The Bible Speaks To Our Age
By Roy Franklin Cottrell
“The Genuine Christian Who Believes His Bible And Trusts His God Is The
Truest Optimist In The World. Earth's Darkest Hour Comes Just Before The Glorious Dawn.”
Pacific Press Publishing Association
Mountain View, California
1934
1. The Torch of Modern Genius
2. Wonders of Science and Invention
3. Billions in Gold, Millions in Want
4. Beneath the Social Veneer
5. Lurid Lights of the Underworld 6 War Clouds and the Dove of Peace
7. Restless Races in Revolt
8. A Dream of Empire
9. The Voice of Nature
10. Protestantism in Peril
11. Good Tidings to All the World
12. The Worlds Supreme Hour
13. Man's Deadliest Foe
14. The Coming Millennium
15. A Masterpiece in Drama
16. Divine Television Maps the Future
17. A World at the Judgment Bar
18. The Majesty of God's Law
19. The End of a Perfect Week
20. Bible Symbols for Historic Nations
21. Rival Memorials
22. At the Shrine of a Popular Falsehood
23. The New Palestine
24. America in Prophecy
25. Onward to the Crisis
26. The World's Eleventh Hour
27. The New Tomorrow
WE LIVE in an unprecedented age. In every field of human activity there is increasing speed. The pace becomes giddy. We do the work of centuries in a single year. From every side we feel the impact of fresh discoveries and new events. In the political, the social, the religious, and the moral world there are mighty upheavals; while in the conquest of earth, sea, and sky there are developments that stagger the imagination and baffle the greatest minds.
For nearly six thousand years men lived upon this globe without sensing or discovering many of the vast, unseen forces about them. They slept, they ate, they traveled, they made garments and built houses, they planted fields mid harvested crops, in the same way that their ancestors bad always done. Populous cities appeared and disappeared, religions flourished and decayed, empires rose and fell; yet the world jogged on, traveling the beaten paths of the ages.
A Mighty Awakening
Suddenly great things began to transpire. From the sleep of centuries there came a mighty awakening. In a few short decades the world was transformed. Almost every process and habit of life was revolutionized, and into the mind of man flowed an avalanche of new ideas.
Were the hands of time turned backward a century, bow would we adjust ourselves to the crude conditions that compelled them to tear up their first railway, and in their blind antagonism against the “fire wheel-carriages,” to ship rails and rolling stock from Shanghai to Formosa. But we forget that our own ancestors in New England townships called mass meetings and passed resolutions of protest against steam railway trains; for it was feared they would then existed? Mail delivery was slow and uncertain, and there was no telegraph or telephone. There were no bicycles, electric cars, subways, elevated trains, or elevators. Steamship transportation was in its infancy. The railway train was but an experiment; while gas engines, fire engines, motor cars, and airplanes were as yet hardly a dream. In the homes there were no. radios, no phonographs or photographs, no sewing machines or vacuum sweepers, no bathrooms or sanitary plumbing. There were no electric lights, nor even a kerosene lamp; the old tallow candle was still in its glory. The farmers of that day knew nothing of reapers, mowing machines, threshing machines, gang plows, steel harrows or cultivators, grain drills or tractors; while with the old plow, the scythe, the cradle, and other crude hand instruments, the most of the work was done.
In the industrial world, there were no great planing mills or woodworking factories; no ice machines or cold storage; no steel-frame buildings or iron-clad ships. No typewriters or cash registers; no giant steel industry or modern flour mills; no gas wells or oil wells; no nitroglycerin, dynamite, or T. N. T.; no artificial limbs, glass eyes, or false teeth; no prepared foods or Pasteurization.
In Terror of the Iron Horse
“A Device of Satan”
In the year 1817, a member of the New York legislature “came to be regarded as a proper subject for a straitjacket, because he expressed his belief that steam carriages would be operated successfully on land.” A little later at Lancaster, Ohio, the use of the schoolhouse for the discussion of railways was denied, the board expressing its refusal as follows:
“You are welcome to use the school to debate all proper questions in; but such things as railroads and telegraphs are impossibilities and rank infidelity.... If God had designed that His intelligent creatures should travel at the frightful speed of fifteen miles an hour by steam, He would have clearly foretold it through His holy prophets. It is a device of Satan to lead immortal souls down to hell.”
The first railroad advertisement published in America, according to available records, appeared in a Philadelphia paper, in these words:
“NOTE: The locomotive engine (built by M. W. Baldwin of this city) will depart daily when the weather is fair, with a train of passenger cars. In bad weather horse cars will run on the same schedule.”
England's first passenger railway, the line from Liverpool to Manchester, published its “Rules for Travelers,” and posted copies of them at the various stations. From this curious old document, we read:
“1 Any person desiring to travel from Liverpool to Manchester, or vice versa, or any portion of the journey thereof, must, twenty-four hours beforehand, make application to the station agent at the place of departure, giving his name, address, place of birth, age, occupation, and reason for desiring to travel.
“2 The station agent, upon insuring himself that the applicant desires to travel for a just and lawful cause, shall thereupon issue a ticket to the applicant, who shall travel by the train named thereon.
“3 Trains will start at their point of departure as near schedule time as possible, but the Company do not guarantee when they will reach their destination.
“4 Trains not reaching their destination before dark will put up at one of the several stopping places along the route, for the night, and passengers must pay and provide for their own lodging during the night.
“5 Luggage will be carried on the roof of the carriages. If such baggage gets wet, the Company will not be responsible for any loss attaching thereto.”
Unchanged Millenniums Versus Modern Times
Abraham, Hammurabi, Pharaoh, or Alexander the Great, if placed in the social and economic environment of eighteenth-century Europe, would have been quite at home. A peasant or a smith from the age of Pericles or Julius Caesar would have easily recognized the familiar sickle, flail, and forge of his own day. But resurrect a man who died a hundred years ago, and he would be embarrassed and baffled at every turn by the complex social and industrial life of the present.
Yes, what a change! The crude and simple ways of the past give place to the wondrous present. Established habits and customs are swept away. Chemists, physicists, engineers, and explorers, their hearts stirred with an indomitable genius, push forward to triumph after triumph, and inaugurate a new civilization.
Macadamized, asphalt, and cement roads are constructed to facilitate travel in a hundred lands. Millions of motor cars, driven by whiffs of exploding gas, speed to and fro. These “horseless carriages” have actually traveled at the rate of more than two hundred fifty miles an hour. “Uncle Sam” possesses a “mile-a-minute army” unit. Equipped with motor cycles, armored cars, and tanks, this entire regiment sweeps through rural districts at a speed of sixty miles an hour. “Wings sprout on the iron horse,” and a machine, half locomotive and half airplane, thunders along the rails at an almost unbelievable velocity.
Marvels of Printing
John Gutenberg's little hand press, using movable type, was the wonder of its day. But what can yield a greater thrill than to stand at the side of one of these modern giants, and view the great cylinders revolving three hundred times a minute, while the paper slips along with the speed of an express train! In five seconds the octuple Printing Press will do more work than Benjamin Frank1in's press could have done in an entire day. In other words, it prints 9,600 times as fast as the best press of the eighteenth century.
Another Titan of the printing-press family, seemingly possessed of super intelligence, produces picture sections of popular magazines at an approximately equal speed, and simultaneously prints four colors on each side of the paper.
Modern man seems ready to grapple with almost any difficulty. In 1931 began the construction of the Boulder Dam, “the greatest hydraulic engineering project ever attempted.” Rising 727 feet from the bed rock of the Colorado River, and composed of four and one-half million cubic yards of concrete, this massive structure creates a lake 145 miles in length. While the waters thus impounded supply energy for a hydroelectric plant with a maximum capacity of 1,200,000 horse power.
Think, too, of the genius involved in building the San Francisco-Oakland Bridge, which, according to schedule, is to be completed by January 1, 1938. The materials ordered for this enterprise would seem sufficient for the founding of a city-180,000 tons of steel, 1,500,000 barrels of cement, enough cable wire to stretch around the globe two and two-thirds times, and lumber for concrete forms sufficient to build a board walk three feet wide extending from San Francisco to Washington, D. C. A section of this bridge will have a clearance above the waters of San Francisco Bay of 214 feet, providing adequate room for America's loftiest steamships to come and go at pleasure.
Aviation Spreads Its Wings
About the beginning of this century Wilbur and Orville Wright aspired to learn what Solomon called “the way of an eagle in the air.” After taking more than 2,000 trips in motorless biplanes or gliders, to acquire the art of guiding and balancing, they installed a motor; and in December, 1903, made a successful flight, which in their own language was “very modest compared with that of birds.” 'Since that first crude take-off, what marvelous achievement! Birdmen cross the Atlantic and Pacific.
OUR SHRINKING WORLD
As indicated by the circumnavigating records of travelers in four centuries
Magellan. 1519-1522-From Seville, Spain, 1,083 days.
Sir Francis Drake 1577-1580-From Plymouth, England, 1,052 days.
Thomas Cavendish, 1586-1588-From Plymouth, England, 781 days.
Nellie Bly, 1889-From New York, by boat and rail, 72 days, 6 hours, 11 minutes.
George Francis Train, 1890-From New York, by boat and rail, 67 days, 12 hours,'3 minutes.
Charles Fitzmorris, 1901-From Chicago, by boat and rail, 60 days, 13 hours, 29 minutes.
Willis Sayre, 1903- From Seattle, by boat and rail, 54 days, 9 hours, 42 minutes.
Henry Frederick, 1903 -From. Seattle, by boat and rail, 54 days, 7 hours, 2 minutes.
Col. Burnlay Campbell, 1907 -By boat and rail, 40 days, 19 hours, 30'minutes.
Andre Jaeger-Schmidt, 1911- From Paris, by boat and rail, 39 days, 19 hours, 42 minutes, 38 seconds.
John Henry Mears, 1913 -From New York, by boat and rail, 35 days, 21 hours, 36 minutes.
Edward Evans 1926-From New York, by boat, rail, and plane, 28 days, 14 hours, 36 minutes
John Henry Mears 1928-From New York, by plane and boat, 23 days, 15 hours, 21 minutes
Graf Zeppelin 1929 -From Lakehurst, New Jersey, 21 days, 7 hours, 34 minutes.
Jost and Gatty, 1931 -From Roosevelt Field, New York (actual flying time, 4 days, 10 hours)
Wiley Post, 1933 -From Floyd Bennett Field, New York, 7 days, 18 hours, 50 minutes.
They fly over the icy Arctic and Antarctic, and battle their way to triumph in reaching the farthest north and the farthest south. They remain aloft for many days to make and break endurance records. They speed to and fro over the regular postal and commercial air lanes, covering millions of miles a month. They circumnavigate the globe in a few days, and now talk of nonstop flights around the world in twenty-four hours.
Radio Communication
“Words now leap through the uncharted spaces 'down between the worlds' at the rate of 186,000 miles a second. Not content with the conquest of the earth, the sea, and the air, man reaches out and harnesses the limitless expanses of ether mantling the universe, making it serve him. This is the nearest approach as yet of mortals to the realms of the infinite. Recent achievements in radio telephony might be unbelievable were not the phenomena right here in our midst. We rub our eyes and pinch ourselves to see whether we are still alive or on some far-off celestial sphere in the world beyond.”
Today we “mine the air as our forefathers mined the earth.” Seated comfortably in our homes, we listen to a quartet singing thousands of miles away. We twirl the little black dials, and dearly, distinctly, over the ether comes the voice of a statesman or a scientist from a distant continent. While Admiral Byrd was traveling by dog sled in the Antarctic, engaged in the “most stupendous undertaking in the history of exploration,” the ease with which he communicated with his friends near and afar filled him with amazement, and led him to exclaim that the greatest achievement in all the world is radio.
“Speak the word and think the thought,
Quick 'tis as with lightning caught -
Over, under, lands or seas,
To the far antipodes!'
“This world,” says another, “is now just one tenth of a second wide. Wireless has done it. Man has touched the ether waves with the perturbations of his restless spirit, and within the winking of an eye, by man-made receptive nerves, at the antipodes his brothers hear his speech.... The art of wireless on its technical side is advancing so rapidly that even experts find it impossible to keep abreast of its daily advance. The dreams of twenty years are realized overnight, and the impossibilities of yesterday were accomplished a half hour ago. What may to-morrow be?”
With the development of pictures by radio, the whole world may soon become, not only a vast whispering gallery, but a photograph gallery as well.
“The Heavens Are Telling”
Stand with us some evening at the summit of Mount Wilson to look out upon the myriad lights of thirty-seven Southern California cities. Then enter the massive double dome of the world's largest telescope to view countless millions of worlds and suns afar. Although the monster machine weighs one hundred tons, it is so perfectly balanced that a three and one-half horse power motor easily and quickly turns it east, west, north, or south to any position desired. The reflecting mirror, 13 inches thick and 101 inches in diameter, required ten years of cutting and polishing, and alone cost $45,000.
Now for the romance of the heavens. Focus this great telescopic eye upon a nebula said to be three hundred quintillion miles distant, and a tiny spectrum is produced. These captured rays of light, we are told, started earthward from that starry outpost some 50,000,000 years ago. Even so, the distance penetrated by the giant mirror may not be one thousandth part of the length and breadth, or the height and depth of space.
Our sun, we are told, is equal to a million Earth’s, but is itself only one of approximately 30,000,000,000 larger and smaller suns in its own immediate family. Beyond these the astronomer visions millions of other like families, which he names “island universes.” Yet modern man may be as but a babe just beginning to peer out over the edge of his cradle. To Abraham, the challenge was issued: “Tell the stars, if thou be able to number them.” Today after forty centuries have come and gone, and in spite of all the light and genius of the twentieth century, the answer to the problem is more baffling than ever. No one can “tell” the stars in the heavenly universe.
Marvelous are the instruments now used for the study of the heavenly bodies. Look, for example, at the thermocouple, an invention for determining the heat radiation of distant stars. Incredible as it may seem, this sensitive mechanism is said to be capable of measuring the heat of a candle a hundred miles distant.
We listen to the radio time signals that are broadcast several times each day from Washington, D. C. Where do they originate? Deep in the bowels of the earth, beneath the United States Naval Observatory, is a one-room the structure enclosed in another the building from which it is separated by an air space of thirty inches. In this waterproof insulated vault, the observatory keeps its sidereal clocks winter and summer at a uniform temperature, and at a constant air pressure. No one enters the vault, lest the change of temperature due to the presence of a human being would effect the rate of the clocks. Next to the sun, moon, and stars, these are the most accurate timepieces in existence, and throughout an entire year do not vary a hundredth part of a second.
How marvelous is the torch of human genius! How infinite the Creator of all who kindled that flame!
“When 1 consider Thy heavens, the work of Thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which Thou has ordained; what is man that Thou art mindful of him? And the son of man, that Thou visits him? For Thou has made him a little lower than the angels, and has crowned him with glory and honor. Thou made him to have dominion over the works of Thy hands; Thou has put all things under his feet.... 0 Lord our Lord, bow excellent is Thy name in all the earth!” Psalm 8:3-6, 9.
MAN'S mastery over wind and tide is phenomenal. Look back to the slow, cumbersome, uncertain sailing ships of our forefathers. Then view the dazzling pageant of ocean greyhounds, the “Mauretania,” the “Bremen,” the “Leviathan,” the “Europa,” and now the “Normandie,” largest liner in the world, with deluxe accommodations for 2,132 passengers. Look upon the myriad fleet of lesser ships. There, too, are the world's navies with their battleships, cruisers, destroyers, mine layers, airplane carriers, and hydroplanes, each and every one a modern wonder. Behold the super submarine equipped with giant engines and oxygen tanks, with a cruising radius of hundreds of miles beneath the surface of the waters, capable of arising suddenly from the depths to hurl its deadly missile at an enemy.
“Buried Sunshine”
When coal was discovered near the close of the eighteenth century, the world was slow in utilizing the strange new fuel. But to-day this 'long-buried sunshine” is made to produce gas, gasoline, fertilizers, lubricating oils, alcohol, dyes, rubber, sugar, preservatives, disinfectants, antiseptics, soap, perfumes, photographic supplies, electric power, and numerous other products.
The age of coal, we are told, is yet in its infancy. Instead of the tedious loading, shipment, and delivery of this commodity as in the past, industrial leaders plan to establish vast plants at the coal mines, where this fuel will be transformed into liquid, gas, oil, or electric current, and thus be distributed to the consumer through far-reaching pipe lines or over long distance electric wires. Research becomes a magic power. We make paper from cornstalks, ice from gas, rubber from goldenrod, and devise machines that take the place of salesmen.
Other miracles of achievement greet us at every turn. Scientists peep into the structure of the atom, to find it composed of positive and negative electrons. They measure and count atoms and electrons so small that billions of them may be held on the point of a needle. Physicists steal the nitrogen from the air, and from it manufacture powerful explosives for war or valued fertilizers for the farmer.
Uncanny Inventions
Radio beams now direct air traffic through dense fog; while a ray of light from a mirror automatically stops the speeding express train. One inventor heralds the production of a camera that will photograph the swiftest bullet that cleaves the air. Another devises a meter accurately to measure the noise in your home, in a city street, or in a passing airplane.
Turn back the hands of time a hundred years, and what chambers of horror the hospital and sick room presented. When ex-President George Washington lay upon his deathbed with pneumonia, the physicians severed a vein to relieve him of a pint or more of “surplus blood.” When a limb was to be amputated, strong men held the writhing, groaning victim, while the surgeon crudely sawed off the offending member. In a few days or weeks the patient frequently died of shock, blood poisoning, or gangrene.
In 1796, Edward Jenner made his famous discovery of the effect of vaccination; while a half century later, the use of anesthetics as a relief from pain revolutionized the methods of the operating room. Then came Joseph Lister, the father of antiseptic surgery, and Louis Pasteur, the French chemist, who revealed to an astonished world the innumerable hosts of microscopic organisms. And how mankind could successfully wage warfare against the germs of malaria, typhoid fever, yellow fever, smallpox, cholera, diphtheria, bubonic plague, and numerous other scourges of our race.
The March of Medical Science
The new scientific knowledge saves the lives of millions of infants, and prolongs the average life span of civilized man. Blood is readily transfused from one person to another. Upon the surface of extensive wounds new skin is grafted. Deformed features are remodeled. The blind are frequently restored to sight; and cars long deaf hear again the voices of their friends. During induced sleep unknown to former generations, these and countless other delicate operations are performed.
In recent years, physiological chemistry has delved into the amazing secrets of foods and nutrition. Multitudes even of the wealthy, while habitually eating too much, were actually found living upon a starvation diet. The discovery of those mysterious vitamins, food values, and the essential mineral salts, has given the world a new science of dietetics, with valued knowledge of how man may postpone his own funeral.
In the old files of the United States Patent Office at Washington is a letter written in 1833 by a veteran employee of that department, tendering his resignation and stating that “as everything inventable has been invented, the Patent Office would soon be discontinued. Hence there would be no further need of his services, or the services of any of his fellow clerks. He therefore decided to leave before the blow fell.”
And to think of it! The writer of that letter traveled by stagecoach or canal boat, read at night by the light of a candle, and never conceived of the wondrous things that were so soon to transform our world. In this amazing twentieth century, have we nearly attained the goal of all perfection? On the contrary, the captains of industry and invention assert that we have only reached the threshold, and that the biggest surprises are only a little way ahead. Says a renowned scientist:
“Through the haze and mists of the twilight we catch a glimpse of a rosy and hopeful dawn.” Turning from “the dark depths of the past,” Lee De Forest looks to the “gigantic possibilities” of the future, and says:
“Now begins the search for new sources of power, unlimited iii volume, and at costs so low that freedom from heat and cold, hunger or numbing fatigue, leisure for thought, a realization of the best in life and living, will become the heritage and right of every man.”
Millikan and Compton pursue the secrets of the cosmic ray, and hope to harness mightier forces than have yet been known, Others plan for new building and clothing materials. And talk of plastic bricks and creaseless fibers, paper-thin copper sheathing, and dress material lighter, stronger, more durable than silk or linen.” They look forward to remote control of factory processes, to machines that will receive cloth at one end and pass out ready-made suits of clothes at the other, to typewriters that will type the message of the human voice, and to newspaper copy set by wire.
The blind have been made to rejoice with the stream of literature placed at their disposal through the Braille type; but genius now offers something far more wonderful-an electric device that turns black letters into sound, thus enabling the person without sight to read an ordinary book.
The Book With a Message for Our Day
Do we begin to sense the startling significance of passing events? Is it not time that our moral blindness gave place to spiritual sight?
Twentieth-century mankind hears of SO many marvels baffling the imagination that he almost ceases to wonder, for the seeming impossible of today becomes the common place of tomorrow. From the beginning, our heavenly Parent understood all the secrets of chemistry, physics, natural science, and life itself To present unmistakable proof that He understands human thought “afar off,” and that His discernment is more penetrating than X ray or radio, He foretold this era of modern achievement. In a prophecy of the great Book, penned twenty-five hundred years ago, the divine messenger spoke to the prophet: “Thou, 0 Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end: many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall he increased.” Daniel 12:4. For a hundred generations men lived and worked just as their ancestors had done in the distant past of old Chaldea and Egypt. Then suddenly the inventive faculties, previously dormant, were aroused to unheard-of activity, to invent, to discover, to blaze a new trail, to inaugurate a new civilization. In every field of human attainment, behold the marvelous transformation!
What does it mean? In the infinite plan of God, all this was scheduled and foretold two and a half millenniums ago. God declared that in the time of the end knowledge would be increased; and when the hour was struck, the dawn of a new day sent its thrill around the globe. Consider this undeniable evidence that God has not left the world without witness, and that the Bible is a divine, up to date Guidebook. This century of achievement is big with meaning. “This is the Lord's doing; it is marvelous in our eyes.”
The Whirl of Modern Travel
Likewise the prophetic word declared of this era that many shall run to and fro.” What a striking fulfillment if this forecast is seen today! Behold the restless, moving of humanity in the crowded streets of the world's great cities. Take your stand in any railway or steamship terminal, and watch the hundreds of thousands strenuously, carelessly, coming and going hour after hour and day after day. The world's population appears in ceaseless motion and ever calls for greater speed. Yes, modern businessmen run; the scientists run; the statesmen and politicians run; and society people run; bandits and bootleggers run; preachers and missionaries run; pleasure seekers run. They run by fast express trains, by palatial river and ocean steamships, by millions of speeding motor cars, and by fleets of swift planes that glide to and fit. As the multitudes of earth hasten about by land and sea and air, what a picture of fulfilled and fulfilling Bible prophecy!
We are told that the father of modern science, Sir Isaac Newton, was also a diligent student of the Bible, and that in the fulfillment of its divine predictions he visioned an increase of knowledge and a mode of transportation far beyond the dreams of his generation, that would doubtless enable mankind to travel at the rate of fifty miles an hour. The infidel Voltaire, an avowed enemy of the Scriptures, held these ideas up to ridicule, saying, “Now look at that mighty mind of Newton's, who discovered gravity, and told us such marvels for us all to admire. When he became an old man and got into his dotage, he began to study that Book called the Bible; and it seems that, in order to credit its fabulous nonsense, we must believe that the knowledge of mankind will be so increased that we shall be able to travel at the rate of fifty miles an hour.” We leave it to the, reader. Who was the doter?
“What Hath God Wrought?”
After years of arduous toil, Samuel F. B. Morse applied to Congress for a small appropriation to construct a trial telegraph system. He met general opposition and ridicule; but when almost ready to give up, the bill passed, and a forty-four-mile line was built. All was at length in readiness; and in May', 1844, he, with his friends seated in the room of the Supreme Court at Washington, sent the first telegram to Baltimore, using a sentence of Scripture: “What hath God wrought.” Breathlessly the little group waited; then what a thrill! The needles began to click, and the dots and dashes brought back over the wire the same message. Success had come. Professor Morse ever felt that the new agency was a gift, of special providence; and, speaking at a banquet given him in New York, December 31, 1868, he said:
“If not a sparrow falls to the ground without a definite purpose in the plans of Infinite Wisdom, can the creation of an instrument so vitally affecting the interests of the whole human race have an origin less humble than the Father of every good and perfect gift? I am sure I have the sympathy of such an. assembly as is here gathered together, if in all humility, and in the sincerity of a grateful heart, I use the words of Inspiration in ascribing honor and praise to Him to whom first of all and most of all it is preeminently due. Not unto us, not unto us, but to God be all the glory, not, What hath man, but, 'What hath God wrought!'
In ripe old age, Professor Morse testified to his joy in Bible study, saying, I love to be studying the Guidebook of the country to which I am going; I wish I knew more and more about it.” He lived to see his valued contribution to humanity universally adopted. Over “the gray level plains of ooze,” as Kipling writes, “the shell-burred cables creep” from land to land and beneath all seas.
Such was one of the first brilliant inventions that ushered in a new age. And to-day, as we look out over a world vibrant with intensity and bristling on every hand with miracles of achievement, shall we not heartily re echo the words of Inspiration so appropriately used by the father of the electric telegraph, “What hath God wrought!
Noted Inventions and Discoveries of Modern Times
Gas for lighting purposes, 1798.
Steam printing press, 1803.
Steel pen, 1803.
Steamboat, 1807.
Railway locomotive, 1814.
Revolver, 1818. Friction match, 1820.
Railway cars, 1825.
Reaper and mower, 1834.
Electrotyping, 1837.
Ocean steamship, 1838.
Photography, 1839.
Sewing machine, 1841.
First successful telegraph line, 1844.
Anesthesia by nitrous oxide, 1844.
Anesthesia by ether, 1846.
First ocean cable, 1858.
Gatling gun, 1861.
Monitor warship, 1862.
Typewriter, 1867.
Automatic air brake, 1872
Telephone, 1876.
Phonograph, 1877.
Electric light, 1978.
Seismograph, 1880.
Steam turbine, 1883.
Linotype, 1886.
Electric railway, 1889.
Automobile about 1890.
Runtgen or X ray, 1895.
Motion pictures, 1895.
Wireless telegraphy, 1896.
Monotype, 1896.
Radium, 1898.
Airplane, first successful flight, 1903.
Wireless telephone, 1915.
Radio broadcasting, 1921.
Telephotography, 1924.
Radio beam wireless, 1926.
Transatlantic wireless telephone, 1926.
THE civilized world lies tossing on a bed of sickness; doctors of economy have gathered round to feel her pulse and find out the nature of her ailment. Watch in hand, they have made a diagnosis; they assure sympathetic bystanders that the world suffers from a 'circulatory failure.' Trade, which is the lifeblood of civilization, has ceased to flow freely from continent to continent, from “country to country.”
The Gilded Ladder to Wealth
To state the causes of the disease is a much easier task than to prescribe a remedy. On the trail of invention to obtain unprecedented riches. Within the limits of a hundred years, American millionaires increased more than a thousand fold. A man invents a new machine, a shorter process, a magic formula, which if shrewdly utilized, transforms him overnight into a capitalist. In this way many of our distinguished inventors have become autocrats. Others, through executive genius, adroit speculation, or the fortunate turn of events, have climbed the gilded ladder to untold riches. Suddenly they find themselves men of finance.
Then came the era of combination and consolidation. Colossal banks and business concerns, through their branches and subsidiaries, reach around the globe to regu1ate finance and control trade. Serving as corporation executives and directors, modern kings of industry administer not only their own vast fortunes, but are also enabled to manipulate the investments of multitudes. For example, approximately two hundred of the largest American corporations, representing nearly one half the business wealth of our country, are managed by less than two thousand directors.
During a recent year only 60,266 persons were reported with an income of $25,000 or more; but out of a total income tax of $474,000,000 paid by all the citizens of the United States, this wealthy group paid $390,000,000. In other words, less than one eleventh of 1 per cent of the adult population paid 83 per cent of the entire amount of income tax received by our government.
The great banks of the nation have grown beyond the most ambitious dreams of their founders. Through a series of sensational mergers, several banking houses of America are rated in the billionaire class. As a result, 1 per cent of these financial giants are said to control nearly one half the total resources of our nation.
An Age of Monopoly
In manufacture and commerce, individual enterprise has crumbled like a house of cards. One corporation dominates the production and sale of aluminum utensils; another possesses nine tenths of the world's nickel resources; one company manufactures half of our agricultural machinery. A single corporation refines nearly all of the American sugar one supplies the great proportion of our sewing machines; another, the majority of our cash registers; while one concern maintains a monopoly over the sleeping and parlor car service of the vast network of American railroads. Three business firms produce 80 per cent of our automobiles; two others, the major part of electrical machinery; two control more than half of the country's steel output. Two, the larger portion of the meat industry; two furnish our matches; while two thirds of the cigarettes are manufactured by two great tobacco concerns. In the food business, a few corporations are supplying the American public an increasing percentage of bread, cereals, tinned goods, and dairy products.
During the year 1919, the factories of America employed approximately 9,000,000 wage earners. Twelve years later, the number reported was 5,600,000; yet, with the more modern equipment, 38 per cent less workmen turned out 12 per cent more goods than the entire force previously produced. The machine continues its ruthless displacement of workmen; until one of these days we may witness large factories operated by two or three electric robots. In the great wheat belts of America, Russia, and other lands, three persons with a harvester combine and other modern equipment are now able to reap, thresh, and house more grain in a day than a hundred men could have done m the time of our grandfathers. So today in every form of industry, whether in city or country, science and inven11oll bring mass production and a resulting supply far greater than the world can consume.
Perilously Out of Balance
Not so long ago, the vast woolen mills of Great Britain were regarded as the pride and financial Gibraltar of an empire; while the cotton and woolen factories of New England were great beehives of life and industry. Today in many of these populous centers the loom and shuttle are as silent as death. The massive buildings crumble to decay, while moss and weeds grow over the paths and around the doorsteps of yesterday. Why all this decline and ruin? Overproduction and the ruthless whirl of modern economics have thrown the world perilously out of balance. Man has become entrapped and victimized by his own inventive genius. The very machines he devised to serve him now threaten to enslave and destroy him.
This paradox of wealth and plenty side by side with poverty and unemployment inspires a contemporary to write: “Never was mankind in such desperate straits. Though blessed with all the achievements of a veritable golden age, it faces staggering problems that baffle its wisest sons.
“Possessing more wealth than earlier ages ever conceived, it groans under colossal loads of international debt and sees millions crushed by pitiless poverty. Though producing more food than was ever extracted from earth's soil before, it witnesses the tragic spectacle of multitudes starving while wheat is burned for lack of purchasers. Though equipped with the finest machinery and able to supply in abundance the needs and comforts of every human being, it beholds countless thousands languishing in enforced idleness, while mines are deserted, factories are silent, mills are closed, and ships lie rotting in every port.” - “This Mighty Hour.” page 18.
Says Raymond B. Fosdick of New York City, a corporation lawyer of international repute:
“Western civilization has begun to look furtively around, listening behind it for the silent tread of some dread specter of destruction. It sees the mangled remains of other civilizations stretching from the dawn of history up to its own threshold-civilizations that dreamed of immortality and now are dead. The same pallbearers that carried out Samaria and all its works were waiting on the doorstep for Tut-ankh-Amen, just as later they waited for the civilization of Pericles and Augustus. The message that history brings us is that nothing is permanent. Sooner or later there comes to all human institutions the final rap on the door.
“Has our industrial civilization grown so complex that no human brains can control it? Is there intelligence enough in the world to find some path out of this jungle of machinery and untamed forces? Certainly we are living at a point in history when changes of a sweeping nature are in. the making. The world has outgrown its old framework, and the cracks and fissures which are now appearing in the social and economic structure seem to indicate the breaking up of one era and the starting point of another.” - New York Times Magazine.
Sick With Fear
“We are living,” says Mr. H. G. Wells, “in a civiliza1M11 which is very rapidly going to pieces.” Writing in the Sunday Express, lames Douglas observes that “the heart of the nation is sick with fear. Statesmen with their cars to the ground are terror-stricken and perplexed.” Likewise the Prince of Wales, addressing a large representative gathering of youth, states: “We have before us today a world sick with fearful doubts, weary with related disappointments, a world of troubled nations.”
A recent Encyclical from the pope of Rome asserts that the present crisis is “perhaps the most serious and widespread since the Deluge.” Concluding, he urges all “to unite and oppose with all their might the evils which are crushing humanity, and the still graver evils which are over reaching.” The Federal Council of the Churches of Christ in America, representing twenty-six great Protestant bodies with 22 million members denounced economic exploitation,” and says: “Corporate greed has brought its co of corporate woe. Many, alas, have gone down under the blasting storm of disaster and many more are being drawn into its deadly vortex.”
In a general call to prayer issued by the leaders of one denomination, it is stated: “The complicated problems and haunting uncertainties which loom ahead cause stout hearts to quake and quail.” In many lands bank failures have brought untold loss and suffering. Great nations have defaulted on their debts, and a number have been forced off the gold standard. Professor T. E. Gregory, an authority on finance, observes: “it may be that the gold standard will not work in a world like this; but will a world like this work
at all?”
Throughout America, Great Britain, Central Europe, and other lands the vast armies of unemployed constitute a grave menace. In Russia ninety million people live on war rations, and eke out a joyless existence in virtual slavery to the Soviet dictatorship. Likewise Asia and Africa, the home of two thirds of the human race, sense the acuteness of the stroke that adds to their hunger and wretchedness.
The Wreck of a world
In one of his recent pronouncement, the distinguished economist, Sir George Paish, writes:
“The existing situation is without precedent. The crisis is no ordinary depression that will right itself as former crises righted themselves. It is a great catastrophe that cannot be overcome without the cooperation of all nations, great and small. The Great War, followed as it has been by economic war, has thrown the life of the world out of balance and has brought the nations to bankruptcy. It now threatens to bring them to chaos and to ruin. The distress in many nations has already led to revolutions. The distress of all nations which is rapidly growing threatens to bring universal revolution.
“The difficulties of adjustment are thus not diminishing, but increasing. The situation needs therefore to be considered not as a depression but as a disaster which necessitates and demands the combined efforts of statesmen and peoples of all countries to overcome. It is not the wreck of a single nation that is involved. It is the wreck of a world. Universal bankruptcy accompanied by universal revolution will place in jeopardy not merely civilization but life itself.” - “The Way to Recovery,” pages 159, 160.
The Beacon Light of Prophecy
While numerous voices speak of the “unmitigated gloom, leading to despair,” while some declare that the human mind is evidently incapable of “finding a way, there is, however, a brighter side. We confidently direct our readers to the light of prophecy found in the Book of books.
“When the days are dark, men need its light.
When the times are hard, men need its comfort.
When the outlook is discouraging, men need its confidence.
When despair is abroad, men need its word of hope.”
“There is a God in heaven who presides over the destines of mankind; and in His divine Guidebook for our every detail and feature of present-day life and conditions are delineated with perfect accuracy. Prophets of God did not pen their own fantastic dreams, or man “Cunningly devised fables.” They recorded for future generations the messages committed to them by the Spirit of God. (2 Peter 1:19¬21) To the princes of high finance, this word is addressed:
“Go to now, you rich men, weep and howl for your miseries that shall come upon you. Your riches are corrupted, and your garments are moth-eaten. Your gold and silver is rotted; and the rust of them shall be a witness against you and shall cut your flesh as it were fire. You have heaped treasure together for the last days.” James 5:1-3.
In no previous age have mortals heaped together such towering pyramids of treasure. In ten brief years, by shrewd, fortunate speculation, the wealth of one man is said to have increased from $7,500 to $80,000,000. Another who in his young manhood worked for a dollar a day, finds himself rated as one of the wealthiest men m the world -a billionaire. Similarly, we might record the dramatic rise of thousands of men, women, and corporations from poverty and obscurity to fabulous wealth. And the index finger of prophecy, pointing to these facts in our generation, declares: “You have heaped treasure together for the last days.”
As depression struck the world with paralyzing intensity, the men of fortune keenly felt the stroke. In one year the number of United States citizens whose annual income was estimated at a million dollars, was cut in half Then came the appalling wave of suicide with its own tragic story. Bewildered by the desperate crisis, and facing heavy personal losses, many chose death rather than continue the battle against crushing odds. The pistol shot, the recourse to poison, or the leap from a lofty structure, has with increasing frequency been chosen as the way out. These occurrences should bring home to all a realization of the extent and reality of the crisis, and should also focus our attention upon the rapidly fulfilling scroll of Bible prophecy.
Classes Versus the Masses
According to the same Scripture forecast, this hitherto unknown era of wealth and affluence would also be signalized by a titanic struggle between the forces of capitalism and labor:
“Behold, the hire of the laborers who have reaped down your fields, which is of you kept back by fraud, cries: and the cries of them which have reaped are entered into the ears of the Lord of sabaoth. You have lived in pleasure on the earth, and been wanton; you have nourished your hearts, as in a day of slaughter. You have condemned and killed the just; and he does not resist you.” James 5:4-6.
While riches are enormously multiplied, and while the control of billions passes into the grasp of a comparative few, the vast armies of laboring men likewise combine to demand a larger portion of the wealth they have helped to earn. Capitalism is frequently blind and arrogant and occasionally presents a sickening story of exploitation; while many of the working classes are far too hasty in their resort to violence. In our own land the condition of the coal miners, the textile or “sweatshop” employees, and some workers, is admittedly deplorable; yet when they strike for better terms and standards of living, strife and bloodshed sometimes ensue, with grave and revolting crimes committed on both sides.
The spectacular growth of Bolshevism on one hand, Fascism on the other, each fostering intense class hatreds, is most significant. The Soviet battle cry is heard, “Down with Capitalism!” while in the opposing camp, the Bolshevist philosophy of life, economics, and government is regarded as ruthless terrorism. In this way the conflict between individual wealth and labor assumes an international aspect that is loaded with T. N. T. In all this partisan strife and warfare, the. Christian is bidden to take no part. Immediately following the prophecy of this mutual conflict, the divine counsel is given:
“Be patient therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord. Behold, the husbandman waits for the precious fruit of the earth, and hath long patience for it, until he receive the early and latter rain. Be you also patient. Establish your hearts: for the coming of the Lord draws nigh.” James 5:7, 8.
Divine Program of Coming Events
Prophecy is rapidly crystallizing into history. These conditions in the world of finance and industry were directly foretold in Holy Writ as characteristic of “the last days,” as a prelude to the Second Coming of Christ. When the Master Himself was upon earth, He pointed forward to a time of “distress of nations,” “perplexity,” and universal heart failure that would immediately precede His Second Advent to our world. Following these dread conditions, our Lord announced: “Then shall they see the Son of man coming in a cloud with power and great glory.” Luke 21:25-27.
The otherwise shrouded future is brightly illumined by the sure promises of God. Said one of His spokesmen. “There shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time: and at that time Thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book.” Daniel 12: 1. In the words of another:
“The Eternal arraigns the nations, He indicts all mankind, and puts the wicked to the sword. The Lord of hosts declares: From race to race calamity extends, a mighty storm is stirring from the earth's far ends.” Jeremiah 25:31, 32 (Moffatt). What a picture of this hungry, distressed, baffled world! Looking forward to that time when destruction would extend from race to race, the seer of Patmos describes the plight of the great seaports:
“The merchants of the earth shall weep and mourn over her; for no man buys their merchandise any more. The merchants of these things, which were made rich by her, shall stand afar off for the fear of her torment, weeping and wailing, and saying, Alas, alas that great city, that was clothed in fine linen, and purple, and scarlet, and decked with gold, and precious stones, and pearls! For in one hour so great riches is come to naught. And every shipmaster, and all the company in ships, and sailors, and as many as trade by sea, stood afar off, and cried when they saw the smoke of her burning, saying, What city is like unto this great city! And they cast dust on their heads, and cried, weeping and wailing, saying, Alas, alas that great city, wherein were made rich all that had ships in the sea by reason of her costliness! For in one hour is she made desolate.” Revelation 18:11-19.
Following close upon the heels of the World War came the financial crisis in Central and Eastern Europe. A million marks for a loaf of bread! Later, seventy billion for a daily paper, and a trillion marks for a pound of butter! And then-only worthless paper! In a day millions of men and women became paupers; and those who had stores of provision guarded them day and night from the frenzied hungry bands that ravaged city and country in of food. That experience may serve as a type or shadow of the coming world-
wide crisis. Says the word of God:
“They shall cast their silver in the streets, and their gold shall be removed: their silver and their gold shall not be able to deliver them in the day of the wrath of the Lord.” Ezekiel 7:19. See also Zephaniah 1: 15-18. Rich and poor, high and low, are alike caught in the modern maelstrom. The outlook may appear dark, but to the Christian optimist who believes his Bible and trusts his God, these occurrences indicate “the breaking of the day.” Said the Savior, “When these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draws nigh.” Luke 21:28.
The Hour Supreme
Economic conditions may temporarily improve; yet the general trend of modern events speaks with clear, emphatic testimony: “The end of all things is at hand.” 1 Peter 4:7. Jesus Christ, who died for man upon Calvary's cross, is soon to redeem His royal promise, I will come again.
Describing the last moments of the ill-fated ship “Akrony”, the captain tells of the Lieutenant Commander Herbert V. Wilt, report from the elevator man that the ship was rapidly falling. In the fog nothing could be seen. Soon the altitude was announced as “300 feet.” Then flashed forth the command to all on board, “Stand by for a crash!” Every man sprang to his post and waited in silence for the dread moment. There is something a thousand times worse than death, and that is ignoble Godless living in a day of distress and supreme need. This is no time for desertion, no time for delay or half-hearted service. World peril is imminent. Our Commander issues the order, “Stand by for the crash! “ and there is just one thing for brave, loyal, Christian soldiers to do: “Having done all, to stand.”
The world is in trouble because it has forgotten God, Jesus is its only hope, the only hope for you and me. Let us rejoice in His love. And while we broadcast to others a warning of the impending crash, let us also tell the good tidings of a crucified, risen, and soon-coming Savior. “Seek you the Lord while He may be found, call you upon Him while He is near: let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts. And let him return unto the Lord, and He will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for He will abundantly pardon.” Isaiah 55:6, 7.
“God hath not promised
Skies always blue,
Flower-strewn pathways
All our lives through.
God hath not promised
Sun without rain!
Joy without sorrow.
Peace without pain.
“But God hath promised
Strength for the day,
Rest for the labor,
Light for the way,
Grace for the trials,
Help from above,
Unfailing sympathy,
Undying love.”
WE PUT forth strenuous efforts to keep up appearances just to be beautiful, the people of the United States annually expend about $2,000,000,000, a third of which goes to the 50,000 beauty parlors of the country. We also use 4,000 tons of powder, 52,000 tons of cleansing cream, 19,000 tons of complexion soap, enough lipsticks to reach from Chicago to Los Angeles by way of San Francisco, and other cosmetics in proportion. There is evidently no excuse why we should not be a clean, comely people.
The Suicide of the Old Order
In many things we have reason for just pride. Our government is equipped with departments and bureaus to meet every needful requirement. Our postal system is a marvel of efficiency; our schools and colleges are unexcelled; our spacious libraries overflow with books and magazines. Education is increased; general knowledge is widely diffused; and our many public enterprises and institutions testify to the conquering spirit of American ideals. In spite of all these, there is a growing conviction that something is vitally wrong. Our material advance has outstripped our spiritual progress. A vast chorus declares that we witness the suicide of the old social order. The biologist says that the human species is deteriorating. The psychologist says that the mind of man is becoming unstable, irrational, and immoral. The economist says that our industrial machine is “breaking down under its own weight.” The statesman says that our nations and cities have outgrown the administrative capacity of mankind, and “that the human race resembles nothing so much as a nervous spinster weakly clutching at the reins of a runaway team.” The moralist says that society is dangerously ill, that we have scrapped the old standards without erecting any sane or suitable new ones. The world seems to have adopted as its motto, “Let us eat and drink; for tomorrow we shall die.”
For many centuries religion and amusement were looked upon as mutual enemies. Piety was regarded as something stern and austere, while the beautiful gospel of love was well-nigh forgotten. In fact, so late as 1872, a popular Protestant denominational school announced its rigid recreational program as follows:
“We prohibit play in the strongest terms.... The students shall rise at five o'clock summer and winter. Their recreation shall be gardening, walking, riding, and bathing without doors, and the carpenter's, joiner's, cabinetmaker's, or turner's business, within doors.... The students shall be indulged with nothing which the world calls play. Let this rule be observed with the strictest necessity; for those who play when they are young, will play when they are old.” – “Whither Mankind?” page 334.
Universities of Crime
Now the pendulum swings far to the other extreme. This age of machinery with its easy, multiple production, and its shortened hours of labor, has thrown into the lap the world a vast amount of leisure time. There also arises the new doctrine of “Behaviorism, which would erase all distinction between good and evil, and would bid mankind follow his own instincts and give free rein to his wildest dreams. Restraint and control must be removed, we are told, otherwise the nature will be “thwarted.” As a result, there has come an insatiable craving for riotous living, debasing habits, and sinful pleasures, in which multitudes participate.
At many schools athletic sports have grown into a great curse. Young people, the children of wealthy parents, waste their time at games and amusements instead of devoting it to earnest study. Hand in hand with these go drinking, cigarette smoking, gambling, attendance at the movies, and the reading of vicious literature. One well-known writer and scholar describes the movie film as “the greatest crime-producing agency” of our age; while another declares: “The motion-picture industry is the greatest enemy of civilization, greater even than the liquor traffic. For a generation it has been the universal school of crime in all nations.” – “The Devil's Camera,” page 12.
The production of moving talking-pictures is marvelous. And when used educationally to teach of nature, travel, history, and religious life, what vast possibilities for good! But unfortunately this clever invention is largely prostituted to the sordid and degrading. A discriminating educator who was recently chosen to visit and investigate the best movie palaces in a large city, rendered this report:
“I saw stories of seduction, illegitimacy, kept women, press cynicism, municipal corruption, 'petting' parties, French studio life, cocktails, sneers at virtue, revengeful or forgiving prostitutes, and of course, shooting galore-guns, guns, guns! Everywhere life was depicted as a thing of selfish gratification. Drink was always in evidence. Motors and restaurants crowded all honest work out of mind. Fathers who shielded their daughters from amours were Puritans' and deniers of 'the right to love.' Mothers were strait, sour-faced shrews or women who, having had a bad time themselves, were bent on seeing that their daughters had a good time by way of revenge.... Money, drink, sexual love, and power and position were the only things that counted.” - Id., pages 14, 15.
Judge J. A. R. Caims, a well-known London magistrate who has had exceptional opportunities for studying the influence of the cinema, makes this bitter complaint: “We are living in an era of dirt, and the 'pictures' exploit it and thrive on it. The husband who trusts his wife is a halfwit; and the wife who trusts her husband deserves to be deceived, and is an object for hilarity. Film producers are fouling civilization. They exhibit human love as something disgusting, nauseating, and revolting, and after they have debauched the youthful minds, our criminal courts and hospitals are left to clear up the litter, while money bugs clear
off with the moneybags. I do not hesitate to say that Hollywood is earning a distinction second only to Gomorrah.” - Literary Digest.
On one Sunday evening in the Times Square district of New York, with its one hundred city blocks, a careful survey was made of the churches and theaters. By actual count, 1,817 persons attended some kind of religious meeting; while on the same night the picture houses revealed a paid admission of approximately 75,000. It is estimated that. in the United States 20,000,000 attend the moving pictures each day of the year. Speaking of this craze that has now spread to almost every corner of the lobe, a writer says:
“There are ... hundreds of thousands of working girls and school children who see moving pictures every noon and night. There are literally millions of children in our great centers who know nothing of love, work, home life, business, politics, nature, or even anything else save what the movies have to tell them.”
High Class Fiction
As a companion to movie world, note the far-reaching influence of modern literature. In vivid, picturesque language the story magazine poi, trays the details of wild parties, kidnapping, social vices, robbery, and murder, until the reader's mind is saturated with crime. A book reviewer, writing in the Esthete magazine, gives the characterization:
“A generous mixture of sex, color differentiation, sprinkled with sufficient blasphemous utterances to add piquancy and racy zest, a sort of sophistication, as it were, together with a garnishing of satire, insulting humor, and a generally cynic philosophy. All these are the ingredients of three fourths of the popular high-class fiction of to-day.”
“It is often said,” writes G. K. Chesterton, “that pleasure seekers are pagans and that all their life of jazz and cocktails is merely a life of pagans. This seems to me a harsh judgment on the pagans. The old pagan gods and poets of the past were never so tinselly as the fast sets and smart people of the present. Venus was never so vulgar as what they now call sex appeal. Cupid was never so coarse or common as a modern realistic novel.”
Enemies of the Home
By hundreds of writers the vicious and indecent have been crowned as lords of modern life. And what may be expected of a generation who feed the mind by day upon such literary froth and dregs, who by night attend the shows; yielding the most vicious thrill, and then go home to dream of debasing orgies and lawless adventure? They live in an unreal world, and sooner or later feel the urge to reenact their dreams into the drama of real life.
The home, that was ordained of God as a citadel of moral strength and purity, as a bulwark against every evil, is itself shattered and crumbling to the foundations. The family altar with its Bible reading and prayer that once brought such a benediction to the family circle, is well nigh extinct. Too often the members of the family, each intent upon his own cherished program, arise late, breakfast hurriedly, lunch down town, and throughout the day rush from one activity to another, to return at night, not to the hallowed influence of home, but to a place that has become a mere rooming house,-a place to change one's clothes to get ready to go somewhere else.
The Founder of Christianity set forth high ideals for wedlock and the home; but modern life, considering such standards too severe, has wandered far afield. In Russia, marriage is but a scrap of paper; while “between childless couples divorce is granted with simplicity and without the question, 'Why?' Either husband or wife can come to the bureau, answer one question, 'Are there any children?' and if the answer is 'No, receive the divorce immediately. A copy is mailed to the other party. A husband may therefore divorce his wife while she knows nothing of it-until the mailman brings the news. As local mail travels slowly, the husband has a chance to get three days' running start. There is nothing to prevent remarriage immediately after divorce, or, in theory, marriage and divorce each day.”
An American prophet of the new liberalism declares that “marriage is just a series of frauds. It begins with a fraud that the impulse to it is lofty, unearthly, and disinterested.” Another characterizes wedlock as but a polite conventionality of a changing, transitory age. Our movie billboards portray alluring young women who are advertised as “having found something better than marriage,” or who are 1oving too much to marry and spoil it all.” Then arise moral bolshevists like Judge Ben B. Lindsey and others who place their sanction upon companion marriage, trial marriage, and “tandem polygamy.”
In the United States the divorce rate per 100,000 of our population has tripled in a third of a
century until the ratio is approximately one divorce for every six marriages. Nor do these figures tell all the sad story. Judge Lindsey cites the record of a four-year period in the Denver Court of Domestic Relations, during which time there were issued 1,492 decrees of divorce, and 1,500 other forms of separation. While this ratio may not be representative of the entire country, it is apparent that one out of every four or five marriages ends in disaster.
“The Broken Wedding Ring”
In practically every land, divorce is increasing; and our own country has the unenviable distinction of a larger number of shattered homes than any other nation of the civilized world. In Nevada and some other states, numerous judges and attorneys apparently seek to establish records for themselves by speedily severing marital ties, one judge granting 212 divorces in 2 hours and 4 minutes; while over in Paris, flaming posters advertise attorneys who specialize in “rapid divorces.” Commenting upon the “broken wedding ring” in Great Britain, Sir Philip Gibbs says:
“It is probable that the number is insignificant in comparison with all the homes in which husbands and wives live in miserable alliance, their spiritual bond having been utterly broken, though they do not apply for dissolution of marriage for lack of money or in fear of scandal.”
In his survey of the world of wedlock, Professor Edward Allsworth Ross of the University of Wisconsin declares: “The family is now less stable than it has been at any time since the beginning of the Christian era.”
Noted historians point to the fact that in the destruction of ancient Babylon, of Persia, and of Rome, the underlying causes were luxury, leisure, banqueting, intemperance, wild amusements, immodesty, and the failure of the home life. Even so to-day, conditions in the social world give cause for the greatest alarm. Cigarette-smoking, beer-drinking, pleasure-infected, jazz-crazed fathers and mothers are unable to implant in their children the sturdy ideals of honesty, purity, and devotion to principle.
In the words of a recognized authority on juvenile problems, “millions of fathers and mothers of all classes are standing to one side, aghast, open-mouthed, perplexed, and amazed, helplessly watching the new generation take its desperate strides.”
Needed -The Voice of a Prophet
And no wonder that they stand aghast! For, addressing the young in the language of the new philosophy, a popular writer says: “If you kids don't do, say, and feel everything that comes into your heads, you go around screaming about inhibitions. If you new-generation youngsters don't yield to every impulse, you think you are being stunted.” And when so many parents have abdicated their God-given responsibility in the home, it is but natural that modern youth “step on the accelerator.” A gloomy picture! But what of the future? Eminent writers and educators reply:
“The plain fact is that the world is threatened with a danger not dreamed of for fifteen centuries-not since the Roman Empire fell-the danger of the collapse of civilization itself. It is time to be alarmed.”-Stephen Peacock, in Collier' s Weekly.
“We are headed toward chaos.” - Guglielmo Ferrero, distinguished historian, in Atlantic Monthly. “It is hard to resist the conclusion that there is a distinct tendency toward decline in modern civilization.”- William Dudley Folk, in Current History.
“Our civilization is creaking very badly, and a few more anesthetics will not prevent it from going over.”- Hendrick W. Van Loon, noted author.
“Confused, beaten down, dazed, and discouraged, a bewildered world is calling as never before for the voice of the prophet -a prophet to tell us the meaning of the times and the conditions.” Editorial in Ladies' Home Journal.
Friends, the Book that has been scorned and rejected presents just such a leader and prophet as a perplexed world needs today. When Christ was upon this earth He looked down the years though nineteen centuries of time and said: “As it was in the days of Lot; they did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they built. But the same day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them all. Even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of man is revealed.” Luke 17:28-30.
Would you know the depths of wickedness that brought proud Sodom to her doom? Read the Bible story of abandoned licentiousness and gross folly that marked the last night of her wild city life. The
cause of this deplorable state is given by Inspiration: “Behold, this was the iniquity of thy sister Sodom: pride, fullness of bread, and prosperous ease was in her and in her daughters; neither did she strengthen the hand of the poor and needy. And they were haughty, and committed abomination before Me: therefore I took them away when I saw it.” Ezekiel 16: 49, 50, A. R. V., margin.
Moving Toward Sodom
Modern archeology throws a flood of light upon the Scripture narrative. Not long ago, a distinguished international group of scientists visited Palestine and pitched their tents toward old Sodom. They surveyed the country, analyzed the soil, studied its mineralogy, its archeology, and determined the site of ancient Sodom and Gomorrah to have been in a valley on the southwestern shores of the Dead Sea. In fact, this is the only location that meets the geographic and historic specifications; and most conclusively it fulfills them all. To complete the evidence, the geologists found it to be “a burned-out region of oil and at some time in the past, the scene of a mighty explosion. The expedition report continues:
“There is along the lower part of this plain a great stratum of rock salt, which on the western side of the plain shows itself in that great salt mountain, now known as Jebel Usdum. Atitsbase is a stratum of rock salt about one hundred fifty feet thick. Mixed with the layers of salt, and falling down over them also, is a mark in which is much free sulfur, lumps of which we picked up along the sea. When the explosion of the gases took place, this stratum of salt mixed with sulfur was ruptured with the other strata, and the salt and sulfur carried up into the heavens red-hot, and also rained down upon Sodom and Gomorrah and over the whole region, exactly as the Scripture explains the rain of fire and brimstone from heaven. Mixed with the salt and sulfur was also the asphalt.” – “Tenting Toward Sodom,” Melvin Grove Kyle.
Most remarkably does modern research confirm the subject of Sodom's overthrow when “the smoke of the country went up as the smoke of a furnace.” Genesis 19:28. While the Bible explains the circumstances, science certifies that the events occurred. There the undisturbed ruins witness to the catastrophe “that scattered the salt and sulfur far and wide, incrusted the mountain peaks, and so blasted the earth that it took twenty-five hundred years of climatic influences to wash out the soil and make the plain again as the garden of the Lord.”
For thirty-eight centuries this dead land beside the Dead Sea has harbored the memory of immorality and crime that has been abhorrent to the senses of the whole world. Inspiration mentions these cities twenty-eight times, and holds them up as a lurid warning against unbelief, riotous living, and transgression of divine law. With prophetic utterance, Christ Himself declared: “Even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of man is revealed;” and concluded His appeal to the men and women of our generation with the terse watchword: “Remember Lots wife.”
The Index Finger Pointing to Our Day
The lesson is unmistakably dear: the unparalleled amusement craze, the urge for new and reckless thrills, the decay of the home life, and the utter abandon of social safeguards, all indicate that vast multitudes of people today live in spiritual Gomorrah, or are found pitching their tents toward Sodom. These things constitute a notable sign of the times; they fulfill the word; and through them the pillar of salt speaks with emphatic voice to modern men.
Study also this forecast of world conditions entered upon the scroll of prophecy nineteen centuries ago:
“This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despising of those that are good. Traitors, heady, high-minded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away.” 2 Timothy 3:13.
What language could more vividly portray the picture that daily greets us in the current newspapers and magazines! In the phrase, “disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy,” juvenile delinquency is clearly indicated. The terms “without natural affection,” and “incontinent,” point directly to the battered ideals of wedlock, and the alarming social trends of our day. There is also the indictment, “lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God.” When the people of the United States spend nineteen cents out of every dollar for amusement, and but four cents for education and religion. When they erect nine theaters to every new church building; when twenty go to the playhouse for every one attending divine service: when they light some 203,000 cigarettes a minute, nearly ten times as many as they did two decades ago. And when they spend $2,000,000,000 a year “just to be beautiful,” it is evident that God's characterization has met its fulfillment, and that we live in the perilous times of the last days foretold so long ago.
This is not pessimism; it is facing the facts from the prophetic watchtower. And when these conditions existing that most favored nation accredited with world leadership in so many fields of noble endeavor, what shall be said of the outlook for other lands and peoples? Reader, civilization is tottering, verily tottering. When the sins of Sodom and Gomorrah passed the limit, fire from heaven reduced them to ashes; when ancient Jerusalem transgressed the law “till there was no remedy,” beautiful Zion was turned to a heap of ruins. Even so, when the world's cup of iniquity is filled to overflow, the second coming of Christ brings an end to earth's wild carnival.
God warns His children that they may find in Him a sure refuge and glorious deliverance. Beyond the dark deeds of the present evil world is the undefiled homeland of the redeemed. There, no blasted romances or broken hearthstones, no wayward youth or grief-stricken parents, no wanton pleasures or mad revelry will invade or menace the happy estate. That deliverance, that home, is for you and me if we are willing to accept it. Christ, the comrade of the lowly, the friend of the discouraged and erring, stands ready to cleanse the darkest stain and give divine strength for a victorious life. He alone is able to rebuild the character that has been ruined. Resist divine love no longer; and give Him a chance-a fair chance-in your life. “He is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by Him, seeing He ever lives to make intercession for them.” Hebrews 7:25.
THE inhabitants of the underworld are real folks, in many respects much like the rest of us. They move about, eat and drink, laugh and mourn, in common with others. They are usually good mixers and exceedingly fond of their “pals;” are anxious for “a place in the sun,” for the praise and esteem of others; are elated when they succeed, and downcast when they fail. They study, and learn, and forget; are quite similar in their physical traits to the neighbors about us; and differ from one another just the same as do the many members of a society or a club.
Gangland in Embryo
Heredity has a part in the making of a criminal. Environment has far more. When the boy and girl begin to move out beyond the home circle, and beyond the knowledge or concern of parents, it is natural that they accept such leadership as is thrown in their way. Right here the stage may be set for a criminal career. At times, the play group evolves into a “gang,” which begins to terrify the neighborhood. Not infrequently they choose for them names like “The Uglies,” “Back Alley Cats” or such names as “Tough Kids,” “Wild Indians,” “Moonlighters” or “The Crook Gang.” In sections of certain cities, it is said that more than 80 per cent of the seventh and eighth grade school boys are banded together. Each member poses as a hero. He already feels powerful. The younger members may be cowards at heart, but soon become bold and dangerous when they “run with the pack.” In this way, the play motive, if not properly guided, may develop as one of the roots of criminality. Petty thieving becomes the order. Fruit and vegetable stands suffer. Stores are broken into, the goods stolen and sold; automobiles are “borrowed,” to be utilized in these raids; while the stripping of motor cars and the theft of accessories becomes a regular part of the game. By the time these boys emerge from adolescence, they are seasoned gangsters, some of them with long police and prison records.
Forces of Disruption
In the making of the criminal, the vicious movie and story magazine contribute no small part; and to these add the strange, new, perilous philosophy that has captivated man. The distinguished British penman, Sir Philip Gibbs, looks out across the Atlantic to denounce this sinister propaganda that frequently reaches down to the youth of high-school age.
“The most modern school of American writers are intellectual Bolshevists, proclaiming a contempt for the old moralities, demanding freedom of 'self-expression,' denying the virtue of self-discipline, hating asceticism, which to them is a betrayal of life, advocating moral anarchy, and escape from all inhibitions, suppressions, and tyrannies of the mind and body. They are the leaders of the new paganism
which is spreading apace all over the world.” – “Since Then,” page 297.
“Today writes an eminent churchman, We seem to be standing at the parting of the ways, at the juncture of the roads of authority and disruption. No intelligent man can fail to see the signs of the coming conflict. All around us, in every country in the civilized world, forces of disruption are at work. Everywhere there is more or less open revolt against established law and order.”
When some talk Bolshevism, others act. Nietzsche and Karl Marx wrote their vicious creed, and Soviet Russia is the result. So while intellectual anarchists heap contempt upon the laws of God and man, others sally forth with the deadly automatic or the sawed off shotgun, to shoot a president or hold up a bank.
The Octopus of Organized Crime
The term “racket” appears to have been first applied in 1927 “to unholy alliances between business men, labor leaders, politicians, and underworld characters.” To this combination, add grafting policemen, shyster lawyers, and corrupt judges, and the terrible octopus of organized crime appears well-nigh impregnable.
The boy gang leader at length evolves into the manager of the “racket,” becomes eminently respectable, sits in a luxurious office, is genteel and suave in manner; through his lieutenants he hires hoodlums to do the rough work, which he talks of “service,” contributes to campaign funds for candidates who will do his bidding, devotes generous amounts to charity, sends floral offerings to funerals, and is sometimes known to even send gifts to churches.
“The inside working of the racket is well known. Does the business enterprise of the community fear the competition of a rival that may establish itself near by? For a stated consideration, the gang is prepared to “persuade” a prospective newcomer to remain away. The Employers Association of Chicago describes the plan:
“Certain business men, desiring to create a monopoly in their particu1ar field, engage men whose very names strike terror into the hearts of the timid to organize an association of proprietors in their line. In soliciting members, the organizers make vague references to the possibility of damage to property and persons, and to prevent which the Association is being organized. If the proprietor does not join quickly, his plant is bombed, windows broken, stench bombs exploded on his premises, employees assaulted, or perhaps called on strike. If employees are not union, then his store or business place is picketed and commodity deliveries in and out are stopped.” – “Criminology,” by R. H. Gault, page 260.
Those who do not join or pay their dues are blacklisted; and the hapless victim of rage may exclaim, “Woe is me! There was more freedom in Russia.”
In his survey of gang conspiracy, warfare, and murder in one of our large cities, Andrew A. Bruce says: “It unravels a startling and amazing story of the interlocking interests of gambling and bootlegging, vice and politics. Back of this organized crime and this organized corruption is syndicated vice, syndicated gambling, syndicated prostitution, and syndicated liquor selling. Back of all this is the philosophy and environment which creates youthful criminals, for the criminal career is progressive and usually the first offense was but a gesture of boyhood, and comparatively trivial in its nature. There is in the city of Chicago of to-day an underground system of control which enforces its decrees by bombs and murders, and the history of this control can be traced for twenty-five years in its various interlocking manifestations. Today these businesses have emerged from cottage industries and from small stills to great syndicates. The gangster is revealed a popular hero and a benefactor of the people. Its masters have become capitalists. Seven thousand names of men active in the various fields of organized crime have been selected and catalogued, and the survey has furnished to the public out of these names, a list of the underworld 400 top “Who’s Who” of organized crime. These studies have shown, and this is a significant feature of the report, that the gangster as a rule is not born, but made.” The Administration of Criminal Justice in Illinois in journal of Criminal Law and Criminology.
In another great city, one of the most atrocious rackets was that of “framing” and accusing innocent women. There, heartless spies, police officers, false bondsmen, and unprincipled attorneys and judges had connived together to extort from them huge fees and “hush money” amounting to millions of dollars a year. Many who could not pay were illegally committed to the reformatory.
The Ruthless March of the Black Army
There is no slump in crime. Its annual cost to the American people, according to various estimates
is from two to thirteen billion dollars a year. An authoritative report gives the following:
“From all the data and opinions of experts which your committee has been able to gather, we beg leave to report that particularly since 1890-there has been, and continues a widening, deepening tide of lawlessness in this country, sometimes momentarily receding, to swell again into greater depth and intensity.” - Law Enforcement Committee of the American Bar Association. Says Judge Marcus Kavanagh of Illinois in the opening sentence of his book, “The Criminal and His Allies”:
“At this hour the most urgent and persistent call of patriotism in the United States demands the rehabilitation of justice and requires that the nation take heed to the wide and spreading extent of crime.”
“At this moment.” the judge continues, “the country is being attacked by an army of three hundred fifty thousand, who form an invisible foe; hosts of the air, whose stroke is sudden, remorseless, and unspeakably cruel. Our Black Army is twice the size of the Union and Confederate armies that fought at Gettysburg. No story of atrocities told against the Germans by the newspapers of the allied countries during the World War, no inflammatory tale of French cruelty published by German writers at that time, half equals in savagery the actual deeds this advancing army is sure to inflict on the patient, law-abiding American citizen.”
Similarly, one of our country's greatest weekly magazines describes the situation: “Make no mistake about it, the unorganized decent citizens of the country are absolutely at the mercy of organized bands of guerillas, armed and ruthless. No man, woman, or child is safe in his own house unless he is rich enough to maintain a private army td guard it, as a large number of men who can afford it are doing to-day. It is just good luck if they or their children are not singled out to be captured or killed by the kidnaper, or by the gangster and his gunmen. Already the big shots have reached the point where they no longer call their subordinates their mob, but their 'troops.'
“The army of crime is thoroughly organized. It not only has its troops, and its captains and generals, but its sinister overlords who sit back in the shadow. It is protected at the top by crooked politicians and their creatures, on the way down by crooked members of the forces of law and order. The fight is between crooks and honest citizens, between organization and disorganization, with the honest men running around in circles and the crooks driving straight ahead to greater power and wealth.”-Editorial, Saturday Evening Post.
Not long ago, Lewis E. Lawes, warden of Sing Sing prison, in speaking of the junior appearance of his charges, said: “As I look over my long line of prisoners, which shows no diminution, I ask myself whether I am running a juvenile home, a reformatory, or whether Sing Sing is really a prison for adults. Killers and gang leaders today are youngsters, either still in their teens or just turned twenty. The old games of hide and seek are still popular with our youngsters. Only now they play tag with the police. And from all indications the police are usually the losers. They don't seem to catch up with the fleet footed and nimble-minded criminals.” - New York Times Magazine.
Nor does education appear as an antidote for crime. A recent report indicates that from 20 to 25 per cent of the new admissions to Sing Sing are high-school graduates, while from the United States Bureau of Investigation, the statistics for the country as a whole indicate that approximately 45 per cent of the automobile thieves, and 40 per cent of the burglars are youth under twenty-one years of age.
The Universal Menace of Crime
While America has the unenviable distinction of leading the world in daring crime, other nations follow in the trail of increasing lawlessness. Speaking before the House of Commons on April 15, 1932, the Home Secretary for Great Britain stated that there had been “a very marked increase in the number of indictable offenses, which had risen from 2,700 for every 1,000,000 of the population before the war to 3,700 in 1931. There had been also a serious rise in the number of burglaries and robberies in London and in the number of 'smash-and-grab' raids, which had risen from a monthly average of 11 in 1925 to 31 in March, 1931. “ During one year, he stated, the number of criminal offenses was higher by 12,450 than for the preceding twelve months.
In many nations the rising tide of crime is a very real menace. Travel becomes more perilous, and the night takes on new terrors. The pocket automatic, the machine gun, the automobile, and the airplane constitute a deadly and baffling quartet; and contribute to a crime situation that should stir the nations. The clandestine sale of narcotics is another formidable enemy gnawing at the vitals of civilization. Ponder the tragedy as set forth in an authoritative statement:
“A tidal wave of poison, rising yearly and flooding America from coast to coast. One million victims, drawn away from the nation's youth, sucked to a living death-and nothing. Or so little that it amounts to nothing done to save them. This is the 'dope' situation as it exists in the United States, not in the flashy phrases of a newspaper writer, but in cold government reports. The United States to-day ranks second only to China and India as the world's largest per capita user of deadly narcotics. The range of ages of addicts was reported as from 12 to 75 years.” And remember, every addict is a potential criminal.
Encouraging Crime by Coddling the Culprit
If the above amazing statements are facts, if these are true pictures of the underworld, if thousands of the gangsters are listed and their hangouts known, why do not the people of America and the people of the world arise as one man to crush the leviathan of crime? The well known lines convey the answer in part: “Vice is a monster of so frightful mien, As to be hated needs but to be seen. Yet seen too oft, familiar with her face, We first endure, then pity, then embrace.”
We do not actually embrace the criminal; yet there is an easy tolerance of corruption in public life that encourages him. There is sometimes a false hero worship that glorifies him. There is a perverted emotionalism that pities him. And there is a blind psychology that would coddle and forgive him. At times, crusaders for righteousness arise to denounce crookedness in high places and call for swift execution of justice. Then if a certain racket proves too perilous, the gang syndicate yields to the pressure, and turns to other activities. When at length the crusade has spent its force, business in the underworld is quietly resumed.
The Racketeer in Prophecy
The strangle hold of the racketeer continues unbroken; while the forces of law and order appear powerless to intervene. This is but one of the serious problems that menace civilization, and that produce in world leaders such a feeling of helplessness. Says a popular writer: “There are more things at stake to-day than prosperity. There are a hundred voices of prophets crying that this is the and of capitalism, this is the end of civilization as we know it. I am afraid it may be worse than that. This may be the end of the story.”
Of such a time as this the prophet Isaiah wrote: “Their feet run to evil, and they make haste to shed innocent blood: their thoughts are thoughts of iniquity; wasting and destruction are in their paths.” “Judgment is turned away backward, and justice stands afar off: for truth is fallen in the street, and equity cannot enter.” “The earth also is defiled under the inhabitants thereof; because they have transgressed the laws, trampled the ordinance, broken the everlasting covenant.” Isaiah 59:7,14; 24:5.
What will be the outcome? Nearly two thousand years ago, He who knows the end from the beginning, foretold accurately the dire menace of the underworld today. “This know also,” states the prophecy, “that in the last days perilous times shall come.” Inspiration then presents a list of twenty forms of criminal life that would characterize “the last days.” This category includes “trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despising of those that are good, traitors,” etc., following which are the significant words, “but evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse.” 2 Timothy 3:13, 13.
During His visit to our world nineteen hundred years ago, Christ frequently spoke of His Second Coming at the end of the age. On one of these occasions, He used this vivid language: “As the days of Noah were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. For as in the days that were before the Flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered into the ark, and knew not until the Flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.” Matthew 24:37-39.
The antediluvians were careless and lawless. They despised the warnings and entreaties given through righteous Noah. While on the very verge of destruction, they danced, and banqueted, and committed folly. Says the Scripture record: “God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And it repented the Lord that He had made man on the earth, and it grieved Him at His heart. And the Lord said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth; both man, and beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air; for it repents Me that I have made them. But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord. The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence.” Genesis 6:5-11.
Darkest Before Dawn
Onward they rushed until the word went forth from heaven, “My Spirit shall not always strive with man.” “Behold, I will destroy them.” Verses 3, 13. Just how much longer the Spirit of God will strive
with twentieth-century mankind is not revealed. But we see the ominous clouds gathering. We know that ere long the door of mercy will close, and the curtain will fall upon human history. Are we ready in heart and life for the coming crisis?
The genuine Christian who believes his Bible and trusts his God is the truest optimist in the world. Earth's darkest hour comes just before the glorious dawn. On the morning of our Lord's return, there will be but two classes of people. One will cast his ill-gotten treasures to the winds and flee in terror from the divine presence, crying aloud, “The great day of His wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?” The other group will hail their coming Deliverer, exclaiming with supreme joy, “Lo, this is our God; we have waited for Him, and He will save us.” Revelation 6:14-17; Isaiah 25:9.
Christ responds, “Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation the world.” Matthew 25:34. In that homeland of His promise, none need fear the plotting underworld, the fiendish racketeer, the demon kidnaper, the corrupt judge, the faithless policeman, or the maddened drunkard.
Reader, no matter who you are, whether highly respected citizen or depraved villain, God loves you. There is but one name under heaven that can save you. Jesus died to redeem you. He “is able to keep you from falling, and It, present you faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy.” Jude 4.
TWO rival nations faced each other from opposite shores of the Mediterranean. I carry here peace and war,” said the chief of the Roman Embassy. “Choose, men of Carthage, which you will have.”
“Give us whichever you will,” flashed the retort. “War, then!“ said Fabius, dropping his toga; and the stage was immediately set for one of the most bitter and spectacular struggles of antiquity. Multitudes today are straining their vision for omens of coming weal or woe. What of the future? Will it bring war or peace? What is the significance of the unprecedented disquietude throughout the world? Who is wise enough to read the handwriting of passing events?
The Battle for Peace
From the dawn of history, the curse of war has menaced the nations, and the trail of blood and terrorism runs along the centuries. By every human device, men have striven for a warless world, but again and again their hopes have been dashed to pieces. Since the close of the World War, the statesmen of many nations have exerted surpassing effort in the perfection of peace machinery that would forever outlaw war.
The covenant of the League of Nations, signed by nearly sixty governments, holds rank among the greatest international documents as an antidote for war. To safeguard further the interests of peace, the Pact of Paris, known also as the Kellogg Pact, was indorsed by the entire civilized world. This famous treaty, remarkable also for its brevity, is most sweeping in its commitments.
“ARTICLE 1. The High Contracting Parties solemnly declare, in the names of their respective peoples, that they condemn recourse to war for the solution of international controversies, and renounce it as an instrument of national policy in their relations with one another.
“ARTICLE 2 The High Contracting Parties agree that the settlement or solution of all disputes or conflicts, of whatever nature or of whatever origin they may be, which may arise among them, shall never be sought except by pacific means.”
As this protocol received the signatures of sixty-one nations, telegraph wires, cables, and radios throughout the world vibrated with the optimistic tidings: “This treaty marks the end of war.”
“War is renounced unreservedly as an instrument of international policy.”
“Today international war was banished from civilization.”
“There has never before been so momentous an agreement for ostracizing war.”
“For the first time in the history of the world, world wide endless everlasting peace is to be had.”
For years Aristide Briand, “the apostle of peace,” enthusiastically promoted his plan for a United
States of Europe, until the world almost dreamed it was upon the borders of Utopia. On this side of the Atlantic, Herbert Hoover, then President of our nation, announced that “we are at the beginning of a golden age.” But the pendulum of world affairs has “swung swiftly, ominously, in the other direction.” The League of Nations has proved weak and helpless. The World Court has no international police organization to execute its decisions. These together with the Geneva Protocol, the Locarno Treaties, and the Kellogg Pact, are no longer considered strong enough to guarantee the structure of world peace.
The Temple of Mars
Numerous disarmament conferences have been convened, and world notables gather about the council tables. Delegates plead for drastic retrenchment in the armament race. Vast organizations representing millions of members in peace societies, religious groups, women’s dubs, and student associations, present their petitions in behalf of world peace. At the Geneva Disarmament Conference, a spokesman for the college youth of the world said:
“Fourteen years after the Armistice the glamour and heroism of that period fail to impress us. The swords have lost their brilliance; the helmets and shining buttons are tarnished. In fact, the whole glorious temple of Mars has crumbled into ashes.
“We are literally fighting for our lives. I stand before you as an attorney for the defense, begging for a reprieve. It is my generation which will be called upon to surrender all we consider worth while in life in order to become targets for machine-gun bullets and victims of the latest poison gases. It is the young men and women of my age who will be commanded to commit suicide. It is my generation which will be requested to destroy the best of human culture, perhaps civilization itself, for causes which future historians will discover to be erroneous, if not utterly stupid or actually vicious. We have lost interest in being prepared for cannon fodder. In a sense I am presenting an ultimatum rather than a petition. The students whom I represent are watching critically every action of this conference, for behind your deliberations stands staring down at us the specter of death.”
Most of these conferences have signally failed, while others have devoted their efforts to the discussion of such topics as the size of cruisers, the caliber of guns, the necessary wing spread of airplanes, the kind and quantity of gas to be used in killing, the construction of tanks, the amount of powder in a cartridge, and of almost everything save the actual elimination of warships, planes, tanks, and of war itself. The world plays with its destiny. Many have come to regard the disarmament conferences as a mere pageant or “comedy of peace,” while others denounce them as a burlesque upon justice, a dire tragedy of modern times, and the greatest human farce that the world has ever witnessed.
“The science of warfare,” says H. G. Wells, “has become a very active occupation. It is a sort of ugly and dwarfish twin sister of scientific research. The difference is that she tries to be secretive, and her ends are murderous.” In the phraseology of Alexandre Millerand, ex president of France, “we are marching to war behind banners of peace;” while Mussolini states the same ominous truth in the slogan, “Shouting for peace; preparing for war.”
A Frightful Dilemma
“One half of Europe,” runs a memorandum of the British Foreign Office, “is dangerously angry; the other half is dangerously afraid. All our late enemies continue full of resentment at what they have lost; all our late allies are fearful of losing what they have won.” Says J. Ramsay Macdonald: “At this moment Europe is being plowed and harrowed for another world war. Was ominous writing on a wall ever more plain than the events and tempers of to-day?” On the eve of his seventieth birthday, David Lloyd George declared: “I have seen the world in some difficulties, but never in such a ditch as to-day.”
Writing in the Review of Reviews, Mr. Frank H. Simons observes that all devices are useless when some nations are determined to keep what they have, and others are equally intent on regaining what they have lost. He further declares that the situation is “serious beyond the possibility of exaggeration.”
Says the trenchant British author, Sir Philip Gibbs: “It is not without mental anguish that 1 am bound to confess as an observer of facts that I do perceive the steady, quiet, and terrifying drift of European nations toward another convulsion of intertribal war. The League of Nations, the Kellogg Pact, the Locarno Pledge, are powerless to avert that abomination if present conditions and moods prevail unchecked and unchanged. Europe and its leaders are faced with a frightful dilemma which is a heritage of the Treaty of Versailles.”
Militarism is strangling the nations. There are to-day 10,000,000 more men under arms than before the Great War. The armaments of twenty-seven nations have been increased since 1914 by more than a billion dollars; and every year the march of modern science augments the powers of destruction. Faster and harder-hitting rifles are perfected; shells with greater explosive force; cannon with longer range and unerring accuracy; air bombers with larger capacity and deadlier gases; and huge, multiple turret tanks that advance like moving forts. An experiment conducted by the United States Army is reported in the following:
“A war tank with a 338-horse-power Liberty airplane motor, the weight of the tank 20,000 pounds, raced through icy ponds, over big logs, through barbed-wire entanglements, and battered down brick walls two feet thick, at forty-five miles an hour. Then, shedding its caterpillar track, it traveled over paved highways at seventy-five miles an hour.”
Aluminum Pilots With Radio Brains
In the words of a military expert, “the next war will strike like lightning.” “When Mars wears wings, robots will drop bombs over every city. Fifty planes flying low over Washington, spraying poison gas, would kill every living thing in half an hour. Not one of the planes would need a human pilot! Incendiary bombs and poison gas may safely be trusted to the hands of automatons. Instead of human beings, aluminum pilots with radio brains would sit at the controls. A human pilot, following ten miles behind in another plane, could control by radio both the movements of the leading planes and the dropping of the bombs they carried.” - Liberty magazine.
Every unit of this radio-guided air fleet will be able to drop bombs many times more destructive than the largest shell ever hurled from siege gun or howitzer. In this way, tons of nitrogen explosives, mustard gas, or thermite bombs to start fires, might suddenly throw a whole city or nation into pandemonium, and within a few hours destroy the lives of millions. Or, death-dealing plague gems might be scattered broadcast to speedily paralyze an entire continent.
Should war break out between France and Germany, experts believe that within a few days the great cities of great nations would be in ruins, the fleets would be at the bottom of the sea, and armies would be driven into dugouts, and the governments of one or both countries would be swept away in a whirlwind of terror. The enemy who struck first and hardest might then dictate his arbitrary terms of peace to win a great war in less than a week.
In the light of such possibilities, Major K. A. Bratt, author of “That Next War,” warns the armament-building nations that they are “on the road to annihilation,” and declares, “The white races, the civilized races, cannot survive the next war.” More than a half century ago, the great English poet, Alfred Tennyson, drew a pen picture that seems almost prophetic:
“I dipped into the future, far as human eye could see.
Saw the vision of the world, and all the wonder that would be.
Saw the heavens filled with commerce, argosies of magic sails.
Pilots of the purple twilight, dropping down with costly bales.
Heard the heavens fill with shouting, and there rained a ghastly dew.
From the nations' airy navies grappling in the central blue.
Far along the world wide whisper of the south wind rushing warm.
With the standards of the peoples plunging through the thunderstorm.
Till the war drums throbbed no longer, and the battle flags were furled.
In the parliament of man, the federation of the world.”
His vision of the “airy navies” is already a fact; but the hush of the war drums, the furling of battle flags, and “the federation of the world,” seem further from realization than ever before. A voice from old Egypt speaks: “Behold, these great powers ruining themselves in terrifying armaments; measuring each other's strength with defiant glances. Menacing each other; contracting alliances which they continually break and which presage those terrible shocks which overturn the world and cover it with ruins, fire, and blood!” – “The Awakening of the Islamic Peoples,” by Yahya Siddyk.
From a current magazine editorial published in the land of Confucius comes this striking paragraph: “Mankind must co6perate or perish. Unfortunately the war mind still exists. Each new military dictatorship that springs up is a symptom of its existence. Instead of thinking in terms of a peaceful world, nations are still inclined to think in terms of a warlike world. Statesmen know that the only result of another world war will be collapse. Victor and vanquished will go down in a common ruin.”
An Astonishing Paradox
Says Mr. J. L. Garvin, distinguished editor of the London Observer: “The contradiction between peace and armaments is the staggering paradox of the time. When we look out upon the state of the world, we perceive that in the epoch of the League there is a more glaring contrast between words and deeds than was ever before known in the affairs of man.”
This “staggering paradox” of our day is in full accord with the seemingly paradoxical prophecies of scripture which depict the international status of to-day. One of these Biblical forecasts presents the attitude of “many people” in the following language: “Many people shall go and say, Come you, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob. And He will teach us of His ways, and we will walk in His paths: for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. And He shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people; and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.” Isaiah 2:3,4.
With this attitude of “many people,” contrast God's military preview of the world just prior to earth's final harvest: “Proclaim you this among the Gentiles. Prepare war, wake up the mighty men, let all the men of war draw near. Let them come up: beat your plowshares into swords, and your pruning hooks into spears: let the weak say, I am strong. Assemble yourselves, and come, all you heathen, and gather yourselves together round about: thither cause Thy mighty ones to come down, 0 Lord.” “Put you in the sickle, for the harvest is ripe: come, get you down; for the press is full, the fats overflow; for their wickedness is great. Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision: for the day of the Lord is near in the valley of decision.” Joel 3:9-11, 13,14.
The Signet of Authenticity
This graphic forecast with its view of the “sickle,” the “harvest,” and “the day of the Lord,” establishes the time of fulfillment as immediately preceding the Second Coming of Christ. While many high-minded legislators and statesmen earnestly labor for world peace, the war departments of the nations work with fevered haste in the race for destructive supremacy. How could divine prophecy be more accurately and explicitly fulfilled!
Here is an astounding situation. This age of peace propaganda, of intellectual and scientific attainments, is likewise characterized by the most surpassing tribute to Mars. Yet the Great Book foretells this strange paradox. Both the unprecedented peace movements and the unprecedented preparations for war appear as exact facsimiles of God's blue print for our day. The divine signet of authenticity is unmistakable, for the fulfillment is in duplicate. “This is the finger of God.”
Looking down the centuries to our time, the Son of God beheld the “distress of nations, with perplexity,” and “men's hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth.” Luke 21:25,26. He also declared that these conditions would exist as a prelude to His glorious Second Coming. Speaking of this same time, the ancient prophet declared:
“My anguish, my anguish! I am pained at my very heart; my heart is disquieted in me. I cannot hold my peace; because thou has heard, 0 my soul, the sound of the trumpet, the alarm of war.” Jeremiah 4:19, A. R. V. John the revelator was given a view of the time when the kingdoms of this world will “become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of His Christ.” But just before that happy sequel, what did he see throughout the world?
“The nations were angry, and Thy wrath is come, and the time of the dead, that they should be judged, and that Thou should give reward unto Thy servants the prophets, and to the saints, and them that fear Thy name, small and great. And should destroy them that destroy the earth.” Revelation 11: 15,18.
Fragile Pledges
In fulfillment, we look upon a world gripped by fear. The peace machinery is elaborately perfected, but in the language of Mr. Macdonald of England, “Every treaty is holy; but no treaty is eternal.”
“Will any form of prohibition,” asks Stanley Baldwin, “whether by convention, treaty, agreement, or anything you like, not to bomb be effective in war? Quite frankly, I doubt it. If a man has a potential weapon and has his back to the wall and is going to be killed, he will use that weapon whatever it is and whatever undertaking he has given about it. Experience has shown us that the stern test of war will break down all conventions.” Yes, during the past quarter of a century, the world has been strewn with shattered treaties.
National leaders hear the ominous rumble of the war machine, and would gladly turn aside the peril if they could find a way. But with all the paraphernalia of the League of Nations, the World Court, treaties, covenants, peace pacts, associations, and foundations, national ambitions and race hatreds are not curbed. In the name of patriotism ruthless dictatorships still play with fire and excite the fierce passions of their partisans by the use of such rallying cries as, “No honor without battle.” “Violence is moral when it is
as sudden as a storm. “ and, “There is no higher or finer privilege for a woman than that of sending her children to war.”
A War to End War
Ask the nations individually if they want war; the answer is invariably “No.” Yet, with few exceptions, every one asserts that it must establish a strong military machine in the interest of “self-defense.” And so long as unregenerate human nature holds the reins of power, there can be but one thing ahead -international strife leading to Armageddon. Of that final clash of armaments which is to occur during the pouring out of the seven last plagues, the Bible speaks:
“They are the spirits of devils, working miracles, which go forth unto the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty. And He gathered them together into a place called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon.” Revelation 16:14-16.
The term “Armageddon” was an ancient name for the hill, or mount, of Megiddo, which overlooks the plain of Esdraelon, the historic battle ground of northern Palestine. It commanded the ancient international highway of southwestern Asia and has been called the “military key of Syria.” The Holy Land, this “time-honored storm center of the Eastern Mediterranean,” is also recognized as a strategic point in modern political affairs and religious rivalries. As a destined place of strife and bloodshed, prophecy points to this pivotal spot in Palestine and the Near East as the great international storm center in the final conflagration.
If anyone asserts that the world is upon the eve of universal peace that the nations are about to solve all their international problems by arbitration, or that Christ will descend to reign as king of a partly reformed, partly sinful planet, believe it not, for it is wholly unscriptural. A peace and safety cry under present conditions is entirely deceptive and premature.
The coming crisis, by far the greatest and most frightful that this globe has ever witnessed, will be brief. For just as human turmoil and madness overflow the cup of crime, the limits of divine mercy are reached, probation closes, and the Prince of Peace appears upon the scene to settle the controversy and to deliver His loyal people. Then will the entire world order be completely transformed and redeemed. Throughout His endless reign there will be no diplomatic intrigues or ultimatum, no racial jealousies or rumors of terror, no menace of submarine or poison gas, no treasonable insurrections or spilling of crimson lifeblood, for in heart and mind the whole universe of God will be in complete disarmament. Best of all, concerning that glorious outcome, there are no mystic uncertainties; for the future estate is as sure as the promises of God.
“You soldiers of Almighty God.
That wage courageous war.
Upon a thousand battle fronts.
Mid dust and smoke and gore.
Think not in vain the sacrifice.
The effort or the tear.
Though rough the way and long the day.
For victory is near.
Then forward in the final charge
With ranks unbroken, strong.
Though fierce and bitter is the fight.
It will not be for long.
Our God has never lost a war.
In Him our trust shall be.
And in His power we'll claim this hour.
The final victory.
Edward I. Urquhart
S0 LONG have the white races dominated the world that we almost forget that leadership was not always theirs. Yet for more than half the span of history, the dark-skinned peoples were in the ascendancy. During recent years, however, archeology has made marvelous discoveries in the valleys of the Nile and Euphrates; and the modern world looks with unfeigned amazement upon the culture, knowledge, and achievement of that remote antiquity. Of Eastern Asia, history also speaks:
“In an age when Athens was still a village and Rome was not yet built, when Britain was still outside the world, and Gaul was but a wilderness roamed by savages, China was already a civilized land where people rode round in carriages, lived in well-built houses, dressed in silk, wore leather shoes, sat on chairs, ate food from plates, measured time by a sun dial, and carried umbrellas.” “This Believing World,” by Lewis Browne.
At an early period, they likewise possessed the compass and employed the art of printing from movable blocks. Fifteen centuries before the advent of steam navigation, their ocean going ships with sixty private passenger cabins, many waterproof cargo compartments, and a crew of two or three hundred sailors, carried on regular commerce with Japan, the Philippines, Malaysia, and, according to certain accounts, with India also. With the passing of time, Asian culture declined and decayed. Stolid, stupefied millions slept on and on down the centuries. Then what an awakening! The “unchanged East” throws off its slumber robes and arises with the throb of a new life.
The Epic of Modern Japan
In 1853, Commodore Perry with his little American naval squadron, steamed into Tokyo Bay to deliver a message from the president of the United States to the emperor of Japan. Excitement and consternation gripped both officials and populace; so the commodore sailed away with the promise that he would visit them again the following spring. On his return, a treaty was concluded which served as the entering wedge in gradually opening the gates of primitive Japan to the influences, education, and commerce of the world. Forty years later, when hostilities broke out between China and Japan, the “island dwarfs,” as the Chinese disparagingly called them, moved with such swiftness and precision that the victory by land and sea was won before the giant was really prepared to fight.
Another decade passed, and Japan matched swords with Russia (1904-1905). With the empire of the czar, distance, half-heartedness, and corrupt officials were severe handicaps; while with the little brown men, it was a life and death struggle. From one end of their country to the other, the fire of intense patriotism burned brightly; and for the first time in the history of the world, the white men engaged in a major conflict were vanquished by the efficient war machine of a Mongolian race. From that time onward, Japan was accorded a place as an important member in the family of modern nations. She had found her place in the sun.
Less than one hundred years ago, “the Land of the Rising Sun” was an obscure Asiatic country with 'gates tightly dosed against the industry and life of the busy world without. But the West forced itself upon her; and after some years of hesitancy, Japan made such rapid strides that she was soon elevated to the most dominant position in the Far East. Her merchant marine carries a large share of the freight and passengers of the North Pacific; her ships are to be found in every important seaport of the world; while her navy ranks as one of the most formidable in existence. Of all the mighty developments of the past remarkable century, none surpass the magic transformation of Japan.
What of the future? With a population of nearly 70,000,000, with a large surplus of births over deaths, and with the narrow limits of her little island empire, the problem of overpopulation becomes increasingly acute. For this overflow, the United States' Canada, and Australia offer no haven. Many have gone to China; but the vast millions already jostling in the streets of old Cathay leave little room for the stranger. So Japan, who once made Korea her threshold, now extends her corridors throughout Manchuria.
China would repel the invader, but strikes in vain. Soviet Russia has important railway and commercial interests in Manchukuo. Half of the Manchurian frontier touches the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics; and a clash of conflicting interests seems inevitable. An article in a well-known magazine contains the following:
“The more fanatic sort of Japanese imperialist has always dreamed of expansion by way of Russia, and now, when a victory over Russia would be popular in Europe, might seem the time to act. Two great hatreds would be involved in such a struggle -an economic and a racial hatred. Two great antagonisms that between communism and capitalism and that between European and Asiatic-would merge in a single conflict.” Many ask, Is Japan to have her undisputed way with China and her possessions? The
distinguished writer, Mr. J. L. Garvin, replies:
“Those zealous and indignant protesters who ask what is to be done about Japan merely beat the thin air. There is not even an audience to hear their question. Who can do anything? What can be done? The Far East is in the melting pot. There are problems to be solved of endless consequence to millions of people. What should be is a matter of no practical value. The only practical thing is the fact as it is. That the initiative m the Far East rests with Japan.”
The Paradox of China
Since the days of Robert Morrison and J. Hudson Taylor, much water has flowed down the Yangtze, and the country they knew is very unlike the China of today. Its great seaports throb with industry and commerce. Millions of boys and girls are in attendance at schools patterned after the Western model. For more than a generation, railways, river steamships, and telegraph lines have served many parts of the interior. In numerous sections, automobile roads are being constructed, while regular passenger and airmail lanes connect many of the principal cities.
“China assays high-grade ore when it comes to brains.” Yet the country presents a puzzle and a paradox. It is a colossus in area and population, yet weak in power. It possesses natural resources of fabulous wealth, yet is miserably impoverished. Countless millions of her people are industrious, yet pitiably destitute. They are generally honest and dependable in private business, yet too often unscrupulous and inefficient in public affairs. As merchants and traders, they are unsurpassed; yet a majority of the leaders display little aptitude for modern states craft and disinterested loyalty.
It is a sorry spectacle that the poorest nation on the globe should support the largest standing armies. The rival intriguing war lords have brought the country to the verge of ruin. Without a strong central government, with little unity of purpose, with a depleted national treasury, with little patriotism among the masses, and with the tragic inroads of Bolshevism, the administration of modern China is a desperate struggle. Yet here is a people constituting more than a fourth of the human race, who are physically stalwart, who possess intellectual power, and who are not deficient in martial prowess, as is amply demonstrated.. With multitudes, too, the spirit of “China for the Chinese' “ develops in intensity. Give them a great leader under whom they would all unite, and the erstwhile sleeping giant might become a power that would challenge the respect and admiration of the world.
From Admiration to Bitterness
For centuries, the Portuguese, Dutch, French, and English struggled to obtain a permanent foothold in India. Approximately one hundred fifty years ago, the latter were victorious, and the “land of the purdah” became in fact a protectorate of the British Empire. For several decades following the French Revolution the spirit of liberty was idealized by many Asian scholars. A whole-hearted friendship, akin to love, was sensed by many of the East, who poured out their admiration for the West as the great emancipator of the human race.
But gradually the ambition and greed of Europe destroyed this generous friendship, and bitterness took the place of rejoicing. “The West cut at the roots of the old affection and made its foliage wither.” Says the great Indian poet, Rabindranath Tagore:
“At the moment when the West came to our door, the whole of Asia was asleep, the darkness of night had fallen over her life. Her lights were dim, her voice mute. She had stored up in her vaults her treasure, no longer growing. She had her wisdom shut in her books. She was not producing living thoughts or fresh forms of beauty. She was not moving forward but endlessly revolving around her past.
“When I was young, we were all full of admiration for Europe, with its high civilization and its vast scientific progress, and especially for England which had brought this civilization to our doors. We had come to know England through her glorious literature, which had brought a new inspiration into our young lives. But during the interval that followed there came a rude awakening. We came to know at close quarters the Western mentality in its unscrupulous aspect of exploitation, and it revolted us more and more. During the present century, and especially since the European War, this evil seems to have grown still worse, and our bitterness of heart has increased.
“Those who live in England, away from the East, have now got to recognize that Europe has completely lost her former prestige in Asia. She is no longer regarded as the champion throughout the world of fair dealing and the exponent of high principle, but rather as the upholder of Western race supremacy and the exploiter of those outside her own borders. For Europe it is, in actual fact, a great moral defeat.” – “India and the Simon Report!”
In a letter to the viceroy of India, Mahatma Gandhi, the eminent spokesman for his countrymen, wrote: “And why do I regard British rule as a curse? It has impoverished the dumb millions by a system of progressive exploitation and by the ruinously expensive military and civil administration which the country can never afford. It has reduced us politically to serfdom. It has sapped the foundations of our culture and by the policy of disarmament it has degraded us spiritually. Lacking inward strength, we have been reduced by all but universal disarmament to a state bordering on cowardly helplessness. The British system seems to be designed to crush the very life out of him (the Indian peasant). Even the salt he must use to live is so taxed as to make the burden fall heaviest upon him.” - Idem.
Writing of the National Movement under the inspiration of Gandhi's dominating personality, Mr. C. F. Andrews says: “The awakening of the masses under his leadership has brought about a new India which is seeking by its own inner urge to find self-expression. It can never be forced back into an outworn and discarded mold. To fail to deal adequately with such a national upheaval as this, affecting millions of human lives, is almost like acting the play of 'Hamlet' with the character of Hamlet left out. For, now at last, this new force is coming in like a flood, not only in India but all over Asia; and those who fail to reckon with it are like children building castles on the sand which will be washed away by the next tide.”-Idem.
In Full Revolt
Throughout Afghanistan, Persia, Arabia, Palestine, and Northern Africa, national passions long dormant are now aflame with a new intensity. “The Orient to-day is full of transition, flux, ferment, more sudden and profound than any it has hitherto known. The world of Islam, mentally and spiritually quiescent for almost a thousand years, is once more astir, once more on the march.” “The New World of Islam” page 300.
Both traditionally and geographically, Turkey regards herself as “the spearhead of the Asian revolt against the West.” “Asia is now in full revolt,” declares another writer. “European policy toward the Asiatic peoples prepared it long ago. European force, tyranny, and profiteering have struck deep into the Asiatic soul. How deep nobody can at present say with certainty.” – “That Next War,” pages 135, 136.
“The conduct of the most Christian powers,” declares the well-known publicist, Sidney Low, “has borne a striking resemblance to that of robber bands descending upon an unarmed and helpless population of peasants. So far from respecting the rights of other nations, they have exhibited the most complete and cynical disregard for them.” Of such conditions, Dr. E. J. Dillon writes: “The problem is one of life and death-a veritable sphinx question to those most nearly concerned. For, no race, however inferior it may be, will consent to famish slowly in order that other people may fatten and take their ease, especially if it has a good chance to make a fight for life.” - Contemporary Review.
In his book, The Rising Tide of Color,” Lothrop Stoddard observes that “Chinese scholars, Japanese professors, Hindu pundits, Turkish journalists, and Afro-American editors,” one and all, mingle their voices in a chorus of hate and scorn. And when it is remembered that the yellow, brown, black, and red men outnumber the Caucasians two to one, it is not surprising to hear the Oriental declare that “the world was not made for the white races, but for the other races as well.”
The peace treaties following the World War contributed in part to this alienation of feeling. “During the war years the Allied statesmen had officially proclaimed times without number that the war was being fought to establish a new world order based on such principles as the rights of small nations and the liberty of all peoples. These pronouncements had been treasured and memorized throughout the East. When, therefore, the East saw a peace settlement based, not upon those high professions, but upon the imperialistic secret treaties, it was fired with a moral indignation and sense of outraged justice never known before. A tide of impassioned determination began rising which has already set the entire East in tumultuous ferment, and which seems merely the premonitory ground swell of a greater storm.”
The loss of prestige suffered by the West in that terrific struggle is hard to fully comprehend. Says Yone Noguchi, a Japanese writer: “It means the saddest downfall of the so-called Western civilization; our belief that it was built upon a higher and sounder footing than ours was at once knocked down and killed!”
When “the white world was tearing itself to pieces,” writes Stoddard, “the legend of white invincibility lay, a fallen idol, in the dust.” And again: “Dragons' teeth have been sown over both Europe and Asia, and unless they be plucked up they will presently grow a crop of cataclysms which will seal the white world's doom.” He adds that unless some understanding is reached, “the world will drift into a
gigantic race war-and genuine race war means war to the knife.”
Russia Faces East
For centuries the Russian Empire was considered a member of the family of white nations. But with the establishment of the Soviet government came an entire change of policy. One of her leading spokesmen gave the startling signal announcement: “You are going to help the Eastern peoples shake off the yoke of foreign domination.”
“The strongest 'white' nation in extent, resources, and population, has definitely switched sides. Her activities in Asia are not mere flanking skirmishes to annoy the hated powers of Europe. The Western peoples find it difficult to understand that Russia has actively and irrevocably thrown in her lot with the Asian peoples, and is not so much engaged in destructive efforts against the influence of the Powers in the Eastern Hemisphere' as in building up effective allies for her future world policy. A little group in Russia possessed half by idealism, half by a mania for power, and driving their huge nation to serve their purposes, thus becomes the agent of destiny in bringing the eventful era of domination by the white race to its volt of Asia,” pages 122,127.
The longest railway constructed since the war is 1,700 miles in length, and connects Russia with Turkestan and Central Asia. The Moscow government seeks eagerly and with much success to form alliances with Turkey, Persia, and other Asiatic peoples. Throughout these lands, as well as in India and China, her agents tour extensively to preach and extol the merits of the Soviet system; while tons of Bolshevist literature in many languages are scattered among the awakening races of the Near East and the Far East.
Of such a period of unrest and turmoil among the nations of the past, it is written: “In those times there was no peace to him that went out, nor to him that came in, but great vexations were upon all the inhabitants of the countries. And nation was destroyed of nation, and city of city: for God did vex them with all adversity.” 2 Chronicles 15:5,6.
When the white man's authority crumbles, and his leadership in world affairs is threatened, what does it all mean? Is some other race to assume the ascendancy? Statesmen are baffled; and were it not for the searchlight of divine prophecy focused upon the momentous events of today, the future would be but a dark unknown. The Book of God speaks to the men and women of this generation in language that none should fail to understand. Long ago a spokesman for God declared:
“Proclaim you this among the Gentiles; Prepare war, wake up the mighty men, let all the men of war draw near; let them come up. Beat your plowshares into swords, and your pruning hooks into spears; let the weak say, I am strong. Let the heathen be wakened, and come up to the Valley of Jehoshaphat: for there will I sit to judge all the heathen round about.” Joel 3:9-12.
The Drama of Modern Asia
What a vivid pen picture of events now transpiring in Asia! Twenty seven centuries have elapsed since that forecast was given. For twenty-seven centuries “the heathen,” “the Gentiles,” the idolatrous multitudes who knew not God, slumbered on; but now they awaken to “the sound of the trumpet, the alarm of war.” Wondrous changes in thought, in education, in ideals, in industry, occur everywhere. These transformations in the populous lands of the Orient stand in amazing contrast to the conditions of yesterday.
The drama of modern Asia is big with meaning. The convalescent struggling of these ancient peoples reverberate throughout the world, and constitute a notable sign of' the times; for this awakening, according to prophecy, was to occur just prior to the announcement, “Put you in the sickle, for the harvest is ripe.” And what is the meaning of “harvest” time? Christ Jesus Himself makes reply, “The harvest is the end of the world.” Joel 3:13; Matthew 13:39.
Looking upon these harvest fields of earth, the prophet continues: “Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision: for the day of the Lord is near in the valley of decision.” Joel 3:14. Our Lord's prophetic code is unmistakably dear. The storm clouds gather. In his vivid description of the closing scenes of earth, a New Testament prophet, John the revelator, predicted the drying up of the great river Euphrates, “that the way of the kings of the East might: be prepared.” For centuries that river with its tributaries was looked upon as a symbol of Asiatic Turkey; while “the drying up of the Euphrates,” in the words of the able scholar, H. Grattan Guinness, “has long been understood to refer to the wasting away of the Turkish power.”
“The Kings of the East”
In fulfillment of Scripture, consider the history of the Turk for the last one hundred years. Little by little his authority has diminished, his vast territories have dwindled, until but a small part remains. Europe, forcing its way through the heart of Ottoman territory' seized the Red Sea route to southern and eastern Asia. The original “kings of the East,” India, China, and Japan, were then joined by England, France, Italy, United States of America, and others. These nations having important interests in Asia and Africa, likewise become “kings of the East.” Even so, in the coming struggle, designated in Holy Writ as Armageddon, the prophet beheld the “kings of the earth and of the whole world” gathered “to the battle of that great day of God Almighty.” See Revelation 16: 12,14,16. In modern, twentieth-century Asia, the stage is set for just such a titanic struggle. In 1805, Napoleon the Great observed: It is in Asia that the destinies of Europe will one day be decided.” But many centuries prior to Napoleon's day, our heavenly Father declared that the great final clash of armies would occur at Armageddon, or the plain of Megiddo in western Asia.
In this death grapple, according to the prophecy, “the whole world” is to be involved. Before the days when steam and electricity were harnessed for the service of man, such an assembling of armed forces would hardly have been possible. But now with the globe so shrunken in dimensions, with the sleeping East awakened, and with the political and commercial relations so complex, no people may live unto themselves. Our “neighbors” embrace the world.
The march of events throughout the Near East and the Far East remarkably confirm the inspiration of Scripture, and proclaim to the world that the Second Coming of Christ is at hand. Does this find you, dear reader, in the valley of decision, or in the valley of indecision? Multitudes may go wrong. It remains for you and me individually to decide aright. Now is our day of opportunity to thoroughly study God's message, and be prepared for the thrilling issues of the eventful future.
ONE of the most fascinating, dramatic narratives of antiquity contains wisdom for statesmen of today. More than 2,500 years ago, when Babylon was marching to heights of greatness, the youthful and ambitious Nebuchadnezzar occupied the throne. Among his numerous military expeditions, one was directed against Judah, the ancient homeland of the Hebrews. Jerusalem, the scat of government, was captured, and many of its people were carried to Babylon as trophies of victory. The king directed his officers to make a careful selection of the most promising captive youth, that they might pursue a three years' course of study in the royal university. He also ordered his chef to provide them the same bill of fare as was supplied to His Majesty's household.
Among these favored Hebrew princes were four young men whom the lure of riches could not buy and the gay life of Babylon's palaces could not seduce. Daniel and his companions resolutely held to the words of divine counsel: “Look not thou upon the wine when it is red;” also, “Them that honor Me I will honor, and they that despise Me shall be lightly esteemed.” At all costs, these youth resolved to be loyal to principle in eating, in drinking, and in every experience of life. With God's signal blessing they became brilliant students in the Babylonian college of statesmanship, were graduated with highest honors, and were accepted among the scholars of the realm.
A Crisis at Court
During those eventful years, Nebuchadnezzar's forces were victorious on every battle front. While other armies of builders and artisans at home were remodeling Babylon to become a metropolis of marvelous beauty. By day Nebuchadnezzar planned for a world league of empires; by night he dreamed of increasing glory. One dream differed from all others; but when morning dawned, the details had slipped from the monarch's mind; still, a conviction of its wondrous import remained. He felt that he must know its meaning.
A royal summons was immediately issued to the scholarly Chaldeans, the clever magicians, the pretentious astrologers, and the mystic sorcerers who professed communion with the spirits of the dead. But none of these could assist the young king in his dilemma. What an evidence of God's providence in exposing the utter folly of occult science or human devising to forecast the future! Convinced of the fraud and imposition that was being practiced, the king in his disappointed fury branded them all as a cult of impious pretenders who were worthy of death.
The crisis involved Daniel and his companions. As leader of the little Hebrew group, he requested
a short suspension of sentence, and with his friends appealed to the God of heaven for help and wisdom. On the following day, this youth stood before the mightiest monarch of the age, and humbly, yet confidently declared: “There is a God in heaven that reveals secrets, and makes known to the king Nebuchadnezzar what shall be in the latter days. Thy dream, and the visions of thy head upon thy bed, are these. As for thee, 0 king, thy thoughts came into thy mind upon thy bed, what should come to pass hereafter; and He that reveals secrets makes known to thee what shall come to pass.” Daniel 2:28, 29.
Naturally, the king's mind wrestled with the problems of the future: “What should come to pass hereafter?” Who would succeed him on the throne? Would his empire stand the assault of enemies within and without? With the march of centuries, would it flourish or crumble? Here Daniel indicated that God, who reads the mind and heart, was sending an answer to the unspoken thoughts of Nebuchadnezzar. And that all might know that there is nothing mystical or doubtful concerning the revelation, the young prophet added: “The dream is certain, and the interpretation thereof sure.”
Narrating the Forgotten Dream
In that brief interview, the events of more than twenty five hundred years were unfolded; and what the human historian requires volumes to recount is here given in fifteen verses of Scripture. Without fear or hesitation, Daniel continued:
“Thy dream, and the visions of thy head upon thy bed, are these. Thou, 0 king, saw and behold a great image. This great image, whose brightness was excellent, stood before thee. And the form thereof was terrible. This image's head was of fine gold, his breast and his arms of silver, his belly and his thighs of brass, his legs of iron, his feet part of iron and part of clay. Thou saw till that a stone was cut out without hands, which smote the image upon his feet that were of iron and day, and brake them to pieces. And the stone that smote the image became a great mountain, and filled the whole earth!' Daniel 2:28-35.
With equal confidence the young spokesman proceeded to outline in prophetic miniature the history of the world. “This is the dream;” he said, “and we will tell the interpretation thereof before the king. Thou, 0 king, art a king of kings: for the God of heaven hath given thee a kingdom, power, and strength, and glory. Thou art this head of gold.” Daniel 2:36-38.
“The Lady of Kingdoms”
How appropriately the golden head symbolized the Babylonian Empire! A century before, the gospel prophet had described it as “the glory of kingdoms, the beauty of the Chaldees' excellency.” Isaiah 13:19. Frequently termed, “the golden kingdom of a golden age,” its capital city was likewise a marvel of plan and execution:
“Situated in the garden of the East. Laid out in a perfect square sixty miles in circumference, fifteen miles on each side; surrounded by a wall three hundred and fifty feet high and eighty seven feet thick, with a moat, or ditch, around this, of equal cubic capacity with the wall itself. Divided into six hundred and seventy-six squares, each two and a quarter miles in circumference, by its fifty streets, each one hundred and fifty feet in width, crossing each other at right angles, twenty-five running each way, every one of them straight and level and fifteen miles in length. Its two hundred and twenty-five square miles of enclosed surface, divided as just described, laid out in luxuriant pleasure grounds and gardens, interspersed with magnificent dwellings. This city, with its sixty miles of moat, its sixty miles of outer wall, its thirty miles of river wall through its center, its hundred and fifty gates of solid brass, its hanging gardens, rising terrace above terrace, till they equaled in height the walls themselves. Its temple of Belus, three miles in circumference, its two royal palace, one three and a half, and the other eight miles in circumference, with its subterranean tunnel under the River Euphrates connecting these two palaces, its perfect arrangements for convenience, ornament, and defense, and its unlimited resources. This city, containing in itself many things which were themselves wonders of the world, was itself another and still mightier wonder.” – “Daniel and the Revelation,” pages 53, 54.
Of such a city, Nebuchadnezzar, its builder, exclaimed, “Is not this great Babylon, that I have built?” The echo and complement of this proud boast may be read to-day from hundreds of clay and stone tablets that archeologists have unearthed. As examples of these inscriptions, observe the following:
“For the astonishment of men 1 have built this house. Those portals for the astonishment of multitudes of people with beauty I adorned. In order that the battle storm to Imgrur-Bel the wall of Babylon might not reach; What no king before me had done.” - East India House Inscription. “Thus I completely made strong the defenses of Babylon. May it last forever.” - Rawlinson, “Fourth Monarchy,” Appendix A.
“The Silver Monarchy”
How easy and flattering it would have been to tell the king that his empire would never be overthrown! To suggest anything else might have been regarded as high treason. But Daniel was not there to count the cost or to secure royal favor. His outline of God's program for the nations continued: “After thee shall arise another kingdom inferior to thee.”
Approximately sixty-seven years after this message was given, and while Daniel was yet living, the Medo-Persians conquered the queenly Babylon, slew King Belshazzar, and took for themselves the riches and resources of the empire. Under the leadership of such able rulers as Cyrus and Darius, Persia extended its sway from Ethiopia on the west to India on the east, a territory embracing a hundred twenty-seven provinces. While greater in extent, Medo-Persia was “inferior” to Babylon in brilliancy and grandeur, even as silver is inferior to gold.
The Empire of Alexander
Pausing not to extol the greatness of fleeting earthly kingdoms, the youthful prophet pointed to “another third kingdom of brass, which shall bear rule over all the earth.” These words, “over all the earth,” indicated a yet wider expanse of empire. In fulfillment, behold the meteoric rise of Greece and the passing of world leadership from Asia to Europe. Alexander the Great, the mightiest conqueror of antiquity, overwhelmed the Persians in three great battles, the final and decisive engagement occurring at Arbela in 331 BC. Thenceforth Grecian civilization and language spread throughout the countries of the ancient world.
Plutarch, the Roman historian, tells that Alexander the Great, “who shot like a star, with incredible swiftness, from the rising to the setting sun, was meditating to bring the luster of his arms into Italy. He had heard of the Roman power in Italy.” – “Morals,” article, “Fortune of the Romans,” paragraph 13. The celebrated Greek writer, Arrian, features Alexander as “lord of all the earth;” and adds: “I am persuaded, there was no nation, city, nor people then in being, whither his name did not reach. For which reason, whatever origin he might boast of, or claim to himself, there seems to me to have been some divine hand presiding both over his birth and actions.” – “History of Alexander's Expedition,” book 7, chapter 30.
The sides of brass fittingly represented the “brazen mailed” Greeks, popular in ancient song and poetry, “Among the foremost, armed in glittering brass.” Neither was Greece to stand forever. At the early age of thirty-two years and eight months, Alexander died, the victim of a drunken fever, leaving his sword “to the strongest.”
The Monarchy of Rome
“Westward the course of empire takes its way.” On the banks of the Tiber, a sturdy people had been gathering strength for almost six centuries; and when at Pydna, in 168 BC, the Roman legion annihilated the Greek phalanx, Rome took its place as the master of the world. Said Daniel:
“The fourth kingdom shall be strong as iron: forasmuch as iron breaks in pieces and subdues all things: and as iron that breaks all these, shall it break in pieces and bruise.” Daniel 2:40. Employing the very symbolism and imagery of Scripture, the agnostic historian Gibbon describes the Roman conquests:
“The arms of the republic, sometimes vanquished in battle, always victorious in war, advanced with rapid steps to the Euphrates, the Danube, the Rhine, and the ocean. And the images of gold, or silver, or brass, that might serve to represent the nations and their kings, were successively broken by the iron monarchy of Rome.” – “The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire,” chapter 38. (Italics ours.)
“As iron that breaks” is the strongest of these metals, so this kingdom is shown in prophecy to be more powerful than its predecessors. Strabo, the noted geographer during the reign of Tiberius Caesar, said: “The Romans have surpassed (in power) all former rulers of whom we have any record.” – “Geography,” book 17, chapter 3, page 295.
The martyr bishop, Hippolytus, who lived at Rome in the third century of our era, saw in “the iron monarchy” a fulfillment of Daniel's prophecy: “Already the iron rules; already it subdues and breaks all in pieces. Already it brings all the unwilling into subjection; already we see these things ourselves.” – “Treatise on Christ and Antichrist,” section 33. He likewise, upon the authority of the word, envisioned the dissolution of Rome, and wrote of the kingdoms that were yet to rise out of it.
The Nations of Modern Europe
In Daniel's interpretation, he clearly indicated that even the mighty Caesars of Rome were not destined to rule the world forever: for, “whereas thou saw the feet and toes, part of potters' clay, and part of iron, the kingdom shall be divided. But there shall be in it of the strength of the iron, forasmuch as thou saw the iron mixed with miry clay. And as the toes of the feet were part of iron, and part of clay, so the kingdom shall be partly strong, and partly broken” (margin, “brittle”). Verses 41, 42.
Wondrously foretold! Accurately fulfilled! Between the years 351 and 476 AD. Teutonic tribes from northern Europe, swarming across the Rhine and Danube, fell upon the dying Roman giant. Appropriating to themselves the rich provinces of his territory, they there laid the foundations for the modern nations of Southern and Western Europe. The parallel prophecy given in the seventh chapter of Daniel states that Rome would be divided into ten parts. (Verses 7, 24.) In fulfillment, the kingdoms established were:
The Alemanni (Germany), the Franks (France), the Burgundians (Switzerland), the Suevi (Portugal), the Anglo-Saxons (England), the Visigoths (Spain), the Lombards (Italy), the Heruli, the Vandals, and the Ostrogoths. The three last named were long ago utterly destroyed, while the other seven are among the modern nations of Europe. They are of varying size and strength, “partly strong, and partly brittle.”
The Dream of a United Europe
Will there ever become a United States of Europe, or a United States of the World? Listen to the words of Daniel that follow in the prophetic narrative: “Whereas thou saw iron mixed with miry clay, they shall mingle themselves with the seed of men: but they shall not cleave one to another, even as iron is not mixed with clay!” Verse 43.
Historians recall the numerous attempts that have been made to again weld these kingdoms into one great empire. Charlemagne of the eighth century tried it; Charles V of the sixteenth century made a similar attempt. Louis XIV, Napoleon the Great, and Wilhelm II, each in turn sought the mastery of Europe; yet all signally failed. While the words penned on the ancient Babylonian parchment, “The kingdom shall be divided,” stand unshaken.
“They shall mingle themselves with the seed of men.” That which could not be accomplished by force of arms was likewise attempted by diplomacy and intermarriage. For centuries the reigning houses of Europe have been closely related by the ties of family and wedlock. So many of the sons, daughters, grandsons, and granddaughters of Christian 1 of Denmark became crowned heads in the European capitals that he was known as “the grandfather of Europe;” while similarly Queen Victoria of England may be fittingly enshrined as the grandmother of Europe.
Yet in spite of intermarriage and close family bonds international hatreds are not averted and rulers appear just as eager for aggression and war as though there were no blood relationships. Neither the “mailed fist,” the shrewd diplomat, the adroit matchmaker, nor cupid's dart has availed to unite again the shattered fragments of empire. And down the centuries Inspiration has declared, “They shall not cleave one to another;” and “the Scripture cannot be broken.” To the end of the present age no other universal kingdom is to be established.
The Fifth Universal Kingdom
Before our eyes the nations of Western Europe are fulfilling their part in the world drama. And what next? We approach the climax of Daniel's vision, and the climax of earthly history.
“In the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand forever. Forasmuch as thou saw that the stone was cut out of the mountain without hands, and that it brake in pieces the iron, the brass, the clay, the silver, and the gold. The great God hath made known to the king what shall come to pass hereafter: and the dream is certain, and the interpretation thereof sure.” Verses 44, 45.
Looking backward upon the vivid panorama of accurately fulfilled prophecy, gilded Babylon, ruthless Medo-Persia, intellectual Greece, and iron Rome, each arose, fulfilled his destiny according to the divine blue print, then crumbled to ruins. As told in the lines of another:
“First the Assyrian kingdom ruled the world.
Then Medo-Persia's banners were unfurled.
And after Greece held universal sway.
Rome seized the scepter - where are we today?
“Down in the feet of iron and of clay.
Weak and divided, soon to pass away.
What will the next great, glorious drama be?
Christ and His coming, and eternity.”
“The dream is certain, and the interpretation thereof sure.” Soon will be realized the hope of the ages. “And the kingdom and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven, shall be given to the people of the saints of the Most High, whose kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey Him.” Daniel 7:27. God grant, dear reader, that we may be welcome citizens in that fifth glorious, universal kingdom which shall have no end.
AT THE close of Christ's last public address to His countrymen, intimate friends and students came to Him with the questions: “Tell us, when shall these things be? And what shall be the sign of Thy coming, and of the end of the world?” Matthew 24:1 The Master had just astonished His hearers with the statement concerning the temple and its courts. “See thou these great buildings? There shall not be left one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down.” Mark 13:2.
The Doomed City
In His reply, our Lord outlined events which were to occur, and presented much important truth which every Christian should know and understand. To His earnest disciples, Christ foretold the approaching destruction of the Jewish metropolis, and gave them a specific sign by which they might know when to make their escape from the doomed city:
“When you shall see Jerusalem compassed with armies, then know that the desolation thereof is nigh. Then let them which are in Judah flee to the mountains; and let them which are in the midst of it depart out; and let not them that are in the countries enter there into.” Luke 21:20,21. In view of the coming national overthrow, Jesus had bidden His followers, Pray you that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the Sabbath day.” Matthew 24:20. That prayer was answered, the records showing that the escape was made in the autumn of 69 AD, and during the middle of a week.
A marvelous providence of God opened the way for their departure. After the Roman commander had laid siege, according to Josephus he suddenly “retired from the city without any reason in the world.” The Jewish army pursued with a furious attack; and those watching Christians who were acquainted with Christ's prophecy uttered years before, now saw their opportunity for quick flight. Soon afterwards the Roman forces returned, and in the terrible destruction, a million Jews are said to have perished; but no Christian who heeded the Savior's counsel lost his life. Christ briefly outlined the hardships and persecutions through which the church would pass in the long, cruel night of the Dark Ages. From the full establishment of the papacy in 538 AD, the 1260 years of papal supremacy, as shown in prophecy, would extend to the year 1798, when the pope was taken prisoner by the French general, Berthier. (See full exposition of this prophecy in chapter 20.)
Heralds of Christ's Return
Replying to the question, “What shall be the sign of Thy coming, and of the end of the world?” the Master gave the following answer. “Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken. And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven.” Matthew 24:29, 30.
In the parallel prophecy given by John the revelator, the order of events is stated as follows: “I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal, and, lo, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood; and the stars of heaven fell unto the earth, even as a fig tree casts her untimely figs, when she is shaken of a mighty wind.” Revelation 6:12,13.
The introductory sign in this series is “a great earthquake.” It came precisely on time. Just as the relentless persecution, or “tribulation of those days,” had spent its fury, there occurred the Lisbon earthquake. On the morning of November 1, 1755, sixty thousand persons perished in less than six minutes. While mentioned as the “Lisbon earthquake,” because that city was the greatest sufferer, half of the world felt the convulsion; and according to Professor W. H. Hobbs, geologist, this historic tragedy “takes first rank in some respects, among all recorded earthquakes.”
The Dark Day
The second great sign in this enumeration is the darkening of the sun and moon. Lest there be confusion or doubt, the identity of this particular dark day is made clear by the prophecy of Jesus, as recorded in the Gospel of Mark. “In those days, after that tribulation, the sun shall be darkened.” Mark 13:24. The persecution here mentioned ended about the year 1773, when religious toleration was granted by the leading nations of Europe; yet the days of papal supremacy extended to the captivity of the pope of Rome in 1798. Accordingly, the darkening of the sun and moon mentioned by our Savior and other Bible writers was to occur within a limited period of years, .in those days,” yet “after that tribulation;” or between 1773 and 1798.
This prophecy was remarkably fulfilled by the mysterious Dark Day of May 19, l~80. Observe carefully the following statements of eyewitnesses and authentic histories: “The 19th of May, 1780, was unprecedented in New England for its great darkness. The darkness extended over several thousand square miles, though differing much in intensity in different places. Nowhere, perhaps, was it greater than in this vicinity. The day was appropriately called and is still known as, THE DARK DAY.” – “History of the Town of Hampton, New Hampshire,” by Joseph Dorr, volume 1, page 217.
“DARK DAY: refers especially to May 19,1780, which was very dark in Connecticut, New York, and New Jersey, causing great alarm.” - The Universal Cyclopedia, article “Dark Day.”
“'The dark day of New England.' so familiar to old and young, came May 19, 1780. Near eleven o’clock, it began to grow dark, as if night were coming. Men ceased their work; the lowing cattle came to the barns, the bleating sheep huddled by the fences, the wild birds screamed and flew to their nests, the fowls went to their roosts. At night it was so inky dark that a person could not see his hand when held up, nor even a white sheet of paper.” – “History of Weare, New Hampshire,” by William Little, page 276.
Not Caused by Eclipse or Forest Fires
“That this darkness was not caused by an eclipse, is manifest by the various positions of the planetary bodies at that time. For the moon was more than one hundred fifty degrees from the sun all that day, and, according to the accurate calculations made by the most celebrated astronomers, there could not, in the order of nature, be any transit of the planet Venus or Mercury upon the disc of the sun that year.” - “Our First Century.” page 95.
“That the smoke of burning forests cannot be the cause may be rendered very certain. Had the woods from the 40th degree of latitude in America to the 50th been all consumed in a day, the smoke would not have been sufficient to cloud the sun over the territory covered by the darkness on the 19th of May (1780). That thirty or forty miles of burning forest should cover five hundred miles with impenetrable darkness, is too absurd to deserve a serious refutation.” – “A Brief History of Epidemic and Pestilential Diseases; With the Principal Phenomena of the Physical World,” by Noah Webster, vol. 2, pages 91-93.
In successive editions of Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, under article, “Dark Day,” it is stated: “The true cause of this remarkable phenomenon is not known.” The event created a profound impression upon the minds of thousands.
“Men, ordinarily cool, were filled with awe and alarm.... Some ran about saying the day of judgment was at hand; the wicked hurried to their neighbors to confess wrongs and ask forgiveness; the superstitious dropped on their knees to pray in the fields, or rushed into meeting houses to call on God to preserve them.” The distinguished poet, Whittier, has commemorated the day in verse:
“It was on a May day of the far old year Seventeen hundred eighty, that there fell Over the bloom and sweet life of the spring, Over the fresh earth and the heaven of noon, A horror of great darkness.
“Birds ceased to sing, and all the barnyard fowls roosted. The cattle at the pasture bars Lowed, and looked homeward. Bats on leather wings Flitted abroad; the sounds of labor died. Men prayed and women wept; all ears grew sharp To hear the doom blast of the trumpet shatter The black sky.”
“And the moon shall not give her light.” Although the moon was approximately at her full, the
darkness of the following night was so intense that the animal creation, as well as man, was gripped with a nameless terror.
“The darkness of the following evening was probably as deep and dense as ever had been observed since the Almighty first gave birth to light. If every luminous body in the universe had been shrouded in impenetrable shades, or struck out of existence, it was thought the darkness could not have been more complete. A sheet of white paper, held within a few inches of the eyes, was equally invisible with the blackest velvet.” – “Our First Century,” by R. M. Devins, page 94.
During the latter part of the same night, the moon became visible, having the appearance of lurid red; thus fulfilling the word of Inspiration, “The moon became as blood.”
Divine Sky Writing
In like manner the next great sign of the heavens arrested the attention of millions, and directed their thoughts to the words of Christ: “The stars shall fall from heaven.” Writing of that memorable event, the celebrated astronomer and meteorologist, Professor Denison Olmsted of Yale University said:
“Those who were so fortunate as to witness the exhibition of shooting stars on the morning of November 13, 1833, probably saw the greatest display of celestial fireworks that has ever been since the creation of the world, or at least within the annals covered by the pages of history.” He further estimated that the meteors fell at the rate of 34,640 per hour.
“The most sublime phenomenon of shooting stars, of which the world has furnished any record,” says Burrit's “Geography of the Heavens,” “was witnessed throughout the United States on the morning of the 13th of November, 1833. The entire extent of this astonishing exhibition has not been precisely ascertained, but it covered no inconsiderable part of the earth's surface. The first appearance was that of fireworks of the most imposing grandeur, covering the entire vault of heaven with millions of fire balls resembling skyrockets. Their coruscations were bright, gleaming, and incessant, and they fell thick as the flakes in the early snow of December.”
As described in the vision of the ancient prophet: “The stars of heaven fell unto the earth, even as a fig tree casts her untimely figs, when she is shaken of a mighty wind.” in many newspapers and magazines, the likeness of the prophetic description was emphasized:
“Here is the exactness of the prophet. The falling stars did not come as if from several trees shaken, but from one. Those which appeared in the cast fell toward the east; those which appeared in the north fell toward the north. Those which appeared in the west fell toward the west; and those which appeared in the south (for I went out of my residence into the park) fell toward the south. And they fell, not as ripe fruit falls. Far from it. But they flew, they were cast, like the unripe fig, which at first refuses to leave the branch. And when it does break its hold, flies swiftly, straight off, descending. And in the multitude falling, some cross the track of others, as they are thrown with more or less force.” - New York Journal of Commerce, November 16, 1833.
Writing for the British public, the scientist, Thomas Miller, witnessed to the profound impression made by this event. “In many districts, the mass of the population were terror struck, and the more enlightened were awed at contemplating so vivid a picture of the apocalyptic image-that of the stars of heaven falling to the earth, even as a fig tree casting her untimely figs, when she is shaken of a mighty wind.” – “The Gallery of Nature,” page 140.
Sefiora Martina de la Rosa, whose photograph appears on page 123, is now 129 years of age and resides at Santa Ana, California. As reported in Touring Topics of August, 1933, she enjoys good health, has a dear, active mind, and bears the following testimony to the phenomenon of the falling stars that occurred a century ago:
“A sight which I shall never forget is the shower of meteors that lighted the heavens a hundred years ago last November. Nobody had ever seen anything like it before, and I don't believe anybody has ever seen anything like it since. I remember how my husband and 1 were awakened by the strong light which flooded our room and made the earth as bright as day. We did not know what was happening, and were startled. When we went out of doors the heavens were illuminated by strange lights. Many people prayed, some stood in wonder. For days everybody talked about it. Fifty years after, people who saw the sight recalled it!”
“Distress of Nations”
Speaking of these signs as heralds of His return to our world, the Master said: “There shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars. And upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring; men's hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth. For the powers of heaven shall be shaken. And then shall they see the Son of man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draws nigh!” Luke 21:25-28.
The great earthquake of Lisbon, the darkening of the sun and moon, and the falling of the stars, each occurring in the exact order foretold, are important links in the chain of fulfilled prophecy. Then followed “the distress of nations,” and “men's hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth.” Among these, the Savior enumerated “famines, and pestilence, and earthquakes, in divers places.” Matthew 24:7.
Aftermath of War and Famine
On the trail of the greatest war in history came the two most extensive famines. In China 13,000,000 were reported at one time as destitute of food; while the number who actually died is variously estimated at from one to three million. The famine in Russia, occurring about the same time, was characterized by Fridtjof Nansen, the Norwegian explorer and scientist, as “the most appalling that has ever happened in the recorded history of man.” Multitudes in Armenia and the vast expanses of India experienced the agonizing pangs of hunger; while for years, untold numbers in Central Europe suffered for the bare necessities of life.
As an aftermath of war and famine, the nations were swept by a universal and deadly pestilence. In India alone, 12,000,000 are reported to have died from the epidemic. While statistics from all countries place the total number of fatalities at from 15,000,000 to 20,000,000. Thus within the short space often years, our world witnessed the most terrible war, the most devastating famines, the most deadly pestilence; and in addition, two of the most tragic earthquakes that have ever convulsed the surface of the globe.
Describing the big temblor experienced in Kansu, China, a special observer, writing for the National Geographic magazine, said: “Likely no other earthquake in scientific annals ever changed the physical geography of the affected region to the extent of the Kansu cataclysm. Mountains that moved in the night, landslides that eddied like waterfalls, crevasses that swallowed houses and camel trains, and villages that were swept away under a rising sea of loose earth, were a few of the subsidiary occurrences that made the earthquake in Kansu one of the most appalling catastrophes in history.”
Approximately 200,000 Chinese were killed by this upheaval. Had it not occurred in a sparsely settled region, the number of victims might have been infinitely greater. Three years later, on September 1, 1923, and without warning, came the terrible Japanese earthquake which brought staggering losses in life and property. One writer termed it “the greatest single disaster since the Flood,” while an eyewitness, writing for McClure's magazine, makes the following report:
“The gates of hell swung open for Central Japan two minutes before noon hour on Saturday, September the first, and for two days the demons of destruction worked their will with all the elements of earth, fire, and water. Death in a hundred forms stalked abroad. The solid earth turned fluid. The sea invaded the land. Fire, unleashed and uncontrollable, fed upon the wreckage of half a hundred cities, towns, and villages, and drowned the shrieks of perishing thousands in its onrushing roar. Without one second of warning the blow fell that swept at least two hundred thousand people over the brink of eternity; that destroyed a majority of the buildings over three thousand square miles of one of the most densely populated sections of the world.”
Since that experience, Bulgaria, Greece, New Zealand, Central and South America, has each been the theater of a major convulsion. The last mentioned, embracing a large portion of the South American continent was attended by the sudden eruption of eight mighty Andean volcanoes, which spread a pall of darkness over an immense area with ashes like snowfall spread over millions of square miles.
From earliest times, history testifies of earth tremors. Such catastrophes are not peculiar to this age. However, since the invention of the seismograph, remarkable facts have been revealed, and scientific investigation leaves no doubt that these disturbances of nature are definitely increasing in number and intensity. During the past fifty years, there have been more severe earthquakes than occurred throughout the eight preceding centuries; while beginning with the year 1905, there has been an average of almost one great earthquake annually. Scientists write of the phenomena of earthquakes; they classify them as “tectonic” or “volcanic,” respectively; they point to the causes as “warping of the earth's crust,” “fault displacements,” “underground water and steam,” etc. Yet none of these findings weaken or destroy the Scriptural import; while in their increasing frequency, devout Bible students recognize the voice of prophetic warning.
Tragedies of Wind and Wave
The Bible likewise tells of the “stormy wind fulfilling His word,” and points to “the sea and the waves roaring” as portents of the approaching end. In recent years, tornadoes, cyclones, hurricanes, floods, and tidal waves of exceptional severity have swept vast areas, destroying life and property, and rendering countless millions homeless. The China flood of 1931 is doubtless the greatest deluge since the days of Noah; while the tornado that wrought havoc throughout five great states of America's south land in the spring of 1932, is said to be the most destructive of property in all history. Likewise the diseases of vegetation, and the formidable, multiplying hordes of insect pests are in signal fulfillment of Joel's prophecy that points to these things as tokens of the coming of Christ. (Joel, 1:2-20)
As Sir Arthur Salter significantly remarks: “The dispatches announce new strokes of fate in unending succession. Like the messengers of Job, each heralding disaster, 'And while he was yet speaking, there came also another.” Truly, “the whole creation groans and travails in pain together.” Romans 8:22. Two Bible prophets mention the time when the earth will “wax old like a garment (Psalm 102:26; Isaiah 51:6); and the pen of Inspiration paints this picture of impending ruin:
“The earth is utterly broken down, the earth is clean dissolved, the earth is moved exceedingly. The earth shall reel to and fro like a drunkard, and shall be removed like a cottage; and the transgression thereof shall be heavy upon it.” Isaiah 24: 19,20. “Who can with curious eyes this globe survey, And not behold it tottering with decay P All things created, God's designs fulfill, And natural causes work His sovereign will.
“And that eternal word, which cannot lie, To mortals hath revealed in prophecy That in these latter days such signs should come Preludes and prologues of the general doom.”
Even the physical nature of mankind testifies; for the average person of our day “has more illness in store, and less years of health, than ever before in the history of the world.” Alcohol, tobacco, and debasing pleasures exact their frightful toll. The “degenerative diseases” of middle life, of the heart, the blood vessels, the stomach, the liver, the pancreas, the kidneys, the nervous system, and the brain increase at an alarming rate. “The Nemesis of degeneracy hangs threateningly over the organic world,” declares Samuel J. Holmes of the University of California. (“The Trend of the Race,” page 5) Sociologists and eugenists are stunned by the appalling outlook, and admit that the present trends, if unchecked, mean the eventual suicide of the race.
Stones Crying Out
Nineteen hundred years ago, amid the acclaim of multitudes, Christ was making His triumphal entry into Jerusalem. Jealous Pharisees, hearing the tumult, approached the Master, saying, “Rebuke Thy disciples. And He answered and said unto them, I tell you that, if these should hold their peace, the stones would immediately cry out.” Luke 19:39, 40.
For more than a century nature itself has been crying out: “The end of all things is at hand.” Christ hung the signs of His Second Coming in the sky, that all might read. He shakes the earth that all may stand at attention to hear the word of God. He permits famine and plague to scourge mankind, that all may look to Him for spiritual bread and healing. And through the researches of modern medical science, He is revealing the tragic fact that modernized man is breaking beneath the accumulated weight of time and disease.
Says the scripture, “When Thy judgments are in the earth, the inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness.” Isaiah 26:9. In our day, the testimony of God's judgments is clear and emphatic. Long ago, He declared that these events would occur and these conditions would prevail as sure and certain heralds of Christ's second appearing. “Heaven and earth shall pass away,” said the Master, “but My words shall not pass away.” Matthew 24:35.
An Avalanche of Disasters
With full confidence in the supreme authority of Scripture, we know that the long-foretold dissolution of “this present evil world” is near at hand. Just before the deliverance of Israel from ancient Egypt, ten terrible plagues devastated the land; even so, just prior to the final deliverance of the righteous, Daniel foresaw “a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation” (Daniel 12:1). While John the revelator enumerated the “seven last plagues” that are to be poured out upon the shelterless heads of those who have finally rejected the love and mercy of our Lord.
During that time of trouble, man and beast, earth, sea, and sky alike feel the sentence of doom. The last of the series is described in these words: “The seventh angel poured out his vial into the air; and there came a great voice out of the temple of heaven, from the throne, saying, It is done. And there were voices, and thunders, and lightning; and there was a great earthquake, such as was not since men were upon the earth, so mighty an earthquake, and so great. And every island fled away, and the mountains were not found. And there fell upon men a great hail out of heaven, every stone about the weight of a talent: and men blasphemed God because of the plague of the hail. For the plague thereof was exceeding great.” Revelation 16:17-21.
The Sure Refuge
Facing the supreme crisis of the ages, the greatest problem for me to solve is, Am I ready? Are all my sins confessed and forgiven? Am I a child of the heavenly King? Do I still cling to the world and its pleasures, or does the anticipation of meeting my Savior hold first place in my heart?
Let us not permit the warnings of God to fall upon deaf ears or blinded eyes. His voice still pleads: “Fear God, and give glory to Him; for the hour of His judgment is come.” “Seek righteousness, seek meekness: it may be you shall be hid in the day of the Lord's anger.” Revelation 14:7; Zephaniah 2:1
In eventful times like these, how altogether satisfying to know Christ as a personal deliverer, and to possess as our very own the treasury of promises found in the living word! “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore will not we fear, though the earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea; though the waters thereof roar and be troubled, though the mountains shake with the swelling thereof.” “Be still, and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth. The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge.” Psalm 46:1-3,10,11.
CHRISTIANITY has ever faced bitter enemies. At its birth nineteen hundred years ago, an intense creed bound Judaism vainly endeavored to silence its voice. For centuries ruthless paganism waged against it relentless warfare. When peace was at length declared, the spirit of compromise and worldliness proved a more formidable enemy than fiery persecution.
Compromise triumphed; and the papacy, half Christian and half pagan, ruled with imperial power throughout the period of the Dark Ages. Yet the light of true Christianity was not wholly extinguished; and in remote districts and mountain wildernesses, the Waldenses, the Albigenses, and others kept alive the flame of truth. With the sixteenth-century Reformation, great encouragement was given to the study of the word of God; and hundreds of thousands were captivated by the marvelous beauty of Scripture and the grand, yet simple, plan for man's redemption. Today, new foes of Christianity arise, while old ones appear in new form.
Foes of Christianity
The cult of atheism wages open warfare against God and His Book. In Russia and numerous other European and Asiatic lands, these crusaders sally forth to circulate their literature, and to declaim: “Away with the Bible. Down with the God-superstition! Religion is an opiate! In the United States, the American Association for the Advancement of Atheism carries forward a similar propaganda, the youth of high-school age being an avowed target of special attack.
Another enemy of Christianity is the so-called “new world culture,” or scientific thought of the modern intelligentsia. We live in an age when all fundamental beliefs are challenged. Throughout Asia and Africa, many pagan temples and idol shrines are deserted and crumbling to ruins. In China, hundreds of these are converted into schools, museums, or community houses. Japan, once intensely pious, is rapidly forgetting the religion of its ancestors, while Turkey, for centuries the passionate defender of Islam, has abolished Mohammedanism as a state cult, and acclaims itself a nation without a God. Likewise in Europe, since the World War, conventional religion has lost millions 'of adherents.
For millenniums India has been the stronghold of pantheism. Modern mystics now embrace this philosophy as though it were altogether new. They teach that God is in everything and is everything. While professing belief in supreme power, this system denies the existence of a living, personal God, and deadens all thought of moral responsibility. An apostle of this cult defines his deity in the following language:
“I am the moisture in the water, light in the sun and moon, invocation in the breeze, sound in the firmament, sweet-smelling savors in the earth, glory in the source of light. I am life in all things and zeal in the zealous. I am the external soul of nature, I am the understanding of the wise, the glory of the proud. The strength of the strong. I am the sacrifice, I am the worship, I am the space, I am the fear, I am the victim. I am the father and mother of the world.” - Encyclopedia, by McClintock and Strong, article “Pantheism.”
The Daydreams of Evolution
Akin to this, yet devoid of its mysticism, is the philosophy of evolution.
“A fire mist and a planet. A crystal and a cell.
A jellyfish and a saurian. And caves where the cave men dwell. Then a sense of law and beauty. And a face turned from the clod. Some call it evolution. And others call it Goo!”
This may sound very beautiful, yet it strikes at the very root of the Christian religion; for if there were no creation, no Adam and Eve, and no fall of man, there could be no need of a Savior or of a sacrifice upon Calvary. At its best, evolution is but a guess; while to accept it as the key to the riddle of the universe must require an amazing credulity. Charles Darwin, the father of modern evolution, uses the phrase, “We may well suppose,” more than eight hundred times in his two principal scientific works. And, strange to relate, scientists of today, although rejecting the Darwin arguments and theory of “the origin of species through natural selection,” still cling to his conclusions of an evolutionary hypothesis. To illustrate the appalling weakness of these daydreams, note the following phrases of a popular champion of evolution, Mr. E. E. Free, PhD:
“Where these first living particles came from we do not know. But how, you ask, can we know what the original matter really was like? Strictly speaking, we do not really know at all. But we can make a pretty safe guess at it. How can one little piece of living matter do all these different things-breathe, eat, grow, reproduce? Scientists have not yet solved this mystery. How did it happen in short that there came together here on this little dust mote of an earth in the midst of the vast void of space, exactly that combination of heat and light and water and chemicals that made it possible for life to start? This is one of the greatest mysteries still tempting the imagination of mankind.” - From Popular Science Monthly.
The Absurdity of Evolution
“When I want something funny to read,” said the late William Jennings Bryan, I don't take up a book of humor. I just get hold of some evolutionist speculations about how a worm was crawling along and developed a wart on its stomach, and how this wart kept growing until it developed into a leg and so forth. So that finally a respectable-looking animal appeared.”
Concerning the supposed evolution of the eye, Mr. Bryan continues: “The evolutionist guesses himself away from God, but he only makes matters worse. How long did the light waves have to play upon the skin before the eye came out? The evolutionist is very deliberate; he is long on time. He would certainly give the eye thousands of years, if not millions, in which to develop; but how could he be sure that the light waves played all the time in one place or played in the same place generation after generation till the development was complete? And why did the light waves quit playing when two eyes were perfected? Why did they not keep on playing till there were eyes all over the body? Why do not they play today so that we may see eyes in process of development? And if the light waves created the eyes, why did they not create them strong enough to bear the light? Why did the light waves make eyes, and then make eyelids to keep the light out of the eyes?” - “The Dawn of Humanity,” page 27.
Scientific Facts Versus Evolution
At every turn the evolutionary guess is full of absurdities, and is frequently found in opposition to scientific facts. Said the eminent naturalist, Alfred Russell Wallace: “You are living in a zoologically impoverished world, from which all the highest and fiercest and strongest forms have recently
disappeared.”
Fossil remains brand the entire evolutionary concept as false; the animals of today are but pygmies and dwarfs in comparison with the mammoths and the dinosaurs of the past the exact reverse of the fundamental principle of evolution. Bats were formerly of great size, one specimen discovered having a wing span of twenty feet. The remains of a sea serpent have been found with a body eighty feet in length; while the tortoise once grew to the size of an elephant. Speaking of fossil ferns, an authority says: “It is a striking fact that the living forms are insignificant in number and size as compared with those which flourished in past geological ages.”
In spite of the fact that life comes only from parent life. In spite of the fact that no scientist has ever observed living forms emerging from a mineral “ancestry;” and in spite of numberless absurdities and contradictions, the educational world strangely, blindly, places its stamp of approval upon the vagaries of evolution.
The Attack From Within
These things led Lord Kelvin, one of the foremost of modern scientists, to observe: “I marvel at the undue haste with which teachers in our universities and preachers in our pulpits are restating truth in the terms of evolution while evolution itself remains an unproved hypothesis in the laboratories of science.”
The enemies of Christianity from the outside were formidable; but the most deadly of all now launches the attack from the inside. Its name is Modernism. Quoting from the report of a recent evangelical conference of a great Protestant denomination:
“You are aware of the extent to which the very thought of God seems to be passing away from the minds and hearts of many even in nominally Christian nations. Even where God is still acknowledged, He is often regarded as too elusive or remote to be relevant to the practical concerns of life. And it is not surprising that where belief in God has weakened, the sense of sin has in large measure disappeared, morality has shown signs of degenerating into little more than a recognition of the value of kindness, and the supreme good has almost come to be thought of in terms of comfort and excitement!”
Deifying the Intellect, Reverting to Paganism
In a remarkable series of articles appearing in the Forum, Paul Hutchinson, well-known editor and lecturer, writes of the radical changes taking place in the Christian church:
“One might take up almost any of the dogmas that were accepted with practical unanimity fifty years ago, and find that, when these are put forward to-day in quarters where modern scientific ideas form the medium of mental exchange, an inner conflict of disquieting portent for religion inevitably develops. Western churches everywhere are filled with people who are there because of a haunting sense of need for replenishment from some source outside the objective phenomena of life, but who reject as untrue or irrelevant those formulations of belief to which the churches point as evidence of their spiritual competency.”
“To put it briefly, the thing that has happened has been this: Seen as part of a social process that has gone on among all races, Christianity has ceased to be 'the' faith or 'the true' faith and become 'a' faith. And the clergy who are bewailing the slackening of churchly authority have not yet begun to understand all that is involved for their institution in that change.”
Commenting further on the theory of “Scriptural accuracy,” he says: “The process of historical criticism, which has overthrown both theories of inspiration and security of texts, now makes the resort to proof texts as irrelevant to the modern mind as would be a resort to the divination of entrails.”
The Modernist God - A Cosmic Drift
As the intellect of man is exalted above all else, we may soon find ourselves more pagan than the pagans. Mr. Hutchinson adds:
“Devoted souls who claim to speak in behalf of the preservation of religion, declare that the thing most needed now is to rid religion of the incubus of God! To set the spirits of men free, let the idea of God be relegated to the dust heap of the race! So completely has the intellectual climate changed that, in many a faculty club among groups of urban sophisticates, the mere attempt to maintain that the informed mind can, and will, go on believing in God, seems usually to be greeted with amazement.”
Modernism is constantly changing, and is far more “modern” than it was a decade ago. While it has been fashionable “to disguise practical atheism under theistic phrases,” even these “theistic phrases” are now abandoned by the most advanced liberals.
Professor J. H. Holmes of Swarthmore College, a liberal Quaker, declares that “God means to us just that unifying influence which makes men long for a brotherly world.” Dr. Henry Weiman, in his book, “The Issues of Life,” published by the Methodist Book Concern, expressly denies the existence of God and regards Him as merely “an order of existence and possibility.” He also repeatedly refers to the Deity as “it.” Other modern religious writers define God as an influence, an idea, a symbol, a trend, a cosmic drift.
In all seriousness we ask the following questions: Will the man in direst need pour out his heartfelt petition to a “trend”? Will church members continue to send their money across the sea to win the pagan from his idols of wood and stone that he may worship an “idea”? Will intelligent young men and women volunteer to go to the ends of the earth, to die, perchance, as heroic missionaries of a vague influence? How much longer will religious leaders speak of the fatherhood of God or the brotherhood of man?
With such notions about religion, how long will sensible men and women continue the appearance, the camouflage, of unreal worship to an imaginary God? And what effect will such teaching exert throughout the world, and particularly upon our youth? The answer appears in the diminishing number of churchgoers, the weakening ties of wedlock, and the wild orgy of crime and lawlessness that threatens to engulf civilization itself.
Sin Losing Its Scarlet
“The liberal church,” says Professor Reinhold Niebuhr of Union Theological Seminary, “takes such a romantic view of human nature that it does not convict its members of sin at all.” Similarly writes Dr. R. W. Dale of London: “The difference between our religion and the religion of other times is this: We do not think God has any great resentment against sin or against those who are guilty of sin. And since His resentment is gone, His mercy is gone with it. One can attend most churches, year in and year out, and never have a sense of sin at all. It is the lost note.”
Sin is losing its scarlet color, and many urge that the word itself be dropped from the religious vocabulary. It is said that morals are merely customs which have been “sprayed with the odor of sanctity - hence a man may be “convicted of unconventionality, but not of sin.”
If modernism were true, what a gloomy picture for the church, and what a tragic outlook for the future!
“No faith, no trust, no light, No mighty God; Blind men, blind foes of Christ, Intently plod. “No creed, no voice, no plea, And no decree; No judge, no sacrament, No bent knee. “No heaven, and one hell. The reigning fist; No life beyond the grave, just fading mist.”
The shadows falling across the world of religion are not without their significance. Impersonating a sundial, the poet Whittier wrote:
“With warning hand I mark Time's rapid flight. From life's glad morning to its solemn night.
Yet, through the dear God's love, I also show. There's Light above me by the Shade below.”
The Sundial of Prophecy
There is light for the world in the sure word of Inspiration. With wondrous accuracy, the New Testament writers pointed to present-day conditions in the realm of education and religion. “This know also,” declared the apostle Paul, “that in the last days perilous times shall come.” He then gave a vivid picture of this twentieth century reign of wickedness and crime, concluding with the terse indictment: “Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away.” 2 Timothy 3:13.
We still erect beautiful churches and stately cathedrals, install deep-toned pipe organs, employ high salaried choirs, and listen to scholarly addresses delivered by men of profound learning. But true to the above forecast, popular religion seems content with the names, labels, and terminology, “a form of godliness,”- while genuine faith in God as the Creator, and Christ as the Redeemer, has almost departed from the earth. Even when many of these brilliant leaders talk and pray, we are frequently at a loss to understand their meaning.
“If a man tells me he believes in God,” writes a fundamentalist, “I don't know what he believes; I don't know whether he believes in the pantheistic view of God, or in the deistic view of God, or in the personal God. If a man tells me he believes in the inspiration of the Scriptures, I still don't know what he believes; he might claim universal inspiration, and say the Bible was inspired in the same way that Shakespeare was inspired. If a man tells me that he believes in the divinity of Christ, I still don't know what he believes: he might say he believes all men are divine.
“But when a man tells me he believes in the literal, personal, bodily, visible, imminent return of the Lord to this earth as king, I know what he believes on every other question. I know that he believes the Bible literally. I know what he believes concerning the Godhead, I know what he believes concerning the virgin birth, I know what he believes concerning the atonement, I know what he believes concerning the resurrection. I know that he is not a modernist, and I know that he does not believe in the evolutionary hypothesis.”
Protestantism Selling Its Birthright
Born in a time of great religious crisis, and arising as a protest against tradition, Protestantism took its fearless stand upon the platform of THEBIBLE, THE WHOLEBIBLE, AND NOTHING BUT THEBIBLE. But to-day popular theology is selling its priceless birthright. Its position is wholly illogical and indefensible; for it now places the evolutionary myth above the Bible, and bows before the shrine of another god, “the scientific spirit.” With arrogant unbelief pouring forth from many pulpits, it is little wonder that throughout an entire recent year, sixty thousand American churches failed to bring one soul to Christ.
The religious world is running true to the prophetic outline. Looking down the centuries to our day, the Master spoke significantly When the Son of man comes, shall He find faith on the earth?” Likewise Peter, apostle and prophet, declared: “Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts, and saying, Where is the promise of His coming? For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation. For this they willingly are ignorant of, that by the word of God the heavens were of old.” Luke 18:8; 2 Peter 3:33.
“All things continue.” It is the very heart of evolutionary philosophy and modernism, that there is nothing supernatural, that all things continually evolve. The universe, animal and vegetable life, the Bible, religion, the marriage institution, and all else within the range of thought. Having repudiated supernatural power and divine law, these teachers cast aside everything that is hallowed or sacred.
Christ or Modernism
In Christ's name, they assault the citadel of Christianity, denying Jesus as the Savior of men, His deity, His creative might, His supernatural birth, His miracles, His atoning death, His resurrection, His ascension, His divine intercession as our high priest, and His glorious second coming. This is tragic; and many, like the grief-stricken Mary, join in lament: “They have taken away my Lord, and I know not where they have laid Him.”
The inroads of modernism bring to every member of every church a solemn responsibility. Enthroned within the temple itself is the greatest foe of Protestantism. Thousands of spiritual leaders and millions of church members are disloyal to the Holy Scriptures, and disloyal to Christ. The call of the hour is: Back to the Bible and to the Lamb of God which bears away the sins of the world.
Our Father bids us “earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints.” No genuine, loyal Christian can, continue to support a church that repudiates the fundamental pillars of the gospel. His money and his influence are sacred trusts to be used in spreading the good tidings of a crucified, risen, and soon coming Savior. This is no time to compromise. This is no time to make passive cause with the enemy. If the Lord be God, follow Him: but if Baal [or modernism], then follow him.” “Choose you this day whom you will serve.”
The structure of professed Protestantism totters. Civilization itself crumbles. The world has forgotten God and His law; while crime and social collapse follow in the wake of religious decay. The incomparable, divine Christ is still the world's only hope to lift it from this slough of despond; and blest reality, the condition of Christendom in forceful fulfillment of Bible prophecy, gives assurance that Christ's return is near, “even at the doors.” Have faith in God.
“Out from the doomed Jerusalem, in the days of long ago,
By two and two they sallied forth, to the lands of sun or snow.
Beside the slim, tall temples, where the tawny rivers run.
They set their tents where shining stars look down on Babylon.
Their bare feet pressed the beaten shore beneath dark Nubia's cliffs.
They ate their corn from out their scripts by Karnak's hieroglyphs.”
WHY did they go forth? Because the Master had bidden them, “Go you into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.” Mark 16:15. Whence came this exceptional Teacher, and how did He obtain such unrivaled authority? I came down from heaven,” He replies. John 6:2. “All power is given unto Me in heaven and in earth. Go you therefore, and teach all nations, and, yes, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world.” Matthew 28:18-20.
Christ the Center of History
“Somehow or other, modern history radiates as visibly from Jesus f Nazareth as ancient history converges on Him. Explain it as he may, something came into the world with Him which has caused a revolution of a higher order than the migrations of the nations and the rise and fall of empires. The systems of men may have their day, but the majestic course of ages gathers round that Son of man.” – “Early Church History,” by Gwatkin, volume 1, page 13.
“This Jesus of Nazareth, without money and arms, conquered more millions than Alexander, Caesar, Mohammed, and Napoleon. Without science and learning, He shed more light on things human and divine than all philosophers and scholars combined. Without the eloquence of schools, He spoke such words of life as were never spoken before or since, and produced effects which lie beyond the reach of orator or poet. Without writing a single line, He set more pens in motion, and furnished themes for more sermons, orations, discussions, learned volumes, works of art, and songs of praise than the whole army of great men of ancient and modern times. There never was in this world a life so unpretending, modest, and lowly in its outward form and condition, and yet producing such extraordinary effects upon all ages, nations, and classes of men.
“The annals of history furnish no other example of such complete and astounding success, in spite of the absence of those material, social, literary, and artistic powers and influences which are indispensable to success for a mere man. Christ stands, in this respect also, solitary and alone among all the heroes of history, and presents to us an unsolvable problem, unless we admit Him to be more than man, even the eternal Son of God.” – “The Person of Christ,” by Philip Schaff, pages 33, 34.
Many ancient religions have entirely perished. In all modern Egypt not a person worships Osiris, or Isis, or hardly remembers their names. No one in Italy now bows before the shrine of Jove; while in the Athens of today the once-famed Pallas Athene is but a memory. But the religion of the Peasant of Galilee, the Son of God, is today enshrined in the hearts of millions. Multitudes yield glad obedience to His commands.
“God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.” Colossians 1:27. The early disciples accepted the great commission, and with heaven born enthusiasm traversed land and sea to tell the world of “a risen Christ, a living Savior,” whose divine touch would transform the life, and give pardon, peace, and renewing power.
“They went to the slave and to the temple woman, and told them, The Son of God loved you, and gave Himself for you; and they believed it and rose to a new life.” - Glover's “Jesus of History.”
When the Night Was Dark
As the Philistine image of Dagon fell down before the sacred ark, so the gods and goddesses of Greece and Rome were vanquished before the conquering Christ. A stupendous task was accomplished in one generation; and near its close, the great missionary Paul declared that the gospel “was preached to every creature which is under heaven.” Colossians 1: 23.
The Light of the world was revealed in the hour of man's greatest need. Men recognized that in the ancient religions of the pagan world there was no hope or help. This gloom and despair is reflected in the Greek and Roman literature of the New Testament era. Said Dean Frederick W. Farrar:
“The darkness is deepest just before the dawn, and never did a grosser darkness or a thicker mist of moral pestilence brood over the surface of pagan society than at the period when the Sun of Righteousness arose with healing in His wings.” – “Seekers After God,” page 36.
The world was then ripe for the coming of the Deliverer. One nation ruled supreme. One language, the Greek, was widely spoken and everywhere recognized as the tongue of scholarship and culture; while the famous 1Zoman highways, radiating from the capital to all parts of the empire, were a marvelous factor in transportation and communication. Says Sir William Ramsay:
“It is the simple truth that travel, whether for business or pleasure, was contemplated and performed under the empire with an indifference, confidence, and, above all, certainty, which were unknown in after centuries until the introduction of steamers and the consequent increase in ease and sureness of communication.” – “Letters to the Seven Churches,” page 17.
The Christian world still reads with admiration the brilliant, heroic achievements of the early church, its missionaries, and its martyrs. But with the lapse of time, the vision of the cross became dim and indistinct; and for many centuries the supreme task was neglected and well nigh forgotten.
The Era of Modern Missions
In our Lord's great prophecy delivered upon the Mount of Olives just prior to His crucifixion, He gave numerous signs of His Second Coming. Among these is the definite forecast and promise: “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. Or, as rendered in Weymouth's New Testament in Modern Speech: “This good news of the kingdom shall be proclaimed throughout the whole world to set the evidence before all the Gentiles; and then the end will come.”
The language here used is neither figurative nor obscure. In reply to the question, “What shall be the sign of Thy coming, and of the end of the world?” Christ visions a mighty evangelistic movement, world wide in extent, which is immediately to precede His glorious return. As the world nineteen centuries ago was providentially in readiness to receive the good tidings, so, in His divine plan, the great Leader of missions has, prepared the world today for the stupendous gospel task. Twenty five centuries ago, looking forward to this time, God's special messenger spoke to the famous Hebrew prophet then living in old Persia, “Thou, 0 Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end. Many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased.” Daniel 12:4.
The book of Daniel speaks frequently of the long period of papal supremacy and persecution, which terminated with the imprisonment of the pope of Rome in 1798; and the prophecy points to that eventful year as the beginning of “the time of the end.” Daniel 7:26; 11:35; 12:4,6-9. Long ago, when “the fullness of the time was come, God sent His Son to this world. Similarly, when the hour arrived for the book of Daniel to be opened, that its wondrous prophecies might be understood, the seal was broken, and devout students of the word rejoiced that the long hidden mysteries of this treasury of truth were unfolded to their minds. Like the prophet of old, these men and women exclaimed, “Thy words were found, and I did eat them; and Thy word was unto me the joy and rejoicing of Mine heart.” Jeremiah 15:16.
“Ambassadors for Christ”
As they studied the book of Daniel and other scriptures, they sensed anew the meaning of God's call to “90.” They could but say: “We are ambassadors for Christ.”
When “the time of the end” began, just prior to the opening of the nineteenth century, William Carey, the father of foreign missions, was already at his task in India; and soon afterwards Robert Morrison was en route to China. The Baptist Missionary Society was organized in 1792; the British and Foreign Bible Society in 1804; the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions in 1810. The Wesleyan Methodist Missionary Society in 1813; and the American Bible Society in 1816; while from that time onward, the number of missionaries and missionary societies rapidly multiplied.
In his expository notes on the above prophecy, Dr. Albert Barnes, the eminent Bible scholar, observes: “Many shall run to and fro.' Shall pass up and down in the world, or shall go from place to place. The reference is clearly to those who should thus go to impart knowledge; to give information; to call the attention of men to great and important matters. The language is applicable to any methods of imparting important knowledge, and it refers to a time when this would be the characteristic of the age. There is nothing else to which it can be so well applied as to the labors of Christian missionaries, and ministers of the gospel, and others who, in the cause of Christian truth, go about to arouse the attention of men to the great subjects of religion. And the natural application of the language is to refer it to the times when the gospel would be preached to the world at large.” - Barnes, “On the Old Testament, volume 9, page 262.
As the church was gripped with her responsibility to all peoples, and was ready to sacrifice or to go, God began supplying the facilities for a quick work. The genius of man, seemingly long dormant, was electrified to produce modern printing presses, steamships, railway trains, the electric telegraph, and in more recent years, the telephone, the radio, automobiles, and airplanes. None should conceive that these marvelous inventions were given the world merely to provide for the comfort, convenience, and progress of mankind. In them the Christian sees something infinitely greater, a divine purpose for speeding the news of Christ's return to “every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people.”
That talented, vigorous advocate of foreign missions, Arthur T. Pierson, suggests that the seven unique and marvelous wonders of the modern world may be enumerated as, exploration, communication, civilization, assimilation, emancipation, education, and organization.” Continuing, he says:
“The God who governs this world ordained that such stupendous wonders should all characterize this missionary century. The command of our Lord rings out through the centuries, 'Go you into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.' Is it of no importance, and has it no significance, that, at last, we know the whole world -the field we are bidden to sow with the seed of the kingdom? That we have such facilities for reaching every nation that no peoples are any longer afar off? That civilization is so widespread that barbarism scarcely anywhere survives? That there remains no nation of any standing that openly encourages human slavery? That every grand preparation of steam, electricity, printing press, postal union, common schools, etc., has been given to us for world wide work? And that, for the first time in history, the race has so learned the value of organized effort, as that men are throughout the world combining to do what no one man alone could accomplish?” – “The Modern Mission Century,” pages 43, 44.
Then and Now
What amazing changes a century has produced in the maps of the continents a the charts of the seven seas! Vast portions of the earth were until then shrouded in heathen darkness and practically unknown. The missionary who then went forth, seemed hopelessly isolated from his homeland. It might require a year or more to send a message to his friends in America or in England, and receive a reply. There was no submarine cable, no efficient postal system, no government protection, no language books to help him in his task, and no knowledge of how to combat tropical diseases. The missionary adventure appeared to many like entering the jaws of death.
Then came the era of the intrepid explorer, of colonization, and of empire building; while, added to these, are modern means of travel and communication that link every land and transform the entire globe into a unit, and its inhabitants into one large family. Even the polar wastes have been frequently visited. In the words of another, “There are no more impassable deserts, no more unfathomable seas, no more inaccessible mountains.” The adventurer has “no more worlds to conquer.”
“Out of the darkness of night, The world rolls into light. It is daybreak everywhere.”
The Iron Gates Opened
As the gospel messengers of the early centuries went forth “conquering, and to conquer,” and the defense of paganism crumbled; so in the modern missionary advance, God's providence have brought down the barriers of opposition.
A century ago, “most countries shut out Christian missions by organized opposition, so that to attempt to bear the good tidings was simply to dare death for Christ's sake; the only welcome awaiting God's messengers was that of cannibal ovens, merciless prisoners to martyr graves. But, as the little band advanced on and the walls of Jericho fell, and the iron gates opened of their own accord. India, Siam, Burma, China, Japan, Turkey, Africa, Mexico, South America, the Papal States, and Korea were successively and successfully entered. Within five years, from 1853 to 1858, new facilities were given to the entrance and occupation of seven different countries, together embracing half of the world's population.” – “The Modern Mission Century,” page 25.
Today the gates to practically every land are wide open to the ambassadors for Christ. Into the most remote countries heralds bear the glad tidings of a coming Savior. With diverse human nature and historic tradition that are mutually antagonistic, Eastern and Western civilizations do not easily blend. East
is East and West is West, and never the twain shall meet, Till earth and sky stand presently, at God's great judgment seat. - Kipling.
But in the spirit of the gospel, the answer is given:
In Christ there is no East nor West,
In Him no South nor North;
But one great fellowship of love
Throughout the whole wide earth.
In Him shall true hearts everywhere
Their high communion find;
His service is the golden cord
Close-binding all mankind.
In Christ now meet both East and West,
In Him meet South and North;
All Christ our souls are one in Him
Throughout the whole wide earth.
Oxenham
At the beginning of the nineteenth century, “God's foremost missionary,” the Bible, spoke in about fifty tongues, half of which were classed as dead languages; while to-day it bears witness in more than nine hundred. Approximately 30,000,000 copies are printed and distributed annually; and in spite of proud infidel boasts, the production of Bibles is still the most extensive publishing enterprise in the world.
With but few representatives scattered here and there in those early days, the missionary army increased to approximately 25,000, their force being augmented by five times that number of native preachers and assistants. The converts won to Christianity are now expressed in terms of seven figures; while from a meager missionary budget of $200,000 in the year 1800, annual contributions for the redemption of the lost in the regions beyond increased to more than $50,000,000. Statistics, too, are but feeble indicators of the light and uplift radiating from millions of Christian homes and thousands of Christian lighthouses along the far-flung shores of civilization.
Do Foreign Missions Pay?
While the enemy of mankind sows discord and unrest among the nations, the witness of the gospel in all lands constitutes the greatest influence on earth for peace and good will among men. Read the following tributes from men of distinction.
Said Theodore Roosevelt: “I wish it were in my power to convey my experience to these people who speak about the inefficacy of foreign missions. If they really could know but a tenth part of the work that is being done and the work that has been done, they would realize that no more practical work, no work more productive of the fruit of civilization, could exist than that work being carried on by men and women who give their lives to preach the gospel of Christ to mankind.”
Hon. Henry Morgenthau, former United States Ambassador to Turkey, observes: “The missionaries have the right idea. They go straight to the foundations, and provide those intellectual, physical, moral, and religious benefits upon which alone any true civilization can be built.”
I had conceived a great prejudice against missionaries in the South Seas,” said Robert Louis Stevenson, “and I had no sooner come there than that prejudice was at first reduced and then at last annihilated. Those who debate against missions have only one thing to do, to come and see them on the spot.”
Marquis Ito, former Prime Minister of the Sunrise Kingdom, declared: “Japan's progress and development is largely due to the influence of missionaries.”
“The missionaries have done more to benefit India than all other agencies combined.”-Lord John Lawrence, ex-viceroy of India, in “The Desire of All Nations.”
Many missions. it is sad to relate, are now seen in retrenchment and retreat. The reason is most apparent. Liberal philosophy is an anaesthetic to foreign mission endeavor. Modernism confesses that it has “not yet clearly thought out its idea of the Christian message.” It encourages the missionary to be willing “to learn from them [the pagans], as well as to teach them.” It looks upon the mission enterprise as “a give-and-take arrangement,” its object being “to confer rather than to convert; “ or, as defined by another, “a reciprocal fellowship with non-Christians in the quest for God.”
Missions Betrayed
Formerly, the Christian church sent forth its representatives to evangelize the world for Christ. But now under the pretext that historic Christianity is antiquated, liberalism proposes to remodel the movement and henceforth send to pagan lands “a few highly equipped persons (of the ambassador type), acceptable to those lands as representing the Christian way of thought and life.”
But modernism is weighed in the balances, and is found wanting. At best it is but a creed of doubt, protest, and religious Bolshevism. Under its influence, skepticism flourishes, culture takes the place of religion, churchgoing languishes, mission budgets decline, and young men and women are turned away from the mission enterprise, while the divine marching orders to the church, “Go you therefore, and teach all nations,” place the entire family of God under sacred obligations to tell the world about Christ.
All genuine missionaries join with Paul in consecration and concentration, “This one thing 1 do.” They declare:
“We are sent, not to preach sociology, but salvation; not economics, but evangelism not reform, of redemption; not culture, but conversion; not progress, but pardon. Not the new social order, but the new birth; not revolution, but regeneration; not renovation, but revival; not resuscitation, but resurrection; not a new organization, but a new creation; not democracy, but the gospel; not civilization, but Christ.” We would arise to do the Master's bidding, in the Master's great vineyard, and in the Master's own way.
This Twentieth-Century Drama
Scores of Bible prophecies fulfilled and fulfilling in our day warn us that earth's sunset hour draws near. This wonderful age of invention and discovery speaks; the world of wealth and industry speaks; this peace-shouting, war-preparing world speaks; the shattered social world together with the underworld of vice and crime, speaks. The world of religion and mission endeavor speaks; yes, look where we will, everything in this twentieth-century drama testifies to the fulfillment of Scripture prophecy, declaring that this is the time of the end, and that Christ's second coming in power and glory is near at hand.
The sunset burns across the sky. Upon the air its warning cry
The curfew tolls from tower to tower, 0 children, this the last, last hour!
The work that centuries might have done Must crowd the hour of setting sun;
And through all lands the saving Name We must in fervent haste, proclaim.
We hear His footsteps on the way! O work while it is called today.
Constrained by love, endued with power 0 children, in this last, last hour!
Thwaites
Says the Inspired Word, “Surely the Lord God will do nothing, but He reveals His secret unto His servants the prophets.” Amos 3:7. Just before the great Deluge, God commissioned Noah to warn the world, and point out a way of escape. Before the downfall of Sodom and Gomorrah, He sent His angels to tell the people and to guide Lot to a place of safety. Before the doom of ancient Nineveh, God sent Jonah to preach to its inhabitants, that they might turn from their evil ways. Before the final overthrow of Jerusalem, Christ and His apostles foretold its downfall, and directed the Christian disciples how and when to flee. Even so, just prior to Christ's second glorious coming, the prophecy declares that the everlasting gospel will be broadcast “to every nation, and kindred, and tongue and people,” with the startling announcement, “Fear God, and give glory to Him; for the hour of His judgment is come.” Revelation 14:6, 7.
A Miracle of Missions
In this clay of crisis, when the modernist would silence the voice of evangelism, and when the mission forces appear halting at the crossroads, there stands forth a notable exception. The publishers of this book represent a people who humbly, conscientiously, believe that they are divinely commissioned to carry to all the world the tidings of Christ's second coming. Though numerically small as a denomination, they push on to new gospel triumphs in more than one hundred fifty lands. They operate thousands of outstations, schools, sanitariums, hospitals, and dispensaries; and from their many publishing houses annually circulate millions of dollars' worth of gospel and health literature. They enter many new language areas each year; and to men and women of some five hundred tongues and dialects, are now proclaiming the message of a crucified, risen, and soon-coming Savior. Do you ask the reason? Here is a people who whole-heartedly accept the Bible as the word of God.
According to the Scriptures, we are not to expect the conversion of the nations. Divine truth has never been popular, has never been generally accepted; yet the everlasting gospel is to be preached as a witness, “to set the evidence” before all peoples. When this mighty task is accomplished, said Christ, “then shall the end come.”? This is the sign of signs, unique, dear, and definite.
God's program of foreign missions hastens to its completion. In multiplying facilities for this marvelous movement, He has practically annihilated time and space; by land and sea and air, He has opened highways and thrown down national barriers. In the printing and circulation of the Bible and other gospel literature in so many tongues, He reverses the disaster of Babel, and “repeats the miracle of Pentecost.” He has strengthened His heroes to plant their victorious standards in the shadow of the Andes and the Himalayas, in Eskimo village and cannibal archipelago, beyond the Yangtze gorges and the waters of Victoria Nyanza.
The Task Nearly Finished
The length of time required to prepare and to consummate the final campaign for Christ is not disclosed; but if Jonah could warn mighty Nineveh by a few days effort. If King Ahasuerus, with the means at his command, could, in nine months, promulgate an edict for all people throughout one hundred twenty-seven provinces scattered from India to Ethiopia, we are confident that omnipotent power will speedily bring the gospel program to a triumphant close. This is the world's greatest, grandest enterprise; and, thank God, the promise is sure; “He will finish the work, and cut it short in righteousness.”
That mission enterprise costs money, severed ties, sacrifice, privations, toils, vigils, and sometimes life itself But it also pays a rich dividend. The humble laborer who has worked hard on his farm or in the shop, and has been self denying that he may generously support the gospel task, ever testifies that the triumphs of the cross more than repay him. The true missionary who has left the comforts of home and native land that he may turn the pagan from idolatry to the living God, will assure you that no other calling yields such joy and satisfaction. The heathen who has forsaken his superstitious fears to become a new creation in Christ Jesus speaks from an overflowing heart of God's transcendent love. And when at length redeemed and Redeemer meet in the homeland to join with the angel choir in symphony and praise, it will then be clearly seen that the priceless Gift of heaven and all the sacrifices of earth were none too great for the redemption of the lost.
IN EARLY manhood, we are told Sir Walter Scott erected in his garden a sundial upon which were inscribed the words, “The Night Comes.” What a graphic reminder of the brevity and uncertainty of life! And what an incentive to employ every day and hour in doing those things that are most worth while!
The gospel prophet significantly asks, “Watchman, what of the night? Watchman, what of the night?” The watchman replies, “The morning comes, and also the night.” Isaiah 21:11,12. Numerous Scriptural prophecies fulfilling in the world about us give unquestionable proof that the course of human events is almost finished, and that upon this world drama the curtain of night is about to fall. But how assuring to know that the approach of earth's night brings also the dawning of a brighter and more perfect day!
The Key to All the Bible
As a thread of scarlet is woven into every strand of rope possessed by the British navy, so the narrative and master theme of Christ and His love runs throughout the entire Bible. His portrait, His radiant personality, is the background of all Scripture; and what otherwise might appear broken or confused is now seen as the complete, harmonious, matchless story of redemption.
In the divine plan for our world, God purposed to fill it with a noble race of happy, sinless men and women. (Isaiah 45:18) The blight of sin soon entered, but the all wise Father was not found unprepared. To meet the emergency of evil, should it appear, Jesus was already pledged as “the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.” When our first parents fell through disobedience, they were given the promise of a “Seed” who would bruise the serpent's head (Genesis 3:15), and bring to them everlasting deliverance.
This is the first link in a remarkable chain of prophecies given century after century by patriarchs and prophets who lived and witnessed for God. Through them He foretold the Messiah's coming (Genesis 49: 10); the time when He would appear (Daniel 9:24-27); the city in which He would be born (Micah 5:2); the tribe and family that would bring forth the Redeemer (Genesis 49:10; Isaiah 11:10); the nature of His birth (Isaiah 7:135 14). The character of His mission (Isaiah 53:4-6); the burden of heart and sadness of countenance (Isaiah 53:1-3). The triumphal entry (Zechariah 9:9); the rejection, betrayal, and manner of His death (Isaiah 53:3, 7-9; Zechariah 11:12,13); and His glorious resurrection (Psalm 16: 10. Acts 2:25¬31).
Two Supreme Events
In all history the two preeminent events are the first and second visits of Christ to this world. One occurred nineteen hundred years ago; the other is in the immediate future. The Bible contains more than one thousand prophecies, nearly a third of which foretold the events of the first advent, and were marvelously fulfilled in the life story of Jesus of Nazareth. An approximately equal number of divine predictions point forward to His second coming. In fact, there are two hundred sixty chapters in the New Testament containing statements about Christ's return to this earth.
Consider how minutely and remarkably the Old Testament prophecies were fulfilled in the New. By no possible chance could all these have merely “happened” to one individual; neither could an impostor have successfully posed to meet all the conditions and specifications. It is equally inconceivable that scores of men living at different times and in different countries could have conspired together in the construction of a myth.
Many Witnesses Testify
The historic reality of Christ's life is revealed by “its transcendent wonderfulness and originality.” The harmonious testimony of so many separate witnesses places it beyond the skill of critics or infidels to refute. Four evangelists, each in a different manner and with a different perspective, portray the same matchless biography. Some slight mistake, some careless handling of details, might easily have brought hopeless disaster. But no, careful study shows that the variations and enlargements only develop the harmony and beauty of the gospel. Diverse writings which blend into such unity bear the divine credentials, and proclaim in every age that Jesus of Nazareth is the Son of God. Scripture prophecy is equally positive and eloquent concerning His second, personal, glorious appearing as “King of kings, and Lord of lords.” “So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for Him shall He appear the second time without sin unto salvation.” Hebrews 9:28.
In the early morning of history, Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied, “Behold, the Lord comes with ten thousands of His saints.” Jude 14, 15. The “blessed hope” of Christ's return cheered job in the dark hours of his affliction. It kept him from despair, and his triumphant faith found expression in the assurance, “I know that my Redeemer lives, and that He shall stand at the latter day upon the earth: and though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God. Whom I shall see for myself, and mine eyes shall behold, and not another; though my reins be consumed within me.” Job 19:25-27.
At the call of God Abraham went forth from the majestic old capital of Ur of the Chaldees. He was willing to become a pilgrim and a stranger upon the earth, for his hope and desires centered in “a better country.” “He looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God.” Hebrews 11:16,10. David, the sweet singer of Israel, voiced his confidence in songs and psalms: “Our God shall come, and shall not keep silence.” “When the Lord shall build up Zion, He shall appear in His glory.” Psalms 50:3; 102:16. Likewise Isaiah declared, “The Lord God will come. Behold, His reward is with Him, and His work before Him.” Isaiah 40:10.
The Certified Promise
On the eve of His crucifixion, when the divine heart of our Lord was “sorrowful, even unto death,”
and the faith of His disciples was to be severely tested, He directed their minds to the future glorious gathering when all would be safe from sin and trouble:
“Let not your heart be troubled: you believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto Myself; that where I am, there you may be also.” John 14:1-3. Blessed assurance! The hope of our Lord's return is not a vain expectation; it rests upon the certified promise of God's own Son, I will come again.”
The Families of Heaven and Earth to Be United
Christ appears the second time to resurrect the righteous dead, to translate the righteous living, to unite the family of earth with the family of heaven, and to destroy the finally impenitent. Nineteen hundred years ago He ascended to heaven to prepare a place for His people; soon He will return to consummate the purpose of the ages. “He shall send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.” Matthew 24:31.
In every generation for nearly six thousand years, the cold, cheerless grave has closed upon its victims with the semblance of an eternal prison house; but it cannot hold good men and women forever. Every sincere individual who trusted in Christ will be resurrected from the dusty bed to participate in the glad home going.
“For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive, that are left unto the coming of the Lord, shall in nowise precede them that are fallen asleep. For the Lord Himself shall descend from heaven, with a shout, with the voice of the Archangel, and with the trump of God. And the dead in Christ shall rise first; then we that are alive, that are left, shall together with them be caught up in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.” 1 Thessalonians 4:15-17. A.R.V.
The two classes of God's people, some who have been resting in the tomb for hundreds or thousands of years; others who are alive throughout earth's dosing scenes, will then be forever united. Now we are subject to accident, sickness, and death; but in that supreme hour, the gift, or seal, of immortality will be conferred upon every candidate for eternal life.
“Behold, I show you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, 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. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory. 0 death, where is thy sting? 0 grave, where is thy victory?” 1 Corinthians 15:51-55.
A Consuming Fire
God is love; yet His mercy, perfectly combined with justice, can in nowise clear the guilty. “Behold, I come quickly,” runs the promise, “and My reward is with Me, to give every man according as his work shall be.” Revelation 22:12. Those who have enjoyed every opportunity, yet have spurned His love and rejected truth, are not permitted to live forever. Even if privileged to enter, they could not appreciate a sinless heaven; and their presence would mar and destroy the happiness of others. Accordingly, they will be consumed “with the brightness of His coming.” 2 Thessalonians 2: 8.
“The Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with His mighty angels, in flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.” 2 Thessalonians 1:7-8. To the disobedient and impenitent “our God is a consuming fire.”
Beyond the Range of Camouflage
As a prelude to Christ's second coming, according to John the revelator. “There came a great voice out of the temple of heaven, from the throne, saying, It is done. And there were voices, and thunders, and lightning; and there was a great earthquake, such as was not since men were upon the earth.” “And the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together; and every mountain and island were moved out of their places.” Revelation 16:17, 18; 6:14.
Christ's second appearing will be personal, visible, and glorious. False christs may arise, do arise; but no child of God need be deceived; even Satan himself will be unable to counterfeit or camouflage the glorious majesty of that event. When our Lord appears, no newspaper telegram or radio broadcast will announce His arrival. There will be no need of such heralds.
“For as the lightning comes out of the east, and shines even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven; and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.” Matthew 24:27-30.
As the awe-stricken disciples stood upon the crest of Olivet looking intently upward for the last glimpse of their departing Lord, suddenly two shining angels stood by their side to convey the comforting, cheering promise:
“You men of Galilee, why stand you gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as you have seen Him go into heaven.” Acts 1:11.
“The Lord Himself”
He went away bodily; He will return “in like manner,” “for the Lord Himself shall descend from heaven.” He ascended upward in a cloud: while of His return it is written, “Behold, He comes with clouds; and every eye shall see Him.” Revelation 1:7. Angels formed His cloudy escort to heaven: and when He again appears in His glory, “all the holy angels” are with Him. (Matthew 25:31) Once He came as a babe in Bethlehem's manger; now He comes as King of kings. Then He came to bear the burden of sin and to die for sinners: now He comes without sin,” to bring eternal life to all His people.
“The Lord Himself, not Gabriel nor seraphim,
Shall marshal all the mighty ransomed throng;
The Lord Himself shall come to bring His people,
And bear us back to realms of light and song.
“The Lord Himself, who once hath dwelt among us,
And walked earth's dusty roads for many a mile;
Who taught and toiled, and, sinless, lived beside us
An object lesson of the things worth while;
“The Lord Himself, who died in substitution,
Impaled upon a dreadful Roman cross
He comes, He comes, to bring us untold riche
The purchase of His poverty and loss.
“The Lord Himself, and no seraphic stranger,
Shall raise the reassuring shout of cheer:
With eyes alight to show us wondrous welcome,
And outstretched, nail-pierced hands to draw us near.
“The Lord Himself, so precious to believers, With voice of Archangel, and trumpet loud, Will surely come, and do us this great honor, To bring us home in His bright chariot cloud.”
The Celestial Retinue
No pageant of returning conqueror, no imposing train of royalty, no dazzling air armada designed by human genius, will rival that brilliant spectacle. John, the beloved of his Lord, and honored with visions of future glory, describes in vivid language the scene that is to burst upon the world:
“I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and He that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He does judge and make war. His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on His head were many crowns; and He had a name written, that no man knew, but He Himself. And He was clothed With a vesture dipped in blood: and His name is called The Word of God. And the armies which were in heaven followed Him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean. And out of His mouth goes a sharp sword, that with it He should smite the nations: and He shall rule them with a rod of iron: and He treads the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. And He hath on His vesture and on His thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.” Revelation 19:11-16.
This same Jesus who walked and talked with men nineteen hundred years ago, who healed the sick, who opened sightless eyes, who loved little children and comforted the poor, who courageously set His face toward Calvary, and who triumphed over death, leads the heavenly hosts as they sweep nearer and nearer the earth. While crowned as king, He still bears the scars of the nails that pierced His hands and feet. Behind Him, and surrounding Him, are the armies of heaven, ten thousand times ten thou sand, and thousands of thousands.” And the word goes forth, “Behold, I make all things new” - a new humanity, a new home, a new occupation, a new song, and a renewed life that has no end. Best of all, “this same Jesus” who loved us and died for us then welcomes us to association and fellowship with Himself and the angels forevermore.
“That Day and Hour”
Do you ask the time when that consummation will be realized? The word of God warns us that all attempts at time setting” are futile and pernicious. Said the Master, “Of that day and hour knows no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but My Father only.” Matthew 24:36. Infinite wisdom withholds the exact time of our Lord's return, and bids every believer watch and be ready.
Christ's second coming is not at death, as some affirm, for He returns as the Life-giver to abolish death and destroy him who has “the power of death.” 1 Corinthians 15:26; Hebrews 2:14. That event is not merely a “secret rapture,” or an outpouring of the Holy Spirit, as others teach; for “this same Jesus” returns personally, and in like manner as He ascended. His coming is not in the darkened rooms of the spiritualist medium; for “if they shall say unto you. Behold, He is in the secret chambers; believe it not.” Matthew 24:26. Neither will it occur in the desert; His appearing is a universal, age-ending event.
The Climax of History
If a skilled artist living two or three thousand years ago had painted upon canvas the world as we see it today with modern means of communication and transportation, with its prodigious wealth on one hand, and poverty stricken millions on the other, with its superb military preparedness, with its moral chaos and increasing crime. With its distress of nations and perplexity, with its waning faith in God and His word, and with its worship at the shrine of “the new scientific spirit,” we would unhesitatingly declare that such a painter was gifted with divine foreknowledge.
Friends, the word of God, written thousands of years ago, gives just such a pen picture; it declares that these conditions are sure tokens of history's grand climax, and of Christ's speedy return. Our generation admits that it has muddled and well nigh wrecked the world. But cheer up, fainting heart of man! Christ is about to enter upon the scene, that He may transform and recreate.
There is, therefore, no occasion for idle speculation concerning the Second Coming of Christ; for the Bible is very plain and explicit. There is no room for uncertainty; for the New Testament bids all Christians “discern the signs of the times,” and assures them: “You brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief. Neither is there an excuse for anyone saying in his heart, “My Lord delays His coming;” for the coming King is “even at the doors.”
“Coming, yes, He's coming,
Let all the ransomed sing;
The hills are bright with holy light,
All hail the coming King.”
The Hope of All Ages
Along the centuries, the Christian's confidence in the Second Advent has been as an anchor to the soul. Because of their loyalty to the Master, many have suffered for their faith in gloomy prisons, and endured the tortures of the rack, the flame, or a life in exile. But the blessed hope cheered their spirits, buoyed them up amid sufferings, and strengthened them to count not their lives as dear unto themselves.
“I persuade myself verily,” wrote Martin Luther, “that the day of judgment will not be absent full three hundred years. “ while his companion and colleague, Melanchthon, echoing the same conviction, declared that “this aged world is not far from its end.” The great Reformer, Calvin, anticipated “the day of Christ's coming as of all events most auspicious,” and asserted, “We must hunger after Christ; we must seek, contemplate, till the dawning of that great day, when our Lord will fully manifest the glory of His kingdom.”
“The thoughts of the coming of the Lord are most sweet and joyful to me,” wrote Richard Baxter. “This is the day that all believers should long, and hope, and wait for, as being the accomplishment of all the work for their redemption.” “Hasten, 0 Lord, this blessed day.”
Latimer and Ridley, both martyrs at the stake in old England, rejoiced in the assurance of Christ's return. Ridley's triumphant faith found expression in the inspiring words: “The world without doubt draws to an end. Let us with John, the servant of God, cry in our hearts unto our Savior Christ, 'Come, Lord Jesus, Come.”
Writing of this great, central truth, the eminent evangelist, C. H. Spurgeon, declared: “The day of the Lord's appearing is the day around which our chief hopes must center.” Jesus Himself put in the heart a longing,” says Dr. S. D. Gordon, a yearning for Himself, that can be satisfied only by Himself, and will be fully satisfied only when we see Him.”
Christianity's Mountain Peaks
Like two towering mountain peaks, the first and second advents of Christ are the monumental events about which all revelation and sacred history radiate. While the cross of Jesus has lost none of its glory, and the gospel none of its transforming power, the former height recedes with time. We approach the second, and through the field glass of fulfilled prophecy behold all in preparation for the King's return! Yes, this age and generation is described, designated, and divinely labeled as the one which is to witness the supreme event of all history-the second coming of Christ.
Reader, do you admire and love Jesus of Nazareth? Are you looking for His return? Are you ready to meet Him when He comes? “Take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and so that day come upon you unawares. Watch you therefore, and pray always, that you may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man.” “And every man that hath this hope in him purifies himself, even as He is pure.” Luke 21:34-36; 1 John 3:1
Do not postpone the essential preparation of heart. Says the Scripture, “You know not what shall be on the morrow.” “Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.” God's work is being rapidly finished in the earth; may it likewise be successfully finished in our lives and characters. Then with the Master let us fervently pray, “Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.”
“Thy kingdom come!
Transporting change from gloom to endless glory,
From bitter strife to Eden's lasting peace;
Thy kingdom come! Complete redemption's story,
And bring from sin perennial release.
“Thy kingdom come!
No tyranny, no death, no bold oppression,
No weakness or decay its portals know;
But strength and youth shall be a glad possession,-
Thy kingdom come, 0 Lord, and end earth's woe.”
IT IS self-evident that the prince of evil is not away on furlough or leave of absence. Look upon the famine stricken, flood-ruined, plague-ridden, war-and-bandit ravaged portions of the globe. Visit the hospitals, the insane asylums, the jails, and the penitentiaries. Think of the father who took the lives of his six children and then killed himself, leaving a note which said he committed the awful deed because he did not wish his children to go cold and hungry.
The earth seems bathed in tears of sorrow, and the streams of humanity overflow with misery and distress. Yes, go even to the fossil strata of the rocks, and the earth itself is seen to be a vast mausoleum where suffering and death prevailed among man and beast, and left the tragic story of the past engraved upon the “rocky pages of Nature's diary.” For the present disordered, puzzling, paradoxical state of the world there is but one reasonable view, but one valid solution of the problem. Something has occurred to disrupt an originally perfect creation. This is in full accord with the Book of Inspiration, which names Lucifer, or Satan, as the instigator of all tragedy and woe.
Satan - Myth or Reality?
Among the most infamous bandit chieftains who have terrorized the plains of Central China in the recent decades, was White Wolf His promiscuous army sometimes numbered thousands, while hundreds of thousands trembled at his approach. He would strike suddenly, then withdraw to the mountain strongholds, and cleverly cause the report to be circulated that White Wolf was dead. When fears were quieted, and agriculture and trade had resumed their normal course, he would again appear boldly, unexpectedly, to fall upon the defenseless, and carry prodigious stores of booty to his distant retreat.
Man's most deadly enemy employs similar strategy. He spreads the falsehood that there is no personal devil, and hence no danger from a wily, unseen foe. Some assert that God and “good” are identical, with only a slight difference in the spelling; and that the term “devil,” similar in form to “evil, is but a mischievous thought, an unreality, a myth. Friends, were there no archfiend, no lurking peril, our heavenly Father would never erect the danger signal: “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walks about, seeking whom he may devour: whom resist steadfast in the faith.” 1 Peter 5:8, 9.
Men or Robots?
But many ask, Why does God allow sin and sorrow? Why did a good God permit the entrance of a satanic monster? Why did He not destroy the enemy before the world was engulfed in sin? Why did not an all wise, merciful God create men and women who could not sin? The story of the most tragic revolt in history contains the answer to these queries. Every parent who rears children assumes a great risk; for the boy or the girl may choose either the broad way or the narrow way. In the beginning when God created angels and men and endowed them with the power of choice, He faced a like problem. He could have made them as machines, mere robots or automatons; but when He brought forth free, moral, intelligent beings, there was also the risk and the possibility of disobedience.
Our heavenly Father knew the end from the beginning (Isaiah 46:10), and made full provision, should the necessity arise, to meet the contingency of sin. In the divine plan, Christ was “the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.” When evil, crime, and death at length entered, God was not taken by surprise, or found unprepared. The gospel remedy was in readiness; and beyond all the tears and strife, He envisioned the ultimate triumph of His purpose, and looked forward to the time when the redeemed hosts from this old earth would join the millions from unfallen worlds in giving honor and praise to Creator and Redeemer throughout endless ages.
God did not create a devil. He made Lucifer, the “son of the morning,” a beautiful and exalted angel of heaven. The Lord also created legions of angels in a pure and sinless condition. Yet, sad to relate, some of these “kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation.” At one time they had been among “the elect angels” (1 Timothy 5:21); but when apostasy and rebellion developed, “God spared not the angels that sinned.” They lost their purity and loyalty, and He “delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved unto judgment.” 2 Peter 2:1.
Inordinate Ambition
This insurrection against the government of God, the Bible testifies, began with the highly honored Lucifer. The cause of his downfall is also made known: “How art thou fallen from heaven, 0 Lucifer [“day star,” marginal rendering], son of the morning! How art thou cut down to the ground, which did weaken the nations! For thou has said in your heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God. I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north: I will ascend above the heights of the clouds. I will be like the Most High. Yet thou shall be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit.” Isaiah 14:12-15.
In this short paragraph, Lucifer's inordinate ambition is strikingly revealed. The egotistical phrase, “I will,” occurs five times. Only a plotting despot or tyrant would frame such a speech. Lucifer is changed into a demon who would dethrone and annihilate God, who would usurp the throne of the universe, and rule as the supreme deity. The same sad story of Satan's pride and fall is told by the prophet Ezekiel, who introduces him under the symbol or title of the king of Tyrus:
“Thus said the Lord God; Thou seals up the sum, full of wisdom, and perfect in beauty.” Ezekiel 28:12. As one of the wisest of the heavenly host, glory and splendor were also conferred upon him. The indictment continues: “Thou has been in Eden the garden of God. Every precious stone was thy covering, the sardius, topaz, and the diamond, the beryl, the onyx, and the jasper, the sapphire, the emerald, and the carbuncle, and gold: the workmanship of thy tabrets and of thy pipes was prepared in thee in the day that thou was created. Thou art the anointed cherub that covers. And I have set thee so: thou was upon the holy mountain of God; thou has walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire. Thou was perfect in thy ways from the day that thou was created, till iniquity was found in thee.” Ezekiel 28:13-15.
This language clearly refers to Lucifer. He was “the anointed cherub that covers,” indicating his high position by the throne of God. Only Christ, the Son of God, was more exalted. This personage was “upon the holy mountain of God,” “walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire,” was “perfect” in his ways from the day that he was “created until iniquity was found” in him. While the mention of tabrets and pipes would point him out as leader, or as one of the leaders, of the angelic choir. The expression, “Thou has been in Eden the garden of God,” is also significant. But four individuals the Creator, Adam, Eve, and the tempter are mentioned in the Bible narrative as visitors or dwellers in the garden of Paradise. How minutely and appropriately this description applies to the arch deceiver!
War in Heaven
After launching his rebellion, Lucifer was not long permitted to remain in heaven. We are assured that Infinite Love employed every effort and entreaty to dissuade him from his sinister purpose; but when all the divine resources proved of no avail, when the proud, stubborn heart refused to yield, the die was fully' cast and open hostilities developed:
“There was war in heaven: Michael and His angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels, and prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven. And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the devil, and Satan, which deceives the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.” Revelation 12:7-9.
The Bible teaches that Michael is Christ. Compare Jude 9, 1 Thessalonians 4:16, and John 5:28. The warfare here indicated by the seer of Patmos is the beginning of the age-long struggle known as the great controversy between good and evil, between Christ and Satan. Large numbers of the heavenly host, “the third part of the stars of heaven” (Revelation 12:4), who sympathized with Lucifer and joined in the revolt, were, with their chosen leader, forever banished from the celestial courts. Christ Himself describes that tragic exit in the words, I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven.” Luke 10: 18.
A Lesson Book for the Universe
Do you inquire, Why were not Satan and his followers forthwith destroyed? As a lesson book for the entire universe it was necessary that sin be permitted to grow to maturity, that all might behold its nature and its terrible results. All must have opportunity to behold the deceiver entirely unmasked. His true character, His real object, must be clearly understood. Had he been immediately blotted out of existence, some might serve God from fear rather than from love. Likewise, the benevolence, mercy, and justice of God must be fully vindicated. In this way, throughout all coming ages the fatal record of Satan's rebellion is to stand as a perpetual warning and safeguard, to prevent both men and angels from being deceived, and forever to deter them from tampering or experimenting with the deadly virus of sin.
The Scriptures dearly reveal that the Creator was in nowise responsible for the entrance of evil. “God is love.” 1 John 4:8. He desired His children to serve Him from the heart, and He appeals to us, 1f you love Me, keep My commandments.” John 14:15. In no other way could there be true happiness. As free moral agents, men and angels were all granted the same opportunities, were all given access to the same unlimited store of divine grace. Where, then, did the germ of evil originate? That is an unsolved problem, a chapter in “the mystery of iniquity” that the Bible does not reveal. To quote the words of another:
“Sin is an intruder, for whose presence no reason can be given. It is mysterious, unaccountable; to excuse it, is to defend it. Could excuse for it be found, or cause be shown for its existence, it would cease to be sin. Our only definition of sin is that given in the word of God; it is 'the transgression of the law;' it is the outworking of a principle at war with the great law of love which is the foundation of the divine government.” – “The Great Controversy,” page 493.
The Greatest War of History
At the creation of our world Satan and his host plotted the ruin of the human family, and incited our first parents in Eden to distrust and disobey their heavenly Father. Like the angels, Adam and Eve had been placed on probation. Their delight some estate could be retained only on condition of fidelity to the law and government of God. The choice rested with them: they could obey and live; they c6uld disobey and perish.
The crucial test centered in “the tree of knowledge of good and evil.” What disaster! They yielded to the tempter, and were banished from Paradise. Yet before being driven out, God, in His infinite love, gave them the promise of a Savior through “the Seed of the woman.” He bade them look forward to the time when the cruel enemy would receive his fatal wound, and be no more. (Genesis 3:15)
In the meantime, Satan would “bruise” the “heel, would pursue the steps of the faithful, and wage relentless warfare against the family of God on earth. Oh, the crime, bloodshed, devastation, sickness, sorrow, pain, and death he has wrought! Down the ages, he has been the destroyer and the opposer of all that is good. In this, the greatest war of history, there has been no respite or armistice. When at length Christ came to earth, the enemy plotted “to devour” the Child “as soon as it was born;” but neither Satan nor Herod was permitted to kill the infant Jesus. For thirty-three years, the adversary dogged His steps, and finally achieved His death as a despised criminal on Calvary's cross.
The Crucial Hour
But Satan overreached himself just prior to His crucifixion, Jesus announced: “Now is the judgment of this world: now shall the prince of this world be cast out. And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto Me. This He said, signifying what death. He should die.” John 12:31-33.
For both heaven and earth that was a crucial hour. Before the entire universe the love of God for sinful man was manifest. Like a mighty magnet the cross of Christ drew men and angels to love and adore Him. They also witnessed the base betrayal and violence, the mocking and the scourging, the crown of thorns and the cruel nails. They knew that it was all instigated against their beloved Commander by Lucifer. Then the disguise was torn away. Satan stood revealed as a murderer; the last link of sympathy between him and the loyal angels was broken, and “the prince of this world” was wholly discredited and “cast out.”
Describing the glorious triumph at Calvary, a voice from heaven was heard by John the revelator, saying: “Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of His Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down. Therefore rejoice, you heavens, and you that dwell in them. Woe to the inhabitants of the earth and of the sea! For the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knows that he bath but a short time.” Revelation 12:10-12.
When Jesus died, Satan sought to imprison Him forever in the grave. But on the morning of the third day, in response to the Father's call, Jesus burst the fetters of death, and from Joseph's new tomb walked forth with the tread of a conqueror. All heaven rejoiced; but, says the scripture, “Woe to the inhabitants of the earth; “ for Satan then realized that he is a vanquished foe, that his kingdom is doomed, and that he has “but a short time” to work. He therefore focuses his mighty powers and cunning, sharpened by millenniums of demon devising, against the peoples of earth.
A Complete Triumph
The full significance of Christ's victory over Satan, death, and the tomb, staggers our comprehension. As a result of our first parents' sin in Eden, man lost his innocence. (Romans 5:12) He likewise forfeited his life. “The wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23); and for nearly six thousand years this unbidden enemy, being no respecter of persons, has entered alike the palace and the cottage ruthlessly to snatch away its victims.
In the beginning man was given dominion, or lordship, over the earth (Genesis 1:28). But because of his transgression, this was forfeited and lost. During Christ’s searching ordeal in the wilderness of temptation, Satan bade Him look from a mountain height upon “all the kingdoms of the world,” and said to Him, “All this power will I give Thee, and the glory of them: for that is delivered unto me. And to whomsoever I will I give it.” Satan has become “the god of this world.” Luke 4:5,6; 2 Corinthians 4:4. Yes, look where we will throughout the length and breadth of the earth, Satan wields immeasurable power, and numbers his subjects by hundreds of millions.
But Christ came into our world “to seek and to save that which was lost.” Luke 19:10. He defeated Satan at every step of the way; and through His victorious sacrifice, enabled man to regain his lost innocence. (Romans 5:18,19) His life was redeemed, for “the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ
our Lord.” Romans 6:23. And concerning His long-lost sovereignty over this world, it is written: “Thou, 0 tower of the flock, the stronghold of the daughter of Zion, unto thee shall it come, even the first dominion [the home bartered away through Adam's sin]; the kingdom shall come to the daughter of Jerusalem.” Micah 4:8.
The Great Controversy Almost Finished
All that was lost through the sin of the first Adam is restored through the merits of the second Adam. “Christ was treated as we deserve, that we might be treated as He deserves. He was condemned for our sins, in which He had no share, that we might be justified by His righteousness, in which we had no share. He suffered the death which was ours, that we might receive the life which was His.” “With His stripes we are healed.”
While the Master's victory over the prince of darkness was achieved nineteen hundred years ago, the kingdom of evil was not immediately overthrown. Although Christ paid in full the price of redemption, “we see not yet all things put under Him.” Hebrews 2:8. Crime, bloodshed, heartache, trouble, disease, and misery continue for a season until the cup of iniquity overflows; then Christ will return to destroy sin and death, and to transform this old world into a land of happiness and transcendent delight.
During all the centuries since our Lord's first advent, Satan and his host of fallen angels have sensed the fact that their doom is sealed, and accordingly work with the fury of desperation and despair. We are warned that just before the second coming of Christ the enemy will go forth “with all power and signs and lying wonders,” and will even seek to “deceive the very elect.” The special target of this final onslaught is God's “remnant” people who “keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.” 2 Thessalonians 2:9; Matthew 24:24; Revelation 12:17.
To all who live in these thrilling times when the forces of good and evil are struggling against each other with such intensity, let it be known that the arch brigand is neither dead nor nonexistent. Only as we place our confidence in One who is mightier than he, and who vanquished him on Calvary, are we safe. At a time like this, when every form of atheist, modernist, and spiritualist doctrine flourishes, and when Satan has a thousand new snares and inducements to lure men and women away from God, let every Christian be found prepared with “the shield of faith,” “the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.” Ephesians 6:16,17. Yes, we would be fortified with “the whole armor of God,” that we “may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.” Verses 13,11. “And having done all, to stand.” Verse 13.
I will stand in the pathway of duty
For a cause which shall never retreat;
This with God given strength I shall conquer
And the foe in the conflict defeat.
I will stand against a great host of darkness,
And list to the Master's command
Sent down from the heavenly portals-
The line must not break where I stand.
I will stand in the pathway of duty
Though the dark clouds of sin round me roll.
But with prayer and the sword of the Spirit.
Despair shall not enter my soul.
I will fight against Satan, the tempter.
By faith holding firmly God's hand.
By the sign of the cross I'll be victor.
The line shall not break where I stand.
Adapted
In his own strength man is no match for the wily foe that opposes him. But a stronger than he met the adversary, and baffled him in every encounter. So be of good cheer! No one who implicitly trusts the hand that was nailed to the cross will ever be defeated in the conflict.
“Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw nigh to God, and He will draw nigh to you!' James 4:7,8. “God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that you are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that you may be able to bear it.” 1 Corinthians 10:13.
IT IS dark in our world, oppressively dark. Men and churches and nations have lost their way. But what is the hour? Is midnight past? Is dawn approaching? Yes, the divine timepiece of prophecy points unmistakably to the hour of dawn: “The night is far spent, the day is at hand.” It also reveals that Christ's return to this earth will usher in the coming millennium.
Speculation and fancy have obscured and distorted the Bible facts of this future era. Some draw upon their imagination to forecast an economic, social, and spiritual Utopia in which many of the problems which now baffle and annoy the human race will be solved; and in which the fetters, irritants, plagues, and sorrows of life will be largely eliminated. Prosperity, we are told, will be well-nigh universal: health will, be contagious, and longevity the prevailing habit: the golden rule will then come into its own, and the very atmosphere will be saturated with honesty, virtue, and spirituality; while business and religion become congenial and inseparable comrades.
Others declare that the millennium will be a time when the entire world will be converted, when Christ will reign as Prince of Peace, and when the nations will no longer practice the cruel art of war. These predictions may sound pleasing and probable to some; but a few paragraphs from God's word concerning the future are of more value than volumes of speculative theology or scholastic guesses by men of renown.
False Dreams of the Future
The current belief of many that the vast multitudes and majorities of this world will become converted is but an idle dream, a false hope with its fatal offer of security. Those who advocate this theory of a “millennial dawn” point to such words of Scripture as these:
“In the last days it shall come to pass, that the mountain of the house of the Lord shall be established in the top of the mountains, and it shall be exalted above the hills; and people shall flow unto it. And many nations shall come, and say, Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord. And He shall judge among many people, and rebuke strong nations afar off; and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks: nation shall not lift up a sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.” Micah 4:1-3.
Continuing his description of future happiness, the prophet pictures every man sitting “under his vine and under his fig tree,” with none to “make them afraid.” The redeemed will then “walk in the name of the Lord our God forever and ever;” the “first dominion” will be restored to the people of God; and “the Lord shall reign over them in Mount Zion from henceforth, even forever.” See Micah 4:4~8. It is therefore clear that all of this language refers, not to a temporal millennium upon this earth when affairs and conditions will become gradually improved, until peace, security, and plenty take the place of trouble, fear, and penury, and life will be crowned with supernal happiness and joy, but points unmistakably to the eternal home of the righteous.
In contrast with these false theories and groundless conjectures, our Father bids us know that just prior to earth's final harvest the nations will make unrivaled preparations for war. That “the last days” will be “perilous times,” when conditions will drift from bad to worse, when distress and crime will increase, when the seven last plagues will be poured out, and when the final clash of armies, known as Armageddon, will leave its multitudes of slain unburied on the vast battlefields. (Joel 3:9-12; Jeremiah 4:19; 2 Timothy 3:1, 13; Revelation 16:1-21; Jeremiah 25: 31-33)
As the following pages indicate, the Bible clearly teaches-
That the second coming of Christ will mark the beginning of the millennium.
That this earth, desolate and without human inhabitants, will become Satan's prison house for a thousand years.
That the saints will reign with Christ during that period, not upon the earth, but in heaven.
That at the close of the millennium, the wicked dead will be raised.
That Satan and all his followers will then receive their punishment.
And that this earth, purified by fire from sin and sinners, will become the glorified eternal homeland of the saved.
The First Resurrection
Contrary to the popular notion, the term “millennium” does not occur in the Bible. It is derived from two Latin words, mille, meaning “thousand,” and annus, “year.” The thousand year period is mentioned six times, all of which are in the twentieth chapter of Revelation. Of the redeemed from this earth, the prophet writes:
“They lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years. But the rest of the dead [the wicked] lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection.” Revelation 20:4-6. These words furnish the time key to an understanding of the millennium, showing that it begins with the resurrection of the righteous. They are also in complete accord with the teaching of Christ and His apostles: “There shall be a resurrection of the dead, both of the just and unjust.” Acts 24:15; John 5:25-29.
A Promise Fulfilled
On the eve of His crucifixion, the Savior gave the definite promise, I will come again, and receive you unto Myself That glorious, premillennial event brings fullness of joy to every sincere Bible Christian:
“For the Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the Archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first. Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.” 1 Thessalonians 4:16,17. Of that time it is also written: “He shall send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.” Matthew 24:31.
Our Lord's second appearing therefore occurs at the beginning of the millennium, when the living righteous, together with the risen saints, ascend to their heavenly abode. At that same time, those living upon the earth who have rejected Christ as their deliverer are instantly destroyed. Says the apostle:
“You who are troubled rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with His mighty angels, in flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of His power. When He shall come to be glorified in His saints, and to be admired in all them that believe (because our testimony among you was believed) in that day.” 2 Thessalonians 1:9-10.
Left without a shelter in that crucial hour, the despisers of God are unable to endure the celestial glory that suddenly bursts forth upon this world. To them, “our God is a consuming fire.” Hebrews 12:29. As a climax to the seven last plagues and the battle of Armageddon, the wicked are consumed with “the spirit of His mouth,” and destroyed “with the brightness of His coming.” 2 Thessalonians 2:8; Psalm 97:1. The prophet vividly describes the aftermath: “Evil shall go forth from nation to nation, and a great whirl wind shall be raised up from the coasts of the earth. And the slain of the Lord shall be at that day from one end of the earth even unto the other end of the earth: they shall not be lamented, neither gathered, nor buried.” Jeremiah 25:32,33.
Immediately following the return of Jesus as “King of kings, and Lord of lords,” as narrated in the nineteenth chapter of Revelation, the seer of Patmos presents this view. “I saw an angel coming down out of heaven, having the key of the abyss and a great chain in his hand. And he laid hold on the dragon, the old serpent, which is the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years, and cast him into the abyss, and shut it, and scaled it over him, that he should deceive the nations no more, until the thousand years should be finished.” Revelation 20:1-3, A. R. V.
The “abyss,” or (bottomless pit) here mentioned, is the Greek equivalent of the Hebrew word occurring in Genesis 1:2, “darkness was upon the face of the deep [abyss].” It indicates the chaotic condition of this planet during the one thousand years. In the beginning, “the earth was without form, and void;” and the prophet Jeremiah uses the same expression to describe the emptiness and desolation of our world during that future period:
“I beheld the earth, and, lo, it was without form, and void; and the heavens, and they had no light. I beheld the mountains, and, lo, they trembled, and all the hills moved lightly. I beheld, and, lo, there was no man, and all the birds of the heavens were fled. I beheld, and, lo, the fruitful place was a wilderness, and all the cities thereof were broken down at the presence of the Lord, and by His fierce anger.” Jeremiah 4:23-26. All the proud cities of earth will then lie in ruins; all the works of man will be destroyed; and darkness will again cover the earth as it was before the original creation.
Satan's Enforced Vacation
The “chain” and “key” in the hands of the angel are emblems of authority. It is not a chain of iron, or steel, or brass, but a chain of circumstances which Satan is powerless to break. All the righteous will then be in heaven with Christ, beyond the reach of the enemy; all the wicked will be asleep in death so that he cannot deceive them; and the world will be left without a human inhabitant. For six thousand years the deceiver and his host have been intensely active in the warfare against God and man; but then, with the loyal angels and the noble citizens of other worlds wholly disillusioned, any further attempts to shake their allegiance would be altogether futile.
And here upon this dismal uninhabited planet with its devastated cities and once fruitful lands turned into a vast wilderness the archenemy will have a thousand years of enforced vacation in which to reflect upon the ruin his rebellion has wrought. This earth literally becomes “the bottomless pit” of Satan's captivity.
Reigning With Christ a Thousand Years
We turn to a brighter picture: “I beheld, and, lo, a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kingdoms, and people, and tongues, stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands. Therefore are they before the throne of God, and serve Him day and night in His temple.” “And I saw thrones' and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God. And they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years.” Revelation 7:9-15; 20:4.
“From desert waste, and cities full,
From dungeons dark, they've come.
And now they claim their mansion fair. They've found their long-sought home.”
They “serve” in His temple; they sit upon thrones; and “judgment was given unto them.” The record books of heaven are opened; “and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works.” Revelation 20:12. In this service the redeemed of earth are elevated to association with Christ that they may behold the mercy and justice of God fully vindicated. To this judicial task in the court of heaven, the apostle Paul made reference. Denouncing the evil of brother going to law against brother, he asked, “Do you not know that the saints shall judge the world? Know you not that we shall judge angels?” 1 Corinthians 6:2,3.
The Second Resurrection
At the close of the millennium, the New Jerusalem, together with Redeemer and redeemed, descends to earth; and the voice of Christ summons the wicked dead of all ages to awaken from their long sleep. (Revelation 21:2; 20: 5; John 5: 28, 29) The resurrection of the righteous occurs at the beginning of the thousand years; the resurrection of the wicked marks its close. Christ mentions the latter as “the resurrection of damnation.”
The mighty hosts of the unrepentant and unconverted come forth from their graves with the same sinful hearts and rebellious spirit that animated them during this life. The arch rebel's vacation then terminates, and for “a little season” (Revelation 20:3) he resumes his activity of deception. “When the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison, and shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle: the number of whom is as the sand of the sea.” Revelation 20:7,8. The length of this “little season” is not disclosed. Evidently there is time to construct munitions and engines of war, and to organize the mightiest army this world has ever seen. The last act in the seven thousand years' controversy between Christ and Satan follows swiftly.
Final Battle of the Age-Long Warfare
“They went up on the breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city: and fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them.” Verse 9. In the host without the city are men and women of all classes, nations, and generations peasant and pagan, giant intellects and captains of wealth, distinguished sovereigns, and military heroes who never lost a battle. The Bible nowhere indicates that a second probation is offered them, or that they even desire another chance. Were the opportunity granted, they would choose the same course and follow the same leader. Their actions reveal that the same unsanctified desires and inordinate ambitions that controlled them in this life still urge them forward. As the enemy approaches the Holy City with its gates and walls and glittering foundations, the multitudes without are afforded a view of what they might have possessed had they but yielded their lives to the Savior of mankind.
For the first and last time, the entire family of Adam are assembled, the righteous inside the city, the wicked forever shut out. The infinite love of God is manifest to all. His justice in terminating the lives of the finally impenitent who have despised the cross of Calvary is fully revealed. Even the enemy and his host must recognize that God is true, and that their punishment is just. Then fire rains from above; the long warfare against God's government is at an end; and Satan and his followers are consumed “root and branch.” “This is the second death.” Malachi 4:1; Revelation 20:14.
As the ark constructed by Noah rode safely the angry waters of the Flood, so the city of God remains unscathed throughout the raging fires of that fateful day. The very elements melt with fervent heat, and all the works of sinful men are destroyed. The lake of fire also cleanses the earth; and from the smoldering ruins of this old world, a glorious new earth arises to be peopled by those who have been rescued by the love of Christ from the domain of Satan to a home in the kingdom of God.
Welcomed to the New Regime
The dire experiment with sin is then forever finished. “Affliction shall not rise up the second time.” “There shall be no more curse.” “And He that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new.” “And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself shall be with them, and be their God.” Nahum 1:9; Revelation 22:3; 21:3,5.
A thousand years from now this planet will still be lying in waste and desolation, for the millennium will not yet be finished. At that time you and I will be either in heaven with Christ and the righteous or asleep on this earth, with Satan and his angels as sentries on guard. Which shall it be? When the holy city descends and the resurrected battalions surround the “camp of the saints,” you and I will be either safely within the New Jerusalem or, with the unnumbered throng without, sadly reflecting upon our immeasurable loss. Which shall it be? And when the lake of fire shall have spent its fury, and the vast estate is purified from sin, you and I will either have gone down to everlasting forgetfulness or will be walking the streets of gold and sharing the delights of honored guests at the grand millennial gathering in the recreated homeland. Which shall it be?
“A thousand years in Jesus' kingdom
Rolling along mid the chiming spheres,
Will be but the prelude to that blest story
That ushers us into the endless years.”
The millennium follows the close of the gospel age, and precedes the establishment of Christ's kingdom on earth. It is the intervening period between the time limits of the two general resurrections. Its beginning is signalized by the Second Coming of Christ, the resurrection of the righteous dead, the binding of Satan, and the translation of the saints to heaven. And its close is marked by the descent of the New Jerusalem with Christ and His people from heaven, the resurrection of the wicked dead, the loosing of Satan, and the final destruction of the wicked.
During the one thousand years of earth's desolation Satan and his angels are here confined in exile; while Christ and His people sit upon thrones of judgment, examining the cases of the wicked, preparatory to their final punishment. The wicked dead are then raised; Satan is loosed for a little season, and with the vast rebel host encompasses the holy city; then fire descends from above to consume them. The same flames that destroy the finally impenitent also purify the earth that it may become the re-created homeland
of the redeemed. The close of the millennium marks the beginning of the new earth in a universe cleansed from sin.
VISITING a city of the dead, a stranger noticed a man who was decorating a grave with choicest flowers, and moistening it with his tears. Thinking he might speak a word of comfort, he approached the other and asked if he were mourning the loss of a wife, a son, or some other near relative; but to each question the reply was, “No.” Then lifting his tear stained face, he said:
“Here lies a man who died for me. When the war broke out, was a man of middle age, with a family of small children dependent on me for their daily bread. I was drafted. My wife and children were clinging to me, as they naturally would when a husband and father is about to be separated from home and loved ones, perhaps never to return. At that time when we were in sore distress, a young man, the only son of a widowed mother, volunteered to take my place. He went to the front, was killed, and now lies buried here. He-died-for me. But his mother still survives; she makes her home with us, and we esteem it the greatest privilege to care for her. Her son died in my place. I now live in his place. I live for him who died for me.”
Since the sin of Adam, every human being has been a marked victim, drafted to die: “for the wages of sin is death.” In His great love, Jesus volunteered to become our substitute. He died in our stead. The deathblow that rightfully was ours fell upon the innocent Lamb of God. “The gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” Romans 6:23.
Of the 31,173 verses of the Bible, one familiar text stands forth preeminently: “God so loved the world, that He gave His only-begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” John 3:16.
It required the supreme gift of heaven to purchase our salvation. “Behold, what manner of love”! 1 John 3: 1. “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.” John 15:13.
The Greatest Drama of the Ages
The famous Passion Play at Oberammergau, with its seven hundred participants and some three hundred thousand visitors, is small and insignificant as compared with the panorama staged at the direction of God by ancient Israel. Instead of a few hundred actors, millions then literally participated; instead of continuing three centuries, it was enacted throughout fifteen; instead of being held once in ten years, it was conducted daily, the entire presentation requiring a year for completion. Instead of reproducing a brief week of Christ's life, it embraced His entire ministration for man's redemption and the eradication of sin. Instead of being conceived and written by priest or abbot, the entire drama in all its parts and details was outlined in heaven and given to man by direct revelation.
At the time of its origin, Moses was leading the Hebrew race, numbering some three million persons, from the rigors of Egyptian slavery to an independent national life in the promised homeland of old Canaan. On their march through the wilderness of northern Arabia, they tarried for nearly a year in the great natural amphitheater at the foot of Mount Sinai. Here their civil government and church activities were organized. During long centuries of serfdom and enforced labor in the mines, brickyards, and building activities of old Egypt, the great masses of Israel were denied all educational advantages, and retained but a twilight knowledge of the Creator, His law, His Sabbath, and the Redeemer who had been promised. In these circumstances, a wise and loving Father instituted an elaborate and impressive system of object lessons to acquaint His people with Christ and the way of salvation.
Invited into the divine presence on the heights of Sinai, Moses was instructed to establish a religious priesthood, with offerings and sacrifices, all of which was to be a parable or prophecy of the gospel. He was given a vision of God's dwelling place in heaven, known as “the true sanctuary,” and was directed to construct a miniature of this building in the camp of Israel. Said the Lord:
“Let them make Me a sanctuary; that I may dwell among them. According to all that I show thee, after the pattern of the tabernacle, and the pattern of all the instruments thereof, even so shall you make it.” Exodus 25:8, 9.
A Vision of the Temple in Heaven
As the tabernacle in the wilderness was the center of divine service upon earth, so the sanctuary in heaven where “He ever lives to make intercession” for man, is the center of Christ's mediatorial work, the fountainhead of the Christian religion, and the source of the plan of salvation, from which radiate His light, His love, and His boundless mercy.
The true worshiper looks into the sanctuary to behold God and His Son Jesus. Says the psalmist: “Thy way, 0 God, is in the sanctuary.” Psalm 77:13.
“They have seen Thy goings, 0 God; even the goings of my God, my King, in the sanctuary.” Psalm 68:24.
“Honor and majesty are before Him: strength and beauty are in His sanctuary.” Psalm 96:6. “To see Thy power and Thy glory, so as I have seen Thee in the sanctuary.” Psalm 63:2.
The Tabernacle Furniture
Centuries later when the Israelites were permanently located in the land of Palestine, a magnificent temple for worship was erected by King Solomon on Mount Moriah at Jerusalem. In the meantime a portable tabernacle approximately fifty-four feet in length by eighteen in breadth and height was built and furnished by the generous, freewill offerings of the church in the wilderness.
This house of God was divided into two rooms, the “holy place” being twice the size of the “most holy place.” In the former, at the right of the entrance, was the table of show bread, the bread of the presence.” It was continually before the face of Jehovah, and represented Jesus, the true and living bread from heaven. (John 6:32-35, 48-51) From His life and energy mankind is physically fed and strengthened; while to become spiritually strong, we must feed upon the everlasting word, “the bread of life.”
Opposite the table of show bread stood the golden candlestick with its seven lamps. Day and night, year after year, century after century, the lights were to burn continually. Never were all to be extinguished at the same time. The golden candlestick represented Christ, the light giver to the world. (John 8:12) It was also designed to teach the children of God in all ages: “You are the light of the world. Let your light so shine.” Matthew 5:14-16.
Just in front of the inner veil that separated the two apartments of the tabernacle stood the golden altar of incense. This was a type of the altar of incense before the throne in heaven, where the prayers of all God's people are registered. And of which it is written: “The smoke of the incense [symbol of Christ's righteousness], which came with the prayers of the saints, ascended up before God out of the angel's hand.” Revelation 8:4.
In the solitary majesty of “the most holy,” stood the sacred chest, or ark, containing the law of Ten Commandments; while above this was a covering of gold known as the mercy seat. This was a diminutive earthly model of the Father's throne in heaven, the law being the foundation, or constitution, of His universal government; while the mercy seat represented His infinite love. This was to reveal that in all our Father's dealings with angels and with men, His law and His love, His justice and His mercy, are in perfect accord.
“Justice and judgment are the habitation of Thy throne: mercy and truth shall go before Thy face.” In His royal dwelling place, mercy and truth are met together; righteousness and peace have kissed each other.” Psalms 89:14; 85:10. On either end of the mercy seat, each wrought from one piece of fine gold, stood the figure of an angel representing the covering cherubim about the throne of God. With uplifted wings and bowed heads, these angels appeared as in the act of worship. Above the mercy seat between the cherubim shone a supernatural halo of light, called the Shekinah, which was a token of the visible presence of Jehovah in the midst of His people.
The Court of the Sanctuary
Surrounding the tabernacle was a court approximately one hundred eighty feet long, by ninety feet in width. Hangings of fine linen supported by pillars screened this enclosure from the gaze of the multitude. This court with its sanctuary was erected in the center of the camp of Israel, three tribes pitching their tents to the north of it, three to the east, three to the south, and three to the west. The door to the court, about thirty-five feet in width and formed of curtains, opened to the eastward. The tabernacle stood in the western half of this area; while in the open space in front of the tabernacle were two articles of furniture.
Upon the brazen altar located just inside the court entrance were offered the sacrifices of the people. Every oblation pointed to the great sacrifice on Calvary as the only way of deliverance from sin. By faith the penitent looked to Christ to find pardon and justification. Between the altar and the door of the tabernacle stood the large basin, or laver, filled with water. The priests thoroughly cleansed themselves before entering the sanctuary to minister at its services. Here was taught a lesson in sanctification. Those whom God chooses to minister for Him must first be purged from the impurity of sin. “Be you clean, that bear the vessels of the Lord.” Isaiah 52:11.
In minute detail Moses had been given a “blue print” of the temple in heaven, and was repeatedly instructed, “Look that thou make them after their pattern, which was showed thee in the mount.” Exodus 25:40. When the appeal was issued for erecting this house of God, the people contributed liberally; and when all was completed, it doubtless represented a value of approximately a million dollars.
The Radiant Beauty of Temple Service
The importance of this theme is indicated by the generous amount of space accorded to it by the divine penmen. Besides numerous references and side lights found in other portions, the book of Exodus devotes sixteen chapters to the plans and specifications for the tabernacle construction; the entire book of Leviticus describes the various services and ritual. While in the New Testament, the unique epistle to the Hebrews is dedicated to the Mosaic tabernacle, the radiant beauty of its service in the light of the gospel, and the ministration of Jesus Christ as high priest.
God designed that this ancient passion play should be carried into the home life of all the people throughout the Hebrew nation. Each morning, as the officiating priest offered the incense upon the golden altar, every home was bidden to observe the appointed season in prayer and consecration for the new day. When evening came, the burning of incense at the tabernacle was again the signal for the vesper hour at each family altar. Said the “sweet psalmist of Israel”:
“Let my prayer be set forth before Thee as incense; and the lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice.” Psalm, 141:2. We too would know the value and sense the fragrance of such communion with Christ.
“The prayer of the humble suppliant He presents as His own desire in that soul's behalf. Every sincere prayer is heard in heaven. It may not be fluently expressed. But if the heart is in it, it will ascend to the sanctuary where Jesus ministers, and He will present it to the Father without one awkward, stammering word, beautiful and fragrant with the incense of His own perfection.” – “The Desire of Ages,” page 667.
In many ways those ancient tabernacle services diffused the glorious light of the gospel. When a man's conscience convicted him of sin, he must be made to sense the ugly fact that “the wages of sin is death.” Accordingly he was bidden to select from his flock a lamb or kid without blemish, and proceed to the court of the tabernacle. Solemnly he would raise his eyes to heaven; he would lay his hand upon the victim's head; his lips would move in confession; then he would lift the knife, and the blood of the sacrifice would pour forth. By faith, the man looked forward to the time when his sins would put to death the innocent Son of God.
“The blood is the life.” Catching some of this flowing life current in a vessel, the officiating priest passed within the outer veil of the tabernacle, to present it for an atonement. If the suppliant was truly penitent, the offering was accepted, and the sin forgiven. At other times, when an individual brought his sin offering, the blood was poured out at the foot of the altar, and the priest prepared and ate a portion of the flesh in the holy place. By this service the sin was transferred in figure first to the sacrifice, and then to the person of the priest. And the pardoned sinner grasped the wondrous truth of the Messiah who would come to bear his “sins in His own body on the tree.” What an object lesson of the sacrifice and victory on Calvary!
The Annual Trial Balance
Each year God required a spiritual trial balance and audit. This was conducted, according to the Hebrew calendar, on the tenth day of the seventh month, which corresponds approximately to the month of October. Day by day throughout the entire year the sins of the people had been transferred in type or shadow to the priest and the sanctuary. While on this special occasion the tabernacle was to be cleansed by the removal of all defiling sin.
Ten days prior to this the priests, passing throughout all Israel, blew the silver trumpets which pealed forth as with warning voice: “Make no delay; confess and forsake every sin; for the Day of Atonement approaches.”
At eventide, on the ninth day of the same month, the trumpet's blast was again heard. A sacred solemn hush pervaded every pious home. All work was laid aside. It was not the beginning of the weekly Sabbath, neither had there been the usual cooking and baking as on the preparation day; for this was to be an occasion of fasting, prayer, and deep searching of heart. To every conscientious child of Abraham, it was in every sense “a Sabbath of rest,” the one day in all the year when no neglect or sacrilege could be tolerated.
On the early morning of the tenth day the vast congregation of Israel assembled about the tabernacle. After the high priest had made an atonement for himself and his household, he presented two goats “before the Lord at the door of the tabernacle.” Following the divine instruction, he then “cast lots upon the two goats; one lot for the Lord, and the other lot for the scapegoat.” Leviticus 16:8.
Picture the scene: As these goats 'were before him, one on the right, the other on the left, the high priest, using both hands, drew with each from an urn the engraved “lot,,” or ballot. On one was written, “La Jehovah” (“For Jehovah”); on the other, “La Azazel” (“For Azazel,” or the scapegoat). The term “scapegoat” (margin, “Azazel”) is a Hebrew word understood by ancient Jewish and Christian scholars to refer to the adversary, or devil; hence one goat typified the Lord Jesus Christ, while the other was considered a symbol of Satan.
A Unique Service
The high priest was required to “bring the goat upon which the Lord's lot fell, and offer him for a sin offering.” Leviticus 16:9. With the blood of the slain victim and a golden censer “full of burning coals of fire from off the altar before the Lord, and his hands full of a sweet incense beaten small,” the priest passed beyond “the holy place” within “the second veil” of the sanctuary, the only time throughout the entire year when he entered “the most holy.” Approaching the mercy seat, a cloud of incense ascended from the censer; and he sprinkled the atoning blood seven times above and before the ark. Retracing his steps, he lingered a few moments in the outer apartment to make an atonement for the altar of incense, the-seven golden candlesticks, and the table of show bread. Then returning to the open court, he laid “both his hands upon the head of the live goat,” and confessed “over him all the iniquities of the children of Israel, and all their transgressions in all their sins, putting them upon the head of the goat, and shall send him away by the hand of a fit man into the wilderness.” Leviticus 16:21. Never again was the scapegoat to enter the camp of Israel.
Sin is an intruder that separates man from his Maker; but in this ceremony, the sanctuary was cleansed from the 6guncleanness of the children of Israel” that had accumulated throughout the year. The at-one-ment had been made in figure. By faith, it was seen that Christ the Redeemer would come to take away man's sins and place them upon the head of Satan, the scapegoat, who was the originator of all evil, and who in the coming judgment will be finally destroyed. It was also revealed that sinful, doomed man had been given a substitute to die for him, even Jesus the great sin offering. The repentant prodigal was also delivered from the clutches of sin and its penalty, and rejoiced by faith in the transcendent gift of Christ to our world.
We too may unite in the song of praise: “Worthy is the Lamb that was slain,” and has “redeemed us to God” by His “precious blood.”
“Thou dying Lamb! Thy precious blood
Shall never lose its power,
Till all the ransomed church of God
Are saved to sin no more.”
This ancient service is far more than a matter of history; it contains vital truth for the Christian today. In his peerless essay concerning the divine-human, many sided Christ, the apostle Paul describes the heart, the kernel, the sum, of the gospel in these words: “Now of the things which we have spoken this is the sum. We have such an high priest, who is set on the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens. A minister of the sanctuary, and of the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, and not man.” Hebrews 8:1,2.
The Miniature and the Original
Then follows a vivid parallel between the miniature sanctuary on earth and the original sanctuary in heaven, the former being variously termed as but “a shadow,” “an example,” “a figure,” and “a pattern.”
(Hebrews 8:5; 9:9-23) The blood of lambs and goats did not, could not, actually take away sin. That ceremony was but a divine object lesson “for the time then present,” to direct the minds of the people to the Lamb of God whose blood is the only sin eraser in the universe.
In the ancient Hebrew ritual, the cleansing of the sanctuary occurred annually. But in the sacrifice and priesthood of Christ, there is this contrast: “For then [if He were to die annually] must He often have suffered since the foundation of the world. But now once in the end of the world hath He appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself.” Hebrews 9:26.
Only once was Christ crucified, and the heavenly sanctuary is to be cleansed but once. As the tabernacle built by man was symbolically defiled by the sins of the people and needed cleansing, so it is “necessary that the patterns of things in the heavens should be purified with these. But the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices,” not with the blood of animals, but with the precious blood of Christ.
Israel's tabernacle system appears as a graphic panorama of the great gospel plan for man's salvation. On the Hebrew day of atonement, those who did not confess and forsake their sins were “cut off” from among their people. (Leviticus 23:29,30) That was a devoted, heart-searching day, a time of judgment; and all who did not avail themselves of the atoning freedom from guilt and wrong were debarred from entering upon the spiritual privileges of the new year.
The two Sanctuaries Contrasted
1. Built by man. Exodus 25:1-9
1. Built by God. Hebrews 8:2.
2. A type, figure, shadow. Hebrews 8:5
2. The antitype, pattern, true. Hebrews 9:8,24.
3. The dwelling place for God on earth. Exodus 25:8,22.
3. The dwelling place for God in heaven. Hebrews 8:1,2.
4. Dedicated with the blood of animals. Hebrews 9:21.
4. Dedicated with the blood of Christ. Hebrews 9:12.
5. Earthly priests. Hebrews 9:6,7.
5. The heavenly Priest. Hebrews 9:11.
6. Sinful priests. Hebrews 7:27.
6. The sinless Priest. Hebrews 7:26.
7. Priests with infirmity. Hebrews 7:28.
7. The perfect Priest. Hebrews 7:28.
8. Could not remove sin. Hebrews 10:4,11.
8. Does remove sin. Hebrews 9:15.
9. Did not bring perfection. Hebrews 9:9.
9. Does bring perfection. Hebrews 10:14.
10. Purified with the blood of animals. Leviticus 16.
10. Purified with the blood of Christ. Hebrews 9:23.
11. Cleansed every year. Hebrews 9:6,7,25.
11. Cleansed once for all. Hebrews 7:27; 9:12.
12. Ministry only for “the time then present.” Hebrews 9:9; Matthew 27:51.
12. Ministry continues until the last soul is saved. Hebrews 9:11,12; Revelation 22:11.
In the passion play of the ages, the world is the theater and every professed Christian is an actor. Have we played our parts well? Do we sorrow over past failures? Would we welcome the opportunity to repeat life's program in hope of a better rendering? In vain our regrets; the past is gone forever. The present is ours. Jesus, our best Friend, still ministers at God's right hand. He bids us bring to Him our stained characters, our torn and filthy garments; and in exchange He presents to us a cleansed new heart and the flawless robe of His own righteousness woven in the loom of heaven.
MAN has belted the continents with ribbons of steel and concrete, has extended wire communication across land and sea to millions of homes and offices, has thrown his voice around the world on the wings of radio, has looked into the drop of water to find billions of microscopic organisms, and has peered out into space thousands of light years beyond our solar system. Marvelous achievements!
But there are still greater wonders. He who created the universe, “declaring the end from the beginning,” projects His lines of prophecy into future centuries and millenniums to determine coming events with unerring accuracy. “His name shall be called Wonderful, Wonderful Numberer,” “The Numberer of Secrets.”
For these critical times through which the world is passing, the two most important prophetic books in the Bible are Daniel of the Old Testament, and Revelation of the New. In these we are told of God's message for today, and the special work that heaven is now transacting in behalf of this world.
The Medo-Persian Monarchy
One of the grandest and most important revelations is contained in the eighth and ninth chapters of the prophecy of Daniel. This historical drama designates Jesus of Nazareth as the true Messiah by announcing more than five centuries in advance the very year when God's Anointed would enter upon His public ministry, and also the time when He would be crucified.
The opening scenes of the vision delineate the rise and work of three great empires: “I lifted up mine eyes, and saw, and, behold, there stood before the river a ram which had two horns: and the two horns were high. But one was higher than the other, and the higher came up last. I saw the ram pushing westward, and northward, and southward; so that no beasts might stand before him, neither was there any that could deliver out of his hand; but he did according to his will and became great.” Daniel 8:3, 4.
The angel Gabriel who was bidden to “make this man [Daniel] to understand the vision,” began the interpretation with the words: “The ram which thou saw having two horns are the kings of Media and Persia.” Verse 20. Two horns or powers represent the dual character of the empire. For a time the Medes were in the ascendancy; but ~ 9 the higher came up last;” and history records the rise of the Persians under Cyrus and Darius to the place of leadership. Even as the prophet had foreseen, the direction of the Medo-Persian conquests was “westward, and northward, and southward.”
The Empire of Greece
Daniel continues the narration of the next act in the great drama: “As I was considering, behold, an he-goat came from the west on the face of the whole earth, and touched not the ground: and the goat had a notable horn between his eyes. And he came to the ram that had two horns,. . . and ran unto him in the fury of his power.... And there was no power in the ram to stand before him, but he cast him down to the ground, and stamped upon him: and there was none that could deliver the ram out of his hand. Therefore the he-goat waxed very great: and when he was strong, the great horn was broken: and for it came up four notable ones toward the four winds of heaven!' Daniel 8:5-8.
The fulfillment of this prophecy is not left to conjecture, for the angel interpreter declares: “The rough goat is the king of Greece: and the great horn that is between his eyes is the first king.” Verse 21. Under Alexander the Great, the Grecian goat pursued the Persian ram “in the fury of his power.” According to Arrian, the historian, the Macedonians at Arbela “charged with great fury.” and “there was none that could deliver” the retreating Darius from the victorious Alexander.
“All nations came to pay their obedience to him,” writes the author Justin. Yet his fame and glory were exceedingly brief. The prophecy had declared that “when he was strong, the great horn was broken.” just as the youthful conqueror was preparing to celebrate at Babylon a “convention of the whole universe, he was struck down from the pinnacle of human greatness. “The great horn was broken; and for it came up four notable ones toward the four winds of heaven.” In fulfillment, note the words of the distinguished Philip Van Ness Myers: “Four well defined and important monarchies arose out of the ruins.” – “History of Greece,” 1902 edition, page 457.
The Kingdom of Iron
“Out of one of them came forth a little horn, which waxed exceeding great, toward the south, and toward the east, and toward the pleasant land.” Verse 9.
The messenger from heaven declared that Medo-Persia would be “great,” that Greece would, be “very great,” while the next power would become “exceeding great.” Rome followed Greece; and according to the “Histories of Polybius,” “almost the whole inhabited world was conquered, and brought under the dominion of the single city of Rome.” - Book 1, chapter 1.
Step by step the sure word of prophecy outlined the rise and fall of Medo-Persia and Greece, and depicted the age-long oppressive rule of the Iron Monarchy.” The angel declared that this power would “destroy wonderfully, would “destroy the mighty and the holy people,” and would “also stand up against the Prince of princes.” Daniel 8:20-25.
The Keys to Prophecy For man
Many centuries Rome waged violent warfare against the truth and the people of God. Multitudes of Jews, the once chosen people, were destroyed, while Christians suffered bitter persecution. Through its representatives, Herod and Pilate! Christ, the Prince of princes, was condemned to the cruel cross. No wonder the question was, asked, “How long shall be the vision concerning the daily sacrifice, and the transgression of desolation, to give both the sanctuary and the host to be trodden underfoot?” Daniel 8:13. How long was that dark reign of terrorism to continue? How long was the church of God to be “trodden underfoot” with the appearance of “Truth forever on the scaffold, Wrong forever on the throne”?
The Wonderful Numberer sends the reply: “Unto two thousand and three hundred days; then shall the sanctuary be cleansed.” Verse 14. The Bible is a complete book, and where symbols are used in one text, the key or explanation is given elsewhere. Inspiration is its own interpreter. The Bible expressly states that “beasts” are chosen to represent “kingdoms” (Daniel 7:17,23); “winds” to express “strife” (Jeremiah 25:3133). “sea” or “waters” to indicate “peoples” and “nations” (Revelation 17:15); while God's map of the future is drawn to the scale and expressed in terms of “a day for a year” (Ezekiel 4:6).
This prophetic time of twenty-three hundred days, twenty-three hundred literal years, is therefore a long period. It extends to these latter times; for concerning it the angel said, “At the time of the end shall be the vision.” Daniel 8:17. According to this revelation, the cleansing of the sanctuary is to be God's answer to the apparent triumph of evil. Error may prosper for a time; but in the just balances of the sanctuary, a righteous judgment will be rendered. A knowledge of this question solves the problem of how God will finally dispose of sin. 1 was envious,” said the psalmist, “when 1 saw the prosperity of the wicked.” “When I thought to know this, it was too painful for me; until 1 went into the sanctuary of God; then understood 1 their end.” Psalm 73:3,16,17.
The Enigma Solved
The angel Gabriel had been commissioned to give Daniel an understanding of the vision. (Verse 16) But after outlining the history of Medo-Persia, Grecia, and Rome, he reached the topic of the twenty-three hundred days (“evenings and mornings,” compare verses 26 and 14, margin; also A. R. V).
At this juncture, “Daniel fainted, and was sick certain days.” Verse 27. Recovering from his illness, the prophet earnestly sought God for an understanding. He humbly prayed; and ere the petition was finished, the same messenger that he had “seen in the vision at the beginning” stood before him, and said:
“0 Daniel, I am now come forth to give thee skill and understanding. At the beginning of thy supplications the commandment came forth, and I am come to show thee. For thou art greatly beloved: therefore understand the matter, and consider the vision.” Daniel 9:22,23.
What vision? The one concerning the twenty-three hundred days that had not been explained, and that perplexed the prophet's mind. So picking up the thread of conversation just where it had been dropped when the previous interview was abruptly terminated, Gabriel continued: “Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city, to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy,
and to anoint the most holy.” Verse 24.
The word “determined,” also rendered “cut off,” or “decreed,” indicates that the seventy weeks are cut off from another period. Since only one other epoch of time was under consideration, that of the two thousand three hundred days, it naturally follows that the seventy weeks are cut off from that longer span, and allotted as a probationary period to the Jews and their holy city.
During that time, six important issues were to be consummated:
1. The transgression would be finished. In the reject ion and crucifixion of the Messiah, the once chosen people were to fill to overflowing their cup of iniquity, thus opening the floodgates to national doom.
2. An end of sins was to be made. Christ would appear “to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself.”
3. There was to be reconciliation for iniquity; and this was abundantly provided in the sacrificial death of God's Son upon the cross.
4. Everlasting righteousness would be brought in. We are reconciled by His triumphant death, and saved by His spotless, righteous life. (Romans 5: 10)
5. The vision and prophecy were to be sealed up, or made certain. Here was to be given an acid test. As this portion of the prophecy was accurately fulfilled, and stamped with its divine signet of authenticity, the rest is certified. It is seen that the application is correct, that the right key of interpretation is being used.
6. “The most holy” was to be anointed. When the ancient tabernacle was erected, there was a special service of anointing and dedication, both for the sanctuary and for the priests. (Exodus 40:9-15) Even so in the fulfillment of this prophecy which extends to the time of “Messiah the Prince,” Jesus was anointed for service. And when the days of His earthly task were accomplished, “the more perfect tabernacle not made with hands,” was consecrated to the ministry of our great High Priest. (Matthew 3:16¬17; Acts 10:38; Hebrews 9:11,24)
“Chronology as Sure as the Stars”
The beginning of the twenty-three hundred days and the seventy weeks is not left in uncertainty. Said the angel: “Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince shall be seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks: the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublous times. And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for Himself: and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolation are determined. And He shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week He shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease.” Verses 25-27.
At the time of this prophecy Jerusalem lay in ruins, having been destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon; but after the passing of many years, there were three royal decrees issued by three Persian kings, to restore the Hebrew metropolis. Says the Scripture record:
“They built, and finished it, according to the commandment of the God of Israel, and according to the commandment of Cyrus, and Darius, and Artaxerxes king of Persia.” Ezra 6:14. In these words the three decrees are summed up as constituting “the commandment. “ The last and most comprehensive of these, authorizing the full restoration of civil and religious government in Jerusalem, was issued in the autumn of the seventh year of Artaxerxes, which, according to the reliable records of Ptolemy, was in the year 457 BC.
Ptolemy was a Greek historian, geographer, and astronomer who lived in the second century of our era near Alexandria, Egypt. With his enumeration of ancient kings, the year of their succession, and the great events of ancient history, he compiled a record of solar and lunar eclipses. These observations have been carefully checked and verified by modern astronomers. Says the distinguished Dr. William Hales:
“To the authenticity of these copies of Ptolemy's canon, the strongest testimony is given by their exact agreement throughout, with above twenty dates and computations of eclipses in Ptolemy's Almagest.” – “Chronology,” volume I, page 166. The heavenly bodies, as “divinely appointed timekeepers,” bear their testimony; and in the words of an eminent historian, “A foundation is laid for chronology sure as the stars.” Thus the Bible, history, and astronomy unite in establishing this monumental date, 457 BC, as the beginning of the long prophetic period of twenty three hundred years.
Infinite Accuracy of the Divine Time Table
The seventy weeks, or four hundred ninety literal years, as above shown, are cut off from the twenty-three hundred years, both periods beginning at the same time. To make this unmistakably clear and certain, the four hundred ninety years are in turn subdivided into shorter periods. For “unto the Messiah the Prince” were to be “seven weeks” (forty-nine years), and “threescore and two weeks” (four hundred thirty-four years). Leaving “one week” (seven years), in the midst of which Christ was to be “cut off,” crucified, and His death to “cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease.” When our Savior died on Calvary's cross, the Old Testament sacrifices and offerings that pointed forward to Him as the Lamb of God had served their time and purpose; the Levitical priesthood had also accomplished its mission, and would then give place to the priesthood of Christ.
In exact accord with the time table of divine prophecy, all these events occurred in order, and precisely on schedule. Forty nine years after the decree of Artaxerxes, Jerusalem was fully restored. Compare Nehemiah 13:1-31 with “Prideaux's Connections,” part 1, book VI. From that event, four hundred thirty-four years extend to the autumn of 27 AD, when Jesus the Messiah was baptized in old Jordan, and anointed with the Holy Spirit. (“Messiah,” Hebrew; “Christ,” Greek; “Anointed,” English, see John 1:41, margin.) Three and one-half years more reach to “the midst of the week,” the spring of 31 AD, at which time Christ was lifted up on the cross. Even nature itself testified in fulfillment. The sun hid its face three hours:
“The earth did quake, and the rocks rent. And, behold, the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom.” Matthew 27:45,51. For centuries the sure word of prophecy had pointed to this supreme moment in the work of redemption; and when the great clock of time marked the hour, the promise of God was gloriously fulfilled. This miracle coincidence signified that the work of priests and the offering of animals were forever finished; the shadowy ritual of the Old Testament had reached its substance, its great antitype, in the work and sacrifice of the Son of God.
Another half week (three and one-half years) completed the “seventy weeks,” or four hundred ninety years, and ended in 34 AD. At this time the leaders of the once chosen people decisively repudiated the gospel. Stephen, the first Christian martyr, was put to death by mob violence, and a relentless persecution drove the Christian disciples forth from Jerusalem to many lands. And “they that were scattered abroad went everywhere preaching the word.” Acts 8:4. Gentiles in Samaria surrendered their hearts to Christ; the Ethiopian on the road to Gaza received the gospel; Cornelius and his household were baptized; and the story of the Crucified One began its triumphant march to “the uttermost parts of the earth.” Not many years after this, the city of Jerusalem was destroyed in a siege that cost the lives of a million Jews, and scattered the remnant of the Hebrew race among all nations.
“The Fullness of the Time”
The four hundred ninety years of grace allotted to the seed of Abraham terminated in 34 AD. Subtracting these from the entire period of two thousand three hundred years leaves a remainder of eighteen hundred ten years. (2300 - 490 = 1810). Adding this number to 34 AD gives us the terminal year, 1844A. D. (34 + 1810 = 1844), to which the angel had pointed forward in the prophecy, “Unto two thousand and three hundred days; then shall the sanctuary be cleansed.” The declaration of Gabriel that the “seventy weeks” (490 years) would “seal up the vision and prophecy,” carries with it a special significance. History testifies that step by step, “when the fullness of the time was come, every feature and detail of the prophecy was actually fulfilled. Here is the imprint of God's wondrous foreknowledge; and as surely as the great Offering at Calvary was sacrificed on time, so surely does the cleansing of the heavenly sanctuary occur at the your appointed.
These predictions given through the prophet Daniel could not possibly refer to the earthly sanctuary, for throughout the fifteen centuries of its existence, it was cleansed each year. Again, our great High Priest never ministered in holy places made by human hands (Hebrews 9:24); while the temple at Jerusalem was finally destroyed by the Romans in 40 AD, nearly eighteen centuries, before the time of this fulfillment. As already observed, the tabernacle service of ancient Israel was but a miniature model of God's sanctuary above. Once a year on the Day of Atonement, the solemn service of purifying the temple from the accumulated sins of the people was accomplished.
In like manner, Jesus invites all to lay their guilt upon Him, the great Sin Bearer. After finishing His life upon earth, He ascended to the heavenly sanctuary as our High Priest, ministering in the first, or holy, apartment for more than eighteen hundred years. While in 1844 AD the certified date of prophetic fulfillment, He passed beyond the second veil to God's throne room, “the holy of holies,” there to plead His precious blood in behalf of sinful, yet penitent, man. To secure for him full absolution and pardon; to purify “the patterns of things in the heavens” (Hebrews 9:22-24); and to finish His work as our judge advocate in the supreme court of heaven.
“Prepare to Meet Thy God”
Divine television has mapped the future. It reveals that we are living in the great antitypical day of atonement for which heaven and earth have long been waiting. And while that task is being accomplished in heaven above, our Lord issues a special appeal to the men and women of this generation, calling upon them to get ready to meet Jesus. This is the most important personal problem in the world today: “We must all appear before the judgment scat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad.” 2 Corinthians 5:10.
Not for a day or an hour should we rest carelessly with sins unconfessed or unforgiven. Whole heartedly we would pray: Lord Jesus, as Thou art now purifying the sanctuary above, cleanse also my soul temple from every stain. In the autumn of 457 BC, that monumental date as “sure as the stars,” the royal commandment went forth to rebuild Jerusalem. The task of reconstruction was completed in 408 BC. The Messiah was baptized and anointed in the autumn of 27 AD. He was crucified 3.5 years later, in the spring of 31 AD. Another 3.5 year period extended to the stoning of Stephen, the great persecution of Christians at Jerusalem, and the gospel message starting on its way to all lands. These events marked the close of the 490 years in the autumn of 34 AD.
This prophecy is our Father's certified statement that at the end of the 2300 days, the autumn of 1844 AD, the cleansing of the heavenly sanctuary would begin. This long prophetic period therefore locates four great events: the baptism of Christ, His crucifixion, the rejection of the Jewish people as a nation, and the beginning of the final judgment in the sanctuary above.
17. A World at the Judgment Bar
SCIENCE considers the year 1844 as a memorable one in modern history. The use of anesthetics in the operating room marks that date as the beginning of a new era in surgery. During the same year, and for the first time in the experience of man, electricity sent its mysterious impulse over a long-distance wire, and carried to a then distant city the significant message, “What hath God wrought!” In 1844 and adjacent years the many providence of God among the nations unlocked to Christian missionary endeavor countries and empires representing half the world's population. The way was being prepared for the proclamation of the last message of mercy to the world. That same year, according to God's prophetic yardstick, the supreme court of heaven assembled. (See chapters 15 and 16) Its decrees are final, and from its righteous judgment there is no appeal:
“I beheld till thrones were placed, and one that was Ancient of Days did sit: His raiment was white as snow, and the hair of His head like pure wool; His throne was fiery flames, and the wheels thereof burning fire. A fiery stream issued and came forth from before Him. Thousands of thousands ministered unto Him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before Him. The judgment was set, and the books were opened.” 1 saw in the night visions, and, behold, there came with the clouds of heaven one like unto a Son of man, and He came even to the Ancient of Days, and they brought Him near before Him.” Daniel 7:9,10,13, A. R. V. The scene is in “the holy of holies,” the audience room of the Ancient of Days. “Thrones” are placed; the Son of man enters to occupy one of them, and to serve as “advocate with the Father,” and in behalf of all who. Will yield their hearts and submit their cases for trial. The judgment is set, and the books are open.
A Vast Bookkeeping Enterprise
A modern business house carrying 10,000 ledger accounts would be looked upon as a gigantic enterprise, and one that would require an army of clerks and accountants. But visualize a vast concern with more than a billion individual accounts, each one recording the minute transactions of everyday life, and all kept with unerring accuracy 1 Yet this is neither fiction nor fancy. It is the exact picture presented in the Bible of the immense bookkeeping establishment of heaven, in which every individual has a debit and a credit account.
More than thirty-four centuries ago, when Moses addressed his wonderful petition to God in behalf of way laid Israel, he mentioned these records: “Yet now, if Thou wilt forgive their sin-., and if not, blot me, I pray Thee, out of Thy book which Thou has written.” Exodus 32:32. Then came the reply: “Whosoever hath sinned against Me, him will I blot out of My book.” Verse 33. Our heavenly Father is the author of law and order, and long before man devised a system of bookkeeping, He provided that all the activities of His children, whether good or evil, should be faithfully recorded and preserved. The Scriptures mention various registers, or account books, of character. The book of life, the book of remembrance, and the book or record of sin and death.
The Books of Heaven
The book of life dates “from the foundation of the world.” Revelation 13:8; 17:8. It is heaven's directory of loyal workers; it is the Christian's “hall of fame.” Philippians 4:1 To have one's name inscribed upon its pages is the highest honor to which mortals may aspire, and Christ bids His disciples rejoice in the assurance that their “names are written in heaven.” Luke 10:20. Yet this is but a provisional enrollment; for, as will be seen, the names are retained only on condition of continued fidelity and ultimate victory in Christ. Another volume of accounting is described by the prophet Malachi: “Then they that feared the Lord spoke often one to another: and the Lord hearkened, and heard it, and a book of remembrance was written before Him for them that feared the Lord, and that thought upon His name.” Malachi 3:16.
He who is “a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart” (Hebrews 4:12) understands the motives which prompt our words and actions, and causes a faithful record to be kept, not of rumors or appearances, but of actual facts and purposes.
“Boys flying kites haul in their white-winged birds. You can't do that way when you're flying words.”
We may sometimes imagine that our daily conversation is of but little moment; yet words are the index to the character, “for out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks.” Matthew 12:34. “I say unto you,” declared the Master, “That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment. For by thy words thou shall be justified, and by thy words thou shall be condemned.” Matthew 12:36, 37.
In their nature and make-up, these records attest the goodness and justice of God; for the birthplace, the environment, and all else that influences the character are brought into the faithful chronicle. “The Lord shall count, when He writes up the people, that this man was born there.” Psalm 87:6. Even the tears of repentance shed in anguish and solitude are not overlooked (Psalm 56:8); all are recorded above, awaiting the time when “the hidden things of darkness” and “every secret thing” will be brought to light. (Psalm 56: 8; 1 Corinthians 4: 5; Ecclesiastes 12:14)
Other books register the sins of the wicked and impenitent. “Behold, it is written before Me. Your iniquities, and the iniquities of your fathers together, said the Lord.” Isaiah 65:6,7. “Though thou wash thee with niter, and take thee much soap, yet your iniquity is marked before Me, said the Lord.” Jeremiah 2:22. The fateful record of dark deeds is filed away in the archives of heaven, “laid up in store” until the day of judgment. Still the Spirit pleads, and Jesus “is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by Him.” Hebrews 7:25.
A wax phonograph record when sponged with alcohol loses its message. A photograph film with its imprint of some disaster may be washed in nitric acid, and the picture will immediately fade away forever. Even so our sinful words, our evil thoughts and actions, when subjected to the precious blood of Jesus are expunged from the pages in the books above. The compassionate Savior speaks to every penitent soul, “I even I, am He that blots out thy transgressions for Mine own sake, and will not remember thy sins.” Isaiah 43:25.
Angel Bookkeepers
In this stupendous task, angel bookkeepers are employed. “Are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation?” Hebrews 1:14. These spiritual visitors from a better country, sometimes in the guise of men, but more often unseen, are the constant attendants of men and women in this world. They labor unceasingly to win and to encourage, to guide and to protect. Even the little children are blessed with the companionship of these angel guardians. Said the Savior of men: “Take heed that you despise not one of these little ones; for I say unto you, That in heaven their angels do always behold the face of My Father which is in heaven.” Matthew 18:10.
The tidings of injury inflicted upon even a weak, despised outcast are all carried to the heavenly sanctuary of God where multitudes “minister” unto Him, and where the acts of all are “written before Him.” Says another:
“Could the veil which separates the visible from the invisible world be swept back, and the children of men behold an angel recording every word and deed, which they must meet again in the judgment, how many words that are daily uttered would remain unspoken. How many deeds would remain undone.” – “The Great Controversy,” page 487.
When all the details of life appear in the books, with never a false entry, many will discover too late that the record testifies against them. Wealth, position, pleasure, and display often absorb the attention; while many feel it altogether old-fashioned to read the Bible, to pray, to confess their sins, and to surrender their lives to Christ. But remember: “The mightiest conqueror upon the earth cannot call back the record of even a single day. Our acts, our words, even our most secret motives, all have their weight in deciding our destiny for weal or woe. Though they may be forgotten by us, they will bear their testimony to justify or to condemn.” - Ibid.
Oh, the wonderful ledger the angels keep I And the watchful eyelids that never sleep, And the tireless penmen that watch and weep over the words they write. How oft are the hearts of the angels pained, And how oft are the pages soiled and stained, How much is lost and how little gained In struggling for the right! Mrs. L. D. Avery-Stuttle. On a public occasion Daniel Webster was once asked, “What is the greatest question that has ever crossed your mind?” Thoughtfully and impressively came the reply, “My personal accountability to God.” Frequently we should ask ourselves the question, “What would Jesus do?” While from His childhood remark, we catch the answer, Know you not that I must be about My Father's business?”
To you and to me the Bible speaks with its touching personal appeal. In its pages the coming judgment is mentioned more than a thousand times. That hour of decision is more solemn than death; for the grave may separate friends only until the resurrection, while the judgment unites or separates them forever. Young man, young woman, you may feel that you are enjoying your reckless fling at life, “the ways of your heart,” “the sight of your eyes,” but King Solomon admonishes you, “Know thou, that for all these things God will bring thee into judgment.” Ecclesiastes 11:9.
The day of atonement, when the ancient tabernacle of Israel was cleansed from the pollution of sin, was a time of earnest heart searching, of investigation, and of judgment. In like manner Christ's final ministry in the temple above necessitates an examination of the books of record, and a removal, or a blotting out, of the sins that have been there recorded.
According to the Bible, the cleansing of the heavenly sanctuary is the investigative judgment. With the records there unsealed, and with holy angels as attendants and witnesses, the trial is held before the righteous judge, and in the presence of Jesus, the divine-human Attorney for the defense. In the decisions reached, infinite love and justice stand perfectly balanced. The law of God is the accepted standard by which every character is measured, and divine mercy “will by no means clear the guilty.” “Fear God, and keep His commandments,” declares the word: “for this is the whole duty of man. For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil.” Ecclesiastes 12:13, 14.
According to the prophecies of Daniel, the prodigious task of the investigative judgment in the heavenly tribunal began at the end of the twenty-three hundred years which terminated in the autumn of 1844; and the court session then begun is to finish its work before the second coming of Christ. In that final trial balance and audit every account is cleared; and either names or sins are blotted out'. Says the revelator:
“He that overcomes, the same shall be clothed in white raiment; and I will not blot out his name out of the book of life, but I will confess his name before My Father, and before His angels.” Revelation 3:5. To all those who would be “accounted worthy” of eternal citizenship in the future homeland, the apostle speaks: “Repent you therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord.” Acts 3:19.
Our Advocate's Plea
Ezekiel the prophet, beholding in vision the judgment scene, heard the divine command, “Begin at My sanctuary. Then they began at the ancient men which were before the house.” Ezekiel 9:6. As the book of life is opened, the name of Abel, the first member of the human race to die, appears; his life record is carefully examined; his sins are found confessed and forgiven; and the Savior says, “Father, My blood, My blood! I gave My life in his behalf” The sacrifice is accepted; Abel's sins are blotted out, and his name is retained in the Lamb's book of life.
Along the years since 1844, this work has continued in heaven. Every life record is revealed; every name is called; every case is investigated; some are accepted, some are rejected. At some time, we know not when, the cases of all the dead will have been decided, and the court will turn its attention to the characters of men and women who are still living. And when at length the last case has been settled, the door of salvation will dose, the angel of mercy will take her flight from this world never to return, and the Judge will issue the decree: “He that is unjust, let him be unjust still. And he that is holy, let him be, holy still. And, behold, 1 come quickly; and My reward is with Me, to give every man according as his work shall be.” Revelation 22:11,12.
“Then shall the King say unto them on His right hand, Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.” Matthew 25:34. “And there shall in nowise enter into it anything that defiles, neither whatsoever works abomination, or makes a lie. But they which are written in the Lamb's book of life.” Revelation 21:27.
We are told of a cathedral in an old-fashioned village of Germany, which now serves as a museum. On the wall is a painting representing the judgment. Upon a magnificent throne sits Jesus Christ, surrounded by prophets and apostles; in front of Him is an innumerable company of people. Standing before this great throng is an angel, beautiful in form and appearance, holding in his hands a pair of balances; while over the picture of the balances, a hand is writing, “Thou art weighed in the balances, and found -.” The hand appears to be waiting for a decision before filling in the last word.
“Wanting” or “Trusting”?
In the judgment scene of heaven, your case and mine will ere long come before the great Judge, and the sentence will be pronounced, “Thou art weighed in the balances, and found.” Which shall it be, wanting” or “trusting”? The court recorder must soon fill in the blank with a word that will mean eternal life or eternal destruction. Oh, let us live and witness for Christ! Let us fervently pray that our sins may be forever blotted out, and that as victors in this momentous race our names may be immortalized in the book of life.
“The judgment has set, the books have been opened;
How shall we stand in that great day
When every thought, and word, and action,
God, the righteous judge, shall weigh?”
“The work is begun with those who are sleeping,
Soon will the living here be tried,
Out of the books of God's remembrance,
His decision to abide.”
“Oh, how shall we stand that moment of searching,
When all our sins those books reveal?
When from that court, each case decided,
Shall be granted no appeal?”
THE American Constitution,” declared William Gladstone, England's grand old man of the nineteenth century, “is the most wonderful work ever struck off at a given time by the brain and purpose of man.” It is a triumph of statesmanship; yet, with all patriotic respect for this fundamental law of our land, we discover another legal document that is infinitely superior. In his eulogy of the Ten Commandments, a distinguished American jurist says:
In that short and comprehensive code, we find given us a perfect rule of action, covering the whole ground of man's existence. A rule not only prescribing our duty to God and man in our external behavior, but reaching to the secret thoughts and feelings of hearts in every possible condition of life, and in all our relations to our Maker and our fellow beings. The wisdom of ages, the learning and philosophy of the schools, have never discovered a single defect in that code. Not a virtue which is not there inculcated. Not a vice in its most doubtful and shadowy form, which is not there prohibited. Whence then, I ask, did the great Jewish lawgiver derive his spirit of legislation? If that code was written by the finger of the Almighty, let us bow to it with reverence, and seek no better rule of life, nor any wiser principle of action. But if it emanated only from the capacious mind and was dictated by the wisdom of Moses, then Moses was a wiser, a more learned man than any of our new teachers. And I had rather be under his jurisdiction and keep his commandments than learn new rules of civil polity and social intercourse from the most learned and wise of the present day.” – “Will the Old Book Stand” page 104.
All nature was created subject to divine law, and harmony is expressed in ten thousand forms. The morals of man are not an exception. He who made a “weight for the winds” (Job 28:25), who placed bounds for the ocean (Job 38:10,11), and set beauty of arrangement everywhere, also ordained standards for the conduct of His children.
At Mount Sinai
Mount Sinai. When the nation of Israel had been emancipated from age-long servitude in Egypt, and was migrating across the desert of Arabia, the encampment tarried for a time in the shadow of Sinai. There the wondrous Father staged the most spectacular and impressive service that the world has ever witnessed. The earth trembled. “Mount Sinai was altogether on a smoke, because the Lord descended upon it;” while above the summit, “the glory of the Lord was like devouring fire.” Exodus 19:16-18; 24:17.
Every eye was focused upon the scene; every heart was thrilled to deepest emotion. As with radio broadcast, a dear, distinct voice rang forth throughout the valley: I am the Lord thy God, which brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.” Exodus 20:2. He who had wrought so mighty a deliverance in the land of the Pharaohs announced ten brief, comprehensive, authoritative precepts, embracing the whole duty of man. “And He added no more.” Deuteronomy 5:22. These statutes are distinguished and honored as the only law code of Scripture spoken by the audible voice of Jehovah. They alone were penned by God on tables of stone; they alone were deposited within the sacred ark which was an earthly model of the throne of Omnipotence. (Exodus 31:18; Deuteronomy 10: 5)
In this way “justice and judgment are the habitation of Thy throne.” Psalm 89:14. The law of Ten Commandments is exalted as the constitution of God's universal government, as His measuring rod of right and wrong, and as a written translation or definition of the divine character. “Forever, 0 Lord, Thy word is settled in heaven.” “All His commandments are sure. They stand fast forever and ever, and are done in truth and uprightness.” Psalms 119:89; 111:7,8.
“I Am Not Come to Destroy”
The Mount of Blessings. In New Testament times did Christ alter or *change the law? Visit with us the mountain side by the Sea of Galilee. Tidings of the young Teacher's baptism at the Jordan, of His dynamic sermons and miracles of healing, had spread throughout Palestine. The astonished Jewish nation wondered if a deliverer had arisen to free them from the yoke of Rome, to inaugurate new laws and customs, and to herald the dawn of a new day. Multitudes flocked to His mountain retreat; and there, in one of His notable public addresses, He set at rest the surmising and agitation of the people.
“Think not,” He said, “that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill. For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in nowise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.” Matthew 5:17,18. The orderly movements of the heavenly bodies and the solid earth beneath our feet are witnesses cited by the Son of God that the divine law is changeless and eternal. The “jot” is the smallest letter in the Hebrew alphabet; the “tittle” is but a part of a letter, a distinguishing mark of inflection; and the Master employs this unmistakable language to place His seal of confirmation upon the law proclaimed from Mount Sinai.
The Gospel Magnifying Glass
Instead of coming to destroy that peerless code, the gospel prophet declared, “He will magnify the law, and make it honorable.” Isaiah 42:21. In His own life and teachings, Christ Jesus embodied all of its commands. The law said, “Thou shall not kill;” “Thou shall not commit adultery.” But through the gospel magnifying glass it is shown that “whosoever hates his brother is a murderer; “ and that the very thought of impurity is sin.
Some one may say, “There were Ten Commandments in the Old Testament, while in the New we are required to keep but two.” It was a lawyer who asked the Savior “Master, which is the great commandment in the law?” In His reply, Christ unveiled the spiritual character and living essence of these heaven-born statutes. He said:
“Thou shall love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shall love thy neighbor as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets!” Matthew 22:36-40.
These two commands embrace everything that is included in the ten. If you love God with all the heart, you will gladly observe the first four; if you love your neighbor as yourself, you will keep the last six. Christ's two precepts comprehend to the fullest extent everything taught in the ten. Our Savior did not adapt, dilute, or moderate the law to meet man's helplessness, but left it in its sublime perfection, with deep foundations, elevated heights, and measureless length and breadth. God's commands cannot be altered; an altogether different method was ordained to save man.
When the Master visited our world nineteen centuries ago, priestly traditions and cold legal technicalities had brought the law of God into much disfavor and buried it beneath a heap of rubbish. Christ came to the rescue. He taught that the spirit of willing obedience transcends the letter of “good works” and ritual piety. To love one's friends and hate one's enemies was at that time regarded as a virtue; but Christ commanded, “Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you.” Matthew 5:44.
Christ not only set the example of a model life for us to follow (1 Peter 2:21), He also furnished the secret for such a life. If you keep My commandments, you shall abide in My love; even as I have kept My Father's commandments, and abide in His love.” John 15:10. When the law of love operates fully, it introduces the Christian to that higher experience; and, like his Savior, he will then testify: 1 delight to do Thy will, 0 my God: yea, Thy law is within my heart.” Psalm 40:1.
A Towering Monument
The Mount of Crucifixion. Would you follow Jesus all the way? Come to Calvary, and ponder the meaning of the cross. Why was it necessary for Him to spill His precious lifeblood? Here is the answer, “Sin is the transgression of the law” (1 John 3:4); “the wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23); and Christ “suffered the death which was ours, that we might receive the life which was His.”
The monarch Darius labored strenuously, feverishly, to save Daniel from the den of lions; but there stood “the law of the Medes and Persians, which alters not.” The majesty of the law, the stability of the government, demanded that the sentence be executed, else the throne itself might have been imperiled. Even so, had there been another way to vindicate the sovereignty of divine law, Jesus need not have died. But infinite love and wisdom could devise no other plan. The royal law, as sacred as the character of God, must stand unshaken, even though it cost the life of the beloved Son. As we “survey the wondrous cross on which the Prince of glory died,” we behold the mightiest monument ever erected to the changeless, eternal law of God.
Are There Two Paths to Heaven?
The witness of Sinai, the mount of blessing, and that of Calvary are in perfect accord. The law of Ten Commandments was not given for one race of people or for a limited period of time. Every principle of that divine code was in effect from the beginning of the world, as the narrative of Genesis clearly indicates. It is set forth as God's standard in the final judgment for men and women of every race and generation, while in the dosing paragraph of Inspiration it is written, “Blessed are they that do His commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city.” Revelation 22:14.
In spite of these definite statements of Scripture, many believe that commandment keeping was designed alone for the Jews, while the gospel is a special gift to the Gentiles. It is taught by some that in Old Testament times men were saved by keeping the law; while under the new dispensation they are saved by grace. The statement, “You are not under the law, but under grace,” is regarded as an admirable defense, as a convenient alibi for those who would disregard one or more of the divine precepts. Were their notions correct, it would indicate that the pious of old rescued themselves by their own works; while those who have lived since the days of Christ, being too weak to keep the law, are compelled to trust wholly to the merits of Christ. Such an arrangement would anticipate a divided heaven; here a company applauding their own works and worthiness, there a multitude praising Christ for His love and salvation.
Does an Executive Pardon Repeal the Law?
In imagination we picture a foreign missionary teaching the people that the grace of Christ has now become the substitute and successor of an obsolete law. If one of his baptized natives were seen offering incense before a Buddhist shrine, the surprised missionary would doubtless remonstrate with the offender for violating the second commandment of the Ten Commandments. But the native son calmly replies that according to his new found faith he is “not under the law, but under grace.” The missionary's servant steals his goods, and attempts to cover up the theft by falsehood; but when caught in the overt act, he meekly answers that he is so happy to be “not under the law, but under grace.”
For illustration, note the case of a convicted murderer who has been condemned to die. His conduct in the death cell may be upright and perfect; but his flawless deportment does not postpone the moment of execution and the law still cries out to him, “You must die.” Only one thing may rescue him from the gallows, and that is a pardon from the governor of his commonwealth. While in prison he has been under condemnation, “under the law; “ but with a signed pardon in his pocket, he walks out of the prison to freedom. He is now “under grace.” Is he therefore at liberty to kill and to steal at pleasure? Does the pardon abolish the law, and grant the erstwhile convict a special dispensation to commit crime? The very suggestion is absurd. If executive clemency has been extended, the recipient is placed under added restraint to live an exemplary life. As the apostle to the Gentiles declared, “Do we then make void the law through faith? God forbid: yea, we establish the law.” Romans 3:31.
All who enter the pearly gates and walk the streets of gold are trophies of redeeming grace purchased by the Man of Calvary. “Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.” Acts 4:12.
The Everlasting Ten
Grace is defined as “unmerited favor.” And again, “Where no law is, there is no transgression.” Romans 4:15. If there were no law, there would be no necessity for grace. But since all admit that grace is required throughout the gospel dispensation, it is self-evident that the law of Jehovah is not repealed. It can never be changed; it stands fast forever. The world's great religious leaders who have accepted the Scriptures as their guide, bear this testimony:
Said Martin Luther: “It [the law] is founded on the nature of God, and cannot be changed: it is of universal application.” -”Shorter Catechism,” edition 1834. “Whosoever abrogates the law must of necessity abrogate sin also.” – “Spiritual Antichrist.”
Calvin: “The law has sustained no diminution of its authority, but ought always to receive from us the same veneration and obedience.” – “Institutes,” book 2.
Wesley: “The moral law contained in the Ten Commandments, and enforced by the prophets, He [Christ] did not take away. It was not the design of His coming to revoke any part of this. This is a law which never can be broken, which 'stands fast as the faithful witness in heaven.' Every part of this law must remain in force upon all mankind and in all ages. As not depending either on time or place, or any other circumstances liable to change, but on the nature of God and the nature of man, and their unchangeable relation to each other.” – “Sermons on Several Occasions,” volume I, Sermon 25.
Spurgeon: “The law of God is a divine law-holy, heavenly, perfect.... There is not a command too many; there is not one too few; but it is so incomparable that its perfection is a proof of its divinity.” – “Sermon on the Law.”
Campbell: “The Everlasting Ten.” – “Popular Lectures!”
Moody: “The commandments of God given to Moses in the mount at Horeb are as binding to-day as ever they have been since the time when they were proclaimed in the hearing of the people.... The law was for all nations. Jesus never condemned the law and the prophets, but He did condemn those who did not obey them.” – “Weighed and Wanting,” page 15.
Does some one ask if the crucifixion and death of Christ changed the law? Let John Wesley, the founder of Methodism, reply:
“The ritual or ceremonial law, delivered by Moses to the children of Israel, containing all the injunctions and ordinances which related to the old sacrifices and services of the temple, our Lord did indeed come to destroy, to dissolve, and utterly abolish. This 'handwriting of ordinances' our Lord did 'blot out,' take away, and nail to His cross.” – “Sermons,” volume I.
All the sacrifices and ritual connected with that ancient worship served as a “shadow of things to come,” and were fulfilled in the life and ministry of Christ. (Colossians 2:14-17) But the law of God which the psalmist declares to be “perfect” (Psalm 19:7), and which is a likeness of the Father's character, is, like its Author, unchangeable. I am the Lord, I change not.” Malachi 3:6.
Ruined Characters Refashioned
Since the days of Eden man has pursued a downward trail. The divine image in man has been marred and almost obliterated, and many have assumed that Christ would somehow save them in spite of their evil ways. But Jesus “stooped low to take humanity” that He might fashion anew the characters ruined by sin. He died upon Calvary, not to save men in their sins, but “from their sins.” Said the angel to Joseph, “Thou shall call His name Jesus: for He shall save His people from their sins.” Matthew 1:21.
There is another fallacy frequently expressed in the phrase, “To believe on Jesus is all that is necessary.” But the Master said, “If you love Me, keep My commandments.” John 14:15. And the apostle James emphasizes the great truth that “faith without works is dead.” James 2:26.
“See thou how faith wrought with his [Abraham's] works, and by works was faith made perfect? And the Scripture was fulfilled which said, Abraham believed God, and it was imputed unto him for righteousness: and he was called the Friend of God. You see then how that by works a man is justified, and not by faith only. Likewise also was not Rahab the harlot justified by works, when she had received the messengers, and had sent them out another way?” James 2:22-25.
The Proper Use of a Mirror
The well-known evangelist, D. L. Moody, illustrated this text with his story, “Willie and the Bears.” He promised to take his little son to the park to see the animals. After having a bath and clean clothes, the lad played in the mud; and his father said, “I can't take you to the park looking like that; I couldn't be seen with such a dirty little boy.”
“Why, I'm clean; mamma washed me,” he cried.
“Do you think I argued with him? No. I just took him up in my arms, and carried him into the house, and showed him his face in the looking glass. He had not a word to say. “Now, the looking-glass told him that his ace was dirty; but I did not take the looking-glass to wash it; of course not. Yet that is what thousands of people seek to do.”
The mirror is no substitute for soap and water, neither can the law take the place of Jesus Christ. Man's most heroic attempts to attain peace or holiness by his own efforts are doomed to failure. “Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his spots? then may you also do good, that are accustomed to do evil.” Jeremiah 13:23.
Since God's moral looking-glass reveals our imperfections and condemns our evil ways, shall we retaliate by attempting to destroy it? Yet preposterous as that may appear, many would demolish the great mirror if they could. Says the Lawgiver: “I have written to him the great things of My law, but they were counted as a strange thing.” Hosea 8:12.
Evolutionary philosophy and modernism regard the law code from Sinai as an outworn antique that should be relegated to the scrap heap. They make no distinction between right and wrong, and would eliminate the word “sin” from the twentieth-century vocabulary. Liberalism speaks to children, youth, and adults alike, “Let your own happiness be your only law.” Of no other age could the Book more truly speak, “It is time for Thee, Lord, to work: for they have made void Thy law.” Psalm 119:126.
Bidding Become Enabling
Men have devised human religions. Genuine Christianity is the only divine one. Confucius elaborated a princely system of ethics, but confessed utter inability to attain his own ideals. Jesus not only taught the truth; He is “the way, the truth, and the life.” Of all the great founders of religion, He alone could say without qualification, “Follow Me.”
The half has never been told. To the trusting disciple, He speaks: “Be you therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.” Matthew 5:48. The same power that stilled the tempest and raised the dead is freely given you and me to live the life of victory. “All His bidding are enabling” and in the light shining from Calvary, every divine command is seen as a radiant promise that Christ will keep us from idolatry, blasphemy, Sabbath breaking, dishonesty, impurity, and every other evil way.
We are told of a man who built a clock for one of the great cathedrals across the sea. It was marvelous in its mechanism; and when the chimes pealed forth, it almost seemed that a company of angels had descended to the tower to sing heaven's sweetest music. For a long time the clock maker received no
pay for his services; so one night he stealthily entered the cathedral and climbed into the clock tower to touch one of the magic springs. The mechanism was still there, but the wheels did not move; the chimes were there, but they no longer rang. Later, when the artisan had been paid for his services, he came again to touch the same spring; when immediately the intricate machinery sprang into action, and the same beautiful music charmed the senses of thousands.
This is an excellent illustration of many in our world to-day who appear to be living good moral lives, and who are evidently trying to do the best they can; but there is' one great lack in their lives-the touch of the Master's hand. It is a sad thing to see a fine building without a good foundation, a human heart without hope, or a man attempting the battle of life in his own strength. Defeat is certain; but the touch of the Master's hand turns defeat into victory. The divine diagnosis of a sinful heart demands the gospel remedy of the Great Physician. Accept it, and oh, what peace and satisfaction! What joy to imitate the divine Model! With David, our “delight is in the law of the Lord.” Psalm 1:2. With patriarchs and prophets, we rejoice in the gospel of Christ. (John 8:56; Galatians 3:8) And we petition anew, “Open Thou mine eyes, that 1 may behold wondrous things out of Thy law.” Psalm 119:18.
“Oh that the Lord would guide my ways, To keep His statutes still!
Oh that my God would grant me grace To know and do His will!”
IN THE reception room of his spacious Shanghai residence, we awaited the arrival of Dr. Wu Ting Fang. Clad in a plain, silken gown, he entered with sprightly step, shook hands cordially, then said, “Have a seat with me at the table.” With but slight pause, the breezy seventy three-year-old diplomat continued:
“So you observe the seventh day Sabbath-let me see; if I mistake not, that is an arrangement for securing two rest days in a week.”
“Not exactly,” was the reply. “We endeavor to follow the Scripture command which says: “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shall thou labor, and do all thy work: but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God: in it thou shall not do any work.”
“But how do you manage?” he asked; “don't you find it extremely inconvenient and quite out of joint with the business world?”
A Chief Justice and the Sabbath
The queries voiced by the late venerable statesman of China are frequently asked by men and women in all the varied walks of life. On one occasion, the chief justice of a large American commonwealth, while traveling on a railway train, approached a young evangelist with similar questions. The latter opened his Bible, read the fourth commandment, then turned to cite further Scripture authority. But the jurist interrupted by relating the story of an attorney who could give several reasons why his client did not appear in court, the first being that the man was dead.
“You, my friend,” the judge continued, “remind me of that attorney. I ask you why you and your church observe the seventh day for the Sabbath. In reply, you refer me to the law of God. There in the bosom of that law, God Himself, whose creatures we are, commands us to keep the seventh day, enjoining us to perform no manner of work therein. After quoting to me that authority, you turn and prepare to give me a second reason.
“Young man, when that one reason is given, no other should be called for! When God says that the seventh day is the Sabbath, that ends all controversy with men who believe God. If a man will not believe what He says in the fourth commandment, he will not believe what He says in the Sermon on the Mount or anywhere else.”
Who will not admit the clear findings of this eminent judge to be absolutely correct? How could the purpose of God in establishing a Sabbath be more explicitly stated? There is but one authentic, reasonable story of the origin of this world: “In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.” Genesis 1:1. The divine narrative gives a daily report of the work accomplished throughout creation week; while the invariable use of the phrase, “the evening and the morning were the first day,” “the evening and the morning were the second day,” etc., indicates that those were just ordinary twenty-four-hour days.
With the completion of the great creative task, our heavenly Parent erected a fitting memorial: “On the seventh day God ended His work which He had made; and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had made. And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it He had rested from all His work which God created and made.” Genesis 2:2, 3.
He “rested,” He “blessed,” He “sanctified,” which, according to Webster, is “to set apart to a holy or religious use.” By these three divine acts, the rest day was established. It was then committed to Adam, the father of our race, and has been appropriately termed “the birthday of the world.”
“That man on earth and fading things below
Might not his best affections all bestow,
But calm his soul with holy thoughts of heaven,
The rest day of the Lord was kindly given.
A blest memorial which to mind should bring
Creation's birthday and creation's King.
Lord for the Sabbath.”
Said Christ, “The Sabbath was made for man” (Mark 2:27), in no way against him, but for his highest good. It was designed as a day of joy and delight when men would lay aside business cares and daily toil to think upon life's spiritual values, to view the divine handiwork of the heavens, to admire the beauty of hill and vale, of field and forest, and to remember that He who paints the gorgeous sunset, who gives the flowers their exquisite tints, who imparts to the rose its rich perfume, is also the loving Father who gives us life, and breath, and a myriad other blessings to enjoy. Had mankind always celebrated the world's birthday according to its Author's design, infidels, atheists, and idolaters would never have arisen to reproach their Maker.
Very significant is the phrase, He hath made His wonderful works to be remembered.” Psalm 111: 4. The Bible states that “the everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth, faints not, neither is weary.” Isaiah 40:28. He required no physical rest; yet, “on the seventh day He rested, and was refreshed.” Exodus 31:17. Not merely rest from arduous labor, but spiritual refreshment was the divine objective. He was laying the foundations of an institution which throughout succeeding ages would commemorate His power as Creator of heaven and earth.
The Unchanged Calendar
The weekly cycle and the Sabbath, both of which originated in the events of creation, have together marched down the centuries to the present time in regular and unbroken succession. The year, the month, and the day are periods of time fixed by the revolutions of the earth and the moon. While “the week,” in the language of the Encyclopedia Britannica, “is a period of seven days, having no reference whatever to the celestial motions, a circumstance to which it owes its unalterable uniformity. It has been employed from time immemorial in almost all Eastern countries.” - Volume 4, article “Calendar,” page 988, 11th edition.
Apart from the narrative of creation, the world has found no reason for the origin of the week or the existence of the weekly Sabbath. In a marvelous way the hand of God has preserved both of these from the possibility of change or loss. It is inconceivable that an entire race of people should lose their weekly reckoning. How altogether impossible that scores of nations should miss their way. In a “Chart of the Week,” prepared by the late Dr. William M. Jones of London, it is shown that the week was known from the most ancient times, and that at least one hundred eight languages of earth designate the seventh day as the Sabbath, or holy day. A few of these are as follows:
Hebrew Shabbath Sabbath
Greek Sabbaton Sabbath
Latin Sabbatum Sabbath
Arabic Assabt The Sabbath
Persian Shambin Sabbath
Russian Subbota Sabbath
Polish Sobota Sabbath
Hindustani Shamba Sabbath
Malay Ari-Sabtu Day Sabbath
Afghan Shamba Sabbath
French Samedi Sabbath day
Italian Sabbato Sabbath
Spanish Sabado Sabbath
Twenty-five centuries after creation the multitudes of Israel encamped for forty years in the desert of northern Arabia. Under these circumstances, their loyalty to God and His Sabbath was tested.
“Said the Lord unto Moses, Behold, I will rain bread from heaven for you; and the people shall go out and gather a certain rate every day, that I may prove them, whether they will walk in My law, or no.” Exodus 16:104. This record reveals that the Sabbath was a part of God's law before He delivered it from Mount Sinai. At the beginning of this miraculous food distribution, the seventh day was designated by divine proclamation:
“Tomorrow is the rest of the holy Sabbath unto the Lord: bake that which you will bake to-day, and seethe that you will seethe.” Exodus 16:23.
The Divine Timekeeper
During that time of dependence upon the “bread from heaven,” God performed a threefold miracle every week: (1) A double portion of manna on the sixth day. (2) None upon the seventh; (3) the preservation of food in that torrid region from the sixth to the seventh day, while at other times it quickly decayed. Throughout that long period of forty years, there was no possibility of lost time. Jehovah Himself kept the calendar. Even if the reckoning had previously been lost, the heavenly Timekeeper would then have rectified the error.
Fifteen centuries after those days of wilderness wandering, the Son of God came to dwell among men. Had the world juggled the calendar and dislocated the weekly cycle, the Great Teacher would have corrected the mistake; but the reckoning of the Jewish people tallied precisely with the chronology of heaven. From the beginning of the Christian era to the present, the authentic history of many nations presents undeniable evidence that not a day or an hour could have been lost; while the distinguished astronomers of America and Europe add their testimony to the fact that from earliest times the continuity of the week has never been broken. The seventh-day Sabbath comes to us as the original, identical rest day, the crown of a finished creation, the end of God's perfect week.
From the beginning Christ was associated with the Father as designer and creator of the worlds.
“By Him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by Him, and for Him: and He is before all things, and by Him all things consist.” Colossians 1:16,17. And again: “All things were made by Him [Christ, the Word]; and without Him was not anything made that was made.” John 1:1.
Christ is revealed as the Divine One “upholding all things by the word of His power” (Hebrews 1:1-3); and also as the invisible Leader of the church of God on earth (1 Corinthians 10:4,9). According to the inspired testimony of the martyr Stephen, it was the Lord Jesus who stood upon Mount Sinai and proclaimed the law of God, in the very bosom of which reposes the Sabbath commandment. (Acts 7:37,38) As the active agent in creation, it was the Lord Jesus who rested upon the seventh day, establishing it as a weekly memorial for all mankind. Our Savior's words, “The Son of man is Lord also of the Sabbath,” appear as a statement of historic fact. Since He was the lawgiver and the founder of the rest day, He is its sovereign lord; and it was preeminently His right to teach how it should be observed and honored.
A Day of Spiritual Delight
In New Testament times the Jewish people were deluged with an ever-increasing number of religious laws and ceremonies; and the Sabbath of the Lord was so covered and obscured with legal rubbish that its spiritual value was well-nigh lost. If upon the Sabbath a man accidentally stepped upon a head of ripening grain and shelled out the kernels, his act of “threshing” was considered Sabbath breaking. If a person broke an arm or a leg upon the seventh day, he was prohibited from receiving any surgical attention until the sacred hours were past. In this way the divine statutes had fallen into disrepute and dishonor.
In Christ's mission to “magnify the law, and make it honorable,” He taught that loyal heart service is the essence of Christian living; that the Sabbath was appointed as a day of spiritual delight and loving ministry. And that the alleviation of physical suffering and the supplying of bread to the hungry are in full harmony with the spirit of genuine Sabbath keeping.
Christ's “Custom” and “Paul’ Manner”
For these reasons the religious teachers of Jewry accused Jesus of Sabbath desecration, and repeatedly thought to put Him to death. The conflict waged, not concerning the day of the Sabbath, but regarding its proper observance. By precept and example our Master honored the day that He had instituted at creation. It was “His custom” to attend the synagogue services on the Sabbath (Luke 4:16). And looking nearly forty years into the future to the time when Jerusalem would be destroyed, He bade His disciples pray that their flight from the doomed city might not occur upon the Sabbath day, thus causing them to desecrate its sacred hours. (Matthew 24:20) The disciples and apostles of Christ followed His example in Sabbath keeping. The story of the crucifixion relates these incidents:
“That day was the preparation, and the Sabbath drew on. And the women also, which came with Him from Galilee, followed after, and beheld the sepulcher, and how His body was laid. And they returned, and prepared spices and ointments; and rested the Sabbath day according to the commandment.” Luke 23:54-56.
This inspired Gospel, written nearly a score of years after the resurrection, mentions the day preceding the Sabbath as the “preparation” day, and designates the seventh day as “the Sabbath according to the commandment.” Throughout the entire Bible there is but one weekly Sabbath mentioned,, and but one Sabbath commandment, the fourth precept of the great code.
Following the ascension of Christ, the New Testament records but one meeting upon the first day of the week; while during the same period it tells of eighty-four religious gatherings upon the seventh-day Sabbath. Two of these occurred at Antioch, one at Philippi, three at Thessalonica, and seventy-eight at Corinth. (Acts 13:14,42-44; 16:12,13; 17:1, 2; 18:1-4,11)
It is interesting to observe that all these meetings were conducted by Paul and his associates who were God's chosen ambassadors to the Gentiles. During their second evangelistic effort in Europe, held at the city of Thessalonica, the narrative states that “Paul, as his manner was, went in unto them, and three Sabbath days reasoned with them out of the Scriptures.” Acts 17:2. Christ's “custom” and Paul's “manner” were therefore identical.
Sunday in Apostolic Times
In the New Testament, the first day of the week is mentioned eight times; in each instance being recognized, not as a day of holy rest, but of common labor. Six of these references tell of the events that occurred on the day of Christ's resurrection. (Matthew 28: 1; Mark 16:2, 9; Luke 24: 1; John 20:1, 19) Our Savior was crucified on Friday. While His body reposed in the tomb on the following day, His followers kept the Sabbath.
Very early on the first day of the week when the company of women arrived at the sepulcher to anoint their crucified Lord, they found an empty tomb. The narrative shows it to have been a day of labor and travel; and in the evening when Jesus appeared to His disciples, He found them convened, not for a religious service, but with closed doors “for fear of the Jews.” John 20:19. He met them again “after eight days” (John 20:26), which would indicate a time not earlier than Monday evening of the following week. The closest study reveals that neither Christ nor any of the apostles, by word or act, ever sanctioned or intimated a change of the Sabbath from the seventh to the first day of the week.
The next mention of the “first day” appears in the record of Paul's departure from Troas: “Upon the first day of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread, Paul preached unto them' ready to depart on the morrow; and continued his speech until midnight. And there were many lights in the upper chamber, where they were gathered together.... When he therefore was come up again, and had broken bread, and eaten, and talked a long while, even till break of day, so he departed.” Acts 20:7-11.
According to Biblical precept and usage, the setting sun marks the beginning and the ending of the day. (Leviticus 23:32; Mark 1:21, 32) Since that was a farewell evening gathering, convened upon the dark portion of the” first day of the week, the meeting occurred upon what is now termed Saturday night.
It was the evening which succeeded the Jewish Sabbath. On the Sunday morning the vessel was about to sail. The Christians of Troas were gathered together at this solemn time to celebrate that feast of love which the last commandment of Christ has enjoined on all His followers.” – “The Life and Epistles of the Apostle Paul,” by Conybeare and Howson, page 520.
The eighth and last reference of the New Testament to the “first day” of the week, occurs in Paul's letter to the church at Corinth: “Upon the first day of the week let every one of you lay by him in store, as God hath prospered him, that there be no gatherings when I come.” 1 Corinthians 16:2.
This instruction suggests no public meeting or hint of Sunday sacredness. The apostle was gathering a fund for the poor at Jerusalem, and asked every believer to “lay by” an amount every “first day,” so that the money would be ready when he arrived. As Dean Stanley of the Church of England says:
“There is nothing to prove public assemblies, inasmuch as the phrase, by himself at his own house implies that the collection was to be made individually and in private.”
Without Scriptural Authority
The most careful scrutiny of the entire New Testament shows that throughout apostolic times the entire church of Christian believers kept the seventh day holy. They knew nothing of Sunday, observance, and regularly devoted the first day of the week to secular toil.
Certain novices in the Greek language have attempted an argument in favor of Sunday based upon their amateur translation of a few Bible texts; but all of these stand rebuked by the ripest New Testament scholarship represented by the translators of the Authorized, the Revised, and the American Revised Versions. No genuine Greek authority has ever sought to prove Sunday sacredness through citations or unofficial renderings of the original text. The great majority of Biblical scholars concede that the New Testament offers no evidence in support of Sunday as a day of rest. Irrespective of creed or practice, they generally agree that “there is not on record any divine command, issued to the apostles, to change the Sabbath from the day on which it was held by the Jews, to the first day of the week.” – “Watson's Theological Institutes” (Methodist), volume II, page 511. “The current notion,” wrote Dr. Lyman Abbott (Congregationalist), “that Christ and His apostles authoritatively substituted the first day for the seventh, is absolutely without any authority in the New Testament.” - Christian Union, issue of June 26, 1890.
In speaking of the transfer from the Sabbath to the first day of the week, Dr. E. F. Hiscox, author of “The Baptist Manual,” says: “Where can the record of such a transaction be found? Not in the New Testament- absolutely not.” - The New York Examiner, Nov. 13,1893.
From Eden Lost to Eden Restored
It has been clearly shown: That the Sabbath was observed in Eden before sin entered to mar the original paradise. That it is not merely “the Jewish Sabbath,” for it was established twenty-five hundred years before that people existed. That it is not alone the “Old Testament Sabbath,” for it is a part of God's moral law, which is eternal, existing as long as God exists. That Christ as our divine Pattern kept the seventh-day Sabbath, and declared that “the Sabbath was made for man.” That it was designed as a transcendent gift of divine love to those of every nation, kindred, tongue, and people, to be the delight some crown of a perfect week to every child of God.
“The best, the holiest, happiest day, The sweetest of the seven.” It will also be observed and honored in the glorified new earth. (Isaiah 66:22, 21) Inspiration terms it “the Sabbath of the Lord thy God;” our Father calls it, “My holy day.” For long centuries multitudes have trampled upon Jehovah's rest day, but the promise is written:
“If thou turn away thy foot from the Sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on My holy day; and call the Sabbath a delight, the holy of the Lord, honorable. And shall honor Him, not doing your own ways, nor finding your own pleasure, nor speaking your own words. Then shall thou delight thyself in the Lord; and I will cause thee to ride upon the high places of the earth, and feed thee with the heritage of Jacob thy father: for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it.” Isaiah 58:13, 14.
Genuine Sabbath keeping is a heart service of love rendered by man to his Creator. It is not a question of personal expediency or convenience, for our heavenly Parent is altogether explicit. The loss of Saturday as a day of business may appear serious; social engagements and plans for recreation may require a complete revision; friends may not understand, and relatives may oppose; but the loyal Christian gladly counts all things as loss that he “may win Christ.” The approval of Heaven, the satisfaction and joy of walking in the footprints of Jesus, are abundant compensation.
PEACE is fittingly represented by the symbol of a dove; while the circle is used as an emblem of eternity. “Uncle Sam. John Bull,” the eagle with outstretched wings, the rising sun, and countless other national insignia play a prominent part in the magazine and newspaper cartoons of our day. This method of symbolism is by no means modern. Ancient peoples and races delighted in their national emblems, their tribal hieroglyphics, and even in their family monograms. Likewise the God of heaven caricatured the nations, and in a unique, interesting communication to the prophet-statesman of Babylon gave a marvelous picture of world history in advance. Daniel's record of the interview begins with this scene:
“I saw in my vision by night, and, behold, the four winds of the heaven strove upon the great sea. And four great beasts came up from the sea, diverse one from another.” Daniel 7:2, 3. In the figurative language of Bible prophecy “winds” are frequently used to denote “war” and “strife” (Jeremiah 25:31-33). The “sea,” or “waters,” represent “nations” and “peoples” (Revelation 17:15); while the four animals which arose from the sea are declared in this prophecy to symbolize four kings or kingdoms “which shall arise out of the earth.” Daniel 7:17-24. The same four nations that were prefigured by the great image of Nebuchadnezzar's dream are here introduced again. Additional features are emphasized. To the mind of a heathen monarch, towering kingdoms appear as a dazzling object of worship; to the God of heaven they are as ravenous, bloodthirsty animals.
The Babylonian Lion
“The first was like a lion, and had eagle's wings: I beheld till the wings thereof were plucked, and it was lifted up from the earth, and made stand upon the feet as a man, and a man's heart was given to it.” Verse 4. The lion, known as “the king of beasts,” was a fitting emblem of “Babylon, the glory of kingdoms, the beauty of the Chaldees' excellency.” Isaiah 13:19. At the time Nebuchadnezzar was on his way to the conquest of Jerusalem, the prophet's warning voice declared: “The lion is come up from his thicket, and the destroyer of the Gentiles is on his way.” Jeremiah 4:7. The eagle's wings suggest rapidity of movement. Another Bible writer speaks of the Chaldeans or Babylonians as “that bitter and hasty nation. Their horses also are swifter than the leopards: Their horsemen shall come from far; they shall fly as the eagle that hastens to eat.” Habakkuk 1: 6-8. How altogether true of Babylon under the conquering Nebuchadnezzar!
“This Babylonian king,” wrote Berossus, the ancient Chaldean historian, “conquered Egypt, and Syria, and Phoenicia, and Arabia; and exceeded in his exploits all that had reigned before him in Babylon.”
As indicated by the prophecy, the time came when the lion no longer hastened from nation to nation in conquest. The wings were plucked; it was lifted up from the earth to stand on its feet as a man; and a man's timidity took the place of its lion-heartedness. At the time of Daniel's vision, the empire was already tottering; and some three years later, Babylon, the “wonder city of the ancient world,” was overthrown.
The Medo-Persian Bear
“Behold another beast, a second, like to a bear, and it raised up itself on one side, and it had three ribs in the mouth of it between the teeth of it: and they said thus unto it, Arise, devour much flesh.” Daniel 7:5. The dual empire of Medo-Persia succeeded Babylon. At first the Median power was the stronger; then the Persians gained the ascendancy, in this way fulfilling the picture of the bear with one side lifted higher than the other. The words, “Arise, devour much flesh,” describe the insatiable military ambition of the early Persian monarchs. Says Rawlinson: “Cyrus proceeded with scarcely a pause on a - long career of conquest.”-”Seven Great Monarchies,” vol. 2, page 434. The three ribs in the mouth of the Medo-Persian bear undoubtedly represent Lydia, Egypt, and Babylon. They united in a triple alliance against Persia and were successively conquered.
The Grecian Leopard
“After this I beheld, and lo another, like a leopard, which had upon the back of it four wings of a fowl; the beast had also four heads; and dominion was given to it.” Verse 6. In the divine cartoon Greece is represented by a leopard. If the two wings of the lion indicated celerity, the four wings of the leopard would denote exceeding swiftness. As the leopard springs upon its prey, so the Greeks under Alexander the Great swept into Asia. Appian wrote:
“The empire of Alexander was splendid in its magnitude, in its armies, in the success and rapidity of its conquests, and it wanted little of being boundless and unexampled.” “History of Rome,” Preface, paragraph 10.
The four heads of the leopard point to the fourfold division of the empire. Following the untimely death of Alexander the Great, came the “quadripartite division” of the vast domain between four leading generals of the army: Cassander, Lysimachus, Seleucus, and Ptolemy. Although broken into these several states, the above mentioned historian asserts that “even the parts were splendid.”
The prophet watched this moving preview of history outlined upon the prophetic screen, and continued: “After this I saw in the night visions, and behold a fourth beast, dreadful and terrible, and strong exceedingly. And it had great iron teeth: it devoured and brake in pieces, and stamped the residue with the feet of it: and it was diverse from all the beasts that were before it; and it had ten horns. I considered the horns, and, behold, there came up among them another little horn, before whom there were three of the first horns plucked up by the roots: and, behold, in this horn were eyes like the eyes of a man, and a mouth speaking great things.” Verses 7, 8.
For centuries “the seven-hilled city” by the Tiber had been gathering strength. Kingdom after kingdom was subjugated; and at length when the Romans matched swords with the Greeks at the Battle of Pydna, 168B. C., the last formidable enemy was vanquished, leaving Rome to rule supreme throughout the civilized world. As the iron of Nebuchadnezzar's image was a fitting emblem of “the iron monarchy,” so this “fourth beast, dreadful and terrible,” can be none other than the sturdy, indomitable nation that followed Greece. Said Cardinal Manning:
“The legions of Rome occupied the circumference of the world. The military roads which sprang from Rome traversed all the earth; the whole world was, as it were, held in peace and in tranquillity by the universal presence of this mighty heathen empire.” - “The Temporal Power of the Pope,” page 122.
In the third century of our era, Christians who studied the Bible rejoiced to see how accurately the prophecy of Daniel was being fulfilled. One of these bore testimony:
“Thou has told us of the beast, dreadful and terrible. It has iron teeth and claws of brass; it devoured and brake in pieces, and stamped the residue with the feet of it. Already the iron rules; already it subdues and breaks all in pieces; already it brings all the unwilling into subjection; already we see these things ourselves. Now we glorify God.” – “Treatise on Christ and Antichrist,” section 33.
The Rise of Modern European Nations Foretold
The appearance and activity of this nameless, grotesque beast greatly puzzled Daniel. He says: “Then I would know the truth of the fourth beast, which was diverse from all the others, exceeding dreadful, whose teeth were of iron, and his nails of brass. Which devoured, brake in pieces, and stamped the residue with his feet. And of the ten horns that were in his head, and of the other which came up, and before whom three fell. Even of that horn that had eyes, and a mouth that spoke very great things, whose look was more stout than his fellows.” Daniel 7:19-21.
In response to this anxious inquiry, the angel interpreter further explained: “The fourth beast shall be the fourth kingdom upon earth, which shall be diverse from all kingdoms, and shall devour the whole earth, and shall tread it down, and break it in pieces. And the ten horns out of this kingdom are ten kings that shall arise: and another shall rise after them; and he shall be diverse from the first, and he shall subdue three kings.” Verses 23, 24.
Rome, the fourth great universal empire, although mighty in extent and power, was not destined to rule forever; and the story of its tragic downfall was exactly foretold in prophecy. The ten horns out of this beast were declared by the angel to prefigure the ten kingdoms to arise out of the decaying empire. (Verse 24) In fulfillment history describes the barbarian tribes of Northern Europe sweeping down upon the domain of Western Rome5 destroying the ancient government and, between the years 351 and 476A. D., establishing within its boundaries the “ten kingdoms” which are frequently enumerated as the Alemanni, Franks, Suevi, Burgundians, Vandals, Anglo-Saxons, Visigoths, Ostrogoths, Heruli, and Lombards. As will be observed presently, three of these were long ago subdued, or “plucked up by the roots;” while the remaining seven exist to the present day as the principal nations of Southern and Western Europe.
A Bishop Ascends Caesar's Throne
Among the ten, “another little horn,” “diverse” from the others, and “whose look was more stout than his fellows, arrested the attention of the prophet as it pushed its way to prominence. “I beheld,” continued the prophet, and the same horn made war with the saints, and prevailed against them.” Verse 21. Accordingly, this -was to be a religious power reigning among the kings of the earth, and assuming the right to control the faith and consciences of men. In the early centuries of our era, just such ecclesiastical sovereignty arose. Describing the papacy, a Roman Catholic writer says:
“Long ages ago, when Rome through the neglect of the Western emperors was left to the mercy of the barbarous hordes, the Romans turned to one figure for aid and protection, and asked him to rule them; and thus, in this simple manner, the best title of all to kingly right, commenced the temporal sovereignty of the popes. And meekly stepping to the throne of Caesar, the vicar of Christ took up the scepter to which the emperors and kings of Europe were to bow in reverence through so many ages.” – “American Catholic Quarterly Review, April, 1911.
In its rise to power the Church of Rome uprooted three of “the ten kingdoms.” They were Arian in belief, and would not bow to the priest-king on the Tiber. The first to fall were the Heruli in 493 A. D. On behalf of the papacy the distinguished general Belisarius moved against the heretic kings, “plucking up” the formidable Vandals of northern Africa in 534 A. D., and driving the Ostrogoths from Rome in 538 AD.
Other papal activities are described in the divine forecast. “He shall speak great words against the Most High, and shall wear out the saints of the Most High, and think to change times and laws. And they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and the dividing of time.” Verse 25. In similar language the apostle Paul foretold the development of “the mystery of iniquity,” and pointed to “that man of sin” “who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God, or that is worshiped. So that he as God sits in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God.” 2 Thessalonians 2:7,3,4.
“Great Words Against the Most High”
The following quotations from authoritative Roman Catholic sources indicate how the papacy has exalted itself to fulfill this prophetic indictment:
“All names which in the Scriptures are applied to Christ, by virtue of which it is established that he is over the church, all the same names are applied to the Pope.” - Bellarmine, “On the Authority of Councils,” book 2, chap. 17.
“Thou art the shepherd, thou art the physician, thou art the director, thou art the husbandman; finally thou art another God on earth.”--Labbe and Cossart's “History of the Councils,” vol. 14, col. 109.
“The Pope is the supreme judge of the law of the land. He is the vicegerent of Christ, who is not only a priest forever, but also King of kings and Lord of lords.” - From the Civilta Catiolica. Quoted in “Vatican Council,” page 220.
“The Pope is crowned with a triple crown, as king of heaven and of earth and of the lower regions.”- Ferraris' Ecclesiastical Dictionary, article “Pope.” These terms are not merely relics of the Dark Ages; they express the unchanging claims of the Church of Rome. In an encyclical letter bearing the date of June 20, 1894, Pope Leo XIII repeated the assertion:
“We hold upon this earth the place of God Almighty.” – “The Great Encyclical Letters of Leo XIII,” page 304. The Waldenses, Albigenses, and many others who would not yield to the decrees and teachings of Rome, were systematically and ruthlessly destroyed. Breathing the spirit of intolerance and persecution, many edicts like the following from Pope Innocent III were issued:
“We give you a strict command that, by whatever means you can, you destroy all these heresies and expel from your diocese all who are polluted with them. They may not appeal from your judgments, and if necessary, you may cause the princes and people to suppress them with the sword.” - Edict of Pope Innocent III. See “A Source Book for Medieval History,” page 210.
By flame and sword the papal church was determined to silence all opposition. Says the historian Lecky: “That the Church of Rome has shed more innocent blood than any other institution that has ever existed among mankind, will be questioned by no Protestant who has a competent knowledge of history. The memorials, indeed, of many of her persecutions are now so scanty that it is impossible to form a complete conception of the multitude of her victims, and it is quite certain that no powers of imagination can adequately realize their sufferings.” – “History of the Rise and Influence of the Spirit of Rationalism in Europe,” vol. 2, page 32.
“Shall Wear Out the Saints of the Most High”
Philip II of Spain, a loyal son of the church, declared that he would “never consent to be the sovereign of heretics, and issued a death warrant condemning three million men, women, and children of the Netherlands to immediate execution. At the head of a powerful army the Duke of Alva was commissioned to execute the decree. See Motley's “The Rise of the Dutch Republic,” part 3, chap. 2.
In the words of Professor Alfred Baudrillart, rector of the Catholic Institute of Paris at the beginning of the twentieth century:
“She [the church] creates tribunals like those of the Inquisition, she calls the laws of the state to her aid, if necessary she encourages a crusade, or a religious war, and all her 'horror of blood' practically culminates into urging the secular power to shed it.” – “The Catholic Church, the Renaissance, and Protestantism,” pages 182,183.
“The church has persecuted,” says the Roman Catholic Western Watchman. Protestants were persecuted in France and Spain with the full approval of the church authorities. We have always defended the persecution of the Huguenots, and the Spanish Inquisition. When she thinks it good to use physical force, she will use it.” - Issue of December 24, 1908.
“Think to Change Times and Laws”
Like its Author, the law of God is unchangeable. Yet these words point to a religious organization that would think to change it. Although the Roman Catholic versions of the Bible contain the law of God as it was originally given, the second commandment of the divine code, which forbids the manufacture and worship of graven images, is omitted from their official catechism. Yet in order to retain the original number of precepts, the tenth, which condemns covetousness, is divided into two.
The fourth commandment declares that “the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God,” and bids all mankind to remember and reverence it. Both Protestant and Catholic authorities freely acknowledge that between the lids of the Bible there is no divine command for Sunday keeping. But a great change has somehow come about in the general practice; and throughout Christendom the first day of the week is almost universally recognized. Do you ask how Sunday supplanted the original Sabbath? We are not left to doubt or conjecture. The papacy openly and unhesitatingly claims that the church has power to alter or to amend the law from heaven and to change the day that God ordained in the beginning as the Sabbath for all mankind. Said Eusebius, the celebrated bishop and historian of the fourth century:
“All things whatsoever that it was duty to do on the Sabbath, these we have transferred to the Lord's day [Sunday].” – “Commentary on the Apocalypse,” vol. 2, page 40. In all the records of the past, the first law establishing Sunday as a day of rest was issued by the Emperor Constantine while he was yet a pagan sun worshiper. Under the pressure and influence of bishops and priests who flattered Constantine, the proclamation went forth:
“Let all the judges and town people, and the occupation of all trades rest on the venerable day of the sun. But let those who are situated in the country, freely and at full liberty attend to the business of agriculture, because it often happens that no other day is so fit for sowing corn and planting vines. Lest, the critical moment being let slip, men should lose the commodities granted by heaven.”- Codex Justinian, lib. 3, tit. 12.
Sunday Keeping a Child of the Papacy
In full accord with this, James Cardinal Gibbons declared: “You may read the Bible from Genesis to Revelation, and you will not find a single line authorizing the sanctification of Sunday. The Scriptures enforce the religious observance of Saturday.” – “The Faith of Our Fathers,” page 111.
“The Bible says: 'Remember that thou keep holy the Sabbath day,' but the Catholic Church says, 'No, keep the first day of the week,' and all the world bows down in reverent obedience to the mandates of the Catholic Church.”-Father T. Enright, Redemptorist Fathers' College, Kansas City, Missouri.
Thus the Church of Rome proclaims itself the power that has thought to change the “times and laws” of God.
Papal Supremacy for Twelve Hundred Sixty Years
In the year 533 AD the emperor Justinian issued an imperial dispatch recognizing the Bishop of Rome as “corrector of heretics,” and “the head of all the churches.” He also commissioned the distinguished military leader Belisarius to crush the foes of the church. After uprooting the Vandals in Africa, his crusade for the faith and the empire was directed to the relief of Rome; and in 538 AD came the signal victory which, says Hodgkin, dug “the grave of the Gothic monarchy in Italy.”
Writing of this crisis in world affairs, Finlay says that “the changes of centuries passed in rapid succession before the eyes of one generation.” – “Greece Under the Romans,” page 231. The sword of empire opened the way for a new order of popes, and elevated the bishop of Rome to supreme position in the universal church. How long was the papal supremacy to continue?
“They [the saints, times, and laws] shall be given into his hands until a time and times and the dividing of time.” Verse 25. In the Bible the word “time” as here used, represents a year: “At the end of times, even years.” Daniel 11:13, margin, also A. R. V. In other prophecies concerning the papacy, the same period of time is otherwise designated:
“A time and times, and half a time.” Revelation 12:14.
“Power was given unto him to continue forty and two months.” Revelation 13:5.
“A thousand two hundred and threescore days.” Revelation 12:6.
A “time” (one year), “times” (two years), and the “dividing of time” (a half year), equal three and a half years. Using the ecclesiastical reckoning of the Jews, which was 360 days to each year, and thirty days to each month, the three and a half years, the forty-two months, and the- “thousand two hundred and threescore days” are all seen to equal the same period, 1260 days.
According to the prophetic key provided by Inspiration, a “day” in figurative language represents a literal year. (Numbers 14:34; Ezekiel 4:6) The authority of the papal church over the saints, the times, and the laws of God was therefore to be maintained for 1260 years. The beginning of this time is signalized by two events: the imperial decree of 533 AD, recognizing the supremacy of the pope of Rome; and the deathblow to the Ostrogoths in 538 AD, which opened the way for the decree to go into operation.
From Midnight to Dawn
For more than a millennium thereafter the papacy ruled throughout Christendom. “Kings and emperors bowed to the decrees of the Roman pontiff. The destinies of men, both for time and for eternity, seemed under his control.” “The noon of the papacy was the midnight of the world.” But-
“Truth crushed to earth shall rise again.
The eternal years of God are hers.
But Error, wounded, writhes in pain, And dies among his worshipers!”
A new era at length dawned. Near the close of the eighteenth century, Europe was mightily convulsed by the tragic, far-reaching events of the French Revolution. France, “the eldest daughter of the church,” the once stalwart defender of the papacy, fell into the hands of radical leaders who with fiery determination set out to abolish crowns and thrones, churches and creeds.
“On November 26, 1793, the Convention, of which seventeen bishops and some clergy were members, decreed the abolition of all religion.” - Hutton's “Age of Revolution,” page 156. In the name of God and religion, popes, bishops, and kings had suppressed the Scriptures, trampled upon the liberties of their subjects, and ruled without restraint. Multitudes were goaded to desperation, and in the frenzied scenes of the “Reign of Terror,” the seed sowing of centuries bore its legitimate fruit. The wave of revolt against absolutism spread far beyond the boundaries of France; and in many nations, “every throne and every church, without exception, that owned the supremacy of Rome, was prostrated in the dust.”-”Rome and Its Papal Rulers,” page 436.
Said Lamartine: “These five years are five centuries.” – “History of the Girondists,” book 61, page 544. In 1798 a French army, led by General Berthier, entered the city of Rome, proclaimed a republic, and carried the aged pontiff into exile in France, where he died the following year. “No wonder that half Europe thought Napoleon's veto would be obeyed, and that with the pope the papacy was dead.”-”The Modern Papacy,” page 1. “Among all the Roman Catholic powers not a finger was stirred in its defense.” – “Rome and Its Papal Rulers,” page 440.
These events of the French Revolution marked the close of the long prophetic period, and inflicted upon the Church of Rome its “deadly wound.” Observe the exactness in the fulfillment of this divine prophecy: From the decree of Justinian in 533 AD, establishing papal supremacy, to the decree of the French Convention in 1793, abolishing that power, is exactly 1260 years. Again, from 538 AD, when the sword of Belisarius elevated Pope Vigilius as universal pontiff to the time when the sword of Berthier thrust Pope Pius VI from office in 1798, is also 1260 years. The signet of fulfilled prophecy is affixed in, duplicate.
533A.D. Decree establishing universal pope.
538 A. D. Pope elevated to vacant throne of the Cxsars.
1793A.D. Decree of French Convention abolishing papal power. 1798 A. D. Pope dethroned and exiled.
The Final Award and the Coming Kingdom
When this “deadly wound” was administered, and the decree went forth that no successor to the dying pope would be allowed on the throne of Saint Peter, it appeared that the papacy was extinct. But another prophecy of Scripture foretold that the “deadly wound” would be healed. (Revelation 13:1-8) In fulfillment, there has been throughout the last century and more an astonishing revival of papal influence; and in some respects the priest-king of Rome has been elevated to new heights of spiritual power and greatness. The prophet Daniel also indicated that his sovereignty would continue onward in some form until the time of the final judgment and the establishment of the eternal kingdom of God.
“I beheld, and the same horn made war with the saints, and prevailed against them; until the Ancient of Days came, and judgment was given to the saints of the Most High; and the time came that the saints possessed the kingdom.” Daniel 7:21, 22.
“But the judgment shall sit, and they shall take away. his dominion, to consume and to destroy it unto the end. And the kingdom and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom under the ' whole heaven, shall be given to the people of the saints of the Most High, whose kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey Him.” Daniel 7:26, 27.
When you examine a document in the archives of Congressional Library in Washington, to which was affixed a seal of gold with the imprint, “GEORGE WASHINGTON, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,” you would undoubtedly accept it as authentic. From the dawn of national history, kings and rulers have used the seal as an emblem of authority. When Daniel was cast into the den of lions, “a stone was brought, and put upon the mouth of the den; and the king sealed it with his own signet, and with the signet of his lords; that the purpose might not be changed.” Danie16:17. Jezebel, queen of Israel, “wrote letters in Ahab's name, and sealed them with his seal.” 1 Kings 21:8. Frequently a ring with the name, initials, or monogram was employed. “Write you also for the Jews,” said Ahasuerus of Persia, “in the king's name, and seal it with the king's ring.” Esther 8: 8.
A government seal used in connection with law contains three essentials: (1) The name of the lawgiver; (2) his position or title; (3) and the extent of the territory over which he rules. In His contacts and communications with mankind, the Lord employs methods that may be understood and appreciated. As we carefully study the Book of books, His divine credentials are dearly seen. As we closely examine His wonderful law, we find stamped upon it the great seal of Jehovah. Since sinful man has broken that law, and has sought to destroy the sacred seal, the Lord commissions His people, “Bind up the testimony, seal the law among My disciples.” Isaiah 8:16. In all the world there is but one code of laws that bears “the seal of the living God.” Viewing the Ten Commandments delivered to Moses from Mount Sinai, it is seen that the first three and the last six contain no distinguishing mark of authorship. They mention the name of Deity, which the Mohammedan might interpret as Allah, the Hindu as Brahma, and the Chinese as Buddha; but the fourth commandment, which reposes in the very heart and center of the Decalogue, alone contains the complete signet of authorship:
“Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shall thou labor, and do all thy work. But the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God: in it thou shall not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates. For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day, and hallowed it.” Exodus 20:8-11.
“'A Sign Between Me and You”
Here is revealed the name of the Lawgiver, His sovereign authority, and the extent of His infinite domain. The stupendous fact of creation is the monument of His divinity; and in the fourth commandment, He presents the Sabbath as the sign and symbol of His omnipotent power and universal authority. The Sabbath commandment reveals the sacred seal, GOD, THE CREATOR OF THE UNIVERSE.
In the Bible, the words “sign,” “seal,” and “mark” are used -synonymously. (Romans 4:11; Ezekiel 9:1) Four times in Holy Writ the seventh day Sabbath is explicitly termed God's sign or signet. “Verily My Sabbaths you shall keep: for it is a sign between Me and you throughout your generations; that you may know that I am the Lord that does sanctify you;” “that I am the Lord your God.” Exodus 31:13,17; Ezekiel 20:12, 20.
The phrase, “a sign between Me and you,” signifies intimate relationship. God's loyal children who honor His Sabbath and enjoy its sanctifying influence, look up with perfect peace and confidence, saying, “Our Father which art in heaven.” He too, seeing, the Sabbath sign, recognizes His own, and His smile is upon them. Like a signet of gold, “Jehovah's Test” unites the family on earth with the family above.
“I Jehovah am sanctifying you,” reads Young's translation. The Sabbath is fragrant with the transcendent love of creation and re-creation. “We are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works.” Ephesians 2. “Am sanctifying” is in the present tense, indicating that our Lord's design that each recurring Sabbath day, as it comes to us laden with rest and refreshment, shall be as a spiritual milestone along the pilgrim trail leading to the city of God.
“A day of sweet reflection thou art, a day of love; A day to raise affection from earth to things above. New graces ever gaining from this our day of rest, We seek the rest remaining in mansions of the blest.”
From Genesis to Revelation, the Bible speaks with united voice in honor and support of the seventh day Sabbath. Yet here is a circumstance that is stranger than fiction. All along the centuries of 'this era many Christians have had a subconscious impression that the New Testament somehow places its signet of approval upon Sunday observance. In defense of this popular notion there is not an iota of truth. And why should a religious fallacy persist in civilized lands for nearly two millenniums, when a little careful investigation would reveal the truth and dispel the error? The terms “Sabbath, Sabbaths,” and “Sabbath days” are employed sixty times in the New Testament, and in every case save one refer to the seventh day of the week. That exception occurs in the following sentence in the second chapter of Colossians:
“Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holy day, or of the new moon, or of the Sabbath days: which are a shadow of things to come; but the body is of Christ.” Verses 16,17.
Does this scripture grant apostolic license to eat and to drink without restraint, and to observe any day, or no day whatsoever, as a weekly Sabbath? Were this its meaning, it would speak in contradiction of all those Bible precepts that teach sobriety, temperance, and Sabbath devotion. The Christians of that day found themselves struggling with pagan superstitions on one hand, and with Pharisaical traditions and rites on the other. Between these two systems of error, the followers of Christ were to walk the narrow way without being warped by the fables of Jewry, or lured by the temptations of pagan society. “Let no man therefore judge you.”
The Shadowy Sabbaths
The “Sabbath days” here mentioned were “a shadow of things to come.” In connection with the ancient Passover, Pentecost, and the Feast of Tabernacles, were the established annual Sabbaths.
“These are the feasts of the Lord, which you shall proclaim to be holy convocations, to offer an offering made by fire unto the Lord, a burnt offering, and a meat offering, a sacrifice, and drink offerings, everything upon his day: beside the Sabbaths of the Lord.” Leviticus 23:37, 38.
The distinction between the yearly and the weekly rest days is dear and well defined. Those ceremonial Sabbaths were to be observed “beside the Sabbaths of the Lord.” They occurred on fixed days of the Jewish calendar year, even as the Fourth of July and Christmas are now established annual dates. They were “shadow” Sabbaths, foreshadowing Christ as the great Passover, Christ as the gospel -first fruits,” Christ as the atonement. And when the Lamb of God yielded Himself as the world's sacrifice, the true light came, and the shadows fled away. But the weekly Sabbath was never instituted or employed as a figure or type; it was established as creation's memorial, was embodied in the law written by the finger of God on tables of stone, and stands unshaken and eternal. And so it shall ever stand.
A Rival Sabbath With Tainted Ancestry
In the early centuries of our era, when Christian missionaries went forth to the conquest of a world for Christ, the seventh day Sabbath encountered a formidable rival in the popular Sunday of paganism. The origin of first day observance, with its “tainted ancestry,” is found in the remote antiquity of heathenism thousands of years before the advent of Christ. Sunday, as defined by Webster's Dictionary, is “so-called because this day was anciently dedicated to the sun, or to its worship.” Says the historian:
“Unto the day dedicated unto the especial adoration of the idol of the sun, they gave the name of Sunday, as much as to say the sun's day, or the day of the sun.” - Verstegan's “Antiquities” page 68. The North British Review styled Sunday “the wild solar holiday of all pagan times,” yet defends the adoption of this heathen festival by the Christian church. It continues: “That very day was the Sunday of their heathen neighbors and respective countrymen, and patriotism gladly united with expediency in making it at once their Lord's day and their Sabbath.” - Volume 18, page 409.
Baptized Paganism Enters
For a long time the rival Sabbaths were observed side by side in thousands of communities. Some kept both days, and one of the church fathers styled that arrangement “the beautiful span.” In order to make it easier for the pagan people to accept the gospel, many Christians were willing to lower the standard, compromise with truth, and finally to adore the venerable day of sun worship. The fear of “contempt, scorn, and derision by the heathen,” influenced others. Likewise Emperor Constantine exerted his powerful influence to bring uniformity of worship throughout the empire, and urged that Sunday be designated as the universal rest day. In denouncing worship upon the seventh day, he said: “Let us then have nothing m* common with the most hostile rabble of the Jews.”
During those centuries of apostasy leading to the Dark Ages, many heathen rites were adopted by the church. And multitudes of pagans, without any transformation of heart or life, flocked to the Christian sanctuaries, were sprinkled with “holy water,” and welcomed to membership. “Another god upon earth” exalted himself in the Place of the God of heaven. Popular church leaders accepted tradition instead of the Bible, idols for the unseen Deity, Mary for Christ, works for faith, penance for repentance, purgatory for the true state of the dead, sprinkling for baptism, and Sunday for the Sabbath of the Lord God.
The Sunday Festival
The voice of history presents authentic testimony:
Neander (distinguished historian of the Lutheran Church). “The festival of Sunday, like all other festivals, was always only a human ordinance, and it was far from the intentions of the apostles to establish a divine command in this respect far from them and from the early apostolic church, to transfer the laws of the Sabbath to Sunday. Perhaps at the end of the second century a false application of this kind had begun to take place. For men appear by that time to have considered laboring on Sunday as a sin.” “Church History,” Rose's translation, page 186.
Chambers' Encyclopedia. “By none of the Fathers before the fourth century is it [Sunday] identified with the Sabbath; nor is the duty of observing it grounded by them either on the fourth commandment or on the precept or example of Christ or His apostles.” - Article, “Sabbath.”
Sir Wm. Domville. “Centuries of the Christian era passed away before the Sunday was observed by the Christian church as a Sabbath. History does not furnish us with a single proof or indication that it was at any time so observed previous to the Sabbatical edict of Constantine in AD 32l.” he Sabbath: or an Examination of the Six Texts,” page 291.
From Sabbath to Sunday
Eminent Protestant authorities bear uniform witness:
Episcopal. “We have made the change from the seventh day to the first day, from Saturday to Sunday, on the authority of the one holy catholic, apostolic church of Christ.” – “Why We Keep Sunday,” by Bishop Seymour.
Methodist. “It is true there is no positive command for infant baptism. Nor is there any for keeping holy the first day of the week.” – “Theological Compendium,” Reverend Amos Binney, pages 180,181.
Baptist. “There was and is a commandment to 'keep holy the Sabbath day,' but that Sabbath day was not Sunday. There is no Scriptural evidence of the change of the Sabbath institution from the seventh to the first day of the week.” - Edward T. Hiscox, DD, author of “Baptist Church Manual.”
Lutheran. “The observance of the Lord's day (Sunday) is founded not on any, command of God, but on the authority of the church.” - “Augsburg Confession of Faith.” quoted in Cox's “Sabbath Manual.” Presbyterian. “The Christian Sabbath (Sunday) is not in the Scripture, and was not by the primitive church called the Sabbath.” - Dwight's “Theology Explained and Defended,” volume 4, page 401. Congregational. “There is no command in the Bible requiring us to observe the first day of the week as the Christian Sabbath.” – “Mode and Subjects of Baptism,” by Fowler.
Who, then, changed the Sabbath? Let the Church of Rome reply? Catholic Mirror. “The Catholic Church for over one thousand years before the existence of a Protestant, by virtue of her divine mission, changed the day from Saturday to Sunday. The Christian Sabbath [Sunday] is therefore to this day the acknowledged offspring of the Catholic Church.” - Editorial, Sept. 23, 1893.
“A Doctrinal Catechism.” Question. Have you any other way of proving that the church has power to institute festivals of precept?” “Answer. Had she not such power, she could not have done that in which all modern religionists agree with her. She could not have substituted the observance of Sunday the first day of the week for the observance of Saturday the seventh day, a change for which there is no Scriptural authority.”- Page 174.
A volume of similar evidence could be presented. Bible prophecy, history, Protestant and Catholic testimony, are all in complete accord. Under the leadership of Roman bishops and so-called Christian emperors the change from Saturday to Sunday was gradually effected. Having adopted this child of paganism, the -church fathers” began the search for divine sanction. As it bore the name of Sun-day, they would re christen it as Son-day; and exceedingly clever arguments were produced for its observance in memory of Christ's resurrection.
With the opening of the sixteenth-century Reformation, many of the Protestant leaders were deeply troubled because they could find no Scripture basis for Sunday sacredness; yet the day was so deeply entrenched in the practice of multitudes that the task of reform appeared hopeless. Thousands of modern Bible students have continued the search for a text of the Bible, a word from Christ or one of the apostles, approving Sunday; but all to no avail. It cannot be found, for it does not exist.
The Mark of Apostasy
As God gave His people the true Sabbath to be the sign of His omnipotent power and the divine signet of their loyalty to Him, so another religious system exalts Sunday as its “mark” or “badge” of sovereignty. Replying to a letter addressed to Cardinal Gibbons, Chancellor H. F. Thomas said under date of November, 1895:
“Of course the Catholic Church claims that the change was her act. And the act is a mark of her ecclesiastical authority in religious things.” An authorized Roman Catholic catechism states:
“Question. How prove you that the church hath power to command feasts and holy days?
“Answer. By the very act [italics ours] of changing the Sabbath into Sunday, which Protestants allow of and therefore they fondly contradict themselves, by keeping Sunday strictly, and breaking most other feasts commanded by the same church.
“Question. How prove you that?
“Answer. Because by keeping Sunday, they acknowledge the church's power to ordain feasts, and to command them under Abridgment of the Christian Doctrine,” Reverend Henry Tuberville, DD, page 57.
Acknowledging these facts, E. T. Hiscox, author of 'The Baptist Manual,” declared: “Of course, I quite well know that Sunday did come into use in early Christian history as a religious day, as we learn from the Christian fathers and other sources. But what a pity that it comes branded with the mark of paganism, and christened with the name of the sun god, then adopted and sanctioned by the papal apostasy, and bequeathed as a sacred legacy to Protestantism!” - Paper presented at a Baptist ministers' meeting in New York, November 13, 1893. Do we realize the far-reaching significance of these facts? The Church of Rome, which has perverted almost every vital principle of the gospel, proudly presents her “ace of changing the Sabbath and the well-nigh universal recognition of Sunday as the evidence and “mark of her ecclesiastical authority in religious things.”
In harmony with this, many professed Protestants urge this pseudo-Sabbath as an ensign or mark of modern religion: “This day [Sunday] is set apart for divine worship and preparation for another life. It is the test of all religion.” Dr. W. W. Everts, in Sunday convention, Elgin, Illinois. “The Sabbath [Sunday] is the corner stone of Christ's kingdom. Let us recognize each recurring Sabbath [Sunday] as the sign of God's covenant. By this sign the world largely judges the depth of our Christian character, and by this sign God judges us.” - Mrs. L. C. Bateham, Sabbath Leaflet, Number 33.
'When the people, through their representatives, legalize the first day of the week as a day of rest and of worship for those who choose so to observe it, it is the sign of the Christian nation.”-Christian Oracle, Jan. 12,1893. “Resolved, That the Sabbath [Sunday] is a sign between God and man, and its reverent observance a mark of the nation whose God is Jehovah.” - Resolution passed by the National
Reform Convention, at Saratoga Springs, New York, 1894.
Tradition or Christ?
Just prior to the second coming of Christ, as vividly featured in the fourteenth chapter of Revelation, God, not willing that any should be deceived and perish, issues the solemn final warning against apostate religion and false worship. “If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand, the same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of His indignation.” Revelation 14:9, 10.
For hundreds of years the world groped along in spiritual darkness; but with the dawn of the Protestant Reformation fearless evangelical leaders like Luther, Calvin, Knox, and Wesley pioneered the way in laying again the pure and undefiled foundation of Christianity. Many errors were disclosed and swept away, but Sunday observance, which is cited as a distinguishing mark of papal authority, was not rooted out. In the past, Christian believers may have conscientiously believed and followed error; and for such a course, Christ holds no one accountable. Yet with the dawn of light, there is responsibility. “The times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commands all men everywhere to repent.” Acts 17:30.
Against human tradition, our Master lifted His voice with vigorous protest: “In vain they do worship Me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.” And again: “Every plant, which My heavenly Father hath not planted, shall be rooted up.” Matthew 15:9,13. Assuredly, Sunday observance was not planted by Christ; it rests wholly upon the commandments of men, and the test that came to Pilate comes anew to many with this message of Sabbath truth: “What shall I do then with Jesus which is called Christ?”
The Stamp of Royalty
In prophetic vision, John the revelator looked down the centuries to the closing of God's work in the earth, and beheld the proclamation of a special message designed to affix the seal of God upon the characters of His loyal people. “I saw another angel ascending from the east, having the seal of the living God. And he cried with a loud voice to the four angels, to whom it was given to hurt the earth and the sea, saying, Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, till we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads.” Revelation 7:2.
God pleads with us: “My son, My daughter, give Me your heart!” In return, He desires to stamp His own likeness upon our characters, that we may be sealed and accepted as candidates for heaven. In the attainment of this goal, He bids every Christian beware of counterfeits. He emphasizes that there can be no substitute for obedience, and that error, though believed for a thousand years, is still error.
The story is told of a king who placed an order for palace draperies, specifying that the background was to be of royal purple. The weaver felt troubled, and began reasoning with himself: “The established custom is to use red for this groundwork, and it is so much more convenient. The king may not notice the difference, and if he does, he will like the red just as well.” Imagine the poor man's consternation when the monarch utterly refused the expensive tapestry. “The stamp of royalty is lacking,” the king declared. “There is no suggestion of the imperial purple. Your red means nothing to me; thousands of other homes have the same. You have obeyed your own desires instead of me; may your convenience reward your loyalty.”
What shall be said of those who have woven a manmade Sabbath into the imperial fabric of God's law? It may appear as well as the other; it is according to custom. Yet it bears, not the stamp of royalty, but the marks of disobedience and spiritual treason. Men have repudiated one of the dearest, plainest precepts of God's law, and have trampled His Sabbath beneath their feet. But our Father waits to pardon and to present the priceless welcome, “Blessed are they that do His commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city.” Revelation 22:14.
This brings to us a crucial test of allegiance. Sunday presents itself with tainted ancestry, the child of ancient sun worship, adopted by the papacy, tolerated by a compromising Protestantism, yet condemned by the prophetic word. Those who observe the pagan-papal Sunday bear the mark and label of apostasy.
The true and only Sabbath of the Lord comes to us as the birthday of the world, sanctified of God at creation, proclaimed by His voice from Sinai's height, kept by Jesus, honored by all the apostles, cherished by martyrs of the Dark Ages, bequeathed to us as the divine badge of loyalty, and the Sabbath that will be celebrated in the future homeland of the redeemed. Those who now reverence it are distinguished as bearing “the seal of the living God.”
Let us pray for heaven born courage to renounce all error, to follow Jesus all the way, and at length be found with the victorious company who throughout the endless years will assemble “from one Sabbath to another” before the throne to worship the Lord of hosts. “Blessed is the man that does this, and the son of man that lays hold on it; that keeps the Sabbath from polluting it, and keeps his hand from doing any evil. Even unto them will I give in Mine house and within My walls a place and a name better than of sons and of daughters: I will give them an everlasting name, that shall not be cut off.” Isaiah 56:23.
BEFORE the picture of Dante's “Inferno,” multitudes tremble and multitudes scorn. But where did he obtain his concept of terror and torture after death? Visit Asia, the birthplace of world religions, and enter “the chamber of horrors” in a Buddhist or Taoist temple. There in panorama the endless procession of the dead is featured on its journey through Hades. One by one they stand before the ten kings of the nether regions, receive sentence, then pass from chamber to chamber to be cruelly tortured by beating, burning, boiling, chopping, sawing, and mutilating.
Passports, Automobiles, Airplanes, for Departed Spirits
The living are told that to avert or- to mitigate these punishments they may purchase for themselves or their deceased friends, charms and passports guaranteed to insure immunity from pain and deliverance from that dark realm. From priest or attendant the credulous may buy “certificates of good character to the ruler of Hades.” Free passes for departed souls, exempting them from tolls along the journey,” charms to insure “a happy rebirth,” for “Purifying” for “a criminal who was hanged,” for a person “Poisoned by a doctor's prescription,” and many others.
To supply the imaginary needs of their lamented friends, the Chinese people send them imitation paper-houses, horses, servants, clothing, and furniture. These are supposed to be transported to the spirit world by burning; and millions of dollars a year are expended to satisfy this superstition. As paganism is progressive, automobiles, airplanes, telephones, and radios are now added to the equipment; and since burglary and banditry are presumably present in the nether realm, fireproof vaults and safety locks are included in the modern outfit.
The Greatest Fraud of History
Paganism suggests no happy resurrection and reunion of friends. Its picture of life beyond the tomb is almost universally sad and bitter, a place “where no sun ever shines,” and where a perpetual gloom crushes out all joy. Likewise the atrocious doctrine of eternal torment, believed by many Christians as well as pagans, is contrary to all the teachings of Scripture, and is a libel upon the character of God. It is no wonder, then, that the preaching of this falsehood has driven multitudes to infidelity, and large numbers to embrace the false hope of universal salvation.
The inventor of this subtle lie was the serpent of the lost Paradise. To our first parents in Eden, he came with the gilded deception, “You shall not surely die. Your eyes shall be opened, and you shall be as gods.” Genesis 3:1,5. They were deceived; and, tragedy of tragedies, nearly the entire world of religion, philosophy, and mythology, from the dawn of history to the present, has believed that glaring falsehood of the seducer. Heathenism of almost every shade and type, Greek and Roman Catholicism, and even popular Protestantism may cordially unite in the refrain:
“There is no death! What seems so is transition.
This life of mortal breath
Is but a suburb of the life Elysian,
Whose portal we call death.”
The Egyptians believed Satan's first lie, and “taught the doctrine of the immortality of the soul,-a fact mentioned by all the Greek writers from Herodotus to Aristotle, and one brilliantly confirmed by the monuments.” - Bunsen's “Egypt in Universal History,” vol. 4, page 639.
Into the Church by the Back Door
From the land of the Pharaohs this false concept seems to have spread throughout the pagan world.
And in the early centuries of our era, when Christianity compromised with error and borrowed the temples, idols, ceremonies, and Sunday festival of paganism, she also adopted the heathen doctrine of an immortal soul, together with a yawning place of torment named purgatory. This fateful deception in the words of the distinguished statesman, William E. Gladstone crept into the church by the back door. It is a doctrine wholly unknown to the Holy Scriptures, and standing on no higher plane than that of an ingeniously sustained, but gravely and formidably con-, tested philosophical opinion.”
Martin Luther held that the dead “lie in a profound rest and sleep.” – “Historical View,” page 347. Says the celebrated Richard Watson: “That the soul is naturally immortal is contradicted by the Scripture, which makes our immortality a gift dependent on the will of the Giver.” – “Theological Institutes” (Methodist), volume 2, chapter 18. In accord with these, William Tyndale, the noted reformer and translator of the Bible, asked significantly: 1f the souls be in heaven, tell me what cause is there of a resurrection?”
The Trail to Endor
For thousands of years the word of God has been unfolding the facts concerning three mysteries-the past, the present, and the future. But in spite of the revelation of Scripture, and in contradiction to the clear testimony of Jesus Christ, countless millions still think that the dead are somehow alive, that at death they become animated spirits, and that these may have the power to communicate with the living. This mistaken concept paves the way for other evils, so that the same sorcery and demon worship that have ever cursed the pagan world are now welcomed in civilized lands, and masquerade in Christian garb. “The world will soon be ruled by the greatest minds of all times,” says one psychic leader; while, according to the late Sir Conan Doyle, “spiritualism is the religion that is going to sweep the earth.”
Instead of being a. new revelation, spiritualism is but the revival of an ancient falsehood. Its blighting influence in the old land of Egypt led magicians, sorcerers, princes, and kings to oppose the work of God, brought ruin and desolation upon the whole country, and sent the army of Pharaoh to destruction in the Red Sea. In his apostasy and desperation, Saul paid a midnight visit to the witch of Endor, and from that clandestine interview strode forth to military defeat and a suicide's grave. The renowned Croesus sent to the Delphian oracle for advice, and was told that if he marched against Persia, he would “destroy a great empire.” He followed the demon counsel, but the empire demolished was his own.
It is the pretentious boast of spiritualism that it constitutes a valued gift to the world of thought, and introduces mankind to a new era. It is true that the nineteenth and twentieth centuries are without parallel in the history of intellectual, scientific, and mechanical progress; but in all the developments of industry, transportation, and communication, of comforts and conveniences, not one invention can be placed to the credit of spiritualism.
Spiritualism’s Contribution to the World
Its contributions to the world are deception, blasted hopes, sordid superstitions, ruined homes, shattered nerves, and psychopathic victims for the madhouse. Its “black magic” announces that “Satan has been converted,” and bids his followers pray to the devil. It denies the divine Christ, upholds no standard of morals, no divine law, and speaks no word of condemnation for sin. The vilest criminal or the most degraded derelict may at the same time be a glorified medium; while its purported messages from the darkened seance chambers mumbled by a groaning, agonizing, demon-filled, semiconscious medium are as insipid and unreliable as the Delphian oracle, mutterings of long ago.
After an extensive and sympathetic contact with spiritualism, Dr. P. B. Randolph relates his own experience: “For seven years I held daily intercourse with what purported to be my mother's spirit. I am now fully persuaded that it was nothing but an evil spirit, an infernal demon, who, in that guise, gained my soul's confidence, and led me to the very brink of ruin. Five of my friends destroyed themselves, and I attempted it, by direct spiritual influences.
“Every crime in the calendar has been committed by mortal movers of viewless beings. Adultery, fornication, suicides, desertions, unjust divorces, prostitution, abortion, insanity, are not evils, I suppose! I charge all these to this scientific spiritualism. It has also broken up families, squandered fortunes, tempted and destroyed the weak. It has banished peace from happy families, separated husbands and wives, and shattered the intellect of thousands.” – “Dealings With the Dead,” pages 108,109.
Against all these evils the inspired warning has sounded for more than three millenniums. “There shall not be found among you anyone that uses divination, or an observer of times, or an enchanter, or a witch, or a charmer, or a consultant with familiar spirits, or a wizard, or a necromancer. For all that do these things are an abomination unto the Lord.” “Thou shall not suffer a witch to live.” Deuteronomy 18:10-12; Exodus 22:18.
The mystic voices and shadowy forms appearing in the darkened circles of the seance chamber are the spirits of devils, not the spirits of departed loved ones. (2 Corinthians 11:14,15; Matthew 24:26; Revelation 16:14) Says Holy Writ: “When they shall say unto you, Seek unto them that have familiar spirits and unto the wizards, that chirp and that mutter: should not a people seek unto their God? on behalf of the living should they seek unto the dead?” Isaiah 8:19, A. R. V.
A Miracle-Working Satan
Realizing that his kingdom is doomed and his time is short, Satan marshals “all power and signs and lying wonders,” to deceive, if possible, “the very elect.” (Revelation 12:12; 2 Thessalonians 2:9; Matthew 24:24) In the final crisis, he will seek to imitate and counterfeit the God of Elijah and the miracle-working Christ. “He does great wonders, so that he makes fire come down from heaven in the sight of men, and deceives them that dwell on the earth by the means of those miracles which he had power to do.” Revelation 13:13, 14.
His apparent triumph will be short-lived; for at the Second Coming of Jesus Christ as King of kings, Satan and his host are vanquished. (Revelation 19:11-21) Modern spiritualism and kindred cults man meets a power which, unaided and alone, he can neither withstand nor resist. But the word of God draws aside the mask, and exposes the stupendous hoax. It also introduces to us the mighty Deliverer who, nineteen hundred years ago, met and overcame the enemy at every turn. He saves “to the uttermost,” and is abundantly able to shield men and women in this modern age from the snares of the adversary.
The Second Death
“God is love.” He is long-suffering, “not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.” 2 Peter 3:9. Yet His mercy “will by no means clear the guilty.” Exodus 34:7. And those who have refused the offers of infinite grace and pardon will not be permitted to live forever.
“The wages of sin is death.” “The soul that sins, it shall die.” “The fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whore mongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.” Romans 6.23; Ezekiel 18:4; Revelation 20:8. The Bible repeatedly declares that the finally impenitent will be utterly consumed, reduced to smoke and ashes, and “be as though they had not been.” Psalm 37:20; Malachi 4:3; Obadiah 16. “He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.” Matthew 3:12. “Unquenchable fire does not burn forever. The cities of Sodom and Gomorrah (tare set forth for an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire.” Jude 7. Yet they were “overthrown as in a moment,” and brought to “ashes.” Lamentations 4:6; 2 Peter 2:6. Those notoriously corrupt cities were blotted out of existence. The waters of the Dead Sea are said to surge over the place where they once stood. And the Bible declares that their “everlasting destruction”, is an “example” of the fate that will overwhelm the lost.
In the language of Scripture, the smoke from the consuming fire “ascended up forever and ever.” Revelation 14:11. The results are final. In like manner the smoke that issues from a million chimneys today ascends upward “forever.” It is gone. The fuel is destroyed. Even so will it be with those who have despised and misused their opportunities. The Bible clearly teaches that none are granted a second probation; and if in this life men deliberately repudiate Christ and the gospel, they, with Satan and all his followers, are sentenced to the second death, to be blotted out of existence for all eternity. (2 Thessalonians 1:9; Revelation 20:12-15)
In the true Christian belief founded upon the Bible there is no pagan Hades in which millions of human beings will suffer, wail, and blaspheme throughout the numberless cycles of future ages. No such foul blot will remain to mar the restored Paradise of God. Our beneficent Father does the only thing that a compassionate, all wise, righteous Judge can do; He permits the wicked to be “as though they had not been.” Obadiah 16. For a full discussion of this theme, read “The Other Side of Death,” by Carlyle B. Haynes, which may be secured from the publishers of this book.
The Gift of Mortality
The Bible presents the only “key” to the miracle of life. “In Him we live, and move, and have our being.” “With Thee is the fountain of life.” “The Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.” Acts 17:28; Psalm 36:9; Genesis 2:7. “The breath of life,” not an immortal soul, was imparted to man; and “breath,” when combined with dust by the Master Chemist, became a ‘living soul;” “nephesh chaiyah” being the original Hebrew, and correctly translated “living creature” (creature). Beasts and cattle, as well as mankind, were given “the breath of life;” while the myriad of animate forms within the ocean depths are also included in the term, “every living soul.” Revelation 16:3; Genesis 7:21,22.
The popular notion that the Bible has much to say about an immortal soul is wholly false. Only once in all the Scriptures does the word “immortal” occur: “Now unto the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only wise God, be honor and glory.” 1 Timothy 1:17. The term “immortality” appears five times. These teach that God “only hath immortality;” that those who seek for immortality will receive the endowment of eternal life; that Christ “brought life and immortality to light through the gospel. That the righteous will obtain the transcendent gift of immortality on the resurrection morning, at the Second Coming of Christ. (1 Timothy 6:16; Romans 2:7; 2 Timothy 1: 10; 1 Corinthians 15:53, 54.)
By nature man does not possess an undying soul. When the grim enemy knocks at the door, the “breath,” or “spirit” (“pneuma,” meaning “breath, wind,” etc.), which our heavenly Father imparted to man in the beginning, returns “unto God who gave it.” The individual whose race is run lies down to quiet, undisturbed sleep. Concerning this there is harmony and uniformity of teaching throughout the entire Bible. Daniel, Paul, and the Master Himself speak of the departed as “asleep” in the dust. (Daniel 12:2; 1 Thessalonians 4:13; John 11:11-14.)
Where Are the Dead?
Inspiration repeatedly asserts that the dead are wholly unconscious: “The living know that they shall die: but the dead know not anything, neither have they any more a reward; for the memory of them is forgotten. Also their love, and their hatred, and their envy, is now perished; neither have they any more a portion forever in anything that is done under the sun.” “His breath goes forth, he returns to his earth; in that very day his thoughts perish.” “His sons come to honor, and he knows it not; and they are brought low, but he perceives it not of them.” Ecclesiastes 9:5, 6; Psalm 146:4; Job 14:21.
In a New England town, several young men were working in a small machine shop operated by water power. As one of them stood at his rapidly revolving emery wheel, he realized that something was wrong, and shouted to his brother, “George, -” Before he could finish the sentence, the wheel flew in pieces and a fragment struck him in the temple. He fell unconscious, and for many days remained in that condition; when finally a skillful Boston surgeon operated and removed a piece of stone that was embedded within the skull. With his first conscious moment the injured man's brain took up the thread of thought at the point where it had been arrested many days before, and he finished the sentence, “shut the gate.”
Even so to the person who has slept in the dust for a year, or for thousands of years, there is no consciousness, no sense of the passing of time. He will awaken from the long slumber as though it were but a nights repose. The hope of the world is Jesus; and eminent Bible scholars declare that His resurrection stands forth as one of the most strongly fortified events of history. “Now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the first fruits of them that slept. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.” 1 Corinthians 15:20-22.
The Hope of the Resurrection
Jesus blazed a new trail for humanity by entering Satan's prison house, overcoming man's cruel enemy, walking forth from Joseph's new tomb with the tread of a mighty conqueror, and forever repudiating the infidel falsehood that “death is an eternal sleep.” I am He that lived, and was dead,” He declared in triumph. “And, behold, I am alive forevermore, Amen. And have the keys of hell [Greek, “Hades” = the gravel and of death.” Revelation 1:18.
Standing by the mute form of his beloved brother, Col. Robert G. Ingersoll said: “Life is a narrow vale between the cold and barren peaks of two eternities.” To the infidel death is “a leap in the dark.” But the frail, weeping mother who bends over the little white casket of her six year old darling, kisses the baby face, and says triumphantly through her tears: “Good-by, little one; mamma loves you, and will meet you again beyond the sunset.” Resurrection day is also translation day.
“The Lord Himself shall descend from heaven, with a shout, with the voice of the Archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first. Then we that are alive, that are left, shall together with them be caught up in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. Wherefore, comfort one another with these words.” 1 Thessalonians 4:16-18, A. R. V.
Such is the Christian's blessed hope. On that morning of satisfied desires, We shall all be changed, 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. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory. 0 death, where is thy sting? 0 grave, where is thy victory? But thanks be to God, which gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” 1 Corinthians 15:51-57.
Yes, thanks be unto God for the satisfying, comforting message of the precious Book. Thanks be unto God that the mysteries of life and death are so clearly revealed. Thanks be unto God for a certified hope that robs the tomb of its terrors, for the surety that the key to the dark prison house is in the hands of Jesus, our best Friend. And thanks be unto God that resurrection power is promised to every Christian for a life of victory, and a pledge of that future life beyond the sunset that measures with the life divine.
WHEN Frederick William of Prussia asked one of his spiritual advisers, “What is the greatest proof of the inspiration of the Bible?” the other replied, “The Jews, Your Majesty; the Jews.” The preservation of the Hebrews as a distinct race during four millenniums, when almost all other peoples of antiquity have long since disappeared, is the greatest national phenomenon of history. Many prophecies of Scripture are accurately fulfilled in the life drama of Israel; and it is clear that God's hand has guarded and kept them down the ages as a living witness to the divinely inspired Book. See Deuteronomy 28; 29:18-28.
A Race Without a Country
Since the dispersion of the Jews in 70 AD, Palestine has been a national derelict. With the decline of ancient Rome, it passed successively under the power of the Eastern empire, the Arabs, the Persians, the Crusaders, the Egyptians, and the Turks; and due to devastating wars, ignorance, and neglect, much of the land which once flowed with milk and honey reverted to desert waste. For nineteen centuries, the Jews have been “citizens of the world,” yet without a country; but the Hebrew love for old Canaan is imperishable. Twenty-five hundred years ago when the captives from Judah sat down by the waters of Babylon and “wept when they remembered Zion, some heroic soul penned that immortal exile poem.
“If I forget thee, 0 Jerusalem,
Let my right hand forget her cunning. If I do not remember thee,
Let my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth. If I prefer not Jerusalem
Above my chief joy.” Psalm 137:5,6.
Throughout all the vicissitudes of the Christian era, says a credible historian, there has not been a fifty-year period without some Jewish attempt at restoration. Conquest has followed conquest, devastation has succeeded devastation, yet through all the ages this people have never relinquished their claims to the land of Israel.
The High Tide of a New Era
A generation ago, the Zionist Movement was established, with the fond ambition of repossessing the land of their forefathers and rebuilding a national home upon the crumbled foundations of other days. War and the conquest of Palestine by the British, the dream of the centuries seemed about to be realized, and Jewish hopes mounted to the skies. Then came heartbreaking reverses; the hostile Arabs outnumbered them six to one; and in attempting partially to satisfy the ambitions of both these peoples, Great Britain, who holds the Palestine mandate, has faced a critical problem.
But just as the Zionist program seemed hopelessly blasted, and all nations were crippled by universal depression, Palestine suddenly emerged before an astonished world as a marvel of prosperity. Difficulties arising in Central and Eastern Europe, drove thousands of refugees toward the Holy Land. At the same time, Jewish capital lying dormant in London, Paris, Berlin, New York, and other centers, began flowing toward Palestine in a stream of untold millions. Real estate in Jerusalem and orange groves in Galilee became the new magnet to draw Hebrew gold.
Just to the north of Jaffa, the Joppa of New Testament times, Tel-Aviv, “the first purely Jewish city to arise since the days of the Romans,” sprung into existence with mushroom growth. This thrifty, progressive colony is not only the product of Hebrew genius and Hebrew capital, but every nail has been driven and every brick has been laid by Hebrew workmen. From a town with a population of but 2,000 in 1919, it may soon rival Jerusalem in population.
Magic Transformations
Farther northward along the Mediterranean coast, the little village of Haifa has been transformed into a thriving commercial and manufacturing center. A harbor that will welcome the largest steamship afloat is being built at a cost of nearly $20,000,000. To this point, the great $40,000,000 pipe line stretching across the Arabian desert from the fields of Iraq is to bring fuel oil from the ancient home of Abraham to propel the wheels of industry in the new Palestine.
Along the shores of Galilee and the Dead Sea splendid health and pleasure resorts arise; launches and motor ships play about upon the waters; and the sea where the disciples of Christ once followed their trade as fishermen is visited regularly by hydroplane liners that ply between London and Bagdad. Mizpali, a little to the south, the “watch tower” from which Samuel judged Israel, is now an international air terminal for planes from England, France, Germany, and other countries. The great Jordan power station has harnessed the waters of that far-famed stream to supply power and light from Dan to Beersheba. In the construction of this hydro-electric system, many miles of canal were excavated, many dams were constructed, and a large new lake has appeared in the valley of the Jordan.
The Dead Sea that for millenniums has been looked upon as a worthless body of salt water now yields potash and bromine for shipment to all parts of the world. Throughout the country, macadamized roads have been built, more than a hundred new agricultural colonies have been formed, and the Jewish farmer, with tractors, harrows, drills, and modem harvesting machinery, is fast supplanting the peasant husbandman. As another innovation, the Holy Land now uses its own national currency and postage stamps. Old Jerusalem is the hallowed sanctuary of three religions - Judaism, Christianity, and Mohammedanism. It is the shrine of three Sabbaths - the Mohammedan Friday, the rest day of the Bible, and the popular Sunday. It is a city of three languages -Arabic, Hebrew, and English-all official notices and documents being printed in each.
A “New Jerusalem”
The moss-grown walls of this ancient metropolis, some forty feet in height and three miles in circumference, have been repaired; its streets are illumined at night by electricity; while the water and refuse carriers of former days are almost entirely superseded by efficient water and drainage systems. The telephone and radio have entered, and thousands of motor cars jostle about the busy streets. Of its 100,000 inhabitants, about two thirds live outside the walls in a “new” Jerusalem. There are superb residential districts, commercial sections, civic buildings, colleges, hospitals, parks, recreation grounds, hotels, and a university that is designed to be the center of Semitic culture throughout the world.
Overlooking the holy city from the south, stands King David Hotel, erected at a cost of $1,250,000, having two hundred guest rooms, and advertised as “the last word in modernity.” Approximately one hundred new streets have been laid out, their names being reminiscent of Bible history; among which are the “Street of the Prophets,” “Herod's Way,” “Nehemiah Road,” “Street of Ezra,” “Street of the Maccabees,” “Isaiah Street,” “John the Baptist Street,” etc. The new Palestine, with a population rapidly increasing from immigration, with malaria stamped out, a medical service anticipating future growth, and a superior educational system, stands in many respects as the miracle country in a sorely disordered world.
Zionism - An Elusive Dream
But with these innovations have also come the vultures of speculation, greedy industrialists, unscrupulous promoters, high-pressure salesmen, money lenders, and others, each seeking to snatch a share of the promised wealth. As a result, this “most interesting laboratory in collective, social experiment,” is being robbed of its best features; and “the brightest hope of real regeneration which Jews have had in recent history is being dimmed.”
Consider also the present drift of Hebrew scholarship. The great university at Jerusalem is founded, not upon the theology of Moses, Samuel, and Elijah, but upon the highest attainments in modern thought, philosophy, and liberalism. Their belief is a hollow idealism. And it is readily seen that twentieth-century Zionism is not of God. The Master's words are still true: “Your house is left unto you desolate.”
Some popular Christian leaders, however, view the new exodus to Palestine as a fulfillment of Scriptural prophecy, a forerunner of the millennial age, and a precursor of Christ's Second Coming. Careful study reveals that both the Old and the New Testament declare that in this present age the re6tablishment of the Hebrew nation in the Holy Land can never take place. The enterprise is not in accord with the blue print of prophecy; and it is certain that a man-made Zionism is doomed to failure.
In the drama of the prophet and the potter's earthen bottle, the word of the Lord instructed Jeremiah: “Then shall thou break the bottle in the sight of the men that go with thee, and thou shall say unto them, Thus said the Lord of hosts; Even so will I break this people and this city, as one breaks a potter's vessel, that cannot be made whole again.” Jeremiah 19:10, 11. He who destroyed the city and dispersed the inhabitants because of their sins, forever settles the question of a complete return and restitution in old Canaan by asserting that it “cannot be.” Likewise Christ declared, “Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled.” Luke 21:24.
The Old Testament era was the time or period allotted to the Hebrew nation to witness as a light to the world; but with the new dispensation and the rejection of the Messiah, the gospel is proclaimed by other agencies. “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. We now live in the “times of the Gentiles;” and Jerusalem, according to this prophecy, is to continue throughout this gospel dispensation as a possession of the “Gentiles.”
The Divine Program of Zionism
The Bible also reveals that God has a program of Zionism that is ere long to be gloriously realized. In Ezekiel's vision of the valley of dry bones, which represented “the whole house of Israel,” the prophet was given assurance of glorious future restoration. “0 My people,” said the Lord, I will open your graves, and cause you to come up out of your graves, and bring you into the land of Israel. And My servant David shall be their prince forever. Moreover I will make a covenant of peace with them; it shall be an everlasting covenant with them: and I will place them, and multiply them, and will set My sanctuary in the midst of them forevermore.” Ezekiel 37:12,24-26. This plain language points unmistakably to a gathering beyond the grave made possible through a resurrection from the dead; and King David, after resting in the tomb for three millenniums, lives again to be with his people forever.
In ancient times Israel was “a green olive tree, fair, and of goodly fruit;” but because of unbelief, the withered branches of Judaism were “broken off.” Jeremiah 11:16; Romans 11:17. “Contrary to nature,” twigs from the wild olive (the Gentile world) were grafted into the original trunk of divine truth, and have developed into regular fruit-bearing branches for the kingdom of Christ. In Him the distinction between Jew and Greek is swept away. The Jews as a nation no longer enjoy the special favor of Jehovah; yet both Jew and Gentile may, through Christ, be grafted into the good olive tree. (Romans 11:17-26.)
“And so all Israel shall be saved”-not the literal descendants of Abraham; “for he is not a Jew, which is one outwardly. Neither is that circumcision, which is outward in the flesh: but he is a Jew, which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God.” Romans 2:28,29. Upon an equal footing, Headdresses those of every nation, “If you be Christ's, then are you Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise.” Galatians 3:29.
During this age the original bottle will never be pieced together. But here and there jewel fragments are being discovered, hearts and lives are being divinely transformed; and “in that day” when the anointed Christ appears the second time to assemble the family of His elect, “the great trumpet shall be blown. And you shall be gathered one by one, 0 you children of Israel.” Isaiah 27:13, 12.
In God's provision for a restored Zion, there shall be no wailing wall, no heartaches, no racial jealousies, and no grafting profiteers. By faith the shepherd king of Israel viewed a Mount Zion “beautiful for situation, the joy of the whole earth.” that would abide forever. (Psalm 48: 2, 8.) Abraham “looked for a city,” not built by Solomon, beautified by Herod, or laid out by twentieth-century contractors and architects; but one “which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God.” Hebrews 11:10.
“And the ransomed of the Lord shall return, and come to Zion with songs and everlasting joy upon their heads: they shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.” Isaiah 35:10.
THE story of the discovery, colonization, and growth of the United States of America is without parallel in world history. At the beginning of the eighteenth century, the North American continent lay in chaos and savagery, its wilderness stretches inhabited by approximately a half-million roving Indians. What a marvelous transformation! It now supports approximately two hundred fifty times that number of progressive, industrious citizens. From the vast, empty spaces there have arisen cities, towns, homes, schools, colleges, hospitals, industries, railways, highways, and myriad comforts and conveniences of modern life. In the early colonial period of America, Bishop George Berkeley of England penned the following lines that seem almost prophetic:
“Westward the course of empire takes it way. The first four Acts already past. A fifth shall close the Drama with the day; Time's noblest offspring is the last.”
From the cradle of our race in Asia, civilization has marched through Europe, thrown its lines across the Atlantic, possessed America, and now beyond the expanse of the Pacific shakes hands with the Far East and the Orient. “The first four Acts,” mentioned by Bishop Berkeley, were the four great empires of Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, and Rome; while in the phrase, “time's noblest offspring,” he points to the American land of promise.
“History,” said James A. Garfield, “is but the unrolled scroll of prophecy.” Upon this chart God foretold through His ancient spokesmen the rise of vast kingdoms in Asia and Europe. To many it may be a surprising revelation, yet it is a fact that the United States of America is also designated in the sure word of Inspiration. When, however, the magic growth of this country is considered' and the giant republic lifts its head among the nations without a peer, it would be strange indeed if it were omitted entirely from the prophetic preview.
The Gospel Church
The Scriptural background of this forecast assumes the form of an extended preamble, and other symbols are first introduced. “There appeared a great wonder in heaven; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars: and she being with child cried, travailing in birth, and pained to be delivered.” Revelation 12:1, 2.
In the figurative language of the Bible, “a woman” is frequently used to represent a “church.” “I have likened the daughter of Zion,” said the Lord, “to a comely and delicate woman.” Jeremiah 6:2. The moon under her feet indicates the old dispensation of types and shadows which passed away with the first advent of Christ. Entering upon the new gospel era, the church was clothed with the light and glory of the Sun of Righteousness; while the crown of twelve stars fitly represents the twelve radiant personalities of the infant church, the apostles of Christ. To the church of that period, a child was born, a son was given, “who was to rule all nations.” And when He had fulfilled His short, wondrous mission upon this earth, the “child was caught up unto God, and to His throne.” Revelation 12:5.
The Roman Empire
“And there appeared another wonder in heaven; and behold a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his heads. And his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and did cast them to the earth: and the dragon stood before the woman which was ready to be delivered, for to devour her child as soon as it was born.” Revelation 12:3,4.
The great dragon is also designated as “that old serpent, called the devil, and Satan.” Verse 9. In the long warfare he has carried on against Christ and the church, Satan has employed other agents. When the Savior was born in Bethlehem of Judah, Herod, a vassal king of Rome, put forth strenuous efforts to destroy Him. Thirty-three and a half years later, it was Pilate the Roman governor who signed His death warrant and delivered Him to be crucified. When the dragon perceived that Christ, the head of the church, had eluded his grasp, being “caught up unto God,” he vented his rage- upon the woman, and with relentless fury persecuted the church in the wilderness. (Verses 13-17)
In this prophetic outline of the struggle between the true church and its foes, a third symbol is introduced: “I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy. And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard, and his feet were as the feet of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion: and the dragon gave him his power, and his seat, and great authority.” Revelation 13:1, 2. Like the dragon, the leopard beast had “seven heads and ten horns,” “and the dragon gave him his power, and his scat, and great authority.” In fulfillment, the Roman emperors moved their capital from the seven-hilled city to Constantinople in 331 AD. The ancient “seat” of government, the city of Rome, was in this way relinquished by the imperial monarchs to become the metropolis of the Roman Catholic Church, the citadel of the pope. Emperor Justinian likewise established the pontiff's “power” and “great authority,” by universal edict acclaiming him “head over all the churches,” and “corrector of heretics.”
'And there was given unto him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies.” Revelation 13:5. This specification was fulfilled by the impious attempt to change the law of God, by placing tradition above the Bible, and by conferring upon the pope such titles as reverently belong to deity alone.
The Trade-Mark of Ancient Paganism “666”
“Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six.” Revelation 13:18. Among the peoples of antiquity, the most widely disseminated form of idolatry was sun worship. Astrology divided the starry heavens into thirty-six constellations, which were arranged in a square, and frequently worn as a signet or ensign by the priests of paganism.
This consists of all the numbers from 1 to 36. Adding the rows vertically, horizontally, or the two central ones diagonally, the result is uniformly applied. While the total of the six columns equals 666. Throughout all the Egyptian mythologies this mystic number was interwoven. “Every heathen god,” says Higgins, “had the name of 666.” The highest symbolism in Egyptian worship and that adopted by the monarchs as the emblem of royalty was the union of this solar disk and the sacred serpent. From Egypt this insignia of paganism was passed on to other nations; and when the kingdom on the Tiber extended its conquests throughout the civilized world, the Roman Senate, in its broad spiritual toleration, adopted for itself the religious worship, the gods and goddesses of all vanquished peoples. In this way the mystic number, 666, as the trade mark of ancient pagan ism and sun worship, became the sigillum solis, or solar seal, of the empire.
“Count the Number”
At length Imperial Rome bequeathed “his power, and his seat, and great authority” to the Church of Rome. Paganism was “baptized,” and with little more than a change of name was adopted and incorporated into the papal system; and to this princely church Scripture prophecy bids us look to find written upon her the name and superscription of paganism-666. The head of the Roman Church “is crowned with a triple crown as king of heaven and of earth and of the lower regions.” “Prompta Bibliotheca,” article “Papa.” The title “'Vicarius Filii Dei,” “the vicegerent of the Son of God,” is conferred upon the Pope of Rome. This title has been accepted and used by the popes, and according to certain Roman Catholic authorities has been inscribed upon the papal tiara. See “Decretum of Gratian, part 1, division 96; also Our Sunday Visitor, of Huntington, Indiana, April 18, 1915.
With this title before him, let the reader “ count the number of the beast.” In the numerical value of these Latin letters, “U” was formerly the same as the letter “V,” which custom is still generally followed. Adding together the Roman numerals contained in this sacrilegious title of a man, the total is 666, the signet of paganism for four thousand years. Thus undeniably does the “man of sin” bear the autograph, “Six hundred and threescore and six.” “And power was given unto him to continue forty and two months.” Verse 5. This period is identical with the “time and times and the dividing of time” (Daniel 7:25), and with the “thousand two hundred and threescore day?' (Revelation 12:6) of other prophecies which outline the rise and work of the papacy.
(1 year + 2 years + 1/2 year = 3.5 years = 42 months = 1260 days, or literal years).
The full establishment of the papacy in the city of Rome, beginning in 538 AD, continued twelve hundred sixty years, ending in 1798. The French had revolted against the authority of the church, and on February 10 of that very year, captured the city of the Caesars, and carried the pope into exile. How marvelous the prophetic fulfillment! That event inflicted upon the Church of Rome its “deadly wound,” and sounded the death knell of her authority over kings and princes.
As the prophet beheld the venerable priest-king led “into captivity” (verse 10), his attention was suddenly arrested by another extraordinary event: “I beheld another beast coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns like a lamb, and he spoke as a dragon!” Verse 11. “I beheld.” As the prophet saw the papacy going, he beheld another coming. Turn back the pages of history to that memorable year 1798. Scrutinize every world event, and what vigorous young state was then seen arising to take its place among the family of nations? Only one.
The United States of America
“Another beast coming up out of the earth.” The term “coming up,” from the Greek, anabainon, is translated, “To grow, or to spring up, as a plant.” Our country was not built upon the ruins of older empires; its natal day does not commemorate a victory of armed forces, but a great moral idea. Said one of the leading newspapers across the Atlantic: “No standing army was raised, no national debt was sunk, no great exertion was made; but there they are.” All Europe marveled to see this nation “coming forth from vacancy;” while, to use the phrase of the historian Townsend, “like a silent seed we grew into an empire.”
Every other beast or nation of Scripture prophecy emerged from the “sea;” but this one comes “up out the earth.” The revelator interprets “waters” to represent peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues.” Revelation 17:15. The “earth,” by contrast, indicates territory not previously occupied. The new nation was not to arise from a sea of humanity in Europe, Asia, or Africa, but in the New World, or Western Hemisphere, where from wilderness wastes and in a peaceful manner there developed the sturdy American commonwealth.
A New Order of Things
“He had two horns like a lamb.” Youthfulness and innocence are suggested. All other beasts of symbolic prophecy were wild animals of prey, and represented imperial nations. Here a peaceable domestic animal is divinely chosen to impersonate our country. Christ was “the Lamb of God;” and in its principles of right and justice, this nation was to be Christ like. As the “land of the free, and the home of the brave,” it was destined to blaze a new trail and to inaugurate a new era of law and liberty.
On the reverse side of the great seal of the United States of America is the Latin inscription, Novus Ordo Seclorum, meaning “A New Order of Things.” The old order in Europe was built upon two mistaken ideals of government: “The divine right of kings and a union of church and state, with the church claiming supreme authority. The former brought civil inequality and hardship; the latter, religious intolerance and persecution. The preceding beasts wore crowns upon their heads indicating kingly or monarchial powers; but no diadem graced the head of the lamb. Multitudes, hearing of the promised land on the western shores of the Atlantic, fled from tyranny and persecution, and braved the perils and hardships of the American wilds that they might establish “a church without a pope, and a state without a king.” The Pilgrim Fathers fled from religious despotism in Europe, and brought with them the spirit of true liberty.
They call it holy ground,
The soil where first they trod!
They have left unstained what there they found.
Freedom to worship God.
“The Landing of the Pilgrim Fathers”, by Mrs. Felicia Hemans
The Foundations of Liberty
The little colony of Rhode Island was also built upon the noble experiment. Irrespective of religious belief or unbelief, all upright men and women were accorded a real welcome to citizenship. That miniature state grew and prospered till at length its splendid ideals became corner stones of the American Republic. The “two horns” of the lamb, representing “the two sides of civil and religious liberty,” may be labeled genuine Republicanism and true Protestantism. In that new order of things, church and state were declared entirely separate. Says the Constitution of our country: 'No religious test shall ever be required as a qualification to any office or public trust under the United States.” The right of individual belief and worship is likewise guaranteed in Article I of the Amendments: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.”
The “Father of His Country” resolutely sought to prevent any return to the old order of religious intolerance and blood spilling. Said George Washington, the first President of the new commonwealth:
“Every man who conducts himself as a good citizen, is accountable alone to God for his religious faith, and should be protected in worshiping God according to the dictates of his own conscience.”
Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, Alexander, Hamilton, James Madison, and many others fearlessly advocated the same exalted principles; while in full harmony with these, Ulysses S. Grant declared, “Keep the church and state forever separate.”
Long ago, Jesus, the Friend of mankind, announced the same fundamental rule of government: “No one thought of vindicating religion for the conscience of the individual, till a Voice in Judah, breaking day for the greatest epoch in the life of humanity, by establishing a pure, spiritual, and universal religion for all mankind, enjoined to render to Caesar only that which is Caesar's. Vindicating the right of individuality even in religion, and in religion above all, the new nation dared to set the example of accepting in its relations to God the principle first divinely ordained of God in Judah. It left the management of temporal things to the temporal power. But the American Constitution, in harmony with the people of the several States, withheld from the Federal government the power to invade the home of reason, the citadel of conscience, the sanctuary of the soul. And not from indifference, but that the infinite Spirit of eternal truth might move in its freedom and purity and power.” - Bancroft's “History of the Formation of the Constitution,” book 5, chapter 1, paragraphs 10,11.
In spite of New Testament teaching, in spite of Christ's own pronouncement, in spite of the mute testimony of sixty million martyrs' graves, many self-styled reformers would turn back the hands of time, and plunge this fair land into the shadows of the Dark Ages. Millions of our citizens profess supreme allegiance to the church that maintains that she “never changes,” and that she “never erred;” while in the ex cathedra statement of Pope Pius IX, the following occurs:
“The absurd and erroneous doctrines or ravings in defense of liberty of conscience, are a most pestilential error-a pest, of all others, most to be dreaded in a state.” - Encyclical Letter of August 15, 1854.
“Religious liberty,” says Bishop O'Connor, “is merely endured until the opposite can be carried into effect without peril to the Catholic world.”
Liberty of Conscience in Peril
The ideals of many professed Protestants likewise find expression in the language of Sam Small, author and publicist: “I want to see the day come when the church shall be the arbiter of all legislation, state, national, and municipal. When the great churches of the country can come together harmoniously and issue their edict, and the legislative powers will respect, it, and enact it into laws.”
The National Secretary of the Lord's Day Alliance, Dr. H. L. Bowlby, whose organization is said to be generously supported by leading Protestant denominations, says: “If we take away a man's motor car, his golf sticks, his Sunday newspaper, his horses, his pleasure steamships, amusement houses and parks, and prohibit him from playing outdoor games or witnessing field sports, he naturally will drift back to the church.” - Interview reported in Philadelphia Ledger.
Religion by law is a poor substitute for the gospel of Jesus Christ. We deplore the misguided activities of a host of zealots who would subvert the Constitution, shackle the consciences of free Americans, and revive the spirit of the Inquisition. There is danger ahead; for “the sure word of prophecy” announces that the lamb will at length speak “as a dragon.”
“He exercises all the power of the first beast before him, and causes the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed.” Revelation 13:12. The Bible declares that under the influence of sinister forces, government leaders will yield to the persistent clamor, will repudiate the blood bought principles upon which our nation was founded, will enact religious laws, and treat conscientious dissenters as traitors to the country, even resorting to such extreme measures as the boycott and the death penalty. (Verses 15, 17)
As true Americans and true Christians, with malice toward none; with charity for all,” we would nevertheless resist to the utmost every infringement upon our liberties. The times call for noble, stalwart men and women with the spirit of an Elijah, the loyalty of Daniel, and the courage of a Luther, “men whose conscience is as true to duty as the needle to the pole; men who will stand for the right though the heavens fall.”
THE Southern seas lashed and pounded a transpacific greyhound. Through days and nights of terrific storm, the great ship, bound from Auckland to San Francisco, struggled nobly against the elements. Suddenly from the depths came a crashing, thunderous roar; the liner trembled as though in the death grip of a furious monster. The propeller shaft had snapped, tearing a hole in the ship's armor, and water was pouring into the hole.
The S 0 S call flashed out into the ether, and the pumps were started; but soon the rising flood in the boiler room extinguished the fires. The waters crept higher, deck after deck being submerged; and the liner listed heavily to one side. A wireless message received told that a sister ship was speeding toward them, racing against time. But hour after hour passed. Would it ever reach them? And when she finally arrived, what could be done? How could a lifeboat survive in that raging sea? But sailor heroism won, and finally every person was safe aboard the rescue ship; while almost immediately afterwards the other plunged forever beneath the waves.
Deliverance Must Come From Without
What a parable of our times! Representative men in, every profession and walk of life declare that something has crashed, and that we are like a world adrift. The diagnosticians and quack specialists are legion. Apostles of biologic living, eugenics, scientific child training, the higher culture, temperance and political reform, world peace, church comity, as well as Theosophy, Unity, Christian Science, and many other cults, each put forth its formula as the panacea for world ills. Like the passengers and crew aboard the fated ship who could not rescue themselves, human wisdom and strength are utterly helpless to salvage the present world situation. Even popular Christianity is unequal to the task. Redemption and deliverance must come from without.
Says the well-known writer, Harold Bell Wright: “We build temples and churches, but will not worship in them; we hire spiritual advisers, but refuse to heed them; we buy Bibles, but will not read them; believing in God, we do not fear Him. “The great body of Christian church members are not looking to their churches to remedy the situation. They are aboard the old religious ship, yes; but they know that the ship is sinking. They recognize that their church ship has been in its day a safe and seaworthy craft, and they love it for its honorable record for its memories and associations. But they sadly recognize that the time has come when they must look elsewhere for a vessel adequate to these present day religious needs.”
The Christianity of our forefathers is passing. Multitudes, we are told, have “scrapped the authority of the churches,” are without “any actual spiritual experience to supply the empty soul,” and “want something to take the place of what they have lost.”
“The Christian church,” says the editor of a popular religious magazine, “is in the midst of one of the most appalling crises in the history of Christendom. False teachers have swept over it like a devastating flood. The disheartening feature of the situation is that, whereas in the past the destroyers of the faith have commonly been men of the world, outside of the churches, today they are inside, leaders in the great scholastic apostasy, and entrenched in its press, its home, its educational institutions, and even in its theological seminaries.” Describing the “moral chaos,” another writer asserts: “One reason for this hopeless dilemma is the almost complete breakdown of religion among the so-called 'intellectuals.' The greater part of the world has lost its religious sense, lost its sense of the ties which bind men to one another and to the Eternal.”
Bruce Barton tells of the “confused and baffling picture” of modern Christianity, in these words: “There is tumult and shouting, but no growth in power. And a very large number of the best men and women in the land-a total of several millions probably, who were raised in the church and still retain formal membership -neither attend services nor participate in its activities.” In larger cities congregations dwindle steadily, and in country towns no new generation of worshipers is being raised up to fill the pews which the gray haired will soon vacate.” – “The Church Nobody Knows”, in Collier's Magazine. “Protestantism has wavered in the unshaken verities of a moral universe,” declares Bishop G. Craig Stewart of the Episcopal Church, and “is threatened with complete bankruptcy.”
Another religious leader, Bishop George A. Miller, describes the situation as it affects gospel work in less favored lands: “The morale of our missionaries is breaking. When little groups of our thinned line get together, the one subject uppermost is that of whose head is to go next into the basket. Our schools are on the verge of collapse, our little handful of evangelistic missionaries is worked to desperation. I do not know a missionary in Latin America who expects to return after his next furlough. Our national churches and school constituencies are losing faith in our sincerity and in the vitality of our message.
“Previous cuts have reduced us to less than our lowest terms of 'possible endurance. Our workers are not enduring, they are breaking. One more cut, and the underpinning will go. Two more cuts, and the house will be down on our heads. We face the most disastrous debacle in the missionary history of the Methodist Episcopal Church.
“A great statesman of the church writes me, 'It must be that God is getting ready to work in some new way.' Must it be without the church?” – “Do We Mean This?” in the Northwestern Christian Advocate. In the present awful apostasy,” writes T. P. Douglas, “the time seems to be ripe to call for a world-wide and final answer to a challenge like that given by Elijah to the peoples of Israel on Mount Carmel long ago. That challenge now takes this form: If the Lord Jesus Christ be God, follow Him; but if nature, or gravitation, or evolution, or a democratic state, then follow that.”
Spiritual Babylon and Her Daughters
Long ago the God of heaven foretold this irreligious trend, and revealed that the final conflict in our world would be intense and bitter. “The dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.” Revelation 12:17. From time to time in the age-long controversy between Christ and Satan, between truth and error, the “dragon” powers assume new form and garb; but the enmity and hate are ever directed against those who “keep the commandments of God.”
In the Bible, these forces of apostasy are also termed “Babylon.” The men who built the first skyscraper, named it “Babel” meaning in their language, “The way to heaven;” but God turned their “way” into a Babel, or a Babylon, of confusion. Ancient Babylon became the great metropolis of sun worship and idolatry, a melting pot of world paganism. Hundreds of years later, in the early centuries of our era, when the Christian church compromised with heathen error, God labeled it “BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.” Revelation 17:5.
If the church that exalted a man in the place of God and accepted tradition in place of the Bible is Babylon the “mother,” who are the “daughters”? They are the groups of other professed Christians who now turn from the Bible and the Bible alone to embrace man-made traditions, theories, pagan falsehoods, and the will-o'-the-wisps of modernism. Yet such is the sad condition of multitudes in the popular churches of today. They ignore God the Father, deny Christ as the Redeemer, and would rob mankind of its only hope. They may sing, pray, and preach, using the time-honored phrases of true religion; but the Bible designates these as spiritual Babylon,- confusion.
The Call of the Hour
In one of God's final appeals to a doomed and sin-sick world just prior to Christ's second coming, He pronounces the fateful words, Babylon is fallen, is fallen;” “Come out of her, My people.” Revelation 14:8; 18: 1-4. The church that was established as a light to the world has almost ceased to radiate the glory of the gospel. The salt has lost its savor; evil abounds, and the sanctuary dedicated to God and righteousness is no longer a potent bulwark against lawbreaking and crime.
The Bible indicates that we hasten toward the final crash. From the doomed Sodom, God warned righteous Lot and his family to quicken their flight. When old Jerusalem had rejected the world's Redeemer, and the day of her destruction drew near, Christ sounded the alarm, “Let them which are in the midst of it depart out.” Luke 21:21. Even so to-day, as we face the world's crisis and the walls of spiritual Babylon crumble to their downfall, our heavenly Father broadcasts the message:
“Come out of her, My people.” Return to genuine Christianity- to the Bible as the living word, to “the faith which was once delivered unto the saints,” to revere His law, to honor His Sabbath, to find redemption and victory in Christ, and to qualify for citizenship in the “better country.” “In returning and rest shall you be saved.” Isaiah 30:15.
FOR hundreds of years the Dark Ages had cast their spell of intellectual and spiritual stupor over Europe. But a new day dawned, and in the fourteenth century John Wycliffe, appropriately named the “Morning Star of the Reformation,” arose to give the English people the first translation of the Bible in their native tongue. In numerous countries and throughout succeeding centuries came the spiritual succession of God's noblemen-Huss of Bohemia, Luther of Germany, Calvin of Switzerland, Knox of Scotland, Wesley of England, together with hundreds of others who lifted their voices to dispel the long reign of error and superstition, and to turn the hearts of multitudes to the living word.
Those were days of conflict and peril; but with heaven born courage and an undying love for Christ, the Reformers labored on until the tidings of gospel truth triumphed throughout many lands. In the famous Protest at Spires, the Protestant German princes fearlessly set forth the foundation of their faith:
“There is no sure doctrine but such as is conformable to the word of God. This word is the only truth; it is the sure rule of all doctrine and of all life, and can never fail or deceive us.” – “History of the Reformation,” H. Merle D'Aubigne, D. D. book 13, chapter 6, paragraphs 13,14.
The voice of Chillingworth rings out along the centuries: “The Bible, I say, the Bible only, is the religion of Protestants.” Yet there is ever the tendency to become satisfied with but a twilight vision of God and His word. While possessing only partial light, numerous religious groups have formulated their respective church creeds, and then settled down at case as though fullness of truth had been attained.
The Peril of Church Creeds
When the Pilgrim Fathers earnestly sought to return to the purity of the apostolic church, they were persecuted, and driven out of England. At length the little ship “Mayflower” was in preparation for her epoch-making voyage to America, and Pastor John Robinson preached his farewell sermon to the departing pioneers:
“Brethren, we are now ere long to part asunder, and the Lord knows whether I shall live ever to see your faces more. But whether the Lord hath appointed that or not, I charge you before God and His blessed angels to follow me no farther than I have followed Christ. If God should reveal anything to you by any other instrument of His, be as ready to receive it as you ever were to receive any truth by my ministry. For I am very confident that the Lord hath more truth and light yet to break forth out of His holy word.
“For my part, I cannot sufficiently bewail the condition of the reformed churches, who are come to a period in religion, and will go no farther than the instruments of their reformation. The Lutherans cannot be drawn to go any farther than what Luther saw, and the Calvinists, you see, stick fast where they were left by that great man of God, who yet saw not all things. This is a misery much to be lamented; for though they were burning and shining lights in their time, yet they penetrated not into the whole counsel of God, but were they now living, would be as willing to embrace further light as that which they first received.
“Withal, take heed, I beseech you, what you receive as truth. Examine it, consider it, compare it with other scriptures of truth before you receive it; for it is not possible that the Christian world should come so lately out of such thick anti-Christian darkness, and that perfection of knowledge should break forth at once.” Martyn, vol. V, pages 70, 71; “History of the Puritans,” volume 1, page 269.
These words breathe the spirit of genuine Christianity. Today, we stand face to face with just such a decline in vital religion. “The church of the hour,” declares the influential Christian Century, “is undergoing a more, fundamental change than that which occurred in Martin Luther's day.” The splendid Reformation of the sixteenth century has been arrested; and with the reaction, the liberal, skeptical movement within the church has grown to appalling proportions. And a new “paganism” masquerades to despoil the holy places of Christianity. “How is the gold become dim!”
Three Crisis Messages
To meet the emergency in the present religious crisis, the Lord presents a series of communications known as the three angels' messages. They are especially designed for “the time of the end;“ for immediately following their proclamation, the prophet describes the glorious Second Coming of Jesus Christ:
“I looked, and behold a white cloud, and upon the cloud one sat like unto the Son of man, having on His head a golden crown, and in His hand a sharp sickle. And another angel came out of the temple, crying with a loud voice to Him that sat on the cloud, Thrust in thy sickle, and reap: for the time is come for thee to reap; for the harvest of the earth is ripe.” Revelation 14:14,15. The first of these divine world wide broadcasts is issued in these words:
“I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people, saying with a loud voice, Fear God, and give glory to Him. For the hour of His judgment is come: and worship Him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters.” Verses 6, 7.
The term “angel” signifies “messenger.” In every age God has employed human messengers to proclaim His truth to others. The method is not new; the doctrine is not new; it is “the everlasting gospel.” The same “good tidings” that brought joy and salvation to Abraham, Daniel, Peter, Luther, and Wesley, is now given with “a loud voice” - verily sent forth on the wings of the morning to those of “every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people.”
At this time when multitudes bow at the false shrines of evolution, materialism, and pagan ideals, the clear' definite message peals forth, “Worship Him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters.” Instead of deifying the vine-clad hills, the trackless ocean, the gorgeous sunrise, the shining stars, or a supposed spark of divinity latent in man, let us adore Him “who created all these things.”
In the beginning, Jehovah designed that His wondrous works should be remembered, and established the Sabbath as an eternal monument to the miracle of creation. The opening words of the fourth commandment say, “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.” Why? “For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day, and hallowed it.” Exodus 20: 8-11.
Multitudes have now forgotten the Creator and the Creator's memorial; but here coupled with the solemn announcement, “The hour of His judgment is come,” He sends out the universal appeal to acknowledge the Author of all things, and revere the Sabbath established in Eden.
The Genuine Seal and the Counterfeit “Mark”
The second angel's message, “Babylon is, fallen,” depicts the tragedy and chaos of present-day religious belief, as shown in the previous chapter. Then follows the third angel's message, God's final appeal to a world drifting toward apostasy and materialism.
“The third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand, the same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of His indignation.” Revelation 14:9, 10.
The Bible presents the seventh day Sabbath as the distinguishing sign, or seal, of loyalty to our Maker. (Ezekiel 20:12, 20) In its place, Roman Catholicism has exalted', the day of ancient sun worship as the “badge,” or “mark,” of her ecclesiastical authority in religious matters. That, final threefold message from heaven calls upon men and women everywhere to repudiate all that is false and counterfeit in religious belief and practice.
The appeal is not in vain. Throughout many lands the devout and loyal respond. No matter how great the cost or sacrifice, they stand firm in their allegiance to God and His word; and a voice from heaven speaks in commendation: “Here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.” Revelation 14:12. When this work has been accomplished, the next event in the divine drama will be the appearance of the “white cloud,” and the coming of the Son of man with a sharp sickle to reap earth's harvest.
For almost a century these gospel messages declaring “the hour of. His judgment is come,” have been proclaimed throughout America. Heralds of the Coming King have crossed the oceans and penetrated all continents. Today they are found in more than a hundred fifty lands preaching the good tidings, publishing gospel literature, conducting schools of Christian education, and operating an extended chain of sanitariums, hospitals, and dispensaries. “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.
The Call of the Eleventh Hour
Earth's crisis hour approaches. The condition of a bruised battered, and suffering world presses home the appeal to heaven-born devotion and enthusiasm. God Himself issues the summons to arise and tell all peoples of a crucified, risen, and soon-coming Savior. In this final reform movement, every truth that has been lost or perverted is to be restored. Errors and deceptions are to be rooted out, and the grand old gospel in all its fullness and simplicity is to be heralded with the “spirit and power of Elijah.”
This gospel message presents the Bible as the perfect Book of books, with a complete plan for the redemption of a lost race. It acclaims God, the Creator of the universe, as the loving, all-wise, omnipotent Father. It exalts Christ “as the way, the truth, and the life,” as the compassionate, divine-human Savior of mankind, the only name in earth or heaven that insures salvation. It affirms belief in the Holy Spirit as the Master's ever-present representative and the comforter of all His people.
This gospel message denounces sin as an ugly intruder to this planet, names Satan as its instigator, and offers the life and sacrifice of Jesus as the conquering panacea. It teaches the sinner's need of unconditional surrender, heart conversion, pardon as the free gift of God's love, justification through faith in the Anointed, the new birth and sanctification of life through the molding influence of the Spirit. It emphasizes baptism by immersion as the door to the church, the outward sign of death to the world, and a resurrection to walk in newness of life.
This gospel message calls for obedience to the precepts spoken by the audible voice of Jehovah from the heights of Sinai, that law enjoining love to God and love to man as the eternal, unchanging moral standard for the universe. It is a mighty summons to honor the day established as the monument of creation, the rest day designated in the Ten-Commandment code, observed by Jesus as our example, discarded during times of apostasy, but now recognized anew as the Sabbath of earth and heaven.
This gospel message teaches the Bible plan of church finance, the dedication to our Maker of an honest tithe and love-prompted offerings. It instructs every believer that his body is a living temple for God, that he has no right to weaken, defile, or destroy it, and presents temperance in all things as the Christian standard. It calls for simplicity of life, modesty of dress, economy in expenditure, and separation from all the follies and excesses of the world.
This gospel message embraces the Scripture truth of life only in Christ, recognizing that man is but mortal, that the dead sleep unconsciously in the tomb, that the gift of immortality is received by the righteous at Christ's second coming, and that the fate of the wicked is not eternal life in torment, but destruction in the lake of fire. It announces the world wide call to a time of judgment when the books of heaven are audited, and the life record of every man and woman passes in final review before the righteous Judge.
This gospel message, established upon the sure word of prophecy, publishes the good tidings that Christ's second coming- personal, visible, glorious, and before the millennium is near at hand. That subsequent to the annihilation of Satan, sin, and sinners, our Father will re6tablish a cleansed universe in which the victorious company of the redeemed will spend a glorious, happy eternity.
The beauty, truth, and power of this consistent gospel message challenges your study and acceptance. Its pillars are founded upon the impregnable rock of Holy Scripture.” The fast-fulfilling prophecies of the word speak in trumpet tones that this is earth's eleventh hour. The good tidings speed on their way as with angel wings, declaring to those of every nation and tongue, “Prepare to meet thy God.”
We would not be disobedient to the heavenly vision. We would study our Bibles to understand the divine message. We would tell others the wondrous story. And when all life's lessons are finished, we would know the surpassing joys and privileges of God's own celestial country.
IN THE days of sailing ships, a sturdy British captain piloted his craft throughout a voyage of eighty-nine days without once sighting land. One morning when the passengers awakened and the fog cleared away, they looked out upon the encircling hills of their destined haven, Rio de Janeiro. Many then crowded about the captain to congratulate him for his skill and triumph as a navigator.
Some day ere long when the clouds of turmoil and the fogs of doubt are lifted, the Christian mariner will look out upon the New Jerusalem, the city of his desire, and will praise the Captain of his salvation for the glorious ending of life's eventful voyage. What! Are we almost home? Yes, the certified word of God assures the traveler that the journey is nearly finished, and the harbor just ahead. Then what wondrous surprises! Think of - “Stepping on shore and finding it heaven! Of taking hold of a hand and finding it God's hand, Of breathing new air and finding it celestial air, Of feeling invigorated and finding it immortality, Of passing from storm and tempest to an unknown calm, Of waking up and finding it Home!”
Eden Lost and Restored
God's everlasting purpose concerning this planet is clearly revealed in the Great Book. It opens with a new world. “In the beginning God treated the heaven and the earth.” Again at its close the prophet witnessed: I saw a new heaven and a new earth.” The first two chapters of Scripture describe the Eden that was lost; the last two reveal the Paradise to be restored. The third chapter of the Volume tells of the tragic entrance of sin and death; the third chapter from its close narrates the final exit of sin and the age-long controversy between good and evil. At the beginning of the conflict, because of man's transgression, this earth was cursed with thorns and thistles; at the end, the cheering word is spoken: “There shall be no more curse.” With Eden lost, man was debarred from the tree of life; with Eden restored, the redeemed again behold a tree of life “in the midst of the Paradise of God,” and are cordially welcomed to partake of its luscious fruit. The Bible takes man from the closed entrance of the lost estate, and leaves him before the open gate of the New Jerusalem, where, victorious over sin and death, he enters in triumph to live evermore. Such is the blessed hope that has in all ages imparted dynamic power to witnesses for Christ.
“Men shall come from earthly wanderings to celestial homes.
From dens and prisons here to joys and mansions there.
Out from iron doors and in through pearly gates.
And feet that woke the dull echoes of the gloomy dungeon floors
Shall stand within thy gates, 0 Jerusalem.
Hands that clanked their chains with slow and tedious move.
Shall strike the instruments of heavenly melody, and wake.
The harp notes of enduring joy.
Brows once-crowned with thorns and grimed with smoke and burning
Shall grow smooth and fair and royal, beneath the crowns that never fade.
Sackcloth shall be exchanged for fine linen, clean and white.
And gazing on the least of all the gathered throng, we may say,
Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.”
Heaven-Myth or Reality?
Many have drawn upon their imagination to paint a mystic heaven where elusive spirits and souls without bodies sit upon fleecy clouds and play ethereal harps to all eternity. It is little wonder that practical-minded people turn from such a picture with cynicism and doubt, concluding that the entire concept is pure fancy. But the Bible reveals that this planet, purified and cleansed from every vestige of sin, is to be the future homeland of the righteous. Said Christ, “Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth.” Matthew 5:5. And again, “The righteous shall be recompensed in the earth: much more the wicked and the sinner. “ Proverbs 11:31.
Our first parents were instructed, “Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth.” Genesis 1:28. Sin and death entered to blight the fair creation, and it appeared that the entire plan would end in tragedy. But God “created it not in vain” (Isaiah 45:18); and the original purpose, although delayed for a few thousand years, will at length he gloriously realized. Said the apostle Peter:
“The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some men count slackness. But is long-suffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. But the day of the Lord will come, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up. Nevertheless we, according to His promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwells righteousness.” 2 Peter 3:943.
Beyond the lake of fire that consumes and renovates, a fair new earth emerges that is just as real as the one in which we live. The patriarch Abraham was favored with a vision of the world to come, and so mightily did the future realities grip his life that he accumulated no vast tracts of real estate, erected no towering pyramids, and founded no cities; but tarried here as a pilgrim and stranger; looking, meanwhile, to the “better country,” and to the “city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God.” Genesis 13:14, 15; Hebrews 11: 10,13,16.
Heaven Upon Earth
In that land of our heart's desire, vineyards and orchards will be planted and cultivated, houses will be built, beautiful parks and woodlands will adorn the country, vast enterprises will be carried forward and the loftiest aspirations attained. (Isaiah 65:17, 21, 22) The contrasts between the present world and the one to come baffle the imagination. With infinite care and detail, a man constructs a palatial residence and beautifies his estate. Here he desires to pass many years of happiness; but in a fateful hour, he passes to his rest, and others enjoy the fruit of his toil. Oh, for a home in a land of actual life insurance, where calamity cannot invade, and misadventure never mars! Today is the time to have our lives and property covered by a policy that protects the insured against every contingency, and whose term limit extends throughout the eternal years.
A large proportion of the earth's surface now consists of water, ice, desert, wilderness, and rugged mountains, with only a small percentage of habitable land. In its renewed state all this will be changed. “There will be no more sea,” wrote the revelator; while in the gospel prophet's graphic pen picture of the new earth, it is stated: “The wilderness and the solitary place shall be glad for them; and the desert shall rejoice, and blossom as the rose. It shall blossom abundantly, and rejoice even with joy and singing: the glory of Lebanon shall be given unto it, the excellency of Carmel and Sharon.” Isaiah 35:1,2.
A traveler of international repute tells of the balmy climate of Lebanon; of the cool, sparkling water of spring and rivulet; of its varied scenery, stately cedars, luxurious vegetation, beautiful flowers, delicious fruits, and charming song birds. To him it is the most desirable location in all the world. Inspiration speaks to us in language that we can appreciate. With no more boundless oceans, no more trackless Saharas and inhospitable wastes, and with ideal food and climatic conditions, the entire globe will become a Lebanon of beauty and delight.
Attractions and Surprises
“The glory of Lebanon shall come unto thee, the fir tree, the pine tree, and the box together, to beautify the place of My sanctuary; and I will make the place of My feet glorious.” “They shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more; neither shall the sun light on them, nor any heat. For the Lamb which is in the' midst of the throne shall feed them, and shall lead them unto living fountains of waters: and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes.” Isaiah 60:13; Revelation 7:16, 17. The botanical and zoo1ogical gardens of Eden restored will contribute to the fullness of delight.
“No lion shall be there, nor any ravenous beast,” requiring bars and cages; but with transformed natures, “the wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid. And the calf and the young lion and the fading together; and a little child shall lead them. And the cow and the bear shall feed; their young ones shall lie down together: and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all My holy mountain;” while the citizens of that country “shall dwell safely in the wilderness [when it has been redeemed], and sleep in the woods.” Isaiah 35:9; 11:6-9; Ezekiel 34:25.
In this life we are surrounded with aches and infirmities, with losses and crosses. But in that day, the fondest dreams will be more than realized; the anguish and disquietude will all be past; “and the inhabitant shall not say, I am sick.” Isaiah 33:24. “Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped. Then shall the lame man leap as an hart, and the tongue of the dumb sing.” Isaiah 35:5, 6.
In that land of health, perfection, and wonderment, we shall be surprised to find some that we never imagined would reach the heavenly home, surprised at not finding others whom we confidently expected to be there, and doubtless surprised most of all to find ourselves in that chosen company. Shall we recognize our friends? Oh yes 1 the identity of all will be preserved. “Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it does not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when He shall appear, we shall be like Him; for we shall see Him as He is.” “For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall know even as also I am known.” 1 John 3:2; 1 Corinthians 13:12.
“0 how sweet it will be in that beautiful land, So free from all sorrow and pain;
With songs on our lips and with harps in our hands, To meet one another again!”
Friends and loved ones long separated by death will then meet in eternal reunion. With the companionship of angels and the unfallen inhabitants of other worlds, the redeemed will undoubtedly be privileged to travel from planet to planet, from system to system, to study and enjoy the marvelous handiwork of God. And there will be no fear that the rolling years or centuries will bring an end to the delights of research in the university of the hereafter.
The New Earth Metropolis
The capital of that country will be a city of wonders that baffle the imagination.
“I John saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself shall be with them, and be their God.” Revelation 21:2, 3.
Picture this city foursquare, three hundred seventy-five miles on a side, and embracing an area larger than that of Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois combined; consider the inclosing jasper walls “great and high,” fifteen hundred miles in circumference, their twelve foundations “garnished with all manner of precious stones,” the color scheme of which is more intricate and beauteous than that of the rainbow. Look upon the twelve massive pearly gates, three on a side, each gate being “of one pearl, “ and in imagination
walk along the great avenues paved with “pure gold, as it were transparent glass.”
Through the central parkway that faces the regal palace flows the “pure river of water of life, clear as crystal.” Like a mighty banyan with trunks on “either side of the river,” the tree of life from the long-lost Paradise sends forth its spreading branches to arch the tide, and yield its never-failing monthly harvest of “twelve manner” of luscious fruit. Residents of the metropolis will require no light of candle, torch, electric arc, or radium glow; “for the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof.” Without the city, to gladden the vast areas of the new earth, both sun and moon will shine with resplendent luster. (Revelation 21:23; Isaiah 30:26)
“At last the setting of sun stands the city Elysian,
Unrevealed save to spirits anointed and free,
Which the chosen behold as a glorified vision
In splendor unveiled by the crystalline sea
The clear, azure sea, the wide-flashing seaside
The wonderful, odorous, music-toned seasons
That flows round the shores of the country of God,
Which only the feet of His freemen have trod.”
“Its walls stand superb in the sunshine eternal.
Round its turrets in ether the cloud billows curl.
Not a fair stone is stained by a shadow diurnal.
And each massive gate is a portal of pearl!
One lustrous, great pearl, a bewildering pear!
The glorious, fathomless, mystical pearl.
That haunts me and taunts me with far-off delight.
In visions of day tide and dreams of the night.”
“I dream of it often when sickness and sorrow
Pass over my spirit and scourge as a rod,
And fill me with longings for some glad tomorrow.
Some glimpse of that city whose builder is God.
Whose founder is God, whose maker is God.
Where the blest reign forever and ever with God;
And then how it seems to grow nearer, so near.
That the strains of its music break low on my car!”
“And then, as its splendors are spread out before me,
Enchanting my senses, alluring my soul,
What billows of rapture roll over me and over me,
Till earth and its troubles from under me roll.
Beneath me they roll, far away from me roll.
As distant as east from the west is their roll.
And I seem like a child on the warm, loving breast
Of a mother who soothes it and lulls it to rest.”
“Shall we see it? Ah, yes! For us it was built.
For us its foundations were measured of old.
For us were its turrets of ivory gilded,
Its battlements burnished with silver and gold!
With virginal gold, with yellow, bright gold!
And metals more precious than silver and gold.
For us it is waiting who wearily roam.
As aliens afar from our country and home.”
The Realities of the Future World
Many questions concerning the future homeland remain unsolved; yet as children of the King, we may profitably contemplate the matchless promise: “Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love Him.” 1 Corinthians 2:9.
Memory may picture the majesty of the mountains, the grandeur of the sea, the magnificence of palace and cathedral, or the most enchanting fairylands of old earth; yet “eye hath not seen.” Often times we are thrilled by the exquisite productions of master artists, by the enrapturing harmonies of musical instruments, or by the sweet symphonies of the human voice; yet “'car hath not heard.” In imagination we may walk the golden streets, quench our thirst at the crystal river, or join with the triumphant multitudes at the sea of glass; but the heart of man has never penetrated to the realities of that future home.
There all the sorrows of life will be healed and forgotten; its disappointments and perplexities will all he made plain. There we shall clearly understand the ministry of trials, and sense in larger measure the wonderful love and providence of God. There we shall meet and mingle with the righteous of all ages, with Abraham, Joseph, Daniel, Paul, and a multitude of others.
There, too, we shall see Jesus, the new world's center of admiration and love. To hear from His lips the story of infinite sacrifice and service that led to Calvary, to understand how the fragrance of that life has cheered and uplifted the fallen of all ages, in all lands, and under all conditions. To listen to the Great Teacher unfold the romance of creation, the mysteries of nature that neither test tube nor laboratory, microscope nor telescope, have disclosed. To appreciate the science of redemption that has re-created in man the divine image and restored him to son ship with God, with such an instructor and such themes for contemplation and study, the years of eternity will bring marvelous revelations and keenest delight.
This story of the future is actually true, for it rests upon the sure, unfailing promises of God. To you and me the question of supreme personal import is this: Shall we be welcomed as guests and citizens? Here is the answer: “He that overcomes shall inherit all things.” That “inheritance incorruptible” is “reserved in heaven for you, who are kept by the power of God.”
Now is the time to make our reservations. Heaven for us must begin upon earth. This life is the training school where all the lessons of patience, temperance, loyalty, and obedience must be completely mastered. With Christ’s help, we may become “like Him.” The price of eternal life is simply surrender; and when at length that victorious company reaches the shores of eternal deliverance, there will arise from blood-bought men and women the mighty chorus: Heaven is cheap enough!
“We speak of the realms of the blest, That country so bright and so fair, And oft are its glories confessed, But what must it be to be there!”
In its closing paragraph, Inspiration rings forth the appeal: “The Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that hears say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.” Revelation 22:17.
Would you live in a land without accidents, drunkenness, illness, drug addicts, hospitals, asylums, sad partings, or funeral trains, and where the professional services of physicians, nurses, dentists, and lawyers are no longer needed? Come. Would you be a citizen of the realm without monopolies, unemployment, bread lines, poverty, bandits, crime, police, courts, judges, or prisons? Come. Would you dwell in a country without devastating cyclones, floods, tidal waves, famines, pestilence, or earthquakes, with the freezing cold or burning heat? Come. Would you share the endless pleasures of a planet and a universe without jealousies, divorces, neighborhood feuds, labor riots, scandal investigations, armies, riots, revolutions, or bloodshed? Come today and find supreme satisfaction in Jesus.
“He which testifies these things said, Surely I come quickly. Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus.” Revelation 22:20.