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The Song of Moses and of the Lamb

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And I saw as it were a sea of glass mingled with fire: and them that had gotten the victory over the beast, and over his image, and over his mark, and over the number of his name, stand on the sea of glass, having the harps of God. And they sing the song of Moses the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying, Great and marvelous are Thy works, Lord God Almighty; just and true are Thy ways, Thou King of saints. Who shall not fear Thee, O Lord, and glorify Thy name? for Thou only art holy: for all nations shall come and worship before Thee; for Thy judgements are made manifest.” Revelation 15: 2–4.

Just before John describes the seven last plagues poured out upon those who worship the beast and his image, he shows us a picture of what will happen to the righteous. Having been shown the struggle and suffering of the 144,000 against the mark of the beast, he is permitted to look ahead to see their ultimate triumph. We need to be certain in our minds that God will triumph in His people. No matter how dark the prospect may appear to us, God is in control and His purposes will triumph. “The Lord will work in behalf of all who will walk humbly with Him. He has placed you in a position of trust. Walk carefully before Him. God’s hand is on the wheel. He will guide the ship past the rocks into the haven. He will take the weak things of this world to confound the things that are mighty.” Testimonies, vol. 7, 267.

What was the song of Moses? You can read it in Exodus 15:1–19. The children of Israel had been brought out of Egypt with unprecedented evidence of the Lord’s power. The might of Egypt, the mightiest empire on earth, had been humbled by the power of God. So demoralized were the Egyptians by the manifestations of God’s power that they begged God’s people to go, and loaded them with riches. (Exodus 12:33, 35–36.)

So the people of Israel marched out of Egypt. But instead of going toward the Promised Land by the direct road of the way of the land of the Philistines, as they might have expected, God led them another way by the southerly route, by the way of the wilderness of the Red Sea. (Exodus 13:17–18.)

Then, to make things worse, God told them to turn off the road and go toward the Red Sea. They were to make their camp by the seaside. (Exodus 14:1–2.) The sea was before them, behind them were the mountain fastnesses through which the Lord had brought them, a maze of deep canyons. To their south, on the right hand, the mountains reached to the very edge of the sea. (See Patriarchs and Prophets, 283.) To the north, on their left, barring their way, was a large Egyptian fortress. And pursuing them was the army of Pharaoh, six hundred chosen chariots, together with all the chariots of Egypt, an army which Josephus says consisted of 50,000 horsemen and 200,000 infantry. Even if, by some miracle, they could cross the sea, what awaited them? On the other side of the sea was barren desert, nothing to eat or drink. What possible human hope was there of salvation?

At this point, the faith of the people failed. They were hemmed in by dangers. They could not see the purpose of God. They fully expected to die on the beach, slaughtered by the Egyptian army. They longed to return to the slavery from which God had freed them. (Exodus 14:11–12.) But the words of Moses expressed utter confidence in the power of God. “Fear ye not, stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord, which He will show to you to day: for the Egyptians, whom ye have seen to day, ye shall see them again no more for ever. The LORD shall fight for you, and ye shall hold your peace.” Exodus 14:13–14.

As Moses prayed, the Lord answered. “Wherefore criest thou unto Me? Speak unto the children of Israel, that they go forward: But lift thou up thy rod, and stretch out thine hand over the sea, and divide it: and the children of Israel shall go on dry ground through the midst of the sea. And I, behold, I will harden the hearts of the Egyptians, and they shall follow them: and I will get Me honour upon Pharaoh, and upon all his host, upon his chariots, and upon his horsemen. And the Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord.” Exodus 14:15–18. Now the Egyptians would know that the God of Moses was the true and only God.

Suddenly, with awful splendor, the great cloud which had gone before them in their journeyings so far, swept over their heads and placed itself between the people of Israel and the Egyptians. “But lo, they see the pillar of fire rise from the front, and pass grandly to the rear of the Hebrew host; as a massive wall between them and the Egyptians, a bright light to the Hebrews, a cloud of thick and awful darkness to their enemies.” Signs of the Times, March 10, 1881.

All that long and fearful night, it shone upon the people of Israel lighting their way as they hurried into the channel cut through the deep waters by that strong east wind. To the Egyptians, it was a cloud of deep darkness. As they realized that the Israelites were escaping across the sea, they hurried to pursue. In the midst of the sea, their chariot wheels became detached from their chariots and they tried to turn and flee. (Exodus 14: 25.) The resulting confusion, as that enormous army jostled and pushed, the rear going forward and the vanguard trying to turn and come back, caused a total catastrophe, as the morning light broke. Moses stretched out his rod over the sea and the waters, which had been congealed into high walls (Exodus 15:8), collapsed into the dry channel. The Egyptian army was overwhelmed in the midst of the sea.

Paul described this experience as a kind of baptism for God’s people. (See 1 Corinthians 10:2.) The Israelites were faced with a choice, to go forward in faith through the waters to a new life of trust in the power of God, or return to the old life of slavery and death. They could hearken to the voice of God’s prophet (Hosea 12:13) or give in to their doubts. This is the choice every person who contemplates baptism faces. The people of Israel chose to go forward as Moses, the prophet of God, directed them. And they experienced the saving power of God. (2 Chronicles 20:20.) The Lord did not leave them to die. Everyone had a real experience of the saving power of God when he passed through the sea.

It was then that Moses led the people in a great song of rejoicing, the song of Moses. It was clear to all whose power had won the victory. “The Lord is my strength and song and He is become my salvation.” Exodus 15:2. “Who is like unto Thee, O Lord, among the gods? Who is like Thee, glorious in holiness, fearful in praises, doing wonders?” Exodus 15:11. “Thou in Thy mercy hast led forth the people which Thou hast redeemed. Thou hast guided them in Thy strength unto Thy holy habitation.” Exodus 15:13. “Thou shalt bring them in and plant them in the mountain of Thine inheritance, in the place, O Lord, which Thou hast made to dwell in, in the Sanctuary, O Lord, which Thy hands have established.” Exodus 15:17.

The people of Israel never forgot the events of that night. Moses, in his closing message to the people he had led for forty years, rehearsed to them the main facts of their deliverance from Egypt. With the exception of Caleb and Joshua, the entire generation of men that passed through the Red Sea had died in the wilderness. Those who were now men had been but children when the Lord had so marvelously demonstrated His power.

“The thrilling incidents of this night passage had been oft repeated to the Israelites; but never before had it been so vividly portrayed. All who had taken an active part on this occasion, with the exception of Moses and Aaron, Caleb and Joshua, had died in the wilderness. Those who were now responsible men, were children at the time of their passage through the Red Sea, and they had not correct and distinct ideas of this wonderful manifestation of God’s power in their deliverance. This important event, rehearsed by Moses with earnestness and solemn eloquence, softened their hearts, and increased their love, their faith and reverence for God. Moses repeated the song of thanksgiving which he had composed, and which thousands of the Hebrew host united in singing on the shores of the Red Sea, not only men, but women also lifting up the voice of praise, joining to pour forth their exultant, Heaven-inspired gratitude. This song is one of the most sublime and thrilling expressions of triumph and of praise to be found in all the annals of history. Moses recounts the wonderful deliverance which God has wrought for His people and extols His justice and faithfulness and love.” Signs of the Times, March 10, 1881.

Many times in the Old Testament, this wonderful story is recounted. Joshua 4:23, Psalm 77:19–20, Psalm 106:7–12, Psalm 78:13, Psalm 114:3. The New Testament writers also recalled this mighty deliverance. 1 Corinthians 10:1, Hebrews 11:29.

“This song and the great deliverance which it commemorates, made an impression never to be effaced from the memory of the Hebrew people. From age to age it was echoed by the prophets and singers of Israel, testifying that Jehovah is the strength and deliverance of those who trust in Him. That song does not belong to the Jewish people alone. It points forward to the destruction of all the foes of righteousness and the final victory of the Israel of God. The prophet of Patmos beholds the white-robed multitude that have ‘gotten the victory,’ standing on the ‘sea of glass mingled with fire,’ having ‘the harps of God. And they sing the song of Moses the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb.’ Revelation 15:2–3.” Patriarchs and Prophets, 289.

The redeemed will one day sing the same song. But, before we can sing that song, we must have that experience. For this song is a song of experience. ” ‘Not unto us, O Lord, not unto us, but unto Thy name give glory, for Thy mercy, and for Thy truth’s sake.’ Psalm 115:1. Such was the spirit that pervaded Israel’s song of deliverance, and it is the spirit that should dwell in the hearts of all who love and fear God. In freeing our souls from the bondage of sin, God has wrought for us a deliverance greater than that of the Hebrews at the Red Sea. Like the Hebrew host, we should praise the Lord with heart and soul and voice for His ‘wonderful works to the children of men.’ Those who dwell upon God’s great mercies and are not unmindful of His lesser gifts, will put on the girdle of gladness and make melody in their hearts to the Lord. The daily blessings that we receive from the hand of God, and above all else the death of Jesus to bring happiness and heaven within our reach, should be a theme for constant gratitude. What compassion, what matchless love, has God shown to us, lost sinners, in connecting us with Himself, to be to Him a peculiar treasure! What a sacrifice has been made by our Redeemer, that we may be called children of God! We should praise God for the blessed hope held out before us in the great plan of redemption, we should praise Him for the heavenly inheritance and for His rich promises; praise Him that Jesus lives to intercede for us.

” ‘Whoso offereth praise,’ says the Creator, ‘glorifieth Me. ’Psalm 50:23. All the inhabitants of heaven unite in praising God. Let us learn the song of the angels now, that we may sing it when we join their shining ranks. Let us say with the psalmist, ‘While I live will I praise the Lord: I will sing praises unto my God while I have any being.’ ‘Let the people praise Thee, O God; let all the people praise Thee.’ Psalms 146:2; 67:5.

“God in His providence brought the Hebrews into the mountain fastnesses before the sea, that He might manifest His power in their deliverance and signally humble the pride of their oppressors. He might have saved them in any other way, but He chose this method in order to test their faith and strengthen their trust in Him. The people were weary and terrified, yet if they had held back when Moses bade them advance, God would never have opened the path for them. It was ‘by faith’ that ‘they passed through the Red Sea as by dry land.’ Hebrews 11:29. In marching down to the very water, they showed that they believed the word of God as spoken by Moses. They did all that was in their power to do, and then the Mighty One of Israel divided the sea to make a path for their feet.

“The great lesson here taught is for all time. Often the Christian life is beset by dangers, and duty seems hard to perform. The imagination pictures impending ruin before and bondage or death behind. Yet the voice of God speaks clearly, ‘Go forward.’ We should obey this command, even though our eyes cannot penetrate the darkness, and we feel the cold waves about our feet. The obstacles that hinder our progress will never disappear before a halting, doubting spirit. Those who defer obedience till every shadow of uncertainty disappears and there remains no risk of failure or defeat, will never obey at all. Unbelief whispers, ‘Let us wait till the obstructions are removed, and we can see our way clearly;’ but faith courageously urges an advance, hoping all things, believing all things.

“The cloud that was a wall of darkness to the Egyptians was to the Hebrews a great flood of light,illuminating the whole camp, and shedding brightness upon the path before them. So the dealings of Providence bring to the unbelieving, darkness and despair, while to the trusting soul they are full of light and peace. The path where God leads the way may lie through the desert or the sea, but it is a safe path.” Patriarchs and Prophets, 289–290.

How does John describe the song of the redeemed? “Great and marvelous are Thy works, Lord God Almighty.” They know by experience the wonderful works of God. They have experienced the miracles of God’s providential power. “Just and true are Thy ways, Thou King of saints.” They recognize that God has dealt justly with them and with all men. “Who shall not fear Thee?” To fear God is to keep His Commandments. (See Revelation 14:7. Compare also Psalm 34:11–14, Psalm 111:10, Proverbs 8:13, Ecclesiastes 12:13–14.) “And glorify Thy name?” To give glory to God is to reveal His character in our own. (See Revelation 14:7.)

“For Thou alone art holy.” (These are holy people who say these words. See Revelation 14:5, Revelation 22:11.) But all is ascribed to God. Nothing is theirs. “Not unto us, O Lord, not unto us, but unto Thy name give glory.” Psalm 115:1.

“The power of an ever-abiding Saviour is greater now than ever before, because the emergencies are greater; and yet we are weak in spiritual life and experience. Oh, how much we have lost as a people by our lack of faith! We have suffered loss to our own souls, and have failed to reveal to others, by our words and in our character, what Christ is and will be to everyone who comes to Him believing. He is ‘made unto us wisdom and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption.’ To give glory to God is to reveal His character in our own, and thus make Him known. And in whatever way we make known the Father or the Son, we glorify God. False views of God, and hence of Christ, are largely entertained today. Well may we offer the prayer of Moses, ‘Show me Thy glory.’ What did the Lord answer? ‘I will make all My goodness pass before thee.’ God might have answered Moses: ‘Why do you ask this question? Have I not revealed to you my glory in the deliverance of my people from Egyptian bondage? Did I not deliver you by the right arm of my power, and lead you dry shod through the midst of the Red Sea? Did I not reveal My glory in giving you bread from heaven? Did I not bring you water out of the flinty rock? Have you not looked upon My glory in the pillar of fire by night, and the cloud by day?’ Moses might have answered that all this only kindled his desire for greater manifestations of God’s power. The Lord granted the prayer of Moses, and He desires to answer us in the same way. We need to have our perceptions quickened, our hearts enlarged, that we may comprehend His glory—His goodness, His forgiveness, His forbearance, His inexpressible love.” Signs of the Times, October 17, 1892.

It will only be those who have a genuine, experimental knowledge of Christ’s saving power who will sing the song of Moses. They know the wonder-working power of God; they know that God is totally fair in His dealings with them; they have learned to fear the Lord. In their lives they glorify God, and they ascribe all the credit for their victory over the power of sin to God and nothing to themselves. Their only concern is that all they do will be to the glory of God. This is why they will also sing the song of the Lamb, the song of praise for the self-denying, self-sacrificing love of Jesus.

They will say, “Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honour, and glory, and blessing. And 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, heard I saying, Blessing, and honour, and glory, and power, be unto Him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb for ever and ever. And the four beasts said, Amen. And the four and twenty elders fell down and worshipped Him that liveth for ever and ever.” Revelation 5: 9–14.

Why is Jesus worthy? Because of His self-denying, self-sacrificing love, a love that must be manifested in the lives of all those who would sing the song of the Lamb. May each one of us know the power of God to deliver us from the slavery of self and sin. May each of us manifest in our every thought, word and action, the self-denying, self-sacrificing love of Jesus. Then we will truly be able to sing the song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb.

Judas Felt a Desire to Be Changed

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In the book Christ’s Object Lessons, page 73, we are given the names of a number of the tares who were found in the church. We find Ananias and Sapphira listed, who, when their sin became open, were removed from the church by death. Also listed are Simon Magus and Demas, both of whom were at one time welcomed into church membership, but who, when their sin became open, were later removed from fellowship. In this infamous list is also Judas, who is perhaps the best known of all and whose name has become closely associated as a prime example of a tare. When his sin became open, Judas took his own life, effectively removing himself from the church. (It is interesting to note, however, that Caiaphas, assumed* by many to rank close to Judas in notoriety is not mentioned.)

For at least the last year of His ministry, Jesus knew what was going on in the heart of Judas and that he was a tare, though no one else suspected his real motives.

“Christ’s discourse in the synagogue concerning the bread of life was the turning-point in the history of Judas. He heard the words, ‘Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink His blood, ye have no life in you.’ He saw that Christ was offering spiritual rather than worldly good. . . .

“In all that Christ said to His disciples, there was something with which, in heart, Judas disagreed. Under his influence the leaven of disaffection was fast doing its work. The disciples did not see the real agency in all this; but Jesus saw that Satan was communicating his attributes to Judas, and thus opening up a channel through which to influence the other disciples. This, a year before the betrayal, Christ declared, ‘Have not I chosen you twelve,’ He said, ‘and one of you is a devil?’” The Desire of Ages, 719, 720.

The history of Judas presents a sad ending to a life that might have been honored of God. By becoming the slave of one vice, he gave himself to be driven to any lengths in sin.

 

Rich Opportunities Lost

 

In his work with Jesus, Judas had some precious experiences which should have helped him in his conquest with sin and self. His life is a warning to us. We cannot rely on our connection with the work of God or our association with a godly man to assure us of salvation. We can never rest secure in this world of sin, believing that we have nothing to beware of.

How many of us have had as rich an opportunity and experience as Judas had? “Judas saw the sick, the lame, the blind, flock to Jesus from the towns and cities. He saw the dying laid at His feet. He witnessed the Saviour’s mighty works in healing the sick, casting out devils, and raising the dead. He felt in his own person the evidence of Christ’s power. He recognized the teaching of Christ as superior to all that he had ever heard. He loved the great Teacher, and desired to be with Him. He felt a desire to be changed in character and life, and he hoped to experience this through connecting himself with Jesus.” Ibid., 717. (All emphasis supplied.)

Do you have “a desire to be changed in character and life”? Do you hope to experience this change through connecting yourself with the work of God? Judas had those same desires and aspirations.

“But Judas did not come to the point of surrendering himself fully to Christ. He did not give up his worldly ambition or his love of money. While he accepted the position of a minister of Christ, he did not bring himself under the divine moulding. He felt that he could retain his own judgment and opinions, and he cultivated a disposition to criticize and accuse.” Ibid.

Jesus gave every possible benefit to Judas, even endowing him with power to heal the sick and cast out devils; but Judas failed of fully surrendering himself to Jesus. Consequently, he failed to overcome sin.

The all-important question is how do we overcome the sin in our lives? Inspiration answers: “The expulsion of sin is the act of the soul itself. True, we have no power to free ourselves from Satan’s control; but when we desire to be set free from sin, and in our great need cry out for a power out of and above ourselves, the powers of the soul are imbued with the divine energy of the Holy Spirit, and they obey the dictates of the will in fulfilling the will of God.” Ibid., 466.

Have we been on our knees and agonized with God, as did Jacob, that our hearts may be broken on the Rock? Have we fully surrendered ourselves to Christ? It is not enough to be a worker for God. It is not enough that we are connected to God’s work, or even that we have felt His power in our soul. It is not enough that we are hoping for a change in character. If we never come to the point of a full surrender to Him, there is still a connection between our souls and Satan. “Many while hoping and desiring to be saved will be lost.” Testimonies, vol. 2, 265. “If one sin is cherished in the soul, or one wrong practice retained in the life, the whole being is contaminated. The man becomes an instrument of unrighteousness.” The Desire of Ages, 313.

Jesus is full of mercy and He works untiringly for man’s recovery from sin. Even if we are blind to our sinful condition, God works for us as He did for Judas. “Judas was blinded to his own weakness of character, and Christ placed him where he would have an opportunity to see and correct this.” Ibid., 717. If you are deceived, it is impossible to know it, because if you knew it, you would not be deceived.

 

Clinging to Doubts

 

It was a source of frustration to Judas that Jesus always seemed to be dwelling on the negative and discouraging side of life, talking of trial and persecution. He was offended when Jesus presented the spiritual nature of His kingdom, and he allowed doubts to begin running through his mind. Though Judas had not yet decided that Jesus was not the Son of God, he began questioning and seeking to find some explanation of His mighty works. In spite of all this, “Judas made no open opposition, nor seemed to question the Saviour’s lessons.” Ibid., 720.

Judas’ experience was not all one-sided. Even though he was plagued with doubts and uncertainty, we are told that, “He felt the satisfaction that always comes in service to God.” Ibid., 718. But those feelings were not sufficient to save him. If we begin to rely on our feelings as a barometer of our experience, we are on dangerous ground. Our only standard is the law of God. It matters not how good you may feel about helping the homeless and giving Bible studies; if your heart is not fully surrendered, it is of no avail. Until the root of selfishness is pulled out of the heart, we are blind to our real condition.

“John and Judas are representatives of those who profess to be Christ’s followers. Both these disciples had the same opportunities to study and follow the divine Pattern. Both were closely associated with Jesus and were privileged to listen to His teaching. Each possessed serious defects of character; and each had access to the divine grace that transforms character.” Acts of the Apostles, 558. Though Judas might have comprehended the methods of Christ, his selfish desires blinded him and he found only disappointment and confusion.

Because of his disappointment in Jesus’ failure to fulfill his expectations in setting up a worldly kingdom, Judas decided that he was not going to unite himself with Christ so closely but that he could easily draw away. From that time he expressed doubts that tended to confuse the other disciples.

 

Reasoning of the Pharisees

 

As Judas began questioning if Jesus was the Son of God, he started using the deceptive reasoning of the Scribes and Pharisees. They “had misinterpreted God’s promise of eternal favor to Israel: ‘Thus saith the Lord, which giveth the sun for a light by day, and the ordinances of the moon and of the stars for a light by night, which divideth the sea when the waves thereof roar; The Lord of hosts is His name: If those ordinances depart from before Me, saith the Lord, then the seed of Israel also shall cease from being a nation before Me forever. Thus saith the Lord: If heaven above can be measured, and the foundations of the earth searched out beneath, I will also cast off all the seed of Israel for all that theyhave done, saith the Lord.’” Jeremiah 31:35-37. The Jews regarded their natural descent from Abraham as giving them a claim to this promise. But they overlooked the conditions which God had specified.” The Desire of Ages, 106. They had taken the promise of God’s everlasting favor to be an unconditional promise by which God had bound Himself. They believed that no matter what the Jewish people did, they were still the people of God.

“Many who were convinced that Jesus was the Son of God were misled by the false reasoning of the priests and rabbis. These teachers had repeated with great effect the prophecies concerning the Messiah, that He would ‘reign in Mount Zion, and in Jerusalem, and before His ancients gloriously;’ that He would ‘have dominion also from sea to sea, and from the river unto the ends of the earth.’ Isaiah 24:23; Psalm 72:8. Then they made contemptuous comparisons between the glory here pictured and the humble appearance of Jesus. The very words of prophecy were so perverted as to sanction error.” Ibid., 458. Because Jesus failed to meet their false expectations, they concluded that He was an imposter and sent messengers all over the country to warn the people about Him. (See Ibid., 213.) Incredibly, the Author of the Scriptures was among them and yet they used the very words He inspired the prophets to write, to turn the nation against Him. Just imagine the Bible studies that were given throughout the land and the Bible based sermons that were given, all with the determined purpose of turning a nation from the truth.

The scribes and Pharisees false reasoning lay in their failure to understand the spiritual nature of the true church, and, they were offended that Christ did not have the due regard that they supposed He should have for the priesthood. Judas picked up the flawed theological thinking of the church leadership and was found “repeating the arguments urged by the scribes and Pharisees against the claims of Christ.” Ibid., 719. “Christ’s oft-repeated statement that His kingdom was not of this world offended Judas.” Ibid., 718. In all that Christ said to His disciples,there was something with which, in heart, Judas disagreed. Jesus saw that Satan was communicating his attributes to Judas, and thus opening up a channel with which to influence the other disciples. He would introduce texts of Scripture that had no connection with the truths Christ was presenting, yet he did so in such a way as to make it appear that he was conscientious. (See Ibid., 719.) In taking the truths that Jesus taught and presenting them in a different light, he was attaching to the words of Jesus a meaning that He had not conveyed.

If we come to the Word of God with the selfish desire to prove our own point or to lift up ourselves we are certain to come up with a false reasoning, just as Judas did. So, when you see anyone lining up theologically with the scribes and Pharisees of today, repeating their arguments about the nature of Christ’s kingdom (His church) — be careful!

And so it was that a year before the betrayal, Christ declared, “Have not I chosen you twelve, and one of you is a devil?” John 6:70. It was generally Judas who began the contention as to who should be the greatest. “His suggestions were constantly exciting an ambitious desire for temporal preferment, and thus turning the disciples from the important things they should have considered.” Ibid., 719.

 

Just One Sin

 

All the evil manifested in Judas came from just one sin — the sin of covetousness. If we allow one sin to be cherished in the heart, all the good traits we have will not do any good in the long run. “We may flatter ourselves that we are free from many things of which others are guilty; but if we have some strong points of character, and but one weak point, there is yet a communion between sin and the soul. The heart is divided in its service, and says, ‘Some of self and some of Thee.’ The child of God must search out the sin which he has petted and indulged himself in, and permit God to cut it out of his heart. He must overcome that one sin; for it is not a trifling matter in the sight of God.” Review and Herald, August 1, 1893.

“How many are betrayed into sin, because they have not, through prayerful study of the Word of God, realized the sinfulness of sin, and found out how they may steadfastly resist it. When temptation comes upon them, they seem to be off guard, and ignorant of the devices of the enemy. We are living in perilous times, and as we draw near the close of earth’s history, there will be no safety for those who do not become familiar with the Word of God. I would warn the disciples of Christ of the impending days of peril, and beseech you to prepare for the time of test and trial; for everything that can be shaken, will be shaken. Do we now obey the Word of God, and live by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God? Are we established and settled in the present truth? There is need of closely examining yourselves whether you are in the love of God; for except Christ be in you, you are reprobates. Self-deception is dangerous, and no one of us can afford to go on in delusion.” Youth’s Instructor, May 18, 1893.

Of ourselves we cannot know our errors. “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked; who can know it?” Jeremiah 17:9. We may even attempt to express our poverty with words, while all the time it goes unacknowledged by our proud hearts as they swell with conceit at their own superior humility.

“When sin has deadened the moral perceptions, the wrong-doer does not discern the defects of his character, nor realize the enormity of the evil he has committed; and unless he yields to the convicting power of the Holy Spirit, he remains in partial blindness to his sin. His confessions are not sincere and in earnest. To every acknowledgement of his guilt, he adds an apology in excuse of his course, declaring that, if it had not been for certain circumstances, he would not have done this or that, for which he was reproved.” Signs of the Times, March 16, 1888.

Judas was a leader among leaders in the church, for he was more capable than all the other disciples. (See Education, 86.) Judas had precious traits of character that might have been a great blessing to the church. He was polished. He possessed financial ability. Christ saw great possibilities in Judas. “Christ connected Judas and impulsive Peter with himself, not because Judas was covetous and Peter passionate, but that they might learn of Him, their great Teacher, and become, like Him, unselfish, meek, and lowly of heart. He saw good material in both these men. Judas possessed financial ability and would have been of value to the church had he taken home to his heart the lessons which Christ was giving by rebuking all selfishness, fraud, and avarice, even in the little matters of life.” Testimonies, vol. 4, 486.

Have you taken home to your heart the lessons which Christ has given you? Has His rebuke of selfishness and covetousness expelled those traits from your heart? Are you becoming like Jesus? Or, are you desiring to be changed, like Judas did, but instead of expelling the sin from your soul, you are secretly fostering covetousness? Turn, oh turn, before it is forever too late.

*As students of the Word, we need to be very careful that by a lack of careful study we do not come to some conclusions for which we have no inspired support. These ideas, though we fail to realize it, are assumptions. An assumption is an idea that is so taken for granted that it is not thought necessary to prove it. Assumptions, once accepted, become very powerful as they bypass the critical faculty in the thinking process, shaping all of our other thoughts and decisions. It matters not how sincerely we hold them; false assumptions cannot help but lead us to wrong conclusions.

 

Children’s Story — The Head Nurse’s Story

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When little Jem was first brought to the hospital, it was in a carriage with liveried servants.

His father was a mill-owner in Pennsylvania, and Jem was an only child. He had the largest room in the private ward.

His parent’s brought the boy fruit, flowers, and books. “Please take them to that cripple in the next room, and to children in the free wards, with my love—little Jem Bruce’s love,” he would say, raising himself in bed, with flushed cheeks and shining eyes.

In two months he recovered and went away, but two years afterward Mrs. Bruce brought him back. She was dressed in black, and asked for a cheap room. Mr. Bruce, I heard, was dead, and had left his widow little money.

Jem’s knee was worse than ever, but what a cheery, happy fellow he was! He soon learned the story of all the patients in the neighboring rooms, as he had done before. And when his mother brought him a bunch of pinks or a basket of apples, he would eagerly divide them.

“Maybe they will make some one feel happier just for a minute,” he would say, with his rare smile.

His right leg was taken off at the knee. Then I lost sight of Jem for three or four years. Last winter he applied for admission to the free ward. His mother was dead. The disease had appeared in the other leg some months before. Jem had been supporting himself by typewriting, but was now no longer able to work.

He met me as if I had been his old, dear friend, —as indeed, I was, —and then hobbled round the wards to see if he knew any of the patients, stopping to laugh and joke and say some kind word at each bed.

The doctors amputated the other leg that day. It was the only chance for his life, but in a week they knew that it had failed.

“Make the boy comfortable,” the surgeon said to me; “it is all that can be done for him now.”

Jem knew the truth from the first. But he never lost courage. This was his bed (pointing to the middle one of a long row of white cots in the great ward). He learned to know all the men, and took keen interest in each case.

When Johnny Royle died, Jem took out the few dollars remaining in his pocket, and gave them to me. “They’re for his little children,” he whispered. “They have nothing.” And when old Peter was discharged, cured, he came to Jem’s bed to say good-bye as if he had been his brother. Jem wrung his hand, and said: “Take my overcoat, Peter; yours is gone, and—I’ll never need mine again.” He waved his hand, and cheered feebly as Peter went away.

He had nothing left to give now—I think that cut him sharply, but one day he began to sing. He had a remarkable voice, clear and tender; it would force the tears to your eyes. Every head in the ward was turned to listen. That delighted Jem. “I can sing for them occasionally,” he said, “if the doctors will allow it.”

So, whenever it was possible, Jem’s sweet voice was heard, sometimes in a humorous song, sometimes in a hymn. I used to think he was at heaven’s gate when he sang those hymns. But one morning his voice was gone, and before night everyone in the ward knew he was dying. The patients were silent, many of them crying, for they all loved the boy. He died at sundown, sitting up in bed, leaning against my shoulder. He glanced around the ward, and they nodded, and smiled.

“Give them,” he whispered, then stopped, remembering, poor child, that he had nothing to give. Then he said, suddenly, aloud, his eyes brightening, “Give them my love—Jem Bruce’s love.”

Taken from The Youth’s Instructor, January 29, 1903.

 

Ichabod, God’s Glory is Departed

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O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not. Behold, your house is left unto you desolate.” Matthew 23:37, 38

These words of Christ to the priests and rulers struck terror to their hearts. Could it be that their magnificent temple would soon become a heap of ruins? As Jesus spoke these alarming words, in divine pity, He cast one more lingering look upon the temple and in a voice choked with anguish, Jesus exclaimed, “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem…how often would I have gathered thy children together…and ye would not.”

These words were part of the separation struggle of the long-suffering love of Christ. Israel as a nation had finally divorced herself from God. The natural branches of the olive tree were broken off. Jesus looking for the last time upon the interior of the temple, said with mournful pathos, “Behold, your house is left unto you desolate.” God’s last day messenger wrote in 1882: “The glory of the Lord had departed from Israel.” Testimonies, vol. 5, 210.

In order to have a clear understanding of this statement, we need to first understand what “glory” is. God’s glory has always been equated with His character. In Eden, a glorious light enshrouded the holy pair, for they had been given a character pattern much like their Creator. They were to develop and improve their characters, to be fashioned like unto God’s character. But when they sinned, the glorious external light left and they were naked—a fit symbol of the loss of their God-like characters. But God did not forsake them. Immediately, the plan of salvation was activated and the work for character restoration was begun.

In Moses’ day, God proposed to visibly dwell with His people. This is why the Shekinah glory abode in the most holy place of the Sanctuary. Moses was so enraptured with this glory that he wanted to see God fully. He prayed, “I beseech Thee, shew me Thy glory.” Exodus 33:18. And God answered, “I will put thee in a cleft of the rock, and will cover thee with My hand while I pass by.” Exodus 33:22. “I will make all My goodness pass before thee.” Exodus 33:19. God’s glory is equated with His goodness—His character.

When Eli was the priest, the spirituality of the nation and the priesthood had become desperately corrupt. Eli’s sons thought that the ark would win a war with the Philistines. But Eli’s sons were killed and the ark captured. When Eli heard this tragic news, he fell backward, broke his neck and died.

The wife of Eli’s son, hearing that the ark was taken, gave premature birth to a son. As she died,she called the child “Ichabod,” which means “The glory is departed from Israel.” And indeed it had. For God’s character was no longer mirrored in the character of His people, but He did not forsake them. He raised up Samuel to lead His people back into a Christ-like experience.

Over and over through the centuries, God’s people deserted Him. But God never deserted His faithful few. When Solomon completed the temple in Jerusalem, God again visibly filled the temple with His glory. “The glory of the Lord had filled the house of the Lord.” 1 Kings 8:11. This glory remained in the Holy of Holies until the days of Jeremiah, when the glory of the Lord departed from the temple.

This departure is described by God’s prophet as similar to Christ’s ascension to heaven after His resurrection. “As the place of His ascension, Jesus chose the spot so often hallowed by His presence while He dwelt among men. Not Mount Zion, the place of David’s city. Not Mount Moriah, the temple site was to be thus honored. There Christ had been mocked and rejected. There the waves of mercy, still returning in a stronger tide of love, had been beaten back by hearts as hard as rock. Thence Jesus, weary and heart burdened, had gone forth to find rest in the Mount of Olives. The holy Shekinah, in departing from the first temple, had stood upon the eastern mountain, as if loath to forsake the chosen city; so Christ stood upon Olivet, with yearning heart overlooking Jerusalem.” Desire of Ages, 829.

Jeremiah records why the temple was destroyed by King Nebuchadnezzar. “Thus saith the Lord; Take heed to yourselves, and bear no burden on the Sabbath day, nor bring it in by the gates of Jerusalem; neither carry forth a burden out of your houses on the Sabbath day, neither do ye any work, but hallow ye the Sabbath day, as I commanded your fathers.” Jeremiah 17:21, 22. At that time they were totally disregarding the Sabbath. They were carrying on business as usual.

“But they obeyed not, neither inclined their ear, but made their neck stiff, that they might not hear,nor receive instruction . . . 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.” Jeremiah 17:23, 27.

Jeremiah sensed the coming destruction because of the apostasy in breaking the Sabbath. He removed the ark of God from the Sanctuary, hiding it in a cave. “Among the righteous still in Jerusalem, to whom had been made plain the divine purpose, were some who determined to place beyond the reach of ruthless hands the sacred ark containing the tables of stone on which had been traced the precepts of the decalogue. This they did. With mourning and sadness they secreted the ark in a cave, where it was to be hidden from the people of Israel and Judah because of their sins, and was to be no more restored to them. That sacred ark is yet hidden. It has never been disturbed since it was secreted.” Prophets and Kings, 453.

God called Ezekiel to be a prophet among the captives in Babylon. He describes the various stages through which the glory of the Lord passed as it left the doomed temple and the city of Jerusalem. In chapter one, Ezekiel was given a vision of God’s throne room in heaven where he saw “the likeness of the glory of the Lord.” Ezekiel 1:28.

Again in Ezekiel 3:23 he sees “The glory of the Lord.” Then in Chapter 5, he is given a message concerning the sins and abominations of God’s people and of the Jewish leaders who were defiling God’s earthly sanctuary in Jerusalem, so that he might understand why Jerusalem had been destroyed. In Chapter 8, Ezekiel beholds the glory of the Lord (verse 4). In spite of continued abominations, God had not taken His glory fully out of the sanctuary. But in Ezekiel 9, you read that God’s glory started to leave the sanctuary (verse 3). “And the glory of the God of Israel was gone up from the cherub.”

Then in Ezekiel 10, the glory now stands over the threshold of the door. Then looking down over the courtyard, it passes over the doomed city. “And the glory of the God of Israel was over them above.” Ezekiel 10:19.

God is patient and merciful; reluctant to remove His glory from His rebellious people. Nevertheless, slowly and surely, the glory of God was removed. In Ezekiel 11, God shows Ezekiel why the glory of God was departing. In chapter 8, he saw twenty-five priests worshiping the sun right within the sanctuary of God.

“And he brought me into the inner court of the Lord’s house, and, behold at the door of the temple of the Lord, between the porch and the altar, were about five and twenty men with their backs toward the temple of the Lord, and their faces toward the east; and they worshipped the sun toward the east.” Ezekiel 8:16.

“And the glory of the Lord went up from the midst of the city, and stood upon the mountainwhich is on the east side of the city.” Ezekiel 11:23. This is exactly how Mrs. White describes it in The Desire of Ages, 829. The glory of God departed from the temple, and then the city, and finally from the people, never to return. Still, God did not utterly forsake this wayward people.

“Therefore ye shall see no more vanity, nor divine divinations; for I will deliver My people . . .and ye shall know that I am the Lord.” Ezekiel 13:23. Thus God delivered His faithful, a small remnant out of the hands of the oppressors. After the captivity, the temple was rebuilt. Some of the old men who had seen the glory of God displayed in the Most Holy temple, now wept at the lesser grandeur of the second temple, and because the Ark of the Covenant was missing. However, a greater glory had been promised. “The Shekinah had departed from the sanctuary but in the child of Bethlehem was veiled the glory before which angels bow.” The Desire of Ages, 52. Thus was fulfilled the words of Haggai 2:9: “The glory of this latter house shall be greater than the former.” But so few recognized the glory, in Jesus Christ, veiled in human flesh. He came to His own, but His own received Him not.

Once again the glory of God was to depart from His people and the city was again to be destroyed. As with the first temple, the second withdrawal of God’s glory was not abrupt but gradual, conducted in patience and in reluctance. “Alas for those who knew not the time of their visitation. Slowly and regretfully Christ left, forever, the precincts of the temple.” Ibid., 626. And the angel of mercy was about to fold her wings, never to return to the doomed city.

“Israel as a nation had divorced herself from God. The natural branches of the olive tree were broken off. Looking for the last time on the interior of the temple, Jesus said with mournful pathos, ‘Behold, your house is left unto you desolate. For I say unto you, Ye shall not see Me henceforth, till ye shall say, Blessed is He that cometh in the name of the Lord.’ Hitherto He had called the temple His Father’s house; but now, as the Son of God should pass out from those walls, God’s presence would be withdrawn forever from the temple built to His glory. Henceforth its ceremonies would be meaningless, its services a mockery.” Ibid., 620.

After Christ’s crucifixion and His resurrection, He led His disciples to the crest of Olivet. Jesus lingered before departure, as did the Shekinah of old. Once again, the divine glory departed gradually. “The holy Shekinah in departing from the first temple, had stood upon the eastern mountain, as if loath to forsake the chosen city; so Christ stood upon Olivet, with yearning heart overlooking Jerusalem.” Ibid., 829. Christ will stand on the Mount of Olives when He returns after the thousand years of the millenium. “And His feet shall stand in that day upon the mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east, and the mount of Olives shall cleave in the midst thereof toward the east and toward the west, and there shall be a very great valley; and half of the mountain shall remove toward the north, and half of it toward the south . . .And the Lord my God shall come, and all the saints with Thee.” Zechariah 14:4, 5.

Now that we have a better understanding of what God’s glory is, we can move on to see how it applies to our day. According to inspiration, what is God’s glory in our day? “The glory of God is the piety of its members for there is the hiding of Christ’s power.” Review and Herald, March 24, 1891. Will piety totally depart from the people of God in the end time? “A new life is coming from heaven and taking possession of all of God’s people. But divisions will come in the church. Two parties will be developed.” Selected Messages, vol. 2, 114.

One group will contend for the faith and the other party will depart from the faith. “God never forsakes people or individuals until they forsake Him. Outward opposition will not cause the faith of God’s people, who are keeping His commandments, to become dim. The neglect to bring purity and truth into practice will grieve the Spirit of God and weaken them because God is not in their midst to bless. Internal corruption will bring the denunciations of God upon this people as it did upon Jerusalem . . . The least transgression of God’s law brings guilt upon the transgressor, and without earnest repentance and forsaking of sin he will surely become an apostate. If as a people we do not keep ourselves in the faith and not only advocate with pen and voice the commandments of God, but keep them every one, not violating a single precept knowingly, then weakness and ruin will come upon us.” Selected Messages, vol. 2, 378.

“The little company who are standing in the light,” Testimonies, vol. 5, 209, remain faithful to God. They are like the five virgins who alone had the inward piety. We have been cautioned over and over, “Do not be content with superficial piety.” Sons and Daughters of God, 317.

“It is with reluctance that the Lord withdraws His presence from those who have been blessed with great light.” Testimonies, vol. 5, 212. “From those who have rejected truth, the light [the glory] of God has departed.” Manuscript Releases, vol. 17, 18. Spiritual declension in modern Israel has been long in developing. Today we express concern over ecumenism, but it was making inroads a hundred years ago. (See Testimonies, vol. 5, 76.) God has always had His faithful few. There is no scriptural evidence that He has withdrawn His glory from them.

In the days of the first temple there were Jeremiah, Daniel, Ezekiel, and a small group of others, who were faithful. They lived amid the glory of God in their piety. So it was in the days of Christ and in the days of the martyrs during the dark ages. And God will have a little company today who will become evident in His church triumphant. God’s light and glory will never depart from them. But this is not so with the majority. “When the religion of Christ is most held in contempt, when His law is most despised, then should our zeal be the warmest and our courage and firmness the most unflinching. To stand in defense of truth and righteousness when the majority forsake us, to fight the battles of the Lord when champions are few—this will be our test. At this time we must gather warmth from the coldness of others, courage from their cowardice, and loyalty from their treason.” Testimonies, vol. 5, 136.

“Those who have been regarded as worthy and righteous prove to be ringleaders in apostasy.”Ibid., 212. How sad!

Seventh-day Adventists correctly recognize Ezekiel 9 as describing the sealing of God’s people, soon to come. Few have studied chapter 8, describing the abominations which Ezekiel saw taking place in Jerusalem, God’s church. This was just prior to the departure of God’s glory.

The following is from a letter I received. “In my early years I can never remember hearing the word ‘Easter’ mentioned from the pulpit. Yet last Sabbath Pastor _________ announced, ‘This is the beginning of the Passion Week. And we must remember ‘Good Friday.’ There were Easter lilies and a wooden cross on the platform and some of the children marched down the center aisle with palms and placed them at the foot of the cross. Today our pastor was in the height of his glory with his two sessions of the pageant that he supervises each year in which the group of people wander about the neighborhood to places depicting various aspects of the Passion Week.

“Pastor ____________ sent out a letter to his members several weeks ago informing them that on April 5, noon to 2:00 p.m. the various pastors of the local churches, including a Catholic Priest would be at the ______ SDA Church to celebrate Good Friday and requested all the members to be present.”

Not only is Good Friday being celebrated in Adventist churches, as we see here, but many Adventist churches are even promoting Easter sunrise services. Many are in the out of doors, where the people await the rise of the sun over the horizon to begin their worship service—like the pagans as they worshipped the sun.

There are theologians among us who claim that they are not honoring the Sun god. They believe that they are honoring the resurrection of Jesus at the very moment that He arose from the grave. However, they have failed to read their Bible, which teaches that Jesus arose very early, while it was yet dark, and that the women who reached the tomb at sunrise, learned that He had already risen and departed. “The first day of the week cometh Mary Magdalene early, when it was yet dark, unto the sepulchre, and seeth the stone taken away from the sepulchre. Then she runneth,and cometh to Simon Peter, and to the other disciple, whom Jesus loved, and saith unto them, They have taken away the Lord out of the sepulchre, and we know not where they have laid Him.” John 20:1, 2.

Sunday sacredness is to be our final test. How sad to see Seventh-day Adventists joining in this form of ecumenism. This is nothing but modern Baal worship. Books now are being published on our presses preparing God’s people to keep Sunday. Such is the book, Beyond Belief, by Jack Sequierra, which states, on page 185, that the Sabbath-Sunday issue is not the final test: “The issue then in the final conflict will not be between two groups of Christians or even between two rest days, but between two opposing methods of salvation.” Of course, he is talking there about the New Theology against “legalism,” what he calls keeping God’s law.

The General Conference President teaches the same false concepts as Jack Sequierra. “If we consider Sabbath-keeping a requirement for salvation, we have turned the commandment on its head.” We Still Believe, 64, by Robert S. Folkenberg. Sabbath keeping is a requirement of God’s salvation. The New Theology is constantly avoiding the word “obedience” and preaching instead unconditional love. In the plan of salvation there is no such thing as unconditional love. The condition for eternal life is perfect obedience. (See Steps to Christ, 62.) “There will be, even among us, hirelings and wolves in sheep’s clothing who will persuade the flock of God to sacrifice unto other gods before the Lord. Youth who are not established, rooted and grounded in the truth, will be corrupted and drawn away by the blind leaders of the blind; and the ungodly. The despisers that wonder and perish, who despise the sovereignty of the Ancient of Days and place on the throne a false god…. These will be the agents in Satan’s hands to corrupt the faith of the unwary.” Selected Messages, vol. 3, 398.

“The Sabbath would be lightly regarded.” Testimony B, no. 7, 40. “The Lord has shown me clearly that the image to the beast will be formed before probation closes; for it is to be the great test for the people of God, by which their eternal destiny will be decided. This is the test that the people of God must have before they are sealed.” Selected Messages, vol. 2, 80.

God will allow deceitful Hazeals to come in our midst to be a scourge to His people. (See Testimonies, vol. 5, 79.) “But He will also not entrust the keeping of His flock to the proud andunfaithful shepherds.” (See Ibid., 80.) “The time is not far distant when the test [the Sunday law] will come to every soul. The mark of the beast will be urged upon us.” Ibid., 81.

These events are just before the Loud Cry and the beginning of the judgment of the living. This is when the glory of the Lord will have left the unfaithful majority of God’s people. Many leaders that we have looked up to for their brilliance will then go out in darkness and clouds of chaff will be blown away from the church when we thought all along that we were looking at piles of rich wheat. (See Ibid., 81.)

Multitudes of false brethren will be cut down as cumberers of the ground. (See Ibid.) The end result of all of this cleansing (shaking) will be that a little company of faithful will remain. God will not withdraw His glory from His pious ones. There will be no united church composed of wheat and tares during the outpouring of the seven last plagues. For the unfaithful will hardly be hiding within the purified church!

The slaughter depicted in Ezekiel 8 and 9 is wholly symbolic. No swords or guns will be used. When one receives the mark of the beast, it will be the sentence of eternal death. It will begin with the ancient men, the guardians of God’s people. They are likened to dumb dogs that would not bark to warn the people of the coming danger.

Three times the Bible records that there has been weeping over Jerusalem (which represents God’s church). First, Jeremiah, weeping over Jerusalem shortly before its first destruction. Second, Jesus wept over Jerusalem a few years before its second destruction. The third weeping over Jerusalem [God’s remnant church], will take place in our day in accordance with the sighing and crying foretold in Ezekiel 9, just before the sealing of God’s people. It will be done by a faithful few. (See Ibid., 210.)

The seal of God, we read, will never be placed upon the foreheads of those who are not ready. “The seal of God will be placed upon the foreheads of those only who sigh and cry for the abominations.” Ibid., 212. And where is this sighing and crying to take place? “Those that sigh and cry for all the abominations that be done in the church.” Ibid., vol. 3, 267.

“The church may appear as about to fall, but it does not fall. It remains, while the sinners in Zion will be sifted out—the chaff separated from the precious wheat. This is a terrible ordeal, but nevertheless it must take place.” Selected Messages, vol. 2, 380. The chaff will be sifted out, leaving but a little company as a nucleus for the church triumphant. But God’s glory will not be with the majority. The majority forsake us.

Company after company will drop the standard of truth to desert the Lord’s army. (See Testimonies, vol. 8, 41.) But the small remnant does not fall. We have seen the promise that if we constantly behold God’s glory we can become changed into the Son’s image from glory to glory, from character to character, till we become like that which we adore. (See Manuscript 8A, 1888.)

“And he brought me into the inner court of the Lord’s house, and, behold, at the door of the temple of the Lord, between the porch and the altar, were about five and twenty men with their backs toward the temple of the Lord, and their faces toward the east; and they worshipped the sun.” Ezekiel 8:16. This will happen again in our church.

“The Lord reads the heart as an open book. The men who are not connected with God have done many things after the imagination of their evil hearts. The Lord declares concerning them, ‘They have turned unto Me their back and not their face, though I taught them, rising up early and teaching them; yet they have not hearkened to receive instruction.’ We are amid the perils of the last days, the time will soon come when the prophecy of Ezekiel 9 will be fulfilled . . . to the very letter.” 1888 Materials, 1303.

Let us have nothing to do with the ecumenical movement being encouraged by church leaders. “In churches and in large gatherings in the open air, ministers will urge upon the people the necessity of keeping the first day of the week.” Review and Herald, March 18, 1884. ahead for God’s remnant, be sure that you are living within the glory of God and keeping His commandments by His grace. Let it not be said of any of us, “Ichabod.” The glory of God has departed.

 

From Mourning to Celebration

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The Vatican II Council and the Celebration Movement

 

Have you ever wondered why, in recent years, people have begun to celebrate in Adventist churches at funeral services? When I was a boy, people mourned at funeral services. But of late we find Adventist clergymen and Adventist relatives of the deceased talking about celebrating the life of their loved one. Where and when and how did people get indoctrinated that they should celebrate at a funeral?

To delve into the answer to this question we must go back almost forty years. After Pope Pius XII died in 1958, a man was chosen to be pope who was elderly, and many people thought he would be more or less a stand-in pope for a few years until his death. However, Pope John XXIII convened the second Vatican council in 1962 and, in this council, Rome planned the beginning, growth and development of the celebration style of worship. The documents of the Vatican II council were published and the 1975 edition was analyzed by Elder Bob Trefz. It contained the following major points or objectives:

  1. Introduce celebration terminology and the celebration concept into all churches so that every function of the church becomes a celebration.
  2. Get the churches accustomed to a new style of worship. Through the celebration service obtain reduction of inhibition and vastly increase congregational participation verbally and through physical gestures and bodily attitudes of movement.
  3. Promote in the celebration service dialogue between the celebrant (that is the pastor or priest) and people as external signs of celebration in common and to engender and foster unity between celebrant and people.
  4. Use as much variation as possible in these celebration services to encourage active and willing participation.
  5. Use music in celebration services as a most effective celebration utilizing popular religioussongs and relating the music to the various cultures and temperaments of the people.
  6. Narrow the gap between eucharistic celebration and the Lord’s supper, soon to be called communion celebration in the other churches. Educate the people that this service forms the basis of all Christian unity and fellowship.
  7. Demonstrate the inextricable tie between the eucharistic celebration as the foundation of all unity and the Lord’s day, or Sunday celebration.
  8. Perform any endeavor necessary to promote Sunday observance involving rest from work.

As we look around today, we find that almost all of these eight points have been introduced and implemented in various Protestant churches of the world and in many Seventh-day Adventist churches. The fact that these eight points from the Vatican II documents have been largely implemented in many Seventh-day Adventist churches should cause the serious reader to ask a number of questions. First of all, we can ask if it would be possible for such a thing to happen by chance? And the answer is no. It would be impossible that within a 25 year period the very objectives outlined in the Vatican II documents would spontaneously develop in Seventh-day Adventist churches if there were not people in these churches, leaders or laity, who were promoting these concepts. However, there are more serious questions than this to ask. What is the final objective that the Vatican has in introducing this worship style in the various Protestant churches? By promoting a universal worship style, Rome can strengthen ecumenical ties among Protestants and between Protestant churches and herself so that eventually, either through direct or indirect influence, she can influence all the Christian churches in the world. According to these Vatican II documents it is evident that it is the intent of Rome that all churches should be gathered together ecumenically under one leader, namely the pope of Rome. It is also their purpose that these concepts should be introduced into all institutions of higher education including Adventist colleges and universities.

When the time comes that most of the Christian churches in the world have accepted the same liturgical format it will be easy to suggest that since we are all one in practice why not join together as one. That development would exactly fulfill the prophecy in Revelation 13. Evangelicals and Pentecostals were some of the first to embrace these celebration ideas from Rome. Adventists, in turn, pattern their celebration formats after these Protestant churches. It is openly admitted by our leaders that they have gone to Pentecostal or other Protestant churches to learn this new science of celebration worship all in the name of church growth. The garden of prayer ceremony, which includes walking from person to person during prayer and the laying on of hands, is a charismatic ceremony of Roman Catholicism.

One of the effects of these celebration services is to excite the participants into a more emotional state of mind and in this emotional excitement a person can more easily be led to make theological or experiential changes.

The purpose of promoting celebration services is simply to establish ecumenical ties. And it is one of the steps leading the various churches to a single worldwide church under the leadership of the papacy. For students of Bible prophecy, especially those who have become Seventh-day Adventists and are studying and attempting to follow the Three Angels’ Messages, this celebration worship has several apparent fatal flaws. Number one, the First Angel’s Message proclaims the fact that the investigative judgement is in progress. In the celebration style worship, nothing is taught about the judgement. People are taught about love, acceptance and forgiveness, but nothing is said about the judgement that is in progress and how to be ready for the Second Coming of Christ. No matter how much one worships, no matter how much one goes to church, no matter how much singing or praying a person does, if they are not ready for the judgement, their religion is all in vain.

Living in the time of the investigative judgement means that our lives are coming up for review before God. The criteria that decides the verdict in the judgement is not whether a person goes to church, nor is it even what church one belongs to, not his profession of faith—the verdict reached in the judgement is based on a person’s character. The Bible teaches, throughout, that we are judged according to our works in reference to God’s law. (See Revelation 20:11–15 and James 2.)

If a person has broken God’s law, of course he will be lost. But if, during the time of probation, he repents and confesses his sins, his guilt can be taken away by the blood of Jesus Christ. However, he is not then saved because he is forgiven; forgiveness is a necessary component of salvation, but it does not prepare you for the judgement. There are no texts anywhere in the Bible that say that the verdict in the judgement is based on whether our sins are forgiven. After a person’s sins are forgiven he must then be cleansed from his sins or, in other words, sin must cease to be a part of his life. He must not only be delivered from the guilt of sin (forgiveness, pardon, justification), but he must be delivered from the power of sin within (sanctification, holiness of life, purification of character). His life must come into harmony with God’s law.

This transformation is the proof that the Holy Spirit is working in his heart and his life, giving him a new heart and new mind. (See Romans 8:1–14.) If this does not happen and, as a result of this lack of a spirit-filled life there are no spirit-filled works and no spirit led living, then any profession of religion is vain. This has always been true. However, it is even more critical today because we are living in that time when probation will close not only for people who have died, but for people who are still alive upon the earth. The celebration style of worship does not at all address this most fundamental fact of the judgement, which is a central theme of the First Angel’s Message. That is just the beginning. The Second Angel’s Message, in Revelation 14:8, is a call to come out of Babylon. Babylon is a woman according to Revelation 17:1–5 and a woman is the Biblical symbol of the church. This church is a harlot church, or an apostate church, which commits spiritual fornication. (Revelation 17:1–5.)

God’s ancient people (His church), the Jewish people, were also referred to by this symbol of a woman, and when they taught people to break the commandments they were referred to as a harlot. We read in Ezekiel 23:37, 38: “For they have committed adultery and blood is on their hands. They have committed adultery with their idols, and even sacrificed their sons whom they bore to Me, passing them through the fire, to devour them. Moreover they have done this to Me: They have defiled My sanctuary on the same day and profaned My Sabbaths.” Israel committed adultery by breaking the Ten Commandments. Babylon is a church, a mother church who has daughter churches who are harlots, churches that teach people to break God’s commandments. And these churches who are teaching people to break God’s commandments are world-wide in their influence. Revelation 18:23 says, ” The light of a lamp shall not shine in you anymore and the voice of bridegroom and bride shall not be heard in you anymore. For your merchants were the great men of the earth, for by your sorcery all the nations were deceived.”

What is Babylon condemned for? Revelation 18:4 says, “And I heard another voice from heaven saying ‘Come out of her, my people, lest you share in her sins, and lest you receive of her plagues. For her sins have reached to heaven, and God has remembered her iniquities.’” Sin is the transgression of the law. (1 John 3:4.) Babylon, then, is a church that breaks God’s law, and her daughter churches also teach people to break God’s law. Those who will be saved from the last generation must all come out of Babylon. God does not give people a warning to do something if it is not important, and Revelation 14:8 says that Babylon is fallen and has made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication and Revelation 18:4 says that all people are to come out of her lest they share in her sins and also receive of her plagues.

Since sin is the transgression of the law, sharing in her sins has to do with co-operating or participating with these churches in breaking one or more of the Ten Commandments. These churches which are teaching people to break the fourth commandment, the second commandment and other commandments, have been rejected by God and He is calling His true people to come out of them. But the celebration style worship service does not call people out of Babylon, rather it is derived from Babylon and leads the participants closer and closer to full fellowship with Babylon, making it impossible for them to be part of the group who will be saved from the last generation.

The Third Angel’s Message is a call to keep the commandments, as you can see in Revelation 14:12. It is a strict warning against engaging in image worship —worshipping the image to the beast. It is a strict warning against receiving the mark of the beast. The characteristics of the beast power are outlined in Revelation 13:1–10, in 2 Thessalonians 2 and in Daniel the seventh chapter. In Revelation 13, we see that this beast power is a religion, because people worship it. (Revelation 13:4.) We see that this beast power was not one of the nations of the earth, but rather a super-power which would have influence over all the nations of the earth, because it says that authority was given him over every tribe, tongue and nation. (Revelation 13:7.) Also we see that it has been a persecuting power, because it makes war with the saints and overcomes them. (Revelation 13:7.) It is a blasphemous power (Revelation 13:6) that blasphemes God, His name,His tabernacle, and those who dwell in heaven.

The special mark of this power, given in Daniel 7:25, is that it would attempt to change times and laws. There is only one time in the Ten Commandments, and that is the seventh day Sabbath and this is the time that men have attempted to change. This attempt to change times and laws is the mark of Babylon’s authority. If a person accepts the authority of men, instead of the authority of God, in the last generation, they will receive the mark of the beast. The Third Angel’s Message includes a call to worship God by keeping His commandments, which would include the seventh-day Sabbath. By contrast, the Vatican II documents, with the celebration concept, were established to induce everyone to celebrate on Rome’s day—Sunday. We can clearly see that the foundational objectives of the celebration style worship are directly contrary to the most fundamental principles of the Third Angel’s Message.

A final objective of the Vatican II council was to unify liturgical functions and celebration and thereby focus attention on Sunday as the Lord’s day. When we study history, we find that the adoption of Sunday worship is not something that happens instantly. It is something that creeps in over a long period of time and there are many steps leading eventually to Sunday observance. That which took generations in the second and third century has been refined so that the same process can take place much more quickly in our day. It would be well, at this point, to review briefly some of the ways that Sunday keeping was introduced into the Christian church in the second and third centuries.

At the time of the Passover every year, it was common for Christians to remember the crucifixion and the resurrection of Christ. It is natural and easy for us to see how that they would do this, because for 1500 years, in the Jewish system, the greatest feast of all the year, in the spring, was the Passover feast. It was at the time of the Passover that the real Passover—Jesus, the lamb of God—was sacrificed for the sins of the world. (See John 19.) It was on the third day, two days following this, that the wave sheaf was offered when Christ arose and took with Him to heaven a group of resurrected saints from every generation as the first fruits of the plan of redemption.

It has been the devil’s design, ever since the Garden of Eden, to mix good and evil together. It is in this way that the devil has succeeded, in every generation, to deceive most of the world’s population. The good is emphasized and applauded, but with it is mixed the evil. Jesus rose on the first day of the week and the devil discovered in this fact a way to mix good and evil in the Christian church. His purpose was to eventually persuade the professed followers of Christ to break the law of God, which commands worship on the seventh-day Sabbath. (See Exodus 20:8–11.)

The heathen nations, who were sun worshipers, had adopted the day of the Sun as a festival day and it is for that reason that the first day of the week was called Sunday. The devotees of the sun worshipped with their faces toward the east, at sunrise, on Sunday. Scarcely were the last of the apostles dead when certain bishops in the church, in order to make easier the conversion of the heathen and by this to increase their own influence and authority, began to adopt heathen customs and forms. One of these heathen customs and forms that was early mixed with the practice of Christianity was an imitation of Sun worship.

One of the church fathers defended the Christian’s practices around 200 A.D. in the following words: “Others again certainly with more information and greater verisimilitude believe that the sun is our god. The idea no doubt has originated from our being known to turn to the east in prayer, but you, many of you also under pretense sometimes of worshipping the heavenly bodies move your lips in the direction of the sunrise. In the same way if we devote Sunday to rejoicing from a far different reason than Sun worship we have some resemblance to those of you who devote the day of Saturn to ease and luxury.” His argument is in effect, “You do the same thing and you originated it so you have no right to blame us.”

As a result of the influence of Rome, the entire western empire adopted the practice of celebrating the resurrection of Christ on Sunday instead of the Passover day which would occur at different days in the week. The bishop of Rome ruled that the celebration of the resurrection of Christ must always be on a Sunday, the Sunday nearest to the Passover. If the Passover should itself be on Sunday, then the celebration was not to be held on that day but upon the next Sunday. This was the origin of Easter. Victor, who was bishop of Rome, A.D. 192–202, wrote a letter to the Asiatic Christian clergy commanding them to imitate the example of the western Christians with respect to the time of celebrating Easter. But the people in Asia declared that they would by no means depart in this manner from the custom handed down to them by their fathers. The result was that Victor, the bishop of Rome, broke communion with them and pronounced them unworthy of the name brethren; He excluded them from all fellowship with the church of Rome. This happened around the end of the second century.

It is evident, from a cursory examination of these facts from history, that the celebration worship style lies very close to the foundation of the development of Sunday observance by the Roman church. It was not a long time until the yearly celebration of the resurrection of Christ, on one Sunday a year, was replaced by a weekly celebration of the resurrection of Christ on the first day of the week. Adventists for several years have been taking the initial steps into Sunday observance. The fact that Adventists, for many years and in many places, have joined ecumenically with Sunday churches in worshipping on Easter Sunday, often out of doors as the sun emerges over the eastern horizon, is a replica of what was done in the early church when Sunday was introduced. When people take the first steps into Sunday observance, just as they did back in the second century, unless they repent and are converted, there is no question that eventually they will take the last steps and will receive the mark of the beast, maybe without even knowing what they are doing.

We are living not only in serious times, but in very deceptive times. We have been warned that the mark of the beast will come in some form to every institution and every individual. Many Adventists who receive the mark of the beast will not understand what has happened until it is too late. (Early Writings, 71.) Will you be in that group? It is a very solemn thought. May God help us to live by every word that proceeds out of His mouth and not to be deceived by the sophistries of the devil, even when they look harmless.

Next month we will look deeper into this topic and see some of the weighty spiritual issues that surround the celebration movement in Adventism.

Editor’s Note: Much of the material for this article was taken from the book Adventist Carnivals by Dr. Rosenvold. A much fuller description of the topic covered in this article is given in his book.

 

Editorial — Preparation for the Latter Rain, part 3

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Not all Christians or Adventists will receive the Latter Rain of the Holy Spirit. Only those who have been purified in character—in thought, word and action, by the Early Rain of the Holy Spirit, will receive it. This makes the work of purifying ourselves as He is pure (I John 3:3) of paramount importance as we draw near the end of time. Ellen White emphasized this Biblical truth many times in her writings:

“The refreshing from the presence of the Lord will never come to hearts filled with impurity.” Review and Herald, April 21, 1891.

“The Third Angel’s Message is swelling into a loud cry, and you must not feel at liberty to neglect the present duty, and still entertain the idea that at some future time you will be the recipients of great blessing, when without any effort on your part a wonderful revival will take place. Today you are to give yourselves to God, that He may make of you vessels unto honor, and meet for His service. Today you are to give yourself to God, that you may be emptied of self, emptied of envy, jealousy, evil-surmising, strife, everything that shall be dishonoring to God. Today you are to have your vessel purified that it may be ready for the heavenly dew, ready for the showers of the latter rain; for the latter rain will come, and the blessing of God will fill every soul that is purified from every defilement.” 1888 Materials, 959.

“I saw that many were neglecting the preparation so needful and were looking to the time of “refreshing” and the “latter rain” to fit them to stand in the day of the Lord and to live in His sight. Oh, how many I saw in the time of trouble without a shelter! They had neglected the needful preparation; therefore they could not receive the refreshing that all must have to fit them to live in the sight of a holy God. Those who refuse to be hewed by the prophets and fail to purify their souls in obeying the whole truth, and who are willing to believe that their condition is far better than it really is, will come up to the time of the falling of the plagues, and then see that they needed to be hewed and squared for the building. But there will be no time then to do it and no Mediator to plead their cause before the Father. Before this time the awfully solemn declaration has gone forth, “He that is unjust, let him be unjust still: and he which is filthy, let him be filthy still: and he that is righteous, let him be righteous still: and he that is holy, let him be holy still.” I saw that none could share the “refreshing” unless they obtain the victory over every besetment, over pride, selfishness, love of the world, and over every wrong word and action. We should, therefore, be drawing nearer and nearer to the Lord and be earnestly seeking that preparation necessary to enable us to stand in the battle in the day of the Lord. Let all remember that God is holy and that none but holy beings can ever dwell in His presence.” Early Writings, 71.

“God leads His people on, step by step. He brings them up to different points calculated to manifest what is in the heart. Some endure at one point, but fall off at the next. At every advanced point the heart is tested and tried a little closer. If the professed people of God find their hearts opposed to this straight work, it should convince them that they have a work to do to overcome, if they would not be spewed out of the mouth of the Lord. Said the angel: ‘God will bring His work closer and closer to test and prove every one of His people.’ Some are willing to receive one point; but when God brings them to another testing point, they shrink from it and stand back, because they find that it strikes directly at some cherished idol. Here they have opportunity to see what is in their hearts that shuts out Jesus. They prize something higher than the truth, and their hearts are not prepared to receive Jesus. Individuals are tested and proved a length of time to see if they will sacrifice their idols and heed the counsel of the True Witness. If any will not be purified through obeying the truth, and overcome their selfishness, their pride, and evil passions, the angels of God have the charge: ‘They are joined to their idols, let them alone,’ and they pass on to their work, leaving these with their sinful traits unsubdued, to the control of evil angels. Those who come up to every point, and stand every test, and overcome, be the price what it may, have heeded the counsel of the True Witness, and they will receive the latter rain, and thus be fitted for translation.” Testimonies, vol. 1, 187.

 

Martyr’s Mirror

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In the year 1549, about three weeks before Easter, two beloved men, named Fije and Eelken, were apprehended at Boorn, in West Friesland. They were brought before the lords, where they boldly confessed their faith.

They first interrogated Eelken, saying:

“Who has authorized you to assemble the people, to teach them?”

Ans. “God has authorized me.” Heb. 10:25.

Ques. “What have you taught?”

Ans. “Ask them that heard it, what we taught among ourselves; for you have apprehended a woman that heard it.” They then asked the woman what she had heard from Eelken.

Ans. “He read the four Evangelists, Paul, Peter, the epistles of John, and the acts of the apostles.” Eelken was then asked again: “What do you hold concerning the sacrament?”

Ans. “I know nothing of your baked God.”

Ques. “Friend, take care what you say; such words cost necks. What do you think of the mother of God?”

Ans. “Much.”

Ques. “What do you say; did the Son of God not receive flesh and blood from Mary?”

Ans. “No: With regard to this, I believe what the Son of God Himself declares concerning it.” John 1:14.

Ques. “What do you hold concerning our holy Roman church?”

Ans. “I know nothing of your holy church. I do not know it; I never in all my life was in a holy church.”

Ques. “You speak too spitefully; I have compassion for you,” said one of the lords of the council, “and fear that you will lose your neck. Are you not baptized?”

Ans. “I am not baptized, but greatly desire baptism.”

Ques. “What do you think of these false teachers who run about and baptize the people?”

Ans. “Of false teachers I think nothing, but have greatly longed to hear a teacher sent from God?”

They said: “But we have heard that you are a teacher.” Eelken said: “Who made me a teacher?”

They replied: “We do not know.”

Eelken said: “If you ask me what you do not know yourselves, how should I know it? I know of no one that has made me a teacher; but God has given me all for which I have besought Him.”

They said: “We have now written down all the articles concerning which we have interrogated you on this occasion; if there is anything of which you repent, we will gladly strike it out!”

Ans. “Do you think that I should deny God?”

Eelken and Fije were then both sentenced and brought together; they embraced each other, yea, kissed one another’s hands and feet with great love, so that all that saw and heard it were astonished. The beadles and servants ran to the lords and said: “Never men loved one another as do these.” Eelken said to Fije: “Dear brother, do not take it amiss, that you have been brought into suffering through me.” Fije answered: “Dear brother, do not think so, for it is the power of God.”

Their execution was deferred till the third day after the sentence was passed. Eelken was first executed with the sword. When Fije’s sentence was read, he did not listen to it, because of his leaped, praising and thanking God, saying: “This is the only way.”

They led Fije into the boat in which Eelken lay beheaded, and beside him the wheel upon which Eelken was to be place, and the stake at which Fije was to stand, to be burned. In the boat, Fije’s hands became loose, but he sat still nevertheless. The monks then said: “Bind him again.” The hangman replied: “You bind him.” But the castellan commanded him to bind Fije again. Some women who beheld it wept bitterly. But Fije said:

“Weep not for me, but for your sins.” He further said to the executioner: “What are you going to do to me?”

Ans. “That you will see.”

“Yea, yea,” said Fije, “do what you will. I have committed myself into the hands of my Lord.”

The brethren went out with him, together with the common people, and when Fije saw some of his acquaintances, he cried out: “Friends rejoice with me over this marriage feast which is prepared for me.”

When he arrived at the place of execution, some brethren, who greatly rejoiced with him, spoke to him saying: “This is the narrow way; this is the Lord’s wine press; from this depends the crown.” But when the castellan heard this cry, he called out: “Let no man lay his hands on him, on pain of life, and property.”

The executioner had forgotten his instruments, and ran to the town to get them. In the meantime, the castellan and the two monks had Fije in the confessional, greatly tempting him with bread and wine; but they could not prevail upon him, for Fije did nothing but sing and speak, praising and thanking God.

When they could not prevail on him, and the executioner returned, they said to Fije: “How is it that you are so obstinate, when you say that you are a member of Christ? Why then will you not do the works of mercy, and receive this bread and wine as bread and wine, for our sakes.”

Ans. “I do not hunger for your bread and wine; for there is food prepared for me in heaven.”

When they could not prevail upon him, they said: “Be gone, you heretic, be gone!”

The castellan said: “I have seen many a heretic; but in all my life I never saw a more obdurate one than this.”

Fije, standing prepared for death, said to the executioner: “Master, have you finished your work?”

He replied: “Not yet.”

Fije said: “Here is the sheep for which you are wanted.”

The executioner then went up to Fije, tore open his shirt, took the cap from his head, and filled it with gunpowder.

Standing at the stake at which he was to be strangled, Fije exclaimed: “O Lord, receive Thy servant.”

He was then strangled and burnt, and thus fell asleep in the Lord. The common people cried out saying: “This was a pious Christian; if he is not a Christian, there is not one in the whole world.”

Taken from Martyr’s Mirror, 484, 485.

 

SDA Roots, part 2

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In the previous article, two major events were noted that are important to the student of Bible prophecy. First was the taking of the pope prisoner by the French army and the second was the discovery of the Rosetta stone which confirmed the authenticity of the ancient Bible records.

“So the very people who thought to exterminate the Bible were, all unconsciously to themselves, used to bring about a fulfillment of prophecy in taking away the dominion of the papacy at the end of the 1260 years, and also discovered the key to the very writings which confirm the truthfulness of the Scriptures they tried so hard to destroy.” The Great Second Advent Movement, 8, by J. N. Loughborough.

Before 1798, expositors of Bible prophecy knew the beginning date for the seventy weeks of Daniel 9 but did not see the connection between the seventy weeks and the 2300 days of chapter 8. As a result they did not have a beginning date for the 2300 days.

“As this knowledge was ‘sealed up’ until the Lord’s appointed time came for its opening up to the understanding of His people, so just as truly when the ‘time of the end’ came, many were to ‘run to and fro’ through the Scriptures, searching out these things.” Ibid., 85.

“Nothing in this old earth is more powerful than a prophetic truth whose time has come. When Rome was ruling the Western world, a large group of contemporary students of prophecy recognized and proclaimed the identity and fate of the fourth prophetic world empire. When Rome was in process of tenfold division, another cluster of expositors left the written record of their perception, and their fears, of the coming Antichrist. When the papal Little Horn had unveiled its real character and identity, a great host of Reformers in many lands gave their witness to this advancing and then present fulfillment of prophecy—so powerfully that it brought on the Counter Reformation with its clever counter system of interpretation. When the 1260 years were ending, this solemn fact was also proclaimed on both sides of the Atlantic as then in process of fulfillment, while men awaited the next great event.

“And now when the judgment hour was approaching, with the ending of prophetic time, and the time of the cleansing of the sanctuary and the imminence of the advent had come, suddenly the witness was heard in different continents and many lands, giving startlingly similar testimony and exposition of prophecy thereon.” The Prophetic Faith of Our Fathers, vol. 3, 741, 742.

The following is a list of some of those who arrived at basically the same conclusions regarding the 2300 days, about the same time: William Miller, New York; A. J. Krupp, Pennsylvania; David Mcgregor, Maine; Edward Irving, England; A. Mason, Scotland; L. H. Kelber, Stuttgart, Germany; Laucunza, Spain; Hentzepeter, Holland; Rau, Bavaria; and there were many more.

“Is it not a wonderful coincidence that so many writers, without any knowledge of one another, came to the same conclusion about the same time?” Midnight Cry, June 15, 1842.

 

Decline in Europe

 

The momentum of the proclamation of the 2300-day prophecy in England and Europe declined rapidly due to the serious divergences as well as the similarities among the expositors of that prophecy. This resulted in the breakdown of the great Advent Awakening. But with the loss of momentum in the Old World there developed a rapid advance of it in America. The heralds of the advent in Europe failed to go on to perfection but they supplied the literature for those in America that did proclaim with “a loud voice” the message of the imminent appearing of Christ.

“Around the turn of the century [1800], during and following the world-shaking events and repercussions of the French Revolution, there was an unprecedented general turning to Bible prophecy on the part of an impressive number of thoughtful students of the Word among all leading Protestant faiths. And where one sermon on the theme was published, many more were evidently given orally, without ever getting into print. It seemed as if men had entered a new epoch in searching the pages of the two leading books of prophecy—Daniel in the Old Testament and Revelation in the New—the one obviously the complement of the other.

“It was as though a baffling seal of mystery and restricted understanding of its latter portions had at last been broken. As men of all persuasions on both sides of the Atlantic began poring over these pages as never before, comparing part with part and checking them with history, light began to dawn on certain heretofore mysterious symbols, and greater understanding came on some of its cryptic phrases concerning the last events of the age. And this investigation continued with increasing momentum for several decades.” The Prophetic Faith of Our Fathers, vol. 4, 56.

There were five major factors leading to the decline in the Old World.

  1. There was a diversity of opinion regarding the number 2300. Is it 2300 or 2400?
  2. Did the 2300 years end in 1844 or 1867? (Assuming that the 1260 and 1335 years had the same starting date).
  3. There was a wide diversity of view as to the cleansing of the sanctuary. Some believed it meant the restoration of the Jews to Palestine, among other views.
  4. The “judgments” of God to be poured out upon the Papacy and Mohammedanism was the message to be proclaimed.
  5. The Catholic Futurist and Preterist counterinterpretations broke the unity of the Protestant’s interpretation when some of them accepted the Catholic view.

When the early expectations of the advent in 1843 did not materialize, certain rationalistic theologians denied that the prophecies connected with this event were inspired. They further stated that the little horn was Antiochus Epiphanes. Rationalistic higher criticism was introduced to lead people away from the truth regarding the authenticity of the Scriptures and this led to the breakdown of the historical school of interpretation in the Old World. By turning men’s minds away from the Scriptures, Satan attempted to negate the great Second Advent message, so that people would be lulled to sleep and ultimately lost.

Following the events that brought in “the time of the end,” the prophecies of Daniel that had been previously sealed were now opened to the minds of those proclaiming the nearness of Christ’s Second Coming. The extent of the quest and activity of these pious men was without a parallel in history. Books and sermons began to pour from them with which nothing could be compared in sheer numbers. This was recognized as a sign of the times and was considered to be a fulfillment of prophecy.

 

Signs of the Times Discerned

 

“The signs of the times, the obvious nearness to the end, and the second coming of Christ to wind up human affairs and vindicate the right and punish wrong, as well as the imminent introduction of the millennium—these were the themes that men studied and upon which they wrote and discoursed most earnestly. Again and again they were led to record their conviction that they were manifestly entering the final epoch in the affairs of mankind.” Ibid., 58.

In Matthew 24, Jesus referred to the great tribulation that should be shortened. (This was accomplished in part by the decree of Maria Theresa and the Acts of Toleration, in France [1773-1776] to save the church in the wilderness from extinction.) He also said that signs (the dark day, the falling of the stars) would follow, indicating the nearness of His coming.

Then Jesus said, “Now learn a parable of the figtree: When his branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer is nigh; so likewise ye, when ye shall see all these things, know that it is near, even at the doors. Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled. Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.” Matthew 24:32–35.

Here we are brought to the time for this parable and the judgment hour message of Revelation 14:6, 7, to be proclaimed to the world. The time had arrived to arouse the world to the fact that Jesus’ coming was at the door.

At the beginning of the nineteenth century many expositors were proclaiming that the time of the end had arrived. There was definite interest in both the Old and New World in the prophesied signs of the nearness of the Second Advent and millenium.

There was general acceptance that under the sixth seal (Revelation 6:12–17) three events would occur in sequence—a great earthquake, a dark day and a unique falling of the stars. These were to be tokens of the approaching advent.

 

World Events Influence Proclamation

 

“There are transition hours in the course of world events when history seems to change its fundamental course, when it takes on an acceleration, a significance, and a direction previously unknown, as a new concept or revolutionary idea moves mankind forward to new attainments. However, the greatest advances connected with these transition times have not always been merely mechanical or material. Oftentimes they have been intellectual and spiritual, though at times all these factors have converged, as at the opening decade of the eighteenth and the early decades of the nineteenth century.

“It was a time characterized by new and heretofore undiscovered forces, by a new understanding of the times, by the rechanneling of pent-up energies; by new concepts of the world, of power, of society, of freedom, of progress; also often by a new sense of spiritual responsibility, and by new convictions of divine destiny. And strange as it may at first seem, these concepts were to a surprising degree derived from a profound conviction that the destined hour of fulfillment of a great prophetic time and truth, long foretold in Holy Writ, had now come.” Ibid., 82.

Professor K. S. Latourette, of Yale University, lists a number of factors that deeply influenced the religious developments of the nineteenth century. 1. Man’s increased knowledge of the physical universe, which both helped and hindered Christianity. For some, it caused them to believe the Bible to be obsolete and to remove God out of the individual’s experience. 2. The invention of machinery, steamship, railroad and telegraph made possible the more rapid spread of Christianity. This brought about the Industrial Revolution that drastically changed society. 3. Rationalism, Romanticism and the beginnings of evolution all occurred during this period. 4. Nationalism was on the increase. 5. The unprecedented worldwide spread of Christianity by increased immigration of large segments of people from the Old World to the New as well as within the Old.

“Prophecy was the motivating force in much of the religious thought and activity of America in the opening decades of the nineteenth century, according to history professor Oliver W. Elsbee, of Bucknell University. The common conviction held by religious leaders of various denominations regarding the prophetic significance of the time in which they were living, was expressed in pamphlets, periodical articles, and books, as well as in sermons preached before church groups or missionary societies.” Ibid., 85.

By 1833, “The Lord was raising up His messengers or ministers in various parts of the world, who from 1833 to 1834 sounded the cry of Christ’s coming near, ‘even at the doors;’ and these taught the parable of the fig-tree, pointing to these signs of His coming, even as He had instructed them to do. This message, either by the living teacher or through the agency of the printed page, went to every missionary station in the world, and to every seaport on the earth.” The Great Second Advent Movement, 98.

 

Similarities to the Reformation

 

The spread of the interest in and proclamation of the 2300 days and the Second Advent may be compared with the rise of the Reformation in the sixteenth century.

“Germany did not communicate the truth to Switzerland, nor Switzerland to France, nor France to England. All these countries received it from God, just as one part of the world does not transmit the light to another part; but the same shining globe communicates it directly to all the earth. Christ, the day spring from on high, infinitely exalted above all mankind, was, at the period of the Reformation, as at the establishment of Christianity, the divine fire which gave life to the world. In the sixteenth century, one and the same doctrine was at once established in the homes and churches of the most distant and diversified nations. The reason is, that the same Spirit was everywhere at work producing the same faith . . .

“The advent proclamation arose in a similar manner to that above traced in the Reformation. Men were moved out simultaneously in more than four times as many parts of the world, with no knowledge of, or any communication of sentiment with, one another, and began the proclamation of the same Scripture truths, not simply in four nations of the earth, but to the whole civilized world.” Ibid., 99, 100.

In His time and in His manner the God of heaven will carry out His plan for the proclamation of the Gospel of Salvation to a sin-sick world. Men may cause delay because they do not desire to do as the Lord asks them, but nevertheless someone will obey the Divine commands. “And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.” Matthew 24:14.

In the next article we will take a look at some of the leading men, around the world as well as in America, who were responsible for the development of the Second Advent Movement, leading up to 1844, that swelled to a great crescendo in America.

 

The Coronation of Christ

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We have established the fact by many indubitable proofs that the investigation and decision of the cases of the righteous precede their resurrection in the likeness of Christ. In establishing the fact that the cases of the righteous are thus decided before the sounding of the trumpet of God, we do really establish the fact that the cases of the wicked are also virtually decided at the same time. For when we have shown that all who are to have immortality are accounted worthy of it before their resurrection, it necessarily follows that though the actions of the wicked are not examined in detail until the saints sit with Christ in the judgment during the one thousand years, yet the wicked are, by the decision in the case of the righteous, left, as worthless and noxious, to the resurrection of the unjust and to the devouring fire.

The next event in the great day of God is the destruction of the living wicked by the seven last plagues. As these do not come until the wicked are accounted unworthy of the kingdom of God, their destruction comes as a part of the judgment work, and after the virtual decision of their cases. The fact is many times revealed in the Bible that before the final deliverance of the saints there comes a time of trouble such as never was. This is plainly marked as lying between the decision in the case of the righteous at the close of their probation, and the event of their deliverance.

Thus, according to Daniel, the deliverance of the saints does not take place until the existence of a time of trouble such as never was. And this time of trouble comes in consequence of the close of our Lord’s intercession and the assumption of His kingly office. (Daniel 12:1.) The wrath of God against sin is neither stayed nor mitigated after the Son of God ceases to plead for sinful man.

The closing work of Christ’s priesthood is in the second apartment of the heavenly sanctuary. This is opened under the sounding of the seventh trumpet. (Revelation 11:19.) It is after the temple is thus opened in heaven that the seven angels pour out the seven last plagues. (Revelation 15:5–8.) But these plagues fill up the wrath of God, which is threatened by the third angel. (Revelation 15:1 compared with 14:10.) And the third angel gives the final message of mercy and warning to mankind before the Son of man sits upon the white cloud. (Revelation 14:6–14.) So it is apparent that while Christ is finishing His work in the sanctuary, and while the third angel is giving the last message of mercy to man, the seven last plagues are withheld, though pending ready to be poured out. But when the work of probation is closed, and the intercession of Christ in heaven, and the voice of warning upon earth, are ended, then men drink from the cup of His indignation the wine of God’s wrath without any mixture.

That which constitutes this wrath is the seven last plagues. They are by this term distinguished from those plagues inflicted under the six trumpets. (Revelation 9:20, 21.) They are represented as the wrath of God without mixture, i.e., they have no element of mercy mingled with them. They are poured out into the cup of God’s indignation. This is an awful expression to indicate that men at that time fall into the hands of the living God. This fearful execution of God’s judgment is witnessed before the deliverance of the saints; for not less than six of the plagues are poured out prior to the advent of Christ. (Revelation 16:12–15.)

This same period of trouble is brought to view in Revelation 7, and located between the opening of the sixth and seventh seals. Before the four winds are loosed, the servants of God are sealed. The seal is placed upon them, that the destroying angel may not cut them down. (Compare Ezekiel 9 with Revelation 7.) This is a plain proof that the saints must continue upon the earth for a certain space after the time of trouble commences. The fact that all who are sealed at the commencement of this time of trouble are afterward seen standing upon Mount Zion with the Lamb, is proof that their probation closes with the commencement of this scene of trouble. Compare Revelation 7:4; 14:1.) In other words, they are then accounted worthy to escape the things that are to come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man. (Luke 21:36.) The very time when they are thus accounted worthy to stand before the Saviour, is at the close of our Lord’s priesthood; and the time of trouble itself comes when that priesthood is exchanged for His kingly office.

Probation does therefore close before the entrance of the people of God upon this great time of trouble. One of those events immediately following the close of probation, and therefore constituting a feature of the time of trouble, is what the Bible calls “the hour of temptation.” Thus we read: “Because thou has kept the word of My patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth. Behold, I come quickly; hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown.” Revelation 3:10, 11.

The keeping of the word of Christ’s patience especially pertained to the period of the third angel. (Revelation 14:12.) Those who keep this word are to be kept from the hour of temptation, while all others are to be taken captive by it. This shows that the saints are upon the earth during this period; and that when it commences, those who are unprepared are hopelessly lost.

But this season of unrestrained temptation is also brought to view by Paul, when describing the state of things existing just before our Lord’s return. Thus he says: “Whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders, and with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie; that they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.” 2 Thessalonians 2:9–12.

When God sends men strong delusion to believe a lie that they all might be damned, it must be after the righteous have accomplished their work of overcoming, and after the Saviour has ceased to plead. The only way that God sends this strong delusion is by withdrawing His Spirit when men have sinned away the day of grace, thus leaving them a prey to the unrestrained power of the devil.

Now it is remarkable that the third angel brings to view this same period of Satan’s mighty working. It is the work of the third angel to give warning of the things that are to come to pass upon the earth at the close of human probation.

When he warns us against the worship of the image, and the reception of his mark, it is in direct reference to the fact that the two-horned beast is to make such an image and to require men to worship it on pain of death. (Revelation 14:9–12; 13:11–16.) And we do learn that this image is made in consequence of the miracles that are to be wrought. (Compare Revelation 13:13, 14; 16:13.) One of these miracles will be the bringing down of fire from heaven. This lies before us in the time of trouble. It is no wonder that those who are not kept by the power of God should be deceived by this fearful delusion.

It is at the close of the work of intercession that the Lord is represented as putting on the garments of vengeance for the destruction of His enemies. (Isaiah 59:16–18.) “And when the enemy [Satan] shall come in like a flood, in the strong delusion, the Spirit of the Lord shall lift up a standard against him.” Verse 19. “It is also at the close of our Lord’s priestly work that the prophecy of Amos meets its fulfillment:

Behold the days come, saith the Lord God, that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine in bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the Lord; and they shall wander from sea to sea, and from the north even to the east, they shall run to and fro to seek the word of the Lord, and shall not find it.” Amos 8:11, 12.

The third woe comes by reason of the voice of the seventh angel. (Revelation 8:13.) The seven last plagues come under the seventh trumpet. (Revelation 11:15–19; 15:5–8.) The seven plagues, which fill up the wrath of God, do therefore constitute the third woe. The people of God will not be removed from the earth till after six of the plagues have been poured out. They must witness the fearful scenes of the time of trouble. But the seal of the living God will be their protection, so that though a thousand fall at their side and ten thousand at their right hand, it will not come nigh them. (Psalm 91:1–10.) The situation of the saints during the outpouring of the plagues will be like that of Israel during the plagues upon Egypt.

These dreadful calamities which will come upon our earth before the people of God are taken from it may be mentioned as the loosing of the four winds, the pouring out of the vials of God’s wrath in pestilence, famine, and earthquake, and in the battle of the great day of God Almighty. It will be the hour of temptation for all the wicked world, when Satan shall exert his utmost power. To the wicked it will be the time of trouble such as never was; to the righteous it will be the time of Jacob’s trouble, at which, in answer to their cry day and night, like the importunate widow, they will be delivered. (Jeremiah 30:5–7; Genesis 32; Luke 18:7, 8.)

In view of this awful scene which must be witnessed by the people of God, Zephaniah calls upon all the meek of the earth to seek righteousness and meekness. And he adds, “It may be ye shall be hid in the day of the Lord’s anger.” Zephaniah 2:1–3. If they do their best in seeking God, it is but barely possible that they will escape. And our Lord beseeches His people to watch and pray always, that they may be accounted worthy to escape the things coming on the earth, and to stand before the Son of man. (Luke 21:36.) If, therefore, this great time of trouble is to come upon our world after the close of Christ’s intercession and before the deliverance of the saints, of what vast consequence is that final message of warning which reveals these great facts?

The fact that the resurrection of the righteous is declarative of their acceptance in the sight of God, and, therefore, proof that the investigation and decision of their cases precede that event, has been very distinctly stated by some of the clearest minds in the Advent ranks. The late Sylvester Bliss, for many years editor of the Advent Herald, thus states the case: “We are inclined to the opinion that the judgment is after death and before the resurrection; and that before that event the acts of all men will be adjudicated; so that the resurrection of the righteous is their full acquittal and redemption—their sins being blotted out when the times of refreshing shall have come (Acts 3:19); while the fact that the wicked are not raised [for one thousand years], proves that they were previously condemned.” Advent Shield, 4, 366 (published in 1845.)

He saw the fact perfectly distinct that there can be no trial of the righteous after they have been made immortal. But it is very evident that he did not well understand when and how the examination of their cases should take place. Elder Josiah Litch, one of the ablest writers in the early history of the Advent movement, states this subject even more distinctly than Mr. Bliss. In his Prophetic Expositions, written in 1842, on pages 49–54 he uses the following language:

 

The Meaning of the Term “Judge”

“1. It is used in the Bible in the sense of a trial according to law and evidence, the idea being drawn from a civil or criminal court . . .

“2. It signifies a penal judgment; or the execution of judgment.

“The terms are both used in reference to the judgment of the human race. All men will be brought to trial, or into judgment, and all their deeds and their moral characters will be examined, and their everlasting states will be determined by the evidence produced from God’s books, including the book of life, which will decide the moral character and everlasting destiny of each individual of Adam’s race. If their names are found in ‘the book of life,’ they will be saved; and if not found there, they will be cast into the lake of fire, the second death. But the degree of reward or punishment will be graduated by what each one has done . . .

 

The Trial Must Precede the Execution

 

“This is so clear a proposition that it is sufficient to state it. No human tribunal would think of executing judgment on a prisoner until after his trial; much less will God. He will bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing whether it be good or evil.

“But the resurrection is the retribution or execution of judgment; for they that have done good shall come forth to the resurrection of life. ‘We look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ; who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto His glorious body.’ ‘In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump; for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.’ Here is clearly a retribution in the resurrection. It will be administered when the saints are raised. But no more certainly than they that have done evil will come forth damned, or ‘to the resurrection of damnation.’ They will come forth to shame and everlasting contempt. The saints will be raised and be caught up at once to meet the Lord in the air, to be forever with the Lord. There can be no general judgment or trial after the resurrection. The resurrection is the separating process, and they will never be commingled again, after the saints are raised, no matter how long or short the period to elapse between the two resurrections; it is all the same so far as the separation which the resurrection produces is concerned. If there is no more than a second which elapses between the two resurrections, the separation it makes is final.

 

God, the Ancient of Days Will Preside In the Trial

 

“1. Daniel 7:9, 10, presents the Ancient of Days coming on His throne of fiery flame; the judgment is set and the books opened. He is distinct from the Son of man, spoken of in verse 13, when He comes to the Ancient of Days. “2. Revelation 20:12 tells us it is God, before whom the dead stand and are judged.

 

The Son of Man Will Execute the Judgment

 

Thus the Saviour declares (John 5:27): ‘And hath given Him authority to execute judgment also, because He is the Son of man.’ Also 2 Corinthians 5:10: ‘For we shall all appear before the judgment-seat of Christ, that everyone may receive the things done in his body according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad.’

“Also Paul’s testimony in the Acts of the Apostles: God ‘hath appointed a day in the which He will judge the world in righteousness by that Man whom He hath ordained, whereof He hath given assurance unto all men, in that He hath raised Him from the dead.’ What we are assured of by the resurrection of Christ, is the execution, in the resurrection, of a righteous judgment on all men.

 

The Time of the Trial of the Dead

 

“It is under the opening of the sixth seal of Revelation 6, where the servants of God are sealed. . . And under the seventh seal (chapter 8:1) when there is silence in heaven about the space of half an hour; when the great Mediator ceases to plead for sinners, the day of grace ends; then the judgment or trial will proceed on the living inhabitants of the earth. That done, Christ will appear in the clouds of heaven, and come to the Ancient of Days and the scene of trial, and, with a shout, to announce the verdict and deliver all His saints as soon as they are declared innocent, or justified, and raise them to eternal life in the twinkling of an eye. We are now justified by faith; we must, however, be declared justified at the day of judgment, before the effects of the fall will be taken away, and the saints be restored to God’s perfect image and glory.

 

The Twenty-Fifth Chapter of Matthew

 

“This chapter does not, as has been supposed, describe the great trial, but the separation between the righteous and wicked, which will be accomplished by the resurrection of the just. And when the separation is accomplished; Christ will address each party, and show why He has made this separation. But through the whole scene, He acts the part of the executor of judgment.” Query: Did the judgment, or trial of the dead, begin to sit when they took away the papal dominion in 1798? (See Daniel 7:26, compared with Daniel 7:9, 10.)

The reader cannot fail to be deeply interested in these extracts from Bliss and Litch. We do not indorse every idea. Indeed, there is a degree of confusion in the language, which shows that the subject was not wholly clear. Thus, while Elder Litch teaches that the session of the judgment must be before Christ comes, and even though it might have commenced at the end of the twelve hundred sixty days, he seems also to teach that Christ comes to this tribunal when He descends to earth. This cannot be, as has been fully shown in a former article.

But this reasoning of Elder Litch relative to the investigation and decision of the cases of the righteous before the resurrection, is weighty and conclusive. It is worthy of notice that he places this judgment of the righteous at the tribunal of the Father, as presented in Daniel 7. He believed that this part of the judgment work was to be fulfilled while the living were yet in probation; for he suggested that it commenced in 1798, with the ending of the twelve hundred sixty years. These able writers saw the fact that this work must take place before the resurrection of the just, but they did not see the time and place for the work. They did not see the heavenly sanctuary, and therefore had no clear ideal of the concluding work of human probation, as presented to us in the Saviour’s ministration before the ark of God’s testament. The temple of God in heaven reveals the very nature of this work, and the prophetic periods mark its time. The proclamation of the angel that the hour of His judgment is come, and His solemn oath to the time, gives to mankind the knowledge of this great work, and the certainty that the present is the time of the dead that they should be judged. This doctrine is of the highest practical importance. It shows that we are now in the antitype of the great Day of Atonement. Our business should be the affliction of our souls and the confession of our sins.

At the ascension of our Lord, He entered the heavenly temple and sat down upon His Father’s throne, a great High Priest after the order of Melchizedek. (Psalm 110:1, 4; Hebrews 8:1, 2.) But when He returns in His infinite majesty as King of kings, He sits upon His own throne, and not upon that of His Father. He speaks thus of His descent from heaven: “When the Son of man shall come in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then shall He sit upon the throne of His glory.” Matthew 25:31.

It is evident, therefore, that there is a space of time at the conclusion of our Lord’s work in the temple in heaven, in which His priestly office is exchanged for His kingly dignity; and this transition is marked by His relinquishing His place upon the throne of His Father, and assuming His own throne. The judgment session of Daniel 7:9–14 is the time and place of this transition. Our Lord plainly distinguishes these two thrones: “To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with Me in MY throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with My Father in His throne.” Revelation 3:21.

The Saviour’s reception of His own throne preparatory to His Second Advent is described in Psalm 45. As Psalm 110 makes prominent His priestly office upon His Father’s throne, so Psalm 45 describes His kingly office and work upon His own throne: My heart is inditing a good matter: I speak of the things which I have made touching the King; my tongue is the pen of a ready writer. Thou art fairer than the children of men; grace is poured into Thy lips; therefore God hath blessed Thee forever. Gird Thy sword upon Thy thigh, O most mighty, with Thy glory and Thy majesty. And in Thy majesty ride prosperously because of truth and meekness and righteousness; and Thy right hand shall teach Thee terrible things. Thine arrows are sharp in the heart of the king’s enemies; whereby the people fall under Thee. Thy throne, O God, is forever and ever; the scepter of Thy kingdom is a right scepter. Thou lovest righteousness, and hatest wickedness; therefore God, Thy God, hath anointed Thee with the oil of gladness above Thy fellows.” Psalm 45:1–7.

This personage who is fairer than the sons of men, can be no other than the King in His beauty (Isaiah 33:17), who is to be admired in the day of His advent by all them that believe. (2 Thessalonians 1:10.) The time when He rides forth for the destruction of His enemies is presented in Revelation 19:11–21.

The words of Paul establish the fact that this psalm relates to Christ, some of its words being addressed to Him by His Father when He invests Him with His kingly office and throne. Thus Paul quotes and comments: “But unto the Son He saith, Thy throne, O God, is forever and ever; a scepter of righteousness is the scepter of Thy kingdom. Thou hast loved righteousness, and hated iniquity; therefore God, even Thy God, hath anointed Thee with the oil of gladness above Thy fellows.” Hebrews 1:8, 9.

The relation of these two thrones to the work of our Lord is very important to be understood. As a priest after the order of Melchizedek, who was both priest and king (Genesis 14:18–20; Psalm 110:1, 4; Hebrews 7:1–3), the Saviour has had a joint rule with His Father upon the throne of the universe. (Zechariah 6:12, 13.) His office of Priest-King continues till His Father makes His enemies His footstool. Then He delivers up the kingdom, which He has shared with His Father to Him alone, that God may be all in all. (1 Corinthians 15:24–28.) His reign upon the throne of His Father ends with all His enemies being given to Him for destruction.

The throne given Him when His priesthood ends is that which He inherits as David’s heir. On that throne, He shall reign over the immortal saints for endless ages. (Luke 1:32, 33; Isaiah 9: 6, 7 Upon the throne of the Father, He had a joint rule as Priest-King; upon His own throne His people have a joint rule with Him. The first ends, that God may be all in all; the second is a reign that shall continue forever.

 

Food for Life — True Beauty

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What is true beauty? “One of the chief elements in physical beauty is symmetry, the harmonious proportion of parts. And the correct model for physical development is to be found, not in the figures displayed by French modistes, but in the human form as developed according to the laws of God in nature. God is the author of all beauty, and only as we conform to His ideal shall we approach the standard of true beauty.

“Another evil which custom fosters is the unequal distribution of the clothing, so that while some parts of the body have more than is required, others are insufficiently clad. The feet and limbs, being remote from the vital organs, should be especially guarded from cold by abundant clothing. It is impossible to have health when the extremities are habitually cold; for if there is too little blood in them there will be too much in other portions of the body. Perfect health requires a perfect circulation; but this cannot be had while three or four times as much clothing is worn upon the body, where the vital organs are situated, as upon the feet and limbs.

“In order to secure the most healthful clothing, the needs of every part of the body must be carefully studied. The character of the climate, the surroundings, the condition of health, the age, and the occupation must all be considered. Every article of dress should fit easily, obstructing neither the circulation of the blood nor a free, full, natural respiration. Everything worn should be so loose that when the arms are raised the clothing will be correspondingly lifted.

“Women who are in failing health can do much for themselves by sensible dressing and exercise. When suitably dressed for outdoor enjoyment, let them exercise in the open air, carefully at first, but increasing the amount of exercise as they can endure it. By taking this course, many might regain health and live to take their share in the world’s work.

“Let women themselves, instead of struggling to meet the demands of fashion, have the courage to dress healthfully and simply. Instead of sinking into a mere household drudge, let the wife and mother take time to read, to keep herself well informed, to be a companion to her husband, and to keep in touch with the developing minds of her children. Let her use wisely the opportunities now hers to influence her dear ones for the higher life. Let her take time to make the dear Saviour a daily companion and familiar friend. Let her take time for the study of His word, take time to go with the children into the fields, and learn of God through the beauty of His works.

“Let her keep cheerful and buoyant. Instead of spending every moment in endless sewing, make the evening a pleasant social season, a family reunion after the day’s duties. Many a man would

thus be led to choose the society of his home before that of the clubhouse or the saloon. Many a boy would be kept from the street or the corner grocery. Many a girl would be saved from frivolous, misleading associations. The influence of the home would be to parents and children what God designed it should be, a lifelong blessing.” Ministry of Healing, 292–294.

Strawberry Ice Cream

Place in Blender:

2 cups water

2 bananas

1 1/2 cups cashews

1/2 tsp. sea salt

1 cup date pieces

1 tsp. vanilla

Whiz thoroughly, then add:

1 package frozen strawberries

1 cup water

Whiz again and pour into divided freezer trays and freeze. When frozen, drop cubes into Champion Juicer for delicious homemade ice cream. If you do not have the Champion, try just using your blender or stick popsicle sticks in the cubes before they freeze.