had written to the Corinthian church very plainly on this subject in his first epistle. He had spoken about this mortal

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being made immortal, and this corruptible being made incorruptible, which is the same thing as mortality being swallowed up of life. And when is this? Not when we die, but at the last trump, when Christ appears, and the dead are raised. 1Cor.15:52-55. Then is the time when we are present with the Lord, not before, nor by any other means. John 14:3; 1Thess.4:17.

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QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER THIRTEEN.

56. What is this supposed to prove?

57. What is lacking in this proof?

58. Where is this verse explained?

59. What does Paul mean by our earthly house?

60. What does he mean by being unclothed?

61. What by our house from Heaven?

62. When we reach this, what happens?

63. When is mortality swallowed up of life? References.

64. By what means are we brought into the presence of the Lord? References.

65. Where does Paul speak of being in the body and out?

66. What do believers in natural immortality say this means?

67. What is, in popular parlance, the separation of soul and body?

68. What is Paul's subject here?

69. What absurdity is involved in the common view of this passage?

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In the body and out. In 2Cor.12:2-4 Paul speaks of a man, "in the body or out," he could not tell which, caught up to paradise, etc. Here, it is said, such a condition is recognized as "out of the body." Very well, what does it mean? Believers in the immortality of the soul say that it means that the soul or spirit is separated from the body. But what condition is a person then in? According to popular theology, the person is dead when he is out of the body; for the separation of soul and body is death. Now what is Paul's subject? Visions. Verse 1. He here describes the visions with which he had been favored; and while he was in vision he did not know whether he was in the body or out. If he was out of the body, according to our friends, he was dead; and when he came into the body again he had a resurrection. Do they believe that Paul,

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when he had a vision, died and was raised from the dead when he came out of vision, or that he designed to teach that such a condition of things was possible? They must accept this absurdity, or surrender this text.

Departing and being with Christ. Phil.1:21-24: "For I am in a strait betwixt two, having a desire to depart, and to be with Christ, which is far better." The only way in which this text can be made to do service in behalf of the conscious intermediate state, is to connect the being with Christ immediately with the departing. But Paul does not so connect them. The next thing of which the person is conscious after departing is being with Christ. But this does not preclude the idea that a long space might be passed over in unconsciousness. And such a period the apostle would of necessity pass over in silence, as it is an utter blank to the individual, and the change from one state to the other seems to him to be instantaneous. Bishop Law say: "The Scriptures, in speaking of the connection between our present and future being, do not take into the account our intermediate state in death; no more than we, in describing the course of any man's actions, take into account the time he sleeps. Therefore the Scriptures (to be consistent with themselves) must affirm an immediate connection between death and the Judgment."

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QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER THIRTEEN.

70. What famous expression is found in Phil.1:21-24?

71. How is this text made to serve the popular cause?

72. Does Paul make this connection?

73. Of what is the Christian next conscious after death?

74. Does this preclude the idea of a period of unconscious rest in the grave?

75. What is Bishop Law's testimony?

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Paul has in other places told us very definitely

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when we go to be with Christ. Rom.8:23; 1Cor.15:51-54; Phil.3:20,21; Col.3:4; 1Thess.4:16,17; 2Thess.1:7; 2Tim.4:8; Heb.11:39,40. His testimony on Phil.1:23, must not therefore be interpreted in such a way as to contradict these statements. Hence it cannot be used in support of the theory of the conscious intermediate state.

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QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER THIRTEEN.

76. What has Paul told us in other places? References.

77. What do these scriptures teach?

78. How, then, must we treat Paul's testimony in Phil.1:23?

79. What use is made of Paul's testimony in Heb.12:23?

80. What does Paul speak of here?

81. When are men made perfect? References.

82. What is Dr. Clark's admission on this passage?

83. What is Paul here setting forth?

84. What two conditions are the only ones referred to?

85. What bearing, then, has it on the intermediate state?

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Spirits of just men made perfect. Paul uses this expression in Heb.12:23; and this is supposed by some to be a confirmation of the ideas of the separate conscious existence of the spirit of man. But Paul speaks of no such thing. He does not speak of spirits made perfect, but of men made perfect. And when are men made perfect? If we take it in the absolute sense, it is not till after the resurrection, when the body is redeemed, and mortality is clothed with immortality. Rom.8:23; 1Cor.15:51-54; Phil.3:21; 1John 3:2. If it is in an accommodated sense, then it must refer to the perfection of Christian character we are able to acquire under the gospel, through the offering of Christ. Many, following Dr. Clarke, think it refers to this, as Paul is here setting forth the superiority of the blessings and advantages we enjoy under the gospel, over those enjoyed under the former dispensation. But in either case this scripture would have no bearing on the question of consciousness in death. It is

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either fulfilled entirely in the present state, or it has its application beyond the resurrection.

The spirits in prison. 1Pet.3:19. "By which also he went and preached unto the spirits in prison." This is supposed to be a strong text in favor of the intermediate conscious state of the dead; for here were spirits in prison, supposed to mean in the grave, or in death, and they must have been conscious and intelligent, because they were preached to. We inquire who these spirits were? The following verse says: "Which sometime were disobedient, when once the long-suffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing."

The persons meant by the word spirits are therefore the wicked antediluvians. But what is meant by their being in prison? In Is.61:1 is found a prophecy concerning the work of Christ, and it is said that he should proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound. This prophecy is quoted by our Lord himself in Luke 4:18 and an application made of it to his own work. The situation of the antediluvians while Noah was preaching to them was similar to that of those to whom Christ preached. They were in darkness and error and under the condemnation of death. Therefore the antediluvians may likewise have been said to be in prison, while Noah was preaching to them.

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QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER THIRTEEN.

86. What testimony is found in 1Pet.3:19?

87. What is this supposed to mean?

88. Who were these spirits?

89. What is meant by their being in prison?

90. When and by whom were they preached to?

91. How could Christ preach through Noah?

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We inquire further who it was that preached to these spirits? It was Christ. When did he preach? In the days of Noah while the ark was preparing.

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Through whom did he preach? Through Noah. Dr. Adam Clarke takes the same view of this passage, that the preaching was done by the spirit of Christ in Noah. It therefore has no bearing upon this question of the intermediate state of the dead.

There are some absurdities connected with the common view which deserve to be noticed. If these spirits were the spirits of the wicked antediluvians, and the preaching was done by the spirit of Christ while his body lay in the grave, these spirits were then in hell; and we inquire, Why should the spirit of Christ go down into hell to preach to the antediluvians? Could they be benefited by it? No. Then what was the object of it? Here is a difficulty which popular theologians are not able to solve.

But further, before the preaching is spoken of, the quickening or resurrection of Christ is brought to view, verse 18, therefore it could not have been by the disembodied spirit of Christ that this preaching was done while he lay in the grave.

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QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER THIRTEEN.

92. What is Dr. Adam Clarke's view of this passage?

93. What absurdity attaches itself to the common interpretation of this passage?

94. If the preaching was done by Christ personally, when was it done?

95. What claim is made on Rev.6:9?

96. What altar is brought to view?

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The souls under the altar. Rev.6:9. "And when he had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of God and for their testimony which they held." Here it is claimed are souls brought to view in a disembodied state, conscious, and active, crying unto God for vengeance. These souls were seen under the altar. What altar? Evidently the altar of sacrifice where they were slain. Is there such an altar

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QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER THIRTEEN.

97. Is there such an altar in Heaven?

98. Is it consistent to suppose that souls are shut up under an altar in Heaven?

99. What is Dr. Clarke's view of this matter?

100. If not conscious, how can they cry for vengeance?  References.

101. What is the first absurdity involved in the common view?

102. What is the second?

103. How could white robes be given them?

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as that in Heaven? and are the saints there shut up under such an altar? Dr. Clarke says this altar was upon the earth, and that these souls were the victims of papal persecution; and they are represented as having fallen down by the altar where they were slain. But if they are not conscious in Heaven, it is asked, how could they cry to God for vengeance? We answer, By the figure of personification, just as Abel's blood is represented as crying to God, or the stone out of the wall, and the beam out of the timber, spoken of by Hab.2:11, or as the wages of the laborers spoken of by James 5:4. These souls cried for their blood to be avenged; but do immortal souls have blood? And who were those upon whom they called for vengeance? Their persecutors. And where were these persecutors? If dead, according to the popular view, they were in hell. And as that view further represents, they were right before the face and eyes of those saints in Heaven. This, it is claimed is taught by the parable of the rich man and Lazarus. How, then, could they call for vengeance upon them? Was it not vengeance enough for them to be tormented in the flames of hell? How amiable does this make these righteous souls appear! And if we say that those persecutors were not then dead, in the natural course of things they would soon be in hell, tormented, it would seem, as fiercely as any one could wish. Such is the absurdity that is attached to the popular view of this text. BD>

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But how, it is asked further, could white robes be given unto them? We answer, those were given in the Reformation when the characters of these martyrs were vindicated from the aspersions of their Romish executioners. We find, therefore, in this testimony no evidences for the doctrine of the conscious state of the dead.

In Rev.19:10 and 22:9 John fell down to worship at the feet of the angel who was employed in giving him his revelation. In restraining him, the angel said, "See that thou do it not, for I am thy fellow-servant and of thy brethren, the prophets." Here it is claimed that the angel asserted that he was one of the old prophets, of course communicating with John in his disembodied state. But the angel does not say this. He says simply, "I am thy fellow-servant and the fellow-servant of thy brethren, the prophets." He had been employed in imparting to them divine revelations as he was now doing to John.

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QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER THIRTEEN.

104. What argument for consciousness in death is drawn from Rev.19:10; 22:9?

105. What did the angel mean by the language he addressed to John?

106. What is said in Gen.25:8?

107. What argument is drawn from this?

108. Where were Abraham's fathers?

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We notice one more text that is supposed to teach the conscious intermediate state of the dead. Gen.25:8: "Then Abraham gave up the ghost, and died in a good old age, an old man and full of years, and was gathered to his people." It is said that Abraham was not buried where his fathers were buried, therefore this could not apply to his body, but it must be that his spirit went to be with the spirits of his fathers in the spirit world. We therefore inquire where his fathers were? We learn from Josh.24:2

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that his fathers were idolaters and died such. They were consequently according to the popular view in hell. Now if the spirit of Abraham went to be with the spirits of his fathers, he went, according to this view, inevitably to hell. But the theory which leads to such absurdity must be abandoned. We have a parallel expression in the case of David. Paul says in Acts 13:36, that David was laid unto his fathers - which of course means the same as being gathered to his people; but Paul continues - after he was thus gathered unto his fathers, he saw corruption. This explodes the idea of the conscious existence of the soul in the spirit world. BD>

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QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER THIRTEEN.

109. How does this argument inevitably dispose of Abraham?

110 What must be done with such an argument?

111. What do we find a parallel expression?

112. What does the testimony show?

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CHAPTER 14. State of the Dead

We have now examined all the more important texts that are supposed to teach the consciousness of the dead between death and the resurrection, or such as are used as objections to the view that man has not by nature an immortal soul. With a brief examination of the positive testimony of the Scriptures on this point we shall pass to the other branch of the subject, namely, the destiny of the wicked.

The sentence which God pronounced upon transgression in the garden of Eden was death. "In the day that thou eatest thereof, thou shalt surely die." After Adam had sinned and the sentence was to be put into execution, God addressed Adam thus: "In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken; for dust thou art and unto dust shalt thou return."

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QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER FOURTEEN.

1. What sentence did God pronounce upon transgression in Eden?

2. When God explained the sentence to Adam, what language did he use?

3. What part of Adam was addressed by this language?

4. What part of man is the soul said to be?

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What part of Adam was addressed by this language? Was it the body or the soul? We are told that the soul is the intelligent, responsible part of

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man, that incurs guilt by transgression and is entitled to reward for obedience. But that part which did transgress was addressed in this sentence; and the personal pronouns, thou and thy, are five times used in addressing this sentence to Adam. Certainly this must have been the intelligent, responsible man, and the sentence pronounced upon it was, "Dust thou art and unto dust shalt thou return."

If it is said that this refers simply to the body, then we ask if the same personal pronoun thou used by Christ in his address to the thief on the cross, meant simply his body. If it did not there, it does not here. Our friends must be consistent in their interpretation of the scriptures.

The penalty pronounced upon Adam, in which we are all involved, can therefore be understood in no other way than as meaning the reduction of the real responsible man to the dust of the ground, to a condition of utter unconsciousness.

There is another doctrine taught in the Scriptures which has an important bearing upon this question, and that is the resurrection of the dead. It is over and over again stated in the word of God, that there is to be a resurrection of the dead. But what need is there of this, if the soul exists in a conscious, intelligent condition without the body?

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QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER FOURTEEN.

5. Was the part which did transgress addressed in the sentence?

6. How many times were the personal pronouns thou and thy used in presenting this sentence to Adam?

7. To what did these pronouns refer?

8. What is shown by the same pronoun in Christ's words to the thief on the cross?

9. What therefore was the penalty pronounced upon Adam?

10. What other doctrine of the Scriptures has an important bearing upon this question?

11. What is stated over and over again in the word of God?

12. What need is there of a resurrection if the soul is conscious in death?

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William Tyndale says: "And ye in putting them

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(souls) in heaven, hell, and purgatory, destroy the argument wherewith Christ and Paul prove the resurrection.

Andrew Carmichael (Theology of the Scripture, Vol. 2, p. 315) says: "It cannot be too often repeated: If there be an immortal soul, there is no resurrection; and if there be any resurrection, there is no immortal soul."

Dr. Muller (Christian Doctrine of Sin, p. 318) says: "The Christian faith in immortality is indissolubly connected with a promise of a future resurrection of the dead."

Again, death is compared to sleep, and there must be some analogy between the state of sleep and the state of death. And this analogy must pertain to that which renders sleep a peculiar condition. Our condition in sleep differs from our condition when awake simply in this, that when we are soundly asleep we are entirely unconscious. In this respect, then, death is like sleep, that is, the dead are unconscious, and without the resurrection they will forever remain so.

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QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER FOURTEEN.

13. What does Tyndale say?

14. What are the words of Carmichael?

15. What does Dr. Muller testify on this point?

16. To what is death compared?

17. What is the analogy between death and sleep?

18. What does this show concerning our condition in death?

19. What does Job say in chapter 14:21?

20. What is the testimony of Ps.146:4?

21. How and where does Solomon speak of this question?

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Speaking of the dead man, Job says 14:21: "His sons come to honor and he knoweth it not, and they are brought low and he perceiveth it not of them." David says, Ps.146:4: "His breath goeth forth, he returneth to his earth; in that very day his thoughts perish." Solomon spoke to the same effect

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as his father David, Ecc.9:5,6: "For the living know that they shall die; but the dead know not anything; also their love, and their hatred, and their envy, is now perished; neither have they any more a portion forever in anything that is done under the sun." Verse 10: "There is no work nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom in the grave, whither thou goest." Evidence like this can neither be mistaken nor evaded. It is vain for immaterialists to claim that his applies to the body only in distinction from the soul, for they do not hold that the body of itself thinks or has knowledge while the person lives. Therefore, without a resurrection, the dead will forever remain without knowledge.

The dead are not in Heaven nor in hell, but in the dust of the earth. Job 17:13-16; 14:14; Is.26:19.

The dead have no remembrance of God, and do not, while dead, render him praise and thanksgiving. Proof: Ps.6:5; 115:17; Is.38:18,19.

The dead have not yet ascended to Heaven. Acts 2:29,34,35.

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QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER FOURTEEN.

22. How is evidence like this to be treated?

23. May not this refer to the body only?

24. Without a resurrection, therefore, what would result?

25. Where are the dead? Reference.

28. Have the dead any remembrance of God? Reference.

27. Have they ascended to heaven? Reference.

28. What does Paul say in 1Cor.15:18?

29. Can this be reconciled with the idea that the soul lives right on after the death of the body?

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And finally, Paul, in his masterly argument on the resurrection, 1Cor.15:18, makes this conclusive statement: "If the dead rise not, then is not Christ raised; and if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins. Then they also which are fallen asleep in Christ are perished." If

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the souls of the dead live right on, are they perished? What! perished and yet alive in a larger sphere? Perished? and yet enjoying the attendant blessings of everlasting life in Heaven? Perished? and yet at God's right hand, where there is fulness of joy and pleasures forevermore?

Bishop Law says:-

"I proceed to consider what account the Scriptures give of that state to which death reduces us; and this we find represented by sleep; by a negation of all life and action; by rest, resting-place, or home, silence, oblivion, darkness, destruction, and corruption."

Christ says, John 6:39, that of all that was given him, he would lose nothing, but would raise it up at the last day, showing again that it was lost unless it should be raised up at the last day.

It is thus seen that the two doctrines of the immortality of the soul and the resurrection of the dead cannot exist together; but the Bible does sustain the resurrection of the dead, and as we may therefore expect, gives no countenance to the other.

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QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER FOURTEEN.

30. What is Bishop Law's testimony?

31. What are the words of Christ in John 6:39?

32. Can the two doctrines of the immortality of the soul and the resurrection of the dead exist together?

33. What other doctrine has a decisive bearing upon this question?

34. If men go directly to Heaven or hell at death, when are they judged?

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There is still another doctrine of the Scriptures which has as decisive a bearing upon this question as the preceding, and that is the doctrine of a future Judgement for man. If men when they die go directly to Heaven or hell, accordingly as they have lived righteous or wicked lives, it follows that they are all judged at death. Then we ask, What necessity

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is there for this general future Judgment which is made so prominent a doctrine of the Bible? Is it for the purpose of correcting mistakes that may have been made in the first Judgment? Can it be supposed that some have been in hell who ought to have been in Heaven, and some in Heaven who ought to have been in hell, and that this Judgment is to correct these mistakes? If not, why have this Judgment at all? And if so, what guarantee have we that mistakes will not be made in this final Judgment, and some be sent to hell for all eternity who should be in Heaven, and some retained in Heaven who are deserving of the punishment of hell? Such must be our conclusion if we hold to the doctrine of the immortality of the soul; but such a conclusion is a libel upon the government of God and an insult to the justice of Heaven.

Luke 24:30. "For a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have."

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QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER FOURTEEN.

35. Then what necessity is there for a future general Judgment?

36. In what light does this place the government and justice of God?

37. What does Christ say respecting the spirit in Luke 24:39?

38. What argument is based on this definition?

39. To what kind of a spirit did Christ have reference?

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From this definition of a spirit by Christ, it is concluded that a spirit cannot be a real, tangible being, and hence must exist in the disembodied state, as popularly supposed. But to what did Christ have reference by the term spirit? What did the apostles suppose they had seen? The 37th verse says they were affrighted and supposed they had seen a spirit. On this verse Griesbach puts for the word spirit, phantasma; but the meaning of phantasma is an apparition, a ghost. It is evident that Christ used the term spirit in the same sense.

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Not that there was any spirit of that kind, but he wanted to show them that such a spirit as they conceived of was not then present before them; for such a spirit had not flesh and bones as they saw him have. The word pneuma, to be sure, is here used; but this has a great variety of meanings; and while it may be employed, perhaps, to express such a conception as the disciples had then in mind, we are not to understand that the word cannot be used to describe bodies like that which Christ then possessed. Bloomfield on this verse says: "It may be added that our Lord meant not to countenance these notions, but to show his hearers that, according to their own notions of spirits, he was not one."

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QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER FOURTEEN.

40. What proves this?

41. How then did Christ use the term spirit?

42. Did he mean to teach that there was anything of that kind?

43. What word is here used for spirit?

44. Could it ever be used to signify a spirit such as they then had in mind?

45. What is Bloomfield's testimony?

46. What objection is raised on Acts 23:8 to our view?

47. How many terms are used to express what the Sadducees did not believe?

48. How many to express the faith of the Pharisees?

49. What is meant by this word, both?

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Acts 23:8. "For the Sadducees say that there is no resurrection, neither angel nor spirit; but the Pharisees confess both." Paul declared himself in verse 6 to be a Pharisee, and in telling what they believed, in verse 8, it is claimed that Paul ranged himself on the side of those who believe in the separate, conscious existence of the spirit of man. But does this text say that the Pharisees believed in such a thing? Three terms are here used in expressing what the Sadducees did not believe; namely, "resurrection, angel, and spirit." But when the faith of the Pharisees is stated, these three terms are reduced to two: the Pharisees confess both. Both means

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and only two, not three. Now what two of the three terms before employed unite to express one branch of the faith of the Pharisees? The word angel could not be one, for the angels are a distinct race of beings from the human family. Then we have left, resurrection and spirit. The Pharisees believe in angels, and in the resurrection. Then, all the spirit they believed in, according to this testimony, is what is connected with the resurrection, and that, of course, is the spiritual body with which we are endowed. If any who say that the word both sometimes means more than two, and quote Acts 1:13 as proof, we reply, that the word both in Acts 1:13 is not the same word translated both in Acts 23:8. The word both here means just two, no more nor less. BD>

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QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER FOURTEEN.

50. Is the word here translated both, the same as that used in Acts 1:13?

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CHAPTER 15. Destiny of the Wicked

We have now briefly examined the testimony of the Bible in regard to the nature of man and his condition in death. The only remaining branch of the subject, namely, his destiny beyond the resurrection, next claims attention. From the evidence already presented, it is clear that the final doom of the wicked cannot be endless suffering, because we have seen that man has no immortal element in his nature. It only remains, therefore, that we take up those passages which are supposed to teach eternal suffering, and see if they can be harmonized with the scriptures already examined.

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QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER FIFTEEN.

1. What is shown by the testimony already examined?

2. What, then, remains to be done?

3. To what contradictory conclusions does the doctrine of the immortality of the soul lead?

4. In what terms does Christ describe the final destiny of the righteous and the wicked?

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It may be remarked, first, that the immortality of the soul leads to some very grave conclusions. For instance, the punishment of the sinner is set forth as being eternal; and if the soul cannot cease to be conscious, the doctrine of eternal misery inevitably follows. On the other hand, we read of a

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time when every intelligence in the universe will be ascribing honor, blessing, and praise to God. And if the soul is immortal, we are just as clearly taught by this declaration the universal restoration of all the race. Christ says, speaking of the wicked, "These shall go away into everlasting punishment;" but he immediately adds concerning the righteous, "But the righteous into life eternal." Here the same word is used in reference to the punishment of the wicked that is used to measure the life of the righteous. The punishment of the wicked, therefore, is eternal; and this overthrows Universalism and the restoration view of Origen. How, then, can this scripture be harmonized with the declaration just quoted, that all living intelligences shall finally bless and praise the God of heaven? The harmony is found in the nature of the punishment. This the Scriptures show to be death; and this view overthrows alike the restoration view of Origen and the eternal hell of Augustine.

We will now examine those passages of Scripture which are put forth as evidence that the punishment threatened to the wicked is eternal misery.

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QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER FIFTEEN.

5. How long is the punishment of the wicked to be?

6. What doctrines does this overthrow?

7. How can this be harmonized with Rev.5:13?

8. What is the punishment of the wicked?

9. What doctrines does this overthrow?

10. What objection is based on Dan.12:2?

11. What is here said to be everlasting?

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1. Dan.12:2: "But many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt." The objector couples the shame with the contempt, and makes both to be everlasting; but the scripture does not so express it. It is the contempt, and that only, that is said to be everlasting. The

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contempt is an emotion exercised not by the wicked, but by the righteous. The Syriac reads: "Some to shame, and the eternal contempt of their companions." The shame they will feel for themselves which shows that they are raised to consciousness; but the contempt is exercised by the righteous so long as they hold then in remembrance at all. This text, therefore, furnishes no proof of the eternal suffering of the wicked.

2. Matt.25:41: "Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels." Wicked men are not said in this text to be everlasting; and this destroys all the force of the passage for the popular view. Not even the devil is said to be everlasting, but only the fire. And in what respect is this everlasting? Not in its process of burning, but in its effects. Just as we read in Heb.5:9, of eternal salvation; in Heb.6:2, of eternal judgment; in Heb.9:12, of eternal redemption, - not a salvation, judgment, and redemption that are forever going forward, and never accomplished, but such as are eternal in their effects.

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QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER FIFTEEN.

12. By whom is the contempt spoken of exercised?

13. How does the Syriac read?

14. In Matt.24:41, what is said to be everlasting?

15. Why is the fire here called everlasting?

16. What parallel passages explain this?

17. What is the punishment spoken of in Matt.25:46?

18. What is the Greek word here used for punishment?

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3. Matt.25:46: "And these shall go away into everlasting punishment; but the righteous into life eternal." As we have said, the punishment and the life mentioned in this text are of equal duration. But what is this punishment? The Greek word here used for punishment is kolasis, which is defined

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a curtailing, or pruning. "Cutting off" is the prominent idea. The righteous go into everlasting life, but the wicked into an everlasting "cutting off" from something. What is that from which they are cut off? Happiness? No; but life, or existence, such as is given to the righteous.

But how, it will be asked, can death be an everlasting punishment? It is well understood that death is considered the severest punishment that can be inflicted in this world; and why? Because it deprives the individual of all the blessings of life which he might have enjoyed had he lived. So in the case of the wicked at the final Judgment, they are cut off from the eternal blessings of life in the kingdom of God, which the righteous enjoy; and hence it is to them an everlasting punishment.

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QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER FIFTEEN.

19. What is its primary signification?

20. How does this apply to the wicked?

21. From what are the wicked cut off?

22. Is death a punishment?

23. How can it be called everlasting punishment in the cases of the wicked?

24. What is the language used in Mark 9:43,44?

25. What is the word here translated hell?

26. What was it used to designate?

27. What was the peculiarity of this valley of Hinnom?

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4. Mark 9:43,44: "And if thy hand offend thee, cut it off; it is better for thee to enter into life maimed, than having two hands to go into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched; where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched." Twice, in verses 46 and 48, our Lord repeats this solemn sentence against the wicked. The word here used for hell is ge-enna, a word used to designate the valley of Hinnom, near Jerusalem. The use of this word throws much light upon the passage before us; for in this valley fires were kept constantly burning

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to consume the bodies of malefactors and the filth of the city, which were cast into it; and what the fire failed to consume, the worms preyed upon and destroyed. The figure, then, to which Christ called the minds of his hearers, was that of complete and utter destruction.

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QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER FIFTEEN.

28. What, then, would be suggested to the minds of Christ's hearers by these terms?

29. Were the Jews familiar with such imagery?

30. What is said in Jer.17:27?

31. Was this unquenchable fire?

32. Where is the fulfillment of this threatening recorded?

33. What did this unquenchable fire do?

34. What is the meaning, then, of unquenchable, in this instance?

35. What does David say in Ps.37:20?

36. What does Malachi say in Chap.4:3?

37. Where does Ezekiel use the term "unquenchable" in similar manner?

38. Where is the language found from which Mark 9:43,44, was borrowed?

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With such language and such figures the Jews were familiar. Isaiah and Jeremiah frequently used them. The Lord, in Jer.17:27, said that he would kindle a fire in the gates of Jerusalem which should not be quenched. 2Chron.36:19,21 records the fulfillment of this prophecy. It was simply a fire which burned until it had entirely consumed the gates of Jerusalem. Ps.37:20 says that the wicked shall consume into smoke. In Mal.4:3, we are told that they shall be ashes under the feet of the righteous. Ezekiel, in Chap.20:47,48, speaks of unquenchable fire in a similar manner. Our Lord, in the passage under consideration, undoubtedly borrows the language he uses from Is.66:24; but in Isaiah those that are subject to the unquenchable fire and the undying worm are not living persons, but dead bodies. So the Jews would understand Christ by these terms to threaten complete and utter

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destruction against the wicked. Eusebius even uses the same term, unquenchable fire, in reference to the martyrdom of Christians.

5. Jude 7: "Even as Sodom and Gomorrah, and the cities about them, in like manner, giving themselves over to fornication, and going after strange flesh, are set forth for an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire." What is said to be eternal in this text? Not the people, not the suffering, but only the fire. And why is this called eternal? Simply because it is eternal in its effects. Sodom and Gomorrah will never recover themselves from that destruction. 2Pet.2:6 says, "And turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah into ashes, condemned them with an overthrow, making them an ensample unto those that after should live ungodly." This text therefore proves that the wicked will be punished, not with eternal conscious suffering, but with an utter consumption, even as Sodom was consumed.

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QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER FIFTEEN.

39. What does Isaiah represent the unquenchable fire as preying upon?

40. How does Eusebius use the term?

41. What is the next passage quoted to prove eternal misery?

42. What is said to be eternal here?

43. Why is it called eternal?

44. How does 2Pet.2:6 explain this?

45. What is the next passage?

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6. But two more texts remain which are urged in favor of the doctrine of the eternal torment of the wicked, and both of these are found in the book of Revelation. The first is in Rev.14:11, being a part of the third angel's message, which is now under consideration: "And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up forever and ever; and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name."

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We first inquire of whom this is spoken. It is only of a particular class, - those "who worship the beast and his image." This text, therefore, is not decisive relative to the punishment of the wicked in general. But we inquire further, Does it mean eternal torment for those of whom it is spoken? As was said of the language quoted from Mark 9, so it may be said of this. It is not original with the New Testament, but is borrowed from the Old. In Is.34:9,10, the prophet, speaking of Idumea, says: "And the streams thereof shall be turned into pitch, and the dust thereof into brimstone, and the land thereof shall become burning pitch. It shall not be quenched night nor day; the smoke thereof shall go up forever: from generation to generation it shall lie waste; none shall pass through it forever and ever."

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QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER FIFTEEN.

46. Of whom is this spoken?

47. Is this language original with the New Testament?

48. From what is it borrowed?

49. What does Is.34:9,10, say of Idumea?

50. What are the only two ways in which this can be understood?

51. If it refers to the literal land of Idumea, what conclusion are we led to?

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There are but two ways in which this language can be understood, and in one of these ways it must be understood. It refers either to the literal land of Edom, east and south of Judea, or it is a figure to represent the whole world in the day of final conflagration. But in either case the meaning of the language is evident. If the literal land of Idumea is meant, and the language has reference to the desolations which have fallen upon it, then certainly no eternity of duration is implied in the declaration that "the smoke thereof shall go up forever;" for the judgments that fell upon that land have long since

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ceased. But if it refers to the fires of the last day, when the elements shall melt with fervent heat, and the earth also, and the works that are therein, shall be burned up, even then the terms must be understood as denoting only limited duration; for from the ashes of the old earth, after a suitable lapse of time, through the working of Him who maketh all things new, there shall come forth a new heavens and a new earth, according to the declaration of Peter, which shall be the eternal abode of the righteous.

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QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER FIFTEEN.

52. If it is a figure representing the general conflagration of the last day, what is the conclusion still?

53. What does the term "forever and ever," as used in the Bible, represent?

54. What are the Greek terms employed for these words?

55. What is the meaning of these terms?

56. What lexicographers give this among the significations of these terms?

57. What is Dr. Clark's rule, and where found?

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As we thus see that the terms used in the Bible denote limited duration, we inquire if the lexicons define then in the same manner. The terms used are anion and aionios. Anion is defined by Greenfield, Schrevelius, Liddell and Scott, Parkhurst, Robinson, Schleusner, Wahl, and Cruden, as meaning finite duration as well as infinite. The term seems to imply, primarily, simply duration, or the flow of time; but the extent of time must be defined by other terms. When it is applied to objects which we are told will endure absolutely without end, as God, Christ, angels, the saints' inheritance, and immortal beings, it means unlimited duration; but when it is applied to objects which we know will come to an end, it then covers only the length of time during which those things exist. Dr. Clarke,

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in his closing remarks on 2Kings5, gives us this rule for the interpretation of the words "forever and ever." He says they "take in the whole extent or duration, of the things to which they are applied." If, therefore, we find other declarations stating positively that the wicked will come to an end, - and we do find multitudes of such, - then this term, "forever," or "forever and ever," applied to them, must signify only the length of time during which they exist.

The second word, aionios, is subject in all respects to the same definition and rule which is noticed above in reference to aion.

The second passage, Rev.20:10, being exactly parallel to the one found in Rev.14, is explained in the same manner. Rev.14:11 doubtless applies at the beginning of the thousand years, when the beast and the false prophet are cast into the lake of fire burning with brimstone, as stated in Rev.19:20; while the passage in Rev.20:10 refers to a similar scene of destruction visited upon Satan and all his host at the end of the thousand years.

7. Having now examined all the texts supposed to teach eternal misery, and having found that all are easily harmonized with the view of the destruction of the wicked, and that some even furnish the strongest testimony for that doctrine, we now look at a few of the passages of the Bible which speak positively of the doom of the lost.

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QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER FIFTEEN.

58. What may be said of aionios?

59. How is Rev.20:10 explained?

60. When does Rev.14:11 doubtless apply?

61. When, Rev.20:10?

62. What is taught in Eze.18:26?

63. What texts sustain this view?

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Eze.18:26: "When a righteous man turneth

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away from his righteousness, and committeth iniquity, and dieth in them; for his iniquity that he hath done shall he die." Here two deaths are brought to view, - the first, a death in sin, and the other a consequence following that, - a death for sin. We have seen that the first death leaves a man unconscious in the grave; and the second must leave him in the same condition, with no promise of a resurrection.

Paul says in Rome.6:23, "The wages of sin is death;" and James (1:15) corroborates this testimony in saying, "Sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death." Death cannot, by any proper definition, be made to mean continuance in life. "The death that never dies" is a contradiction of terms.

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QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER FIFTEEN.

64. What does Ps.145:20 say of the wicked?

65. John 3:16, what?

66. Heb.10:39, what?

67. Ps.37:10 and Obad.16, what?

68. To what kind of substances are the wicked compared?

69. Name the texts, and tell how they speak of them?

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Here are some of the declarations of the Bible respecting the wicked: They shall be destroyed (Ps.145:20); they shall perish (John 3:16); they shall go to perdition (Heb.10:39); they shall come to an end, and be as though they had not been (Ps.37:10; Obad.16). They are compared to the most inflammable and perishable substances; as a potter's vessel (Ps.2:9); beasts that perish (Ps.49:20); a whirlwind that passeth away (Ps.58:9); a waterless garden (Is.1:30); garments consumed by the moth (Is.51:8); thistle down scattered by the whirlwind (Is.17:13); the fat of lambs consumed in the fire (Ps.37:20; ashes (Mal.4:3); wax (Ps.68:2); tow (Is.1:31); thorns (Is.33:12); exhausted waters (Ps.58:7).

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In the New Testament they are likened to chaff which is to be burned entirely up (Matt.3:12); tares to be consumed (Matt.13:40); withered branches to be burned (John 15:6); bad fish cast away to corruption (Matt.13:47,48); a house thrown down (Luke 6:49); the old world destroyed by water (Luke 17:29); the Sodomites destroyed by fire (2Pet.2:5,6); natural brute beasts, that perish in their own corruption (2Pet.2:12).

Finally, the teaching of the Bible on this subject may be summed up in this proposition: The wicked shall be consumed, and devoured by fire. Is.5:20-24; Ps.37:20; Rev.20:9. The word in this last reference rendered devoured, says Prof. Stuart, "is intensive, so that it denotes utter excision."

In the light of these testimonies from the Scriptures, we can readily understand how it is that the wicked are to be recompensed in the earth. Prov.11:31. Coming up in the second resurrection at the end of the thousand years, they surround the beloved city, New Jerusalem, then descended from heaven, and their fearful retribution overtakes them. This is the day of Judgment and perdition of ungodly men, described by Peter (2Pet.3:10,12); and this is the fire that melts the earth and the elements with fervent heat.

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QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER FIFTEEN.

70. What are the New Testament representations?

71. What general proposition covers the teaching of the Bible on this question?

72. What is Prof Stuart's definition of "devour" in Rev.20:9?

73. What bearing have these testimonies on Prov.11:31?

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We can also understand how the righteous are recompensed in the earth, according to the same passage in Proverbs; for they, after the destruction

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of the wicked, go forth and take possession of the earth made new, as their eternal inheritance.

We can also understand how and when Rev.5:13 is to be fulfilled; for now we have a universe clean and pure. Satan and all his followers are destroyed, the last taints of the curse, and the least stains of sin, are all wiped away, and all creatures raise their voices in the glad anthem of universal jubilee, ascribing "blessing, and honor, and glory, and power, unto Him that sitteth on the throne, and unto the Lamb forever and ever."

There is something most dishonorable to God in the idea that sin, introduced contrary to his will, must continue to all eternity. Its origin and its temporary continuance we can explain on Scriptural and rational principles; but its eternity, never.

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QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER FIFTEEN.

74. How does the doctrine of the eternity of sin affect our views of the character of God?

75. How can sin and the punishment be balanced on the ground of eternal misery?

76. What does Benson say?

77. How does this represent the sinner?

78. What does the Bible say we are to be punished for?

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With this view of eternal misery, there is the most fearful discrepancy between the sins of this finite life and the eternal suffering visited upon them; hence divines are driven to say that the sins will continue in hell. Benson says that they (sinners) "must be perpetually swelling their enormous sums of guilt, and still running deeper, immensely deeper, in debt to divine and infinite justice." This represents the sinner as being able to accumulate his load of guilt faster than God can devise terrors and judgments adequate to their punishment. But the Bible says that we are to give an account for the deeds

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done in the body, or in this life only, and be rewarded according to our works here. God has made no provision for the eternity of sin, but has devised the most effectual means to prevent it.

The philosophical objections, resting on the ground of immateriality and that matter cannot think, the capacities of the soul and the analogies of nature, are disproved by an examination of the powers and capacities of the brute creation. It is said that immortality is assumed in the Bible, or, as Bishop Tillotson says, "taken for granted." But it cannot be taken for granted any more than the immortality of Jehovah, and that is expressly revealed.

It is said, again, that annihilation is impossible, We answer, True, in reference to matter as matter (that is, we have no evidence that God will annihilate matter, though he could do so if he chose), but not in reference to intelligent and conscious beings. And we claim that the wicked are to cease to be, only in this respect.

It is said that this doctrine has an evil tendency. If so, let the objector show us the infidels and criminals, and profane, wicked, and corrupt persons in the ranks of the friends of this doctrine. The truth is just the opposite of this. Multitudes in the light of this teaching are able to exclaim for the first time that they can harmonize the ways of God with reason and revelation; and therefore can believe the Bible to be his word.

79. Does God provide for the eternity of sin? 80. How are some of the objections of philosophy disproved? 81. What may be said about annihilation? 82. What about the charge that this doctrine has an evil tendency?

CHAPTER 16. The Seven Last Plagues

The subject of the seven last plagues is another theme that demands examination in connection with the third angel's message; for these plagues are brought to view in the message itself, are intimately connected with it according to other prophecies, and immediately follow its close. The threatening which this message utters is expressed in these words; "The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation." The first verse of chapter 15 speaks of judgments in which "is filled up the wrath of God." This must certainly mean the same as the unmixed wrath threatened in the message, but here it is plainly said to be the seven last plagues.

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QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER SIXTEEN.

1. What other subject is connected with the third angel's message?

2. When are the seven last plagues brought to view?

3. In what language is the threatening expressed?

4. What expression is used in Rev.15:1?

5. What must this be equivalent to?

6. What is the judgment of Rev.15:1 called?

7. Can these plagues be poured out till the work in the sanctuary is closed?

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This is still further proved by the chronology of these plagues. They are still future; for they cannot be poured out till the work in the sanctuary is

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finished. John says in Rev.15:5-8, that the temple of the tabernacle in heaven was opened. This brings to view the work of Christ in the most holy place. From that temple then came forth seven angels with the seven last plagues; and while they were pouring them out, the temple was filled with the glory of the Lord, so that no one was able to enter therein till the seven plagues of the seven angels were fulfilled. This brings us to the time when the priesthood of Christ has closed; for till that time there will be some one ministering in that temple. Being thus future, they must be that unmixed wrath threatened in the third message, which is the last judgment to be inflected on men before the Lord appears.

The chronology of these plagues is shown still more fully by the language used in reference to the first plague itself. Rev.16:2. The first messenger of wrath pours out his vial upon the earth, and there falls a noisome and grievous sore upon those who have the mark of the beast, and upon those who worship his image. But this reception of the mark and worship of the image is the very thing against which the third angel's message warns us. These plagues, therefore, do not fall till the third angel's message is concluded.

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QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER SIXTEEN.

8. How is this proved?

9. Upon whom does the first plague fall?

10. By what are we warned against receiving the mark, etc?

11. What is the chronology of these plagues, therefore, as compared with the message?

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Now if we say that these plagues have been poured out in the past, - ages in the past, as some contend, - or that they even commenced to be poured out then, it follows that the third angel's message accomplished

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its work ages in the past. But the third message warns us against two antecedent powers brought to view in Rev.13, - the leopard beast and the two horned beast. These could not have existed and acted later than the message which warned against them.

But if in order to have the first plague poured out ages in the past we place the third message there, we throw the second and first still further back. But the first message, which is identical with the angel of Rev.10, is based upon the fulfillment of the prophetic periods. Hence we thus throw all prophetic interpretation ages away from our own time, where it is having its fulfillment. But we have shown that the two-horned beast is now on the stage of action, preparing to perform his last work, and that the third angel's message is now in the land, and beginning to go forth with power. The plagues which follow it are therefore future, the last manifestation of God's wrath upon the last generation of men, after the third angel has ceased his warning, the work in the sanctuary is ended, and a mediator no longer stands between God and men to stay from them the vials of his indignation.

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QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER SIXTEEN.

12. If we throw the beginning of these plagues ages in the past, as some demand, where must we put the message?

13. What, then, becomes of the leopard beast and the two-horned beast of Rev.13?

14. And how are the first and second messages affected by this view?

15. With what is the first message of Rev.14 identical?

16. Upon what is it based?

17. Then how is all prophetic interpretation affected by such an application?

18. What has already been proved?

19. What do all these arguments show in reference to the plagues?

20. Will the plagues be literal?

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These plagues will be literal. A parallel is found

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in the plagues inflicted upon the Egyptians, as recorded in Exodus, chapters 7-10, which no one thinks of regarding other than literal. The terrible nature of these judgments is made sufficiently clear by the record given us in Rev.16.

As the result of the first plague, a terrible and grievous sore breaks out upon the men which have the mark of the beast.

As the result of the second plague, the sea becomes as the blood of a dead man, a most infectious and deadly substance. If the sea here means the oceans of our globe, as it probably does, we leave the reader to imagine, as far as he can, the terrible effects of this plague. It is no wonder John says that every living soul died in the sea.

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QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER SIXTEEN.

21. What parallel plagues are brought to view in the Bible?

22. Where is the record of these plagues?

23. What is the result of the first vial?

24. Of the second?

25. Of the third?

26. How can it be said of men at this time that they have shed the blood of saints and prophets?

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At the pouring out of the third vial, the rivers and fountains of waters become blood. This touches the human family in a still more vital point. Probably these two plagues will be of short duration; for otherwise it would seem that all flesh must perish from the face of the earth. John heard the angel say, as this plague was poured out, Thou are righteous, O Lord; for they have shed the blood of saints and prophets, and thou has given them blood to drink. The query may arise how the last generation of the wicked, who are not permitted to slay the saints, can be said to have shed the blood of saints and prophets. The answer is, They designed to do it, determined to do it, tried to do it (Rev.13:15-17), and are therefore just as guilty as though [3.0] 164

they had done it. It is no virtue in them that God restrains them from their evil intentions; and they meet the just fate of the actual transgressor.

The fourth angel pours out his vial upon the sun, and it scorches the earth with unwonted heat, thus most fearfully intensifying the effects of the preceding plagues. In the result of this plague we doubtless find a fulfillment of Joel 1:14-20.

The fifth angel pours out his vial upon the seat of the beast, and darkness like that which overspread Egypt pervades his kingdom. This judgment is inflicted especially upon the papacy, the seat of the beast being Rome, and his kingdom being his subjects wherever they are found. In the description of this plague we find an expression which shows that all these plagues fall upon the same generation; for it is said that they blasphemed God because of their pains and their sores. These sores must be the ones brought to view under the first plague. Those upon whom the first vial was poured, many of them, at least, are thus shown to be still living under the fifth plague, and still suffering from the effects of the first plague.

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QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER SIXTEEN.

27. What is the effect of the fourth vial?

28. What prophecy is fulfilled in this?

29. Upon what locality is the fifth plague poured?

30. What is the seat of the beast?

31. What is his kingdom?

32. What proof is found here that these plagues fall upon the same generation of men?

33. Upon what is the sixth vial poured?

34. What is here symbolized by the river Euphrates?

35. What is meant by the drying up of its waters?

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The sixth angel pours out his vial upon the great river Euphrates. This is a symbol of the Ottoman empire, and the drying up of its waters denotes the utter consumption and overthrow of that power.

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And the way for that consummation is now preparing in the most apparent and rapid manner. Under this plague, three unclean spirits go forth from the dragon, the beast, and the false prophet; that is, Paganism, the Papacy, and apostate Protestantism. In this we behold the work of spiritualism, which has already made such headway in the world. Some have even concluded that we are already under this sixth plague, because of the decline of the Turkish power, and of the work of spiritualism. But before the Euphrates can be entirely consumed, there must be a process of the drying up of its waters; and before the spirits can go out of the mouth of the dragon, the beast, and the false prophet, they must win their way into the hearts of these powers. We now see the preparatory work going forward; the strength, resources, and influence of spirits of devils are making their way into the high places of the earth. Under this plague we behold the completion of this work; and it cannot, from present indications, be far distant.

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QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER SIXTEEN.

36. What further development takes place under this plague?

37. What is meant by the dragon, beast, and false prophet?

38. What is denoted by these spirits?

39. What conclusion have some come to from the condition of Turkey and the work of spiritualism?

40. How is this explained?

41. What is the object of the work of these spirits?

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The work of the spirits when they thus go forth with authority, is to gather the kings of the earth and of the whole world to the battle of the great day of God Almighty, which is then impending. They are gathered into a place called Armageddon. The spirits gather them there. Our English version reads, "He gathered them;" but in the Greek a neuter

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plural subject can regularly take a verb in the singular number; and the subject of the singular verb "gathered" in verse 16, is the neuter plural spirits (pneumata) of verse 14.

The seventh angel pours out his vial into the air. The effect of this is all-pervading. A great earthquake, such as never before was known, rends the earth from center to circumference. The cities of the nations fall. Great Babylon receives her cup of wrath. The islands and mountains flee away; and great hailstones, each about the weight of a talent (57lbs.) fall upon men. Here are seen the treasures of hail which God has reserved against this day of trouble, and battle, and war. Job 38:22,23. This plague brings us into scenes which are intimately connected with the coming of Christ. See Rev.6:14-17. Christ soon appears; and those who have survived through all these judgments, are slain by the spirit of his mouth and the brightness of his coming. Rev.19:21; 2Thess.2:8.

For some of the gracious promises which are given to the people of God during this time of fearful trouble, a time of trouble, on the nations, such as never was (Dan.12:1), read the 91st psalm.

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QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER SIXTEEN.

42. Who gather the nations?

43. What criticism is made on the singular verb of verse 16?

44. Where is the seventh and last vial poured out?

45. What then takes place?

46. What is the weight of the hailstones that then fall?

47. What Old-Testament declaration is then fulfilled?

48. Into what scenes does this plague bring us?

49. How are those who survive the plagues finally slain? Give references.

50. To what does the time of trouble such as never was, mentioned in Dan.12:1, apply? (This trouble coming on the nations is not to be confounded with the tribulation such as never was, spoken of in Matt.24:21, which comes upon the church.)

51. What promises have the saints during this time of trouble

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CHAPTER 17. The Millennium

THE word millennium, from the Latin mille, thousand, and annus, a year, means a thousand years. It is used altogether with reference to the thousand years spoken of in Rev.20:4,5,7, during which all overcomers in the Christian warfare will live and reign with Christ, the captain of their salvation. Tradition has it that this thousand years is the seventh in order from the creation of the world, following six thousand years of the reign of sin and the triumph of evil. It is the coming golden age of the people of God, set before them as an object of hope, to stimulate them in their efforts to overcome and secure the great salvation; but the enemy of all truth seizes upon it as the basis of one of his most effectual last-day delusions by which he will lull many into a feeling of carnal security, and thus compass their ruin at last.

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QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER SEVENTEEN.

1. What is the derivation of the word "millennium?"

2. What is its meaning?

3. With reference to what is it used?

4. What tradition exists on the subject?

5. How has the doctrine been perverted?

6. How does it obstruct the doctrine of the coming of Christ?

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When we proclaim that the coming of Christ is at hand, and warn men that they must now make

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haste to prepare for the close of probation and the end of all things, or it will be everlastingly too late, those who are under the influence of the doctrine of the temporal millennium respond: "Oh, no! the world is to be all converted, and we are to have a thousand years of peace and righteousness before Christ can come."

This is the doctrine of the "temporal millennium," so largely indulged in by professors at the present day. It is a doctrine of comparatively recent origin, being introduced by Daniel Whitby, D.D., in the latter part of the seventeenth century. The apostle has told us (1Thess.5:3) that when the last overwhelming destruction is just about to burst upon the world, the mass of the people will be so happily dreaming of quiet and prosperity, that they will be in the very act of crying peace and safety. We arraign this doctrine as the chief element of the peace-and-safety cry, the warp and woof of the great error which will more than anything else close the eyes and ears of men and women against the solemn and all-important doctrine of the impending advent of the Son of God.

The few texts urged in defense of this doctrine are entitled to candid notice.

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QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER SEVENTEEN.

7. When did this doctrine originate?

8. What scripture is it fulfilling?

9. How is Ps.2:8, sometimes misapplied?

10. What shows that it does not mean the conversion of the world?

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1. Ps.2:8: "Ask of me, and I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession." This is correctly understood as a promise made by the Father to the Son. But that it does not mean the conversion

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of the world is sufficiently shown by the very next verse: "Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron; thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel."

2. Dan.2:34,35. It is claimed that the stone cut out of the mountain without hands, here mentioned, which represents the kingdom of Christ, will roll and absorb the material of the image, till it fills the whole earth. But the prophecy does not so represent the matter. The stone smites the image upon its feet, dashes to powder its different parts (earthly governments), so that like chaff they are blown away, and find no place in God's new economy. The stone has nothing in common with these. The kingdom represented by the stone does not grow by gradual accretion, but is set up in full strength and glory, when Christ's foes are made his footstool, and he takes to himself his great power, and reigns.

3. Is.66:8. This text is usually quoted, "A nation shall be born in a day," and made to mean that the progress of the gospel shall be so rapid that a whole nation shall receive it in a day. Correctly quoted, the text reads, "Shall the earth be made to bring forth in one day? or shall a nation be born at once?" This evidently refers, not to the conversion of men, but to the resurrection of the just from the dust of the earth.

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QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER SEVENTEEN.

11. What is claimed from Dan.2:34,35?

12. What is its true meaning?

13. How is Is.66:8 misquoted?

14. To what does it refer?

15. When does Rev.11:15 apply?

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4. Rev.11:15: "The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord and of his Christ." But this, observe, is under the third and last woe, and is connected with God's wrath, and his

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judgments; and his enemies (those who destroy or corrupt the earth) are to be themselves destroyed, not converted.

5. Matt.24:14: "And this gospel . . . shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come." But it is not said that every individual will hear it, much less obey it. But even if it did, it would still be far from sustaining the position of our friends; for then, according to the text, the end would come; but they say, No, not till a thousand years thereafter. The gospel shall be a "witness" to all nations, and "take out of them a people for his name" (Acts 15:14), nothing more.

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QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER SEVENTEEN.

16. What is the teaching of Matt.24:14?

17. Do Is.2:3,4 and Mic.4:1 record what the Lord says, or what "the people" say?

18. What shows how wide the people are from the truth?

19. When will Jer.31:34 be realized? and why?

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6. Is.2:3,4; Mic.4:1: "And they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more." These words occur in both Isaiah and Micah. But if the reader will examine the context of both passages, he will find that the words quoted are what the people say shall occur in the last days, not what the Lord says. And this is just what the people are now saying. In fact, these passages are a prophecy that this doctrine of a temporal millennium would be preached in the last days; and we are having the fulfillment. But how far this teaching is from the truth may be learned by comparing it with what the Lord calls upon the people to do in the last days, as recorded in Joel 3:9-14: "Prepare

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war. . . . Beat your plowshares into swords, and your pruninghooks into spears," etc. And the fulfillment of this we are also having.

7. Jer.31:34: "They shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them." This is a part of the predicted blessing of the new covenant, under which we reach immortality and the eternal state. And in that state this condition of things will be realized, but never here.

8. Num.14:21: "But as truly as I live, all the earth shall be filled with the glory of the Lord." In connection with this text see also Hab.2:14; Is.11:9; and Matt.5:5, compared with Ps.37:9-11. If the earth in its present condition was to continue forever, it would be necessary, perhaps, to make some such application of these passages as our friends make, and look somewhere in its history for the conversion of the world. But when we learn that there is to be a new dispensation, in which all shall be restored, a new earth out of which evil-doers shall be cut off, and in which the righteous shall dwell, we must apply these texts to this new order of things.

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QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER SEVENTEEN.

20. When can the texts of paragraph 8 be fulfilled, if not in this present state?

21. How is Is.65:17-25 made to favor the view of a temporal millennium?

22. How does Peter explain this passage?

23. To what does the prophecy of Is.65:17 therefore refer?

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9. Is.65:17-25: "For, behold, I create new heavens and a new earth," etc. It is only by the most distortive efforts to make language figurative, that this portion of Scripture can be impressed into the service of temporal millennianism. But all such efforts are vain in view of the plain explanation of the passage given by the apostle Peter. He

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speaks of the destruction of the antediluvian world by the flood, which was, of course, this literal earth. 2Pet.3:5,6. He then speaks of the "the heavens and the earth which are now," this literal earth which we inhabit, and these heavens which we see, and says that these are to be destroyed by fire; but he further declares that this is to be followed by a new heavens and a new earth, just as literal, certainly, as the ones already mentioned; and he says that this is according to God's "promise." But when Peter wrote, no promise of this, couched in such phraseology, had been given, except in Is.65:17-25. This prophecy therefore refers to the literal future new earth, not to any work of grace to be accomplished in this old one.

Having examined the principal texts quoted to prove the conversion of the world, and the temporal triumph of Christianity for a thousand years in the present dispensation, and having shown that these texts cannot be so interpreted as to mean what is claimed for them, we now ask attention to a few of the positive declarations of Scripture which prove that no such state of thing as that indicated above can exist in this world prior to the second advent.

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QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER SEVENTEEN.

24. What other class of scriptures now demand attention?

25. What does the horn of Dan.7:21,22 symbolize?

26. Will it ever be reformed?

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1. The little horn exists as a power hostile to the true church till the coming of Christ. Says Daniel (7:21,22), "I beheld, and the same horn made war with the saints, and prevailed against them; until the Ancient of days came, and judgment was given to the saints of the Most High: and the time came that the saints possessed the kingdom." This little

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horn symbolizes the papacy. The papacy is never to be reformed. It exists till it is destroyed by the brightness of Christ's coming. 2Thess.2:3-8. A triumphant church, a converted world, with the papacy, that great antichristian power, doing its work of death therein, would be an impossibility.

2. The wicked continue with the righteous, as illustrated by the parable of the wheat and the tares, until the end of the Christian age. Matt.13:24-30,36-43. This parable represents the righteous by wheat, the wicked by tares. Both are to grow together till the harvest. The harvest is explained to be the end of the world, and the reapers are the angels who are sent to gather the elect when the Lord appears. Matt.24:31. There is no period in all this time for the tares to become wheat for a thousand years, as would have to be the case if at any time the world became converted, and then turn back to tares again, as would also have to the case; for when the Lord comes, he finds little faith, but great wickedness on the earth. Luke 18:8; 2Tim.3:1-5,12,13; 2Thess.1:7-10.

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QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER SEVENTEEN.

27. How and when will it be destroyed?

28. Can there be a converted world with the papacy still ruling?

29. What is taught by the parable of the wheat and tares, Matt.13:24-30,36-48?

30. What is the harvest?

31. What condition of faith will the Lord find when he comes?

32. What is the portion of God's children in all ages?

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3. Persecution and tribulation are appointed as the portion of the children of God in all ages. Such it was from the days of Abel to the days of the apostle Paul, according to Heb.11. Pointing back to the ancient worthies, who, beholding the reward afar off, endured all manner of tribulation, but died before

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receiving the promises, the apostle says, "God having provided some better thing for us, that they without us should not be made perfect." Heb.11:39,40. He declares again that they that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution (2Tim.3:12), and it is elsewhere stated that this would be especially the case in the last days, when scoffers would abound (2Pet.3:3), and Satan would work in mighty power. Rev.12:12; 2Thess.2:8-12.

4. The last days, which are considered by believers in the world's conversion and the temporal millennium as the most favorable for the accomplishment of that object, are described by the apostle as days of special peril, in reference to which he warns the church: "This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come," etc. Even professed Christians, it is declared, would be so far carried away by the prevailing evils, that it would be necessary for the true to turn away from the false. Nineteen terrible charges are made against those even who have a form of godliness; and "from such," says the apostle, "turn away." 2Tim.3:1-5. How could this be, if the world was converted?

5. According to the declarations of Peter (2Pet.3:3), scoffers are to arise in the last days, and inquire, "Where is the promise of his coming?" which could not be the case if the world was all converted, and so remained a thousand years before his coming.

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QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER SEVENTEEN.

33. What is the character of the last days as described by the apostle?

34. When do Peter's scoffers arise?

35. How do the last days compare with those of Noah and Lot?

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6. The last days are to be like the days of Noah and Lot. Then the multitudes rejected the truth, and perished; the few believed, and were saved.

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"Even thus shall it be when the Son of man is revealed." Luke 17:26-30.

7. At the very time when the world and the great mass of professors of religion are cherishing the delusive hope of a good time coming, of peace and prosperity, destruction, and not the conversion of the world, is impending. "When they shall say, Peace and safety, then sudden destruction cometh upon them, and they shall not escape." 1Thess.5:3. The doctrine that the world must be converted, and a thousand years of peace and righteousness intervene, before the Lord comes, is the very soul and essence of such a cry as the apostle mentions; and that doctrine has arisen, and is being zealously promulgated, during these later years. No one need be deceived; for the apostle tells us, in the text last quoted, what the result will be.

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QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER SEVENTEEN.

36. What is impending when the cry of peace and safety is heard?

37. How is the way to destruction and the way to life described?

38. Will theses ways ever change?

39. Do we anywhere read that the world will some day desert the way to destruction, and press into the way of life?

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8. The way to destruction ever has been, still is, and will be to the end of time, a broad and easy way, but the way to life a strait and narrow way. Our Lord himself has thus declared: "Enter ye in at the strait gate; for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat; because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it." Matt.7:13,14. We nowhere read that at any time in the history of the church the broad way would merge into the narrow way, and run for a thousand years in the direction to life, and away from destruction, as must be the

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case if the world is to be converted and a temporal millennium ensue; or, to put it, perhaps, in more accurate phraseology, nowhere do we read that the way to destruction would at some time become suddenly deserted, and no one be found walking therein, while all the world would be pressing into the narrow way which leads to life. The doctrine of the temporal millennium, therefore, cannot be true.

The gospel has not been sent into the world coupled with any purpose or design to convert all men. Its object is declared by an inspired apostle to be simply to take out of the Gentiles a people for God's name. Acts 15:14. This it has been doing, and still is doing. But from the days of the apostles to the present, the prospect that the world would ever be converted has been growing less and less promising. If the church in its earliest and purest state could not bring all men to the obedience of the gospel, even where it was preached in its greatest power, and confirmed by the mightiest miracles, much less can this be accomplished by that type of Christianity which prevails at the present day.

For two great reasons, then, we reject the idea of the world's conversion before the coming of Christ:

1. No texts can be found to support such a doctrine; and 2. Many declarations are found positively forbidding it. It is therefore an error, and a particularly dangerous error, as its tendency is to lead people to reject the doctrine of the second coming of Christ, and to neglect the preparation necessary therefor.

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QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER SEVENTEEN.

40. What is the design of the gospel?

41. Has it already largely accomplished this?

42. How does the first state of the church compare with the present?

43. What then are the two great reasons for rejecting the doctrine of a temporal millennium?

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CHAPTER 18. Matthew 24

THE 24th chapter of Matthew, being the longest prediction of consecutive events uttered by Christ while here upon the earth, has been justly styled "Our Lord's Great Prophecy." Peculiar dignity and importance attaches to it because it is a prophecy from the lips of Christ himself, unlike most others which came through the medium of inspired men.

1. The prediction covers all the gospel dispensation from the days of Christ to the end of time. It was not all fulfilled at and by the overthrow of Jerusalem in A.D. 70, and the dispersion of the Jewish nation, as some claim. This is proved by many considerations, among which may be mentioned, -

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QUESTIONS ON LESSON EIGHTEEN.

1. What is the 24th of Matthew justly styled?

2. What gives it peculiar importance?

3. How much time does the prediction cover?

4. When do some claim it was fulfilled?

5. What limits the fulfillment of verse 7?

6. How long after Jerusalem's overthrow did the Roman kingdom remain a unit?

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(1.) The fulfillment of verse 7, which could not take place till after the Roman empire had broken up, and nations and kingdoms had been developed therefrom. But for a hundred years previous to the overthrow of Jerusalem, and for nearly three

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hundred years afterward, Rome, like a mighty colossus, bestrode the world, and held all people subject to itself in the unity of its empire.

(2.) After their rejection of Christ, the Jews were not the elect of verse 22. The days of tribulation accompanying the destruction of Jerusalem were not shortened for their sake, neither were they shortened for the sake of Christians, the true elect; for these all fled from Jerusalem at the appointed sign, and found safe shelter at Pella, sixty miles away, while wrath to the uttermost came upon the Jewish people.

(3.) The signs predicted, verse 29, were to come after the tribulation referred to; but all the signs pertaining to the destruction of Jerusalem occurred before that event. And moreover Christ had said that there should be no sign given to that people, but the sign of the prophet Jonas.

(4.) Verse 14 could not be fulfilled till the light of the gospel had made the circuit of the globe. This was not true in that day, but it is in ours.

(5.) No such signs as verse 29 predicted to occur, took place at the destruction of Jerusalem. It must therefore refer to a later time.

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QUESTIONS ON LESSON EIGHTEEN.

7. Who were the elect?

8. Was the tribulation attending the overthrow of Jerusalem shortened for either Jews or Christians?

9. Where did the Christians find shelter?

10. When were the signs of verse 29 to occur?

11. When did the signs attending Jerusalem's destruction occur?

12. What only true sign was to be given to that generation?

13. What must transpire before verse 14 could be fulfilled?

14. Why must the prediction of verse 29 refer to a later time than that of the destruction of Jerusalem?

15. What can be said of the events mentioned in verses 27,30,31?

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(6.) The events attendant upon the coming of the

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Son of man, as described in verses 27,30 and 31, - the sudden glory, flashing like the lightning from east to west, his sign in heaven, the great sound of the trumpet, the wailing of all the tribes of the earth, and the speeding away of the cohorts of angels in dazzling glory to gather the elect from the four winds of heaven, - no such events occurred at the destruction of Jerusalem. The man is utterly reckless who will make such a preposterous affirmation. If the warlike entry of Titus into Judea, and his massing of the Roman legions against Jerusalem, fulfilled to the Jews all that is said of the coming of Christ, similar events would be his coming to other nations; and then it could be shown that he has already come thousands of times, and to almost every nation under heaven.

2. As the prophecy, according to the foregoing evidence, was not confined to the destruction of Jerusalem, but reaches to the end of the world, it follows that wherever the "coming of Christ," or "the end," is spoken of, it refers to the end of the world. Following this clew, we find that we are, in three distinct sections in the chapter, taken over the ground from some event in the past to the close of time. The first section embraces verses 4-14; the second, verses 15-28; the third, verses 29-51.

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QUESTIONS ON LESSON EIGHTEEN.

16. If we apply these to Jerusalem, what conclusion follows?

17. What do the expressions "coming of Christ" and "the end," as found in this chapter, refer to?

18. Of how many sections is the chapter composed? and what verses embrace them?

19. What is evident from verse 3?

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3. From the request of the disciples (verse 3), "Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming and of the end of

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QUESTIONS ON LESSON EIGHTEEN.

20. What prediction did Christ make concerning the temple?

21. What were the dimensions of some of the foundation stones?

22. Would a pretender have ventured to predict their destruction?

23. What did Titus say when he finally took the Jewish citadel?

24. What was done by Turnus Rufus?

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the world?" it is evident that Christ had held with his disciples a more extensive conversation upon these subjects than is recorded in verse 2. The expression, "these things," doubtless refers to the primary object of their inquiry; namely, the overthrow of the temple and the destruction of the city; while the subject of his second coming and the end of the world, was one which had been naturally connected with it. The disciples, impressed with the glory and magnificence of the temple, called Christ's attention to the massive and apparently imperishable structure. The stone in the foundation were of marvelous size, - fifty feet long, twenty-four feet broad, and fifteen feet thick, making eighteen thousand cubic feet of stone in one block; and these were bound together with lead, and fastened with strong iron clamps. In reply he reveals to them the sad fact of its coming destruction, when not one stone should be left upon another. No impostor would ever have made such a prediction. The Jews were then at peace with the Romans; and their citadel was so strong that when Titus finally took it in A.D. 70, he acknowledged that it was God's hand which had compelled the Jews to relinquish their strongholds, which no human power could have conquered. In the overthrow of Jerusalem, the stones of the temple were not only broken and dislodged, but the very ground on which they were erected was dug up and finally plowed by one Turnus Rufus. BD>

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Passing naturally from this destruction, Christ takes occasion to refer to the greater destruction at his coming and kingdom, which shall involve, not Judea only, but the whole world. This is evident from their subsequent conversation, in which Christ still further elucidates this question by tracing the history of his people through this dispensation, giving some of the great features of their experience, and pointing out the great signs which should herald his second coming.

He first puts them on their guard against impostors who should arise in his name. Having rejected the true Messiah, Satan was very willing that they should follow pretenders. One of these, Theudas by name, is mentioned by Josephus, of whom he says that "he deceived many." Another is called in Acts 21:38, the "Egyptian," who had four thousand followers. Following the overthrow of Jerusalem, there have appeared during this dispensation, according to Buck's Theological Dictionary, no less than twenty-four pretended Messiahs, who have drawn away multitudes of deluded followers.

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QUESTIONS ON LESSON EIGHTEEN.

25. What does Christ say of false christs?

26. How was his prediction fulfilled?

27. What prepared the way for the predicted "wars and rumors of war?"

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"Wars and rumors of war," soon followed. Rome broke up into ten kingdoms; and between these divisions and other nations which have arisen, there has been increasing strife and war to the present time. We might expect from the nature of the prophecy that these would increase as we approach the end; and in confirmation of this, it is only necessary to state that, according to the London Economist, the estimated cost of the great wars of the

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world for twenty-five years, from 1852 to 1877, was something over twelve thousand millions of dollars!

"Famines, pestilences, and earthquakes" were next mentioned as visitations to come upon the world in confirmation of this prophecy. These may not be taken as special signs of Christ's coming, only in so far as they show that the prophecy is true;and the increase of these occurrences would in a general way indicate the approach of the end. The past seventeen centuries have been marked by such calamities. In a work on Epidemics, etc., by Noah Webster, we have a record of eight great famines, five destructive earthquakes, thirteen visitations of plague and pestilence, involving the destruction of many millions of human beings. And from 1755, where Mr. Webster's list ends, the People's Cyclopedia gives a list of thirty-four plagues and epidemics, down to 1878, which inflicted great suffering and loss of life upon the human family.

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QUESTIONS ON LESSON EIGHTEEN.

28. What did the wars of 25 years from 1852 to 1877, in our own generation cost?

29. What may be said of famines, etc?

30. How have the past seventeen centuries been marked by these calamities?

31. What has fulfilled verses 9-12?

32. What great sign is now before us?

33. What turn does the discourse take in verse 15?

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The affliction of the church during the long period of papal persecution (verse 9) is then pointed out; then the false prophets of the last days (verse 11), fulfilled in modern Spiritualism; then prevailing iniquity and great spiritual declension, which we now behold (verse 12); and finally the preaching of the gospel of the kingdom in all the world, not to convert it, but simply as a witness to all nations; and then the end comes. This last great sign stands out before us in the very last stages of its fulfillment.

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In our day the whole earth has been explored; every nation under the heaven is known; and to every one the sound of the gospel has gone. From the very nature of the case we know that not much more can be required to constitute it a witness in the sense of the prophecy; and then the end will come.

In verse 15 the Saviour turns his discourse back again to the destruction of Jerusalem, making evident allusion to the prophecy of Dan.9:26,27, in which Rome in its pagan form is called an "abomination." When Cestius Gallus, in October, A.D. 66, drew his legions up around Jerusalem, and commenced the siege of the devoted city, the disciples recognized the sign; and when, without any visible cause, he suddenly withdrew it, they saw their opportunity, and fled in haste, as the Lord had instructed them. Safe sheltered in the little village of Pella, they escaped the horrors of Jerusalem's overthrow. The prayer which the Saviour taught them to use (verse 20), - that they might not be obliged to flee in the winter, nor on the Sabbath day, thus recognizing the existence of the Sabbath as late as A.D. 66 to 70, - was fulfilled.

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QUESTIONS ON LESSON EIGHTEEN.

34. What prophecy is alluded to?

35. When did Cestius Gallus begin the siege of Jerusalem?

36. What sign did the disciples see in this?

37. What providence appeared in their favor?

38. What prayer was answered?

39. When were verses 21 and 22 fulfilled?

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Verses 21 and 22 look far into the future from that day, and bring to view the next most prominent feature in the experience of the church. From the great tribulation of the Jews, the mind is naturally carried forward by the word "then," Which is occasionally

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used in the Scriptures to cover a long period, as in verse 9, to the unparalleled affliction which his own people would suffer. This was fulfilled during the Dark ages, when the little horn of Daniel 7, the "man of sin," the papacy, made war for centuries on the saints of the Most High, and wore them out, till twenty times as many of the servants of Christ went to a martyr's death, under this professedly Christian power, as had perished under the long rule of paganism.

"Those days" (of persecution not the prophetic period which marked the papal supremacy) were shortened for the elect's sake, in the introduction and subsequent maintenance of the work of the great Reformation of the 16th century. Verse 22.

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QUESTIONS ON LESSON EIGHTEEN.

40. What days were shortened? and how? and when?

41. To what point are we then carried forward?

42. What will Christ's coming be like in appearance?

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From this point we are again carried forward by the word "then" to the time when the subject of the second coming of Christ should be agitated, as we have seen in our own day. The false christs and false prophets have appeared in modern spiritualism, which boldly claims to be the coming of Christ and the ushering in of a new spiritual dispensation. But Christ charges us not to be moved by their "lo here's" or "lo there's;" for the coming of Christ is not to occur in the "secret chambers" where spiritual circles are held, or death-bed scenes transpire, nor in the work of conversion by the Holy Spirit (in which sense Christ is "always" with his people), nor in "the desert" where the Mormons have erected their pseudo heavenly kingdom; for his coming is to be as literal and visible as the lightnings flashing

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across the heavens, and all will know it for themselves. And the saints, as subsequently stated, will be gathered together by the angels; but the judgments of God, like the eagles, will fall upon and devour the carcass, the wicked, wherever it is found. Under these circumstances, none will be left in doubt when his coming takes place.

In verse 29 we are again taken back into the past, but only so far as to take in the signs in the natural world which should betoken the approach of the Son of man; for, as if in sympathy with her divine Lord, Nature herself gives signs, in her domain, of the coming of that glorious restitution which shall banish all her woe. We are pointed to the time immediately following the tribulation before referred to. A little past the middle of the 18th century the last act of martyrdom occurred, said to be in the year 1762. (Dowling's Romanism, p. 609.) In 1780, May 19, the sun was supernaturally darkened. A summary of the facts in the case is well given in the explanatory Vocabulary of Noted Names, etc., of Webster's Unabridged Dictionary; and to this only we refer, as the general reader can perhaps the most easily verify it:-

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QUESTIONS ON LESSON EIGHTEEN.

43. Where does verse 29 take us?

44. When may the tribulation of "those days" be said to have ended?

45. When was the sun darkened?

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"Dark Day, The. May 19, 1780; - so called on account of a remarkable darkness on that day extending over all New England. In some places, persons could not see to read common print in the open air for several hours together. Birds sang their evening song, disappeared, and became silent; fowls went to roost; cattle sought the barnyard; and candles were lighted in the houses. The obscuration

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began about ten o'clock in the morning, and continued till the middle of the next night. . . . The true cause of this remarkable phenomenon is not known."

The darkness extended far beyond the limits of New England. Herschel calls it "The dark day of North america." See "Our First Century," by Devens. The moon refused to give her light the following night, when, as expressed by Mr. Tenney in "Gage to the Historical Society," the darkness "was probably as gross as has ever been observed since the Almighty fiat gave birth to light."

A little more than fifty years elapsed, and the predicted falling of the stars was fulfilled in the great meteoric shower of Nov. 13, 1833. This was the most notable exhibition of the kind that ever occurred, and covered extensive but undefined portions of the Western hemisphere. A star shower, almost equally striking, fulfilled it to the Eastern world, if that were necessary, in 1866.

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QUESTIONS ON LESSON EIGHTEEN.

46. When was the moon darkened?

47. When did the stars fall?

48. What are we now witnessing?

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Fifty years have again gone by since 1833, and the world has plunged into an era of atmospheric convulsions which finds no parallel in the past. Next after the falling of the stars, the prophecy mentions the shaking of the powers of the heavens. If the atmospheric heavens are intended, are we not witnessing the fulfillment? Devastating floods in some regions, disastrous drouths in others; ocean gales, tornadoes, electric storms, and deadly cyclones all over the land, stir men's hearts with fear; while more recently the twilight conflagrations in the sky,

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baffling their subtlest philosophy, are exciting large comment and wonder. May not these strange meteorological conditions be justly called the shaking of the powers of the heavens? If so, the sign of the coming Son of man cannot be far distant.

And when he comes, the tribes of the earth, the nations who have rejected him, they who will "mourn" because of him, see him. John says (Rev.1:7) that when he cometh with clouds, every eye shall see him; and to show that this includes the wicked, he adds, "and they also which pierced him." Yet men now rise up and say that nobody will see him except a few righteous; in other words, that "every" does not mean "every," and that "see" does not mean "see." We spend no time to refute such contradictions of the Scriptures, but leave those who make them to answer for their folly at the bar of God.

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QUESTIONS ON LESSON EIGHTEEN.

49. Who behold the Saviour when he comes?

50. What does our Lord next introduce?

51. What events constitute the "signs" to which he refers?

52. To whom does he refer by the word "ye?"

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To give his declarations double strength, the Lord now introduces the parable of the fig-tree. Verses 32-35. At the first signs of returning vegetable life, while the bud is yet most tender, our convictions are established and sure, that summer is nigh. And no such expectation was ever yet disappointed. The summer always comes. Just so surely those who see the signs he has given are to know that his coming is at hand. And he concludes with a solemn affirmation that "this generation shall not pass away till all these things be fulfilled."

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QUESTIONS ON LESSON EIGHTEEN.

53. Who have seen the signs referred to?

54. What generation, then, is the one spoken of in verse 34?

55. How near does this make the coming of the Lord to be?

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What is meant by this generation? and what generation is referred to? These are questions which have exercised many minds. And to those who insist upon finding some definite points for the beginning and ending of the generation, and gauging its length by some well-defined measuring rod, the remarks here made will not be at all satisfactory; for we attempt nothing in this direction. It does not seem to us necessary. Christ addresses those who had seen "all" of a certain class of events; and those events were the ones which are mentioned as "signs" of the great event which is here the object of discourse; namely, the appearing of Christ in the clouds of heaven. Those who saw only the darkening of the sun, had not seen all these things; those who saw the falling of the stars had not seen them. Those now living, who have a historical knowledge of the past, and see what we see, - those before whom all these things are held up, as they are now, in consolidated array, as signs of the end, - have seen them, and do see them. We believe the language is addressed to the mass of the people now living; that the present is the generation; and that this generation shall not pass before all is consummated; that is, that the mass of the world's inhabitants now living will witness the coming of the Son of man. We say this with a full appreciation of the fact that one person dies, and more are born, every second of time; and that, with this rapid influx and exit, it takes no great length of time to change the mass of the world's inhabitants; yet we

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believe the Lord is now so near that the people living at the present time, as a body, will behold his coming.

A striking illustration, based on a reference to the days of Noah, follows, and the chapter closes with a solemn admonition to the servants to watch, to give the household meat in due season, and to avoid the fate of the evil servant who says in his heart, "My Lord delayeth his coming." And a blessing is pronounced upon that servant, who when his Lord cometh, shall be found in the faithful discharge of all his duty.

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QUESTIONS ON LESSON EIGHTEEN.

56. What is our present duty?

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CHAPTER 19. The Seven Churches

IN Rev. 2 and 3 are seven short epistles addressed to seven churches. These, like other lines of prophecy in this book, are doubtless to be taken as prophetic, covering the whole gospel dispensation. A few of the reasons for this view are as follows:-

There were more churches in Asia then seven. Even if we confine ourselves to that western division of Asia known as Asia Minor, or even that small fraction of Asia Minor where seven churches were situated which are addressed, there were other important churches in the same territory. Collosse was but a short distance from Laodicea. Miletus was nearer than any of the seven to Patmos, where John had his vision. And Troas, where Paul spent a season with the disciples, was not far from Pergamos.

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QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER NINETEEN.

1. How are these churches to be regarded?

2. Among the reasons for considering them prophetic, what is the first one?

3. Where was Collosse situated?

4. What was the situation of Miletus?

5. Where was Troas?

6. How much was dedicated to these seven churches?

7. Did the prophecy concern them particularly and personally?

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Why, then, were just seven churches selected out of this number and not all of them addressed, if what is said pertained only to the Christians of those times? The entire book of the Revelation was

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dedicated to the seven churches. But the prophecy of this book was no more applicable to the seven literal churches named, than to other Christians in Asia Minor, those, for instance, who dwelt in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, and Bithynia. Only a small portion of the book of the Revelation could have personally concerned the churches named, or any of the Christians of John's day; for the events it brings to view were mostly so far in the future as to be beyond the life-time of the generation then living.

Again, the seven stars which the Son of man held in his right hand are declared to be the angels of the seven churches. The angels of the churches doubtless symbolize the ministers of the churches. The fact that the Son of man holds them in his right hand must denote the upholding power, guidance, and protection which he bestows upon these ministers. But are there only seven thus cared for by the Master? Rather, are not all the true ministers of the whole gospel age thus upheld and supported by him?

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QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER NINETEEN.

8. In what other countries were these Christians equally concerned in the prophecies of the book of the Revelation?

9. When were these events mostly to take place?

10. What do the seven stars denote?

11. Where were these seven stars seen?

12. What did this signify?

13. What does this prove in reference to the seven churches?

14. How many candlesticks did John see?

15. What is signified by Christ's position in the midst of these?

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Still further, John, looking into the Christian dispensation, saw only seven candlesticks representing seven churches, in the midst of which stood the Son of man. His position in their midst must denote his presence with them, his watchcare over

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them, and his searching scrutiny of all their works. But does he thus regard only seven individual churches in this dispensation? Does not this rather represent his position in reference to all the churches in this age?

Why, then, were these particular churches chosen that are mentioned? Doubtless for the reason that the names of these churches are significant, indicating the religious features of those periods of the gospel age which they respectively represent. If, for these reasons and others which might be adduced, these epistles are prophetic, they naturally apply to seven distinct periods of the gospel age, from the days of John to the end of time.

Let us then see if we can find an application of these epistles, which is both Scriptural and consistent, to seven different portions of the gospel dispensation.

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QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER NINETEEN.

16. What does this prove in reference to the churches?

17. Why, then, were these seven particular churches taken as the ones to whom to address the Revelation?

18. If these epistles are prophetic, what do they represent?

19. What is the meaning of Ephesus?

20. How does this apply to the first church?

21. What is said about apostles in this message?

22. What does that prove?

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1. The church of Ephesus. This word "ephesus" signifies desirable, chief; and it may well be taken as expressive of the character and condition of the church in its first state. Christ tells the members of this church that they have tried them which say they are apostles and are not. This could appropriately be addressed to a church covering the apostolic age. But even before this period ended, the church had begun to lose her first love,

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and was admonished to repent. The promise to the overcomer (verse 7) reveals the important fact that the tree of life once here upon the earth is now in the paradise of God. We understand this period to cover the age of the apostles and their immediate successors, say, to A.D. 100.

2. The next address is to the church of Smyrna. The word "smyrna" signifies myrrh. It seems, therefore, to be a fit appellation for the church of God when it was about to pass through the fiery furnace of persecution, and prove itself a "sweet smelling savor" unto God. This church was to have tribulation ten days; and if the message addressed to it was prophetic, those days were prophetic, and signified ten years. We have then a notable persecution of ten years' duration here brought to view. And it is an indisputable fact that the last and most bloody of the ten persecutions under Diocletian continued just ten years, from A.D. 302 to A.D. 312. - "Buck's Theological Dictionary," pp. 332,333.

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QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER NINETEEN.

23. What important fact is here revealed in regard to the tree of life?

24. What church is next addressed?

25. What is the meaning of the word Smyrna?

26. What took place to make this applicable to the church of this period?

27. What additional reason do we here find for calling these churches prophetic?

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It would be difficult to make an application of this language on the ground that these messages are not prophetic; for in that case only ten literal days could be meant, and we can hardly suppose that a persecution of only ten days on a single church would be a matter of prophecy. But more than this, all the churches suffered in those persecutions; and where, then, would be the propriety of singling

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out one to the exclusion of the others, as alone involved in such a calamity?

The direction to them in verse 10 is to be faithful unto death, not until, as some understand it. They were to hold fast even at the expense of life itself, and then they had the promise of a crown of life in the future. The period covered by this church extends from the apostolic age A.D. 100 to the time when the church entered another period in the early part of the fourth century.

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QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER NINETEEN.

28. How far does the period covered by this church extend?

29. What is the signification of the term Pergamos?

30. When did this period commence?

31. What is meant by the doctrines of Balaam which they held?

32. What by the doctrine of the Nicolaitanes?

33. What is the promise to the overcomer?

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3. The church of Pergamos. The word "pergamos" signifies hight, elevation. The church entered into this period when Christianity had secured the throne of the Roman empire, and Constantine had become a nominal convert to the gospel, in A.D. 323, and extended to the setting up of the papacy in A.D. 538. The spirit of the world worked mightily in this period; hence the church is addressed as being where Satan's seat is. Christ takes cognizance of the unfavorable situation of his people during this period. But disadvantages in situation are no excuse for wrongs in the church, and this church maintained some features for which they were severely censured. They had those in their midst that held the doctrine of Balaam, referring to their falling into spiritual idolatry. They had also those that held to the doctrine of the Nicolaitans. This was a form of heresy said to have originated with one Nicholas, who taught a plurality of wives, etc.

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The promise to the overcomer in this church is that he shall eat of the hidden manna, and receive a white stone, with a new name written thereon. What that is, it would perhaps be unnecessary, as well as useless, to inquire. Wesley says: "Wouldst thou know what the new name will be? The way to this is plain - overcome. Till then, all thy inquiries are vain."

4. The church of Thyatira. This name signifies sweet savor of labor, or sacrifice of contrition, and is an appropriate description of the church during a period of oppression and persecution. If the church of Pergamos reached down to the setting up of the papacy in 538, the period of the church of Thyatira would naturally extend to the time when the persecuting power of the papal church was restrained by the great Reformation of the 16th century. This was that period of tribulation upon the church mentioned by our Lord in Matt.24:21, such as it was never to experience again.

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QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER NINETEEN.

34. What is meant by the white stone and new name?

35. What church is next addressed?

36. What is the signification of this word?

37. To what period does this naturally apply?

38. What passage in Matthew applies to this time?

39. What is meant by the women Jezebel?

40. What does Christ mean by saying, "I will put upon you none other burden?"

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The woman Jezebel. This name is here used figuratively, denoting, probably, false teachers from Rome, some of whom Christians did suffer to preach and teach among them. See History of the Waldenses. "I will put upon you none other burden." Verse 24. This, doubtless, refers to their relief from tribulation, the days of which were shortened

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by the great Reformation, for the elect's sake. Matt.24:22.

"Hold fast till I come." This language shows that this period reaches so near the end that some who were numbered with the church of Thyatira, would live to behold the coming of Christ.

5. The church of Sardis. The word "sardis" signifies prince or song of joy, or that which remains. For the period covered by this church, we come down this side of the Reformation, and of papal supremacy. By the Sardis church is undoubtedly meant the churches brought out by the great Reformation; and the definition of the name answers well to the condition of the church during this period. What high position has it held! What favor has it had with the world! But how has pride and popularity grown apace, until spirituality is almost entirely destroyed! This church is to hear the proclamation of the second coming of Christ in all its power; for the True Witness says, "If thou shalt not watch, I will come upon thee as a thief, and thou shalt not know what hour I will come upon thee." The coming here brought to view is unconditional. By watching they would be prepared for it; and by not watching they would be overtaken as by a thief by this event. This proclamation they have heard in the great Advent movement of the present generation.

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QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER NINETEEN.

41. What is shown by the injunction, "Hold fast till I come?"

42. What is the definition of Sardis?

43. To what period does this apply?

44. What proclamation was this church to hear?

45. Has it heard it, and when?

46. What is re-sealed in the fifth verse of Revelation 3?

47. When is this work to be accomplished?

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In the 5th verse we have some solemn facts stated

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in regard to the book of life. He that overcometh will not have his name blotted out; and this implies that all those who do not overcome will have their names blotted out from the book of life. This work of blotting out, as we have seen in our investigation of the sanctuary, takes place at the close of Christ's priestly work in heaven. There will be at the conclusion of that work but two classes: one class having their names retained in the Lamb's book of life, and their sins blotted out of the book of God's remembrance; the other having their names blotted from the book of life, and their sins retained to appear against them in the Judgment.

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QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER NINETEEN.

48. To what did the great proclamation given in this period lead?

49. What is the meaning of the word Philadelphia?

50. What was the great characteristic of the church brought out by the preaching of the soon coming of Christ?

51. What is referred to by the open door set before this church?

52. What promise is given to this church?

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6. The church of Philadelphia. The proclamation of the Advent doctrine to this church results in the introduction of another state of the church, called Philadelphia. This word signifies brotherly love; and this was the great characteristic of that church brought out by the preaching of the Advent doctrine. To this church, Christ says, "I have set before thee an open door." The great work of the first message brought us to the cleansing of the sanctuary, when the door into the most holy was opened, and there was seen the ark of God's testament. Rev.11:19. This church has the promise of being kept from the hour of temptation which shall come upon all the world to try them. This

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hour of temptation is, doubtless, that brought to view in Rev.13:14, and in 2Thess.2:9, 10, which will be produced by a still further development of spiritualism, which is already working so mightily in the land. Now, says Christ, "Behold I come quickly." This period brings us down very near to the time of the second coming of Christ.

7. The church of Laodicea. The last message is to the church of Laodicea. The word "laodicea" signifies, the judging of the people; or, according to Cruden, a just people. And either of these definitions would apply to the time and people between the close of the first message, in 1844, and the end of time; for in this period of the cleansing of the sanctuary the judgment of the people is going forward, and the result will finally be "a just people," - a people freed from all their sins.

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QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER NINETEEN.

53. What will produce this hour of temptation?

54. What does Christ then say respecting his coming?

55. What does the word "laodicea" signify?

56. Where, therefore, must this apply?

57. What is the condition of this church?

58. What is meant by the gold, white raiment, and eyesalve which they are counseled to procure?

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This applies to the last generation of the church; and there is in this testimony that which should startle and arouse us. This church, with the light respecting the soon coming of Christ shining clearly forth, and that great event even at the door, is found in a lukewarm, half-hearted, indifferent condition; and at the same time, the members deceived with the idea that they are rich, and have need of nothing. In this condition they are very offensive to God. Not because in themselves they are worse than other people have been, or are, but because, having greater light, they should occupy a very

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advanced position. "Therefore," says the True Witness, "I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich." That is, love and faith working together, hand in hand, to make them rich in good works, and rich toward God. They are counseled to buy white raiment; that is, to put on a robe of righteousness, or have their characters conform wholly to the law of God. They are counseled, also, to anoint their eyes with eyesalve, that they may see. This eyesalve is the unction from on high, the anointing of the Holy Spirit, which gives us true discernment in spiritual things. And God's people, during this time, will be rebuked and chastened by him until they become zealous, and manifest true repentance.

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QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER NINETEEN.

59. What is embraced in the promise to those who open the door of their hearts?

60. What parable probably has its application here?

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Christ stands at the door, and knocks; and the promise to him who will open the door is that Christ will come in to him, and sup with him, and he with Christ. This denotes a union such as no church has ever before enjoyed; and an outpouring of the Spirit, and an exercising of the heavenly graces beyond anything in the previous experience of the church. This is, without doubt, the arising of the "day star in the hearts" of believers, spoken of in 2Pet.1:19, and the time of refreshing spoken of by Peter in Acts 3:19, which the church is to experience just before the coming of Christ. And they need this work wrought for them to enable them to stand during the fearful scenes with which the world's history shall close.

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Here it is, undoubtedly, that the parable of the wedding garment (Matt.22:11-13) applies. The king comes in to see the guests, which is an examination of our characters in the sanctuary above. A man is found there not having on the wedding garment, or not prepared to stand the test of the Judgment; he is cast out into outer darkness. And right in this critical time, when our cases in the sanctuary are pending, and we are unprepared for that searching test, the True Witness comes to us with an earnest entreaty to buy of him the white raiment, or to secure, while we may, the wedding garment, to be prepared for the King when he shall come in to see the guests, and to bid those who are ready, to the marriage supper of the Lamb. If we fail to heed this testimony, and so do not provide ourselves with gold, white raiment, and eyesalve, Christ here says, "I will spew thee out of my mouth." The parable says, which is the same thing, that if we are not clothed with the wedding garment, we shall be bound hand and foot, and cast into outer darkness. Both expressions denote an utter and final rejection.

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QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER NINETEEN.

61. State the points of comparison between the parable and this prophecy.

62. What is the promise to the overcomer?

63. What does this prove respecting Christ?

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To the overcomer is here given a promise of sitting with Christ on his throne, as he has overcome and is now sitting with his Father in his throne. This shows that Christ occupies two thrones; first, the throne of his Father, which he has occupied in conjunction with the Father (Heb.8:1; Zech.6:12,13) ever since his ascension to heaven; and secondly, the throne of his own kingdom, the throne

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of his father David, which he will take when he begins his own individual reign, at the close of his priestly work.

These messages to the churches are both interesting and important, as showing the internal history of the church from the days of the apostles to the end of time, and especially important on account of the solemn warning and the practical duties enjoined upon the last church. In this prophecy we are able to trace the history of the church step by step through this dispensation, finding the most accurate agreement between the testimony of God and the time and condition of the different periods of the church. It can thus be shown unmistakably that we have reached the last period, the Laodicean state of the church. And now, under the tremendous pressure of the spirit of the world and of the apostasy that prevails in these last days, even that people who have the truth for this time, and should feel its searching power, and be animated with its life-giving spirit, are lukewarm, - neither cold nor hot. But Christ is at the door; the Judgment is impending; the King is soon coming in to see the guests; how important, then, that some message be given us adapted to our condition and our dangers. Such a message we have in this last address to the church. To give heed to this will be our salvation; to reject it will be our eternal ruin.

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QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER NINETEEN.

64. What gives these messages interest and importance?

65. How is this message calculated to meet our present wants?

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CHAPTER 20. The Seven Seals

THE prophecy of the seven seals is presented in the 4th, 5th, and 6th chapters of the Revelation. The scenes which these seals portray are brought to view in Rev.6, and the first verse of Rev.8. They evidently cover events with which the church is connected from the opening of this dispensation to the coming of Christ.

While the seven churches present the internal history of the church, the seven seals bring to view the great events of its external history.

1. The first seal (chapter 6:2), showing a white horse, with a rider who went forth with a bow and a crown conquering and to conquer, represents the work of the gospel during the apostolic age. The whiteness of the horse denotes the purity of the church; and the victories of the rider; the marvelous successes of the first ministers of Christ.

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QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER TWENTY.

1. Where is the prophecy of the seven seals found?

2. What do they embrace?

3. What is the difference between the seven churches and the seven seals?

4. What does the first seal represent?

5. What is indicated by the color of the horse?

6. What by the success of him who sat thereon?

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2. The second deal introduces a red horse. Under this seal, peace is taken from the earth, and events of

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strife and confusion are introduced. This is shown by a great sword in the hands of him who sat on this horse. This seal is supposed to cover the time from the days of the apostles, at about the close of the first century, to the days of Constantine, A.D. 323-337. In his day the church had so far apostatized that peace was taken from the earth, and religious strife became so intense, that, as Mosheim testifies, there was continual war.

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QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER TWENTY.

7. What takes place under the second seal?

8. What represents this?

9. What time is covered by this seal?

10. To what extent had religious strife increased in the days of Constantine?

11. What is the color of the horse of the third seal.

12. What is indicated by this color?

13. What does the reference to the balances, wheat, and barley show?

14. What is the period covered by this seal?

15. What were the characteristics of this period.

16. What scene is present under the fourth seal?

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3. The third seal brings to view a black horse. He that sat upon him had a pair of balances in his hand. Then a voice was heard, saying, "A measure of wheat for a penny, and three measures of barley for a penny, and see thou hurt not the oil and the wine." The color of this horse, just the opposite of that of the first horse, denotes the terrible apostasy both in doctrine and practice which had taken place in the church. The reference to the balances, the wheat, and the barley, sets forth the worldly spirit which had taken full possession of the professed church. The period which this seal is understood to cover, was embraced between the years 323, when Constantine was converted, and 538, when the papacy was set up. This was a period of superstition, of darkness and error, during which the principles of the great papal apostasy were rapidly developed.

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4. The fourth seal introduces characters and movements stranger still. We behold a pale horse, the name of whose rider was death; and hell (hades, the grave) followed with him. "And they had power to kill with sword and with hunger and with death and beasts of the earth." The preceding seal having brought us to the commencement of the papal supremacy, this seal naturally covers that period of its history during which it had in its hands the power of persecution. This was restrained by the great Reformation of the 16th century, as we shall see under the following seal.

5. The fifth seal brings to view a scene which the language of the scripture itself best describes: "I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held: And they cried with a loud voice, saying. How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth? And white robes were given unto every one of them; and it was said unto them, that they should rest yet for a little season until their fellow-servants also and their brethren, that should be killed as they were, should be fulfilled.

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QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER TWENTY.

17. What time does it cover?

18. To what work do the symbols employed appropriately refer?

19. What did John see when the fifth seal was opened?

20. What is this passage supposed to prove?

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This passage is supposed to furnish strong testimony in proof of the conscious existence of disembodied souls. But a little thought will show some insuperable objections to such a view. These souls are under the altar; and the altar is the altar of sacrifice; for it is where they were slain; but there

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is no such altar in heaven. They cried that their blood might be avenged; but the disembodied immortal soul has no blood. If they were in heaven, they could, according to the popular view, look over into the vault of hell, and behold their persecutors writhing in its inextinguishable flames; for such a conclusion follows from the view generally entertained of the parable of the rich man and Lazarus. Luke 16:19-31. How, then, could these souls cry for vengeance upon those who had slain them? Was it not enough to behold them in the flames of hell, there to be punished through all eternity?

In view of these difficulties, both Adam Clarke and Dr. Barnes give up the idea that this is a literal representation. Clarke says: "The altar was upon the earth," and Barnes says that we are not to suppose that such a scene literally occurred, but that justice cried to God for vengeance upon those who had slain the martyrs as really as if they cried themselves.

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QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER TWENTY.

21. Where are these souls seen?

22. What altar is this?

23. Is there such an altar in heaven?

24. What do they cry?

25. What is the objection to applying this to disembodied immortal souls?

26. If such souls are in heaven, what view is constantly before them?

27. What proves that this is the popular view?

28. What, then, can be said of that view which represents them as crying for vengeance?

29. What does Dr. Clarke say in regard to the altar?

30. What is Barnes's admission?

31. If not conscious, how could they properly be represented as crying to God? References.

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But how could they cry, it is asked, if they were not conscious? The answer is at hand: They are represented as crying for vengeance, by a very common figure of speech, just as Abel's blood is said to have cried (Gen.4:10), and just as we read that

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the stone cried out of the wall, and the beam out of the timber answered it (Hab.2:11). The persons here brought to view are those who had fallen under the papal persecutions of the preceding seal. The expression, "the souls of them that were slain," is simply a strong expression to denote the persons, with all their capabilities of being, who had been sacrificed by papal fury. It means just what is meant by the parallel expressions, "spirits of just men made perfect" (Heb.12:23), "Father of spirits" (Heb.12:9), and "God of the spirits of all flesh" (Num.16:22,27:16); and these Dr. Clarke admits do not mean men "in a disembodied state." Note on 1Pet. 3:19. The fact that they had been slain, cried like Abel's blood to God for vengeance.

The white robes that were given unto them were robes of character. They had gone down into the grave covered with ignominy and reproach. But the Reformation vindicated them in the eyes of all Christendom. It was seen that they were not the vile heretics they had been represented to be, but the precious ones of the earth. They were to rest a little season. A few more were to be slain before the day for the final vindication of the people of God.

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QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER TWENTY.

32. Who are the persons here brought to view?

33. What can be said of the expression, "souls of them?"

34. What was it that cried to God for vengeance?

35. What were the white robes?

36. How were they given?

37. What is meant by their resting a little season?

38. What period is covered by this seal?

39. What is brought to view under the sixth seal?

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This seal covers the period from the beginning of the Reformation in the early part of the sixteenth century, to the opening of the sixth seal, about two hundred and thirty years later.

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6. The opening of the sixth seal is marked by the occurrence of a notable earthquake, followed, in due order of succession, by the darkening of the sun, the turning of the moon to blood, the falling of the stars, the departing of the heavens as a scroll, and events immediately connected with the second coming of Christ.

The earthquake was unquestionably the great earthquake of Lisbon, which occurred Nov. 1, 1755. This convulsion of nature affected at least four million square miles of the earth's surface. The sun was darkened May 19, 1780. The moon refused to give her light the following night; and when it did appear, it bore the appearance of blood as described in this prophecy. The stars of heaven fell Nov. 13, 1833. Other star showers or meteoric displays have been witnessed at different times, but this was the most remarkable and extensive of all.

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QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER TWENTY.

40. What earthquake fulfilled this prophecy?

41. When did it occur?

42. How extensive was it?

43. When was the sun darkened?

44. When and how was the testimony relative to the moon fulfilled?

45. When did the stars fall?

46. Is not the character of these phenomena as signs destroyed by the fact that there have been other like exhibitions? And if not, why not?

47. How does Mark speak of those signs?

48. What days does Mark refer to?

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Mark speaks of the same signs and locates them at the same time. He says, "In those days, after that tribulation, the sun shall be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars of heaven shall fall." "In those days," before the 1260 years of papal triumph ended, but "after that tribulation," after the persecuting power of the papacy was restrained (which was near 1755, when the sixth seal

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was opened), between that point and 1798 where the 1260 years ended, these scenes were to begin to appear; and right here in 1780, history locates the most remarkable phenomena of this kind that have ever been seen.

It will be noticed that in the fulfillment of this prophecy we stand between the 13th and 14th verses of chapter 6. The next thing here before us is the departing of the heavens as a scroll and the scenes of the great day.

7. The seventh seal is introduced in Rev. 8:1. The only event mentioned is silence in heaven about the space of half an hour; and the only time brought to view in the Bible when this could be fulfilled, is that described in Matt.25:31, when Christ appears and "all the holy angels" come with him. Then there can be silence in heaven; and this event we understand to be the one to which the sixth seal is devoted.

It will be noticed that the language of the first five seals is symbolical, that of the sixth and seventh literal. We can account for this change in the language only by supposing that the events of these seals being located at the time when the prophecy was to be understood and the doctrine of the second coming of Christ proclaimed, is for this reason given in literal and not symbolic language.

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QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER TWENTY.

49. What tribulation?

50. Between what points of time does this locate these signs?

51. Where do we stand in the fulfillment of the seals?

52. Where is the opening of the seventh seal described?

53. What is the event mentioned?

54. When and by what means can this be fulfilled?

55. Why is there a change between the fifth and sixth seals, from figurative language to literal?

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Taken as a whole, these seals may be said to represent

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the great apostasy in the church. The first seal represents the apostolic church in its purity. The succeeding seals, the church in its apostasy. But the true church occasionally appears this side of the first seal. It is the oil and the wine of the third seal, the martyrs of the fourth and fifth seals; and those who will be saved at the coming of Christ to which the last seal brings us. While the apostate church will be among those who will call for the rocks and mountains to fall on them, and hide them from His presence in the day of His wrath. BD>

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QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER TWENTY.

56. How are the true and apostate churches brought to view in these seals?

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CHAPTER 21. The Seven Trumpets

THE political events of this dispensation are properly symbolized by trumpets, those long-used heralds of war and revolution. A prophecy of great importance and interest, under the symbols of seven trumpets, is given in the 8th, 9th, and a part of the 11th chapters of the Revelation.

The record of the first trumpets begins with verse 7 of chapter 8. These trumpets are the counterpart of the prophecy of the second chapter of Daniel. That prophecy brings to view the dividing of the Roman kingdom into ten parts, as represented by the ten toes of the great image; and the first four of the seven trumpets embody the events by which this division was effected.

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QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER TWENTY ONE

1. What do trumpets appropriately symbolize?

2. What period is covered by the seven trumpets of Revelation?

3. Where does the record of the first trumpet begin?

4. Of what are these trumpets the counterpart?

5. What do the first four trumpets introduce?

6. How is the first trumpet described?

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1. The first trumpet represents hail and fire mingled with blood cast upon the earth. It was fulfilled by the invasion of the Roman empire by the Goths under Alaric, commencing A.D. 395. This invasion is represented by hail, from the fact that the invaders came from the frozen regions of the North. It is

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further described as fire mingled with blood, because the course of the invaders was marked by slaughter and conflagration.

2. The second trumpet brings us to a new location and another event. A great mountain burning with fire was cast into the sea. The next great invasion of the Roman empire, which shook it to its foundation and conduced to its fall, was that of the Vandals under Genseric. The base of his operations was at Carthage in Africa. The date of his career is marked by the years 428 to 468. His warfare was carried on by sea; and his warfare against the Roman empire was well symbolized by a great mountain burning with fire cast into the sea. He ravaged and devastated all those provinces of the Roman empire which lie upon the Mediterranean.

The frequent reference to the third part, noticed in the trumpets, has allusion to the tripartite division of the empire. Twice it was divided into three parts before its permanent division into Eastern and Western Rome; and when the third part is spoken of in this prophecy, it refers to that division in which the events of the trumpet under consideration were taking place.

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QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER TWENTY ONE

7. By what was it fulfilled?

8. When did it commence?

9. Why is it described as hail and fire mingled with blood?

10. What scene does the second trumpet bring to view?

11. What was the second great invasion of the Roman empire?

12. What was the base of Genseric's operations?

13. What figures mark the date of his career?

14. Why was a burning mountain cast into the sea a fit symbol of his work?

15. What provinces did he ravage?

16. What is meant by the expression, "the third part?"

17. What conqueror and what people fulfilled the events of the third trumpet?

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3. The third trumpets brings to view another

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invading chieftain, who, like a comet or a blazing star, flamed over the Roman world. It was Attila at the head of his warlike Huns. The name of this star is called "Wormwood," as describing the bitter consequences of the invasion and the terrors and miseries wrought by this war-like chief.

This star fell upon the third part of the rivers and fountains of waters. The scene of Attila's operations was in the northern part of Italy, the region in which so many streams and rivers have their source. Attila styled himself "The scourge of God," and made his boast that the grass never grew where his horse had trod.

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QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER TWENTY ONE

18. Why is this star called Wormwood?

19. What was the scene of Attila's operations?

20. What did Attila style himself?

21. What was his boast?

22. What is brought to view under the fourth trumpet?

23. In what sense are the terms sun, moon, and stars here used?

24. What do they signify?

25. When was the Western empire extinguished?

26. Who were the agents in its accomplishment?

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4. The fourth trumpet is described in the 12th verse, and brings to view the blotting out of the third part of the sun, moon, and stars. These are undoubtedly here used as symbols representing the three highest sources of authority in the Roman empire; namely, emperors, consuls, and senators; and the only inference to be drawn from the phraseology of the text is that the abolition of these three offices is intended. We have now come to the time when the Western empire of Rome was extinguished. The date, as given by Gibbon, is 476 or 479. It was accomplished by Odoacer, who was succeeded by Theodoric, the Ostrogoth; and the events of the trumpet were finally accomplished by Justinian. The

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Imperial office, the sun, was extinguished by Odoacer. Justinian abolished the Consulship, the moon; and Narses, the general of Justinian, extinguished the Senate, the stars. Thus in the third part of the Roman empire, the sun, moon, and stars were smitten, here represented as a third part of these luminaries.

Another angel, not one of this series of seven, is now introduced, declaring that the three remaining trumpets will be trumpets of woe.

Two of these trumpets, the 5th and 6th, occupy, in equal portions, the whole of the ninth chapter of Revelation. The prophet now turns from those agencies which were employed to scourge Rome, and break it up into political divisions, to those agencies which were employed to scourge it as an ecclesiastical power after its change from paganism to the papacy.

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QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER TWENTY ONE

27. What may be said of the angel of verse 13?

28. What chapter, and in what proportion, is occupied with the 5th and 6th trumpets?

29. From what and to what does the prophet now turn?

30. Who was the star of verse 1?

31. By whom was he overthrown?

32. What was his fall, and why?

33. Of what is the bottomless pit here a symbol?

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5. The first 11 verses of Rev. 9 are used in describing the fifth trumpet. A star is first seen falling from heaven unto the earth. The star was Chosroes, the king of Persia. He was overthrown by Heraclius, the emperor of the East. His fall was the key by which the bottomless pit was opened. For Rome, in overthrowing Persia, utterly exhausted herself; and thus the only two powers which were capable of meeting and crushing Mohammedanism, namely, Persia and Eastern Rome, were virtually taken out of the way by this revolution. The bottomless

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pit, symbolizing the wastes of the Arabian deserts, poured forth a great smoke, or the dark and delusive doctrines propagated by Mohammed and his fanatical followers. Chosroes, after his loss of empire, was murdered in the year 628; and the year 629 is marked by Mohammed's conquest of Arabia and the first war of the Moslems against the Roman empire. The locusts that came out of the smoke symbolized the Arabian horsemen, as they went forth to fight what they called the battles of the Lord.

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QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER TWENTY ONE

34. What is issued from that pit?

35. When was Chosroes murdered?

36. What marks the year 629?

37. By what are the Arabian horsemen here symbolized?

38. How long a period is denoted by the five months?

39. From what point are they to be dated?

40. Why?

41. When did Othman found his government?

42. When was his first assault made upon the Eastern empire?

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Their mission was to torment men five months, but not to kill them. Verses 5 and 10. This period is doubtless prophetic, denoting 150 years. If so, the question arises, From what point are these years to be dated? The 11th verse gives us the key to the solution of the query. They had a king over them, whose name is given both in Hebrew and Greek as "the destroyer." The conclusion naturally follows that the five months of torment must have taken place under this Ottoman power after its consolidation into a kingly government. Previous to the time of Othman, the Mohammedan power was composed of separate and distinct tribes. Under the policy of this man, they were consolidated into one government, with himself as king, although he never took the title of Sultan. This was near the close of the thirteenth century; and that power has ever since been known as the Ottoman empire, after the name of Othman, its founder.

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The first invasion of Roman territory by Othman took place on the 27th day of July, 1299. Commencing the five months' torment from this event, they would end 150 years later, in 1449. As we inquire for the events which mark the termination of that period, we are brought to the sounding of the next trumpet.

6. When the sixth angel sounded, a voice was heard, saying, Loose the four angels which are bound in the great river Euphrates. The river Euphrates must here be taken for a symbol of that kingdom of which it was the principal river, which was the Ottoman, or Turkish empire. The four angels are supposed to mean the four chief Sultanies of which that empire was composed. These were Iconium, Aleppo, Damascus, and Bagdad. They were "loosed;" that is to say, they were to have thereafter not simply the power of tormenting, but of destroying. This was accomplished by the following events:-

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QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER TWENTY ONE

43. What was heard when the sixth angel sounded?

44. What does the river Euphrates here symbolize?

45. What are the four angels bound therein supposed to mean?

46. What were these four Sultanies?

47. Name the events by which they were loosed so as to have thereafter the power to destroy?

48. By whom was Amurath succeeded, and when?

49. What enterprise did he set his heart on accomplishing?

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When the last emperor of the Greeks, John Paleologus, died, leaving no children, Constantine Deacozes succeeded to the empire; but he would not venture to ascend the throne without asking the consent of Amurath, the Turkish Sultan. Thus he virtually surrendered his power into Turkish hands. And this was in the very year when the 150 years

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of the preceding trumpet ended, namely, in 1449. Amurath was succeeded by Mohammed II. in 1451, who set his heart on "destroying," or making a compete conquest of, this division of the Roman empire, by taking its capital, the city of Constantinople. The siege commenced April 6, 1453, and the city was taken on the 16th of May following. The eastern seat of the Caesars thus became the seat of the Ottoman empire, and has so remained to this day.

The principal subject for exposition under this trumpet is the prophetic period brought to view in verse 15. The angels were loosed for an hour, a day, a month, and a year. This, reduced from prophetic to literal time, gives us the following period: A year, 360 days, 360 years; a month, 30 days, 30 years; a day, 1 year; an hour, a twenty-fourth part of a prophetic day, 15 literal days; making in all 391 years, and 15 days. This added to the date, July 27, 1449, where the 150 years of the previous trumpet ended, brings us to August 11, 1840.

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QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER TWENTY ONE

50. When did the siege of Constantinople commence?

51. When and how did it end?

52. What is the principal point to be explained under this trumpet?

53. How long a period of time is brought to view?

54. Where did this period end?

55. By what means did the Turks achieve their conquest?

56. What event would be expected to mark the termination of the 391 years and 15 days?

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The means by which the Mohammedans achieved their wonderful conquests are described in verses 17 and 18 as fire, and smoke, and brimstone; and it is a remarkable fact that in this revolution, gun-powder was first used as an implement of war. It thus appears that John, in A.D. 96, penned a prophecy of that notable invention which appeared as a new engine of destruction thirteen hundred years from his

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time, and has revolutionized the mode of warfare throughout the civilized world.

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QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER TWENTY ONE

57. What event did take place on the day when this period ended, and what led to it?

58. Where is the series of trumpets resumed?

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As the prophetic period of this trumpet commenced by the voluntary surrender of power into the hands of the Turks by the Christian emperor of the East, so we might justly conclude that its termination would be marked by the voluntary surrender of that power by the Turkish Sultan back again into the hands of the Christians. In 1838 Turkey became involved in war with Egypt. The Egyptians bid fair to overthrow the Turkish power. To prevent this, the four great powers of Europe, England, Russia, Austria, and Prussia, interfered to sustain the Turkish government. Turkey accepted their intervention. A conference was held in London at which an ultimatum was drawn up to be presented to Mehemet Ali, the Pacha of Egypt. It is evident that when this ultimatum should be placed in the hands of Mehemet, the destiny of the Ottoman empire would be virtually lodged in the hands of the Christian powers of Europe. This ultimatum was placed in the hands of Mehemet on the 11th day of August 1840! and on that very day the Sultan addressed a note to the ambassadors of the four powers, inquiring what should be done in case Mehemet refused to comply with the terms which they had proposed. The answer was that he need hot alarm himself about any contingency that might arise; for they had made provision for that. The prophetic period ended, and on that very day the control of Mohammedan affairs passed into the hands of Christians, just as the control of Christian

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affairs had passed into the hands of the Mohammedans 391 years and 15 days before. Thus the second woe ended, and the sixth trumpet ceased its sounding.

Passing over the 10th and a portion of the 11th chapters of Revelation, the series of trumpets is again taken up in verse 14 of chapter 11. The events of this trumpet are described in the five following verses. They are such as to show that this trumpet witnesses the conclusion of all earthly kingdoms and the beginning of the everlasting reign of Christ. Among the events introduced is the opening of the temple of God in heaven. Verse 19. This was the commencement of the work of cleansing the sanctuary, as explained in the exposition of that subject, - a work which constitutes the finishing of the mystery of God spoken of in Rev.10:7, and marks the beginning of the sounding of the seventh trumpet. It is therefore evident that the seventh angel began to sound in the autumn of 1844; and the little space termed "quickly," which was to intervene between the second and third woes, reached from August 11, 1840, where the sixth trumpet ceased to sound, to the autumn of 1844 where the seventh commenced. The 18th verse of Rev.11 shows that this trumpet covers the concluding troubles of the last days, and reaches over to the destruction of the wicked at the end of the thousand years of Revelation 20.

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QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER TWENTY ONE

59. What is shown by the events brought to view under it?

60. What event is especially noted among others?

61. What was this?

62. How is it spoken of in Revelation 10?

63. What does it there mark?

64. When, therefore, did the 7th trumpet begin to sound?

65. What space is covered by the term "quickly?"

66. What does this trumpet cover?

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CHAPTER 22. The Signs of the Times

1. A SIGN is defined to be "that by which anything is made known or represented; that which furnishes evidence; a mark; a token; an indication; a proof; hence, specifically, (a) A remarkable event considered by the ancients as indicating the will of some deity; a prodigy; an omen. (b) An event considered by the Jews as indicating the divine will, or as manifesting an interposition of the divine power for some special end." - Webster.

2. A sign "of the times" must therefore be some event which indicates that we have reached a certain period in the world's history made important by events then transpiring or next to transpire in chronological order. But neither the time nor the events would or could be recognized by the world unless some prophecy had been given showing what events would stand as signs, and setting forth the nature of the time marked by them. The whole matter, therefore, rests on the declarations of prophecy; and every sign is a fulfillment of prophecy.

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QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO.

1. What is a sign?

2. What is a sign of the times?

3. How are we enabled to recognize the signs?

4. What does every sign fulfill?

5. For what purpose is prophecy given?

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3. But prophecy is given for a specific purpose. It has reference mainly to the fact that human history

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is at some time to come to an end, and human kingdoms to be succeeded by the kingdom of God. It is that which constitutes the Scriptures "a lamp to our feet and a light to our path," that path that spans the period of human probation from its earliest dawn to its setting sun. It is given to show where the world is in reference to the initial and terminal points of its history, - how much is past and how much is to come, - that men may understand when the great day of all days, the day of the Lord, and the coronation of the King of kings is at hand. Therefore the primal object of every sign is to show the coming of that day when the kingdoms of this world shall become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ.

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QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO.

6. What makes the Scriptures a lamp to our feet?

7. What is the relation of prophecy to history?

8. What is, therefore, the primal object of every sign?

9. What prophecies may be mentioned as signs?

10. What signs in the solar system were predicted?

11. What Scriptures refer to these?

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4. As here indicated, the subject of the signs of the times is an exceeding broad one. It covers the whole field of prophecy. Indeed, every fulfillment of prophecy is a sign of the times. The rise and fall of the four kingdoms of Dan.2 and 7, the ten kingdoms of Western Rome, the little horn, the papal power, the termination of every prophetic period, the seven trumpets, the drying up of the Turkish power, symbolized by the great river Euphrates, the rise and progress of our own country, are all signs of the times. And through all these we can say of a surety that the signs indicate that the great day of the Lord is at hand. But we designed to speak more particularly of another class of signs consisting

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chiefly of startling and striking events, commencing with -

5. Signs in the sun, moon, and stars. "There shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars." Luke 21:25. Other scriptures tell us of what, in these cases, the signs should consist; namely, the sun and moon should not give their light, and the stars should fall from heaven. See Matt.24:29; Mark 13:24,25; Joel 2:31; Rev.6:12. It is natural that we should look for events of this nature to mark the approach of that awful hour which shall fix the eternal destiny of every member of the human family. Said Martin Luther, "A something strikingly awful shall forewarn that the world shall come to an end, and that the last day is even at the door."

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QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO.

12. What did Martin Luther say respecting these?

13. When was the sun darkened?

14. When was the sign in the moon fulfilled?

15. When did the stars fall?

16. What objection is here raised?

17. How is it answered?

18. Of what prophecy in the Revelation are these signs a part?

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The sun was darkened May 19, 1780, the moon the following night; and the stars of heaven fell Nov. 13, 1833. But, says the objector, there have been other darkenings of the sun; hence that cannot be a sign. Wait a moment. Prophecy not only points out the sign, but also the time when it should take place. Mark's record says, "In those days, after that tribulation." "Those days" refer to the days of papal supremacy, which terminated in 1798. The "tribulation" refers to the oppression of the church by the papacy, which was not so restrained as to fulfill the prophecy till after the middle of the eighteenth century. Somewhere, then, between the years 1750 and 1798 we look for this sign.

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But we are allowed to be a little more definite. The signs now under examination are a part of the events of the sixth seal of Rev.6, and follow the great earthquake which marked the opening of that seal. That earthquake was the great earthquake of Lisbon, Nov. 1, 1755. Between this year and 1798 were forty-three years. Somewhere in this brief space we look for the sign in the sun. Was there in this time any other darkening of the sun except that of May 19, 1780? - None. Was there ever so notable an event of this kind, either in extent or intensity? - Never. Then that was the sign. Too deny it is to be willfully ignorant.

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QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO.

19. How and when was the opening of the sixth seal indicated?

20. How many years from this point to 1798?

21. Where, then, do we look for the sign in the sun?

22. What was the only darkening in this time?

23. How do some attempt to explain it?

24. What is M. Bostwick's testimony?

25. What does Mrs. A. Bailey testify?

26. How does the Concord People speak of it?

27. What inquiry sprung to many lips?

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Some have attempted to account for it on the ground that high winds brought up heavy clouds that obscured the sun; but an eye-witness, Milo Bostwick, writing from Camden, N.J., March 3, 1848, says "There were not any clouds, but the air was thick," etc., and another eye-witness, Mrs. Abigail Bailey, of Vermont, says: "No distinct cloud was visible. There was no motion of the air sufficient to move a leaf, and darkness overshadowed the earth." The Concord (N.H.) People speaks of it as "not the blackness of the storm cloud," but "the silent spreading of the pall-cloth over the earth by strong, invisible hands." The inquiry was upon many lips, "Is the Judgment day

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approaching? The poet Whittier writes concerning it: "All ears grew sharp to hear the doom-blast of the trumpet shatter the black sky." No one has ever been able to account for this phenomenon on natural principles. Webster's Dictionary (1870) says: "The true cause of this remarkable phenomenon is not known." It falls within the realm of the supernatural, and thus stands as a solemn sign hung out in the heavens to notify the world that God had not forgotten his promise, but was about to send Jesus to gather his people to himself, and destroy those who would not have him to reign over them.

The moon was darkened the following night. The same cause which obscured the light of the sun would have the same effect upon the light of the moon. The moon fulled that night; but a portion of the time it gave no light. The darkness of the night is described by some as the deepest ever witnessed "since the Almighty fiat gave birth to light." It was only equaled, possibly, by that Egyptian darkness in the days of Moses, which could be felt. Ex.10:21. And when the moon did finally show itself, it bore the appearance described in Rev.6:12.

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QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO.

28. What does Webster say concerning the cause of this sign?

29. What was the phase of the moon on the following night?

30. How is the darkness described?

31. How extensive was the star shower of Nov. 13, 1833?

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The prediction of the falling stars was fulfilled in the great meteoric shower of Nov. 13, 1833, which covered no inconsiderable portion of the earth's surface. Signor Schiaparelli (Christian Union, May 1, 1872) received of the British Royal Astronomical

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Society in February, 1872, a gold medal "for his researches upon the nature and orbits of meteors, which have helped to demonstrate that these bodies belong to the stellar region, and are, in fact, falling stars." The Connecticut Observer of Nov. 25, 1833, copied from the Old Countryman as follows:-

"We pronounce the raining of fire, which we saw on Wednesday morning last, an awful type, a sure forerunner, a merciful sign, of that great and dreadful day . . . described not only in the New Testament but in the Old. A more correct picture of a fig-tree casting its leaves when blown by a mighty wind, it is not possible to behold."

6. In answer to the question put by the disciples to our Saviour, "What shall be the sign of thy coming and of the end of the world?" he incidentally, before coming to the definite answer, makes this declaration: "There shall be famines and pestilences and earthquakes in divers places."

While such visitations would not particularly indicate the nearness of the end, their abnormal occurrence in this dispensation has a bearing upon our subject by demonstrating the truthfulness of Christ's words. Moreover, we are left free to infer, from the connection in which they are spoken, that such events would increase in frequency and virulence as we draw near the end, and thus become indirect heralds of the coming of the King.

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QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO.

32. What may these meteors properly be called?

33. What did the Old Countryman say concerning it?

34. What does Christ say of famines, pestilences, etc?

35. What bearing have these upon the subject of the prophecy?

36. What general fact appears in history concerning them?

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From accessible records it would appear that events of this kind have been excessive since the

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words of Christ quoted above were spoken. Thus in a work by Noah Webster, published in 1779, it is shown that between the years A.D. 96 and 1755 twenty-four million and thirteen thousand human beings perished by earthquake, famine, and pestilence, besides a destruction of one-third of the human race by three months of earthquakes and pestilence in the year 1005. The enumeration above named gives us an average of nearly a million and a half of deaths annually. If any other equal period of the world's history can show such a death rate from these agencies, we have yet to see the record of it.

The regular numerical increase of earthquakes as the centuries have gone by, is something very remarkable. Eld. D.T. Taylor, in his "Coming Earthquake," quotes a table from Ponton and Mallett, giving the number of recorded earthquakes from 1700 B.C. to 1868 A.D. arranged in six periods as follows:-

No. Years      Average

Those recorded before A.D. 158 1700 1 in 29 years

Thence to the end of 9th century, 197 800 1 "   4 "

"         "       "        15th " 532 600 1 "   1 "

"         "       "        18th " 2804 300 9 "   1 "

"         "       "        1850 " 3240 50 64 "   1 "

"         "       "        1860 " 5000 18 277 "   1 "

Of such earthquakes as have overthrown cities, and destroyed many lives, the record runs about as follows:-

No. Years Average

From B.C. 1700 to A.D. 96 16 1796 1 in 112 years

"    A.D. 96     "       1850 204 1754 1  "   8   "

"    1850         "       1865 15 15 1  "   1   "

"    1865         "       1868 15  3 5  "   1   "

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QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO.

37. What may be said of the increase of earthquakes?

38. What is  Joel's prediction?

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"In the single year 1868 over 100,000 persons perished by earthquakes. In January, 1869, there were eleven, earthquakes, two of them great and destructive."

7. The prophet Joel (2:30), quoted by Peter (Acts 2:19), predicted "wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood and fire and pillars of smoke," "before the great and the terrible day of the Lord come." Again the response of history is, Fulfilled. The only difficulty is to give in small space an adequate idea of the many wonderful occurrences within the past fifty years. Sights have been witnessed which the papers have described in terms, a summary of which would read something like the following: "Extraordinary - singular - alarming - intense brightness - terrific fire - dark crimson vapor - most gorgeous - tremendous conflagration - volumes of smoke," etc. A work called "Modern Phenomena of the Heavens," by H. Jones, describes a scene Jan. 25, 1837, when "the very heavens seemed to be on fire." "The snow resembled blood and fire." "In one place near a mountain the people informed me that on the snow there was the appearance of 'waves of fire rolling down the mountain.' "

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QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO.

39. How has it been fulfilled?

40. What may be said of the Aurora Borealis?

41. What prediction have we concerning the sea and waves?

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8. The Aurora Borealis. This wonderful phenomenon has greatly increased within the last few years. The effect of its appearance in both Europe and America has been to fill the people with great alarm. It is looked upon as the precursor

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of the Judgment fires which are to consume the world.

9. The sea and the waves roaring. Luke 21:25. The great tidal waves are peculiar to this last half of the nineteenth century. Harper's Magazine for 1869 says: "That most horrible phenomenon, the tidal wave, how many struggling mortals has it swept back into the deep! What countless ships has it crushed against the shores! What mighty cities has it plundered of life and wealth, strewing their streets with ocean sand, and peopling their palaces with sea monster!" Our readers will remember the awful catastrophes at Lima and Arica, Peru. The N.Y. Tribune of Nov. 12, 1868, said:-

"The tidal disturbances are the most remarkable and extensive of which there is any record. It is said that their velocity is about a thousand miles an hour. Both the great ocean waters of the Atlantic and Pacific have been agitated in their whole extent. We mention in particular the tidal waves at St. Thomas and all the neighboring islands, which were full fifty feet in hight. . . . It is said by those who have witnessed these waves that the ocean's roar is exceedingly frightful."

Under this head would also come the long and rapidly augmenting list of ocean disasters. These will be sufficiently indicated by the fact that between the year 1865 and 1875, the United States marine suffered the loss of 2,821 vessels, valued at $129,067,700. During the one year 1870, the losses throughout the world were 1,887 vessels.

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QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO.

42. How has it been fulfilled?

43. What other events would come under this head?

44. Name some statistics.

45. What land disturbances correspond to these?

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Corresponding to these disturbances on the ocean are the tornadoes, cloud-bursts, and cyclones on the land, which have of late reached such frequency and destructiveness. And to these may be added the great fires, which are acknowledged to be entirely phenomenal. The reader will at once recall Chicago, Peshtigo, Manistee, White Rock, and many towns on Lakes Michigan and Huron. The "air seemed to be on fire. Great sheets of flame enveloped them like a cloud, and moved with the rapidity of a hurricane." Clouds of fire seemed to burst and scatter death around. Balls of fire were seen revolving and bursting in every direction. Many thought the last day had come, and perished without being undeceived. And now, as if in mocking contrast, come the unparalleled floods of to-day, floods in Europe and floods in America, swallowing thousands in a watery grave, driving other thousands from their homes, and sweeping away millions of property.

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QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO.

46. What may be said of the recent great fires?

47. What of subsequent floods?

48. What was to mark the last days pecuniarily?

49. What does the Religious Intelligencer say?

50. What is H.W. Beecher's testimony?

51. What was to be the political condition of the world?

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10. In the last days there was to be a great manifestation of covetousness, and vast accumulations of wealth by the rich. Jas.5:1-5. The Religious Intelligencer of Jan. 26, 1883, says: "Fifteen Americans are said to own $920,000,000," the highest on the list being W.H. Vanderbilt, with $260,000,000. H.W. Beecher says: "The development of wealth is now greater in amount, greater in scope, and greater in extent, than ever before." No one can dispute this; hence no one can deny the fulfillment of the prophecy.

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11. The political condition of the world. "Wars and rumors of wars," says one prophecy. Matt.24:6. "The nations were angry," says another, when the seventh trumpet began to sound. Rev.11:18. Europe is a vast arsenal. Working men are taxed to the last extremity to support enormous standing armies. The people feel that they are treading upon a mine, the control of which rests with a few men whose purposes they cannot fathom. Yet with all this preparation for war, all this suspicion and jealousy, all the mutterings and threatenings, peace still in general continues; for another prophecy says that the winds of strife must be held till the servants of God are sealed.

12. The moral condition of the religious world. The outlook in this direction shows one of the most striking of signs. In many prophecies the condition of religionists in the last days is described. A great declension in spiritual power was predicted. They would love pleasure more than they would love God. They would harbor in their hearts and in their communion the grossest sins, yet cling tenaciously to a form of godliness. Where do we look for pride, display, extravagance, and carnal amusements in the greatest excess, but to the religious world? Between them and the non-professing world, the line is entirely lost.

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QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO.

52. In what do we see a fulfillment?

53. What does the world's moral outlook present?

54. Where are pride extravagance and the grossest sins to be found?

55. What last great deception was to appear?

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13. The last great deception which was to go forth to ensnare those who reject the truth and have

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pleasure in unrighteousness, just before the Lord appears, has for many years been abroad in the land. Its name is spiritualism. It is in its preliminary stages of development among all nations. With its abolition of all spiritual restraint, its denial of all distinction between right and wrong, and of all moral responsibility, with its pleasing fables and license to sin, it promises full play to man's lower nature here, and yet the possession of all good hereafter. Thus it finds willing votaries among those who will not put off the carnal mind, who shun the cross and despise the truth. It is now specially engaged in arraying itself in Christian garbs, when it will find easy conquest among the religionists described above. It is to show greater wonders than have yet appeared; and in the hight of its working, Christ will appear. 2Thess,2:9-11.

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QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO.

56. What is its present phase?

57. In what is it now specially arraying itself?

58. What is to be its future?

59. What true religious movement is set down for the last days?

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14. The last message of mercy and warning which is to go to the world before the Lord returns, has also been for many years in the land. Rev.14:9-12. It is going by land and by sea, at home and abroad. More than two hundred and fifty million pages of its truths have already gone forth on their mission. It is all equipment for the accomplishment of a mighty work in a brief space of time. It is daily growing in strength. Its loud cry is the close of probation; and as it finishes its testimony, one like the Son of man appears upon the great white cloud, coming to reap the harvest of the earth. Rev.14:14.

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Where, then, are the signs of promise? Rather where are they not? Heavens and earth are full of them. The last nation that is to go down as Christ takes his throne, is sinking rapidly to its dissolution. The last that are to take part in earth's closing scenes, are hastening to their final acts. The last influences for both good and evil are moving swiftly forward to the culmination of their work. Not one sign is wanting. God's word can never fail. The day of the Lord is at hand.

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QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO.

60. What is its present stage of development?

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CHAPTER 23. Spiritualism

IN the latter part of the month of March, 1848, the papers in Rochester, N.Y., came out one morning with sensational headings about certain mysterious noises and knockings which had been heard in the house of Mr. John D. Fox, in the village of Hydesville, near that city. At one bound the whole region round about rose to the highest pitch of excitement, and committees of investigation were appointed, who earnestly set about the work of trying to ascertain the source from which the raps proceeded. It was soon ascertained that there was some intelligence behind the manifestations; that certain questions would be answered, certain letters of the alphabet indicated, spelling out words, and thus imparting information. It was also ascertained that certain ones were particularly successful in calling forth these responses.

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QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

1. What happened in March, 1848?

2. What was the effect?

3. What was soon ascertained?

4. What did the communicating intelligences proclaim themselves?

5. What was the movement called?

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The communicating intelligences proclaimed themselves the spirits of departed human beings; and the movement was therefore named Spiritualism. Those to whom responses from the unseen world

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were vouchsafed, were called mediums. The agencies, spirits and mediums, through which a new revelation was to be given to the world, were now recognized. A sluice was opened through which a flood of teaching, whatever it might be, could be poured upon the community.

The movement spread like flame in the stubble. The teaching was named a new philosophy. The intelligences behind the curtain declared their object to be, to convince the world of the immortality of the soul. Multitudes offered to be the vehicles by which intelligence might be brought from the unseen world. Lecturers took the field to advocate and defend the system; and papers sprung up to work in its behalf. So marvelous was its progress, that, in only twenty-eight years from the time it first attracted the attention of the world through the so-called "Rochester knockings," its adherents numbered, according to the estimates of its friends, from five to eight millions; according to those of its enemies, from three to eleven millions.

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QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

6. What name was given to the human agents?

7. What was now attained?

8. How did the movement spread?

9. What was the avowed object of spiritualism?

10. How many adherents did it gain in 28 years?

11. What phenomena attended the movement?

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The phenomena attending the movement were marvelous. It showed itself from the the beginning a wonder-working power. That there has been in these later years a great amount of fraud, jugglery, and deception practiced in its name, we do not deny. But there is, notwithstanding, abundant evidence to show that real spiritualism possesses a supernatural power, accomplishing wonders beyond

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the range of human possibilities. Men of philosophy and culture, after the most careful and scrutinizing investigations, have been compelled to admit that various articles, some of them too heavy for any one man to lift, have been transported from place to place by spirit power alone; that beautiful music has been produced independently of human agency, with and without the aid of visible instruments; that many cases of healing have been presented; that persons have been carried through the air by spirits alone, in the presence of many other persons; that tables have been suspended in the air with several person upon them; and finally, that the spirits have produced many well-authenticated cases of what is called "materialization," presenting themselves in bodily form, and talking with an audible voice.

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QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

12. Specify some of its achievements.

13. What is Prof. Zollner's testimony?

14. What is the natural effect of such phenomena?

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Professor Zollner, the great German philosopher, a man whose name is ranked with the highest in the scientific world, conducted a long series of careful and conclusive experiments to test the question whether or not spirit power was involved in the manifestations. In a personal interview with Joseph Cook, during the late visit of the latter to Europe, Prof. Z. testified that the following strange occurrences had taken place under his own eye, by some power not human, or if human, not heretofore discovered: 1. Knots were tied in cords without moving the ends of said cords; 2. Messages were written between doubly and trebly sealed slates; 3. Coin passed through a table in a manner to illustrate the suspension of the laws of the impenetrability of

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matter; 4. Straps of leather were knotted under Prof. Zollner's own hands; 5. The impression of two feet was given on sooted paper pasted inside two sealed slates; 6. Whole and uninjured wooden rings were placed around the standard of a card table, over either end of which they could by no possibility be slipped; and 7. Finally the table itself, a heavy beechen structure, wholly disappeared, and then fell down from the top of the room in which Prof. Z. and his friends were sitting.

Such wonders are calculated to make a profound impression upon the mind; and it is not strange that a movement in the interest of which they claim to be wrought, should make marvelous progress among men. A writer in the Spiritual Clarion has given us this description of its introduction, power, and progress:-

"This revelation has been with a power and a might, that, if divested of its almost universal benevolence, had been a terror to the very soul; the hair of the bravest had stood on end, and his chilled blood had crept back upon his heart at the sights and sounds of its inexplicable phenomena. It comes with foretokening, with warning. It has been from the very first its own best prophet, and step by step it has foretold the progress it would make. It comes, too, most triumphant. No faith before it ever took so victorious a stand in its infancy. It has swept like a hurricane of fire through the land, compelling faith from the baffled scoffer and the most determined doubter."

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QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

15. How does a writer in the Spiritual Clarion describe it?

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Notwithstanding these protestations of innocence

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and benevolence, this movement, if viewed in its true light, might well be a terror to the soul, and chill the blood of the bravest, if not protected by the shield and buckler of truth from its unhallowed influence; for the whole development is from beneath, not from above; it is the work of the prince of darkness; its ultimate object is the ruin of souls; its apparent goodness is but a garb to cover its real character; its piety is a pretense, and its benevolence but a bait to lure the more into its snare. All this will clearly appear from an investigation of its character.

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QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

16. What is its true character?

17. What do the Scriptures teach us respecting the dead?

18. What is Spiritualism's first claim?

19. What does this determine as to is character?

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1. The Scriptures plainly inform us that the dead, after going into the grave, have no knowledge nor any part in anything that is done under the sun; that their thoughts are perished, and their love and hatred, and every emotion of the mind, have ceased to be; and that they remain in this unconscious condition, not awaking out of their sleep, till the second coming of Christ, when the heavens shall depart as a scroll, and those who are prepared for a part in the first resurrection shall rise out of their graves. Ecc.9:5,6,10; Ps.146:4, Job 14:12; Rev.6:14-17; 1Thess.4:13-18; etc. But the very first claim put forth by these communicating intelligences was that they were the spirits of the dead; and in that claim they still persist. But that is a lie; for there are no such spirits in a condition thus to communicate. And this, to him who will guided by the Scriptures, reveals at once both the unseen agents and their character; for we

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are told of spiritual beings which have to do with the human family, - the angels, of which there are two classes, the fallen and the unfallen, the evil and the good. But these spirits cannot be the good angels; for good angels do not lie; they must be evil angels, who have been deceivers from the beginning. And more than this, a prophecy respecting the last days points out a series of wonders to be wrought by this very agency. The nations are to be gathered to the battle of the great day of God Almighty by "spirits of devils" working miracles (Rev.16:14); and when Christ appears, it is to be when Satan has reached the very climax of a new development of his wonder-working powers. 2Thess.2:8-12.

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QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

20. What spiritual beings does the Bible inform us of?

21. Are the agents of spiritualism good or evil, and why?

22. What last-day prophecy speaks of this movement?

23. What do spiritualists admit their work is called in the Bible?

24. What is Webster's definition of necromancy.

25. How does the Bible speak of these things?

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2. Spiritualists do not deny that their communications with so-called departed spirits are what is termed in the Bible, "enchantment," "sorcery," "necromancy," "divination," "consulting with familiar spirits," etc. Webster defines "necromancy" to mean, "The art of revealing future events by means of a pretended communication with the dead; the art of magic; conjuration; enchantment." But every reader of the Bible knows that all these practices are denounced as "abominations," and are strictly forbidden in both the Old and New Testaments. See Deut.18:9-12: Lev.19:31; 2Kin.21:2,6,9,11; Rev.21:8; Gal.5:19-21; Acts 16:16-18. Gesenius describes "sorcerers" as "those

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who profess to call up the dead;" and Webster says that "a familiar spirit is a demon, or evil spirit, supposed to attend at a call." Those who embrace spiritualism are therefore obliged to give up the Bible. And such is invariably found to be true in its practical working.

3. They deny the existence of God, and blaspheme his name. We will not pain the ear of piety by quoting their fearful language, abundance of which might be given. An admission of the fact by one of their own number will be sufficient on this point. Joel Tiffany, a spiritualist lecturer and publisher, in his Monthly of June, 1858, said: "My experience has been, go among spiritualists where you will, and as a general thing they have no faith in a living, conscious, intelligent Deity."

4. They deny Christ, declaring that any just and perfect being is Christ; that the story of the first advent is a fabulous tale, that the crucifixion of Christ is only the crucifixion of the spirit, and that all the second advent of Christ there is to be is the advent of spiritualism, as we now behold it.

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QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

26. What, according to Gesenius, is a sorcerer?

27. How does Webster define a "familiar spirit?"

28. How, then, must a spiritualist regard the Bible?

29. How do they regard God?

30. How do they treat Christ?

31. What distinction do they make between right and wrong?

32. Where do they place man?

33. How do they treat marriage?

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5. They deny all distinction between right and wrong. A.B. Childs says ("Better Views of Living," pp. 28,29,128), "The divine use of the ten commandments is in their violation, not in their observance." J.S. Loveland, once a Methodist minister, declares, in the Banner of Light, that "with God

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there is no crime;" that "he is in the darkest crime and the highest holiness, and equally pleased with both."

6. They deify mortal man. In a spiritualist work, "The Educator," we read: "Man is God's embodiment - his highest divinest outer elaboration. God, then, is man, and man is God." Satan's first lie to man was that he should be as God. No wonder he now tries to build up a reputation for veracity by making them believe that they are gods. Edmunds (Spiritualism, vol. 1, p. 10) says: "The soul is a god of itself."

7. They are at war with marriage. One of the notorious tendencies of spiritualism is to separate husbands and wives, and plunge them all into the maelstrom of free love. It takes every moral restraint from man, as regards either heaven or earth, and gives the freest rein to his most debasing passions. The author of "Spiritualism as It Is," pp. 10,11,20, says: "After years of careful investigation, we are compelled, much against our inclination, to admit that more than one-half of our traveling media, speakers, and prominent spiritualists are guilty of immoral and licentious practices that have justly provoked the abhorrence of all right-thinking people."

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QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

34. How do they recognize the devil?

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8. They acknowledge the devil as their God and Father, and pray to him. In the Banner of Light of Nov. 4, 1865, is published the following:- "Question: Do you know of any such spirit as a person we call the devil? - Answer: We certainly do. And yet this same devil is our God, our Father." This

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was given through the celebrated medium, Mrs. Conant. Miss Lizzie Doten, a celebrated trance lecturer, addressed a formal prayer to "Lucifer" who "fell from his high estate, and whom mortals are prone to call the embodiment of evil." An "Invocation," found in the Banner of Light of April 18, 1871, opens in substantially the same manner.

9. The Bible speaks of them as "seducing spirits," "deceivers," "speaking lies in hypocrisy," and working wonders to prove a lie. 1Tim.4:1-3; 2Tim.3:13; 2Thess.2:9,10. Judge Edmunds (Broadway Tabernacle Lecture, Feb. 16, 1855) said:-

"I assure you from my own experience and observation that the fascination of this intercourse is so great that its tendency is to lead men away from their proper judgment, and instill a spirit of fanaticism most revolting to the calm and natural mind."

Spiritual Telegraph, July 11, 1857: "Spirits unquestionably can, and often do, personate other spirits, and that, too, often with such perfection as for the time being to defy every effort to detect the deception."

Dr. Child (Banner of Light, Oct. 6, 1864): "They will deceive us for their amusement."

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QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

35. What does the Bible say of the deceptive character of the spirits?

36. What do spiritualists admit on this point?

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10. It is impossible to identify the spirits. They perform their work by mesmeric power, causing the medium to see such images as they please. A.J. Davis (Herald of Progress, Feb. 1, 1862) says: "They can psychologize a medium to see them in the style to produce the deepest impression on the receiver. They can easily represent themselves as

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being old or young," etc. A person who will yield himself to the control of such spirits must be very anxious to be deceived.

11. Of late years this movement is assuming a new phase. It is carefully concealing from public view its grosser features under the garb of Christianity. It can talk of sin, Christ, the atonement, and even of future punishment. In this more respectable attire, spiritualism well-nigh obliterates all marks of distinction between itself and the greater part of the professedly religious world; for the great majority in all the churches believe in its fundamental principles, - the conscious state of the dead, and their power to act as guardian spirits of the living. Spiritualism only insists upon more frequent and open intercourse, which the bereaved, made most susceptible in their tender grief to every offer of comfort, are only too glad to receive on any plausible evidence that it is from their departed friends. Virtually, the greater part of the religious world to-day are spiritualists after the new order.

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QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

37. Can spirits be identified?

38. What is its more modern phase?

39. what passage in Matthew does it fulfill?

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12. Spiritualism is one of the great crowning signs of the last days. It is the fulfillment of Matt.24:11, which declares that, just before the end, "many false prophets shall arise, and shall deceive many." Its mediums and ministers are the "false christs and false prophets" that should arise and "show great signs and wonders," insomuch that if it were possible, they should "deceive the very elect," just before Christ appears in the clouds of heaven. Matt.24:24-27. It is that "working of Satan,"

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which is finally to reach "all power and signs and lying wonders" just as the brightness of Christ's coming bursts upon the world. 2Thess.2:8-10. It is the "doctrine of devils" taught by "seducing spirits," to which some in the last days would depart, as the Spirit of God has expressly declared. 1Tim.4:1,2. It is that work which was to take place "in the last days," corresponding to the work of Jannes and Jambres, who, by their wonders wrought in the presence of Pharaoh, withstood Moses. 2Tim.3:6-8. It is that anti-Christian work described in Heb.10:29, which was to be witnessed when the great day of the Lord was approaching. Verse 25. The same class is described by Peter (2Pet.2), and by Jude (verse 13), who are to receive vengeance for their ungodly deeds at the coming of Christ. It is that wonder-working power brought to view in Rev.13:13,14, which is soon to gather the nations to the battle of the great day of God Almighty (Rev.16:13,14), and is again brought to view in Rev.19:20, in the last struggle against Christ, the King of kings, when it perishes in the lake of fire.

It it any wonder that Satan cherishes such venom against the word of God, which so fully exposes his deceptive work?

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QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

40. What are its mediums and ministers?

41. What other passages does it fulfill?

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CHAPTER 24. The Second Advent

HE who would come to God must first believe that he is. Heb.11:6. He who would intelligently hold any doctrine concerning Christ must believe in him as the Son of God, and have some idea of the work he has undertaken to do. Christ says to his disciples, "Ye believe in God, believe also in me." John 14:1. For those and to those who thus believe, we write.

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QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR.

1. What must he who would come to God, first do?

2. How must he regard Christ?

3. What ground do all Christians hold in common?

4. What great future event in Christ's work do the Scriptures speak of?

5. To discuss intelligently the second advent, what other advent must we consider?

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Within the area of one great fact, all believers in Christ hold common ground; namely, that Christ, in human form, was once literally and personally here upon the earth; that he taught, suffered, died, rose, and ascended to heaven. Of a certain event in the future the Scriptures speak, in varied phraseology, as his return, coming again appearing the second time, etc. What do they mean by these expressions? Is Christ again to reveal himself personally and visibly to mankind? If so, under what circumstances? in what manner? for what purpose? and at what time? These are questions of absorbing interest.

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The subject of the second advent can no more be discussed intelligently apart from that of the first advent, than advanced grammar can be considered without the use of the alphabet, or the higher mathematics without reference to the first rules of numbers. Why did Christ come the first time? If this question can be answered, it will determine why he comes the second time, if he is to come; and if the purpose of the second advent can be known, that will determine largely the nature, manner, and concomitants of that coming.

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QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR.

6. Why is there such diversity of views on this subject?

7. On what ground only can we determine the nature, manner, object, and relative time of the second advent?

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The great diversity of views that exists on this subject must be owing to a failure on the part of those who hold these diverse views, to comprehend the scope, and look through to the completion, of the plan of redemption. Ask the average church member of to-day what purposes God has for the future of this earth and the human family, and he will tell you he does not know. Is the present state of things always to continue? - Yes, so far as he is aware. It has been in some way arranged that the righteous go to heaven, and the wicked to hell, when they die; and this process is to go forward through an indeterminate future, and the world drift drearily on without object, aim, purpose, or hope. And therefore all declarations, concerning the second coming of Christ must apply to some present experiences, - to the inflictions of judgments, special outpourings of the Spirit, the development of new isms (like Mormonism, Shakerism, and Spiritualism), to

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conversion, or to death. Is this consistent? - By no means as can be easily made to appear.

If the redemption which Christ has undertaken for mankind consists of a definite and well defined plan, certain parts of which are fulfilled by his first and second advents, and can be fulfilled only by them, the nature, manner, object, and relative time of his second advent are determined beyond the possibility of variation.

Will the reader go with us in the further development of this thought? Man was once upright, and needed no redemption. He fell; and a Saviour, gratuitously provided by the grace of God, became his only hope. In his fall he lost innocence, took on guilt, subjected himself to death, and alienated to the deceiver his title to the inheritance, the new-made earth, which God had given him. The incipient promise of the proposed work of redemption was that the seed of the woman should bruise the head of the deceiving serpent, which must signify that the purposes of the deceiver were to be thwarted and his work undone.

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QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR.

8. What was man's original condition?

9. What change in this respect took place?

10. What was involved in the promise of the woman's seed?

11. What has Christ undertaken to do?

12. What acts on his part does this involve?

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To this end, Christ accordingly undertook to restore to man his lost innocence, take away his incurred guilt, release him from the power of death, and put him again in possession of his forfeited inheritance. To do this, he gave himself as a sacrifice, by which perfect satisfaction was rendered to the law of God. This brought him to this world in the form of a servant, to suffer the death of the

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cross. The foundation of the work was thus laid broad and deep. Man has an intercessor, and sins can be pardoned. But the work cannot be completed till the power of death is broken, and the inheritance, restored to its Edenic beauty, is again put back into the hands of its first possessors. For this purpose the dead must be brought out from their graves by a resurrection; but the resurrection depends upon the second coming of Christ, by which alone it can be accomplished. And every bloody trace of the curse must be burned out by the all-purging fires which God will kindle as a testimony against sin. Hence, when Christ comes, he takes his people to himself, not be again established upon the earth till its purification is accomplished, and the whole work of redemption is carried out. Christ's second coming, then, must be a personal, literal, and visible coming. In no other way can God's revealed purpose in this matter be brought to its predicted and glorious issue. A brief examination of the testimony of the Scriptures will now show that the foregoing propositions rest securely upon their uniform and unequivocal testimony.

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QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR.

13. How much has he already accomplished?

14. What remains to be done?

15. On what does the resurrection of the dead depend?

16. What does Christ do with his people when he comes?

17. What, then, must be the coming of Christ?

18. What fact is explicitly stated? Reference.

19. To what does the restrictive clause apply?

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1. The fact that Christ will come a second time to this earth, is most explicitly stated. "Unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation." Heb.9:28. The restrictive clause, "unto them that look for him," does not apply to his appearing; for when he comes,

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"every eye shall see him" (Rev.1:7; Matt.24:30); but only to his bestowal of salvation; for to those only who look for him will appear "unto salvation."

When Christ ascended, the two angels who remained a moment behind to comfort the disciples under the shock and sorrow of separation from their Lord, exclaimed in thrilling tones, "Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus which is taken up from you into heaven shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven." Acts 1:11. This statement is direct. Its terms are simple and explicit. It is not ambiguous. It has no double meaning. Men may disbelieve it, as popular theology practically does; but it can be understood in only one way; and that is, that the same Christ who ascended, shall literally, visibly, and personally appear again to human eyes in the clouds of heaven. 1Thess.4:16 states the same thing; also Mark 13:26; 14:62; Luke 21:27.

2. The object of Christ's coming is to reward every man as his work shall be. Matt.16:27; Rev.22:12. And this is accomplished by -

First, Raising the righteous dead to immortality. John 6:39,40; 1Cor.15:23,42-44,52; 1Thess.4:16; 2Tim.4:8; Rev.20:6.

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QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR.

20. Who gave the testimony of Acts 1:11?

21. What is its meaning?

22. What other texts state the same thing?

23. What is the object of Christ's second coming?

24. What is first done toward accomplishing this?

25. Secondly?

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Secondly, Changing all the righteous living to immortality through the mighty energy of the Holy

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Spirit. Rom.8:11; 1Cor.15:51,52; Phil.3:20,21; Col.3:4; 1Thess.4:17; 1Joh.3:2.

Thirdly, Destroying all the living wicked. Is.6:11; 13:9; 24:1,3; Jer.25:32-35; Zeph.1:2,3; Matt.13:38-42; 2Thess.1:7-10; 2:8; Rev.6:14-17; 19:21. (The wicked dead are reserved for punishment to the second resurrection, after the investigate Judgment on their cases during the thousand years of Rev.20:4, following which, in their cases, the second death ends all. Rev.20:11-15.)

3. The manner of this coming will be overwhelmingly majestic and glorious. It will be in the glory of the Father (Matt.16:27), with all the holy angels (Matt.25:31), in flaming fire (2Thess.1:7,8), with the blast of a trumpet and a voice that will shake both heaven and earth, and reach the ears even of the earliest dead in their lowest sepulchers. Matt.24:31; John 5:28; 1Thess.4:16; Heb.12:26; Rev.16:17. The wicked will perish in that awful day, as wax melts before the fire (Rev.6:15,16; 2Thess.2:8; Rev.1:7; Heb.12:29; Rev.19:21), but the righteous will hail him with exceeding joy. Is.25:9; 1John2:28; Jude 24; Rev.22:20.

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QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR.

26. Thirdly?

27. What will be the manner of his coming?

28. How will it affect the wicked?

29. What difference between the righteous and the wicked in regard to knowing about these things?

30. What can be said of the nearness of the advent?

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4. A knowledge of this coming will be possessed by the righteous, but not by the wicked. Daniel says (12:10) that the wise shall understand, but the wicked shall not understand. As a snare shall it - the day of the Lord - come upon the wicked.

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Luke 21:35. They remain in willful darkness, and the day comes upon them as a thief. 1Thess.5:2,3. But the righteous are not in darkness, and the day does not overtake them as a thief. Verse 4.

5. This second coming of Christ is now near at hand. The Scriptures have not only revealed the fact of the restitution of all things (Acts 3:21) through the redemption which Christ has undertaken, but they have also given us abundant data by which we can tell when the great work is drawing near its completion. The result to be reached is the establishment of the kingdom of God in all the earth, and such an overthrow of all opposition to God's authority and such an eradication of all the elements of evil, that the great chorus of the whole universe shall be one of peace, harmony, and love among all creatures, and thanksgiving, honor, and glory to Creator and Redeemer, "to Him that sitteth on the throne and unto the Lamb forever and ever." Rev.5:13. The evidences which show that the kingdom of God is nigh are -

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QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR.

31. What is the great result to be reached?

32. What is given by which we may judge of our nearness to the end?

33. How many kingdoms from Babylon to the end of time?

34. What are these? and how many have appeared?

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1. Historical events. Lines of consecutive events are given us, the concluding one of which is the setting up of God's kingdom, and the ushering in of eternal scenes, while all the others lie within the field of human history. Thus beginning with Babylon the Great, 677 B.C., four great ruling kingdoms were to appear consecutively among men. These were Babylon, Medo-Persia, Grecia, and Rome. And they have all appeared as foretold. The last of

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these kingdoms (Rome) was to be divided into ten kingdoms; which was accomplished between the year 356 and 483 A.D,; and in the days of these divisions (which still continue) the kingdom of God was to be sent up by the violent overthrow and utter destruction of all these kingdoms. Dan.2:31-46. This is next in order, and must be near, as other prophecies still more definitely show.

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QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR.

35. What is next in order?

36. What is given in Daniel?

37. What division takes place in Rome?

38. What is symbolized by the little horn?

39. What is its last specified act?

40. When was it performed?

41. What is the fate of this power, and how accomplished?

42. What is given in Daniel 8?

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In Daniel 7 another prophecy is given us, from which we learn that the second advent of Christ is now at hand. Here the same historical events presented in the image of Dan.2 are again symbolized, with some sharply-outlined subdivisions, and the fixed limitations of a prophetic period. As in Dan.2, so here, Babylon is followed by Medo-Persia, Grecia, and Rome in the procession of earthly kingdoms; and then the saints take the dominion under the whole heaven. But Rome, before its history is finished, breaks up into ten divisions, symbolized by ten horns; and the rise of the papacy to rule and domineer among these kingdoms through all the dark ages, is symbolized by another horn rising to power, and continuing 1260 years. Commencing in 538, this period of 1260 years ended in 1798. The last specified act of this horn was the utterance of "great words," which we think were emphatically spoken by the Ecumenical Council of 1870, in its decree of papal infallibility. In consequence of these words, and apparently after no great lapse of time, Daniel

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saw the beast slain and his body given to the burning flame. Dan.7:11. But the burning flame in which the papacy perishes, is nothing less than the spirit of Christ's mouth, and the brightness of his coming literally manifested at his second advent in the clouds of heaven. 2Thess.2:8. Of our proximity to that event, the reader can now judge.

Again, in Daniel 8, the rise and fall of Medo-Persia, Grecia, and Rome are given us, to be succeeded by the kingdom of God. Another longer and more important prophetic period is measured off, which terminated in 1844; and the event to which it brought us was the last brief division of the work of our Saviour as mediator for the world, nearly forty years of which are already in the past. His exalted position as King of kings and Lord of lords is next inevitably to come, and that speedily.

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QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR.

43. What important period is there measured off?

44. When did it end?

45. To what event did it bring us?

46. What position is Christ next to take?

47. What is given us in the last part of Dan.11?

48. What is indicated by the condition of the Turkish power?

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In the closing verses of Daniel 11, the prophet depicts the last scenes in the history of a power now fast sinking to its inevitable doom. Of the Turkish power, as the "king of the north," it is written, "He shall come to his end, and none shall help him. And at that time shall Michael [Christ] stand up [that is, commence his reign]." The question, "How near is the Turkish power to its utter extinction?" is to the student of prophecy simply this: "How near is the setting up of the eternal kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ? To this question let politicians and statesmen anywhere respond, and we will abide by the answer.

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In Rev.12 and 13 we are carried through the pagan and papal forms of the Roman government, forward to our own time and our own nation. Certain religious movements, which are already appearing in embryo, are here to be developed, when this government, with the papacy, in conjunction with which it performs its last acts of religious oppression, is suddenly arrested in its career, and perishes in its pride at the second coming of Christ. Rev.13:13,14; 19:20.

Such is a small portion, briefly stated, of the historical evidence that history itself is soon to cease in the opening scenes of the eternal world. Further evidence of this is found in -

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QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR.

49. What can be said of the prophecy of Rev.12 and 13?

50. In what do we find further evidence of the nearness of the end?

51. What are some of the principal of these phenomena?

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2. Natural phenomena. - It might be expected that nature, in her various modes of operation, would give premonitions of the approach of the final catastrophe. We are not surprised, therefore, to read the predictions that the sun should be darkened, the moon refuse her light, the stars fall from heaven, strange sights appear above fiercer and more frequent convulsions shake the earth beneath, and the great deep lift up its waves as if it would leap in terror from its ancient bed. All these phenomena have appeared. The dark day and night of May 19, 1780, the great meteoric shower of Nov. 13, 1833, wonderful auroras, cyclones and cloud bursts on land, water-spouts and tidal waves at sea, are all matters of record and of growing wonder and alarm. What do they presage? Prophecy

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says, "The great and notable day of the Lord." Joel 2:30,31; Acts 2:19,20; Luke 21:25-27.

3. Political disturbances and perplexity among the nations.- In a line of consecutive events, national distresses and perplexities stand next preceding the shaking of the powers of heaven, and the appearing of the Son of man. Luke 21:25-27. Nihilists in Russia, communists in Germany, monarchists in France, dynamiters in England, paupers and anarchists in Ireland, Mormons in America, capital oppressing labor, and labor combining against capital, here, there, and everywhere, till the world's mass of humanity is heaved and tossed like the troubled sea when it cannot rest, - all proclaim the prophecy fulfilled. Add to this the fact that millions are almost daily squandered on the invention of new and more murderous weapons of war, on experiments in attack and defense, on vast collections of the material for war, and that even the heathen of the far East, China and Japan, are rapidly providing themselves with the improved modern implements of warfare, and that the millions of Mohammedans from Persia to Hindostan are ready to rise as a man in defense of their prophet, and we may well believe that "the day of the Lord is near in the valley of decision," or "concision," cutting off, as the margin reads. Joel 3:9-14.

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QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR.

52. What was to be the condition of the nations of the last days?

53. What fulfillments do we already see?

54. What moral and religious phenomena were to appear?

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4. Moral and religious phenomena. - As the world draws near to its last day, its religious and moral conditions was, according to prophecy, to be peculiar and abnormal. Satan comes down to work with increased energy, because he knows that

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his time to work will soon be past. Evil men and seducers wax worse and worse. Violence fills the earth, as in the days of Noah; licentiousness, as in the days of Lot. The moral barriers of society seem to be giving way. Professed Christians are borne down by the tide of evil influences, and sink to the same level with the world. Spiritualism with its fetid breath and polluting touch, stalks forth through all lands, to poison the last fountains of truth, and take all the world in it subtle snare. Rev.12:12; 2Tim.3:1-5,13; Luke 17:26-30; Matt.24:24; 2Thess.2:9-12; Rev.13:13; 16:13,14; 19:20. But God counterworks by sending forth a last saving message, to prepare all who will receive it for the coming of his Son. The "gospel of the kingdom" goes to all the world. Matt.24:14. A threefold message, symbolized by the three angels of Rev.14:6-14, prepares a people for the coming of the Son of man upon the great white cloud. All this we witness in the world around us. What more remains to be done?

In view of this great event, the second coming of Christ and the end of all things, the church is exhorted to watchfulness (Mark 13:36,37; 1Pet.4:7), sober, righteous, and godly living (Titus 2:12,13), patience, and love to the brethren (Jam.5:8,9), and all holiness and godliness in life and conversation. Obedience to these exhortations will secure us a preparation for that day. Disregarding them, we shall find our portion at last with hypocrites and unbelievers.

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QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR.

55. How are the prophecies in this respect being fulfilled?

56. By what means does God counterwork the powers of darkness?

57. To what is the church exhorted in view of the second advent?

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CHAPTER 25. The Two Laws

WE speak only of those laws mentioned in the Scriptures as connected with the government and redemption of man. Do the Scriptures recognize, as occupying this field, two laws, distinct in their origin, distinct in their nature, distinct in their office, and distinct in their duration? Or do they recognize but one law existing at any one time in the world, an indivisible whole, equally affected in all its parts by any changes or limitations?

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QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

1. What do we mean by the "two laws?"

2. What two questions at once arise?

3. How are they treated by different classes?

4. What opinion does one class entertain concerning a law in the beginning?

5. When was another law introduced?

6. To what did it owe its origin?

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To these questions, different answers are given by different classes. One class hold that in the beginning there was a law given to man, moral in its nature and immutable and eternal in its principles; that after the fall of man, another law was introduced, owing its origin to this change in man's relation to God, and of such a nature as to meet, for the time being, the requirements of the system of redemption then introduced. This law they hold to be the ceremonial and typical law, beginning with the patriarchal sacrifices, enlarged in the Mosaic

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dispensation, and reaching only to Christ, as it was simply designed to foreshadow and point out the real work of Christ for the salvation of men, and was the medium through which the people of the Lord could show their faith in a Redeemer to come. And when Christ, the antitype and substance, finished his work in this world in the days of his flesh, and opened the new dispensation, the types and shadows of necessity ceased to exist, and the law of ceremonies came to an end, being nailed to the cross. But this did not in anywise affect that other and higher law which antedated and outranked the ceremonial. That passed over into this dispensation unchanged; it still continues, and will endure, at least in its two great principles, which require us to love God supremely and our fellow-beings as ourselves, through all eternity.

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QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

7. What was its nature?

8. What name is given to this law?

9. How long was it to continue?

10. What was its design?

11. For what purpose did the people of the Lord use it?

12. How did the work of Christ affect this law?

13. How did it affect the first law?

14. In what form and how long did this law endure?

15. What view does another class hold in reference to law previous to the first advent?

16. In this case, what did Christ's death accomplish.

17. And what law have we since the first advent?

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The other class hold that previous to the first advent of Christ there was but one law connected with the economy of grace; that the Bible recognizes no such distinction as moral and ceremonial; that those laws which are usually called moral and those which are called ceremonial belong to the same system, constituting an indivisible whole, all being, in the same sense, the law of the Lord; and that when Christ nailed a law to the cross, it included the whole, and swept from existence every

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law which God had given to man previous to that time, - all to which such distinctive appellations are given as moral and ceremonial, governmental and redemptive. Since the advent of Christ, we have, according to this scheme, another law, the law of Christ, enacted and of force this side the crucifixion.

The question, Which of these views is correct? is an important one. Momentous conclusions hang upon the answer. Mark them well. If the position first named is correct, the distinction between moral and ceremonial law is a legitimate distinction; and this distinction being allowed, it will not be disputed that the moral law is summarily contained in the decalogue, or ten commandments; and this law being immutable and perpetual, it follows that every commandment of the decalogue is still of binding obligation; and then the inevitable sequence is not far to reach; namely, that the very same day which the fourth commandment of the decalogue designates as the Sabbath of the Lord, must still be observed as such.

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QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

18. What follows from the first position?

19. What follows from the second?

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But if the second view is correct, then the Sabbath commandment, with all other Bible laws then existing, was abolished at the cross; and we have now no Sabbath unless it can be shown that some law for such an institution has been enacted since the crucifixion of Christ. This conclusion all no-Sabbath men are anxious to reach; and some Sunday men are willing to take the same ground, as the most effectual way of disposing of the fourth commandment, hoping to be able to find other tenable ground upon which to rear the Sunday fabric.

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Immense consequences, as the reader must now see, are thus suspended upon our views of this question. The subject of the two laws involves no less than the question of obedience or disobedience to one of the commandments of the great Jehovah.

Our opponents are not slow to see the strategic importance of this argument in its relation to the whole Sabbath question; hence they plant their heaviest batteries at this point, and expend the burden of their efforts in defense of the one-law view. If it can be maintained that the distinction mentioned in the foregoing paragraphs does not exist, Sabbath-keeping at once disappears from the list of Christian duties. If the distinction does exist, the perpetuity of the Sabbath is inevitably assured. No question, therefore, more vital to the interest of Sabbath-keepers can be proposed, nor one in the solution of which they should feel a deeper interest.

With the foregoing presentation of the question, we are prepared to state the proposition which it is our purpose to maintain. It is, that the Bible recognizes two laws as distinct from each other as black and white, daylight and darkness; that these two laws existed contemporaneously from the time of the introduction of the plan of salvation to the death of Christ, when one of them was nailed to the cross; while the other still continues.

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QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

20. What question does the subject of the two laws therefore involve?

21. How do our opponents treat this question?

22. How is the Sabbath affected by it?

23. What proposition is here maintained?

24. Why should this view be defended?

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This view will be defended as alone consistent with reason and revelation, as one which alone harmonizes the Scriptures, and puts into agreement

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with itself their testimony concerning the work of Christ and the plan of salvation. While the other view, that there was only one law previous to the death of Christ, which was at that time all abolished, making necessary a new enactment for whatever law we have since that time, is contrary to the plainest principles of God's government, arrays Bible against Bible, and is utterly execrable in the conclusions to which it leads.

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QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

25. How may the one-law be characterized?

26. What two facts appear at the very beginning?

27. What questions does this suggest?

28. what is the first count in the indictment of one-law theory?

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1. Two facts appear at the very threshold of this subject, which will be readily acknowledged by all. First, some laws which were binding in the old dispensation are binding in this dispensation. The laws, for instance, against murder, adultery, theft, blasphemy, and idolatry are still in force. There are, therefore, some obligations common to both dispensations from which the world could not, consistently with God's government, for a single moment be released. Secondly, that which was abolished at the cross was an entire system. God did not single out and abolish portions and pieces of some arrangement or system, and leave other parts remaining. If there was but one law, it all expired at the cross. Now a question arises; namely, Was there ever even a human government guilty of such folly as to abolish a law which the State could not for a moment spare, and then re-enact it at the same instant, knowing before their action that when they had abolished it, they must instantaneously re-enact it? What kind of a farce would this be? And shall we

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charge God with folly as much greater than this as his laws are more sacred than human laws, and all the world is greater than a single State? This is what he did do, if he abolished all law at the cross; and he did there abolish all law, if there was but one law. But if there were some principles not abolished then, there was some law which did not belong to the system which then came to an end. But further, if there were laws in the old dispensation which could not be spared in this, and all must admit that there were, why should God abolish them? Can any one answer? If you say that they chanced to be in an imperfect system, which had to be taken out of the way, and which, of course, carried everything with it, then another question arises, Did not God know this? Could he not foresee the dilemma in which he would at length find the eternal principles of his government involved? Ought we not to be careful how we charge God with folly? And this is the first count in the indictment of the one-law theory; it charges an infinite God with infinite folly.

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QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

29. When did moral laws originate and how long must they continue?

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2. The laws against murder, adultery, theft, blasphemy, and idolatry have been referred to, as necessary in, and common to, both dispensations. Let us inquire into the origin of these principles. God, as our Creator, has a right to rule us. We, as his creatures, are under obligation to obey. There must be some law regulating this relation, and defining our duties. But man was not to be alone in the world. The earth was to be filled with inhabitants. All men would be under obligation to their fellow-men;

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and there must be some law regulating this relation also, and the duties growing out of it. Thus in two directions man was placed under obligation in the beginning; and these duties of God and to his fellow-men existed in the very nature of things; they began with man's being, - a necessary concomitant of creation itself. And these laws must endure as long as these relations continue; and until the relations change, the laws governing them can never change.

All this, remember, before ever man has sinned. And if he had never sinned, these laws would have existed just the same. They would have gone with him, not only till he was confirmed in holiness and happiness, but through all eternity. And they would have been the only laws to which he was subject. Now, when man fell into sin, how did it affect his amenability to these laws? It did not affect it in the least, as it did not release him from any obligation to God or to his fellow-men.

Here, then, we have well-defined laws, occupying a specific field of their own, and regulating a distinct class of duties; laws which existed prior to the fall, independently of the fall, and which were not affected by the fall. These may be justly termed original or primary laws, which were in the very nature of the case, immutable and eternal.

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QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

30. How did man's sin affect these laws, and his relation to them?

31. What may these laws be called?

32. What other laws sprung into existence when man sinned? and why?

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But just as soon as man had sinned, making redemption necessary to his salvation, and a plan had been devised for the accomplishment of a work of atonement in the hands of a mediator, another law

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sprung into existence as the immediate result of this work. For after this, if man would have the favor of God, it becomes necessary for him not only to obey the primary laws, which were in nowise relaxed, but also to conform to certain other requirements by which he was to express faith in a coming redeemer. This was the law of types and shadows, and was to be obeyed in the performance of certain typical ceremonies, rites, and offerings. Here was a law that owed its origin to the fall of man, and which could not have existed before; for a type pointing out a coming redeemer would have been an impossibility before such a redeemer was necessary to man's future welfare. The object of this law was not to change or interfere with any of man's primary duties to God or to his fellow-men, but only to show him the way back to God's forfeited favor.

We now have before us two laws, distinct in their origin, distinct in their nature, and distinct in their design. The next inquiry will be whether they are equally distinct in the matter of their duration.

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QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

33. Could such a thing as a type or typical law have existed before the fall?

34. What have we now before us?

35. What is the next inquiry?

36. What does Christ say of the law?

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We take our stand at the opening of this dispensation, and look at the work of Christ, and listen to the teachings of the first ministers of the gospel. Christ says: "Think not that I am come to destroy the law or the prophets; I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill. For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled." Here is a law introduced, the perpetuity of which is

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taught in the most explicit manner so long as the heavens and the earth should endure, and until all the prophecies, some of which span the measureless cycles of eternity, should be fulfilled.

Shall we say that there was but one law in the world to this time? Then that law must continue to the end. It still endures. Every rite and ceremony, sacrifices and offering, is still in force, on this hypothesis; for not a jot or tittle of the law was to pass while heaven and earth endured. Absurd to say that this was spoken of a law, which, as a whole, or in any of its parts, was to cease at the cross, not more than three and a half years at most from the time when this language was spoken. To apply this language to the Mosaic law, with the understanding that that law was to cease at the cross, as some do, is to place the Divine Teacher in the following absurd position: He steps forth upon the stage of his public ministry, takes up a law which had continued unimpaired for nearly fifteen hundred years, and makes the most solemn asseveration that that law is still to continue without failing for three and a half years more! And he finds no way to measure this period, except by using an expression which covers the enormous duration of all coming time, "Till all things be fulfilled." It would scarcely be possible for language to frame a greater or more wicked absurdity.

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QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

37. If there was but one law, what conclusion follows?

38. Why not apply Christ's words to the law of Moses?

39. How were the followers of Christ to regard this law?

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This law was one which was to be obeyed and taught by all the followers of Christ, in all coming time, and which was the test, or standard, or righteousness.

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Verse 20. And a law regulating righteousness, or right doing, can be fulfilled only by rendering perfect obedience to its requirements. This is what the Lord was to do in reference to the moral law; for this law was in his heart (Ps.40:8), and he was to magnify and make it honorable. Is.42:21. It was a law which was in existence in the days of James, and which he instructed the disciples to keep, when he said, "If ye fulfill the royal law according to the scripture, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself, ye do well." James 2:8. We fulfill this law by loving our neighbors as ourselves; and this is a continual duty; not one which we are to perform once, and by so doing forever abolish the law which requires it, according to the absurd one-law scheme.

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QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

40. For how long?

41. Of what was it the test?

42. How can such a law be fulfilled?

43. How did David and Isaiah say the Lord would regard this law? References.

44. What did James say of it?

45. How is that law described which ceased at the cross?

46. In what four great particulars are these laws distinct?

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But there was a law which ceased at the cross. It is called the "handwriting of ordinances," and is said to have been "blotted out," and "nailed to the cross." It is called the "middle wall of partition" which has been "broken down;" a "law of commandments contained in ordinances," which has been "abolished in his [Christ's] flesh; " the "enmity" which has been "slain" by the cross. And when these scriptures speak of the law which has been abolished, they tell us also what kind of a law it was. It was the "handwriting of ordinances," not the "royal law," of which James speaks. It was "commandments contained in ordinances," not

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a law of righteousness, which regulates our duty to God and our fellow-men. It was a law which was a "shadow of things to come," the body of which is "of Christ," not the law which antedated all types and shadows. This reveals its true nature. It was the typical and shadowy system, which of necessity ceased at the cross, as a shadow ceases when the substance which casts the shadow is reached.

Thus, while it is declared of one law that it should endure while the heavens and the earth should continue, of the other it is declared that it was "slain," "abolished," "blotted out," at the cross; and now for over eighteen hundred and fifty-one years, this law has not been binding upon mankind.

Having now found two laws between which there is a marked distinction most plain and unmistakable, first as to their origin, secondly as to their nature, thirdly as to their office, and fourthly as to their duration, it only remains to notice some of the antithetical expressions of the Scriptures which recognize this distinction, and which can by no possibility be harmonized on the one-law theory.

As it has been clearly shown that one of these laws is moral and the other ceremonial, these words will conveniently designate the laws referred to, as they are contrasted in the following paragraphs.

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QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

47. What is the distinction in their origin?

48. What distinction in the manner in which they were given?

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Moral. - This law, regulating our duties to God and to our fellow-men, was a primary law, binding on man before the fall, would still have governed him had he never fallen, and was in nowise changed by the fall.

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Ceremonial. - This law never would have existed had not man fallen. It was a law of service, by which man could return to the favor of God.

M. - Was spoken from Sinai by the voice of God and twice written upon the tables of stone by his own finger, being in this respect plainly distinguished from all other laws. Deut4:12; 5:22.

C. - Was communicated to Moses privately, and was by Moses written with a pen in a book. Deut.31:9.

M. - Was deposited in the golden ark, the central object of God's true worship in that dispensation, made expressly for its reception. Ex.25:10-16.

C. - Was put into a receptacle by the side of the ark. Deut.31:26.

M. - Related only to moral duties. Ex.20:3-17.

C. - Was wholly ceremonial, relating only to meats and drinks, and divers washings, and carnal ordinances. Heb.9:10.

M. - Was to be written, under the new dispensation, in the hearts of the disciples. Jer.31:31-34; Heb.8:10.

C. - Was not to be written anywhere in this dispensation, but was blotted out and nailed to the cross. Col.2:14.

M. - Was written by nature in the hearts of the Gentiles. Rom.2:14.

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QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

49. What distinction in the place where they were kept?

50. What distinction in the things to which they related?

51. What distinction in the position they were to occupy in this dispensation?

52. What distinction in their relation to Jews and Gentiles?

53. What distinction in relation to Christ's work on the cross?

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C. - Was a middle wall of partition between Jews and Gentiles. Eph.2:14,15.

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M. - Christ did not come to destroy this law (Matt.5:17), and hence did not destroy it.

C. - Christ did destroy, by abolishing it (Eph.2:15), and nailing it to his cross. Col.2:14.

M. - Was to remain unchanged even in a jot and tittle, as long as heaven and earth should endure. Matt.5:18.

C. - Was to last only till the time of reformation by the coming of Christ. Heb.9:10,11.

M. - Christ was to magnify and make it honorable (Isa.42:21), which he did by recognizing it authority, obeying it perfectly, showing its exceeding length and breadth, and then dying for those who had transgressed it, thus testifying by the most solemn scene ever witnessed on earth by men or angels, that the claims of that law could never be relaxed.

C. - Christ disannulled this law. Heb.7:18. It does not magnify and make honorable a law to show that there are reasons why it should no longer exist. This cannot, therefore, be the same law as the one mentioned before.

M. - Was to be kept and taught throughout this dispensation by all the disciples of Christ. Matt.5:19.

C. - Was not commanded the disciples to keep at all, according to the decision of the council at Jerusalem. Acts 15:24.

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QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

54. What distinction in regard to the time they were to endure?

55. What distinction in Christ's treatment of them?

56. How were the disciples to regard them through this dispensation?

57. How are they each affected by faith in Christ?

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M. - Is not made void by faith in Christ, but is established thereby. Rom.3:31.

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C. - Is made void by faith in Christ. Gal.5:4.

M. - Was the "law of liberty." Jam.2:12.

C. - Was a "yoke of bondage." Gal.5:1.

M. - Was a law in which the apostle Paul took great delight. Rom.7:22.

C. - Was a yoke too grievous to be borne, either by Jews of Christians. Acts 15:10.

M. - Was a law spiritual holy, just, and good. Rom.7:12,14.

C. - Was a law which was carnal, weak, and unprofitable, and made nothing perfect. Heb.7:16,18,19.

M. - Was a law of which David writes, "The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul." Ps.19:7.

C. - Was a law which, not being perfect itself, could not make its subjects perfect. Heb.10:1.

M. - Was the "royal law;" that is, the law of the Great King, perfect, spiritual, holy. Jam.2:8.

C. - Was a law of commandments contained in ordinances, called "the enmity" (Eph.2:15,16), was weak and unprofitable (Heb.7:18), and was only temporary. Heb.9:10.

M. - Is a law obedience to which is a condition of entering into eternal life. Matt.19:16-19; Rev.22:14.

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QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

58. How do they compare in respect to liberty and bondage?

59. How did the apostles regard these laws respectively?

60. How do they compare in their nature?

61. What is each able to accomplish?

62. What difference in rank between these two laws?

63. What different results follow dependence on them respectively?

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C. - Is a law which, if we depend on the keeping of it, will cut us off from Christ, the source of life, as shown by many scriptures already quoted.

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M. - Is the law by which the world will be judged at the last day. Jam.2:12; Eccl.12:13,14.

C. - Is a law by which no man can be judged. Col.2:16.

M. - Is designed to secure to man the crowning blessing of entering through the gates into the heavenly city. Rev.22:14.

C. - Is a law which is declared to be against us contrary to us. Col.2:14.

It is unnecessary to extend this list to any greater length. If any man can scale this multiplied line of defenses behind which the argument is entrenched; if he can show that a law is at the same time in existence and not in existence, moral and ceremonial, perfect and imperfect, spiritual and carnal, for us and against us, abolished and not abolished, eternal and temporary, - then his logic may essay anything. He can show that there is no difference in character between false gods and the true God, no difference in duration between a month and a century, no difference in color between white and black, no difference in illumination between daylight or darkness, or do any other impossible thing.

But it is claimed that this very law which we call moral has been abolished; as, -

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QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

64. What difference between them in respect to being judged by them?

65. What is to be secured by them?

66. Can all these testimonies refer to one and the same law?

67. What must be proved, if there is but one law?

68. How is Luke 16:16 explained?

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1. Luke 16:16: "The law and the prophets were until John; since that time the kingdom of God is preached." True, but this does not say that the prophets and the law ceased with John, but only

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that we have something additional now. Before John, law and prophets; since John's time, law, prophets, and gospel.

2. Acts 15. This is usually referred to, to show simply that the Sabbath is not now binding. But it will be seen on examination that the enumeration leaves out other essential precepts, which all admit to be now binding. Hence the moral law is not the subject of this chapter.

3. Rom.6:14: "Not under the law, but under grace." This simply means that we are not under the condemnation of the law, but under the favor of God, who grants us pardon through the sacrifice of Christ. But we are not, therefore, at liberty to break the law which condemns lying, stealing, killing, etc.

4. Rom.7:1-6. In Paul's illustration here given, it is not the law that dies in any case, but the first husband. With this fact kept in mind, this scripture can never be tortured to testify for antinomianism.

5. Rom.10:4: "Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth." Very well; but how about those who do not believe? Think of that. "End" here simply means "object," in the sense of design or purpose. Jam.5:11.

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QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

69. To what law does Acts 15 refer? and why?

70. Explain the terms "under law" and "under grace."

71. What mistake do our opponents make on Rom.7:1-6?

72. What does the word "end" mean in Rom.10:4?

73. what is Paul's argument in 2Cor.3?

74. What can be said of the constitutional difference between moral and ceremonial law?

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6. 2 Cor.3: "The ministration of death written and engraven in stones." To this our opponents usually add immediately, "was done away." But

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the passage does not so read. It was the "glory" of that dispensation which was to be done away, being swallowed up in the greater glory of this dispensation, as the light of the moon is swallowed up in the light of the sun. The quotation given above is elliptical. It means the ministration of that which was engraven in stones. A law and the ministration of that law are two things. See on this text, Clarke, Bloomfield, Alford, and Olshausen.

In conclusion we have only to say that between moral and ceremonial laws there is a difference which exists in the very nature of things, - a difference which no logic can confound, no chemistry destroy. There is a difference between oil and water, between daylight and darkness. A ceremonial law is not a moral law, and can never be made such. And we almost feel that an apology is due to the reader for even so brief an effort to prove so simple a proposition.

But some one may still say, I cannot see it so. Let us tell you, friend, what you need to cause you to see it: not stronger logic, nor clearer argument, nor a greater amount of testimony; but a loving, obedient, loyal heart, which says to the Lord Speak, for thy servant heareth; show me the way, and I will walk therein, however heavy the cross or great the sacrifice.

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QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

75. What is the trouble with those who cannot see it?

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CHAPTER 26. The First-day Sabbath

THE old attempt to impress the fourth commandment of the decalogue into the service of Sunday-keeping, by arguing a change of the Sabbath from the seventh to the first day of the week, has been almost universally abandoned by those who have any acquaintance with the Sabbath controversy. Yet it may be well to notice it briefly for the sake of those who find it hard to surrender old ideas, and of those who still have the ground to go over.

The argument may be presented under three heads: I. That Sabbath changed itself; that is, that the events of that time were of such a nature that the Sabbath, as a natural consequence, without any legislation, changed from the seventh to the first day; II. That Christ changed the day; III. That the apostles changed it.

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QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX.

1. What is the present state of the Sunday-Sabbath controversy?

2. Under what heads may the argument for the change of the Sabbath be presented?

3. What is claimed in behalf of the work of redemption?

4. What contradiction of fact is involved in this argument?

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I. What is meant by events being of such a nature as to change the Sabbath, is this: It is claimed that redemption is greater than creation, and that Christ finished, and rested from, the work of redemption

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when he arose from the dead on the first day of the week; therefore the seventh day disappears before the first day, as the moon disappears before the rising sun, and the first day is henceforth, from the very nature of the case, the great luminary of the Christian world. It is the easiest matter in the world to show that every proposition in this argument is either a plain contradiction of fact, or a naked assumption; that there is no coherence between the different divisions of the argument; and that not a single conclusion follows from the premises assumed.

1. Contradiction of fact. - Redemption was not finished when Christ rose from the dead. Redemption includes the resurrection of the dead, the immortality of all the saints, and a world made new. It will not be finished till the end of probation and of sin.

2. Assumption No. 1 - No man can tell which is the greater, creation or redemption, inasmuch as both are infinitely beyond his comprehension. It is therefore not merely an assumption, but the most reckless presumption, for him to attempt to decide between them.

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QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX.

5. What assumption?

6. Give the series of "non sequiturs,"

7. What is assumption No. 2?

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3. A series of "non sequiturs." - First, "It does not follow," even if redemption was finished on the first day of the week, that that day should be observed as a rest-day in consequence thereof. Secondly, "It does not follow," even if it should be observed as a rest-day, that it should be so observed every week. The proportion suggested would be that between the whole period of Christ's ministry,

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which was three years and a half, and the day of his resurrection - one day in every three years and a half! Thirdly, "It does not follow," even if we should observe that day as a Sabbath, and do it every week, that the observance of the seventh day should be discontinued. The seventh day rests upon its own independent foundation; and if an additional day is given us as a Sabbath, then we have two days to keep instead of the one day which the world had before.

4. Assumption No. 2 - It is assumed that we have redemption through the resurrection of Christ. But the Scriptures do not so declare. They do, however, twice assert (Eph.1:7; Col.1:14) that "we have redemption through his blood;" from which the inference naturally follows that if a day is to be observed to commemorate it, it should be the day on which his blood was shed, not the first day of the week.

5. Unnecessary. - Why do we need to observe a day to commemorate the resurrection of Christ, or the work of redemption, so far as it has been carried out? The Scriptures have plainly given us memorials of Christ's death, burial, and resurrection, in the ordinances of the Lord's supper and baptism. 1Cor.11:26; Rom.6:4. And what need we more? Does God ever give two memorials for the same event? Anything more would be redundant, and an unheard-of thing in the whole list of religious institutions.

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QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX.

8. Is it necessary?

9. What memorials have the Scriptures provided?

10. What embarrassing fact appears under the second head?

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As the first proposition thus vanishes from sight as soon as we look at it, we pass to the second.

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II. Christ, it is claimed, changed the day from the seventh to the first day of the week. An embarrassing fact meets the advocates of this proposition at the outset. Christ never uttered one syllable in reference to the first day of the week. How, then, could he have changed the Sabbath to that day, or have legislated in regard to it? The claim is absurd on the very face of it. Do you say the record shows that he did do it? Please show us the record. For thirty years we have searched for it, and cannot find it. The New Testament speaks of the first day of the week only eight times. Six of these instances are found in the four Gospels, and all refer to the day of Christ's resurrection; and three of them, namely, Matt.28:1; Mark 16:1; and Luke 23:56; 24:1, speak of it, not as the Sabbath, but as the day following the Sabbath. One such instance would be enough to show the distinction between the Sabbath and the first day of the week; we have three. And in the other instances it is simply mentioned as the chronological part of the narrative, not as in any respect honored, elevated, or made Sabbatical in its character.

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QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX.

11. Where is the record that Christ changed the day?

12. How many times does the New Testament speak of the first day?

13. To what do six of these references apply?

14. How is the first day spoken of in relation to the Sabbath?

15. What did the disciples understand about the resurrection?

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But, it is asked, did not the disciples understand the change, and meet together on that first day of the week to celebrate the resurrection of Christ, and inaugurate the Christian Sabbath? and did not

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Christ meet with them, and sanction what they were doing by saying, Peace be unto you? It would be very nice for this theory if it were so, but unfortunately for it, there is no truth in it. At the close of that day, after the two disciples had returned from Emmaus (and it must have been very nearly if not quite into the beginning of the next day [Luke 24:29,33] when they reached Jerusalem), they found the eleven gathered together, doubtless at their place of common abode (Acts 1:12,13); for they were "at meat," that is, partaking of their evening meal (Mark 16:12-14); and the eleven would not believe the report which these two disciples brought, that the Lord was risen, and had appeared to them on their way to Emmaus. Then the Lord himself appeared in their midst, and they, so far from believing that he was risen, and waiting to see him, were terrified and affrighted at his presence (Luke 24:37); and then he upbraided them for their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they were so stubborn in their unbelief in regard to his resurrection that they would not believe even the members of their own company who declared that they had seen him. Mark 16:14.

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QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX.

16. What shows this?

17. What material have we here for a first-day Sabbath?

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Is not this a promising mass of material out of which to erect a first-day Sabbath? A company of timid disciples, their hope crushed out by the recent crucifixion of their Master, and understanding so little about his resurrection, and being so faithless in regard to it that they would not believe those who had seen him, had gathered to their common place of abode, and having made fast their doors against a possible intrusion of the Jews, who

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they feared might next seek their lives, were partaking in sadness of their evening meal. Christ appeared, and upbraided them because they did not yet believe that he had risen. And now this first-day institution steps up, and with a brazen effrontery characteristic of all usurpers, claims that the disciples were met to celebrate the resurrection, and lay the foundation of the Christian Sabbath! Can any theory stand which is based on such preposterous absurdities?

Inasmuch as this first interview proves no support to the first-day Sabbath, not much importance could be attached to any subsequent one; yet great stress is laid by some on John 20:26: "And after eight days, again his disciples were within," etc. This, it is claimed, is a record that Jesus waited till the next Sunday came around, and then met with the disciples again, to confirm the Sabbatic nature of that day. But -

1. It cannot be shown that "after eight days," means the next Sunday. If it be said that "after three days" (Mark 8:31) means "on the third day" (Matt.16:21), and hence "after eight days" would mean "on the eighth day," and so be Sunday, we reply that that was not a uniform manner of speaking. If it was, the expression, "after six days" (Matt.17:1), would mean "on the sixth day;" but it did not mean so; for Luke, speaking of the same event, the transfiguration, says that it was about "eight days" after. Luke 9:28.

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QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX.

18. What use is made of John 20:26?

19. Where does this claim break down?

20. What does "after six days" (Matt.17:1) mean according to Luke 9:28?

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2. If it be granted that "the eighth day," or just a

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week is meant, then it should be considered at what point the reckoning must begin. The meeting, which began at the last evening of that first day (John 20:19), must have continued into the second day before the disciples arrived from Emmaus; for "the day was far spent" when Christ made himself known to them there, and after that they returned to Jerusalem, seven miles, on foot. Not till after they had arrived and reported, did Jesus appear. His appearance, then must have been on the second day. But further, Thomas was absent on this occasion, and Christ had completed his interview with them, and disappeared before Thomas returned; yet it was not till after his return, and an interview by the disciples with him (verses 24,25), that the period of the eight days is introduced. All this goes unmistakably to show that the reckoning should begin from the second day, and that the eighth day thereafter would be the second day of the next week, not the first day.

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QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX.

21. At what time must the reckoning of the eight days begin?

22. At what time would they end?

23. If the honor of the first day was intended, how should the record have read?

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3. If the intention was to honor the first day, why did not the record say, "On the next first-day of the week?" or what would be better still, as the Gospel of John was written after the Revelation, and if, as it is claimed, the first day had then come to be generally called "the Lord's day," why did he not say, "on the next Lord's day?" Would he have omitted so appropriate and opportune a time to mention it? - Impossible. But it was not the object of the meeting to honor the first day. The intention

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was simply to mark the time when Thomas was with them.

But Christ met with his disciples on other occasions. Once, the third time, when they were out fishing. John 21:3,14. Were they celebrating the resurrection then? Was this Sunday? and did the disciples, after Christ had met with them already twice, to honor the first day and establish the "Christian" Sabbath, so far forget themselves as to go off fishing upon that day? Again, a notable meeting with the disciples was on the day of his ascension, which is generally supposed to have been on Thursday. Certainly it was not on Sunday.

Thus all the evidence vanishes which is produced to show that Christ changed the day. An apology is due to the reader from any one who would set up such a claim in face of Christ's express declaration that he came not to change it. Matt.5:17,18.

III. But it is still urged by some that the apostles changed the day of the Sabbath from the seventh to the first day of the week. As an insuperable barrier to this view lies the fact that Christ, having himself failed to change it, gave them no instructions to change it; and what he did not do nor instruct them to do, they had no right to do. Yet some seem to think that events in their experience prove the change.

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QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX.

24. What were the disciples doing at the third meeting?

25. What questions does this suggest?

26. On what day was the last meeting, and what notable occurrence then took place?

27. What argument is drawn from Pentecost?

28. What was the outpouring of the Spirit designed to honor?

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1. The Pentecost - The outpouring of the Spirit on the day of Pentecost was not to honor the first

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day of the week, as the sunday advocate contends. Had that been the cause of the manifestation, it should, and unquestionably would, have said, When the first day of the week was come. But it simply reads, "When the day of Pentecost was fully come," without telling us what day of the week it was. Pentecost, being the fiftieth day from the sixteenth of the first month, came on different days of the week in different years. If in A.D. 31 it chanced to fall on Sunday, that signified nothing for that day. But scholars are not agreed as to the day on which it fell. Prof. H.B. Hackett, D.D., in "Commentary on the Original Text of the Acts," pp. 50,51, says: "It is generally supposed that this Pentecost, signalized by the outpouring of the Spirit, fell on the Jewish Sabbath, our Saturday." Christ's crucifixion on the 14th day of the first month was the antitype of the slaying of the Paschal lamb; his resurrection on the 16th of the month was the antitype of the waving of the sheaf of first-fruits: fifty days from this latter point, the feast of Pentecost must meet its antitype; and this was fulfilled in the outpouring of the Spirit on that day; and hence this manifestation of the Spirit was delayed till that day was "fully come." Ten days had elapsed since the ascension of Christ. One first day had been passed unnoticed and in silence. Why was not the Spirit poured out then? Because it was only the Pentecost which was to be thus marked, on whatever day of the week it might come.

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QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX.

29. What day does Prof. Hackett think this was?

30. How many days elapsed between the ascension and the Pentecost?

31. Why was not the next first-day after the ascension honored?

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2. Acts 20:7. - In this scripture we have the only

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instance to be found in the New Testament of a religious meeting on the first day of the week. But there is no intimation of any custom, nor any command in reference to it. It was only an incidental meeting. It was an evening meeting; for there were "many lights" in the upper chamber where they were assembled. Verse 8. But according to the Bible method of reckoning time, the dark evening of the first day was the first part of it, beginning with the setting of the sun. This meeting was held, therefore, at a time corresponding with our Saturday evening. Paul preached till midnight, healed Eutychus, broke bread, and continued his discourse till break of day, and then departed early Sunday morning on a twenty-mile journey on foot, across the base of the peninsula from Troas to Assos. (See Conybeare and Howson.) We commend this apostolic example to our Sunday-keeping friends. With every step of that long journey through all the light part of that Syrian Sunday, Paul trampled such a thing as a Sunday Sabbath into the dust, where it belongs.

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QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX.

32. Where is the only record in the New Testament of a meeting on the first day of the week?

33. Was this a regular or only an incidental meeting?

34. On what part of the day was it?

35. To what time, according to present reckoning, would it correspond?

36. On what journey did Paul enter Sunday morning?

37. What did this journey show in reference to Sunday?

38. What does 1Cor.16:2 show?

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3. 1Cor.16:2. - A careful reading of this instruction will show that the work enjoined was not to be done in the public congregation, but privately at home; it was not proper Sabbath employment, but the secular business of looking over worldly

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matters, and setting apart a portion for charity. The text shows that the apostle regarded it as a secular day.

4. Rev.1:10. - The "Lord's day" of this text is not the first day of the week; for the Lord has never set apart that day as his. It is the Sabbath; for he claims that day as his. "The Son of man is Lord of the Sabbath-day."

We have now noticed every instance in which the first day is mentioned, and every text supposed to refer to it; and there is not found in the record the first trace of any facts out of which a Sabbath could be constructed - no rest of any divine being upon the day, no law for its observance, and not the slightest regard paid to it by either Christ or the apostles.

To find the change of the day, and the real institution of the Sunday Sabbath, our friends must go a step further. They must come down into that age when the "mystery of iniquity," working even in Paul's day, had developed, full fledged, the great apostasy; when men began to heap contempt upon the Sabbath to spite the Jews, and to elevate that Sunday to conciliate their heathen neighbors, and by so doing did despite to the word of God, and introduced those elements of apostasy and corruption which ruined the church, and sent a shout of triumph through all the realms of darkness.

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QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX.

39. What is the true teaching of Rev.1:10?

40. To what conclusions are we thus led?

41. Where do we find the change of the day and the real institution of the Sunday Sabbath?

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CHAPTER 27. Baptism. - Its Relation to the Divine Law in the Work of True Conversion

"If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God." Col.3:1.

This scripture has been applied to three things: 1. To a resurrection from dead works in being reclaimed from a backslidden state; 2. To the literal resurrection of the just at the second coming of Christ; 3. To being raised up out of the water in baptism.

We inquire, To which of the three do the words "risen with Christ" apply?

1. Not to the first; for Christ never had a resurrection from dead works. He was without sin. Mark this: Whatever this resurrection may be, Christ had one like it; for it is a resurrection with him.

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QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN.

1. Quote the text at the head of this chapter?

2. What is the first thing to which it has been applied?

3. The second?

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2. The text cannot refer to the physical resurrection of the just; for the seeking time is then in the past, and the saints themselves are above. The seeking of the heavenly treasure is before it is given, at the resurrection. We are then shut up to the position that -

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3. The text does refer to water baptism. Here the follower of Christ has a resurrection with his Master. In death, Christ was laid in the grave, from which he arose by the power of God. So his followers are laid in the water in baptism, and are raised up out of the water.

But positive proof is found in chap.2:12, that the disciple is raised with Christ in baptism: "Buried with him by baptism wherein also ye are risen with him through the faith of the operation of God, who hath raised him from the dead." Here notice:-

1. The text plainly states that in baptism we are buried and risen with Christ.

2. This is done in the faith that the Father raised his Son from the dead. In the morning of the first day of the week God operated in the resurrection of Jesus, and baptism is received in faith of it.

Again the apostle speaks to the point to the church at Rome: "Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death, that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life." Rom.6:4.

The following points are worthy of notice:-

1. The disciple is buried in the water, and raised up out of the water in faith of the burial and resurrection of Christ, and in faith of the resurrection of the just at the coming of Christ.

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QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN.

4. The third?

5. Why can it not refer to the first or second?

6. To what does it refer?

7. Where is positive proof of this found, and why?

8. What is Paul's testimony to the Romans on this subject?

9. What points are worthy of notice here?

10. What is the Bible standard of judgment on this matter?

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2. And as Christ entered upon a new life at his resurrection, so the new life of the Christian properly

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commences at baptism. And while many doubtless will be saved who have never been immersed, those who have the clear light upon these subject will be judged according to that light, and the manner in which they walk in that light. The Bible standard of truth and duty is the only safe one. Those who take up with an antiscriptural baptism and Sabbath because the founders of their churches, when just emerging from the darkness of Papal error, brought them into different branches of the Protestant churches, run fearful risks.

The apostle prescribes the form of baptism in the strongest terms. He not only uses the word "buried," but in Rom.6:5 he uses even stronger language, if possible: "For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection." What should we think of the farmer who would sprinkle a few grains of sand on his seeds, and say that he had buried them? But planting seems a strange figure.

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QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN.

11. In what language does the apostle set forth the form of baptism?

12. How is this illustrated in the work of the husbandman?

13. What is the force of words, "likeness of Christ's death?"

14. Why cannot the candidate be plunged into the water face foremost?

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But let it be particularly noticed that the very manner or likeness of burial in baptism is distinctly stated. It is to be done in the likeness of Christ's death. The reader will please go with us to Joseph's new sepulcher, and see the dear Saviour laying there upon his back as we lay out the dead. The very position in the water is to be in imitation of Christ's in death. Can this be done by sprinkling a few drops of water into a babe's face? - Answer: "Planted in the likeness of his death." Can it be accomplished by pouring a gill of water on the head

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of the candidate to run down the clothing? Is there the least resemblance in this dabbling in water to the position of Christ in the tomb? A complete refutation of this error is found in the words used by the apostle, "buried" - "planted."

Will it not do quite as well to plunge the candidate into the water face foremost, as the Dunkards do? We inquire, Did the friends of Jesus place their dear Lord in the sepulcher upon his face? The thought is revolting. Again we reply in the words of Paul: "Planted in the likeness of his death."

Three events in the history of the first advent of Christ represent three steps in leaving a life of sin, and reaching that of obedience. These are (1.) his crucifixion, (2.) his burial, and (3.) his resurrection. The sinner is first crucified with Christ. "Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed." Rom.6:6. This crucifixion represents true conviction of sin. It is spoken of in the same epistle under the figure of death. "What shall we say then? Is the law sin? God forbid. Nay, I had not known sin, but by the law. For I had not known lust, except the law had said, Thou shalt not covet. But sin, taking occasion by the commandment, wrought in me all manner of concupiscence. For without the law, sin was dead. For I was alive without the law once; but when the commandment came, sin revived, and I died." Chap.7:7-9. Please notice: -

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QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN.

15. What three events in the history of the first advent represent three steps in the sinner's conversion?

16. What is the instrument by which the sinner is slain?

17. What does Paul mean by the word "law?"

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1. The instrument by which the sinner is crucified, is slain, truly convicted, is the moral code.

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2. That Paul means the ten commandments in the use of the word law is evident from the fact that he refers to the tenth precept of that code as especially instrumental in his case.

3. The word alive does not refer to natural life, but to a careless state of the mind, when without a true sense of the holiness of God's law. Neither does death refer to the cessation of natural life, but to true conviction of sins by the light of the sacred law.

The second step in conversion is burial with Christ by baptism. "Therefore, we are buried with him by baptism into death." Rom.6:4. Here the burial of Christ, or his position in the sepulcher, represents the true mode of baptism.

The third step in conversion is a resurrection with Christ from a watery grave. "If ye then be risen with Christ." Col.3:1.

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QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN.

18. What does he mean by the words. "alive," and "death?"

19. What is the second step in conversion? Reference.

20. What is the third step? Reference.

21. What is shown by these scriptures?

22. What does the apostle give in this connection?

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We now see the relation which baptism sustains to the law of God in Scriptural conversion. With correct views of the mode of baptism, and what is meant by law, all is plain. The apostle is giving in this connection his own experience, hence those who seek apostolic religion should mark well the means employed in his case. The moral code is the great mirror into which he looked and saw the imperfections of his moral character. This prepared the way for him to come to Christ for pardon and justification through his precious blood. This epistle to the Romans was written in the year 60, about thirty years after the handwriting of ordinances was nailed to the cross. Paul's conversion occurred several years

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after the abolition of the Jewish system of worship.

The apostle James illustrates the use of the royal law by a looking-glass: "But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves. For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass; for he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was. But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed.: Chap.1:22-25.

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QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN.

24. What is the first work of the gospel minister in laboring for the conversion of sinners?

25. Why is it that so many who profess religion are not converted?

26. What results from intelligent conviction produced by the law?

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The first great work, then, of the gospel minister, as he labors for the conversion of sinners, is to hold before them the law, that looking therein as into a mirror, they may see what sin is, and know its exceeding sinfulness. The reason why many who profess religion were never converted is because they were not convicted, and the reason why they did not have genuine conviction is because they have never seen the corruptions of the heart in God's mirror, the ten commandments. A popular gospel keeps that from the people, and moves upon the sinner's sympathies and fears, producing a conviction more nervous than intelligent. Such conviction does not result in a change of life, as required by the sacred Scriptures. Intelligent conviction produced by the claims of the law of God changes the mind, the heart, and the life. This change is illustrated in the text by the change from life to death. A man walks to-day in the strength of manhood, tomorrow

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he is a corpse. What a change! Yet inspiration has chosen it to illustrate the first great work in true conversion.

Thus far we have followed the apostle in his experience, and have learned from him the character and use of the law of God in the present dispensation. He saw its excellence, its holiness, its justice and goodness, and felt its searching, slaying power, and says, "I died." But he does not leave us here. Burial follows death.

But what is the pre-requisite, or scriptural preparation for the ordinance of baptism? When viewed in the light of a burial, or funeral, the answer is at hand. Before burying our dead, we must feel assured that they are really dead. So, before burial with Christ by baptism, we should know that the candidate has experienced that conviction that may be represented by death, that he has been crucified with Christ. The thought of being buried alive is terrible. And it should be no less so to the thorough Christian to think of being buried in baptism while using tobacco, or wearing jewelry and other outward ornaments forbidden in the world of God. But to lay these aside for the occasion effects no real change in the candidate. When the sinner really dies to sin, these drop off never to return.

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QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN.

27. By what is this change illustrated?

28. What is the pre-requisite of baptism?

29. What will give evidence of this scriptural death?

30. Should the candidate wait for joyful emotions before baptism?

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But would you not have the candidate wait until he has experienced the love of God, and comes out shouting happy before receiving baptism? - Not unless there is some precept or example of the kind in the New Testament. There is nothing joyful in the

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burial of our dead friends. Joyful feelings are no Scriptural evidence of preparation for baptism. Brokenness of spirit, with tears, confessions, and mourning on account of sins, and feelings of unworthiness, would be better evidence of preparation of mind and heart for that ordinance. The New Testament furnishes evidence that the truly convicted person should not wait a single hour. In fact, every instance of baptism furnishes evidence that the truly convicted soul should not wait.

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QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN.

31. What would rather be suggested by the illustration of burial?

32. What evidence does the New Testament furnish?

33. What were the great features of Saul's conversion?

34. How long did he wait before baptism?

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We first cite the case of Saul. No one questions his conversion. The work was accomplished in him by the word and Spirit of God. We have see what the moral code did for him. And if it be thought necessary that the Holy Spirit act a part in conviction and conversion, then we cite Saul's experience as he was on his way to Damascus to persecute the saints. Most certainly the Spirit of God will work in harmony with the law of God. The Lord, who appeared to Saul in the way, sent him to Ananias to be instructed more fully. Jesus might have shown Saul his whole duty, and thus set aside all human instrumentality, but he chose to honor the instrumentalities he had placed in the church. This great man must sit at the feet of Ananias, and there learn his first duty. By the hand of Ananias, Saul first received his sight. "And now," say Ananias, "why tarriest thou? Arise and be baptized." Acts 22:16. Thus baptism came next, and there was no occasion for waiting. In this remarkable conversion of a great man, baptism followed immediately after conviction of sin.

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The case of the jailer in another instance showing that baptism closely followed conviction. Acts 16:25-33. The case of the eunuch is also to the point. Acts 8:26-40.

The question especially under consideration is that baptism immediately follows true conviction of sin. Did Philip tell the eunuch that he would better wait three or six months, and that at some more convenient season they could have a large gathering, at which time the ordinance could be administered before the crowds? The record does not mention any such delays. No; the coachman is commanded to halt right there, and then and there "they went down into the water, both Philip and the eunuch, and he baptized him. And when they were come up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord caught away Philip, and the eunuch saw him no more, and he went on his way rejoicing." Acts 8:26-40. Here, again, rejoicing does not go before, but follows baptism.

Still the comforts of the Holy Spirit are in many instances experienced before being baptized; but when the subject is presented in the true light, and the several steps in leaving a life of sin for one of obedience and holiness are taken in rapid succession, according to the examples given in the the New Testament, the rejoicing in hope will be after baptism. The descent of the Holy Spirit in the form of a dove upon Christ after his baptism greatly strengthens this position.

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QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN.

35. What is shown by the case of the jailer?

36. What is the next case in point?

37. What is the point to be especially noticed here?

38. What bearing has the baptism of Christ upon this part of the subject?

39. What relation then, has baptism to conversion?

40. What use is sometimes made of 1Pet.1:23?

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Baptism is thus closely related to conversion. In

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QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN.

41. What may be said about the conscience in these cases?

42. What is the standard given to which we are to bring our consciences?

43. What is taught by some classes?

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fact, it seems to be a part of conversion. It is the outward act by which believers show their faith in Christ. But while some have removed baptism from this close relation to conversion, and regard the ordinance of little importance, others regard it as the act by which sins are remitted. Those who regard baptism as of little importance, sometimes cite 1Pet.3:21, as sustaining their lax position: "The like figure whereunto even baptism doth also now save us, not the putting away the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God by the resurrection of Jesus Christ." "I was sprinkled," says one, "and that answered my conscience." "And my conscience was answered by being poured," says another. This may all be true; but are our friends, who differ with us on baptism, sure that they have a good conscience on this subject? Peter says: "But the answer of a good conscience." Pagans and papists may be very conscientious, and their blinded consciences not be good. Protestants may be in a like condition on some points. But it is a fact of much interest that the apostle, in the last clause of the passage, raises a standard to which we may bring our consciences, and know that they are right. It is this - "by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead." On the other hand, some evidently overlook the necessary work to be wrought upon the mind and heart before baptism. They do not see the use of the divine law, that it must slay the sinner, that he be dead before he is buried, hence it is to be feared that some, at least, are buried alive! Some teach that Christ is put on in the simple act of BD>

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baptism, which teaching has a strong tendency to set aside not only the work of the law of God in conversion, but that also of the Holy Spirit.

But Gal.3:27 may be urged: "For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ." It should here be noticed that the text does not say that the Galatian brethren had put on Christ in the sole act of baptism. They had put on Christ by faith, baptism being the corresponding work, an act by which they manifested their faith in Christ.

It is also asserted that baptism is for the remission of sins. Very true; but there are also other means for the remissions of sins. Christ's blood was shed for the remission of sins. Matt.26:28. Christ was to give knowledge of salvation unto the people for the remission of their sins. Luke 1:77. It became Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day, that repentance and remission of sins might be preached in his name. Chap.24:46,47. Repentance and baptism are for the remission of sins. Acts 2:38. Faith is for the remission of sins. "Whosoever believeth in him shall receive remission of sins." Chap.10:43; also Rom.3:25. In the arrangement for the remission of sins, baptism holds its place in the divine whole.

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QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN.

44. What is shown by Gal.3:27?

45. What may be said on the declaration that baptism is for the remission of sin?

46. How does the sinner obtain a knowledge of his sins?

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In the investigation of the subject of scriptural conversion thus far, we see that it is by the divine law that the sinner obtains a knowledge of his sins. He cannot understandingly repent of his sins until he sees them; therefore the gospel minister, who labors to convert the sinner, is under the most solemn

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obligation to hold before him God's great mirror. His first work is to show the character, perpetuity, and claims of the moral code.

The sinner sees the holiness and justness of the divine law, that he is exposed to the wrath of God, and feels its slaying power. He yields to the requirements of all its precepts, and is dead. The gospel then points him to Jesus. He hears the story of the cross, the burial in Joseph's sepulcher, the glory of the resurrection, and the ascension of Jesus to the Father's right hand, where he ever lives to intercede for poor sinners. He raises his head, and ventures to believe that Jesus will pity and save him. And as he believes, let him immediately show his faith in the burial and resurrection of Christ by being baptized.

He has now put off the "old man," and has put on the "new man." The Christian warfare and race is begun. He has now the faith of the gospel, and the exhortation of Peter is especially applicable: "Giving all diligence, add to your faith, virtue; and to virtue, knowledge; and to knowledge, temperance; and to temperance, patience; and to patience, godliness; and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, charity. For if these things be in you and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ." 2Pet.1:5-8.

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QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN.

47. What view does this give him of the law?

48. To what does the gospel then point him?

49. What does the sinner then do?

50. Who then is our lawgiver?

51. What office does Jesus Christ perform?

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In the present dispensation, God the Father is our lawgiver, and Christ is our advocate. And before sinners can be benefited by the mediation of Christ, they must manifest repentance toward the Lawgiver

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for the transgression of his holy law. With this the words of the beloved disciple agree: "Sins is the transgression of the law." 1Joh.3:4. "And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous." Chap.2:1.

But if Christ is our lawgiver, as some teach, who is our advocate? We have none. But as Jesus Christ is the sinner's advocate with the Father in this dispensation, it follows that the Father's law of ten commandments is in full force.

"Do we then make void the law through faith? God forbid; yea, we establish the law." Rom.3:31. Faith in Jesus Christ as a sacrifice for sin, and now an advocate with the Father for our sins - "transgression of the law" - is the strongest proof of the perpetuity of the law of ten commandments.

Hence the closing testimony of the third angel: "Here is the patience of the saints; here are they that keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus." Rev.14:12. Also, the dragon is to make war with the remnant, the Christians in the closing generations of time, "which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ." Chap.12:17.

These are Christian commandment-keepers. Their observance of the Sabbath of the fourth commandments stirs the ire of the dragon host.

But those who endure his wrath, and stand faithful in the closing conflict, will soon receive the great reward promised by Him who says (Rev.22), "Behold I come quickly, and my reward is with me."

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QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN.

52. If Christ is our lawgiver, who is our advocate?

53. What do these facts show respecting the perpetuity of the law?

54. What is the closing testimony of the third message?

55. What are the characteristics of the remnant, of Rev.12:17?

56. What is the promise of the Christ in Rev.22:14?

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CHAPTER 28. Gifts of the Spirit

PAUL, in 2Cor.3, calls this dispensation, in comparison with the former, the "ministration of the Spirit." From this it appears that this dispensation was to be characterized by the outpouring and influence of the Spirit of God. In the prophecy which brings it to view (Joel 2:28), quoted by Peter on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2:17), the Lord says: "And it shall come to pass in the last days, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh." The last days here signify the whole gospel dispensation; and they are the last when taken in connection with the whole history of the world from the time of its creation, six thousand years ago.

The effect of this outpouring of the Spirit on all flesh was to be seen in the following results: "Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams."

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QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT.

1. What is this dispensation called by the apostle?

2. By what is it to be characterized?

3. What prophecy brings it to view?

4. What does the prophecy declare?

5. What do the last days here signify?

6. How can this whole dispensation be called the last days?

7. How was the effect of this outpouring of the Spirit to be seen?

8. What is meant by the doctrine of the gifts of the Spirit?

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When we speak of the doctrine of the gifts of the

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Spirit, we simply mean the operation of the Spirit in the ways here indicated; and that the Spirit was designed to operate in this manner through this dispensation, much proof can be found in the New Testament. In his last commission to his disciples, Jesus said: "Lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world." Mark, in recording this shows the manner in which he would be with them: "And these signs shall follow them that believe." Verse 17. And again, verse 20: "And they went forth, and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them, and confirming the word with signs following."

This was the way in which our Lord continued with his disciples; it was through the influence and operations of the Holy Spirit; and that this was to continue to the end is certain from his own promise: "Lo, I am with you alway, even to the end of the world."

Peter, on the day of Pentecost, said to those who were convicted: "Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call." This shows again that the promise of the Holy Ghost covers the whole dispensation, and was to continue to the end.

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QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT.

9. What did Christ in his last commission say to his disciples?

10. What does Mark's record show?

11. How was Christ with his disciples?

12. How long was he to continue to be with them in this manner?

13. What did Peter say to those convicted on the day of Pentecost?

14. What do Peter's words show?

15. Where does Paul take up the subject at length?

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Paul, in 1Cor.12, dwells upon this subject in full. He says: "Now concerning spiritual gifts,

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brethren, I would not have you ignorant." Verse 1. In verse 4 he continues: "Now there are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit" (verse 6); "And there are diversities of operations, but it is the same God which worketh all in all. But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal. For to one is given by the Spirit the word of wisdom; to another the word of knowledge by the same Spirit; to another faith by the same Spirit; to another the gifts of healing by the same Spirit; to another the working of miracles; to another prophecy; to another discerning of spirits; to another divers kinds of tongues; to another the interpretation of tongues. But all these worketh that one and the self-same Spirit, dividing to every man severally as he will."

Here it is very clearly stated that all the operations are the work of the same Spirit; they are simply the different channels through which it manifests its presence. Paul proceeds to illustrate this by reference to the human body, with its different members, and the particular offices which these members are to perform; and in making this application at the conclusion of the chapter, he says: "Now ye are the body of Christ, and members in particular. And God hath set some in the church, first apostles, secondarily prophets, thirdly teachers, after that miracles, then gifts of healing, helps, governments, diversities of tongues."

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QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT.

16. What source do all the diversities of gifts have in common?

17. What different operations are here mentioned?

18. By what does Paul now illustrate his subject?

19. What application does he make?

20. What conclusion follows from the statement that God has set these gifts in the church?

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That these gifts were once in the church, all must admit; for we are assured that God formally and

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officially set them in the church. And who has taken them out of the church? If God has done this, should it not be recorded in as explicit a manner as that he once established them therein?

In his letter to the Ephesians, Paul again takes up the subject. He says (Eph.4:11): "And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers." These gifts, are called, in verse 8, "gifts" which he gave unto men "when he ascended up on high."

Now he states that the object of these gifts was for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ.

He states how long they were to continue; namely, "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."

In view of the design of these gifts, as here stated, it will be seen at once that they are just as much needed at one point in this dispensation as in any other; just as necessary in the closing up as in the beginning. Some say these gifts were needed when the gospel was first introduced, but the necessity having passed away, they are now no longer demanded. We ask, then, is not the unity of faith, the knowledge of the Son of God, and the attainment unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ still desirable in the Christian dispensation?

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QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT.

21. What does Paul say in Eph.4:11?

22. What are these things called?

23. What does he state as the object of these gifts?

24. To what time does he say they were to continue?

25. What follows from this?

26. What objection is raised by some?

27. How is it answered?

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But if we may judge from the practices of the

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whole Christian world, they believe in only a partial abolition of these gifts of the Spirit. Do they not have evangelists? Do they not ordain pastors? Do they not believe in teachers? On what ground? - Because Christ commanded his disciples to go forth and teach all nations, and to continue this work even to the end of the world. But the commission did not limit the work to these branches, but promised the gift of the Spirit, as we have already shown, in its diversities of operations to the end of the world. If we take this ground, that the gifts have been taken from the church, that the operation of the Spirit in these special methods was designed to cease, and has ceased, then we must no longer plead for evangelists, pastors, teachers, nor sustain by any special means the work of the ministry.

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QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT.

28. What does the practice of the Christian world show?

29. What gifts do they still employ?

30. What is their authority for this?

31. What else was promised?

32. If the gifts have ceased, what position must we take in reference to pastors, evangelists, and teachers?

33. Have there been examples of the gifts in every age?

34. Why have they not been more frequent?

35. In what works is found abundant testimony showing instances of their manifestation?

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If these gifts were to continue through the Christian dispensation, it is asked, why have we not all along examples of their manifestation? We answer that there have been instances in every age of the operation of the Spirit in some of these marked and special ways. The reason of their being no more frequent is found in the occurrence of the great apostasy so plainly predicted in the Christian church. Men have departed from God. All Christendom has been sunk in the darkness of error and superstition with which the world has been flooded by the Romish church. The true children of God have been few and obscure.

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For examples of the manifestations of these gifts in the gospel age, the reader is referred to books entitled, "Miraculous Powers" and the "Spirit of God," published at the Review and Herald Office, Battle Creek, Mich.

It might be expected that so important an agency in the Christian church would be counterfeited by the powers of darkness; hence we have the injunction, "Try the spirits;" and the warning is also given us that many false prophets have gone out into the world. We are called upon to discriminate carefully between the true and the false. We are not to reject all gifts because some of them are counterfeited. We do not throw away money, or refuse its use, because there are counterfeits in the land. Everything valuable we must expect to be counterfeited. We guard ourselves by learning how to test the false by the true.

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QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT.

36. What kind of opposition might be expected?

37. What instructions are therefore given us?

38. How are we to guard ourselves against deception in this matter?

39. What rule does our Lord give us by which to test those manifestations which claim to be gifts of the Spirit?

40. If an event predicted does not come to pass, what is the conclusion?

41. If what the prophet says does come to pass, but he leads away from the true God, what is the conclusion then?

42. What two great religious movements of these day furnish examples under both these heads?

43. What should we naturally conclude would take place in the last days?

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On the subject of the gifts our Lord gives us an infallible rule: "By their fruits ye shall know them." See Deut.13:1; 18:21. If that which is predicted by the prophet comes not to pass, it is proof that he is not sent of God; but even if it does come to pass, if its tendency is to lead away from God, it is to be rejected as false. The spiritualists of these modern

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times, and the Mormons, furnish remarkable instances under both these heads.

We have referred to a prophecy which speaks of this dispensation in general, and proves the existence of the gifts throughout the gospel age. We have seen why they have been so rarely manifested; - it is because of the great apostasy. Now, as the church comes out from the wilderness and the errors of the dark ages, by true and genuine reformation, we naturally conclude that the gifts will be restored, and that this dispensation will close, as it commenced, with remarkable manifestations of the work of the Spirit of God.

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QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT.

44. What do we have to sustain this idea?

45. What is the testimony of Rev.12:17?

46. What is meant by the woman?

47. What by her seed?

48. Where, then, do we look for the remnant of the woman's seed?

49. By what is this remnant characterized?

50. What is the testimony of Jesus defined to mean, and where?

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In accordance with this, we have prophecies which plainly point to the revival of the gifts in the closing days of this dispensation. See Rev.12:17: "And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ." By the woman we are to understand the church; by her seed, the members of the church throughout this dispensation. Therefore the remnant of her seed can refer to only one body of people, the last generation of Christians upon the earth. These are characterized by keeping the commandments of God, and having the testimony of Jesus Christ. In Rev.19:10 we have the definition of what is here called "the testimony of Jesus Christ." Said the angel to John, "The testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy."

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This the reader will at once recognize as one of the gifts set in the church.

1Cor.1:6,7 shows that the church that is waiting for the coming of Christ is to come behind in no gift. The 5th chapter of 1Thess. is evidently addressed to the church when the day of the Lord is about to come. In that chapter we have this instruction from apostle: "Despise not prophesyings;" showing that these will then appear in the church. And we may reasonably infer that the prophecy of Joel 2:1,28,31, quoted by Peter in Acts 2, being given in reference to the coming of the great day of the Lord, would be fulfilled in as remarkable a manner as we draw near to that day, as it had been in any part of the gospel dispensation. That the gift of prophecy is manifested, according to the Scriptures, in connection with the third angel's message, we refer the reader to works published at the Review and Herald Office, entitled the "Spirit of Prophecy," and the "Testimony to the Church."

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QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT.

51. What is shown by 1Cor.1:6,7?

52. To whom is the 5th chapter of 1Thessalonians addressed?

53. What instruction do we there find?

54. What is shown by this?

55. What may we reasonably expect, as we draw near to the great day of the Lord?

56. What works show that the spirit of prophecy is manifested in connection with the third angel's message?

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CHAPTER 29. Predestination

THAT the Bible teaches predestination, is true; that it teaches what modern theology defines the term to mean, we think is not true. As set forth in the Scriptures, it is a doctrine full of comfort and consolation; as taught in the creeds, it is full of spiritual paralysis and despair. In the Scriptures, it is the assurance of salvation so long as we maintain a certain relation to God; in theology, it is a relation determined for us independently of our own will, and a fixed destiny to a life which we cannot lose, or a death, which we cannot avert. Webster defines the word "predestination" in its theological acceptation to mean. "The purpose of God from eternity respecting all events; often the pre-assignment or allotment of men to everlasting happiness or misery."

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QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

1. What may be said of the Bible view of predestination?

2. What of the theological view?

3. What is the contrast between these two views?

4. What is Webster's definition of the term?

5. What is the tendency of the popular view?

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The tendency of this latter doctrine must be at once apparent. It leads the individual to throw off all responsibility, and intermit all efforts for himself. He says, If my destiny has been fixed from all eternity by an irreversible decree, I might as well resign myself to my fate, and let the current take me where it has been predetermined that it shall take

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me: if I am to be saved, I shall be saved, and no one can prevent it; if I am to be lost, I cannot avoid it.

It is impossible to arouse such a soul to repentance. The answer comes, If I am to repent, God will make me repent when the time comes; and I need not concern myself about it. Such an one cannot be induced to heed the divine injunction to flee from the wrath to come; for he says, If I am appointed to that wrath, flee as I will, I cannot avoid it; and if not, then for me there is no wrath to come.

We once heard of a Presbyterian minister, who, by some strange infatuation, conceived the idea that a certain one of his two sons was elected to be saved, and so taught him; but he considered that the other was fore-ordained to be lost, and taught him accordingly. Result: The elect son has entered the ministry; the reprobate is on the high road to that damnation which his father has held up before him as his inevitable portion. If that son is lost, what responsibility will rest upon that father! Give a man the natural inclinations of the heart to contend with, and then teach him that heaven is to him an impossibility, and it need not take long to divine what the result will be.

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QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

6. How does it hinder repentance?

7. What instance is mentioned in illustration?

8. How many times is the word "predestinate" found in the Scriptures?

9. How many times is "fore-ordain" used?

10. How many times the word "election?"

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Four times the word "predestinate" is used in the Scriptures, twice in Romans 8, and twice in Ephesians 1. Once we have the word "fore-ordain" 1 Pet.1:20. The word "ordain" is also used four times with a future signification. Six times we have the word "election," and twenty times the word "elect."

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The meaning of the word "election" is a "choosing out, selecting;" and the elect are simply those who are "chosen out" by God, as the recipients of special privileges, because they are "choice" and "precious" in his sight. The question is whether this "choosing out" is an act absolutely arbitrary on the part of God with reference to individuals, or whether it pertains to a certain plane of life or to a people as a class, and reaches the individual only on conditions which he is himself to supply.

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QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

11. How many times the word "elect?"

12. What is the meaning of the word "election?"

13. Who are therefore "the elect?"

14. What is the question to be here decided?

15. What hath God "appointed?"

16. When did he do this?

17. On what ground was it ordained that Christ should be head and ruler of this world?

18. How would it have been if man never had sinned?

19. Since man has sinned, on what ground will Christ hold his position at last?

20. What has God ordained respecting our relation to Christ?

21. What are those called who conform to his image?

22. How does this election control individuals?

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Let appeal be made to the leading texts upon this question. And as a direction to thought, let them be considered with reference to these propositions: 1. God "hath appointed" (Luke 22:29), or fore-ordained, Jesus Christ to the kingship of this world. This he did "before the foundation of the world" (1Pet.1:20); that is, this fore-ordination was coeval with his purpose to create the world. It was not ordained on what ground he should finally hold this position. Had man never sinned, it would have been on the ground of Creatorship alone; but since man fell, and the original purpose could then be carried out only by his redemption, Christ will hold his position by virtue of being both Creator and Redeemer. 2. God has ordained that all who will conform to the image of his Son shall be saved.

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Such are the elect. But 3. He has not ordained that such and such individuals shall believe on Christ and be saved, whether they will or not; and such and such other individuals cannot believe on Christ, however willingly they would do so, and hence must be lost at last. On the question of accepting or rejecting Christ, our own free moral agency operates. On the plane of belief in Christ or connection with him, God's fore-ordination or election operates. Reaching that plane, we are its subjects, and become the elect. Falling from it, we lose our title to life, and cease to be the elect. Hence we are exhorted to make our "calling and election sure." 2Pet.1:10. We may accept or reject Christ as we will. All else is beyond our control. Believing in him, we are elected and fore-ordained to be saved, as surely as God's throne is to stand; rejecting him, we are as sure to be lost as sin is to be punished.

1. In Eph.1:4,5 the "choosing" and "predestination" is "in him," that is, in Christ. We are adopted as children to himself "by Jesus Christ." But if we reject Christ, we frustrate all these good purposes and promises, so far as our own cases are concerned.

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QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

23. On what question does our free moral agency operate?

24. On what plane does the law of God's fore-ordination operate?

25. What exhortation is given in 2Pet.1:10?

26. How much is subject to our control?

27. Believing in him, what is sure to us?

28. Rejecting him, what is our doom?

29. Explain Eph.1:4,5.

30. To whom does Rom.8:29,30 doubtless refer?

31. How are we chosen from the beginning, as set forth in 2Thess.2:13?

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2. Rom.8:29,30 doubtless refers to the company raised at the resurrection of Christ, among whom he was the "first-born" who were "justified," that is, were accepted in anticipation of the general Judgment, and also "glorified" when he led them

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up with him on high (Eph.4:8, margin) to be his assistants in his mediatorial work. Rev.5:8-10. If this application is correct, the testimony refers to a particular case, not to the destiny of men in general.

3. In 2Thess,2:13 it is said that "God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation;" but the apostle immediately limits the statement by adding, "through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth." But suppose the Thessalonians had rejected the Spirit, and refused to believe the truth, as they certainly were free to do, where, then, would have been their salvation?

4. Another expression, found in 2Tim.1:9, is supposed to prove election before the world was: "Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began." As to the time, the Greek reads, prochronon aionion, "before the ages of time." But in many instances means simply "a dispensation;" and the passage may refer to the time when the plan of salvation, with its different dispensations, was laid. That which was given us at this time was the "grace," or favor, of God; but this was "in Christ Jesus." Now if any man rejects Christ, what grace does he receive? - None.

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QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

32. Were the Thessalonians free to reject the conditions?

33. What is the expression found in 2Tim.1:9?

34. What may it mean?

35. What is asserted of God's foreknowledge in 1Pet.1,2?

36. How is Acts 13:48 explained?

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5. 1Pet.1:1,2. The English version of this passage makes the strangers of Pontus, Galatia, etc., "elect according to the foreknowledge of God."

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In the original, however, they are addressed simply as "the elect sojourners." So the revised version reads: "Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to the elect who are sojourners of the dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, according to the foreknowledge of God." Now all that is asserted respecting God's foreknowledge is this: Either Peter was an apostle according to the foreknowledge of God, or the elect whom he addresses (elect according to the principle stated above) were sojourners according to the foreknowledge of God. But in either case it has no bearing on the question of predestination, as here under discussion.

6. "As many as were ordained to eternal life believed." This expression is found in Acts 13:48; and it is asked if this does not prove that certain ones believed because they were fore-ordained to eternal life, and hence were elected to believe and be saved. The word rendered "ordained" is tasso, and it means "to appoint, set, arrange, dispose, or frame" for any object. In the light of this definition, all difficulty disappears. As many as were disposed, inclined, or had a desire, for eternal life, believed. It does not assert a decree that they should be saved, any more than if one of our ministers should report that he found many disposed to receive the truth, and they readily believed.

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QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

37. What is said to be from the foundation of the world in Rev.13:8?

38. What other passage is parallel with this?

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7. Rev.13:8: "Written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world." All this text asserts is that the Lamb was slain (in God's purpose) from the foundation of the world; that is, from the time when the great dispensation of redemption was fixed upon and begun. Rev.17:8 is unquestionably designed as a declaration exactly

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parallel with Rev.13:8, though quite elliptical in its form of expression. Here we have, instead of "the book of life [of the Lamb slain] from the foundation of the world," simply the words "book of life [] from the foundation of the world," designed probably as a statement of the same great fact. There is propriety and force in the declaration that the Lamb was slain and the book of life was opened from the foundation of the world; but what possible reason can be conceived why the name of any person should be entered therein before such person has openly professed to become a follower of that Lamb whose book it is. If it be said that they were entered there because God has passed his decree in all these cases, and they were elected to be saved, we reply that such a conclusion cannot be entertained; for though a person may have once had his name in the book of life, unless he proves to be an overcomer, his name will be blotted from that book, and he will find his portion at last in the lake of fire. Rev.3:5; 20:15.

8. An examination of a few expressions found in the 9th chapter of Romans will be all that is further required in this brief synopsis of the subject.

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QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

39. What is said about Pharaoh in Ex.9:16?

40. What does the expression mean?

41. When did God harden Pharaoh's heart? Why did he harden it?

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(1.) Through Moses, the Lord said to Pharaoh, "Even for this same purpose have I raised thee up, that I might show my power in thee." Verse 17. The passage in Exodus (9:16) from which this is quoted, reads: "And in very deed, for this cause have I raised thee up," etc. The margin reads, "Made thee stand." This expression, applied to a king, simply means to bring to the throne, to establish in the kingdom; as, "There shall stand up yet three kings in Persia." Dan.11:2. The time was

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coming for the deliverance of God's people from Egypt. At the same time there was a reprobate upon the throne, who would not heed the voice of Jehovah, but would exert all the power of his kingdom to prevent that deliverance which God had promised. God might have removed him, and brought to the throne a just and amiable prince, who would have recognized Israel's right, and given them safe passage out of his kingdom. Then the world would have said, "Israel went out, not because God had promised, but because a weak and foolish king let them go." So God said, Let the wicked Pharaoh keep the throne; let proud, rebellious, reprobate man, exerting all human power, stand up against my purposes; and then let the world see how easily my work will go forward over it all. This is all the "raising up" God did to Pharaoh; yet the skeptic will represent it that God gave Pharaoh life on purpose that he might destroy him, and compelled him, time and again, to falsify his word, and to take the defiant, wicked course that he did, and then punished him for it; which was not at all the case.

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QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

42. What proves this? Verse 22.

43. What does God first offer men?

44. If they refuse these, what follows?

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But did not God harden Pharaoh's heart? Certainly; but when? - After he had endured his rebellious course to the limit of his longsuffering; for such, verse 22 declares, is God's method of dealing with these reprobates. He first offers to all men light, and truth, and mercy. 2Thess.2:10. If they incorrigibly refuse these, there follows, not only as an inevitable consequence, but as a judicial infliction from him, darkness, and error, and wrath, Verse 11. He offers them first the position of agents to carry out harmoniously his will. When

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they refuse this, he makes them monuments of his power by triumphing in judgments over all their opposition. Rom.9:22. He first tries to make them vessels of honor. If they will not be molded into these, he does the next best thing he can with them, and makes them vessels of dishonor, as the potter has power to do. Verse 21. So it was with Pharaoh; for though the particulars of his previous contumacy are not given us, the rule by which God acts in such cases is plainly stated.

(2.) The "election" of Rom.9:11 is not a decree of damnation, but the choice of Jacob instead of Esau to receive special favors from God. God has a right to bestow his favors as he wills. No one has any claims upon him. The non-recipients are in nowise wronged, while the recipients are greatly favored.

(3.) "Esau have I hated." Before either Jacob or Esau were born, it is recorded that God "loved" one and "hated" the other. Does not this prove eternal reprobation? - No; for the word "hated" does not here signify a positive exercise of ill-will or malevolence; but it has simply a relative meaning, signifying to "love less," as in Luke 14:26. For his own good reasons, God loved Esau less than he loved Jacob, and so made Jacob the subject of special favor. But he in nowise jeopardized Esau's eternal interests, nor did him any injustice.

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QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

45. What kind of election is brought to view in Rom.9:22?

46. What does the word "hated" mean, in the expression, "Esau have I hated?"

47. When does God "will" to harden?

48. Upon whom does he "will" to have mercy?

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(4.) "Whom he will he hardeneth." Even here we have no occasion to "reply against God;" for he has revealed to us what his "will" is in this matter. He wills to harden only those who reject his mercy;

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and he "will have mercy" upon all who will receive it.

9. But if God foreknows that I will be lost, must I not be lost despite all contingencies? - In this case you are to be lost, of course, but not because God foreknows it, nor by any personal decree of his. It would be the same if God did not foreknows it. To illustrate: A young man moves into the society of evil companions and the atmosphere of the saloon. He is perfectly free to resist if he will; but he yields to temptation, goes down, and is lost. You felt morally certain it would be so in the beginning. Suppose you had foreknown it absolutely; would your foreknowledge have compelled him to that course? - Not at all. Neither does God's foreknowledge, in any case. Events transpire, not because God foreknows them; but he foreknows them because they are to transpire. In this we speak only of events connected with free moral agency. Such agents he leaves free to decide their own destiny.

Such as herein set forth we believe to be the Bible doctrine of election and predestination. We have called it a doctrine full of consolation. It assures the heart of every believer. It dispels doubt and misgiving. It shows how sure is the Christian's hope. In Christ we are elected to be saved. In him we stand upon the decree of Jehovah, declared from the beginning, and as firm as the pillars of his own throne. The only contingency lies in our own course of action. Let us, therefore, labor to make our calling and election sure.

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QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

49. Does God's foreknowledge that a man will sin compel him to sin?

50. Does any event, connected with free moral agency, transpire because God foreknows it, or does he foreknow it because it is going to take place?[0314]

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CHAPTER 30. The One Hundred and Forty-four Thousand

AS we investigate the third angel's message, we naturally feel an interest to know if the prophecies anywhere intimate what the effect of this message will be; or what measure of success will attend it. We think we find this clearly indicated in the seventh chapter of Revelation. We have shown that the angel ascending with the seal of the living God, here brought to view, is the same as the third angel of Revelation 14. And as the result of this work, in Revelation 7 it is declared that 144,000 were sealed as the servants of God.

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QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER THIRTY.

1. What scripture indicates the result of the third angel's message?

2. With what is the sealing angel of Revelation 7 identical?

3. What is the result of the sealing work of Revelation 7?

4. From whom are the 144,000 gathered?

5. What do some conclude from this?

6. where do we find an answer?

7. When did James write?

8. For whom and to whom did he write?

9. Under what title does he address them?

10. What does this prove?

11. Where and by what figure does Paul illustrate this matter?

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But, says one, the 144,000 cannot belong to the present generation, or be gathered in the gospel dispensation; for they were sealed out of the twelve tribes of the children of Israel. A sufficient answer to this is found in the testimony of James. He, writing in A.D. 60, to Christians, and for the benefit of Christians, and carrying us down even to the coming of Christ, addresses his epistle to the twelve

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tribes scattered abroad. It is evident, therefore, that Christians are counted as belonging to the twelve tribes.

In what sense are they so considered? for there are no genealogies of tribes preserved among men in this dispensation. Paul illustrates this by a beautiful figure in the eleventh chapter of Romans. He sets forth the people of God in the former dispensation, the literal Israel, under the figure of an olivetree with twelve branches. These branches represented the twelve tribes of the children of Israel. These branches were broken off, which signified that the Jews, by rejecting Christ ceased to be God's people.

The Gentiles who accepted Christ were taken by the Lord as his people; and Paul represents this movement by branches of a wild olive grafted into the tame. Where the natural branches, the Jews, were broken off, there the wild olive, the Gentiles were grafted in. Now, how did this affect the tree? There were, at first, twelve branches, representing the twelve tribes of the children of Israel; and after they were broken off, and grafts were inserted from the Gentiles, or Christians, there are still twelve branches, or tribes, in the household of faith.

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QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER THIRTY.

12. By what are the people of God in the former dispensation represented?

13. What did the twelve branches signify?

14. What became of these branches?

15. What did this illustrate?

16. What then was done?

17. When the Gentiles are grafted in, what is the condition of the tree?

18. What kind of a seed are these Gentiles?

19. Name and explain the texts which prove that they are a spiritual seed.

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These are not the literal seed, but the spiritual; because they are not brought in by faith. So we hear Paul saying, in Rom.2:28,29, "He is not a Jew, which is one outwardly; neither is that circumcision, [3.0] 316

which is outward in the flesh; but he is a Jew, which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not of the letter." Again, Paul says, Rom.9:6-8, "They are not all Israel which are of Israel; neither, because they are the seed of Abraham, are they all children; but, In Isaac shall thy seed be called. That is, They which are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God; but the children of the promise are counted for the seed." And he adds, in Gal.4:28, that "We brethren, [Christians] as Isaac was, are the children of promise." And he adds in the next verse that he was born after the Spirit.

Nothing could be plainer than these testimonies, that there is a spiritual seed, reckoned as the true Israel, perpetuated, not in a literal, but in a spiritual sense.

Because the twelve tribes, therefore, are mentioned in Revelation, from whom the 144,000 are sealed, that is no evidence that they are not taken from the gospel dispensation; or even from the closing portion of it. But we have still clearer evidence to present upon this point.

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QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER THIRTY.

20. May the 144,000, therefore, be sealed from Christians even at the close of this dispensation?

21. What city did John see coming down from God out of heaven?

22. Was this a Jewish or a Christian city?

23. What proves it a Christian city?

24. What does it have upon its twelve gates?

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The New Jerusalem, which John saw coming down from God out of heaven, in which there was the throne of the Lamb, as well as the throne of God, will not certainly be considered a Jewish city; for in the twelve foundations were the names of the twelve apostles. But on the twelve gates of that city, are described in Rev.21:12, there are names

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written, which are the names of the twelve tribes of the children of Israel.

Now all the people of God, from Adam to the close of the gospel dispensation, will go into that city through some one of those twelve gates; hence all will be reckoned, both Jews and Christians, as belonging to some one of the twelve tribes.

No genealogy is kept of those tribes here upon earth, as it is not necessary that men should now understand these distinctions. But Paul speaks of the church of the first-born written in heaven, giving us to understand that the record is kept there. The only object of preserving the tribes distinct in the former dispensation was that men might understand the fulfillment of the prophecies concerning Christ, who was to spring from a particular tribe; and the Jews might thus be able to identify the Messiah. But since Christ has come, that necessity no longer exists; and hence the genealogy of the tribes has been irrecoverably lost.

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QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER THIRTY.

25. What does this prove?

26. Where is the genealogy of the tribes now kept?

27. What was the object of preserving the genealogy in the former dispensation?

28. Does that object any longer exist?

29. Where are the 144,000 again brought to view?

30. What conclusion can be drawn from this reference?

31. What does John say of this company?

32. What is the Father's name?

33. What does this show?

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This company, the 144.000, are again brought to view in Rev.14:1-5. And here we have indisputable evidence that they are gathered from the last generation of the living. John says "A Lamb stood on the Mount Sion, and with him a hundred and forty and four thousand, having his Father's name written in their foreheads." This name is the same as the seal of God brought to view in Revelation 7; hence this company is the same as the 144,000 of chapter 7.

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And of these it is said, that they were "redeemed from the earth," and "redeemed from among men." This can mean nothing else but translation from among the living. These first five verses of Revelation 14 belong to chapter 13, and are the closing portion of the line of prophecy beginning with chapter 12. This 144,000 are the ones who pass through the terrible conflict with the power symbolized by the two-horned beast described in Rev.13:11-17. But we have shown that this power is a symbol of our own government, is now upon the stage of action, and is the last power which persecutes the church of God. Therefore the 144,000 are the ones who are developed by the third angel's message, and who will be translated from among men at the second coming of Christ.

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QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER THIRTY.

34. From what are this company said to be redeemed?

35. What does this expression prove?

36. To what prophecy do the first five verses of Revelation 14 belong?

37. Through what conflict, therefore, do these 144,000 pass?

38. What is the two-horned beast, and when does he do his work?

39. To what conclusion does this lead respecting the 144,000?

40. How long has this sealing work been going forward?

41. What has taken place with some who have been brought out by this message?

42. Will they be numbered with the 144,000, or help compose that company?

43. How can they be said to be redeemed from among men?

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The sealing work of Revelation 7 results in sealing the number here specified; but as this is identical with the third angel's message, this sealing work has for many years already been going forward; and some whose whole religious experience has been connected with, and is owing to, this work, have fallen asleep since the message commenced. Will they be reckoned with this 144,000? If so, how can it be said that they will be redeemed from among men, or be translated?

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We answer, Before Christ comes, there is a partial resurrection to take place, according to Dan.12:2 and Rev.1:7. Daniels says "Many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt." This is not the general resurrection of either class; for at the general resurrection of the righteous there are no wicked ones to be raised, and at the general resurrection of the wicked there are no righteous ones included. But here is a mixed resurrection, taking some, a few, of both classes; and this occurs in connection with the standing up of Michael, and the closing time of trouble. We therefore infer that at this time, probably when the voice of God is heard (Joel 3:16, Heb.12:27, and Rev.16:17), some of the pre-eminently wicked, and some of the pre-eminently good, including all those who have died in the third angel's message, will be raised from the dead, but raised only to mortal life. Being then raised from the dead, and taking their place with those who have not died under this message, they are translated when the Lord appears; and hence, with the others, may also be said to be redeemed from among men.

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QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER THIRTY.

44. How is it shown that Daniel's word apply before the general resurrection?

45. At what point are they probably raised?

46. In what condition are they raised?

47. How do they gain immortality?

48. Can they, like the others, be then said to be redeemed from among men?

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CHAPTER 31. The Ministration of Angels

JUDE 6: "And the angels which kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation, he hath reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the Judgement of the great day."

This text brings to view an order of beings called angels, and also shows that there are two classes of them, one which kept not their first estate, and another class which have kept it.

Peter speaks of the same. 2Pet.2:4. "For if God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down to hell, and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved unto Judgment," etc. Here the angels that sinned are those who, as described by Jude, kept not their first estate. The whole host of angels were therefore originally holy, but a part of them have fallen into sin, and are reserved unto the Judgment of the great day.

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QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE.

1. What is the testimony of Jude 6?

2. What does this text bring to view?

3. Where does Peter speak of the same?

4. What is his language?

5. How is it shown that Peter refers to the same as Jude?

6. What, therefore, was the original condition of all the angelic host?

7. Are these angels departed human spirits?

8. What is Job's testimony, and where found?

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These angels are not the departed spirits of human beings; for Job speaks of the time when the foundation of this earth was laid, and says that the morning stars sang together, and the sons of God

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shouted for joy. Job 38:7. These were undoubtedly the angelic hosts, antedating the creation of the world and the history of man.

Moreover, Peter, in the text already quoted, speaks first of the angels and then of the old world preceding the flood, evidently making a distinction between the angels and the earliest inhabitants of the earth. Again, when Adam and Eve were driven from Paradise, before ever a human being had died upon the earth, cherubim were placed at the east of the garden of Eden to keep the way of the tree of life; and these cherubim constitute one division of the angelic hosts. Consequently, angels are not the spirits of departed men.

Angels are real beings. They are described in the Bible as possessing face, feet, wings, etc. Ezekiel says of the cherubim, "Their whole body and their backs, and their hands, and their wings," etc. Eze.10:12. Angels appeared unto Abraham. Gen.18:1-8. They talked and ate with him. They went on to Sodom, and communed with Lot, who, entering into his house, baked unleaven bread for them, and they did eat. These persons were called angels. David speaks of the manna as the corn of heaven, and angels' food. Ps.78:23-25.

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QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE.

9. What testimony of Peter's proves the same thing?

10. What incident that took place in Eden also shows it?

11. What were these cherubim?

12. What can be said of the reality of angels?

13. How are they described in the Bible?

14. Who appeared unto Abraham?

15. What did they do?

16. What was their course with Lot.

17. How does David speak of them?

18. What may be said of the case of Balaam?

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The case of Balaam (Num.22:22-31) is an interesting incident. The angel appeared to Balaam with a drawn sword in his hand. The question is sometimes asked how angels can be material beings,

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since we cannot see them. This case illustrates how this can be. The record says the Lord opened the eyes of Balaam, and he saw the angel. The angel did not create a body for that occasion. He was just the same as he was before Balaam saw him; but the change took place in Balaam. His eyes were opened, then he beheld the angel. It was the same with the servant of Elisha when he and his master were brought into a strait place, surrounded by the army of the king of Syria. 2Kin.6:17. Elisha prayed that the eyes of his servant might be opened; and he immediately saw the whole mountain full of horses and chariots round about Elisha.

This may be further illustrated by a reference to things which we know are material, and yet which we cannot see. Air is material, steam is material, even though itself is only the result of material organizations, - matter acting upon matter, - and yet we can see none of these things. Just so with the angels.

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QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE.

19. What question is sometimes asked?

20. How does this case illustrate it?

21. Into what position were Elisha and his servant at one time brought?

22. What was Elisha's prayer?

23. What did his servant then behold?

24. Who were these beings represented by horses and chariots?

25. Name some other material things which we cannot see?

26. What are angels called in Heb.1:13,14?

27. What objection is based on this?

28. How is this objection answered?

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It is further objected to the materiality of the angels, that they are called spirits. Heb.1:13,14. But this is no objection to their being literal beings. They are simply spiritual beings, having bodies organized differently from those which we possess. Paul says (1Cor.15:44), "There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body." The natural body we now have; the spiritual body we shall have in

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the resurrection. "It is raised a spiritual body." Verse 44. But then we are equal unto the angels (Luke 20:36); then we have bodies like unto Christ's most glorious body. Phil.3:21. And Christ is no less a spirit than the angels. We read that God is a spirit, that is, simply a spiritual being.

The angels are beings of great exaltation and power. At the resurrection of our Lord, the presence of one angel struck the Roman guard to the ground like dead men. Matt.28:3. Even the prophets themselves frequently fell helpless before the majesty of the angels that came to bring them revelations from the Lord. Dan.10:8,17; Rev.19:10; 22:8. An angel destroyed the army of Sennacherib. 2Kin.19:35. It was undoubtedly the angels that threw down the walls of Jericho. Josh.6:20.

These exalted beings are appointed to be ministers of the saints of God. Heb.1:14. It appears from Matt.18:10 that every child of God has an accompanying angel. The church in Jerusalem understood this; for when the voice of Peter was heard at the gate, they, supposing Peter was in prison, declared that it was his angel. Acts 12:15.

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QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE.

29. When we have spiritual bodies, to whom are we equal?

30. What may be said of the exalted character of the angels?

31. What incidents prove that they are beings of high power and glory?

32. Who destroyed Sennacherib's army?

33. How many were destroyed, and in how long a time?

34. Who threw down the walls of Jericho?

35. What is the office of these exalted beings?

36. What is proved by Matt.18:10?

37. What incidents in Peter's life proves this?

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The history of the church is filled with instances of the ministration of these heavenly beings to the people of God. They protected the three worthies in the fiery furnace. Dan.3:25. They shut the mouths of lions that they should not touch the servant

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of God. Dan.6:22. They unloosed the chains and opened the prison doors before Peter. Acts 12:7. David says, "The angel of the Lord encampeth round about them that fear him, and delivereth them." Read also other ministrations to Daniel and John, as recorded in their writings throughout.

Angels are undoubtedly the ones that make the books of record from which we are all to be judged. Rev.20:12. Angels assist in the Judgment. Dan.7:9,10; Rev.5:11. The angels will gather the saints at the coming of Christ. Matt.24:31; 25:31; 1Thess.4:16,17.

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QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE.

38. Name other instances of their ministration for God's people.

39. What books do the angels prepare?

40. What do the angels have to do with the Judgment?

41. Who will be gathered by them at the coming of Christ? Reference.

42. Are the evil angels active?

43. What is their work?

44. What has resulted from the question of Satan's origin?

45. Explain this question in the light of the Scriptures.

46. What does John 8:44 say of Satan?

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Such is the work ascribed to the holy angels. The angels who have sinned have also a work in which they are busily engaged. Their object is to thwart the efforts of the holy angels who are working in our behalf, and to lead mankind to sin and finally to ruin. Much speculation has been indulged in regarding the origin of Satan. In the light of the Scriptures, this question is involved in no difficulty. God could not consistently constitute creatures other than free moral agents. Being such, they had the power to sin and fall. The Bible assures us that some angels have so fallen. The leader in this work of rebellion is called Satan. God created him pure and upright. He has by his own action brought himself into this condition of evil. Christ says of him (John 8:44) that he was a

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murderer from the beginning, that he abode not in the truth, and that he is the father of lies. This shows that all these evils had their origin with him. Is.14:12-14 and Eze.28:13-17 show the exalted position he occupied before his fall, and the cause of his overthrow. His heart was lifted up because of his beauty, and he aspired to a higher position than that assigned him by his Creator. Thus pride is shown to be the source of all the evil that has come into the universe.

These evil angels are just as real beings as the good. If men can explain away Satan, the devil, and demons, by calling them figures of speech, by the same rule we can explain away the good angels, Christ, and God himself, leaving the universe without a maker or a ruler.

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QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE.

47. What scriptures speak of his original condition?

48. What was this condition?

49. What was the cause of his fall?

50. Are the evil angels real beings?

51. What follows from the position of some that the terms Satan, devil, etc., are only figures of speech?

52. Why does God permit these agents of evil to exist?

53. What does Charles Beecher say of the origin and existence of sin?

54. What will doubtless be shown by it at last?

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It is asked why God permits these fallen beings to exist. We answer by asking why he permits wicked men to exist. The same principle is involved in both questions; and the same answer will apply to both. We cannot, indeed, account for sin. Charles Beecher, in his work entitled, "Redeemer and Redeemed," page 82, says: "Sin is, in its own nature, anomalous, and therefore mysterious; it is in its own nature an unaccountable thing; for the moment that it is properly accounted for, i.e., the moment we have assigned a good and sufficient cause for it, that moment it ceases to be sin. A good and sufficient cause is a good and sufficient

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excuse; and that which has a good and sufficient excuse is not sin. To account for sin, therefore, is to defend it; and to defend it is to certify that it does not exist. Therefore the objection that it is inconceivable and unaccountable that sin should enter into such a perfect universe amounts to nothing but saying that sin is exceedingly sinful, inexcusable, and destitute of the least defense for justification."

God doubtless permits sin to run its career that its exceeding sinfulness may be seen, and his justice be vindicated in finally destroying sin and all its agents forever.

When Satan sinned, he was cast out of heaven (2Pet.2:4), cast down to Tartarus. This is defined to mean the dark and fathomless void that surrounds the material universe. It must therefore include the interplanetary spaces.

Being thus cast out, he, by the temptation and fall of man, gained possession of the earth. Genesis 3. By this means he has become the "god and prince of this world." The fair inheritance given to Adam has passed over into the possession of Satan, until it shall be redeemed by Christ.

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QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE.

55. Where was Satan cast when he sinned?

56. Where is Tartarus?

57. How did he gain a foothold in this world?

58. Who now has dominion of the earth?

59. What is now the condition of sinful man?

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Sinful man is Satan's lawful captive. Rom.5:13; Eccl.3:20. In this condition he is represented as a prisoner. Job 3:17,18; Is.24:22. Of Satan it is said in Is.14:17 that he opened not "the house of his prisoners." The grave is called the land of the enemy. Jer.31:16,17. Death is called the last enemy of the righteous. 1Cor.15:26.

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The mission of Jesus is to destroy this work of the enemy. 1Joh.3:8. And not only will he destroy the works of the devil, but he is also to destroy the devil himself. Heb.2:14. This is accomplished as a part of the great plan of salvation. Christ gives himself first to die for man, then acts as intercessor in his behalf, pardoning the sins of the penitent. Having finished his work as priest, he returns in the clouds of heaven (his second advent), raises the righteous dead, and translates the righteous living. Satan is then bound for a thousand years. Rev.20:1-3. At the end of that period the wicked dead are raised, and, with Satan at their head, come up around the camp of the saints, the beloved city, the New Jerusalem, which has then come down to this earth (Rev.21), and fire comes down from God out of heaven, and devours them all. This is the fire of the great day spoken of in Mal.4:1, which shall burn as an oven, and consume all that do wickedly, root and branch, Satan and all his followers, evil angels and evil men. This is the day and this the fire of which Peter speaks (2Pet.3:7), when he says that the heavens and the earth are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of Judgment and perdition of ungodly men. From this fiery ordeal there come forth new heavens and a new earth to be the everlasting abode of the righteous. Verse 13.

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QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE.

60. What is the object of Christ's mission?

61. By what process is this accomplished?

62. Name the order of events?

63. What scriptures speak of this time when Satan and his followers shall be destroyed?

64. What follows?

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CHAPTER 32. The Saints' Inheritance

"THEN answered Peter and said unto him, Behold, we have forsaken all, and followed thee; what shall we have therefore? And Jesus said unto them, Verily I say unto you, That ye which have followed me, in the regeneration, when the Son of man shall sit in the throne of his glory, ye also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel." Matt.19:27,28.

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QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO.

1. What question is a very natural one to be raised by Christians?

2. What disciple put this question to our Lord?

3. To what time did Christ point him?

4. What is the regeneration?

5. What prophecies harmonize with this view?

6. To what promise does Peter refer to support the idea of a new heaven and new earth?

7. What does this language certainly bring to view?

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The question here raised by Peter is a very common one. What shall we have? What shall be the reward or inheritance hereafter of the people of God? Christs points them forward as the time of their reward to the regeneration or the re-genesis brought to view in the Scriptures. In harmony with this, we find prophecies of a new heaven and a new earth to succeed the present. Is.65:17: "For, behold, I create new heavens and a new earth; and the former shall not be remembered, nor come into mind." Peter, in his second epistle, third chapter, describes the destruction of the present earth by fire in the

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great day of the Lord, when the elements shall melt with fervent heat, and the earth also, and the works that are therein shall be burned up; but he adds, "Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness." The promise to which he refers is the one just quoted from the prophecy of Isaiah. This certainly is no figure; and it points plainly to the future of our earth.

In Is.45:18 we find this purpose expressed by the Lord in the formation of the earth: "For thus saith the Lord that created the heavens; God himself that formed the earth and made it; he hath established it, he created it not in vain, he formed it to be inhabited. I am the Lord; and there is none else."

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QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO.

8. What purpose does the lord express in Is.45:18?

9. Has this purpose ever been accomplished?

10. Will it be accomplished?

11. What promises are made to the righteous respecting the earth, and where recorded?

12. Why cannot these promises be fulfilled in this present state?

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He certainly did not form it to be inhabited by a race of wicked beings such as now dwell upon it. It must be inhabited by those who are in harmony with his own will; and this purpose will be carried out. Accordingly, we find promises made to the righteous that they shall inherit the land. Ps.37:11: "The meek shall inherit the earth." Prov.2:21,22: "For the upright shall dwell in the land, and the perfect shall remain in it. But the wicked shall be cut off from the earth, and the transgressors shall be rooted out of it." So says our Lord himself in his first recorded sermon: "Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth." Matt.5:5. This is not fulfilled in the present condition of this

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world; nor can it be till a new dispensation shall be ushered in.

The promises made to the ancient worthies bring to view the same thing. Heb.11:13: "These all died in faith, not having received the promises." Heb.6:12: "That ye be not slothful, but followers of them who through faith and patience inherit the promises." Then Paul refers to the promise made to Abraham; and he shows our connection with it; for he says that it was given that we might have strong consolation who have fled for refuge to lay hold of the hope set before us."

The promise to Abraham is recorded in Gen.12:1-3. "In thee shall all the families of the earth be blest." Gen.22:18: "And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blest." This promise must be universal, and it must reach through all time: otherwise all the nations of the earth would not be blessed in him. Rom.4:13 shows that this is the view to be taken of the promise to Abraham. "For the promise that he should be the heir of the world was not to Abraham, or to his seed, through the law, but through the righteousness of faith."

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QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO.

13. When will they be fulfilled?

14. What is brought to view in the "promises?"

15. To what does Paul refer in Heb.6:13?

16. How is our connection with this promise shown?

17. Where are the original promises to Abraham found?

18. Quote them.

19. How extensive is this promise, and why?

20. What view does Paul take of this promise, in Rom.4:13?

21. When was this promise fulfilled to Abraham?

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By the promise, Abraham is therefore made heir of the world; and yet we are told that he died, not having received the promise. How, then, can the promise be fulfilled? - Answer: Only by a resurrection of the dead. Paul say in Acts 26:6,7: "And

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now I stand and am judged for the hope of the promise made of God unto our fathers; unto which promise our twelve tribes, instantly serving God day and night, hope to come. For which hope's sake, king Agrippa, I am accused of the Jews. Why should it be thought a thing incredible with you that God should raise the dead? Here the whole promise is shown to rest upon the future resurrection of the dead.

Paul, in Gal.3:8, calls this promise to Abraham the gospel. "And the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith, preached before the gospel unto Abraham, saying, In thee shall all nations be blessed." He says further, in verse 16, that the promise to the seed is to Christ; and in verse 29, that we become Abraham's seed, and heirs to the promise by becoming connected with Christ. "And if ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise." Heirs of what? We have just seen that Abraham is heir of the world, and if we become heirs with him, then our heirship embraces the world.

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QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO.

22. How, then, can it be fulfilled?

23. What does Paul show in Acts 26:6,7?

24. What does Paul, in Gal.3:8, call this promise to Abraham?

25. Who is meant by Abraham's seed to whom the promise was made?

26. How do we become related to the prophecies by a connection with Christ?

27. Of what are we thus made heirs?

28. With what does this view harmonize?

29. How much, then, do the promises embrace?

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This is in harmony with the scriptures already quoted, affirming that the meek shall inherit the earth. The promises, then, embrace all that Christ has undertaken in our behalf. They include the whole plan of salvation. By coming to Christ, and accepting him, we become "Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise." And this plan of

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salvation can be carried out only by a resurrection of the dead, when eternal life shall be given to all God's people; and by the regeneration of this earth, when a new heavens and a new earth shall be created, and given to the saints as their everlasting possession. Then the meek shall inherit the earth; and then the promise, as quoted by Peter, can be fulfilled. Then the saints shall take the kingdom under the whole heaven to possess it forever and ever, as described by Daniel in his interpretation of the great image of Nebuchadnezzar in Daniel 2, and in his vision of the four beast in chapter 7: "And the kingdom and dominion and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven, shall be given to the people of the saints of the Most High." The stone cut out of the mountain, representing the kingdom of Christ, became a great mountain, and filled the whole earth.

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QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO.

30. How can these promises be fulfilled, or the plan of salvation be carried out?

31. What will the meek then inherit?

32. What promise mentioned by Peter will then be fulfilled?

33. What prophecies of Daniel will then be fulfilled?

34. Can they be fulfilled in any other way?

35. What does John describe in Rev.21?

36. What is to be the metropolis of this new earth?

37. What is to be the condition of the people of God there?

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This new heaven and new earth, the everlasting abode of the saints, is described by John in Revelation 21. The New Jerusalem, which comes down from heaven, the city of beauty and glory, is its grand metropolis. All tears are wiped away; there is no more death, sorrow, or care; pain never enters; and the former things are passed away. All things are made new. The son of God and the Lamb is the light of it, and the nations of the saved bring their honor and glory into it. There will be no night there! Nothing will ever enter in to defile or

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to destroy, and they only will possess it who are written in the Lamb's book of life.

Isaiah describes it as the place where the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf unstopped, and the lame man shall leap as an hart, and the tongue of the dumb shall sing; in the wilderness waters break forth, and streams in the desert. The parched ground becomes a pool, the thirsty ground springs of water; and the ransomed of the Lord come to Zion with songs and everlasting joy upon their heads.

There is the river of life, that stream which makes glad the city of God; and the tree of life, which is for the service of the nations. Then God's original purpose concerning the earth will be carried out. His glory will fill the earth as the waves fill the sea. And then the wicked, having all been destroyed, the universal song of jubilee heard by John in vision on Patmos will rise to God, when every creature which is in heaven, and on the earth, and under the earth, and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, will be heard saying: "Blessing, and honor, and glory, and power be unto him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb forever and ever." Rev.5:13.

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QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO.

38. What description does Isaiah give of it?

39. What purpose will then be carried out?

40. Where do we find prophecies that the glory of the Lord shall fill the earth?

41. When will these prophecies be fulfilled?

42. What has then become of the wicked?

43. What song will then be heard?

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