*The Great Controversy*

                         Between Christ and Satan

          The Conflict of the Ages in the Christian Dispensation

                            By Ellen G. White

                  Review & Herald Publishing Association

                             Washington, D.C.

             Copyright 1888, 1907, 1911, by Mrs. E. G. White





CONTENTS


Preface
Introduction.
1. The Destruction Of Jerusalem.
2. Persecution In The First Centuries.
3. The Apostasy.
4. The Waldenses.
5. John Wycliffe.
6. Huss and Jerome.
7. Luther’s Separation From Rome.
8. Luther Before The Diet.
9. The Swiss Reformer.
10. Progress Of Reform In Germany.
11. Protest Of The Princes.
12. The French Reformation.
13. The Netherlands And Scandinavia.
14. Later English Reformers.
15. The Bible And The French Revolution.
16. The Pilgrim Fathers.
17. Heralds Of The Morning.
18. An American Reformer.
19. Light Through Darkness.
20. A Great Religious Awakening.
21. A Warning Rejected.
22. Prophecies Fulfilled.
23. What Is The Sanctuary?
24. In The Holy Of Holies.
25. God’s Law Immutable.
26. A Work Of Reform.
27. Modern Revivals.
28. The Investigative Judgment.
29. The Origin Of Evil.
30. Enmity Between Man And Satan.
31. Agency Of Evil Spirits.
32. Snares Of Satan.
33. The First Great Deception.
34. Spiritualism.
35. Aims Of The Papacy.
36. The Impending Conflict.
37. The Scriptures A Safeguard.
38. The Final Warning.
39. “The Time Of Trouble.”
40. God’s People Delivered.
41. Desolation Of The Earth.
42. The Controversy Ended.
Appendix.
Index of Scripture References.
General Index.
Footnotes






PREFACE


                         [Illustration: Preface.]

This book, reader, is not published to tell us that there is sin and woe
and misery in this world. We know it all too well.

This book is not published to tell us that there is an irreconcilable
controversy between darkness and light, sin and righteousness, wrong and
right, death and life. In our heart of hearts we know it, and know that we
are participators, actors, in the conflict.

But to every one of us comes at times a longing to know more of the great
controversy. How did the controversy begin? or was it always here? What
elements enter into its awfully complex aspect? How am I related to it?
What is my responsibility? I find myself in this world by no choice of my
own. Does that mean to me evil or good?

What are the great principles involved? How long will the controversy
continue? What will be its ending? Will this earth sink, as some
scientists tell us, into the depths of a sunless, frozen, eternal night?
or is there a better future before it, radiant with the light of life,
warm with the eternal love of God?

The question comes closer still: How may the controversy in my own heart,
the strife between inflowing selfishness and outgoing love, be settled in
the victory of good, and settled forever? What does the Bible say? What
has God to teach us upon this question, eternally important to every soul?

Questions like these meet us from every side. They rise insistent up from
the depths of our own heart. They demand definite answer.

Surely the God who created in us the longing for the better, the desire
for the truth, will not withhold from us the answer to all needed
knowledge; for “the Lord Jehovah will do nothing, except He reveal His
secret unto His servants the prophets.”

It is the aim of this book, reader, to help the troubled soul to a right
solution of all these problems. It is written by one who has tasted and
found that God is good, and who has learned in communion with God and the
study of His word that the secret of the Lord is with them that fear Him,
and that He will show them His covenant.

That we may better understand the principles of the all-important
controversy, in which the life of a universe is involved, the author has
set it before us in great, concrete object-lessons of the last twenty
centuries.

The book opens with the sad closing scenes of Jerusalem’s history, the
city of God’s chosen, after her rejection of the Man of Calvary, who came
to save. Thence onward along the great highway of the nations, it points
us to the persecutions of God’s children in the first centuries; the great
apostasy which followed in His church; the world-awakening of the
Reformation, in which some of the great principles of the controversy are
clearly manifest; the awful lesson of the rejection of right principles by
France; the revival and exaltation of the Scriptures, and their
beneficent, life-saving influence; the religious awakening of the last
days; the unsealing of the radiant fountain of God’s word, with its
wonderful revelations of light and knowledge to meet the baleful
upspringing of every delusion of darkness.

The present impending conflict, with the vital principles involved, in
which no one can be neutral, are simply, lucidly, strongly set forth.

Last of all, we are told of the eternal and glorious victory of good over
evil, right over wrong, light over darkness, joy over sorrow, hope over
despair, glory over shame, life over death, and everlasting,
long-suffering love over vindictive hate.

Former editions of this book have brought many souls to the True Shepherd;
it is the prayer of the publishers that this edition may be even more
fruitful of eternal good.

THE PUBLISHERS.





INTRODUCTION.


                       [Illustration: Introduction]

Before the entrance of sin, Adam enjoyed open communion with his Maker;
but since man separated himself from God by transgression, the human race
has been cut off from this high privilege. By the plan of redemption,
however, a way has been opened whereby the inhabitants of the earth may
still have connection with heaven. God has communicated with men by His
Spirit, and divine light has been imparted to the world by revelations to
His chosen servants. “Holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy
Ghost.” 2 Peter 1:21.

During the first twenty-five hundred years of human history, there was no
written revelation. Those who had been taught of God, communicated their
knowledge to others, and it was handed down from father to son, through
successive generations. The preparation of the written word began in the
time of Moses. Inspired revelations were then embodied in an inspired
book. This work continued during the long period of sixteen hundred
years,—from Moses, the historian of creation and the law, to John, the
recorder of the most sublime truths of the gospel.

The Bible points to God as its author; yet it was written by human hands;
and in the varied style of its different books it presents the
characteristics of the several writers. The truths revealed are all “given
by inspiration of God” (2 Tim. 3:16); yet they are expressed in the words
of men. The Infinite One by His Holy Spirit has shed light into the minds
and hearts of His servants. He has given dreams and visions, symbols and
figures; and those to whom the truth was thus revealed, have themselves
embodied the thought in human language.

The ten commandments were spoken by God Himself, and were written by His
own hand. They are of divine, and not of human composition. But the Bible,
with its God-given truths expressed in the language of men, presents a
union of the divine and the human. Such a union existed in the nature of
Christ, who was the Son of God and the Son of man. Thus it is true of the
Bible, as it was of Christ, that “the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among
us.” John 1:14.

Written in different ages, by men who differed widely in rank and
occupation, and in mental and spiritual endowments, the books of the Bible
present a wide contrast in style, as well as a diversity in the nature of
the subjects unfolded. Different forms of expression are employed by
different writers; often the same truth is more strikingly presented by
one than by another. And as several writers present a subject under varied
aspects and relations, there may appear, to the superficial, careless, or
prejudiced reader, to be discrepancy or contradiction, where the
thoughtful, reverent student, with clearer insight, discerns the
underlying harmony.

As presented through different individuals, the truth is brought out in
its varied aspects. One writer is more strongly impressed with one phase
of the subject; he grasps those points that harmonize with his experience
or with his power of perception and appreciation; another seizes upon a
different phase; and each, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, presents
what is most forcibly impressed upon his own mind—a different aspect of
the truth in each, but a perfect harmony through all. And the truths thus
revealed unite to form a perfect whole, adapted to meet the wants of men
in all the circumstances and experiences of life.

God has been pleased to communicate His truth to the world by human
agencies, and He Himself, by His Holy Spirit, qualified men and enabled
them to do this work. He guided the mind in the selection of what to speak
and what to write. The treasure was intrusted to earthen vessels, yet it
is, none the less, from Heaven. The testimony is conveyed through the
imperfect expression of human language, yet it is the testimony of God;
and the obedient, believing child of God beholds in it the glory of a
divine power, full of grace and truth.

In His word, God has committed to men the knowledge necessary for
salvation. The Holy Scriptures are to be accepted as an authoritative,
infallible revelation of His will. They are the standard of character, the
revealer of doctrines, and the test of experience. “Every scripture
inspired of God is also profitable for teaching, for reproof, for
correction, for instruction which is in righteousness; that the man of God
may be complete, furnished completely unto every good work.” 2 Tim. 3:16,
17, Revised Version.

Yet the fact that God has revealed His will to men through His word, has
not rendered needless the continued presence and guiding of the Holy
Spirit. On the contrary, the Spirit was promised by our Saviour, to open
the Word to His servants, to illuminate and apply its teachings. And since
it was the Spirit of God that inspired the Bible, it is impossible that
the teaching of the Spirit should ever be contrary to that of the Word.

The Spirit was not given—nor can it ever be bestowed—to supersede the
Bible; for the Scriptures explicitly state that the word of God is the
standard by which all teaching and experience must be tested. Says the
apostle John, “Believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they
are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world.” 1
John 4:1. And Isaiah declares, “To the law and to the testimony: if they
speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in
them.” Isa. 8:20.

Great reproach has been cast upon the work of the Holy Spirit by the
errors of a class that, claiming its enlightenment, profess to have no
further need of guidance from the word of God. They are governed by
impressions which they regard as the voice of God in the soul. But the
spirit that controls them is not the Spirit of God. This following of
impressions, to the neglect of the Scriptures, can lead only to confusion,
to deception and ruin. It serves only to further the designs of the evil
one. Since the ministry of the Holy Spirit is of vital importance to the
church of Christ, it is one of the devices of Satan, through the errors of
extremists and fanatics, to cast contempt upon the work of the Spirit, and
cause the people of God to neglect this source of strength which our Lord
Himself has provided.

In harmony with the word of God, His Spirit was to continue its work
throughout the period of the gospel dispensation. During the ages while
the Scriptures of both the Old and the New Testament were being given, the
Holy Spirit did not cease to communicate light to individual minds, apart
from the revelations to be embodied in the Sacred Canon. The Bible itself
relates how, through the Holy Spirit, men received warning, reproof,
counsel, and instruction, in matters in no way relating to the giving of
the Scriptures. And mention is made of prophets in different ages, of
whose utterances nothing is recorded. In like manner, after the close of
the canon of Scripture, the Holy Spirit was still to continue its work, to
enlighten, warn, and comfort the children of God.

Jesus promised His disciples, “The Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost,
whom the Father will send in My name, He shall teach you all things, and
bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.”
“When He, the Spirit of truth, is come, He will guide you into all truth:
... and He will show you things to come.” John 14:26; 16:13. Scripture
plainly teaches that these promises, so far from being limited to
apostolic days, extend to the church of Christ in all ages. The Saviour
assures His followers, “I am with you alway, even unto the end of the
world.” Matt. 28:20. And Paul declares that the gifts and manifestations
of the Spirit were set in the church “for the perfecting of the saints,
for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: till
we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of
God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of
Christ.” Eph. 4:12, 13.

For the believers at Ephesus the apostle prayed, “That the God of our Lord
Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the _Spirit of wisdom
and revelation_ in the knowledge of Him: _the eyes of your understanding
being enlightened_; that ye may know what is the hope of His calling, and
... what is the _exceeding greatness_ of His power to us-ward who
believe.” Eph. 1:17-19. The ministry of the divine Spirit in enlightening
the understanding and opening to the mind the deep things of God’s holy
word, was the blessing which Paul thus besought for the Ephesian church.

After the wonderful manifestation of the Holy Spirit on the day of
Pentecost, Peter exhorted the people to repentance and baptism in the name
of Christ, for the remission of their sins; and he said: “Ye shall receive
the gift of the Holy Ghost. For the promise is unto you, and to your
children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God
shall call.” Acts 2:38, 39.

In immediate connection with the scenes of the great day of God, the Lord
by the prophet Joel has promised a special manifestation of His Spirit.
Joel 2:28. This prophecy received a partial fulfilment in the outpouring
of the Spirit on the day of Pentecost; but it will reach its full
accomplishment in the manifestation of divine grace which will attend the
closing work of the gospel.

The great controversy between good and evil will increase in intensity to
the very close of time. In all ages the wrath of Satan has been manifested
against the church of Christ; and God has bestowed His grace and Spirit
upon His people to strengthen them to stand against the power of the evil
one. When the apostles of Christ were to bear His gospel to the world and
to record it for all future ages, they were especially endowed with the
enlightenment of the Spirit. But as the church approaches her final
deliverance, Satan is to work with greater power. He comes down “having
great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time.” Rev.
12:12. He will work “with all power and signs and lying wonders.” 2 Thess.
2:9. For six thousand years that master-mind that once was highest among
the angels of God, has been wholly bent to the work of deception and ruin.
And all the depths of satanic skill and subtlety acquired, all the cruelty
developed, during these struggles of the ages, will be brought to bear
against God’s people in the final conflict. And in this time of peril the
followers of Christ are to bear to the world the warning of the Lord’s
second advent; and a people are to be prepared to stand before Him at His
coming, “without spot, and blameless.” 2 Peter 3:14. At this time the
special endowment of divine grace and power is not less needful to the
church than in apostolic days.

Through the illumination of the Holy Spirit, the scenes of the
long-continued conflict between good and evil have been opened to the
writer of these pages. From time to time I have been permitted to behold
the working, in different ages, of the great controversy between Christ,
the Prince of life, the Author of our salvation, and Satan, the prince of
evil, the author of sin, the first transgressor of God’s holy law. Satan’s
enmity against Christ has been manifested against His followers. The same
hatred of the principles of God’s law, the same policy of deception, by
which error is made to appear as truth, by which human laws are
substituted for the law of God, and men are led to worship the creature
rather than the Creator, may be traced in all the history of the past.
Satan’s efforts to misrepresent the character of God, to cause men to
cherish a false conception of the Creator, and thus to regard Him with
fear and hate rather than with love; his endeavors to set aside the divine
law, leading the people to think themselves free from its requirements;
and his persecution of those who dare to resist his deceptions, have been
steadfastly pursued in all ages. They may be traced in the history of
patriarchs, prophets, and apostles, of martyrs and reformers.

In the great final conflict, Satan will employ the same policy, manifest
the same spirit, and work for the same end, as in all preceding ages. That
which has been, will be, except that the coming struggle will be marked
with a terrible intensity such as the world has never witnessed. Satan’s
deceptions will be more subtle, his assaults more determined. If it were
possible, he would lead astray the elect. Mark 13:22, Revised Version.

As the Spirit of God has opened to my mind the great truths of His word,
and the scenes of the past and the future, I have been bidden to make
known to others that which has thus been revealed,—to trace the history of
the controversy in past ages, and especially so to present it as to shed a
light on the fast-approaching struggle of the future. In pursuance of this
purpose, I have endeavored to select and group together events in the
history of the church in such a manner as to trace the unfolding of the
great testing truths that at different periods have been given to the
world, that have excited the wrath of Satan, and the enmity of a
world-loving church, and that have been maintained by the witness of those
who “loved not their lives unto the death.”

In these records we may see a foreshadowing of the conflict before us.
Regarding them in the light of God’s word, and by the illumination of His
Spirit, we may see unveiled the devices of the wicked one, and the dangers
which they must shun who would be found “without fault” before the Lord at
His coming.

The great events which have marked the progress of reform in past ages,
are matters of history, well known and universally acknowledged by the
Protestant world; they are facts which none can gainsay. This history I
have presented briefly, in accordance with the scope of the book, and the
brevity which must necessarily be observed, the facts having been
condensed into as little space as seemed consistent with a proper
understanding of their application. In some cases where a historian has so
grouped together events as to afford, in brief, a comprehensive view of
the subject, or has summarized details in a convenient manner, his words
have been quoted; but in some instances no specific credit has been given,
since the quotations are not given for the purpose of citing that writer
as authority, but because his statement affords a ready and forcible
presentation of the subject. In narrating the experience and views of
those carrying forward the work of reform in our own time, similar use has
been made of their published works.

It is not so much the object of this book to present new truths concerning
the struggles of former times, as to bring out facts and principles which
have a bearing on coming events. Yet viewed as a part of the controversy
between the forces of light and darkness, all these records of the past
are seen to have a new significance; and through them a light is cast upon
the future, illumining the pathway of those who, like the reformers of
past ages, will be called, even at the peril of all earthly good, to
witness “for the word of God, and for the testimony of Jesus Christ.”

To unfold the scenes of the great controversy between truth and error; to
reveal the wiles of Satan, and the means by which he may be successfully
resisted; to present a satisfactory solution of the great problem of evil,
shedding such a light upon the origin and the final disposition of sin as
to make fully manifest the justice and benevolence of God in all His
dealings with His creatures; and to show the holy, unchanging nature of
His law, is the object of this book. That through its influence souls may
be delivered from the power of darkness, and become “partakers of the
inheritance of the saints in light,” to the praise of Him who loved us,
and gave Himself for us, is the earnest prayer of the writer.

E. G. W.

           [Illustration: Jerusalem From The Mount Of Olives.]

                   Jerusalem From The Mount Of Olives.





1. THE DESTRUCTION OF JERUSALEM.


               [Illustration: The Destruction Of Jerusalem]

“If thou hadst known, even thou, at least in this thy day, the things
which belong unto thy peace! but now they are hid from thine eyes. For the
days shall come upon thee, that thine enemies shall cast a trench about
thee, and compass thee round, and keep thee in on every side, and shall
lay thee even with the ground, and thy children within thee; and they
shall not leave in thee one stone upon another; because thou knewest not
the time of thy visitation.”(1)

From the crest of Olivet, Jesus looked upon Jerusalem. Fair and peaceful
was the scene spread out before Him. It was the season of the Passover,
and from all lands the children of Jacob had gathered there to celebrate
the great national festival. In the midst of gardens and vineyards, and
green slopes studded with pilgrims’ tents, rose the terraced hills, the
stately palaces, and massive bulwarks of Israel’s capital. The daughter of
Zion seemed in her pride to say, “I sit a queen, and shall see no sorrow;”
as lovely then, and deeming herself as secure in Heaven’s favor, as when,
ages before, the royal minstrel sung, “Beautiful for situation, the joy of
the whole earth, is Mount Zion, ... the city of the great King.”(2) In
full view were the magnificent buildings of the temple. The rays of the
setting sun lighted up the snowy whiteness of its marble walls, and
gleamed from golden gate and tower and pinnacle. “The perfection of
beauty” it stood, the pride of the Jewish nation. What child of Israel
could gaze upon the scene without a thrill of joy and admiration! But far
other thoughts occupied the mind of Jesus. “When He was come near, He
beheld the city, and wept over it.”(3) Amid the universal rejoicing of the
triumphal entry, while palm branches waved, while glad hosannas awoke the
echoes of the hills, and thousands of voices declared Him king, the
world’s Redeemer was overwhelmed with a sudden and mysterious sorrow. He,
the Son of God, the Promised One of Israel, whose power had conquered
death, and called its captives from the grave, was in tears, not of
ordinary grief, but of intense, irrepressible agony.

His tears were not for Himself, though He well knew whither His feet were
tending. Before Him lay Gethsemane, the scene of His approaching agony.
The sheep gate also was in sight, through which for centuries the victims
for sacrifice had been led, and which was to open for Him when He should
be “brought as a lamb to the slaughter.”(4) Not far distant was Calvary,
the place of crucifixion. Upon the path which Christ was soon to tread
must fall the horror of great darkness as He should make His soul an
offering for sin. Yet it was not the contemplation of these scenes that
cast the shadow upon Him in this hour of gladness. No foreboding of His
own superhuman anguish clouded that unselfish spirit. He wept for the
doomed thousands of Jerusalem—because of the blindness and impenitence of
those whom He came to bless and to save.

The history of more than a thousand years of God’s special favor and
guardian care, manifested to the chosen people, was open to the eye of
Jesus. There was Mount Moriah, where the son of promise, an unresisting
victim, had been bound to the altar,—emblem of the offering of the Son of
God.(5) There, the covenant of blessing, the glorious Messianic promise,
had been confirmed to the father of the faithful. There, the flames of the
sacrifice ascending to heaven from the threshing-floor of Ornan had turned
aside the sword of the destroying angel(6)—fitting symbol of the Saviour’s
sacrifice and mediation for guilty men. Jerusalem had been honored of God
above all the earth. The Lord had “chosen Zion,” He had “desired it for
His habitation.”(7) There, for ages, holy prophets had uttered their
messages of warning. There, priests had waved their censers, and the cloud
of incense, with the prayers of the worshipers, had ascended before God.
There, daily the blood of slain lambs had been offered, pointing forward
to the Lamb of God. There, Jehovah had revealed His presence in the cloud
of glory above the mercy-seat. There, rested the base of that mystic
ladder connecting earth with heaven,(8)—that ladder upon which angels of
God descended and ascended, and which opened to the world the way into the
holiest of all. Had Israel as a nation preserved her allegiance to Heaven,
Jerusalem would have stood forever, the elect of God.(9) But the history
of that favored people was a record of backsliding and rebellion. They had
resisted Heaven’s grace, abused their privileges, and slighted their
opportunities.

Although Israel had “mocked the messengers of God, and despised His words,
and misused His prophets,”(10) He had still manifested Himself to them, as
“the Lord God, merciful and gracious, long-suffering, and abundant in
goodness and truth;”(11) notwithstanding repeated rejections, His mercy
had continued its pleadings. With more than a father’s pitying love for
the son of his care, God had “sent to them by His messengers, rising up
betimes, and sending; because He had compassion on His people, and on His
dwelling-place.”(12) When remonstrance, entreaty, and rebuke had failed,
He sent to them the best gift of heaven; nay, He poured out all heaven in
that one Gift.

The Son of God Himself was sent to plead with the impenitent city. It was
Christ that had brought Israel as a goodly vine out of Egypt.(13) His own
hand had cast out the heathen before it. He had planted it “in a very
fruitful hill.”(14) His guardian care had hedged it about. His servants
had been sent to nurture it. “What could have been done more to My
vineyard,” He exclaims, “that I have not done in it?”(15) Though when He
“looked that it should bring forth grapes, it brought forth wild
grapes,”(16) yet with a still yearning hope of fruitfulness He came in
person to His vineyard, if haply it might be saved from destruction. He
digged about His vine; He pruned and cherished it. He was unwearied in His
efforts to save this vine of His own planting.

For three years the Lord of light and glory had gone in and out among His
people. He “went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of
the devil,”(17) binding up the broken-hearted, setting at liberty them
that were bound, restoring sight to the blind, causing the lame to walk
and the deaf to hear, cleansing the lepers, raising the dead, and
preaching the gospel to the poor. To all classes alike was addressed the
gracious call, “Come unto Me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I
will give you rest.”(18)

Though rewarded with evil for good, and hatred for His love,(19) He had
steadfastly pursued His mission of mercy. Never were those repelled that
sought His grace. A homeless wanderer, reproach and penury His daily lot,
He lived to minister to the needs and lighten the woes of men, to plead
with them to accept the gift of life. The waves of mercy, beaten back by
those stubborn hearts, returned in a stronger tide of pitying,
inexpressible love. But Israel had turned from her best Friend and only
Helper. The pleadings of His love had been despised, His counsels spurned,
His warnings ridiculed.

The hour of hope and pardon was fast passing; the cup of God’s
long-deferred wrath was almost full. The cloud that had been gathering
through ages of apostasy and rebellion, now black with woe, was about to
burst upon a guilty people; and He who alone could save them from their
impending fate had been slighted, abused, rejected, and was soon to be
crucified. When Christ should hang upon the cross of Calvary, Israel’s day
as a nation favored and blessed of God would be ended. The loss of even
one soul is a calamity infinitely outweighing the gains and treasures of a
world; but as Christ looked upon Jerusalem, the doom of a whole city, a
whole nation, was before Him,—that city, that nation, which had once been
the chosen of God, His peculiar treasure.

Prophets had wept over the apostasy of Israel, and the terrible
desolations by which their sins were visited. Jeremiah wished that his
eyes were a fountain of tears, that he might weep day and night for the
slain of the daughter of his people, for the Lord’s flock that was carried
away captive.(20) What, then, was the grief of Him whose prophetic glance
took in, not years, but ages! He beheld the destroying angel with sword
uplifted against the city which had so long been Jehovah’s dwelling-place.
From the ridge of Olivet, the very spot afterward occupied by Titus and
his army, He looked across the valley upon the sacred courts and
porticoes, and with tear-dimmed eyes He saw, in awful perspective, the
walls surrounded by alien hosts. He heard the tread of armies marshaling
for war. He heard the voice of mothers and children crying for bread in
the besieged city. He saw her holy and beautiful house, her palaces and
towers, given to the flames, and where once they stood, only a heap of
smouldering ruins.

Looking down the ages, He saw the covenant people scattered in every land,
“like wrecks on a desert shore.” In the temporal retribution about to fall
upon her children, He saw but the first draught from that cup of wrath
which at the final judgment she must drain to its dregs. Divine pity,
yearning love, found utterance in the mournful words: “ ‘O Jerusalem,
Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent
unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as
a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not!’(21) O
that thou, a nation favored above every other, hadst known the time of thy
visitation, and the things that belong unto thy peace! I have stayed the
angel of justice, I have called thee to repentance, but in vain. It is not
merely servants, delegates, and prophets, whom thou hast refused and
rejected, but the Holy One of Israel, thy Redeemer. If thou art destroyed,
thou alone art responsible. ‘Ye will not come to Me, that ye might have
life.’ ”(22)

Christ saw in Jerusalem a symbol of the world hardened in unbelief and
rebellion, and hastening on to meet the retributive judgments of God. The
woes of a fallen race, pressing upon His soul, forced from His lips that
exceeding bitter cry. He saw the record of sin traced in human misery,
tears, and blood; His heart was moved with infinite pity for the afflicted
and suffering ones of earth; He yearned to relieve them all. But even His
hand might not turn back the tide of human woe; few would seek their only
Source of help. He was willing to pour out His soul unto death, to bring
salvation within their reach; but few would come to Him that they might
have life.

The Majesty of heaven in tears! the Son of the infinite God troubled in
spirit, bowed down with anguish! The scene filled all heaven with wonder.
That scene reveals to us the exceeding sinfulness of sin; it shows how
hard a task it is, even for infinite power, to save the guilty from the
consequences of transgressing the law of God. Jesus, looking down to the
last generation, saw the world involved in a deception similar to that
which caused the destruction of Jerusalem. The great sin of the Jews was
their rejection of Christ; the great sin of the Christian world would be
their rejection of the law of God, the foundation of His government in
heaven and earth. The precepts of Jehovah would be despised and set at
naught. Millions in bondage to sin, slaves of Satan, doomed to suffer the
second death, would refuse to listen to the words of truth in their day of
visitation. Terrible blindness! strange infatuation!

Two days before the Passover, when Christ had for the last time departed
from the temple, after denouncing the hypocrisy of the Jewish rulers, He
again went out with His disciples to the Mount of Olives, and seated
Himself with them upon the grassy slope overlooking the city. Once more He
gazed upon its walls, its towers, and its palaces. Once more He beheld the
temple in its dazzling splendor, a diadem of beauty crowning the sacred
mount.

A thousand years before, the psalmist had magnified God’s favor to Israel
in making her holy house His dwelling-place: “In Salem also is His
tabernacle, and His dwelling-place in Zion.”(23) He “chose the tribe of
Judah, the Mount Zion which He loved. And He built His sanctuary like high
palaces.”(24) The first temple had been erected during the most prosperous
period of Israel’s history. Vast stores of treasure for this purpose had
been collected by King David, and the plans for its construction were made
by divine inspiration.(25) Solomon, the wisest of Israel’s monarchs, had
completed the work. This temple was the most magnificent building which
the world ever saw. Yet the Lord had declared by the prophet Haggai,
concerning the second temple, “The glory of this latter house shall be
greater than of the former.” “I will shake all nations, and the Desire of
all nations shall come: and I will fill this house with glory, saith the
Lord of hosts.”(26)

After the destruction of the temple by Nebuchadnezzar, it was rebuilt
about five hundred years before the birth of Christ, by a people who from
a life-long captivity had returned to a wasted and almost deserted
country. There were then among them aged men who had seen the glory of
Solomon’s temple, and who wept at the foundation of the new building, that
it must be so inferior to the former. The feeling that prevailed is
forcibly described by the prophet: “Who is left among you that saw this
house in her first glory? and how do ye see it now? is it not in your eyes
in comparison of it as nothing?”(27) Then was given the promise that the
glory of this latter house should be greater than that of the former.

But the second temple had not equaled the first in magnificence; nor was
it hallowed by those visible tokens of the divine presence which pertained
to the first temple. There was no manifestation of supernatural power to
mark its dedication. No cloud of glory was seen to fill the newly erected
sanctuary. No fire from heaven descended to consume the sacrifice upon its
altar. The shekinah no longer abode between the cherubim in the most holy
place; the ark, the mercy-seat, and the tables of the testimony were not
to be found therein. No voice sounded from heaven to make known to the
inquiring priest the will of Jehovah.

For centuries the Jews had vainly endeavored to show wherein the promise
of God given by Haggai, had been fulfilled; yet pride and unbelief blinded
their minds to the true meaning of the prophet’s words. The second temple
was not honored with the cloud of Jehovah’s glory, but with the living
presence of One in whom dwelt the fulness of the Godhead bodily—who was
God Himself manifest in the flesh. The “Desire of all nations” had indeed
come to His temple when the Man of Nazareth taught and healed in the
sacred courts. In the presence of Christ, and in this only, did the second
temple exceed the first in glory. But Israel had put from her the
proffered Gift of heaven. With the humble Teacher who had that day passed
out from its golden gate, the glory had forever departed from the temple.
Already were the Saviour’s words fulfilled, “Your house is left unto you
desolate.”(28)

The disciples had been filled with awe and wonder at Christ’s prediction
of the overthrow of the temple, and they desired to understand more fully
the meaning of His words. Wealth, labor, and architectural skill had for
more than forty years been freely expended to enhance its splendors. Herod
the Great had lavished upon it both Roman wealth and Jewish treasure, and
even the emperor of the world had enriched it with his gifts. Massive
blocks of white marble, of almost fabulous size, forwarded from Rome for
this purpose, formed a part of its structure; and to these the disciples
had called the attention of their Master, saying, “See what manner of
stones and what buildings are here!”(29)

To these words, Jesus made the solemn and startling reply, “Verily I say
unto you, There shall not be left here one stone upon another, that shall
not be thrown down.”(30)

With the overthrow of Jerusalem the disciples associated the events of
Christ’s personal coming in temporal glory to take the throne of universal
empire, to punish the impenitent Jews, and to break from off the nation
the Roman yoke. The Lord had told them that He would come the second time.
Hence at the mention of judgments upon Jerusalem, their minds reverted to
that coming; and as they were gathered about the Saviour upon the Mount of
Olives, they asked, “When shall these things be? and what shall be the
sign of Thy coming, and of the end of the world?”(31)

The future was mercifully veiled from the disciples. Had they at that time
fully comprehended the two awful facts,—the Redeemer’s sufferings and
death, and the destruction of their city and temple,—they would have been
overwhelmed with horror. Christ presented before them an outline of the
prominent events to take place before the close of time. His words were
not then fully understood; but their meaning was to be unfolded as His
people should need the instruction therein given. The prophecy which He
uttered was twofold in its meaning: while foreshadowing the destruction of
Jerusalem, it prefigured also the terrors of the last great day.

Jesus declared to the listening disciples the judgments that were to fall
upon apostate Israel, and especially the retributive vengeance that would
come upon them for their rejection and crucifixion of the Messiah.
Unmistakable signs would precede the awful climax. The dreaded hour would
come suddenly and swiftly. And the Saviour warned His followers: “When ye
therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the
prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand:)
then let them which be in Judea flee into the mountains.”(32) When the
idolatrous standards of the Romans should be set up in the holy ground,
which extended some furlongs outside the city walls, then the followers of
Christ were to find safety in flight. When the warning sign should be
seen, those who would escape must make no delay. Throughout the land of
Judea, as well as in Jerusalem itself, the signal for flight must be
immediately obeyed. He who chanced to be upon the housetop must not go
down into his house, even to save his most valued treasures. Those who
were working in the fields or vineyards must not take time to return for
the outer garment laid aside while they should be toiling in the heat of
the day. They must not hesitate a moment, lest they be involved in the
general destruction.

In the reign of Herod, Jerusalem had not only been greatly beautified, but
by the erection of towers, walls, and fortresses, adding to the natural
strength of its situation, it had been rendered apparently impregnable. He
who would at this time have foretold publicly its destruction, would, like
Noah in his day, have been called a crazed alarmist. But Christ had said,
“Heaven and earth shall pass away, but My words shall not pass away.”(33)
Because of her sins, wrath had been denounced against Jerusalem, and her
stubborn unbelief rendered her doom certain.

The Lord had declared by the prophet Micah: “Hear this, I pray you, ye
heads of the house of Jacob, and princes of the house of Israel, that
abhor judgment, and pervert all equity. They build up Zion with blood, and
Jerusalem with iniquity. The heads thereof judge for reward, and the
priests thereof teach for hire, and the prophets thereof divine for money:
yet will they lean upon the Lord, and say, Is not the Lord among us? none
evil can come upon us.”(34)

These words faithfully described the corrupt and self-righteous
inhabitants of Jerusalem. While claiming to observe rigidly the precepts
of God’s law, they were transgressing all its principles. They hated
Christ because His purity and holiness revealed their iniquity; and they
accused Him of being the cause of all the troubles which had come upon
them in consequence of their sins. Though they knew Him to be sinless,
they had declared that His death was necessary to their safety as a
nation. “If we let Him thus alone,” said the Jewish leaders, “all men will
believe on Him: and the Romans shall come and take away both our place and
nation.”(35) If Christ were sacrificed, they might once more become a
strong, united people. Thus they reasoned, and they concurred in the
decision of their high priest, that it would be better for one man to die
than for the whole nation to perish.

Thus the Jewish leaders had “built up Zion with blood, and Jerusalem with
iniquity.” And yet, while they slew their Saviour because He reproved
their sins, such was their self-righteousness that they regarded
themselves as God’s favored people, and expected the Lord to deliver them
from their enemies. “Therefore,” continued the prophet, “shall Zion for
your sake be plowed as a field, and Jerusalem shall become heaps, and the
mountain of the house as the high places of the forest.”(36)

For nearly forty years after the doom of Jerusalem had been pronounced by
Christ Himself, the Lord delayed His judgments upon the city and the
nation. Wonderful was the long-suffering of God toward the rejecters of
His gospel and the murderers of His Son. The parable of the unfruitful
tree represented God’s dealings with the Jewish nation. The command had
gone forth, “Cut it down; why cumbereth it the ground?”(37) but divine
mercy had spared it yet a little longer. There were still many among the
Jews who were ignorant of the character and the work of Christ. And the
children had not enjoyed the opportunities or received the light which
their parents had spurned. Through the preaching of the apostles and their
associates, God would cause light to shine upon them; they would be
permitted to see how prophecy had been fulfilled, not only in the birth
and life of Christ, but in His death and resurrection. The children were
not condemned for the sins of the parents; but when, with a knowledge of
all the light given to their parents, the children rejected the additional
light granted to themselves, they became partakers of the parents’ sins,
and filled up the measure of their iniquity.

The long-suffering of God toward Jerusalem only confirmed the Jews in
their stubborn impenitence. In their hatred and cruelty toward the
disciples of Jesus, they rejected the last offer of mercy. Then God
withdrew His protection from them, and removed His restraining power from
Satan and his angels, and the nation was left to the control of the leader
she had chosen. Her children had spurned the grace of Christ, which would
have enabled them to subdue their evil impulses, and now these became the
conquerors. Satan aroused the fiercest and most debased passions of the
soul. Men did not reason; they were beyond reason,—controlled by impulse
and blind rage. They became satanic in their cruelty. In the family and in
the nation, among the highest and the lowest classes alike, there was
suspicion, envy, hatred, strife, rebellion, murder. There was no safety
anywhere. Friends and kindred betrayed one another. Parents slew their
children and children their parents. The rulers of the people had no power
to rule themselves. Uncontrolled passions made them tyrants. The Jews had
accepted false testimony to condemn the innocent Son of God. Now false
accusations made their own lives uncertain. By their actions they had long
been saying, “Cause the Holy One of Israel to cease from before us.”(38)
Now their desire was granted. The fear of God no longer disturbed them.
Satan was at the head of the nation, and the highest civil and religious
authorities were under his sway.

The leaders of the opposing factions at times united to plunder and
torture their wretched victims, and again they fell upon each other’s
forces, and slaughtered without mercy. Even the sanctity of the temple
could not restrain their horrible ferocity. The worshipers were stricken
down before the altar, and the sanctuary was polluted with the bodies of
the slain. Yet in their blind and blasphemous presumption the instigators
of this hellish work publicly declared that they had no fear that
Jerusalem would be destroyed, for it was God’s own city. To establish
their power more firmly, they bribed false prophets to proclaim, even
while Roman legions were besieging the temple, that the people were to
wait for deliverance from God. To the last, multitudes held fast to the
belief that the Most High would interpose for the defeat of their
adversaries. But Israel had spurned the divine protection, and now she had
no defense. Unhappy Jerusalem! rent by internal dissensions, the blood of
her children slain by one another’s hands crimsoning her streets, while
alien armies beat down her fortifications and slew her men of war!

All the predictions given by Christ concerning the destruction of
Jerusalem were fulfilled to the letter. The Jews experienced the truth of
His words of warning, “With what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to
you again.”(39)

Signs and wonders appeared, foreboding disaster and doom. In the midst of
the night an unnatural light shone over the temple and the altar. Upon the
clouds at sunset were pictured chariots and men of war gathering for
battle. The priests ministering by night in the sanctuary were terrified
by mysterious sounds; the earth trembled, and a multitude of voices were
heard crying, “Let us depart hence.” The great eastern gate, which was so
heavy that it could hardly be shut by a score of men, and which was
secured by immense bars of iron fastened deep in the pavement of solid
stone, opened at midnight, without visible agency.(40)

For seven years a man continued to go up and down the streets of
Jerusalem, declaring the woes that were to come upon the city. By day and
by night he chanted the wild dirge, “A voice from the east! a voice from
the west! a voice from the four winds! a voice against Jerusalem and
against the temple! a voice against the bridegrooms and the brides! a
voice against the whole people!” This strange being was imprisoned and
scourged, but no complaint escaped his lips. To insult and abuse he
answered only, “Woe, woe to Jerusalem!” “woe, woe to the inhabitants
thereof!” His warning cry ceased not until he was slain in the siege he
had foretold.

Not one Christian perished in the destruction of Jerusalem. Christ had
given His disciples warning, and all who believed His words watched for
the promised sign. “When ye shall see Jerusalem compassed with armies,”
said Jesus, “then know that the desolation thereof is nigh. Then let them
which are in Judea flee to the mountains; and let them which are in the
midst of it depart out.”(41) After the Romans under Cestius had surrounded
the city, they unexpectedly abandoned the siege when everything seemed
favorable for an immediate attack. The besieged, despairing of successful
resistance, were on the point of surrender, when the Roman general
withdrew his forces without the least apparent reason. But God’s merciful
providence was directing events for the good of His own people. The
promised sign had been given to the waiting Christians, and now an
opportunity was afforded for all who would, to obey the Saviour’s warning.
Events were so overruled that neither Jews nor Romans should hinder the
flight of the Christians. Upon the retreat of Cestius, the Jews, sallying
from Jerusalem, pursued after his retiring army; and while both forces
were thus fully engaged, the Christians had an opportunity to leave the
city. At this time the country also had been cleared of enemies who might
have endeavored to intercept them. At the time of the siege, the Jews were
assembled at Jerusalem to keep the Feast of Tabernacles, and thus the
Christians throughout the land were able to make their escape unmolested.
Without delay they fled to a place of safety,—the city of Pella, in the
land of Perea, beyond Jordan.

The Jewish forces, pursuing after Cestius and his army, fell upon their
rear with such fierceness as to threaten them with total destruction. It
was with great difficulty that the Romans succeeded in making their
retreat. The Jews escaped almost without loss, and with their spoils
returned in triumph to Jerusalem. Yet this apparent success brought them
only evil. It inspired them with that spirit of stubborn resistance to the
Romans which speedily brought unutterable woe upon the doomed city.

Terrible were the calamities that fell upon Jerusalem when the siege was
resumed by Titus. The city was invested at the time of the Passover, when
millions of Jews were assembled within its walls. Their stores of
provision, which if carefully preserved would have supplied the
inhabitants for years, had previously been destroyed through the jealousy
and revenge of the contending factions, and now all the horrors of
starvation were experienced. A measure of wheat was sold for a talent. So
fierce were the pangs of hunger that men would gnaw the leather of their
belts and sandals and the covering of their shields. Great numbers of the
people would steal out at night to gather wild plants growing outside the
city walls, though many were seized and put to death with cruel torture,
and often those who returned in safety were robbed of what they had
gleaned at so great peril. The most inhuman tortures were inflicted by
those in power, to force from the want-stricken people the last scanty
supplies which they might have concealed. And these cruelties were not
infrequently practised by men who were themselves well fed, and who were
merely desirous of laying up a store of provision for the future.

Thousands perished from famine and pestilence. Natural affection seemed to
have been destroyed. Husbands robbed their wives, and wives their
husbands. Children would be seen snatching the food from the mouths of
their aged parents. The question of the prophet, “Can a woman forget her
sucking child?”(42) received the answer within the walls of that doomed
city, “The hands of the pitiful women have sodden their own children: they
were their meat in the destruction of the daughter of my people.”(43)
Again was fulfilled the warning prophecy given fourteen centuries before:
“The tender and delicate woman among you, which would not adventure to set
the sole of her foot upon the ground for delicateness and tenderness, her
eye shall be evil toward the husband of her bosom, and toward her son, and
toward her daughter, ... and toward her children which she shall bear: for
she shall eat them for want of all things secretly in the siege and
straitness, wherewith thine enemy shall distress thee in thy gates.”(44)

The Roman leaders endeavored to strike terror to the Jews, and thus cause
them to surrender. Those prisoners who resisted when taken, were scourged,
tortured, and crucified before the wall of the city. Hundreds were daily
put to death in this manner, and the dreadful work continued until, along
the valley of Jehoshaphat and at Calvary, crosses were erected in so great
numbers that there was scarcely room to move among them. So terribly was
visited that awful imprecation uttered before the judgment-seat of Pilate:
“His blood be on us, and on our children.”(45)

Titus would willingly have put an end to the fearful scene, and thus have
spared Jerusalem the full measure of her doom. He was filled with horror
as he saw the bodies of the dead lying in heaps in the valleys. Like one
entranced, he looked from the crest of Olivet upon the magnificent temple,
and gave command that not one stone of it be touched. Before attempting to
gain possession of this stronghold, he made an earnest appeal to the
Jewish leaders not to force him to defile the sacred place with blood. If
they would come forth and fight in any other place, no Roman should
violate the sanctity of the temple. Josephus himself, in a most eloquent
appeal, entreated them to surrender, to save themselves, their city, and
their place of worship. But his words were answered with bitter curses.
Darts were hurled at him, their last human mediator, as he stood pleading
with them. The Jews had rejected the entreaties of the Son of God, and now
expostulation and entreaty only made them more determined to resist to the
last. In vain were the efforts of Titus to save the temple; One greater
than he had declared that not one stone was to be left upon another.

The blind obstinacy of the Jewish leaders, and the detestable crimes
perpetrated within the besieged city, excited the horror and indignation
of the Romans, and Titus at last decided to take the temple by storm. He
determined, however, that if possible it should be saved from destruction.
But his commands were disregarded. After he had retired to his tent at
night, the Jews, sallying from the temple, attacked the soldiers without.
In the struggle, a firebrand was flung by a soldier through an opening in
the porch, and immediately the cedar-lined chambers about the holy house
were in a blaze. Titus rushed to the place, followed by his generals and
legionaries, and commanded the soldiers to quench the flames. His words
were unheeded. In their fury the soldiers hurled blazing brands into the
chambers adjoining the temple, and then with their swords they slaughtered
in great numbers those who had found shelter there. Blood flowed down the
temple steps like water. Thousands upon thousands of Jews perished. Above
the sound of battle, voices were heard shouting, “Ichabod!”—the glory is
departed.

“Titus found it impossible to check the rage of the soldiery; he entered
with his officers, and surveyed the interior of the sacred edifice. The
splendor filled them with wonder; and as the flames had not yet penetrated
to the holy place, he made a last effort to save it, and springing forth,
again exhorted the soldiers to stay the progress of the conflagration. The
centurion Liberalis endeavored to force obedience with his staff of
office; but even respect for the emperor gave way to the furious animosity
against the Jews, to the fierce excitement of battle, and to the
insatiable hope of plunder. The soldiers saw everything around them
radiant with gold, which shone dazzlingly in the wild light of the flames;
they supposed that incalculable treasures were laid up in the sanctuary. A
soldier, unperceived, thrust a lighted torch between the hinges of the
door: the whole building was in flames in an instant. The blinding smoke
and fire forced the officers to retreat, and the noble edifice was left to
its fate.

“It was an appalling spectacle to the Roman—what was it to the Jew? The
whole summit of the hill which commanded the city, blazed like a volcano.
One after another the buildings fell in, with a tremendous crash, and were
swallowed up in the fiery abyss. The roofs of cedar were like sheets of
flame; the gilded pinnacles shone like spikes of red light; the gate
towers sent up tall columns of flame and smoke. The neighboring hills were
lighted up; and dark groups of people were seen watching in horrible
anxiety the progress of the destruction: the walls and heights of the
upper city were crowded with faces, some pale with the agony of despair,
others scowling unavailing vengeance. The shouts of the Roman soldiery as
they ran to and fro, and the howlings of the insurgents who were perishing
in the flames, mingled with the roaring of the conflagration and the
thundering sound of falling timbers. The echoes of the mountains replied
or brought back the shrieks of the people on the heights; all along the
walls resounded screams and wailings; men who were expiring with famine
rallied their remaining strength to utter a cry of anguish and desolation.

“The slaughter within was even more dreadful than the spectacle from
without. Men and women, old and young, insurgents and priests, those who
fought and those who entreated mercy, were hewn down in indiscriminate
carnage. The number of the slain exceeded that of the slayers. The
legionaries had to clamber over heaps of dead to carry on the work of
extermination.”(46)

After the destruction of the temple, the whole city soon fell into the
hands of the Romans. The leaders of the Jews forsook their impregnable
towers, and Titus found them solitary. He gazed upon them with amazement,
and declared that God had given them into his hands; for no engines,
however powerful, could have prevailed against those stupendous
battlements. Both the city and the temple were razed to their foundations,
and the ground upon which the holy house had stood was “plowed like a
field.”(47) In the siege and the slaughter that followed, more than a
million of the people perished; the survivors were carried away as
captives, sold as slaves, dragged to Rome to grace the conqueror’s
triumph, thrown to wild beasts in the amphitheaters, or scattered as
homeless wanderers throughout the earth.

The Jews had forged their own fetters; they had filled for themselves the
cup of vengeance. In the utter destruction that befell them as a nation,
and in all the woes that followed them in their dispersion, they were but
reaping the harvest which their own hands had sown. Says the prophet, “O
Israel, thou hast destroyed thyself;” “for thou hast fallen by thine
iniquity.”(48) Their sufferings are often represented as a punishment
visited upon them by the direct decree of God. It is thus that the great
deceiver seeks to conceal his own work. By stubborn rejection of divine
love and mercy, the Jews had caused the protection of God to be withdrawn
from them, and Satan was permitted to rule them according to his will. The
horrible cruelties enacted in the destruction of Jerusalem are a
demonstration of Satan’s vindictive power over those who yield to his
control.

We cannot know how much we owe to Christ for the peace and protection
which we enjoy. It is the restraining power of God that prevents mankind
from passing fully under the control of Satan. The disobedient and
unthankful have great reason for gratitude for God’s mercy and
long-suffering in holding in check the cruel, malignant power of the evil
one. But when men pass the limits of divine forbearance, that restraint is
removed. God does not stand toward the sinner as an executioner of the
sentence against transgression; but He leaves the rejecters of His mercy
to themselves, to reap that which they have sown. Every ray of light
rejected, every warning despised or unheeded, every passion indulged,
every transgression of the law of God, is a seed sown, which yields its
unfailing harvest. The Spirit of God, persistently resisted, is at last
withdrawn from the sinner, and then there is left no power to control the
evil passions of the soul, and no protection from the malice and enmity of
Satan. The destruction of Jerusalem is a fearful and solemn warning to all
who are trifling with the offers of divine grace, and resisting the
pleadings of divine mercy. Never was there given a more decisive testimony
to God’s hatred of sin, and to the certain punishment that will fall upon
the guilty.

The Saviour’s prophecy concerning the visitation of judgments upon
Jerusalem is to have another fulfilment, of which that terrible desolation
was but a faint shadow. In the fate of the chosen city we may behold the
doom of a world that has rejected God’s mercy and trampled upon His law.
Dark are the records of human misery that earth has witnessed during its
long centuries of crime. The heart sickens and the mind grows faint in
contemplation. Terrible have been the results of rejecting the authority
of Heaven. But a scene yet darker is presented in the revelations of the
future. The records of the past,—the long procession of tumults,
conflicts, and revolutions, the “battle of the warrior, with confused
noise, and garments rolled in blood,”(49)—what are these, in contrast with
the terrors of that day when the restraining Spirit of God shall be wholly
withdrawn from the wicked, no longer to hold in check the outburst of
human passion and satanic wrath! The world will then behold, as never
before, the results of Satan’s rule.

But in that day, as in the time of Jerusalem’s destruction, God’s people
will be delivered, “every one that shall be found written among the
living.” Christ has declared that He will come the second time, to gather
His faithful ones to Himself: “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. And 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.”(50) Then shall they that obey
not the gospel be consumed with the spirit of His mouth, and be destroyed
with the brightness of His coming.(51) Like Israel of old, the wicked
destroy themselves; they fall by their iniquity. By a life of sin, they
have placed themselves so out of harmony with God, their natures have
become so debased with evil, that the manifestation of His glory is to
them a consuming fire.

Let men beware lest they neglect the lesson conveyed to them in the words
of Christ. As He warned His disciples of Jerusalem’s destruction, giving
them a sign of the approaching ruin, that they might make their escape; so
He has warned the world of the day of final destruction, and has given
them tokens of its approach, that all who will may flee from the wrath to
come. Jesus declares, “There shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon,
and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations.”(52) Those who
behold these harbingers of His coming are to “know that it is near, even
at the doors.”(53) “Watch ye therefore,”(54) are His words of admonition.
They that heed the warning shall not be left in darkness, that that day
should overtake them unawares. But to them that will not watch, “the day
of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night.”(55)

The world is no more ready to credit the message for this time than were
the Jews to receive the Saviour’s warning concerning Jerusalem. Come when
it may, the day of God will come unawares to the ungodly. When life is
going on in its unvarying round; when men are absorbed in pleasure, in
business, in traffic, in money-making; when religious leaders are
magnifying the world’s progress and enlightenment, and the people are
lulled in a false security,—then, as the midnight thief steals within the
unguarded dwelling, so shall sudden destruction come upon the careless and
ungodly, “and they shall not escape.”(56)





2. PERSECUTION IN THE FIRST CENTURIES.


                     [Illustration: Chapter header.]

When Jesus revealed to His disciples the fate of Jerusalem and the scenes
of the second advent, He foretold also the experience of His people from
the time when He should be taken from them, to His return in power and
glory for their deliverance. From Olivet the Saviour beheld the storms
about to fall upon the apostolic church; and penetrating deeper into the
future, His eye discerned the fierce, wasting tempests that were to beat
upon His followers in the coming ages of darkness and persecution. In a
few brief utterances of awful significance, He foretold the portion which
the rulers of this world would mete out to the church of God.(57) The
followers of Christ must tread the same path of humiliation, reproach, and
suffering which their Master trod. The enmity that burst forth against the
world’s Redeemer, would be manifested against all who should believe on
His name.

The history of the early church testified to the fulfilment of the
Saviour’s words. The powers of earth and hell arrayed themselves against
Christ in the person of His followers. Paganism foresaw that should the
gospel triumph, her temples and altars would be swept away; therefore she
summoned her forces to destroy Christianity. The fires of persecution were
kindled. Christians were stripped of their possessions, and driven from
their homes. They “endured a great fight of afflictions.”(58) They “had
trial of cruel mockings and scourgings, yea, moreover of bonds and
imprisonment.”(59) Great numbers sealed their testimony with their blood.
Noble and slave, rich and poor, learned and ignorant, were alike slain
without mercy.

These persecutions, beginning under Nero about the time of the martyrdom
of Paul, continued with greater or less fury for centuries. Christians
were falsely accused of the most dreadful crimes, and declared to be the
cause of great calamities—famine, pestilence, and earthquake. As they
became the objects of popular hatred and suspicion, informers stood ready,
for the sake of gain, to betray the innocent. They were condemned as
rebels against the empire, as foes of religion, and pests to society.
Great numbers were thrown to wild beasts or burned alive in the
amphitheaters. Some were crucified; others were covered with the skins of
wild animals, and thrust into the arena to be torn by dogs. Their
punishment was often made the chief entertainment at public fêtes. Vast
multitudes assembled to enjoy the sight, and greeted their dying agonies
with laughter and applause.

Wherever they sought refuge, the followers of Christ were hunted like
beasts of prey. They were forced to seek concealment in desolate and
solitary places. “Destitute, afflicted, tormented; (of whom the world was
not worthy:) they wandered in deserts, and in mountains, and in dens and
caves of the earth.”(60) The catacombs afforded shelter for thousands.
Beneath the hills outside the city of Rome, long galleries had been
tunneled through earth and rock; the dark and intricate network of
passages extended for miles beyond the city walls. In these underground
retreats, the followers of Christ buried their dead; and here also, when
suspected and proscribed, they found a home. When the Lifegiver shall
awaken those who have fought the good fight, many a martyr for Christ’s
sake will come forth from those gloomy caverns.

Under the fiercest persecution, these witnesses for Jesus kept their faith
unsullied. Though deprived of every comfort, shut away from the light of
the sun, making their home in the dark but friendly bosom of the earth,
they uttered no complaint. With words of faith, patience, and hope, they
encouraged one another to endure privation and distress. The loss of every
earthly blessing could not force them to renounce their belief in Christ.
Trials and persecution were but steps bringing them nearer their rest and
their reward.

Like God’s servants of old, many were “tortured, not accepting
deliverance; that they might obtain a better resurrection.”(61) These
called to mind the words of their Master, that when persecuted for
Christ’s sake, they were to be exceeding glad, for great would be their
reward in heaven; for so the prophets had been persecuted before them.
They rejoiced that they were accounted worthy to suffer for the truth, and
songs of triumph ascended from the midst of crackling flames. Looking
upward by faith, they saw Christ and angels leaning over the battlements
of heaven, gazing upon them with the deepest interest, and regarding their
steadfastness with approval, A voice came down to them from the throne of
God, “Be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of
life.”(62)

In vain were Satan’s efforts to destroy the church of Christ by violence.
The great controversy in which the disciples of Jesus yielded up their
lives, did not cease when these faithful standard-bearers fell at their
post. By defeat they conquered. God’s workmen were slain, but His work
went steadily forward. The gospel continued to spread, and the number of
its adherents to increase. It penetrated into regions that were
inaccessible, even to the eagles of Rome. Said a Christian, expostulating
with the heathen rulers who were urging forward the persecution: You may
“kill us, torture us, condemn us.... Your injustice is the proof that we
are innocent.... Nor does your cruelty ... avail you.” It was but a
stronger invitation to bring others to their persuasion. “The oftener we
are mown down by you, the more in number we grow; the blood of Christians
is seed.”(63)

Thousands were imprisoned and slain; but others sprung up to fill their
places. And those who were martyred for their faith were secured to
Christ, and accounted of Him as conquerors. They had fought the good
fight, and they were to receive the crown of glory when Christ should
come. The sufferings which they endured brought Christians nearer to one
another and to their Redeemer. Their living example and dying testimony
were a constant witness for the truth; and where least expected, the
subjects of Satan were leaving his service, and enlisting under the banner
of Christ.

Satan therefore laid his plans to war more successfully against the
government of God, by planting his banner in the Christian church. If the
followers of Christ could be deceived, and led to displease God, then
their strength, fortitude, and firmness would fail, and they would fall an
easy prey.

The great adversary now endeavored to gain by artifice what he had failed
to secure by force. Persecution ceased, and in its stead were substituted
the dangerous allurements of temporal prosperity and worldly honor.
Idolaters were led to receive a part of the Christian faith, while they
rejected other essential truths. They professed to accept Jesus as the Son
of God, and to believe in His death and resurrection; but they had no
conviction of sin, and felt no need of repentance or of a change of heart.
With some concessions on their part, they proposed that Christians should
make concessions, that all might unite on the platform of belief in
Christ.

Now the church was in fearful peril. Prison, torture, fire, and sword were
blessings in comparison with this. Some of the Christians stood firm,
declaring that they could make no compromise. Others were in favor of
yielding or modifying some features of their faith, and uniting with those
who had accepted a part of Christianity, urging that this might be the
means of their full conversion. That was a time of deep anguish to the
faithful followers of Christ. Under a cloak of pretended Christianity,
Satan was insinuating himself into the church, to corrupt their faith, and
turn their minds from the word of truth.

Most of the Christians at last consented to lower their standard, and a
union was formed between Christianity and paganism. Although the
worshipers of idols professed to be converted, and united with the church,
they still clung to their idolatry, only changing the objects of their
worship to images of Jesus, and even of Mary and the saints. The foul
leaven of idolatry, thus brought into the church, continued its baleful
work. Unsound doctrines, superstitious rites, and idolatrous ceremonies
were incorporated into her faith and worship. As the followers of Christ
united with idolaters, the Christian religion became corrupted, and the
church lost her purity and power. There were some, however, who were not
misled by these delusions. They still maintained their fidelity to the
Author of truth, and worshiped God alone.

There have ever been two classes among those who profess to be followers
of Christ. While one class study the Saviour’s life, and earnestly seek to
correct their defects and conform to the Pattern, the other class shun the
plain, practical truths which expose their errors. Even in her best
estate, the church was not composed wholly of the true, pure, and sincere.
Our Saviour taught that those who wilfully indulge in sin are not to be
received into the church; yet He connected with Himself men who were
faulty in character, and granted them the benefits of His teachings and
example, that they might have an opportunity to see their errors and
correct them. Among the twelve apostles was a traitor.

Judas was accepted, not because of his defects of character, but
notwithstanding them. He was connected with the disciples, that, through
the instruction and example of Christ, he might learn what constitutes
Christian character, and thus be led to see his errors, to repent, and by
the aid of divine grace, to purify his soul “in obeying the truth.” But
Judas did not walk in the light so graciously permitted to shine upon him.
By indulgence in sin, he invited the temptations of Satan. His evil traits
of character became predominant. He yielded his mind to the control of the
powers of darkness, he became angry when his faults were reproved, and
thus he was led to commit the fearful crime of betraying his Master. So do
all who cherish evil under a profession of godliness hate those who
disturb their peace by condemning their course of sin. When a favorable
opportunity is presented, they will, like Judas, betray those who for
their good have sought to reprove them.

The apostles encountered those in the church who professed godliness while
they were secretly cherishing iniquity. Ananias and Sapphira acted the
part of deceivers, pretending to make an entire sacrifice for God, when
they were covetously withholding a portion for themselves. The Spirit of
truth revealed to the apostles the real character of these pretenders, and
the judgments of God rid the church of this foul blot upon its purity.
This signal evidence of the discerning Spirit of Christ in the church was
a terror to hypocrites and evil-doers. They could not long remain in
connection with those who were, in habit and disposition, constant
representatives of Christ; and as trials and persecution came upon His
followers, those only who were willing to forsake all for the truth’s sake
desired to become His disciples. Thus, as long as persecution continued,
the church remained comparatively pure. But as it ceased, converts were
added who were less sincere and devoted, and the way was opened for Satan
to obtain a foothold.

But there is no union between the Prince of light and the prince of
darkness, and there can be no union between their followers. When
Christians consented to unite with those who were but half converted from
paganism, they entered upon a path which led farther and farther from the
truth. Satan exulted that he had succeeded in deceiving so large a number
of the followers of Christ. He then brought his power to bear more fully
upon these, and inspired them to persecute those who remained true to God.
None understood so well how to oppose the true Christian faith as did
those who had once been its defenders; and these apostate Christians,
uniting with their half-pagan companions, directed their warfare against
the most essential features of the doctrines of Christ.

It required a desperate struggle for those who would be faithful to stand
firm against the deceptions and abominations which were disguised in
sacerdotal garments and introduced into the church. The Bible was not
accepted as the standard of faith. The doctrine of religious freedom was
termed heresy, and its upholders were hated and proscribed.

After a long and severe conflict, the faithful few decided to dissolve all
union with the apostate church if she still refused to free herself from
falsehood and idolatry. They saw that separation was an absolute necessity
if they would obey the word of God. They dared not tolerate errors fatal
to their own souls, and set an example which would imperil the faith of
their children and children’s children. To secure peace and unity they
were ready to make any concession consistent with fidelity to God; but
they felt that even peace would be too dearly purchased at the sacrifice
of principle. If unity could be secured only by the compromise of truth
and righteousness, then let there be difference, and even war.

Well would it be for the church and the world if the principles that
actuated those steadfast souls were revived in the hearts of God’s
professed people. There is an alarming indifference in regard to the
doctrines which are the pillars of the Christian faith. The opinion is
gaining ground, that, after all, these are not of vital importance. This
degeneracy is strengthening the hands of the agents of Satan, so that
false theories and fatal delusions which the faithful in ages past
imperiled their lives to resist and expose, are now regarded with favor by
thousands who claim to be followers of Christ.

The early Christians were indeed a peculiar people. Their blameless
deportment and unswerving faith were a continual reproof that disturbed
the sinner’s peace. Though few in numbers, without wealth, position, or
honorary titles, they were a terror to evil-doers wherever their character
and doctrines were known. Therefore they were hated by the wicked, even as
Abel was hated by the ungodly Cain. For the same reason that Cain slew
Abel, did those who sought to throw off the restraint of the Holy Spirit,
put to death God’s people. It was for the same reason that the Jews
rejected and crucified the Saviour,—because the purity and holiness of His
character was a constant rebuke to their selfishness and corruption. From
the days of Christ until now, His faithful disciples have excited the
hatred and opposition of those who love and follow the ways of sin.

How, then, can the gospel be called a message of peace? When Isaiah
foretold the birth of the Messiah, he ascribed to Him the title, “Prince
of Peace.” When angels announced to the shepherds that Christ was born,
they sung above the plains of Bethlehem, “Glory to God in the highest, and
on earth peace, good will toward men.”(64) There is a seeming
contradiction between these prophetic declarations and the words of
Christ, “I came not to send peace, but a sword.”(65) But rightly
understood, the two are in perfect harmony. The gospel is a message of
peace. Christianity is a system, which, received and obeyed, would spread
peace, harmony, and happiness throughout the earth. The religion of Christ
will unite in close brotherhood all who accept its teachings. It was the
mission of Jesus to reconcile men to God, and thus to one another. But the
world at large are under the control of Satan, Christ’s bitterest foe. The
gospel presents to them principles of life which are wholly at variance
with their habits and desires, and they rise in rebellion against it. They
hate the purity which reveals and condemns their sins, and they persecute
and destroy those who would urge upon them its just and holy claims. It is
in this sense—because the exalted truths it brings, occasion hatred and
strife—that the gospel is called a sword.

The mysterious providence which permits the righteous to suffer
persecution at the hand of the wicked, has been a cause of great
perplexity to many who are weak in faith. Some are even ready to cast away
their confidence in God, because He suffers the basest of men to prosper,
while the best and purest are afflicted and tormented by their cruel
power. How, it is asked, can One who is just and merciful, and who is also
infinite in power, tolerate such injustice and oppression? This is a
question with which we have nothing to do. God has given us sufficient
evidence of His love, and we are not to doubt His goodness because we
cannot understand the workings of His providence. Said the Saviour to His
disciples, foreseeing the doubts that would press upon their souls in days
of trial and darkness: “Remember the word that I said unto you, The
servant is not greater than his lord. If they have persecuted Me, they
will also persecute you.”(66) Jesus suffered for us more than any of His
followers can be made to suffer through the cruelty of wicked men. Those
who are called to endure torture and martyrdom, are but following in the
steps of God’s dear Son.

“The Lord is not slack concerning His promise.”(67) He does not forget or
neglect His children; but He permits the wicked to reveal their true
character, that none who desire to do His will may be deceived concerning
them. Again, the righteous are placed in the furnace of affliction, that
they themselves may be purified; that their example may convince others of
the reality of faith and godliness; and also that their consistent course
may condemn the ungodly and unbelieving.

God permits the wicked to prosper, and to reveal their enmity against Him,
that when they shall have filled up the measure of their iniquity, all may
see His justice and mercy in their utter destruction. The day of His
vengeance hastens, when all who have transgressed His law and oppressed
His people will meet the just recompense of their deeds; when every act of
cruelty or injustice toward God’s faithful ones will be punished as though
done to Christ Himself.

There is another and more important question that should engage the
attention of the churches of to-day. The apostle Paul declares that “all
that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.”(68) Why is
it, then, that persecution seems in a great degree to slumber? The only
reason is, that the church has conformed to the world’s standard, and
therefore awakens no opposition. The religion which is current in our day
is not of the pure and holy character that marked the Christian faith in
the days of Christ and His apostles. It is only because of the spirit of
compromise with sin, because the great truths of the word of God are so
indifferently regarded, because there is so little vital godliness in the
church, that Christianity is apparently so popular with the world. Let
there be a revival of the faith and power of the early church, and the
spirit of persecution will be revived, and the fires of persecution will
be rekindled.

               [Illustration: St. Peter’s And The Vatican]

                       St. Peter’s And The Vatican





3. THE APOSTASY.


                     [Illustration: Chapter header.]

The apostle Paul, in his second letter to the Thessalonians, foretold the
great apostasy which would result in the establishment of the papal power.
He declared that the day of Christ should not come, “except there come a
falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition;
who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is
worshiped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, showing himself
that he is God.”(69) And furthermore, the apostle warns his brethren that
“the mystery of iniquity doth already work.”(70) Even at that early date
he saw, creeping into the church, errors that would prepare the way for
the development of the papacy.

Little by little, at first in stealth and silence, and then more openly as
it increased in strength and gained control of the minds of men, the
mystery of iniquity carried forward its deceptive and blasphemous work.
Almost imperceptibly the customs of heathenism found their way into the
Christian church. The spirit of compromise and conformity was restrained
for a time by the fierce persecutions which the church endured under
paganism. But as persecution ceased, and Christianity entered the courts
and palaces of kings, she laid aside the humble simplicity of Christ and
His apostles for the pomp and pride of pagan priests and rulers; and in
place of the requirements of God, she substituted human theories and
traditions. The nominal conversion of Constantine, in the early part of
the fourth century, caused great rejoicing; and the world, cloaked with a
form of righteousness, walked into the church. Now, the work of corruption
rapidly progressed. Paganism, while appearing to be vanquished, became the
conqueror. Her spirit controlled the church. Her doctrines, ceremonies,
and superstitions were incorporated into the faith and worship of the
professed followers of Christ.

This compromise between paganism and Christianity resulted in the
development of the “man of sin” foretold in prophecy as opposing and
exalting himself above God. That gigantic system of false religion is a
masterpiece of Satan’s power,—a monument of his efforts to seat himself
upon the throne to rule the earth according to his will.

Satan once endeavoured to form a compromise with Christ. He came to the
Son of God in the wilderness of temptation, and showing Him all the
kingdoms of the world and the glory of them, offered to give all into His
hands if He would but acknowledge the supremacy of the prince of darkness.
Christ rebuked the presumptuous tempter, and forced him to depart. But
Satan meets with greater success in presenting the same temptations to
man. To secure worldly gains and honors, the church was led to seek the
favor and support of the great men of earth; and having thus rejected
Christ, she was induced to yield allegiance to the representative of
Satan,—the bishop of Rome.

It is one of the leading doctrines of Romanism that the pope is the
visible head of the universal church of Christ, invested with supreme
authority over bishops and pastors in all parts of the world. More than
this, the pope has been given the very titles of Deity. He has been styled
“Lord God the Pope,”(71) and has been declared infallible. He demands the
homage of all men. The same claim urged by Satan in the wilderness of
temptation, is still urged by him through the Church of Rome, and vast
numbers are ready to yield him homage.

But those who fear and reverence God meet this Heaven-daring assumption as
Christ met the solicitations of the wily foe: “Thou shalt worship the Lord
thy God, and Him only shalt thou serve.”(72) God has never given a hint in
His word that He has appointed any man to be the head of the church. The
doctrine of papal supremacy is directly opposed to the teachings of the
Scriptures. The pope can have no power over Christ’s church except by
usurpation.

Romanists have persisted in bringing against Protestants the charge of
heresy, and wilful separation from the true church. But these accusations
apply rather to themselves. They are the ones who laid down the banner of
Christ, and departed from “the faith which was once delivered unto the
saints.”(73)

Satan well knew that the Holy Scriptures would enable men to discern his
deceptions and withstand his power. It was by the Word that even the
Saviour of the world had resisted his attacks. At every assault, Christ
presented the shield of eternal truth, saying, “It is written.” To every
suggestion of the adversary, He opposed the wisdom and power of the Word.
In order for Satan to maintain his sway over men, and establish the
authority of the papal usurper, he must keep them in ignorance of the
Scriptures. The Bible would exalt God, and place finite men in their true
position; therefore its sacred truths must be concealed and suppressed.
This logic was adopted by the Roman Church. For hundreds of years the
circulation of the Bible was prohibited. The people were forbidden to read
it or to have it in their houses, and unprincipled priests and prelates
interpreted its teachings to sustain their pretensions. Thus the pope came
to be almost universally acknowledged as the vicegerent of God on earth,
endowed with authority over church and state.

The detector of error having been removed, Satan worked according to his
will. Prophecy had declared that the papacy was to “think to change times
and laws.”(74) This work it was not slow to attempt. To afford converts
from heathenism a substitute for the worship of idols, and thus to promote
their nominal acceptance of Christianity, the adoration of images and
relics was gradually introduced into the Christian worship. The decree of
a general council(75) finally established this system of idolatry. To
complete the sacrilegious work, Rome presumed to expunge from the law of
God the second commandment, forbidding image worship, and to divide the
tenth commandment, in order to preserve the number.

The spirit of concession to paganism opened the way for a still further
disregard of Heaven’s authority. Satan, working through unconsecrated
leaders of the church, tampered with the fourth commandment also, and
essayed to set aside the ancient Sabbath, the day which God had blessed
and sanctified,(76) and in its stead to exalt the festival observed by the
heathen as “the venerable day of the sun.” This change was not at first
attempted openly. In the first centuries the true Sabbath had been kept by
all Christians. They were jealous for the honor of God, and believing that
His law is immutable, they zealously guarded the sacredness of its
precepts. But with great subtlety, Satan worked through his agents to
bring about his object. That the attention of the people might be called
to the Sunday, it was made a festival in honor of the resurrection of
Christ. Religious services were held upon it; yet it was regarded as a day
of recreation, the Sabbath being still sacredly observed.

To prepare the way for the work which he designed to accomplish, Satan had
led the Jews, before the advent of Christ, to load down the Sabbath with
the most rigorous exactions, making its observance a burden. Now, taking
advantage of the false light in which he had thus caused it to be
regarded, he cast contempt upon it as a Jewish institution. While
Christians generally continued to observe the Sunday as a joyous festival,
he led them, in order to show their hatred of Judaism, to make the Sabbath
a fast, a day of sadness and gloom.

In the early part of the fourth century, the emperor Constantine issued a
decree making Sunday a public festival throughout the Roman empire.(77)
The day of the sun was reverenced by his pagan subjects, and was honored
by Christians; it was the emperor’s policy to unite the conflicting
interests of heathenism and Christianity. He was urged to do this by the
bishops of the church, who, inspired by ambition and thirst for power,
perceived that if the same day was observed by both Christians and
heathen, it would promote the nominal acceptance of Christianity by
pagans, and thus advance the power and glory of the church. But while many
God-fearing Christians were gradually led to regard Sunday as possessing a
degree of sacredness, they still held the true Sabbath as the holy of the
Lord, and observed it in obedience to the fourth commandment.

The arch-deceiver had not completed his work. He was resolved to gather
the Christian world under his banner, and to exercise his power through
his vicegerent, the proud pontiff who claimed to be the representative of
Christ. Through half-converted pagans, ambitious prelates, and
world-loving churchmen, he accomplished his purpose. Vast councils were
held from time to time, in which the dignitaries of the church were
convened from all the world. In nearly every council the Sabbath which God
had instituted was pressed down a little lower, while the Sunday was
correspondingly exalted. Thus the pagan festival came finally to be
honored as a divine institution, while the Bible Sabbath was pronounced a
relic of Judaism, and its observers were declared to be accursed.

The great apostate had succeeded in exalting himself “above all that is
called God, or that is worshiped.”(78) He had dared to change the only
precept of the divine law that unmistakably points all mankind to the true
and living God. In the fourth commandment, God is revealed as the Creator
of the heavens and the earth, and is thereby distinguished from all false
gods. It was as a memorial of the work of creation that the seventh day
was sanctified as a rest-day for man. It was designed to keep the living
God ever before the minds of men as the source of being and the object of
reverence and worship. Satan strives to turn men from their allegiance to
God, and from rendering obedience to His law; therefore he directs his
efforts especially against that commandment which points to God as the
Creator.

Protestants now urge that the resurrection of Christ on Sunday made it the
Christian Sabbath. But Scripture evidence is lacking. No such honor was
given to the day by Christ or His apostles. The observance of Sunday as a
Christian institution had its origin in that “mystery of lawlessness”(79)
which, even in Paul’s day, had begun its work. Where and when did the Lord
adopt this child of the papacy? What valid reason can be given for a
change which the Scriptures do not sanction?

In the sixth century the papacy had become firmly established. Its seat of
power was fixed in the imperial city, and the bishop of Rome was declared
to be the head over the entire church. Paganism had given place to the
papacy. The dragon had given to the beast “his power, and his seat, and
great authority.”(80) And now began the 1260 years of papal oppression
foretold in the prophecies of Daniel and the Revelation.(81) Christians
were forced to choose either to yield their integrity and accept the papal
ceremonies and worship, or to wear away their lives in dungeons or suffer
death by the rack, the fagot, or the heads-man’s axe. Now were fulfilled
the words of Jesus: “Ye shall be betrayed both by parents, and brethren,
and kins-folks, and friends; and some of you shall they cause to be put to
death. And ye shall be hated of all men for My name’s sake.”(82)
Persecution opened upon the faithful with greater fury than ever before,
and the world became a vast battle-field. For hundreds of years the church
of Christ found refuge in seclusion and obscurity. Thus says the prophet:
“The woman fled into the wilderness, where she hath a place prepared of
God, that they should feed her there a thousand two hundred and threescore
days.”(83)

The accession of the Roman Church to power marked the beginning of the
Dark Ages. As her power increased, the darkness deepened. Faith was
transferred from Christ, the true foundation, to the pope of Rome. Instead
of trusting in the Son of God for forgiveness of sins and for eternal
salvation, the people looked to the pope, and to the priests and prelates
to whom he delegated authority. They were taught that the pope was their
earthly mediator, and that none could approach God except through him; and
further, that he stood in the place of God to them, and was therefore to
be implicitly obeyed. A deviation from his requirements was sufficient
cause for the severest punishment to be visited upon the bodies and souls
of the offenders. Thus the minds of the people were turned away from God
to fallible, erring, and cruel men, nay, more, to the prince of darkness
himself, who exercised his power through them. Sin was disguised in a garb
of sanctity. When the Scriptures are suppressed, and man comes to regard
himself as supreme, we need look only for fraud, deception, and debasing
iniquity. With the elevation of human laws and traditions, was manifest
the corruption that ever results from setting aside the law of God.

Those were days of peril for the church of Christ. The faithful
standard-bearers were few indeed. Though the truth was not left without
witnesses, yet at times it seemed that error and superstition would wholly
prevail, and true religion would be banished from the earth. The gospel
was lost sight of, but the forms of religion were multiplied, and the
people were burdened with rigorous exactions.

They were taught not only to look to the pope as their mediator, but to
trust to works of their own to atone for sin. Long pilgrimages, acts of
penance, the worship of relics, the erection of churches, shrines, and
altars, the payment of large sums to the church,—these and many similar
acts were enjoined to appease the wrath of God or to secure His favor; as
if God were like men, to be angered at trifles, or pacified by gifts or
acts of penance!

Notwithstanding that vice prevailed, even among the leaders of the Roman
Church, her influence seemed steadily to increase. About the close of the
eighth century, papists put forth the claim that in the first ages of the
church the bishops of Rome had possessed the same spiritual power which
they now assumed. To establish this claim, some means must be employed to
give it a show of authority; and this was readily suggested by the father
of lies. Ancient writings were forged by monks. Decrees of councils before
unheard of, were discovered, establishing the universal supremacy of the
pope from the earliest times. And a church that had rejected the truth,
greedily accepted these deceptions.(84)

The few faithful builders upon the true foundation(85) were perplexed and
hindered, as the rubbish of false doctrine obstructed the work. Like the
builders upon the wall of Jerusalem in Nehemiah’s day, some were ready to
say, “The strength of the bearers of burdens is decayed, and there is much
rubbish; so that we are not able to build.”(86) Wearied with the constant
struggle against persecution, fraud, iniquity, and every other obstacle
that Satan could devise to hinder their progress, some who had been
faithful builders became disheartened; and for the sake of peace and
security for their property and their lives, they turned away from the
true foundation. Others, undaunted by the opposition of their enemies,
fearlessly declared, “Be not ye afraid of them: remember the Lord, which
is great and terrible;”(87) and they proceeded with the work, every one
with his sword girded by his side.(88)

The same spirit of hatred and opposition to the truth has inspired the
enemies of God in every age, and the same vigilance and fidelity have been
required in His servants. The words of Christ to the first disciples are
applicable to His followers to the close of time: “What I say unto you I
say unto all, Watch.”(89)

The darkness seemed to grow more dense. Image worship became more general.
Candles were burned before images, and prayers were offered to them. The
most absurd and superstitious customs prevailed. The minds of men were so
completely controlled by superstition that reason itself seemed to have
lost its sway. While priests and bishops were themselves pleasure-loving,
sensual, and corrupt, it could only be expected that the people who looked
to them for guidance would be sunken in ignorance and vice.

Another step in papal assumption was taken, when, in the eleventh century,
Pope Gregory VII. proclaimed the perfection of the Roman Church. Among the
propositions which he put forth, was one declaring that the church had
never erred, nor would it ever err, according to the Scriptures. But the
Scripture proofs did not accompany the assertion. The proud pontiff also
claimed the power to depose emperors, and declared that no sentence which
he pronounced could be reversed by any one, but that it was his
prerogative to reverse the decisions of all others.(90)

A striking illustration of the tyrannical character of this advocate of
infallibility was given in his treatment of the German emperor, Henry IV.
For presuming to disregard the pope’s authority, this monarch was declared
to be excommunicated and dethroned. Terrified by the desertion and threats
of his own princes, who were encouraged in rebellion against him by the
papal mandate, Henry felt the necessity of making his peace with Rome. In
company with his wife and a faithful servant, he crossed the Alps in
midwinter, that he might humble himself before the pope. Upon reaching the
castle whither Gregory had withdrawn, he was conducted, without his
guards, into an outer court, and there, in the severe cold of winter, with
uncovered head and naked feet, and in a miserable dress, he awaited the
pope’s permission to come into his presence. Not until he had continued
three days fasting and making confession, did the pontiff condescend to
grant him pardon. Even then it was only upon condition that the emperor
should await the sanction of the pope before resuming the insignia or
exercising the power of royalty. And Gregory, elated with his triumph,
boasted that it was his duty to pull down the pride of kings.

How striking the contrast between the overbearing pride of this haughty
pontiff and the meekness and gentleness of Christ, who represents Himself
as pleading at the door of the heart for admittance, that He may come in
to bring pardon and peace, and who taught His disciples, “Whosoever will
be chief among you, let him be your servant.”(91)

The advancing centuries witnessed a constant increase of error in the
doctrines put forth from Rome. Even before the establishment of the
papacy, the teachings of heathen philosophers had received attention and
exerted an influence in the church. Many who professed conversion still
clung to the tenets of their pagan philosophy, and not only continued its
study themselves, but urged it upon others as a means of extending their
influence among the heathen. Serious errors were thus introduced into the
Christian faith. Prominent among these was the belief in man’s natural
immortality and his consciousness in death. This doctrine laid the
foundation upon which Rome established the invocation of saints and the
adoration of the Virgin Mary. From this sprung also the heresy of eternal
torment for the finally impenitent, which was early incorporated into the
papal faith.

Then the way was prepared for the introduction of still another invention
of paganism, which Rome named purgatory, and employed to terrify the
credulous and superstitious multitudes. By this heresy is affirmed the
existence of a place of torment, in which the souls of such as have not
merited eternal damnation are to suffer punishment for their sins, and
from which, when freed from impurity, they are admitted to heaven.(92)

Still another fabrication was needed to enable Rome to profit by the fears
and the vices of her adherents. This was supplied by the doctrine of
indulgences. Full remission of sins, past, present, and future, and
release from all the pains and penalties incurred, were promised to all
who would enlist in the pontiff’s wars to extend his temporal dominion, to
punish his enemies, or to exterminate those who dared deny his spiritual
supremacy. The people were also taught that by the payment of money to the
church they might free themselves from sin, and also release the souls of
their deceased friends who were confined in the tormenting flames. By such
means did Rome fill her coffers, and sustain the magnificence, luxury, and
vice of the pretended representatives of Him who had not where to lay His
head.(93)

The scriptural ordinance of the Lord’s supper had been supplanted by the
idolatrous sacrifice of the mass. Papal priests pretended, by their
senseless mummery, to convert the simple bread and wine into the actual
“body and blood of Christ.”(94) With blasphemous presumption, they openly
claimed the power of creating God, the Creator of all things. Christians
were required, on pain of death, to avow their faith in this horrible,
Heaven-insulting heresy. Multitudes who refused were given to the
flames.(95)

In the thirteenth century was established that most terrible of all the
engines of the papacy,—the Inquisition. The prince of darkness wrought
with the leaders of the papal hierarchy. In their secret councils, Satan
and his angels controlled the minds of evil men, while unseen in the midst
stood an angel of God, taking the fearful record of their iniquitous
decrees, and writing the history of deeds too horrible to appear to human
eyes. “Babylon the great” was “drunken with the blood of the saints.” The
mangled forms of millions of martyrs cried to God for vengeance upon that
apostate power.

Popery had become the world’s despot. 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. For hundreds of years the doctrines of
Rome had been extensively and implicitly received, its rites reverently
performed, its festivals generally observed. Its clergy were honored and
liberally sustained. Never since has the Roman Church attained to greater
dignity, magnificence, or power.

But “the noon of the papacy was the midnight of the world.”(96) The Holy
Scriptures were almost unknown, not only to the people, but to the
priests. Like the Pharisees of old, the papal leaders hated the light
which would reveal their sins. God’s law, the standard of righteousness,
having been removed, they exercised power without limit, and practised
vice without restraint. Fraud, avarice, and profligacy prevailed. Men
shrank from no crime by which they could gain wealth or position. The
palaces of popes and prelates were scenes of the vilest debauchery. Some
of the reigning pontiffs were guilty of crimes so revolting that secular
rulers endeavored to depose these dignitaries of the church as monsters
too vile to be tolerated. For centuries Europe had made no progress in
learning, arts, or civilization. A moral and intellectual paralysis had
fallen upon Christendom.

The condition of the world under the Romish power presented a fearful and
striking fulfilment of the words of the prophet Hosea: “My people are
destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I
will also reject thee:... seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, I
will also forget thy children.” “There is no truth, nor mercy, nor
knowledge of God in the land. By swearing, and lying, and killing, and
stealing, and committing adultery, they break out, and blood toucheth
blood.”(97) Such were the results of banishing the word of God.





4. THE WALDENSES.


                     [Illustration: Chapter header.]

Amid the gloom that settled upon the earth during the long period of papal
supremacy, the light of truth could not be wholly extinguished. In every
age there were witnesses for God,—men who cherished faith in Christ as the
only mediator between God and man, who held the Bible as the only rule of
life, and who hallowed the true Sabbath. How much the world owes to these
men, posterity will never know. They were branded as heretics, their
motives impugned, their characters maligned, their writings suppressed,
misrepresented, or mutilated. Yet they stood firm, and from age to age
maintained their faith in its purity, as a sacred heritage for the
generations to come.

The history of God’s people during the ages of darkness that followed upon
Rome’s supremacy, is written in heaven, but they have little place in
human records. Few traces of their existence can be found, except in the
accusations of their persecutors. It was the policy of Rome to obliterate
every trace of dissent from her doctrines or decrees. Everything
heretical, whether persons or writings, she sought to destroy. Expressions
of doubt, or questions as to the authority of papal dogmas, were enough to
forfeit the life of rich or poor, high or low. Rome endeavored also to
destroy every record of her cruelty toward dissenters. Papal councils
decreed that books and writings containing such records should be
committed to the flames. Before the invention of printing, books were few
in number, and in a form not favorable for preservation; therefore there
was little to prevent the Romanists from carrying out their purpose.

No church within the limits of Romish jurisdiction was long left
undisturbed in the enjoyment of freedom of conscience. No sooner had the
papacy obtained power than she stretched out her arms to crush all that
refused to acknowledge her sway; and one after another, the churches
submitted to her dominion.

In Great Britain, primitive Christianity had very early taken root. The
gospel received by the Britons in the first centuries, was then
uncorrupted by Romish apostasy. Persecution from pagan emperors, which
extended even to these far-off shores, was the only gift that the first
churches of Britain received from Rome. Many of the Christians, fleeing
from persecution in England, found refuge in Scotland; thence the truth
was carried to Ireland, and in all these countries it was received with
gladness.

When the Saxons invaded Britain, heathenism gained control. The conquerors
disdained to be instructed by their slaves, and the Christians were forced
to retreat to the mountains and the wild moors. Yet the light, hidden for
a time, continued to burn. In Scotland, a century later, it shone out with
a brightness that extended to far-distant lands. From Ireland came the
pious Columba and his co-laborers, who, gathering about them the scattered
believers on the lonely island of Iona, made this the center of their
missionary labors. Among these evangelists was an observer of the Bible
Sabbath, and thus this truth was introduced among the people. A school was
established at Iona, from which missionaries went out, not only to
Scotland and England, but to Germany, Switzerland, and even Italy.

But Rome had fixed her eyes on Britain, and resolved to bring it under her
supremacy. In the sixth century her missionaries undertook the conversion
of the heathen Saxons. They were received with favor by the proud
barbarians, and they induced many thousands to profess the Romish faith.
As the work progressed, the papal leaders and their converts encountered
the primitive Christians. A striking contrast was presented. The latter
were simple, humble, and scriptural in character, doctrine, and manners,
while the former manifested the superstition, pomp, and arrogance of
popery. The emissary of Rome demanded that these Christian churches
acknowledge the supremacy of the sovereign pontiff. The Britons meekly
replied that they desired to love all men, but that the pope was not
entitled to supremacy in the church, and they could render to him only
that submission which was due to every follower of Christ. Repeated
attempts were made to secure their allegiance to Rome; but these humble
Christians, amazed at the pride displayed by her emissaries, steadfastly
replied that they knew no other master than Christ. Now the true spirit of
the papacy was revealed. Said the Romish leader: “If you will not receive
brethren who bring you peace, you shall receive enemies who will bring you
war. If you will not unite with us in showing the Saxons the way of life,
you shall receive from them the stroke of death.”(98) These were no idle
threats. War, intrigue, and deception were employed against these
witnesses for a Bible faith, until the churches of Britain were destroyed,
or forced to submit to the authority of the pope.

In lands beyond the jurisdiction of Rome, there existed for many centuries
bodies of Christians who remained almost wholly free from papal
corruption. They were surrounded by heathenism, and in the lapse of ages
were affected by its errors; but they continued to regard the Bible as the
only rule of faith, and adhered to many of its truths. These Christians
believed in the perpetuity of the law of God, and observed the Sabbath of
the fourth commandment. Churches that held to this faith and practice,
existed in Central Africa and among the Armenians of Asia.

But of those who resisted the encroachments of the papal power, the
Waldenses stood foremost. In the very land where popery had fixed its
seat, there its falsehood and corruption were most steadfastly resisted.
For centuries the churches of Piedmont maintained their independence; but
the time came at last when Rome insisted upon their submission. After
ineffectual struggles against her tyranny, the leaders of these churches
reluctantly acknowledged the supremacy of the power to which the whole
world seemed to pay homage. There were some, however, who refused to yield
to the authority of pope or prelate. They were determined to maintain
their allegiance to God, and to preserve the purity and simplicity of
their faith. A separation took place. Those who adhered to the ancient
faith now withdrew; some, forsaking their native Alps, raised the banner
of truth in foreign lands; others retreated to the secluded glens and
rocky fastnesses of the mountains, and there preserved their freedom to
worship God.

The faith which for many centuries was held and taught by the Waldensian
Christians, was in marked contrast to the false doctrines put forth from
Rome. Their religious belief was founded upon the written word of God, the
true system of Christianity. But those humble peasants, in their obscure
retreats, shut away from the world, and bound to daily toil among their
flocks and their vineyards, had not by themselves arrived at the truth in
opposition to the dogmas and heresies of the apostate church. Theirs was
not a faith newly received. Their religious belief was their inheritance
from their fathers. They contended for the faith of the apostolic
church,—“the faith which was once delivered unto the saints.”(99) “The
church in the wilderness,” and not the proud hierarchy enthroned in the
world’s great capital, was the true church of Christ, the guardian of the
treasures of truth which God has committed to His people to be given to
the world.

Among the leading causes that had led to the separation of the true church
from Rome, was the hatred of the latter toward the Bible Sabbath. As
foretold by prophecy, the papal power cast down the truth to the ground.
The law of God was trampled in the dust, while the traditions and customs
of men were exalted. The churches that were under the rule of the papacy
were early compelled to honor the Sunday as a holy day. Amid the
prevailing error and superstition, many, even of the true people of God,
became so bewildered that while they observed the Sabbath, they refrained
from labor also on the Sunday. But this did not satisfy the papal leaders.
They demanded not only that Sunday be hallowed, but that the Sabbath be
profaned; and they denounced in the strongest language those who dared to
show it honor. It was only by fleeing from the power of Rome that any
could obey God’s law in peace.

The Waldenses were among the first of the peoples of Europe to obtain a
translation of the Holy Scriptures.(100) Hundreds of years before the
Reformation, they possessed the Bible in manuscript in their native
tongue. They had the truth unadulterated, and this rendered them the
special objects of hatred and persecution. They declared the Church of
Rome to be the apostate Babylon of the Apocalypse, and at the peril of
their lives they stood up to resist her corruptions. While, under the
pressure of long-continued persecution, some compromised their faith,
little by little yielding its distinctive principles, others held fast the
truth. Through ages of darkness and apostasy, there were Waldenses who
denied the supremacy of Rome, who rejected image worship as idolatry, and
who kept the true Sabbath. Under the fiercest tempests of opposition they
maintained their faith. Though gashed by the Savoyard spear, and scorched
by the Romish fagot, they stood unflinchingly for God’s word and His
honor.

Behind the lofty bulwarks of the mountains,—in all ages the refuge of the
persecuted and oppressed,—the Waldenses found a hiding-place. Here the
light of truth was kept burning amid the darkness of the Middle Ages.
Here, for a thousand years, witnesses for the truth maintained the ancient
faith.

God had provided for His people a sanctuary of awful grandeur, befitting
the mighty truths committed to their trust. To those faithful exiles the
mountains were an emblem of the immutable righteousness of Jehovah. They
pointed their children to the heights towering above them in unchanging
majesty, and spoke to them of Him with whom there is no variableness nor
shadow of turning, whose word is as enduring as the everlasting hills. God
had set fast the mountains, and girded them with strength; no arm but that
of Infinite Power could move them out of their place. In like manner He
had established His law, the foundation of His government in heaven and
upon earth. The arm of man might reach his fellow-men and destroy their
lives; but that arm could as readily uproot the mountains from their
foundations, and hurl them into the sea, as it could change one precept of
the law of Jehovah, or blot out one of His promises to those who do His
will. In their fidelity to His law, God’s servants should be as firm as
the unchanging hills.

The mountains that girded their lowly valleys were a constant witness to
God’s creative power, and a never-failing assurance of His protecting
care. Those pilgrims learned to love the silent symbols of Jehovah’s
presence. They indulged no repining because of the hardships of their lot;
they were never lonely amid the mountain solitudes. They thanked God that
He had provided for them an asylum from the wrath and cruelty of men. They
rejoiced in their freedom to worship before Him. Often when pursued by
their enemies, the strength of the hills proved a sure defense. From many
a lofty cliff they chanted the praise of God, and the armies of Rome could
not silence their songs of thanksgiving.

Pure, simple, and fervent was the piety of these followers of Christ. The
principles of truth they valued above houses and lands, friends, kindred,
even life itself. These principles they earnestly sought to impress upon
the hearts of the young. From earliest childhood the youth were instructed
in the Scriptures, and taught to regard sacredly the claims of the law of
God. Copies of the Bible were rare; therefore its precious words were
committed to memory. Many were able to repeat large portions of both the
Old and the New Testament. Thoughts of God were associated alike with the
sublime scenery of nature and with the humble blessings of daily life.
Little children learned to look with gratitude to God as the giver of
every favor and every comfort.

Parents, tender and affectionate as they were, loved their children too
wisely to accustom them to self-indulgence. Before them was a life of
trial and hardship, perhaps a martyr’s death. They were educated from
childhood to endure hardness, to submit to control, and yet to think and
act for themselves. Very early they were taught to bear responsibilities,
to be guarded in speech, and to understand the wisdom of silence. One
indiscreet word let fall in the hearing of their enemies, might imperil
not only the life of the speaker, but the lives of hundreds of his
brethren; for as wolves hunting their prey did the enemies of truth pursue
those who dared to claim freedom of religious faith.

The Waldenses had sacrificed their worldly prosperity for the truth’s
sake, and with persevering patience they toiled for their bread. Every
spot of tillable land among the mountains was carefully improved; the
valleys and the less fertile hillsides were made to yield their increase.
Economy and severe self-denial formed a part of the education which the
children received as their only legacy. They were taught that God designs
life to be a discipline, and that their wants could be supplied only by
personal labor, by forethought, care, and faith. The process was laborious
and wearisome, but it was wholesome, just what man needs in his fallen
state, the school which God has provided for his training and development.
While the youth were inured to toil and hardship, the culture of the
intellect was not neglected. They were taught that all their powers
belonged to God, and that all were to be improved and developed for His
service.

The Vaudois churches, in their purity and simplicity, resembled the church
of apostolic times. Rejecting the supremacy of pope and prelate, they held
the Bible as the only supreme, infallible authority. Their pastors, unlike
the lordly priests of Rome, followed the example of their Master, who
“came not to be ministered unto, but to minister.” They fed the flock of
God, leading them to the green pastures and living fountains of His holy
word. Far from the monuments of human pomp and pride, the people
assembled, not in magnificent churches or grand cathedrals, but beneath
the shadow of the mountains, in the Alpine valleys, or, in time of danger,
in some rocky stronghold, to listen to the words of truth from the
servants of Christ. The pastors not only preached the gospel, but they
visited the sick, catechized the children, admonished the erring, and
labored to settle disputes and promote harmony and brotherly love. In
times of peace they were sustained by the freewill offerings of the
people; but, like Paul the tent-maker, each learned some trade or
profession by which, if necessary, to provide for his own support.

From their pastors the youth received instruction. While attention was
given to branches of general learning, the Bible was made the chief study.
The Gospels of Matthew and John were committed to memory, with many of the
Epistles. They were employed also in copying the Scriptures. Some
manuscripts contained the whole Bible, others only brief selections, to
which some simple explanations of the text were added by those who were
able to expound the Scriptures. Thus were brought forth the treasures of
truth so long concealed by those who sought to exalt themselves above God.

By patient, untiring labor, sometimes in the deep, dark caverns of the
earth, by the light of torches, the sacred Scriptures were written out,
verse by verse, chapter by chapter. Thus the work went on, the revealed
will of God shining out like pure gold; how much brighter, clearer, and
more powerful because of the trials undergone for its sake, only those
could realize who were engaged in the work. Angels from heaven surrounded
these faithful workers.

Satan had urged on the papal priests and prelates to bury the Word of
truth beneath the rubbish of error, heresy, and superstition; but in a
most wonderful manner it was preserved uncorrupted through all the ages of
darkness. It bore not the stamp of man, but the impress of God. Men have
been unwearied in their efforts to obscure the plain, simple meaning of
the Scriptures, and to make them contradict their own testimony; but like
the ark upon the billowy deep, the word of God outrides the storms that
threaten it with destruction. As the mine has rich veins of gold and
silver hidden beneath the surface, so that all must dig who would discover
its precious stores, so the Holy Scriptures have treasures of truth that
are revealed only to the earnest, humble, prayerful seeker. God designed
the Bible to be a lesson-book to all mankind, in childhood, youth, and
manhood, and to be studied through all time. He gave His word to men as a
revelation of Himself. Every new truth discerned is a fresh disclosure of
the character of its Author. The study of the Scriptures is the means
divinely ordained to bring men into closer connection with their Creator,
and to give them a clearer knowledge of His will. It is the medium of
communication between God and man.

While the Waldenses regarded the fear of the Lord as the beginning of
wisdom, they were not blind to the importance of a contact with the world,
a knowledge of men and of active life, in expanding the mind and
quickening the perceptions. From their schools in the mountains some of
the youth were sent to institutions of learning in the cities of France or
Italy, where was a more extended field for study, thought, and observation
than in their native Alps. The youth thus sent forth were exposed to
temptation, they witnessed vice, they encountered Satan’s wily agents, who
urged upon them the most subtle heresies and the most dangerous
deceptions. But their education from childhood had been of a character to
prepare them for all this.

In the schools whither they went, they were not to make confidants of any.
Their garments were so prepared as to conceal their greatest treasure,—the
precious manuscripts of the Scriptures. These, the fruit of months and
years of toil, they carried with them, and whenever they could do so
without exciting suspicion, they cautiously placed some portion in the way
of those whose hearts seemed open to receive the truth. From their
mother’s knee the Waldensian youth had been trained with this purpose in
view; they understood their work, and faithfully performed it. Converts to
the true faith were won in these institutions of learning, and frequently
its principles were found to be permeating the entire school; yet the
papal leaders could not, by the closest inquiry, trace the so-called
corrupting heresy to its source.

The spirit of Christ is a missionary spirit. The very first impulse of the
renewed heart is to bring others also to the Saviour. Such was the spirit
of the Vaudois Christians. They felt that God required more of them than
merely to preserve the truth in its purity in their own churches; that a
solemn responsibility rested upon them to let their light shine forth to
those who were in darkness; by the mighty power of God’s word they sought
to break the bondage which Rome had imposed. The Vaudois ministers were
trained as missionaries, every one who expected to enter the ministry
being required first to gain an experience as an evangelist. Each was to
serve three years in some mission field before taking charge of a church
at home. This service, requiring at the outset self-denial and sacrifice,
was a fitting introduction to the pastor’s life in those times that tried
men’s souls. The youth who received ordination to the sacred office saw
before them, not the prospect of earthly wealth and glory, but a life of
toil and danger, and possibly a martyr’s fate. The missionaries went out
two and two, as Jesus sent forth His disciples. With each young man was
usually associated a man of age and experience, the youth being under the
guidance of his companion, who was held responsible for his training, and
whose instruction he was required to heed. These co-laborers were not
always together, but often met for prayer and counsel, thus strengthening
each other in the faith.

To have made known the object of their mission would have insured its
defeat; therefore they carefully concealed their real character. Every
minister possessed a knowledge of some trade or profession, and the
missionaries prosecuted their work under cover of a secular calling.
Usually they chose that of merchant or peddler. “They carried silks,
jewelry, and other articles, at that time not easily purchasable save at
distant marts; and they were welcomed as merchants where they would have
been spurned as missionaries.”(101) All the while their hearts were
uplifted to God for wisdom to present a treasure more precious than gold
or gems. They secretly carried about with them copies of the Bible, in
whole or in part; and whenever an opportunity was presented, they called
the attention of their customers to these manuscripts. Often an interest
to read God’s word was thus awakened, and some portion was gladly left
with those who desired to receive it.

The work of these missionaries began in the plains and valleys at the foot
of their own mountains, but it extended far beyond these limits. With
naked feet and in garments coarse and travel-stained as were those of
their Master, they passed through great cities, and penetrated to distant
lands. Everywhere they scattered the precious seed. Churches sprung up in
their path, and the blood of martyrs witnessed for the truth. The day of
God will reveal a rich harvest of souls garnered by the labors of these
faithful men. Veiled and silent, the word of God was making its way
through Christendom, and meeting a glad reception in the homes and hearts
of men.

To the Waldenses the Scriptures were not merely a record of God’s dealings
with men in the past, and a revelation of the responsibilities and duties
of the present, but an unfolding of the perils and glories of the future.
They believed that the end of all things was not far distant; and as they
studied the Bible with prayer and tears, they were the more deeply
impressed with its precious utterances, and with their duty to make known
to others its saving truths. They saw the plan of salvation clearly
revealed in the sacred pages, and they found comfort, hope, and peace in
believing in Jesus. As the light illuminated their understanding and made
glad their hearts, they longed to shed its beams upon those who were in
the darkness of papal error.

They saw that under the guidance of pope and priests, multitudes were
vainly endeavoring to obtain pardon by afflicting their bodies for the sin
of their souls. Taught to trust to their good works to save them, they
were ever looking to themselves, their minds dwelling upon their sinful
condition, seeing themselves exposed to the wrath of God, afflicting soul
and body, yet finding no relief. Thus conscientious souls were bound by
the doctrines of Rome. Thousands abandoned friends and kindred, and spent
their lives in convent cells. By oft-repeated fasts and cruel scourgings,
by midnight vigils, by prostration for weary hours upon the cold, damp
stones of their dreary abode, by long pilgrimages, by humiliating penance
and fearful torture, thousands vainly sought to obtain peace of
conscience. Oppressed with a sense of sin, and haunted with the fear of
God’s avenging wrath, many suffered on, until exhausted nature gave way,
and without one ray of light or hope, they sank into the tomb.

The Waldenses longed to break to these starving souls the bread of life,
to open to them the messages of peace in the promises of God, and to point
them to Christ as their only hope of salvation. The doctrine that good
works can atone for the transgression of God’s law, they held to be based
upon falsehood. Reliance upon human merit intercepts the view of Christ’s
infinite love. Jesus died as a sacrifice for man because the fallen race
can do nothing to recommend themselves to God. The merits of a crucified
and risen Saviour are the foundation of the Christian’s faith. The
dependence of the soul upon Christ is as real, and its connection with Him
must be as close, as that of a limb to the body, or of a branch to the
vine.

The teachings of popes and priests had led men to look upon the character
of God, and even of Christ, as stern, gloomy, and forbidding. The Saviour
was represented as so far devoid of sympathy with man in his fallen state
that the mediation of priests and saints must be invoked. Those whose
minds had been enlightened by the word of God longed to point these souls
to Jesus as their compassionate, loving Saviour, standing with
outstretched arms, inviting all to come to Him with their burden of sin,
their care and weariness. They longed to clear away the obstructions which
Satan had piled up that men might not see the promises, and come directly
to God, confessing their sins, and obtaining pardon and peace.

Eagerly did the Vaudois missionary unfold to the inquiring mind the
precious truths of the gospel. Cautiously he produced the carefully
written portions of the Holy Scriptures. It was his greatest joy to give
hope to the conscientious, sin-stricken soul, who could see only a God of
vengeance, waiting to execute justice. With quivering lip and tearful eye
did he, often on bended knees, open to his brethren the precious promises
that reveal the sinner’s only hope. Thus the light of truth penetrated
many a darkened mind, rolling back the cloud of gloom, until the Sun of
Righteousness shone into the heart with healing in His beams. It was often
the case that some portion of Scripture was read again and again, the
hearer desiring it to be repeated, as if he would assure himself that he
had heard aright. Especially was the repetition of these words eagerly
desired: “The blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all
sin.”(102) “As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must
the Son of man be lifted up: that whosoever believeth in Him should not
perish, but have eternal life.”(103)

Many were undeceived in regard to the claims of Rome. They saw how vain is
the mediation of men or angels in behalf of the sinner. As the true light
dawned upon their minds, they exclaimed with rejoicing, “Christ is my
priest; His blood is my sacrifice; His altar is my confessional.” They
cast themselves wholly upon the merits of Jesus, repeating the words,
“Without faith it is impossible to please Him.”(104) “There is none other
name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.”(105)

The assurance of a Saviour’s love seemed too much for some of these poor
tempest-tossed souls to realize. So great was the relief which it brought,
such a flood of light was shed upon them, that they seemed transported to
heaven. Their hands were laid confidingly in the hand of Christ; their
feet were planted upon the Rock of Ages. All fear of death was banished.
They could now covet the prison and the fagot if they might thereby honor
the name of their Redeemer.

In secret places the word of God was thus brought forth and read,
sometimes to a single soul, sometimes to a little company who were longing
for light and truth. Often the entire night was spent in this manner. So
great would be the wonder and admiration of the listeners that the
messenger of mercy was not infrequently compelled to cease his reading
until the understanding could grasp the tidings of salvation. Often would
words like these be uttered: “Will God indeed accept _my_ offering? Will
He smile upon _me_? Will He pardon _me_?” The answer was read, “Come unto
Me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.”(106)

Faith grasped the promise, and the glad response was heard: “No more long
pilgrimages to make; no more painful journeys to holy shrines. I may come
to Jesus just as I am, sinful and unholy, and He will not spurn the
penitential prayer. ‘Thy sins be forgiven thee.’ Mine, even mine, may be
forgiven!”

A tide of sacred joy would fill the heart, and the name of Jesus would be
magnified by praise and thanksgiving. Those happy souls returned to their
homes to diffuse light, to repeat to others, as well as they could, their
new experience; that they had found the true and living Way. There was a
strange and solemn power in the words of Scripture that spoke directly to
the hearts of those who were longing for the truth. It was the voice of
God, and it carried conviction to those who heard.

The messenger of truth went on his way; but his appearance of humility,
his sincerity, his earnestness and deep fervor, were subjects of frequent
remark. In many instances his hearers had not asked him whence he came or
whither he went. They had been so overwhelmed, at first with surprise, and
afterward with gratitude and joy, that they had not thought to question
him. When they had urged him to accompany them to their homes, he had
replied that he must visit the lost sheep of the flock. Could he have been
an angel from heaven? they queried.

In many cases the messenger of truth was seen no more. He had made his way
to other lands, or he was wearing out his life in some unknown dungeon, or
perhaps his bones were whitening on the spot where he had witnessed for
the truth. But the words he had left behind could not be destroyed. They
were doing their work in the hearts of men; the blessed results will be
fully known only in the judgment.

The Waldensian missionaries were invading the kingdom of Satan, and the
powers of darkness aroused to greater vigilance. Every effort to advance
the truth was watched by the prince of evil, and he excited the fears of
his agents. The papal leaders saw a portent of danger to their cause from
the labors of these humble itinerants. If the light of truth were allowed
to shine unobstructed, it would sweep away the heavy clouds of error that
enveloped the people; it would direct the minds of men to God alone, and
would eventually destroy the supremacy of Rome.

The very existence of this people, holding the faith of the ancient
church, was a constant testimony to Rome’s apostasy, and therefore excited
the most bitter hatred and persecution. Their refusal to surrender the
Scriptures was also an offense that Rome could not tolerate. She
determined to blot them from the earth. Now began the most terrible
crusades against God’s people in their mountain homes. Inquisitors were
put upon their track, and the scene of innocent Abel falling before the
murderous Cain was often repeated.

Again and again were their fertile lands laid waste, their dwellings and
chapels swept away, so that where once were flourishing fields and the
homes of an innocent, industrious people, there remained only a desert. As
the ravenous beast is rendered more furious by the taste of blood, so the
rage of the papists was kindled to greater intensity by the sufferings of
their victims. Many of these witnesses for a pure faith were pursued
across the mountains, and hunted down in the valleys where they were
hidden, shut in by mighty forests and pinnacles of rock.

No charge could be brought against the moral character of this proscribed
class. Even their enemies declared them to be a peaceable, quiet, pious
people. Their grand offense was that they would not worship God according
to the will of the pope. For this crime, every humiliation, insult, and
torture that men or devils could invent was heaped upon them.

When Rome at one time determined to exterminate the hated sect, a bull was
issued by the pope, condemning them as heretics, and delivering them to
slaughter.(107) They were not accused as idlers, or dishonest, or
disorderly; but it was declared that they had an appearance of piety and
sanctity that seduced “the sheep of the true fold.” Therefore the pope
ordered “that malicious and abominable sect of malignants,” if they
“refuse to abjure, to be crushed like venomous snakes.”(108) Did this
haughty potentate expect to meet those words again? Did he know that they
were registered in the books of heaven, to confront him at the judgment?
“Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these My brethren,”
said Jesus, “ye have done it unto Me.”(109)

This bull called upon all members of the church to join the crusade
against the heretics. As an incentive to engage in this cruel work, it
“absolved from all ecclesiastical pains and penalties, general and
particular; it released all who joined the crusade from any oaths they
might have taken; it legitimatized their title to any property they might
have illegally acquired; and promised remission of all their sins to such
as should kill any heretic. It annulled all contracts made in favor of
Vaudois, ordered their domestics to abandon them, forbade all persons to
give them any aid whatever, and empowered all persons to take possession
of their property.” This document clearly reveals the master-spirit behind
the scenes. It is the roar of the dragon, and not the voice of Christ,
that is heard therein.

The papal leaders would not conform their characters to the great standard
of God’s law, but erected a standard to suit themselves, and determined to
compel all to conform to this because Rome willed it. The most horrible
tragedies were enacted. Corrupt and blasphemous priests and popes were
doing the work which Satan appointed them. Mercy had no place in their
natures. The same spirit that crucified Christ and slew the apostles, the
same that moved the bloodthirsty Nero against the faithful in his day, was
at work to rid the earth of those who were beloved of God.

The persecutions visited for many centuries upon this God-fearing people
were endured by them with a patience and constancy that honored their
Redeemer. Notwithstanding the crusades against them, and the inhuman
butchery to which they were subjected, they continued to send out their
missionaries to scatter the precious truth. They were hunted to the death;
yet their blood watered the seed sown, and it failed not of yielding
fruit. Thus the Waldenses witnessed for God, centuries before the birth of
Luther. Scattered over many lands, they planted the seeds of the
Reformation that began in the time of Wycliffe, grew broad and deep in the
days of Luther, and is to be carried forward to the close of time by those
who also are willing to suffer all things for “the word of God, and for
the testimony of Jesus Christ.”(110)





5. JOHN WYCLIFFE.


                     [Illustration: Chapter header.]

Before the Reformation, there were at times but very few copies of the
Bible in existence; but God had not suffered His word to be wholly
destroyed. Its truths were not to be forever hidden. He could as easily
unchain the words of life as He could open prison doors and unbolt iron
gates to set His servants free. In the different countries of Europe men
were moved by the Spirit of God to search for the truth as for hid
treasures. Providentially guided to the Holy Scriptures, they studied the
sacred pages with intense interest. They were willing to accept the light,
at any cost to themselves. Though they did not see all things clearly,
they were enabled to perceive many long-buried truths. As Heaven-sent
messengers they went forth, rending asunder the chains of error and
superstition, and calling upon those who had been so long enslaved, to
arise and assert their liberty.

Except among the Waldenses, the word of God had for ages been locked up in
languages known only to the learned; but the time had come for the
Scriptures to be translated, and given to the people of different lands in
their native tongue. The world had passed its midnight. The hours of
darkness were wearing away, and in many lands appeared tokens of the
coming dawn.

In the fourteenth century arose in England the “morning star of the
Reformation.” John Wycliffe was the herald of reform, not for England
alone, but for all Christendom. The great protest against Rome which it
was permitted him to utter, was never to be silenced. That protest opened
the struggle which was to result in the emancipation of individuals, of
churches, and of nations.

Wycliffe received a liberal education, and with him the fear of the Lord
was the beginning of wisdom. He was noted at college for his fervent piety
as well as for his remarkable talents and sound scholarship. In his thirst
for knowledge he sought to become acquainted with every branch of
learning. He was educated in the scholastic philosophy, in the canons of
the church, and in the civil law, especially that of his own country. In
his after-labors the value of this early training was apparent. A thorough
acquaintance with the speculative philosophy of his time enabled him to
expose its errors; and by his study of national and ecclesiastical law he
was prepared to engage in the great struggle for civil and religious
liberty. While he could wield the weapons drawn from the word of God, he
had acquired the intellectual discipline of the schools, and he understood
the tactics of the schoolmen. The power of his genius and the extent and
thoroughness of his knowledge commanded the respect of both friends and
foes. His adherents saw with satisfaction that their champion stood
foremost among the leading minds of the nation; and his enemies were
prevented from casting contempt upon the cause of reform by exposing the
ignorance or weakness of its supporter.

While Wycliffe was still at college, he entered upon the study of the
Scriptures. In those early times, when the Bible existed only in the
ancient languages, scholars were enabled to find their way to the fountain
of truth, which was closed to the uneducated classes. Thus already the way
had been prepared for Wycliffe’s future work as a Reformer.

Men of learning had studied the word of God, and had found the great truth
of His free grace there revealed. In their teachings they had spread a
knowledge of this truth, and had led others to turn to the Living Oracles.

When Wycliffe’s attention was directed to the Scriptures, he entered upon
their investigation with the same thoroughness which had enabled him to
master the learning of the schools. Heretofore he had felt a great want,
which neither his scholastic studies nor the teaching of the church could
satisfy. In the word of God he found that which he had before sought in
vain. Here he saw the plan of salvation revealed, and Christ set forth as
the only advocate for man. He gave himself to the service of Christ, and
determined to proclaim the truths he had discovered.

Like after-reformers, Wycliffe did not, at the opening of his work,
foresee whither it would lead him. He did not set himself deliberately in
opposition to Rome. But devotion to truth could not but bring him in
conflict with falsehood. The more clearly he discerned the errors of the
papacy, the more earnestly he presented the teaching of the Bible. He saw
that Rome had forsaken the word of God for human tradition; he fearlessly
accused the priesthood of having banished the Scriptures, and demanded
that the Bible be restored to the people, and that its authority be again
established in the church. He was an able and earnest teacher, and an
eloquent preacher, and his daily life was a demonstration of the truths he
preached. His knowledge of the Scriptures, the force of his reasoning, the
purity of his life, and his unbending courage and integrity, won for him
general esteem and confidence. Many of the people had become dissatisfied
with their former faith, as they saw the iniquity that prevailed in the
Roman Church, and they hailed with unconcealed joy the truths brought to
view by Wycliffe; but the papal leaders were filled with rage when they
perceived that this Reformer was gaining an influence greater than their
own.

Wycliffe was a keen detector of error, and he struck fearlessly against
many of the abuses sanctioned by the authority of Rome. While acting as
chaplain for the king, he took a bold stand against the payment of tribute
claimed by the pope from the English monarch, and showed that the papal
assumption of authority over secular rulers was contrary to both reason
and revelation. The demands of the pope had excited great indignation, and
Wycliffe’s teachings exerted an influence upon the leading minds of the
nation. The king and the nobles united in denying the pontiff’s claim to
temporal authority, and in refusing the payment of the tribute. Thus an
effectual blow was struck against the papal supremacy in England.

Another evil against which the Reformer waged long and resolute battle,
was the institution of the orders of mendicant friars. These friars
swarmed in England, casting a blight upon the greatness and prosperity of
the nation. Industry, education, morals, all felt the withering influence.
The monks’ life of idleness and beggary was not only a heavy drain upon
the resources of the people, but it brought useful labor into contempt.
The youth were demoralized and corrupted. By the influence of the friars
many were induced to enter a cloister and devote themselves to a monastic
life, and this not only without the consent of their parents, but even
without their knowledge, and contrary to their commands. One of the early
Fathers of the Roman Church, urging the claims of monasticism above the
obligations of filial love and duty, had declared: “Though thy father
should lie before thy door, weeping and lamenting, and thy mother should
show the body that bore thee and the breasts that nursed thee, see that
thou trample them under foot, and go onward straightway to Christ.” By
this “monstrous inhumanity,” as Luther afterward styled it, “savoring more
of the wolf and the tyrant than of the Christian and the man,” were the
hearts of children steeled against their parents.(111) Thus did the papal
leaders, like the Pharisees of old, make the commandment of God of none
effect by their tradition. Thus homes were made desolate, and parents were
deprived of the society of their sons and daughters.

Even the students in the universities were deceived by the false
representations of the monks, and induced to join their orders. Many
afterward repented this step, seeing that they had blighted their own
lives, and had brought sorrow upon their parents; but once fast in the
snare, it was impossible for them to obtain their freedom. Many parents,
fearing the influence of the monks, refused to send their sons to the
universities. There was a marked falling off in the number of students in
attendance at the great centers of learning. The schools languished, and
ignorance prevailed.

The pope had bestowed on these monks the power to hear confessions and to
grant pardon. This became a source of great evil. Bent on enhancing their
gains, the friars were so ready to grant absolution that criminals of all
descriptions resorted to them, and as a result, the worst vices rapidly
increased. The sick and the poor were left to suffer, while the gifts that
should have relieved their wants went to the monks, who with threats
demanded the alms of the people, denouncing the impiety of those who
should withhold gifts from their orders. Notwithstanding their profession
of poverty, the wealth of the friars was constantly increasing, and their
magnificent edifices and luxurious tables made more apparent the growing
poverty of the nation. And while spending their time in luxury and
pleasure, they sent out in their stead ignorant men, who could only
recount marvelous tales, legends, and jests to amuse the people, and make
them still more completely the dupes of the monks. Yet the friars
continued to maintain their hold on the superstitious multitudes, and led
them to believe that all religious duty was comprised in acknowledging the
supremacy of the pope, adoring the saints, and making gifts to the monks,
and that this was sufficient to secure them a place in heaven.

Men of learning and piety had labored in vain to bring about a reform in
these monastic orders; but Wycliffe, with clearer insight, struck at the
root of the evil, declaring that the system itself was false, and that it
should be abolished. Discussion and inquiry were awakening. As the monks
traversed the country, vending the pope’s pardons, many were led to doubt
the possibility of purchasing forgiveness with money, and they questioned
whether they should not seek pardon from God rather than from the pontiff
of Rome.(112) Not a few were alarmed at the rapacity of the friars, whose
greed seemed never to be satisfied. “The monks and priests of Rome,” said
they, “are eating us away like a cancer. God must deliver us, or the
people will perish.”(113) To cover their avarice, these begging monks
claimed that they were following the Saviour’s example, declaring that
Jesus and His disciples had been supported by the charities of the people.
This claim resulted in injury to their cause, for it led many to the Bible
to learn the truth for themselves,—a result which of all others was least
desired by Rome. The minds of men were directed to the Source of truth,
which it was her object to conceal.

Wycliffe began to write and publish tracts against the friars, not,
however, seeking so much to enter into dispute with them as to call the
minds of the people to the teachings of the Bible and its Author. He
declared that the power of pardon or of excommunication is possessed by
the pope in no greater degree than by common priests, and that no man can
be truly excommunicated unless he has first brought upon himself the
condemnation of God. In no more effectual way could he have undertaken the
overthrow of that mammoth fabric of spiritual and temporal dominion which
the pope had erected, and in which the souls and bodies of millions were
held captive.

Again Wycliffe was called to defend the rights of the English crown
against the encroachments of Rome; and being appointed a royal ambassador,
he spent two years in the Netherlands, in conference with the
commissioners of the pope. Here he was brought into communication with
ecclesiastics from France, Italy, and Spain, and he had an opportunity to
look behind the scenes, and gain a knowledge of many things which would
have remained hidden from him in England. He learned much that was to give
point to his after-labors. In these representatives from the papal court
he read the true character and aims of the hierarchy. He returned to
England to repeat his former teachings more openly and with greater zeal,
declaring that covetousness, pride, and deception were the gods of Rome.

In one of his tracts he said, speaking of the pope and his collectors:
“They draw out of our land poor men’s livelihood, and many thousand marks,
by the year, of the king’s money, for sacraments and spiritual things,
that is cursed heresy of simony, and maketh all Christendom assent and
maintain this heresy. And certes though our realm had a huge hill of gold,
and never other man took thereof but only this proud worldly priest’s
collector, by process of time this hill must be spended; for he taketh
ever money out of our land, and sendeth naught again but God’s curse for
his simony.”(114)

Soon after his return to England, Wycliffe received from the king the
appointment to the rectory of Lutterworth. This was an assurance that the
monarch at least had not been displeased by his plain speaking. Wycliffe’s
influence was felt in shaping the action of the court, as well as in
moulding the belief of the nation.

The papal thunders were soon hurled against him. Three bulls were
dispatched to England,—to the university, to the king, and to the
prelates,—all commanding immediate and decisive measures to silence the
teacher of heresy.(115) Before the arrival of the bulls, however, the
bishops, in their zeal, had summoned Wycliffe before them for trial. But
two of the most powerful princes in the kingdom accompanied him to the
tribunal; and the people, surrounding the building and rushing in, so
intimidated the judges that the proceedings were for the time suspended,
and he was allowed to go his way in peace. A little later, Edward III.,
whom in his old age the prelates were seeking to influence against the
Reformer, died, and Wycliffe’s former protector became regent of the
kingdom.

But the arrival of the papal bulls laid upon all England a peremptory
command for the arrest and imprisonment of the heretic. These measures
pointed directly to the stake. It appeared certain that Wycliffe must soon
fall a prey to the vengeance of Rome. But He who declared to one of old,
“Fear not: I am thy shield,”(116) again stretched out His hand to protect
His servant. Death came, not to the Reformer, but to the pontiff who had
decreed his destruction. Gregory XI. died, and the ecclesiastics who had
assembled for Wycliffe’s trial, dispersed.

God’s providence still further overruled events to give opportunity for
the growth of the Reformation. The death of Gregory was followed by the
election of two rival popes. Two conflicting powers, each professedly
infallible, now claimed obedience.(117) Each called upon the faithful to
assist him in making war upon the other, enforcing his demands by terrible
anathemas against his adversaries, and promises of rewards in heaven to
his supporters. This occurrence greatly weakened the power of the papacy.
The rival factions had all they could do to attack each other, and
Wycliffe for a time had rest. Anathemas and recriminations were flying
from pope to pope, and torrents of blood were poured out to support their
conflicting claims. Crimes and scandals flooded the church. Meanwhile the
Reformer, in the quiet retirement of his parish of Lutterworth, was
laboring diligently to point men from the contending popes to Jesus, the
Prince of Peace.

The schism, with all the strife and corruption which it caused, prepared
the way for the Reformation, by enabling the people to see what the papacy
really was. In a tract which he published, “On the Schism of the Popes,”
Wycliffe called upon the people to consider whether these two priests were
not speaking the truth in condemning each other as the antichrist. “God,”
said he, “would no longer suffer the fiend to reign in only one such
priest, but ... made division among two, so that men, in Christ’s name,
may the more easily overcome them both.”(118)

Wycliffe, like his Master, preached the gospel to the poor. Not content
with spreading the light in their humble homes in his own parish of
Lutterworth, he determined that it should be carried to every part of
England. To accomplish this he organized a body of preachers, simple,
devout men, who loved the truth and desired nothing so much as to extend
it. These men went everywhere, teaching in the market-places, in the
streets of the great cities, and in the country lanes. They sought out the
aged, the sick, and the poor, and opened to them the glad tidings of the
grace of God.

As a professor of theology at Oxford, Wycliffe preached the word of God in
the halls of the university. So faithfully did he present the truth to the
students under his instruction, that he received the title of “The Gospel
Doctor.” But the greatest work of his life was to be the translation of
the Scriptures into the English language. In a work, “On the Truth and
Meaning of Scripture,” he expressed his intention to translate the Bible,
so that every man in England might read, in the language in which he was
born, the wonderful works of God.

But suddenly his labors were stopped. Though not yet sixty years of age,
unceasing toil, study, and the assaults of his enemies, had told upon his
strength, and made him prematurely old. He was attacked by a dangerous
illness. The tidings brought great joy to the friars. Now they thought he
would bitterly repent the evil he had done the church, and they hurried to
his chamber to listen to his confession. Representatives from the four
religious orders, with four civil officers, gathered about the supposed
dying man. “You have death on your lips,” they said; “be touched by your
faults, and retract in our presence all that you have said to our injury.”
The Reformer listened in silence; then he bade his attendant raise him in
his bed, and gazing steadily upon them as they stood waiting for his
recantation, he said, in the firm, strong voice which had so often caused
them to tremble, “I shall not die, but live, and again declare the evil
deeds of the friars.”(119) Astonished and abashed, the monks hurried from
the room.

Wycliffe’s words were fulfilled. He lived to place in the hands of his
countrymen the most powerful of all weapons against Rome,—to give them the
Bible, the Heaven-appointed agent to liberate, enlighten, and evangelize
the people. There were many and great obstacles to surmount in the
accomplishment of this work. Wycliffe was weighed down with infirmities;
he knew that only a few years for labor remained for him; he saw the
opposition which he must meet; but, encouraged by the promises of God’s
word, he went forward nothing daunted. In the full vigor of his
intellectual powers, rich in experience, he had been preserved and
prepared by God’s special providence for this, the greatest of his labors.
While all Christendom was filled with tumult, the Reformer in his rectory
at Lutterworth, unheeding the storm that raged without, applied himself to
his chosen task.

At last the work was completed,—the first English translation of the Bible
ever made. The word of God was opened to England. The Reformer feared not
now the prison or the stake. He had placed in the hands of the English
people a light which should never be extinguished. In giving the Bible to
his countrymen, he had done more to break the fetters of ignorance and
vice, more to liberate and elevate his country, than was ever achieved by
the most brilliant victories on fields of battle.

The art of printing being still unknown, it was only by slow and wearisome
labor that copies of the Bible could be multiplied. So great was the
interest to obtain the book, that many willingly engaged in the work of
transcribing it, but it was with difficulty that the copyists could supply
the demand. Some of the more wealthy purchasers desired the whole Bible.
Others bought only a portion. In many cases, several families united to
purchase a copy. Thus Wycliffe’s Bible soon found its way to the homes of
the people.

The appeal to men’s reason aroused them from their passive submission to
papal dogmas. Wycliffe now taught the distinctive doctrines of
Protestantism,—salvation through faith in Christ, and the sole
infallibility of the Scriptures. The preachers whom he had sent out
circulated the Bible, together with the Reformer’s writings, and with such
success that the new faith was accepted by nearly one half of the people
of England.

The appearance of the Scriptures brought dismay to the authorities of the
church. They had now to meet an agency more powerful than Wycliffe,—an
agency against which their weapons would avail little. There was at this
time no law in England prohibiting the Bible, for it had never before been
published in the language of the people. Such laws were afterward enacted
and rigorously enforced. Meanwhile, notwithstanding the efforts of the
priests, there was for a season opportunity for the circulation of the
word of God.

Again the papal leaders plotted to silence the Reformer’s voice. Before
three tribunals he was successively summoned for trial, but without avail.
First a synod of bishops declared his writings heretical, and winning the
young king, Richard II., to their side, they obtained a royal decree
consigning to prison all who should hold the condemned doctrines.

Wycliffe appealed from the synod to Parliament; he fearlessly arraigned
the hierarchy before the national council, and demanded a reform of the
enormous abuses sanctioned by the church. With convincing power he
portrayed the usurpations and corruptions of the papal see. His enemies
were brought to confusion. The friends and supporters of Wycliffe had been
forced to yield, and it had been confidently expected that the Reformer
himself, in his old age, alone and friendless, would bow to the combined
authority of the crown and the mitre. But instead of this the papists saw
themselves defeated. Parliament, roused by the stirring appeals of
Wycliffe, repealed the persecuting edict, and the Reformer was again at
liberty.

A third time he was brought to trial, and now before the highest
ecclesiastical tribunal in the kingdom. Here no favor would be shown to
heresy. Here at last Rome would triumph, and the Reformer’s work would be
stopped. So thought the papists. If they could but accomplish their
purpose, Wycliffe would be forced to abjure his doctrines, or would leave
the court only for the flames.

But Wycliffe did not retract; he would not dissemble. He fearlessly
maintained his teachings, and repelled the accusations of his persecutors.
Losing sight of himself, of his position, of the occasion, he summoned his
hearers before the divine tribunal, and weighed their sophistries and
deceptions in the balances of eternal truth. The power of the Holy Spirit
was felt in the council-room. A spell from God was upon the hearers. They
seemed to have no power to leave the place. As arrows from the Lord’s
quiver, the Reformer’s words pierced their hearts. The charge of heresy,
which they had brought against him, he with convincing power threw back
upon themselves. Why, he demanded, did they dare to spread their errors?
For the sake of gain, to make merchandise of the grace of God.

“With whom, think you,” he finally said, “are ye contending? with an old
man on the brink of the grave? No! with Truth,—Truth which is stronger
than you, and will overcome you.”(120) So saying, he withdrew from the
assembly, and not one of his adversaries attempted to prevent him.

Wycliffe’s work was almost done; the banner of truth which he had so long
borne was soon to fall from his hand; but once more he was to bear witness
for the gospel. The truth was to be proclaimed from the very stronghold of
the kingdom of error. Wycliffe was summoned for trial before the papal
tribunal at Rome, which had so often shed the blood of the saints. He was
not blind to the danger that threatened him, yet he would have obeyed the
summons had not a shock of palsy made it impossible for him to perform the
journey. But though his voice was not to be heard at Rome, he could speak
by letter, and this he determined to do. From his rectory the Reformer
wrote to the pope a letter, which, while respectful in tone and Christian
in spirit, was a keen rebuke to the pomp and pride of the papal see.

“Verily I do rejoice,” he said, “to open and declare unto every man the
faith which I do hold, and especially unto the bishop of Rome: which,
forasmuch as I do suppose to be sound and true, he will most willingly
confirm my said faith, or if it be erroneous, amend the same.

“First, I suppose that the gospel of Christ is the whole body of God’s
law.... I do give and hold the bishop of Rome, forasmuch as he is the
vicar of Christ here on earth, to be most bound, of all other men, unto
that law of the gospel. For the greatness among Christ’s disciples did not
consist in worldly dignity or honors, but in the near and exact following
of Christ in His life and manners.... Christ, for the time of His
pilgrimage here, was a most poor man, abjecting and casting off all
worldly rule and honor....

“No faithful man ought to follow either the pope himself or any of the
holy men, but in such points as he hath followed the Lord Jesus Christ;
for Peter and the sons of Zebedee, by desiring worldly honor, contrary to
the following of Christ’s steps, did offend, and therefore in those errors
they are not to be followed....

“The pope ought to leave unto the secular power all temporal dominion and
rule, and thereunto effectually to move and exhort his whole clergy; for
so did Christ, and especially by His apostles. Wherefore, if I have erred
in any of these points, I will most humbly submit myself unto correction,
even by death, if necessity so require; and if I could labor according to
my will or desire in mine own person, I would surely present myself before
the bishop of Rome; but the Lord hath otherwise visited me to the
contrary, and hath taught me rather to obey God than men.”

In closing he said: “Let us pray unto our God, that He will so stir up our
pope Urban VI., as he began, that he with his clergy may follow the Lord
Jesus Christ in life and manners; and that they may teach the people
effectually, and that they, likewise, may faithfully follow them in the
same.”(121)

Thus Wycliffe presented to the pope and his cardinals the meekness and
humility of Christ, exhibiting not only to themselves but to all
Christendom the contrast between them and the Master whose representatives
they professed to be.

Wycliffe fully expected that his life would be the price of his fidelity.
The king, the pope, and the bishops were united to accomplish his ruin,
and it seemed certain that a few months at most would bring him to the
stake. But his courage was unshaken. “Why do you talk of seeking the crown
of martyrdom afar?” he said. “Preach the gospel of Christ to haughty
prelates, and martyrdom will not fail you. What! I should live and be
silent?... Never! Let the blow fall, I await its coming.”(122)

But God’s providence still shielded His servant. The man who for a whole
lifetime had stood boldly in defense of the truth, in daily peril of his
life, was not to fall a victim to the hatred of its foes. Wycliffe had
never sought to shield himself, but the Lord had been his protector; and
now, when his enemies felt sure of their prey, God’s hand removed him
beyond their reach. In his church at Lutterworth, as he was about to
dispense the communion, he fell, stricken with palsy, and in a short time
yielded up his life.

God had appointed to Wycliffe his work. He had put the word of truth in
his mouth, and He set a guard about him that this word might come to the
people. His life was protected, and his labors were prolonged, until a
foundation was laid for the great work of the Reformation.

Wycliffe came from the obscurity of the Dark Ages. There were none who
went before him from whose work he could shape his system of reform.
Raised up like John the Baptist to accomplish a special mission, he was
the herald of a new era. Yet in the system of truth which he presented
there was a unity and completeness which Reformers who followed him did
not exceed, and which some did not reach, even a hundred years later. So
broad and deep was laid the foundation, so firm and true was the
framework, that it needed not to be reconstructed by those who came after
him.

The great movement that Wycliffe inaugurated, which was to liberate the
conscience and the intellect, and set free the nations so long bound to
the triumphal car of Rome, had its spring in the Bible. Here was the
source of that stream of blessing, which, like the water of life, has
flowed down the ages since the fourteenth century. Wycliffe accepted the
Holy Scriptures with implicit faith as the inspired revelation of God’s
will, a sufficient rule of faith and practice. He had been educated to
regard the Church of Rome as the divine, infallible authority, and to
accept with unquestioning reverence the established teachings and customs
of a thousand years; but he turned away from all these to listen to God’s
holy word. This was the authority which he urged the people to
acknowledge. Instead of the church speaking through the pope, he declared
the only true authority to be the voice of God speaking through His word.
And he taught not only that the Bible is a perfect revelation of God’s
will, but that the Holy Spirit is its only interpreter, and that every man
is, by the study of its teachings, to learn his duty for himself. Thus he
turned the minds of men from the pope and the Church of Rome to the word
of God.

Wycliffe was one of the greatest of the Reformers. In breadth of
intellect, in clearness of thought, in firmness to maintain the truth, and
boldness to defend it, he was equaled by few who came after him. Purity of
life, unwearying diligence in study and in labor, incorruptible integrity,
and Christlike love and faithfulness in his ministry, characterized the
first of the Reformers. And this notwithstanding the intellectual darkness
and moral corruption of the age from which he emerged.

The character of Wycliffe is a testimony to the educating, transforming
power of the Holy Scriptures. It was the Bible that made him what he was.
The effort to grasp the great truths of revelation imparts freshness and
vigor to all the faculties. It expands the mind, sharpens the perceptions,
and ripens the judgment. The study of the Bible will ennoble every
thought, feeling, and aspiration as no other study can. It gives stability
of purpose, patience, courage, and fortitude; it refines the character,
and sanctifies the soul. An earnest, reverent study of the Scriptures,
bringing the mind of the student in direct contact with the infinite mind,
would give to the world men of stronger and more active intellect, as well
as of nobler principle, than has ever resulted from the ablest training
that human philosophy affords. “The entrance of Thy words,” says the
psalmist, “giveth light; it giveth understanding.”(123)

The doctrines which had been taught by Wycliffe continued for a time to
spread; his followers, known as Wycliffites and Lollards, not only
traversed England, but scattered to other lands, carrying the knowledge of
the gospel. Now that their leader was removed, the preachers labored with
even greater zeal than before, and multitudes flocked to listen to their
teachings. Some of the nobility, and even the wife of the king, were among
the converts. In many places there was a marked reform in the manners of
the people, and the idolatrous symbols of Romanism were removed from the
churches. But soon the pitiless storm of persecution burst upon those who
had dared to accept the Bible as their guide. The English monarchs, eager
to strengthen their power by securing the support of Rome, did not
hesitate to sacrifice the Reformers. For the first time in the history of
England, the stake was decreed against the disciples of the gospel.
Martyrdom succeeded martyrdom. The advocates of truth, proscribed and
tortured, could only pour their cries into the ear of the Lord of Sabaoth.
Hunted as foes of the church and traitors to the realm, they continued to
preach in secret places, finding shelter as best they could in the humble
homes of the poor, and often hiding away even in dens and caves.

Notwithstanding the rage of persecution, a calm, devout, earnest, patient
protest against the prevailing corruption of religious faith continued for
centuries to be uttered. The Christians of that early time had only a
partial knowledge of the truth, but they had learned to love and obey
God’s word, and they patiently suffered for its sake. Like the disciples
in apostolic days, many sacrificed their worldly possessions for the cause
of Christ. Those who were permitted to dwell in their homes, gladly
sheltered their banished brethren; and when they too were driven forth,
they cheerfully accepted the lot of the outcast. Thousands, it is true,
terrified by the fury of their persecutors, purchased their freedom at the
sacrifice of their faith, and went out of their prisons, clothed in
penitents’ robes, to publish their recantation. But the number was not
small—and among them were men of noble birth as well as the humble and
lowly—who bore fearless testimony to the truth in dungeon cells, in
“Lollard towers,” and in the midst of torture and flame, rejoicing that
they were counted worthy to know “the fellowship of His sufferings.”

The papists had failed to work their will with Wycliffe during his life,
and their hatred could not be satisfied while his body rested quietly in
the grave. By the decree of the Council of Constance, more than forty
years after his death his bones were exhumed and publicly burned, and the
ashes were thrown into a neighboring brook. “This brook,” says an old
writer, “hath conveyed his ashes into Avon, Avon into Severn, Severn into
the narrow seas, they into the main ocean. And thus the ashes of Wycliffe
are the emblem of his doctrine, which now is dispersed all the world
over.”(124) Little did his enemies realize the significance of their
malicious act.

It was through the writings of Wycliffe that John Huss, of Bohemia, was
led to renounce many of the errors of Romanism, and to enter upon the work
of reform. Thus in these two countries, so widely separated, the seed of
truth was sown. From Bohemia the work extended to other lands. The minds
of men were directed to the long-forgotten word of God. A divine hand was
preparing the way for the Great Reformation.





6. HUSS AND JEROME.


                     [Illustration: Chapter header.]

The gospel had been planted in Bohemia as early as the ninth century. The
Bible was translated, and public worship was conducted, in the language of
the people. But as the power of the pope increased, so the word of God was
obscured. Gregory VII., who had taken it upon him to humble the pride of
kings, was no less intent upon enslaving the people, and accordingly a
bull was issued forbidding public worship to be conducted in the Bohemian
tongue. The pope declared that “it was pleasing to the Omnipotent that His
worship should be celebrated in an unknown language, and that many evils
and heresies had arisen from not observing this rule.”(125) Thus Rome
decreed that the light of God’s word should be extinguished, and the
people should be shut up in darkness. But Heaven had provided other
agencies for the preservation of the church. Many of the Waldenses and
Albigenses, driven by persecution from their homes in France and Italy,
came to Bohemia. Though they dared not teach openly, they labored
zealously in secret. Thus the true faith was preserved from century to
century.

Before the days of Huss, there were men in Bohemia who rose up to condemn
openly the corruption in the church and the profligacy of the people.
Their labors excited widespread interest. The fears of the hierarchy were
roused, and persecution was opened against the disciples of the gospel.
Driven to worship in the forests and the mountains, they were hunted by
soldiers, and many were put to death. After a time it was decreed that all
who departed from the Romish worship should be burned. But while the
Christians yielded up their lives, they looked forward to the triumph of
their cause. One of those who “taught that salvation was only to be found
by faith in the crucified Saviour,” declared when dying, “The rage of the
enemies of the truth now prevails against us, but it will not be forever;
there shall arise one from among the common people, without sword or
authority, and against him they shall not be able to prevail.”(126)
Luther’s time was yet far distant; but already one was rising, whose
testimony against Rome would stir the nations.

John Huss was of humble birth, and was early left an orphan by the death
of his father. His pious mother, regarding education and the fear of God
as the most valuable of possessions, sought to secure this heritage for
her son. Huss studied at the provincial school, and then repaired to the
university at Prague, receiving admission as a charity scholar. He was
accompanied on the journey to Prague by his mother; widowed and poor, she
had no gift of worldly wealth to bestow upon her son, but as they drew
near to the great city, she kneeled down beside the fatherless youth, and
invoked for him the blessing of their Father in heaven. Little did that
mother realize how her prayer was to be answered.

At the university, Huss soon distinguished himself by his untiring
application and rapid progress, while his blameless life and gentle,
winning deportment gained him universal esteem. He was a sincere adherent
of the Roman Church, and an earnest seeker for the spiritual blessings
which it professes to bestow. On the occasion of a jubilee, he went to
confession, paid the last few coins in his scanty store, and joined in the
processions, that he might share in the absolution promised. After
completing his college course, he entered the priesthood, and rapidly
attaining to eminence, he soon became attached to the court of the king.
He was also made professor and afterward rector of the university where he
had received his education. In a few years the humble charity scholar had
become the pride of his country, and his name was renowned throughout
Europe.

But it was in another field that Huss began the work of reform. Several
years after taking priest’s orders he was appointed preacher of the chapel
of Bethlehem. The founder of this chapel had advocated, as a matter of
great importance, the preaching of the Scriptures in the language of the
people. Notwithstanding Rome’s opposition to this practice, it had not
been wholly discontinued in Bohemia. But there was great ignorance of the
Bible, and the worst vices prevailed among the people of all ranks. These
evils Huss unsparingly denounced, appealing to the word of God to enforce
the principles of truth and purity which he inculcated.

A citizen of Prague, Jerome, who afterward became so closely associated
with Huss, had, on returning from England, brought with him the writings
of Wycliffe. The queen of England, who had been a convert to Wycliffe’s
teachings, was a Bohemian princess, and through her influence also the
Reformer’s works were widely circulated in her native country. These works
Huss read with interest; he believed their author to be a sincere
Christian, and was inclined to regard with favor the reforms which he
advocated. Already, though he knew it not, Huss had entered upon a path
which was to lead him far away from Rome.

About this time there arrived in Prague two strangers from England, men of
learning, who had received the light, and had come to spread it in this
distant land. Beginning with an open attack on the pope’s supremacy, they
were soon silenced by the authorities; but being unwilling to relinquish
their purpose, they had recourse to other measures. Being artists as well
as preachers, they proceeded to exercise their skill. In a place open to
the public they drew two pictures. One represented the entrance of Christ
into Jerusalem, “meek, and sitting upon an ass,”(127) and followed by His
disciples in travel-worn garments and with naked feet. The other picture
portrayed a pontifical procession,—the pope arrayed in his rich robes and
triple crown, mounted upon a horse magnificently adorned, preceded by
trumpeters, and followed by cardinals and prelates in dazzling array.

Here was a sermon which arrested the attention of all classes. Crowds came
to gaze upon the drawings. None could fail to read the moral, and many
were deeply impressed by the contrast between the meekness and humility of
Christ the Master, and the pride and arrogance of the pope, His professed
servant. There was great commotion in Prague, and the strangers after a
time found it necessary, for their own safety, to depart. But the lesson
they had taught was not forgotten. The pictures made a deep impression on
the mind of Huss, and led him to a closer study of the Bible and of
Wycliffe’s writings. Though he was not prepared, even yet, to accept all
the reforms advocated by Wycliffe, he saw more clearly the true character
of the papacy, and with greater zeal denounced the pride, the ambition,
and the corruption of the hierarchy.

From Bohemia the light extended to Germany; for disturbances in the
University of Prague caused the withdrawal of hundreds of German students.
Many of them had received from Huss their first knowledge of the Bible,
and on their return they spread the gospel in their fatherland.

Tidings of the work at Prague were carried to Rome, and Huss was soon
summoned to appear before the pope. To obey would be to expose himself to
certain death. The king and queen of Bohemia, the university, members of
the nobility, and officers of the government, united in an appeal to the
pontiff that Huss be permitted to remain at Prague, and to answer at Rome
by deputy. Instead of granting this request, the pope proceeded to the
trial and condemnation of Huss, and then declared the city of Prague to be
under interdict.

In that age this sentence, whenever pronounced, created wide-spread alarm.
The ceremonies by which it was accompanied were well adapted to strike
terror to a people who looked upon the pope as the representative of God
Himself, holding the keys of heaven and hell, and possessing power to
invoke temporal as well as spiritual judgments. It was believed that the
gates of heaven were closed against the region smitten with interdict;
that until it should please the pope to remove the ban, the dead were shut
out from the abodes of bliss. In token of this terrible calamity, all the
services of religion were suspended. The churches were closed. Marriages
were solemnized in the churchyard. The dead, denied burial in consecrated
ground, were interred, without the rites of sepulture, in the ditches or
the fields. Thus by measures which appealed to the imagination, Rome
essayed to control the consciences of men.

The city of Prague was filled with tumult. A large class denounced Huss as
the cause of all their calamities, and demanded that he be given up to the
vengeance of Rome. To quiet the storm, the Reformer withdrew for a time to
his native village. Writing to the friends whom he had left at Prague, he
said: “If I have withdrawn from the midst of you, it is to follow the
precept and example of Jesus Christ, in order not to give room to the
ill-minded to draw on themselves eternal condemnation, and in order not to
be to the pious a cause of affliction and persecution, I have retired also
through an apprehension that impious priests might continue for a longer
time to prohibit the preaching of the word of God amongst you; but I have
not quitted you to deny the divine truth, for which, with God’s
assistance, I am willing to die.”(128) Huss did not cease his labors, but
traveled through the surrounding country, preaching to eager crowds. Thus
the measures to which the pope resorted to suppress the gospel, were
causing it to be the more widely extended. “We can do nothing against the
truth, but for the truth.”(129)

“The mind of Huss, at this stage of his career, would seem to have been
the scene of a painful conflict. Although the church was seeking to
overwhelm him by her thunderbolts, he had not renounced her authority. The
Roman Church was still to him the spouse of Christ, and the pope was the
representative and vicar of God. What Huss was warring against was the
abuse of authority, not the principle itself. This brought on a terrible
conflict between the convictions of his understanding and the claims of
his conscience. If the authority was just and infallible, as he believed
it to be, how came it that he felt compelled to disobey it? To obey, he
saw, was to sin; but why should obedience to an infallible church lead to
such an issue? This was the problem he could not solve; this was the doubt
that tortured him hour by hour. The nearest approximation to a solution
which he was able to make, was that it had happened again, as once before
in the days of the Saviour, that the priests of the church had become
wicked persons, and were using their lawful authority for unlawful ends.
This led him to adopt for his own guidance, and to preach to others for
theirs, the maxim that the precepts of Scripture, conveyed through the
understanding, are to rule the conscience; in other words, that God
speaking in the Bible, and not the church speaking through the priesthood,
is the one infallible guide.”(130)

When after a time the excitement in Prague subsided, Huss returned to his
chapel of Bethlehem, to continue with greater zeal and courage the
preaching of the word of God. His enemies were active and powerful, but
the queen and many of the nobles were his friends, and the people in great
numbers sided with him. Comparing his pure and elevating teachings and
holy life with the degrading dogmas which the Romanists preached, and the
avarice and debauchery which they practised, many regarded it an honor to
be on his side.

Hitherto Huss had stood alone in his labors; but now Jerome, who while in
England had accepted the teachings of Wycliffe, joined in the work of
reform. The two were hereafter united in their lives, and in death they
were not to be divided. Brilliancy of genius, eloquence and learning—gifts
that win popular favor—were possessed in a preeminent degree by Jerome;
but in those qualities which constitute real strength of character, Huss
was the greater. His calm judgment served as a restraint upon the
impulsive spirit of Jerome, who, with true humility, perceived his worth,
and yielded to his counsels. Under their united labors the reform was more
rapidly extended.

God permitted great light to shine upon the minds of these chosen men,
revealing to them many of the errors of Rome; but they did not receive all
the light that was to be given to the world. Through these, His servants,
God was leading the people out of the darkness of Romanism; but there were
many and great obstacles for them to meet, and He led them on, step by
step, as they could bear it. They were not prepared to receive all the
light at once. Like the full glory of the noontide sun to those who have
long dwelt in darkness, it would, if presented, have caused them to turn
away. Therefore He revealed it to the leaders little by little, as it
could be received by the people. From century to century, other faithful
workers were to follow, to lead the people on still farther in the path of
reform.

The schism in the church still continued. Three popes were now contending
for the supremacy, and their strife filled Christendom with crime and
tumult. Not content with hurling anathemas, they resorted to temporal
weapons. Each cast about him to purchase arms and to obtain soldiers. Of
course money must be had; and to procure this, the gifts, offices, and
blessings of the church were offered for sale.(131) The priests also,
imitating their superiors, resorted to simony and war to humble their
rivals and strengthen their own power. With daily increasing boldness,
Huss thundered against the abominations which were tolerated in the name
of religion; and the people openly accused the Romish leaders as the cause
of the miseries that overwhelmed Christendom.

Again the city of Prague seemed on the verge of a bloody conflict. As in
former ages, God’s servant was accused as “he that troubleth Israel.”(132)
The city was again placed under interdict, and Huss withdrew to his native
village. The testimony so faithfully borne from his loved chapel of
Bethlehem was ended. He was to speak from a wider stage, to all
Christendom, before laying down his life as a witness for the truth.

To cure the evils that were distracting Europe, a general council was
summoned to meet at Constance. The council was called at the desire of the
emperor Sigismund, by one of the three rival popes, John XXIII. The demand
for a council had been far from welcome to Pope John, whose character and
policy could ill bear investigation, even by prelates as lax in morals as
were the churchmen of those times. He dared not, however, oppose the will
of Sigismund.(133)

The chief objects to be accomplished by the council were to heal the
schism in the church, and to root out heresy. Hence the two anti-popes
were summoned to appear before it, as well as the leading propagator of
the new opinions, John Huss. The former, having regard to their own
safety, did not attend in person, but were represented by their delegates.
Pope John, while ostensibly the convoker of the council, came to it with
many misgivings, suspecting the emperor’s secret purpose to depose him,
and fearing to be brought to account for the vices which had disgraced the
tiara, as well as for the crimes which had secured it. Yet he made his
entry into the city of Constance with great pomp, attended by
ecclesiastics of the highest rank, and followed by a train of courtiers.
All the clergy and dignitaries of the city, with an immense crowd of
citizens, went out to welcome him. Above his head was a golden canopy,
borne by four of the chief magistrates. The host was carried before him,
and the rich dresses of the cardinals and nobles made an imposing display.

Meanwhile another traveler was approaching Constance. Huss was conscious
of the dangers which threatened him. He parted from his friends as if he
were never to meet them again, and went on his journey feeling that it was
leading him to the stake. Notwithstanding he had obtained a safe-conduct
from the king of Bohemia, and received one also from the emperor Sigismund
while on his journey, he made all his arrangements in view of the
probability of his death.

In a letter addressed to his friends at Prague he said: “My brethren, ...
I am departing with a safe-conduct from the king, to meet my numerous and
mortal enemies.... I confide altogether in the all-powerful God, in my
Saviour; I trust that He will listen to your ardent prayers, that He will
infuse His prudence and His wisdom into my mouth, in order that I may
resist them; and that He will accord me His Holy Spirit to fortify me in
His truth, so that I may face with courage, temptations, prison, and if
necessary, a cruel death. Jesus Christ suffered for His well-beloved; and
therefore ought we to be astonished that He has left us His example, in
order that we may ourselves endure with patience all things for our own
salvation? He is God, and we are His creatures; He is the Lord, and we are
His servants; He is Master of the world, and we are contemptible
mortals:—yet He suffered! Why, then, should we not suffer also,
particularly when suffering is for us a purification? Therefore, beloved,
if my death ought to contribute to His glory, pray that it may come
quickly, and that He may enable me to support all my calamities with
constancy. But if it be better that I return amongst you, let us pray to
God that I may return without stain,—that is, that I may not suppress one
tittle of the truth of the gospel, in order to leave my brethren an
excellent example to follow. Probably, therefore, you will never more
behold my face at Prague: but should the will of the all-powerful God
deign to restore me to you, let us then advance with a firmer heart in the
knowledge and the love of His law.”(134)

In another letter, to a priest who had become a disciple of the gospel,
Huss spoke with deep humility of his own errors, accusing himself “of
having felt pleasure in wearing rich apparel, and of having wasted hours
in frivolous occupations.” He then added these touching admonitions: “May
the glory of God and the salvation of souls occupy thy mind, and not the
possession of benefices and estates. Beware of adorning thy house more
than thy soul; and above all, give thy care to the spiritual edifice. Be
pious and humble with the poor, and consume not thy substance in feasting.
Shouldst thou not amend thy life and refrain from superfluities, I fear
that thou wilt be severely chastened, as I am myself.... Thou knowest my
doctrine, for thou hast received my instructions from thy childhood; it is
therefore useless for me to write to thee any further. But I conjure thee,
by the mercy of our Lord, not to imitate me in any of the vanities into
which thou hast seen me fall.” On the cover of the letter he added, “I
conjure thee, my friend, not to break this seal until thou shalt have
acquired the certitude that I am dead.”(135)

On his journey, Huss everywhere beheld indications of the spread of his
doctrines, and the favor with which his cause was regarded. The people
thronged to meet him, and in some towns the magistrates attended him
through their streets.

Upon arriving at Constance, Huss was granted full liberty. To the
emperor’s safe-conduct was added a personal assurance of protection by the
pope. But in violation of these solemn and repeated declarations, the
Reformer was in a short time arrested, by order of the pope and cardinals,
and thrust into a loathsome dungeon. Later he was transferred to a strong
castle across the Rhine, and there kept a prisoner. The pope, profiting
little by his perfidy, was soon after committed to the same prison.(136)
He had been proved before the council to be guilty of the basest crimes,
besides murder, simony, and adultery, “sins not fit to be named.” So the
council itself declared; and he was finally deprived of the tiara, and
thrown into prison. The anti-popes also were deposed, and a new pontiff
was chosen.

Though the pope himself had been guilty of greater crimes than Huss had
ever charged upon the priests, and for which he had demanded a
reformation, yet the same council which degraded the pontiff proceeded to
crush the Reformer. The imprisonment of Huss excited great indignation in
Bohemia. Powerful noblemen addressed to the council earnest protests
against this outrage. The emperor, who was loath to permit the violation
of a safe-conduct, opposed the proceedings against him. But the enemies of
the Reformer were malignant and determined. They appealed to the emperor’s
prejudices, to his fears, to his zeal for the church. They brought forward
arguments of great length to prove that “faith ought not to be kept with
heretics, nor persons suspected of heresy, though they are furnished with
safe-conducts from the emperor and kings.”(137) Thus they prevailed.

Enfeebled by illness and imprisonment,—for the damp, foul air of his
dungeon had brought on a fever which nearly ended his life,—Huss was at
last brought before the council. Loaded with chains, he stood in the
presence of the emperor, whose honor and good faith had been pledged to
protect him. During his long trial he firmly maintained the truth, and in
the presence of the assembled dignitaries of church and state, he uttered
a solemn and faithful protest against the corruptions of the hierarchy.
When required to choose whether he would recant his doctrines or suffer
death, he accepted the martyr’s fate.

The grace of God sustained him. During the weeks of suffering that passed
before his final sentence, heaven’s peace filled his soul. “I write this
letter,” he said to a friend, “in my prison, and with my fettered hand,
expecting my sentence of death to-morrow.... When, with the assistance of
Jesus Christ, we shall again meet in the delicious peace of the future
life, you will learn how merciful God has shown Himself toward me, how
effectually He has supported me in the midst of my temptations and
trials.”(138)

In the gloom of his dungeon he foresaw the triumph of the true faith.
Returning in his dreams to the chapel at Prague where he had preached the
gospel, he saw the pope and his bishops effacing the pictures of Christ
which he had painted on its walls. “This vision distressed him: but on the
next day he saw many painters occupied in restoring these figures in
greater number and in brighter colors. As soon as their task was ended,
the painters, who were surrounded by an immense crowd, exclaimed, ‘Now let
the popes and bishops come; they shall never efface them more!’ ” Said the
Reformer, as he related his dream, “I maintain this for certain, that the
image of Christ will never be effaced. They have wished to destroy it, but
it shall be painted afresh in all hearts by much better preachers than
myself.”(139)

For the last time, Huss was brought before the council. It was a vast and
brilliant assembly,—the emperor, the princes of the empire, the royal
deputies, the cardinals, bishops, and priests, and an immense crowd who
had come as spectators of the events of the day. From all parts of
Christendom had been gathered the witnesses of this first great sacrifice
in the long struggle by which liberty of conscience was to be secured.

Being called upon for his final decision, Huss declared his refusal to
abjure, and fixing his penetrating glance upon the monarch whose plighted
word had been so shamelessly violated, he declared, “I determined, of my
own free will, to appear before this council, under the public protection
and faith of the emperor here present.”(140) A deep flush crimsoned the
face of Sigismund as the eyes of all in the assembly turned upon him.

Sentence having been pronounced, the ceremony of degradation began. The
bishops clothed their prisoner in the sacerdotal habit, and as he took the
priestly robe, he said, “Our Lord Jesus Christ was covered with a white
robe, by way of insult, when Herod had Him conducted before Pilate.”(141)
Being again exhorted to retract, he replied, turning toward the people:
“With what face, then, should I behold the heavens? How should I look on
those multitudes of men to whom I have preached the pure gospel? No; I
esteem their salvation more than this poor body, now appointed unto
death.” The vestments were removed one by one, each bishop pronouncing a
curse as he performed his part of the ceremony. Finally “they put on his
head a cap or pyramidal-shaped mitre of paper, on which were painted
frightful figures of demons, with the word ‘Arch-Heretic’ conspicuous in
front. ‘Most joyfully,’ said Huss, ‘will I wear this crown of shame for
Thy sake, O Jesus, who for me didst wear a crown of thorns.’ ”

When he was thus arrayed, “the prelates said, ‘Now we devote thy soul to
the devil.’ ‘And I,’ said John Huss, lifting up his eyes toward heaven,
‘do commit my spirit into Thy hands, O Lord Jesus, for Thou hast redeemed
me.’ ”(142)

He was now delivered up to the secular authorities, and led away to the
place of execution. An immense procession followed, hundreds of men at
arms, priests and bishops in their costly robes, and the inhabitants of
Constance. When he had been fastened to the stake, and all was ready for
the fire to be lighted, the martyr was once more exhorted to save himself
by renouncing his errors. “What errors,” said Huss, “shall I renounce? I
know myself guilty of none. I call God to witness that all that I have
written and preached has been with the view of rescuing souls from sin and
perdition; and, therefore, most joyfully will I confirm with my blood that
truth which I have written and preached.”(143) When the flames kindled
about him, he began to sing, “Jesus, Thou Son of David, have mercy on me,”
and so continued till his voice was silenced forever.

Even his enemies were struck with his heroic bearing. A zealous papist,
describing the martyrdom of Huss, and of Jerome, who died soon after,
said: “Both bore themselves with constant mind when their last hour
approached. They prepared for the fire as if they were going to a marriage
feast. They uttered no cry of pain. When the flames rose, they began to
sing hymns; and scarce could the vehemency of the fire stop their
singing.”(144)

When the body of Huss had been wholly consumed, his ashes, with the soil
upon which they rested, were gathered up and cast into the Rhine, and thus
borne onward to the ocean. His persecutors vainly imagined that they had
rooted out the truths he preached. Little did they dream that the ashes
that day borne away to the sea were to be as seed scattered in all the
countries of the earth; that in lands yet unknown it would yield abundant
fruit in witnesses for the truth. The voice which had spoken in the
council hall of Constance had wakened echoes that would be heard through
all coming ages. Huss was no more, but the truths for which he died could
never perish. His example of faith and constancy would encourage
multitudes to stand firm for the truth, in the face of torture and death.
His execution had exhibited to the whole world the perfidious cruelty of
Rome. The enemies of truth, though they knew it not, had been furthering
the cause which they vainly sought to destroy.

Yet another stake was to be set up at Constance. The blood of another
witness must testify for the truth. Jerome, upon bidding farewell to Huss
on his departure for the council, had exhorted him to courage and
firmness, declaring that if he should fall into any peril, he himself
would fly to his assistance. Upon hearing of the Reformer’s imprisonment,
the faithful disciple immediately prepared to fulfil his promise. Without
a safe-conduct he set out, with a single companion, for Constance. On
arriving there he was convinced that he had only exposed himself to peril,
without the possibility of doing anything for the deliverance of Huss. He
fled from the city, but was arrested on the homeward journey, and brought
back loaded with fetters, and under the custody of a band of soldiers. At
his first appearance before the council, his attempts to reply to the
accusations brought against him were met with shouts, “To the flames with
him! to the flames!”(145) He was thrown into a dungeon, chained in a
position which caused him great suffering, and fed on bread and water.
After some months the cruelties of his imprisonment brought upon Jerome an
illness that threatened his life, and his enemies, fearing that he might
escape them, treated him with less severity, though he remained in prison
for one year.

The death of Huss had not resulted as the papists had hoped. The violation
of his safe-conduct had roused a storm of indignation, and as the safer
course, the council determined, instead of burning Jerome, to force him,
if possible, to retract. He was brought before the assembly, and offered
the alternative to recant, or to die at the stake. Death at the beginning
of his imprisonment would have been a mercy, in comparison with the
terrible sufferings which he had undergone; but now, weakened by illness,
by the rigors of his prison-house, and the torture of anxiety and
suspense, separated from his friends, and disheartened by the death of
Huss, Jerome’s fortitude gave way, and he consented to submit to the
council. He pledged himself to adhere to the Catholic faith, and accepted
the action of the council in condemning the doctrines of Wycliffe and
Huss, excepting, however, the “holy truths” which they had taught.(146)

By this expedient Jerome endeavored to silence the voice of conscience and
escape his doom. But in the solitude of his dungeon he saw more clearly
what he had done. He thought of the courage and fidelity of Huss, and in
contrast pondered upon his own denial of the truth. He thought of the
divine Master whom he had pledged himself to serve, and who for his sake
endured the death of the cross. Before his retraction he had found
comfort, amid all his sufferings, in the assurance of God’s favor; but now
remorse and doubt tortured his soul. He knew that still other retractions
must be made before he could be at peace with Rome. The path upon which he
was entering could end only in complete apostasy. His resolution was
taken: to escape a brief period of suffering he would not deny his Lord.

Soon he was again brought before the council. His submission had not
satisfied his judges. Their thirst for blood, whetted by the death of
Huss, clamored for fresh victims. Only by an unreserved surrender of the
truth could Jerome preserve his life. But he had determined to avow his
faith, and follow his brother-martyr to the flames.

He renounced his former recantation, and as a dying man, solemnly required
an opportunity to make his defense. Fearing the effect of his words, the
prelates insisted that he should merely affirm or deny the truth of the
charges brought against him. Jerome protested against such cruelty and
injustice. “You have held me shut up three hundred and forty days in a
frightful prison,” he said, “in the midst of filth, noisomeness, stench,
and the utmost want of everything; you then bring me out before you, and
lending an ear to my mortal enemies, you refuse to hear me.... If you be
really wise men, and the lights of the world, take care not to sin against
justice. As to me, I am only a feeble mortal; my life is but of little
importance; and when I exhort you not to deliver an unjust sentence, I
speak less for myself than for you.”(147)

His request was finally granted. In the presence of his judges, Jerome
kneeled down and prayed that the divine Spirit might control his thoughts
and words, that he might speak nothing contrary to the truth or unworthy
of his Master. To him that day was fulfilled the promise of God to the
first disciples: “Ye shall be brought before governors and kings for My
sake.... But when they deliver you up, take no thought how or what ye
shall speak: for it shall be given you in that same hour what ye shall
speak. For it is not ye that speak, but the Spirit of your Father which
speaketh in you.”(148)

The words of Jerome excited astonishment and admiration, even in his
enemies. For a whole year he had been immured in a dungeon, unable to read
or even to see, in great physical suffering and mental anxiety. Yet his
arguments were presented with as much clearness and power as if he had had
undisturbed opportunity for study. He pointed his hearers to the long line
of holy men who had been condemned by unjust judges. In almost every
generation have been those who, while seeking to elevate the people of
their time, have been reproached and cast out, but who in later times have
been shown to be deserving of honor. Christ Himself was condemned as a
malefactor at an unrighteous tribunal.

At his retraction, Jerome had assented to the justice of the sentence
condemning Huss; he now declared his repentance, and bore witness to the
innocence and holiness of the martyr. “I knew him from his childhood,” he
said. “He was a most excellent man, just and holy; he was condemned,
notwithstanding his innocence.... I also—I am ready to die: I will not
recoil before the torments that are prepared for me by my enemies and
false witnesses, who will one day have to render an account of their
impostures before the great God, whom nothing can deceive.”(149)

In self-reproach for his own denial of the truth, Jerome continued: “Of
all the sins that I have committed since my youth, none weigh so heavily
on my mind, and cause me such poignant remorse, as that which I committed
in this fatal place, when I approved of the iniquitous sentence rendered
against Wycliffe, and against the holy martyr, John Huss, my master and my
friend. Yes! I confess it from my heart, and declare with horror that I
disgracefully quailed when, through a dread of death, I condemned their
doctrines. I therefore supplicate ... Almighty God to deign to pardon me
my sins, and this one in particular, the most heinous of all.” Pointing to
his judges, he said firmly: “You condemned Wycliffe and John Huss, not for
having shaken the doctrine of the church, but simply because they branded
with reprobation the scandals proceeding from the clergy,—their pomp,
their pride, and all the vices of the prelates and priests. The things
which they have affirmed, and which are irrefutable, I also think and
declare, like them.”

His words were interrupted. The prelates, trembling with rage, cried out,
“What need is there of further proof? We behold with our own eyes the most
obstinate of heretics!”

Unmoved by the tempest, Jerome exclaimed: “What! do you suppose that I
fear to die? You have held me for a whole year in a frightful dungeon,
more horrible than death itself. You have treated me more cruelly than a
Turk, Jew, or pagan, and my flesh has literally rotted off my bones alive;
and yet I make no complaint, for lamentation ill becomes a man of heart
and spirit; but I cannot but express my astonishment at such great
barbarity toward a Christian.”(150)

Again the storm of rage burst out, and Jerome was hurried away to prison.
Yet there were some in the assembly upon whom his words had made a deep
impression, and who desired to save his life. He was visited by
dignitaries of the church, and urged to submit himself to the council. The
most brilliant prospects were presented before him as the reward of
renouncing his opposition to Rome. But like his Master, when offered the
glory of the world, Jerome remained steadfast.

“Prove to me from the Holy Writings that I am in error,” he said, “and I
will abjure it.”

“The Holy Writings!” exclaimed one of his tempters, “is everything then to
be judged by them? Who can understand them till the church has interpreted
them?”

“Are the traditions of men more worthy of faith than the gospel of our
Saviour?” replied Jerome. “Paul did not exhort those to whom he wrote to
listen to the traditions of men, but said, ‘Search the Scriptures.’ ”

“Heretic!” was the response, “I repent having pleaded so long with you. I
see that you are urged on by the devil.”(151)

Erelong sentence of condemnation was passed upon him. He was led out to
the same spot upon which Huss had yielded up his life. He went singing on
his way, his countenance lighted up with joy and peace. His gaze was fixed
upon Christ, and to him death had lost its terrors. When the executioner,
about to kindle the pile, stepped behind him, the martyr exclaimed, “Come
forward boldly; apply the fire before my face. Had I been afraid, I should
not be here.”

His last words, uttered as the flames rose about him, were a prayer.
“Lord, Almighty Father,” he cried, “have pity on me, and pardon me my
sins; for Thou knowest that I have always loved Thy truth.”(152) His voice
ceased, but his lips continued to move in prayer. When the fire had done
its work, the ashes of the martyr, with the earth upon which they rested,
were gathered up, and like those of Huss, were thrown into the Rhine.

So perished God’s faithful light-bearers. But the light of the truths
which they proclaimed,—the light of their heroic example,—could not be
extinguished. As well might men attempt to turn back the sun in its course
as to prevent the dawning of that day which was even then breaking upon
the world.

The execution of Huss had kindled a flame of indignation and horror in
Bohemia. It was felt by the whole nation that he had fallen a prey to the
malice of the priests and the treachery of the emperor. He was declared to
have been a faithful teacher of the truth, and the council that decreed
his death was charged with the guilt of murder. His doctrines now
attracted greater attention than ever before. By the papal edicts the
writings of Wycliffe had been condemned to the flames. But those that had
escaped destruction were now brought out from their hiding-places, and
studied in connection with the Bible, or such parts of it as the people
could obtain, and many were thus led to accept the reformed faith.

The murderers of Huss did not stand quietly by and witness the triumph of
his cause. The pope and the emperor united to crush out the movement, and
the armies of Sigismund were hurled upon Bohemia.

But a deliverer was raised up. Ziska, who soon after the opening of the
war became totally blind, yet who was one of the ablest generals of his
age, was the leader of the Bohemians. Trusting in the help of God and the
righteousness of their cause, that people withstood the mightiest armies
that could be brought against them. Again and again the emperor, raising
fresh armies, invaded Bohemia, only to be ignominiously repulsed. The
Hussites were raised above the fear of death, and nothing could stand
against them. A few years after the opening of the war, the brave Ziska
died; but his place was filled by Procopius, who was an equally brave and
skilful general, and in some respects a more able leader.

The enemies of the Bohemians, knowing that the blind warrior was dead,
deemed the opportunity favorable for recovering all that they had lost.
The pope now proclaimed a crusade against the Hussites, and again an
immense force was precipitated upon Bohemia, but only to suffer terrible
defeat. Another crusade was proclaimed. In all the papal countries of
Europe, men, money, and munitions of war were raised. Multitudes flocked
to the papal standard, assured that at last an end would be made of the
Hussite heretics. Confident of victory, the vast force entered Bohemia.
The people rallied to repel them. The two armies approached each other,
until only a river lay between them. “The crusaders were in greatly
superior force, but instead of dashing across the stream, and closing in
battle with the Hussites whom they had come so far to meet, they stood
gazing in silence at those warriors.”(153) Then suddenly a mysterious
terror fell upon the host. Without striking a blow, that mighty force
broke and scattered, as if dispelled by an unseen power. Great numbers
were slaughtered by the Hussite army, which pursued the fugitives, and an
immense booty fell into the hands of the victors, so that the war, instead
of impoverishing, enriched the Bohemians.

A few years later, under a new pope, still another crusade was set on
foot. As before, men and means were drawn from all the papal countries of
Europe. Great were the inducements held out to those who should engage in
this perilous enterprise. Full forgiveness of the most heinous crimes was
insured to every crusader. All who died in the war were promised a rich
reward in heaven, and those who survived were to reap honor and riches on
the field of battle. Again a vast army was collected, and crossing the
frontier they entered Bohemia. The Hussite forces fell back before them,
thus drawing the invaders farther and farther into the country, and
leading them to count the victory already won. At last the army of
Procopius made a stand, and turning upon the foe, advanced to give them
battle. The crusaders, now discovering their mistake, lay in their
encampment awaiting the onset. As the sound of the approaching force was
heard, even before the Hussites were in sight, a panic again fell upon the
crusaders. Princes, generals, and common soldiers, casting away their
armor, fled in all directions. In vain the papal legate, who was the
leader of the invasion, endeavored to rally his terrified and disorganized
forces. Despite his utmost endeavors, he himself was swept along in the
tide of fugitives. The rout was complete, and again an immense booty fell
into the hands of the victors.

Thus the second time a vast army, sent forth by the most powerful nations
of Europe, a host of brave, warlike men, trained and equipped for battle,
fled without a blow, before the defenders of a small and hitherto feeble
nation. Here was a manifestation of divine power. The invaders were
smitten with a supernatural terror. He who overthrew the hosts of Pharaoh
in the Red Sea, who put to flight the armies of Midian before Gideon and
his three hundred, who in one night laid low the forces of the proud
Assyrian, had again stretched out His hand to wither the power of the
oppressor. “There were they in great fear, where no fear was: for God hath
scattered the bones of him that encampeth against thee: thou hast put them
to shame, because God hath despised them.”(154)

The papal leaders, despairing of conquering by force, at last resorted to
diplomacy. A compromise was entered into, that while professing to grant
to the Bohemians freedom of conscience, really betrayed them into the
power of Rome. The Bohemians had specified four points as the condition of
peace with Rome: The free preaching of the Bible; the right of the whole
church to both the bread and the wine in the communion, and the use of the
mother tongue in divine worship; the exclusion of the clergy from all
secular offices and authority; and in cases of crime, the jurisdiction of
the civil courts over clergy and laity alike. The papal authorities at
last “agreed that the four articles of the Hussites should be accepted,
but that the right of explaining them, that is, of determining their
precise import, should belong to the council—in other words, to the pope
and the emperor.”(155) On this basis a treaty was entered into, and Rome
gained by dissimulation and fraud what she had failed to gain by conflict;
for, placing her own interpretation upon the Hussite articles, as upon the
Bible, she could pervert their meaning to suit her own purposes.

A large class in Bohemia, seeing that it betrayed their liberties, could
not consent to the compact. Dissensions and divisions arose, leading to
strife and bloodshed among themselves. In this strife the noble Procopius
fell, and the liberties of Bohemia perished.

Sigismund, the betrayer of Huss and Jerome, now became king of Bohemia,
and regardless of his oath to support the rights of the Bohemians, he
proceeded to establish popery. But he had gained little by his
subservience to Rome. For twenty years his life had been filled with
labors and perils. His armies had been wasted and his treasuries drained
by a long and fruitless struggle; and now, after reigning one year, he
died, leaving his kingdom on the brink of civil war, and bequeathing to
posterity a name branded with infamy.

Tumults, strife, and bloodshed were protracted. Again foreign armies
invaded Bohemia, and internal dissension continued to distract the nation.
Those who remained faithful to the gospel were subjected to a bloody
persecution.

As their former brethren, entering into compact with Rome, imbibed her
errors, those who adhered to the ancient faith had formed themselves into
a distinct church, taking the name of “United Brethren.” This act drew
upon them maledictions from all classes. Yet their firmness was unshaken.
Forced to find refuge in the woods and caves, they still assembled to read
God’s word and unite in His worship.

Through messengers secretly sent out into different countries, they
learned that here and there were “isolated confessors of the truth, a few
in this city and a few in that, the object, like themselves, of
persecution; and that amid the mountains of the Alps was an ancient
church, resting on the foundations of Scripture, and protesting against
the idolatrous corruptions of Rome.”(156) This intelligence was received
with great joy, and a correspondence was opened with the Waldensian
Christians.

Steadfast to the gospel, the Bohemians waited through the night of their
persecution; in the darkest hour still turning their eyes toward the
horizon like men who watch for the morning. “Their lot was cast in evil
days, but ... they remembered the words first uttered by Huss, and
repeated by Jerome, that a century must revolve before the day should
break. These were to the Taborites [Hussites] what the words of Joseph
were to the tribes in the house of bondage: ‘I die, and God will surely
visit you, and bring you out.’ ”(157) “The closing period of the fifteenth
century witnessed the slow but sure increase of the churches of the
Brethren. Although far from being unmolested, they yet enjoyed comparative
rest. At the commencement of the sixteenth century, their churches
numbered two hundred in Bohemia and Moravia.”(158) “So goodly was the
remnant which, escaping the destructive fury of fire and sword, was
permitted to see the dawning of that day which Huss had foretold.”





7. LUTHER’S SEPARATION FROM ROME.


                     [Illustration: Chapter header.]

Foremost among those who were called to lead the church from the darkness
of popery into the light of a purer faith, stood Martin Luther. Zealous,
ardent, and devoted, knowing no fear but the fear of God, and
acknowledging no foundation for religious faith but the Holy Scriptures,
Luther was the man for his time; through him, God accomplished a great
work for the reformation of the church and the enlightenment of the world.

Like the first heralds of the gospel, Luther sprung from the ranks of
poverty. His early years were spent in the humble home of a German
peasant. By daily toil as a miner, his father earned the means for his
education. He intended him for a lawyer; but God purposed to make him a
builder in the great temple that was rising so slowly through the
centuries. Hardship, privation, and severe discipline were the school in
which Infinite Wisdom prepared Luther for the important mission of his
life.

Luther’s father was a man of strong and active mind and great force of
character, honest, resolute, and straight-forward. He was true to his
convictions of duty, let the consequences be what they might. His sterling
good sense led him to regard the monastic system with distrust. He was
highly displeased when Luther, without his consent, entered a monastery;
and it was two years before the father was reconciled to his son, and even
then his opinions remained the same.

Luther’s parents bestowed great care upon the education and training of
their children. They endeavored to instruct them in the knowledge of God
and the practice of Christian virtues. The father’s prayer often ascended
in the hearing of his son, that the child might remember the name of the
Lord, and one day aid in the advancement of His truth. Every advantage for
moral or intellectual culture which their life of toil permitted them to
enjoy, was eagerly improved by these parents. Their efforts were earnest
and persevering to prepare their children for a life of piety and
usefulness. With their firmness and strength of character they sometimes
exercised too great severity; but the Reformer himself, though conscious
that in some respects they had erred, found in their discipline more to
approve than to condemn.

At school, where he was sent at an early age, Luther was treated with
harshness and even violence. So great was the poverty of his parents, that
upon going from home to school in another town he was for a time obliged
to obtain his food by singing from door to door, and he often suffered
from hunger. The gloomy, superstitious ideas of religion then prevailing
filled him with fear. He would lie down at night with a sorrowful heart,
looking forward with trembling to the dark future, and in constant terror
at the thought of God as a stern, unrelenting judge, a cruel tyrant,
rather than a kind heavenly Father.

Yet under so many and so great discouragements, Luther pressed resolutely
forward toward the high standard of moral and intellectual excellence
which attracted his soul. He thirsted for knowledge, and the earnest and
practical character of his mind led him to desire the solid and useful
rather than the showy and superficial.

When, at the age of eighteen, he entered the University of Erfurt, his
situation was more favorable and his prospects were brighter than in his
earlier years. His parents having by thrift and industry acquired a
competence, they were able to render him all needed assistance. And the
influence of judicious friends had somewhat lessened the gloomy effects of
his former training. He applied himself to the study of the best authors,
diligently treasuring their most weighty thoughts, and making the wisdom
of the wise his own. Even under the harsh discipline of his former
instructors, he had early given promise of distinction; and with favorable
influences his mind rapidly developed. A retentive memory, a lively
imagination, strong reasoning powers, and untiring application, soon
placed him in the foremost rank among his associates. Intellectual
discipline ripened his understanding, and aroused an activity of mind and
a keenness of perception that were preparing him for the conflicts of his
life.

The fear of the Lord dwelt in the heart of Luther, enabling him to
maintain his steadfastness of purpose, and leading him to deep humility
before God. He had an abiding sense of his dependence upon divine aid, and
he did not fail to begin each day with prayer, while his heart was
continually breathing a petition for guidance and support. “To pray well,”
he often said, “is the better half of study.”(159)

While one day examining the books in the library of the university, Luther
discovered a Latin Bible. Such a book he had never before seen. He was
ignorant even of its existence. He had heard portions of the Gospels and
Epistles, which were read to the people at public worship, and he supposed
that these were the entire Bible. Now, for the first time, he looked upon
the whole of God’s word. With mingled awe and wonder he turned the sacred
pages; with quickened pulse and throbbing heart he read for himself the
words of life, pausing now and then to exclaim, “O that God would give me
such a book for myself!”(160) Angels of heaven were by his side, and rays
of light from the throne of God revealed the treasures of truth to his
understanding. He had ever feared to offend God, but now the deep
conviction of his condition as a sinner took hold upon him as never
before.

An earnest desire to be free from sin and to find peace with God, led him
at last to enter a cloister, and devote himself to a monastic life. Here
he was required to perform the lowest drudgery, and to beg from house to
house. He was at an age when respect and appreciation are most eagerly
craved, and these menial offices were deeply mortifying to his natural
feelings; but he patiently endured this humiliation, believing that it was
necessary because of his sins.

Every moment that could be spared from his daily duties he employed in
study, robbing himself of sleep, and grudging even the time spent at his
scanty meals. Above everything else he delighted in the study of God’s
word. He had found a Bible chained to the convent wall, and to this he
often repaired. As his convictions of sin deepened, he sought by his own
works to obtain pardon and peace. He led a most rigorous life, endeavoring
by fasting, vigils, and scourgings to subdue the evils of his nature, from
which the monastic life had brought no release. He shrank from no
sacrifice by which he might attain to that purity of heart which would
enable him to stand approved before God. “I was indeed a pious monk,” he
afterward said, “and followed the rules of my order more strictly than I
can express. If ever monk could obtain heaven by his monkish works, I
should certainly have been entitled to it.... If it had continued much
longer, I should have carried my mortifications even to death.”(161) As
the result of this painful discipline, he lost strength, and suffered from
fainting spasms, from the effects of which he never fully recovered. But
with all his efforts, his burdened soul found no relief. He was at last
driven to the verge of despair.

When it appeared to Luther that all was lost, God raised up a friend and
helper for him. The pious Staupitz opened the word of God to Luther’s
mind, and bade him look away from himself, cease the contemplation of
infinite punishment for the violation of God’s law, and look to Jesus, his
sin-pardoning Saviour. “Instead of torturing yourself on account of your
sins, throw yourself into the Redeemer’s arms. Trust in Him, in the
righteousness of His life, in the atonement of His death.... Listen to the
Son of God. He became man to give you the assurance of divine favor,”
“Love Him who first loved you.”(162) Thus spoke this messenger of mercy.
His words made a deep impression upon Luther’s mind. After many a struggle
with long-cherished errors, he was enabled to grasp the truth, and peace
came to his troubled soul.

Luther was ordained a priest, and was called from the cloister to a
professorship in the University of Wittenberg. Here he applied himself to
the study of the Scriptures in the original tongues. He began to lecture
upon the Bible; and the book of Psalms, the Gospels, and the Epistles were
opened to the understanding of crowds of delighted listeners. Staupitz,
his friend and superior, urged him to ascend the pulpit, and preach the
word of God. Luther hesitated, feeling himself unworthy to speak to the
people in Christ’s stead. It was only after a long struggle that he
yielded to the solicitations of his friends. Already he was mighty in the
Scriptures, and the grace of God rested upon him. His eloquence captivated
his hearers, the clearness and power with which he presented the truth
convinced their understanding, and his fervor touched their hearts.

Luther was still a true son of the papal church, and had no thought that
he would ever be anything else. In the providence of God he was led to
visit Rome. He pursued his journey on foot, lodging at the monasteries on
the way. At a convent in Italy he was filled with wonder at the wealth,
magnificence, and luxury that he witnessed. Endowed with a princely
revenue, the monks dwelt in splendid apartments, attired themselves in the
richest and most costly robes, and feasted at a sumptuous table. With
painful misgivings Luther contrasted this scene with the self-denial and
hardship of his own life. His mind was becoming perplexed.

At last he beheld in the distance the seven-hilled city. With deep emotion
he prostrated himself upon the earth, exclaiming, “Holy Rome, I salute
thee!”(163) He entered the city, visited the churches, listened to the
marvelous tales repeated by priests and monks, and performed all the
ceremonies required. Everywhere he looked upon scenes that filled him with
astonishment and horror. He saw that iniquity existed among all classes of
the clergy. He heard indecent jokes from prelates, and was filled with
horror at their awful profanity, even during mass. As he mingled with the
monks and citizens, he met dissipation, debauchery. Turn where he would,
in the place of sanctity he found profanation. “No one can imagine,” he
wrote, “what sins and infamous actions are committed in Rome; they must be
seen and heard to be believed. Thus they are in the habit of saying, ‘If
there is a hell, Rome is built over it: it is an abyss whence issues every
kind of sin.’ ”(164)

By a recent decretal, an indulgence had been promised by the pope to all
who should ascend upon their knees “Pilate’s staircase,” said to have been
descended by our Saviour on leaving the Roman judgment hall, and to have
been miraculously conveyed from Jerusalem to Rome. Luther was one day
devoutly climbing these steps, when suddenly a voice like thunder seemed
to say to him, “The just shall live by faith.”(165) He sprung to his feet,
and hastened from the place in shame and horror. That text never lost its
power upon his soul. From that time he saw more clearly than ever before
the fallacy of trusting to human works for salvation, and the necessity of
constant faith in the merits of Christ. His eyes had been opened, and were
never again to be closed, to the delusions of the papacy. When he turned
his face from Rome, he had turned away also in heart, and from that time
the separation grew wider, until he severed all connection with the papal
church.

After his return from Rome, Luther received at the University of
Wittenberg the degree of Doctor of Divinity. Now he was at liberty to
devote himself, as never before, to the Scriptures that he loved. He had
taken a solemn vow to study carefully and to preach with fidelity the word
of God, not the sayings and doctrines of the popes, all the days of his
life. He was no longer the mere monk or professor, but the authorized
herald of the Bible. He had been called as a shepherd to feed the flock of
God, that were hungering and thirsting for the truth. He firmly declared
that Christians should receive no other doctrines than those which rest on
the authority of the Sacred Scriptures. These words struck at the very
foundation of papal supremacy. They contained the vital principle of the
Reformation.

Luther saw the danger of exalting human theories above the word of God. He
fearlessly attacked the speculative infidelity of the schoolmen, and
opposed the philosophy and theology which had so long held a controlling
influence upon the people. He denounced such studies as not only worthless
but pernicious, and sought to turn the minds of his hearers from the
sophistries of philosophers and theologians to the eternal truths set
forth by prophets and apostles.

Precious was the message which he bore to the eager crowds that hung upon
his words. Never before had such teachings fallen upon their ears. The
glad tidings of a Saviour’s love, the assurance of pardon and peace
through His atoning blood, rejoiced their hearts, and inspired within them
an immortal hope. At Wittenberg a light was kindled whose rays should
extend to the uttermost parts of the earth, and which was to increase in
brightness to the close of time.

But light and darkness cannot harmonize. Between truth and error there is
an irrepressible conflict. To uphold and defend the one is to attack and
overthrow the other. Our Saviour Himself declared, “I came not to send
peace, but a sword,”(166) Said Luther, a few years after the opening of
the Reformation: “God does not guide me, He pushes me forward, He carries
me away. I am not master of myself. I desire to live in repose; but I am
thrown into the midst of tumults and revolutions.”(167) He was now about
to be urged into the contest.

The Roman Church had made merchandise of the grace of God. The tables of
the money-changers(168) were set up beside her altars, and the air
resounded with the shouts of buyers and sellers. Under the plea of raising
funds for the erection of St. Peter’s church at Rome, indulgences for sin
were publicly offered for sale by the authority of the pope. By the price
of crime a temple was to be built up for God’s worship,—the corner-stone
laid with the wages of iniquity! But the very means adopted for Rome’s
aggrandizement provoked the deadliest blow to her power and greatness. It
was this that aroused the most determined and successful of the enemies of
popery, and led to the battle which shook the papal throne, and jostled
the triple crown upon the pontiff’s head.

The official appointed to conduct the sale of indulgences in
Germany—Tetzel by name—had been convicted of the basest offenses against
society and against the law of God; but having escaped the punishment due
to his crimes, he was employed to further the mercenary and unscrupulous
projects of the pope. With great effrontery he repeated the most glaring
falsehoods, and related marvelous tales to deceive an ignorant, credulous,
and superstitious people. Had they possessed the word of God, they would
not have been thus deceived. It was to keep them under the control of the
papacy, in order to swell the power and wealth of her ambitious leaders,
that the Bible had been withheld from them.(169)

As Tetzel entered a town, a messenger went before him, announcing, “The
grace of God and of the holy father is at your gates.”(170) And the people
welcomed the blasphemous pretender as if he were God Himself come down
from heaven to them. The infamous traffic was set up in the church, and
Tetzel, ascending the pulpit, extolled indulgences as the most precious
gift of God. He declared that by virtue of his certificates of pardon, all
the sins which the purchaser should afterward desire to commit would be
forgiven him, and that “not even repentance is necessary.”(171) More than
this, he assured his hearers that the indulgences had power to save not
only the living but the dead; that the very moment the money should clink
against the bottom of his chest, the soul in whose behalf it had been paid
would escape from purgatory and make its way to heaven.(172)

When Simon Magus offered to purchase of the apostles the power to work
miracles, Peter answered him, “Thy money perish with thee, because thou
hast thought that the gift of God may be purchased with money.”(173) But
Tetzel’s offer was grasped by eager thousands. Gold and silver flowed into
his treasury. A salvation that could be bought with money was more easily
obtained than that which requires repentance, faith, and diligent effort
to resist and overcome sin.(174)

The doctrine of indulgences had been opposed by men of learning and piety
in the Roman Church, and there were many who had no faith in pretensions
so contrary to both reason and revelation. No prelate dared lift his voice
against this iniquitous traffic; but the minds of men were becoming
disturbed and uneasy, and many eagerly inquired if God would not work
through some instrumentality for the purification of His church.

Luther, though still a papist of the straitest sort, was filled with
horror at the blasphemous assumptions of the indulgence mongers. Many of
his own congregation had purchased certificates of pardon, and they soon
began to come to their pastor, confessing their various sins, and
expecting absolution, not because they were penitent and wished to reform,
but on the ground of the indulgence. Luther refused them absolution, and
warned them that unless they should repent and reform their lives, they
must perish in their sins. In great perplexity they repaired to Tetzel
with the complaint that their confessor had refused his certificates; and
some boldly demanded that their money be returned to them. The friar was
filled with rage. He uttered the most terrible curses, caused fires to be
lighted in the public squares, and declared that he “had received an order
from the pope to burn all heretics who presumed to oppose his most holy
indulgences.”(175)

Luther now entered boldly upon his work as a champion of the truth. His
voice was heard from the pulpit in earnest, solemn warning. He set before
the people the offensive character of sin, and taught them that it is
impossible for man, by his own works, to lessen its guilt or evade its
punishment. Nothing but repentance toward God and faith in Christ can save
the sinner. The grace of Christ cannot be purchased; it is a free gift. He
counseled the people not to buy indulgences, but to look in faith to a
crucified Redeemer. He related his own painful experience in vainly
seeking by humiliation and penance to secure salvation, and assured his
hearers that it was by looking away from himself and believing in Christ
that he found peace and joy.

As Tetzel continued his traffic and his impious pretensions, Luther
determined upon a more effectual protest against these crying abuses. An
occasion soon offered. The castle church of Wittenberg possessed many
relics, which on certain holy days were exhibited to the people, and full
remission of sins was granted to all who then visited the church and made
confession. Accordingly on these days the people in great numbers resorted
thither. One of the most important of these occasions, the festival of
“All Saints,” was approaching. On the preceding day, Luther, joining the
crowds that were already making their way to the church, posted on its
door a paper containing ninety-five propositions against the doctrine of
indulgences. He declared his willingness to defend these theses next day
at the university, against all who should see fit to attack them.

His propositions attracted universal attention. They were read and
re-read, and repeated in every direction. Great excitement was created in
the university and in the whole city. By these theses it was shown that
the power to grant the pardon of sin, and to remit its penalty, had never
been committed to the pope or to any other man. The whole scheme was a
farce,—an artifice to extort money by playing upon the superstitions of
the people,—a device of Satan to destroy the souls of all who should trust
to its lying pretensions. It was also clearly shown that the gospel of
Christ is the most valuable treasure of the church, and that the grace of
God, therein revealed, is freely bestowed upon all who seek it by
repentance and faith.

Luther’s theses challenged discussion; but no one dared accept the
challenge. The questions which he proposed had in a few days spread
through all Germany, and in a few weeks they had sounded throughout
Christendom. Many devoted Romanists, who had seen and lamented the
terrible iniquity prevailing in the church, but had not known how to
arrest its progress, read the propositions with great joy, recognizing in
them the voice of God. They felt that the Lord had graciously set His hand
to arrest the rapidly swelling tide of corruption that was issuing from
the see of Rome. Princes and magistrates secretly rejoiced that a check
was to be put upon the arrogant power which denied the right of appeal
from its decisions.

But the sin-loving and superstitious multitudes were terrified as the
sophistries that had soothed their fears were swept away. Crafty
ecclesiastics, interrupted in their work of sanctioning crime, and seeing
their gains endangered, were enraged, and rallied to uphold their
pretensions. The Reformer had bitter accusers to meet. Some charged him
with acting hastily and from impulse. Others accused him of presumption,
declaring that he was not directed of God, but was acting from pride and
forwardness. “Who does not know,” he responded, “that a man rarely puts
forth any new idea without having some appearance of pride, and without
being accused of exciting quarrels?... Why were Christ and all the martyrs
put to death? Because they seemed to be proud contemners of the wisdom of
the time, and because they advanced novelties without having first humbly
taken counsel of the oracles of the ancient opinions.”

Again he declared: “Whatever I do will be done, not by the prudence of
men, but by the counsel of God. If the work be of God, who shall stop it?
if it be not, who can forward it? Not my will, nor theirs, nor ours; but
Thy will, O holy Father, which art in heaven.”(176)

Though Luther had been moved by the Spirit of God to begin his work, he
was not to carry it forward without severe conflicts. The reproaches of
his enemies, their misrepresentation of his purposes, and their unjust and
malicious reflections upon his character and motives, came in upon him
like an overwhelming flood; and they were not without effect. He had felt
confident that the leaders of the people, both in the church and in the
schools, would gladly unite with him in efforts for reform. Words of
encouragement from those in high position had inspired him with joy and
hope. Already in anticipation he had seen a brighter day dawning for the
church. But encouragement had changed to reproach and condemnation. Many
dignitaries, of both church and state, were convicted of the truthfulness
of his theses; but they soon saw that the acceptance of these truths would
involve great changes. To enlighten and reform the people would be
virtually to undermine the authority of Rome, to stop thousands of streams
now flowing into her treasury, and thus greatly to curtail the
extravagance and luxury of the papal leaders. Furthermore, to teach the
people to think and act as responsible beings, looking to Christ alone for
salvation, would overthrow the pontiff’s throne, and eventually destroy
their own authority. For this reason they refused the knowledge tendered
them of God, and arrayed themselves against Christ and the truth by their
opposition to the man whom He had sent to enlighten them.

Luther trembled as he looked upon himself—one man opposed to the mightiest
powers of earth. He sometimes doubted whether he had indeed been led of
God to set himself against the authority of the church. “Who was I,” he
writes, “to oppose the majesty of the pope, before whom ... the kings of
the earth and the whole world trembled? ... No one can know what my heart
suffered during these first two years, and into what despondency, I may
say into what despair, I was sunk.”(177) But he was not left to become
utterly disheartened. When human support failed, he looked to God alone,
and learned that he could lean in perfect safety upon that all-powerful
arm.

To a friend of the Reformation Luther wrote: “We cannot attain to the
understanding of Scripture either by study or by the intellect. Your first
duty is to begin by prayer. Entreat the Lord to grant you, of His great
mercy, the true understanding of His word. There is no other interpreter
of the word of God than the Author of this word, as He Himself has said,
‘They shall be all taught of God.’ Hope for nothing from your own labors,
from your own understanding: trust solely in God, and in the influence of
His Spirit. Believe this on the word of a man who has had
experience.”(178) Here is a lesson of vital importance to those who feel
that God has called them to present to others the solemn truths for this
time. These truths will stir the enmity of Satan, and of men who love the
fables that he has devised. In the conflict with the powers of evil, there
is need of something more than strength of intellect and human wisdom.

When enemies appealed to custom and tradition, or to the assertions and
authority of the pope, Luther met them with the Bible, and the Bible only.
Here were arguments which they could not answer; therefore the slaves of
formalism and superstition clamored for his blood, as the Jews had
clamored for the blood of Christ. “He is a heretic,” cried the Roman
zealots. “It is high treason against the church to allow so horrible a
heretic to live one hour longer. Let the scaffold be instantly erected for
him!”(179) But Luther did not fall a prey to their fury. God had a work
for him to do, and angels of heaven were sent to protect him. Many,
however, who had received from Luther the precious light, were made the
objects of Satan’s wrath, and for the truth’s sake fearlessly suffered
torture and death.

Luther’s teachings attracted the attention of thoughtful minds throughout
all Germany. From his sermons and writings issued beams of light which
awakened and illuminated thousands. A living faith was taking the place of
the dead formalism in which the church had so long been held. The people
were daily losing confidence in the superstitions of Romanism. The
barriers of prejudice were giving way. The word of God, by which Luther
tested every doctrine and every claim, was like a two-edged sword, cutting
its way to the hearts of the people. Everywhere there was awakening a
desire for spiritual progress. Everywhere was such a hungering and
thirsting after righteousness as had not been known for ages. The eyes of
the people, so long directed to human rites and earthly mediators, were
now turning in penitence and faith to Christ and Him crucified.

This wide-spread interest aroused still further the fears of the papal
authorities. Luther received a summons to appear at Rome, to answer to the
charge of heresy. The command filled his friends with terror. They knew
full well the danger that threatened him in that corrupt city, already
drunk with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus. They protested against his
going to Rome, and requested that he receive his examination in Germany.

This arrangement was finally effected, and the pope’s legate was appointed
to hear the case. In the instructions communicated by the pontiff to this
official, it was stated that Luther had already been declared a heretic.
The legate was therefore charged “to prosecute and constrain without any
delay.” If he should remain steadfast, and the legate should fail to gain
possession of his person, he was empowered “to proscribe him in every part
of Germany; to banish, curse, and excommunicate all those who are attached
to him.”(180) And further, the pope directed his legate, in order entirely
to root out the pestilent heresy, to excommunicate all, of whatever
dignity in church or state, except the emperor, who should neglect to
seize Luther and his adherents, and deliver them up to the vengeance of
Rome.

Here is displayed the true spirit of popery. Not a trace of Christian
principle, or even of common justice, is to be seen in the whole document.
Luther was at a great distance from Rome; he had had no opportunity to
explain or defend his position; yet before his case had been investigated,
he was summarily pronounced a heretic, and in the same day, exhorted,
accused, judged, and condemned; and all this by the self-styled holy
father, the only supreme, infallible authority in church or state!

At this time, when Luther so much needed the sympathy and counsel of a
true friend, God’s providence sent Melanchthon to Wittenberg. Young in
years, modest and diffident in his manners, Melanchthon’s sound judgment,
extensive knowledge, and winning eloquence, combined with the purity and
uprightness of his character, won universal admiration and esteem. The
brilliancy of his talents was not more marked than his gentleness of
disposition. He soon became an earnest disciple of the gospel, and
Luther’s most trusted friend and valued supporter; his gentleness,
caution, and exactness serving as a complement to Luther’s courage and
energy. Their union in the work added strength to the Reformation, and was
a source of great encouragement to Luther.

Augsburg had been fixed upon as the place of trial, and the Reformer set
out on foot to perform the journey thither. Serious fears were entertained
in his behalf. Threats had been made openly that he would be seized and
murdered on the way, and his friends begged him not to venture. They even
entreated him to leave Wittenberg for a time, and find safety with those
who would gladly protect him. But he would not leave the position where
God had placed him. He must continue faithfully to maintain the truth,
notwithstanding the storms that were beating upon him. His language was:
“I am like Jeremiah, a man of strife and contention; but the more their
threats increase, the more my joy is multiplied.... They have already
destroyed my honor and my reputation. One single thing remains; it is my
wretched body: let them take it; they will thus shorten my life by a few
hours. But as for my soul, they cannot take that. He who desires to
proclaim the word of Christ to the world, must expect death at every
moment.”(181)

The tidings of Luther’s arrival at Augsburg gave great satisfaction to the
papal legate. The troublesome heretic who was exciting the attention of
the whole world seemed now in the power of Rome, and the legate determined
that he should not escape. The Reformer had failed to provide himself with
a safe-conduct. His friends urged him not to appear before the legate
without one, and they themselves undertook to procure it from the emperor.
The legate intended to force Luther, if possible, to retract, or, failing
in this, to cause him to be conveyed to Rome, to share the fate of Huss
and Jerome. Therefore through his agents he endeavored to induce Luther to
appear without a safe-conduct, trusting himself to his mercy. This the
Reformer firmly declined to do. Not until he had received the document
pledging him the emperor’s protection, did he appear in the presence of
the papal ambassador.

As a matter of policy, the Romanists had decided to attempt to win Luther
by an appearance of gentleness. The legate, in his interviews with him,
professed great friendliness; but he demanded that Luther submit
implicitly to the authority of the church, and yield every point without
argument or question. He had not rightly estimated the character of the
man with whom he had to deal. Luther, in reply, expressed his regard for
the church, his desire for the truth, his readiness to answer all
objections to what he had taught, and to submit his doctrines to the
decision of certain leading universities. But at the same time he
protested against the cardinal’s course in requiring him to retract
without having proved him in error.

The only response was, “Retract, retract!” The Reformer showed that his
position was sustained by the Scriptures, and firmly declared that he
could not renounce the truth. The legate, unable to reply to Luther’s
arguments, overwhelmed him with a storm of reproaches, gibes, and
flattery, interspersed with quotations from tradition and the sayings of
the Fathers, granting the Reformer no opportunity to speak. Seeing that
the conference, thus continued, would be utterly futile, Luther finally
obtained a reluctant permission to present his answer in writing.

“In so doing,” said he, writing to a friend, “the oppressed find double
gain; first, what is written may be submitted to the judgment of others;
and second, one has a better chance of working on the fears, if not on the
conscience, of an arrogant and babbling despot, who would otherwise
overpower by his imperious language.”(182)

At the next interview, Luther presented a clear, concise, and forcible
exposition of his views, fully supported by many quotations from
Scripture. This paper, after reading aloud, he handed to the cardinal,
who, however, cast it contemptuously aside, declaring it to be a mass of
idle words and irrelevant quotations. Luther, fully roused, now met the
haughty prelate on his own ground,—the traditions and teachings of the
church,—and utterly overthrew his assumptions.

When the prelate saw that Luther’s reasoning was unanswerable, he lost all
self-control, and in a rage cried out: “Retract! or I will send you to
Rome, there to appear before the judges commissioned to take cognizance of
your cause. I will excommunicate you and all your partisans, and all who
shall at any time countenance you, and will cast them out of the church.”
And he finally declared, in a haughty and angry tone, “Retract, or return
no more.”(183)

The Reformer promptly withdrew with his friends, thus declaring plainly
that no retraction was to be expected from him. This was not what the
cardinal had purposed. He had flattered himself that by violence he could
awe Luther to submission. Now, left alone with his supporters, he looked
from one to another in utter chagrin at the unexpected failure of his
schemes.

Luther’s efforts on this occasion were not without good results. The large
assembly present had opportunity to compare the two men, and to judge for
themselves of the spirit manifested by them, as well as of the strength
and truthfulness of their positions. How marked the contrast! The
Reformer, simple, humble, firm, stood up in the strength of God, having
truth on his side; the pope’s representative, self-important, overbearing,
haughty, and unreasonable, was without a single argument from the
Scriptures, yet vehemently crying, “Retract, or be sent to Rome for
punishment.”

Notwithstanding Luther had secured a safe-conduct, the Romanists were
plotting to seize and imprison him. His friends urged that as it was
useless for him to prolong his stay, he should return to Wittenberg
without delay, and that the utmost caution should be observed in order to
conceal his intentions. He accordingly left Augsburg before daybreak, on
horseback, accompanied only by a guide furnished him by the magistrate.
With many forebodings he secretly made his way through the dark and silent
streets of the city. Enemies, vigilant and cruel, were plotting his
destruction. Would he escape the snares prepared for him? Those were
moments of anxiety and earnest prayer. He reached a small gate in the wall
of the city. It was opened for him, and with his guide he passed through
without hindrance. Once safely outside, the fugitives hastened their
flight, and before the legate learned of Luther’s departure, he was beyond
the reach of his persecutors. Satan and his emissaries were defeated. The
man whom they had thought in their power was gone, escaped as a bird from
the snare of the fowler.

At the news of Luther’s escape, the legate was overwhelmed with surprise
and anger. He had expected to receive great honor for his wisdom and
firmness in dealing with this disturber of the church; but his hope was
disappointed. He gave expression to his wrath in a letter to Frederick,
the elector of Saxony, bitterly denouncing Luther, and demanding that
Frederick send the Reformer to Rome or banish him from Saxony.

In defense, Luther urged that the legate or the pope show him his errors
from the Scriptures, and pledged himself in the most solemn manner to
renounce his doctrines if they could be shown to contradict the word of
God. And he expressed his gratitude to God that he had been counted worthy
to suffer in so holy a cause.

The elector had, as yet, little knowledge of the reformed doctrines, but
he was deeply impressed by the candor, force, and clearness of Luther’s
words; and until the Reformer should be proved to be in error, Frederick
resolved to stand as his protector. In reply to the legate’s demand he
wrote: “ ‘Since Doctor Martin has appeared before you at Augsburg, you
should be satisfied. We did not expect that you would endeavor to make him
retract without having convinced him of his errors. None of the learned
men in our principality have informed me that Martin’s doctrine is
impious, antichristian, or heretical.’ The prince refused, moreover, to
send Luther to Rome, or to expel him from his states.”(184)

The elector saw that there was a general breaking down of the moral
restraints of society. A great work of reform was needed. The complicated
and expensive arrangements to restrain and punish crime would be
unnecessary if men but acknowledged and obeyed the requirements of God and
the dictates of an enlightened conscience. He saw that Luther was laboring
to secure this object, and he secretly rejoiced that a better influence
was making itself felt in the church.

He saw also that as a professor in the university Luther was eminently
successful. Only a year had passed since the Reformer posted his theses on
the castle church, yet there was already a great falling off in the number
of pilgrims that visited the church at the festival of All Saints. Rome
had been deprived of worshipers and offerings, but their place was filled
by another class, who now came to Wittenberg, not pilgrims to adore her
relics, but students to fill her halls of learning. The writings of Luther
had kindled everywhere a new interest in the Holy Scriptures, and not only
from all parts of Germany, but from other lands, students flocked to the
university. Young men, coming in sight of Wittenberg for the first time,
“raised their hands to heaven, and praised God for having caused the light
of truth to shine forth from this city, as from Zion in times of old, and
whence it spread even to the most distant countries.”(185)

Luther was as yet but partially converted from the errors of Romanism. But
as he compared the Holy Oracles with the papal decrees and constitutions,
he was filled with wonder. “I am reading,” he wrote, “the decrees of the
pontiffs, and ... I do not know whether the pope is antichrist himself, or
his apostle, so greatly is Christ misrepresented and crucified in
them.”(186) Yet at this time Luther was still a supporter of the Roman
Church, and had no thought that he would ever separate from her communion.

The Reformer’s writings and his doctrine were extending to every nation in
Christendom. The work spread to Switzerland and Holland. Copies of his
writings found their way to France and Spain. In England his teachings
were received as the word of life. To Belgium and Italy also the truth had
extended. Thousands were awakening from their deathlike stupor to the joy
and hope of a life of faith.

Rome became more and more exasperated by the attacks of Luther, and it was
declared by some of his fanatical opponents, even by doctors in Catholic
universities, that he who should kill the rebellious monk would be without
sin. One day a stranger, with a pistol hidden under his cloak, approached
the Reformer, and inquired why he went thus alone. “I am in God’s hands,”
answered Luther. “He is my strength and my shield. What can man do unto
me?”(187) Upon hearing these words, the stranger turned pale, and fled
away, as from the presence of the angels of heaven.

Rome was bent upon the destruction of Luther; but God was his defense. His
doctrines were heard everywhere,—“in cottages and convents, ... in the
castles of the nobles, in the universities, and in the palaces of kings;”
and noble men were rising on every hand to sustain his efforts.

It was about this time that Luther, reading the works of Huss, found that
the great truth of justification by faith, which he himself was seeking to
uphold and teach, had been held by the Bohemian Reformer. “We have all,”
said Luther, “Paul, Augustine, and myself, been Hussites without knowing
it!” “God will surely visit it upon the world,” he continued, “that the
truth was preached to it a century ago, and burned!”(188)

In an appeal to the emperor and nobility of Germany in behalf of the
Reformation of Christianity, Luther wrote concerning the pope: “It is a
horrible thing to behold the man who styles himself Christ’s vicegerent,
displaying a magnificence that no emperor can equal. Is this being like
the poor Jesus, or the humble Peter? He is, say they, the lord of the
world! But Christ, whose vicar he boasts of being, has said, ‘My kingdom
is not of this world.’ Can the dominions of a vicar extend beyond those of
his superior?”(189)

He wrote thus of the universities: “I am much afraid that the universities
will prove to be the great gates of hell, unless they diligently labor in
explaining the Holy Scriptures, and engraving them in the hearts of youth.
I advise no one to place his child where the Scriptures do not reign
paramount. Every institution in which men are not unceasingly occupied
with the word of God must become corrupt.”(190)

This appeal was rapidly circulated throughout Germany, and exerted a
powerful influence upon the people. The whole nation was stirred, and
multitudes were roused to rally around the standard of reform. Luther’s
opponents, burning with a desire for revenge, urged the pope to take
decisive measures against him. It was decreed that his doctrines should be
immediately condemned. Sixty days were granted the Reformer and his
adherents, after which, if they did not recant, they were all to be
excommunicated.

That was a terrible crisis for the Reformation. For centuries Rome’s
sentence of excommunication had struck terror to powerful monarchs; it had
filled mighty empires with woe and desolation. Those upon whom its
condemnation fell, were universally regarded with dread and horror; they
were cut off from intercourse with their fellows, and treated as outlaws,
to be hunted to extermination. Luther was not blind to the tempest about
to burst upon him; but he stood firm, trusting in Christ to be his support
and shield. With a martyr’s faith and courage he wrote: “What is about to
happen I know not, nor do I care to know.... Let the blow light where it
may, I am without fear. Not so much as a leaf falls, without the will of
our Father. How much rather will He care for us! It is a light thing to
die for the Word, since the Word which was made flesh hath Himself died.
If we die with Him, we shall live with Him; and passing through that which
He has passed through before us, we shall be where He is and dwell with
Him forever.”(191)

When the papal bull reached Luther, he said: “I despise and attack it, as
impious, false.... It is _Christ_ Himself who is condemned therein.... I
rejoice in having to bear such ills for the best of causes. Already I feel
greater liberty in my heart; for at last I know that the pope is
antichrist, and that his throne is that of Satan himself.”(192)

Yet the mandate of Rome was not without effect. Prison, torture, and sword
were weapons potent to enforce obedience. The weak and superstitious
trembled before the decree of the pope; and while there was general
sympathy for Luther, many felt that life was too dear to be risked in the
cause of reform. Everything seemed to indicate that the Reformer’s work
was about to close.

But Luther was fearless still. Rome had hurled her anathemas against him,
and the world looked on, nothing doubting that he would perish or be
forced to yield. But with terrible power he flung back upon herself the
sentence of condemnation, and publicly declared his determination to
abandon her forever. In the presence of a crowd of students, doctors, and
citizens of all ranks, Luther burned the pope’s bull, with the canon laws,
the decretals, and certain writings sustaining the papal power. “My
enemies have been able, by burning my books,” he said, “to injure the
cause of truth in the minds of the common people, and destroy their souls;
for this reason I consumed their books in return. A serious struggle has
just begun. Hitherto I have been only playing with the pope. I began this
work in God’s name; it will be ended without me, and by His might.”(193)

To the reproaches of his enemies who taunted him with the weakness of his
cause, Luther answered: “Who knows if God has not chosen and called me,
and if they ought not to fear that, by despising me, they despise God
Himself? Moses was alone at the departure from Egypt; Elijah was alone in
the reign of King Ahab; Isaiah alone in Jerusalem; Ezekiel alone in
Babylon.... God never selected as a prophet either the high priest or any
other great personage; but ordinarily He chose low and despised men, once
even the shepherd Amos. In every age, the saints have had to reprove the
great, kings, princes, priests, and wise men, at the peril of their
lives.... I do not say that I am a prophet; but I say that they ought to
fear precisely because I am alone and that they are many. I am sure of
this, that the word of God is with me, and that it is not with them.”(194)

Yet it was not without a terrible struggle with himself that Luther
decided upon a final separation from the church. It was about this time
that he wrote: “I feel more and more every day how difficult it is to lay
aside the scruples which one has imbibed in childhood. O, how much pain it
has caused me, though I had the Scriptures on my side, to justify it to
myself that I should dare to make a stand alone against the pope, and hold
him forth as antichrist! What have the tribulations of my heart not been!
How many times have I not asked myself with bitterness that question which
was so frequent on the lips of the papists: ‘Art thou alone wise? Can
every one else be mistaken? How will it be, if, after all, it is thyself
who art wrong, and who art involving in thy error so many souls, who will
then be eternally damned?’ ’Twas so I fought with myself and with Satan,
till Christ, by His own infallible word, fortified my heart against these
doubts.”(195)

The pope had threatened Luther with excommunication if he did not recant,
and the threat was now fulfilled. A new bull appeared, declaring the
Reformer’s final separation from the Roman Church, denouncing him as
accursed of Heaven, and including in the same condemnation all who should
receive his doctrines. The great contest had been fully entered upon.

Opposition is the lot of all whom God employs to present truths specially
applicable to their time. There was a present truth in the days of
Luther,—a truth at that time of special importance; there is a present
truth for the church to-day. He who does all things according to the
counsel of His will, has been pleased to place men under various
circumstances, and to enjoin upon them duties peculiar to the times in
which they live, and the conditions under which they are placed. If they
would prize the light given them, broader views of truth would be opened
before them. But truth is no more desired by the majority to-day than it
was by the papists who opposed Luther. There is the same disposition to
accept the theories and traditions of men instead of the word of God as in
former ages. Those who present the truth for this time should not expect
to be received with greater favor than were earlier reformers. The great
controversy between truth and error, between Christ and Satan, is to
increase in intensity to the close of this world’s history.

Said Jesus to His disciples: “If ye were of the world, the world would
love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you
out of the world, therefore the world hateth you. Remember the word that I
said unto you, The servant is not greater than his Lord. If they have
persecuted Me, they will also persecute you; if they have kept My saying,
they will keep yours also.”(196) And on the other hand our Lord declared
plainly: “Woe unto you, when all men shall speak well of you! for so did
their fathers to the false prophets.”(197) The spirit of the world is no
more in harmony with the spirit of Christ to-day than in earlier times;
and those who preach the word of God in its purity will be received with
no greater favor now than then. The forms of opposition to the truth may
change, the enmity may be less open because it is more subtle; but the
same antagonism still exists, and will be manifested to the end of time.





8. LUTHER BEFORE THE DIET.


                     [Illustration: Chapter header.]

A new emperor, Charles V., had ascended the throne of Germany, and the
emissaries of Rome hastened to present their congratulations, and induce
the monarch to employ his power against the Reformation. On the other
hand, the elector of Saxony, to whom Charles was in great degree indebted
for his crown, entreated him to take no step against Luther until he
should have granted him a hearing. The emperor was thus placed in a
position of great perplexity and embarrassment. The papists would be
satisfied with nothing short of an imperial edict sentencing Luther to
death. The elector had declared firmly that “neither his imperial majesty
nor any other person had shown that Luther’s writings had been refuted;”
therefore he requested “that Doctor Luther should be furnished with a
safe-conduct, so that he might appear before a tribunal of learned, pious,
and impartial judges.”(198)

The attention of all parties was now directed to the assembly of the
German states which convened at Worms soon after the accession of Charles
to the empire. There were important political questions and interests to
be considered by this national council; for the first time the princes of
Germany were to meet their youthful monarch in deliberative assembly. From
all parts of the fatherland had come the dignitaries of church and state.
Secular lords, high-born, powerful, and jealous of their hereditary
rights; princely ecclesiastics, flushed with their conscious superiority
in rank and power; courtly knights and their armed retainers; and
ambassadors from foreign and distant lands,—all gathered at Worms. Yet in
that vast assembly the subject that excited the deepest interest, was the
cause of the Saxon Reformer.

Charles had previously directed the elector to bring Luther with him to
the Diet, assuring him of protection, and promising a free discussion,
with competent persons, of the questions in dispute. Luther was anxious to
appear before the emperor. His health was at this time much impaired; yet
he wrote to the elector: “If I cannot go to Worms in good health, I will
be carried there, sick as I am. For if the emperor calls me, I cannot
doubt that it is the call of God Himself. If they desire to use violence
against me, and that is very probable (for it is not for their instruction
that they order me to appear), I place the matter in the Lord’s hands. He
still lives and reigns who preserved the three young men in the burning
fiery furnace. If He will not save me, my life is of little consequence.
Let us only prevent the gospel from being exposed to the scorn of the
wicked, and let us shed our blood for it, for fear they should triumph. It
is not for me to decide whether my life or my death will contribute most
to the salvation of all.... You may expect everything from me ... except
flight and recantation. Fly I cannot, and still less retract.”(199)

As the news was circulated at Worms that Luther was to appear before the
Diet, a general excitement was created. Aleander, the papal legate to whom
the case had been specially intrusted, was alarmed and enraged. He saw
that the result would be disastrous to the papal cause. To institute
inquiry into a case in which the pope had already pronounced sentence of
condemnation, would be to cast contempt upon the authority of the
sovereign pontiff. Furthermore, he was apprehensive that the eloquent and
powerful arguments of this man might turn away many of the princes from
the cause of the pope. He therefore, in the most urgent manner,
remonstrated with Charles against Luther’s appearance at Worms. About this
time the bull declaring Luther’s excommunication was published; and this,
coupled with the representations of the legate, induced the emperor to
yield. He wrote to the elector that if Luther would not retract, he must
remain at Wittenberg.

Not content with this victory, Aleander labored with all the power and
cunning at his command to secure Luther’s condemnation. With a persistence
worthy of a better cause, he urged the matter upon the attention of
princes, prelates, and other members of the assembly, accusing the
Reformer of “sedition, rebellion, impiety, and blasphemy.” But the
vehemence and passion manifested by the legate revealed too plainly the
spirit by which he was actuated. “He is moved by hatred and vengeance,”
was the general remark, “much more than by zeal and piety.”(200) The
majority of the Diet were more than ever inclined to regard Luther’s cause
with favor.

With redoubled zeal, Aleander urged upon the emperor the duty of executing
the papal edicts. But under the laws of Germany this could not be done
without the concurrence of the princes; and overcome at last by the
legate’s importunity, Charles bade him present his case to the Diet. “It
was a proud day for the nuncio. The assembly was a great one: the cause
was even greater. Aleander was to plead for Rome, ... the mother and
mistress of all churches.” He was to vindicate the princedom of Peter
before the assembled principalities of Christendom. “He had the gift of
eloquence, and he rose to the greatness of the occasion. Providence
ordered it that Rome should appear and plead by the ablest of her orators
in the presence of the most august of tribunals, before she was
condemned.”(201) With some misgivings those who favored the Reformer
looked forward to the effect of Aleander’s speech. The elector of Saxony
was not present, but by his direction some of his councilors attended, to
take notes of the nuncio’s address.

With all the power of learning and eloquence, Aleander set himself to
overthrow the truth. Charge after charge he hurled against Luther as an
enemy of the church and the state, the living and the dead, clergy and
laity, councils and private Christians. “In Luther’s errors there is
enough,” he declared, to warrant the burning of “a hundred thousand
heretics.”

In conclusion, he endeavored to cast contempt upon the adherents of the
reformed faith: “What are all these Lutherans? A crew of insolent
pedagogues, corrupt priests, dissolute monks, ignorant lawyers, and
degraded nobles, with the common people whom they have misled and
perverted. How far superior to them is the Catholic party in number,
ability, and power! A unanimous decree from this illustrious assembly will
enlighten the simple, warn the imprudent, decide the waverers, and give
strength to the weak.”(202)

With such weapons the advocates of truth in every age have been attacked.
The same arguments are still urged against all who dare to present, in
opposition to established errors, the plain and direct teachings of God’s
word. “Who are these preachers of new doctrines?” exclaim those who desire
a popular religion. “They are unlearned, few in numbers, and of the poorer
class. Yet they claim to have the truth, and to be the chosen people of
God. They are ignorant and deceived. How greatly superior in numbers and
influence is our church! How many great and learned men are among us! How
much more power is on our side!” These are the arguments that have a
telling influence upon the world; but they are no more conclusive now than
in the days of the Reformer.

The Reformation did not, as many suppose, end with Luther. It is to be
continued to the close of this world’s history. Luther had a great work to
do in reflecting to others the light which God had permitted to shine upon
him; yet he did not receive all the light which was to be given to the
world. From that time to this, new light has been continually shining upon
the Scriptures, and new truths have been constantly unfolding.

The legate’s address made a deep impression upon the Diet. There was no
Luther present, with the clear and convincing truths of God’s word, to
vanquish the papal champion. No attempt was made to defend the Reformer.
There was manifest a general disposition not only to condemn him and the
doctrines which he taught, but if possible to uproot the heresy. Rome had
enjoyed the most favorable opportunity to defend her cause. All that she
could say in her own vindication had been said. But the apparent victory
was the signal of defeat. Henceforth the contrast between truth and error
would be more clearly seen, as they should take the field in open warfare.
Never from that day would Rome stand as secure as she had stood.

While most of the members of the Diet would not have hesitated to yield up
Luther to the vengeance of Rome, many of them saw and deplored the
existing depravity in the church, and desired a suppression of the abuses
suffered by the German people in consequence of the corruption and greed
of the hierarchy. The legate had presented the papal rule in the most
favorable light. Now the Lord moved upon a member of the Diet to give a
true delineation of the effects of papal tyranny. With noble firmness,
Duke George of Saxony stood up in that princely assembly, and specified
with terrible exactness the deceptions and abominations of popery, and
their dire results. In closing he said:

“These are some of the abuses that cry out against Rome. All shame has
been put aside, and their only object is ... money, money, money, ... so
that the preachers who should teach the truth, utter nothing but
falsehoods, and are not only tolerated, but rewarded, because the greater
their lies, the greater their gain. It is from this foul spring that such
tainted waters flow. Debauchery stretches out the hand to avarice....
Alas, it is the scandal caused by the clergy that hurls so many poor souls
into eternal condemnation. A general reform must be effected.”(203)

A more able and forcible denunciation of the papal abuses could not have
been presented by Luther himself; and the fact that the speaker was a
determined enemy of the Reformer, gave greater influence to his words.

Had the eyes of the assembly been opened, they would have beheld angels of
God in the midst of them, shedding beams of light athwart the darkness of
error, and opening minds and hearts to the reception of truth. It was the
power of the God of truth and wisdom that controlled even the adversaries
of the Reformation, and thus prepared the way for the great work about to
be accomplished. Martin Luther was not present; but the voice of One
greater than Luther had been heard in that assembly.

A committee was at once appointed by the Diet to prepare an enumeration of
the papal oppressions that weighed so heavily on the German people. This
list, containing a hundred and one specifications, was presented to the
emperor, with a request that he would take immediate measures for the
correction of these abuses. “What a loss of Christian souls,” said the
petitioners, “what depredations, what extortions, on account of the
scandals by which the spiritual head of Christendom is surrounded! It is
our duty to prevent the ruin and dishonor of our people. For this reason
we most humbly but most urgently entreat you to order a general
reformation, and to undertake its accomplishment.”(204)

The council now demanded the Reformer’s appearance before them.
Notwithstanding the entreaties, protests, and threats of Aleander, the
emperor at last consented, and Luther was summoned to appear before the
Diet. With the summons was issued a safe-conduct, insuring his return to a
place of security. These were borne to Wittenberg by a herald, who was
commissioned to conduct him to Worms.

The friends of Luther were terrified and distressed. Knowing the prejudice
and enmity against him, they feared that even his safe-conduct would not
be respected, and they entreated him not to imperil his life. He replied:
“The papists do not desire my coming to Worms, but my condemnation and my
death. It matters not. Pray not for me, but for the word of God.... Christ
will give me His Spirit to overcome these ministers of error. I despise
them during my life; I shall triumph over them by my death. They are busy
at Worms about compelling me to retract; and this shall be my retraction:
I said formerly that the pope was Christ’s vicar; now I assert that he is
our Lord’s adversary, and the devil’s apostle.”(205)

Luther was not to make his perilous journey alone. Besides the imperial
messenger, three of his firmest friends determined to accompany him.
Melanchthon earnestly desired to join them. His heart was knit to
Luther’s, and he yearned to follow him, if need be, to prison or to death.
But his entreaties were denied. Should Luther perish, the hopes of the
Reformation must center upon his youthful co-laborer. Said the Reformer as
he parted from Melanchthon: “If I do not return, and my enemies put me to
death, continue to teach, and stand fast in the truth. Labor in my
stead.... If you survive, my death will be of little consequence.”(206)
Students and citizens who had gathered to witness Luther’s departure were
deeply moved. A multitude whose hearts had been touched by the gospel,
bade him farewell with weeping. Thus the Reformer and his companions set
out from Wittenberg.

On the journey they saw that the minds of the people were oppressed by
gloomy forebodings. At some towns no honors were proffered them. As they
stopped for the night, a friendly priest expressed his fears by holding up
before Luther the portrait of an Italian reformer who had suffered
martyrdom. The next day they learned that Luther’s writings had been
condemned at Worms. Imperial messengers were proclaiming the emperor’s
decree, and calling upon the people to bring the proscribed works to the
magistrates. The herald, fearing for Luther’s safety at the council, and
thinking that already his resolution might be shaken, asked if he still
wished to go forward. He answered, “Although interdicted in every city, I
shall go on.”(207)

At Erfurt, Luther was received with honor. Surrounded by admiring crowds,
he passed through the streets that he had often traversed with his
beggar’s wallet. He visited his convent cell, and thought upon the
struggles through which the light now flooding Germany had been shed upon
his soul. He was urged to preach. This he had been forbidden to do, but
the herald granted him permission, and the friar who had once been made
the drudge of the convent, now entered the pulpit.

To a crowded assembly he spoke from the words of Christ, “Peace be unto
you.” “Philosophers, doctors, and writers,” he said, “have endeavored to
teach men the way to obtain everlasting life, and they have not succeeded.
I will now tell it to you.... God has raised one Man from the dead, the
Lord Jesus Christ, that He might destroy death, extirpate sin, and shut
the gates of hell. This is the work of salvation.... Christ has
vanquished! this is the joyful news; and we are saved by His work, and not
by our own.... Our Lord Jesus Christ said, ‘Peace be unto you; behold My
hands;’ that is to say, Behold, O man! it is I, I alone, who have taken
away thy sin, and ransomed thee; and now thou hast peace, saith the Lord.”

He continued, showing that true faith will be manifested by a holy life.
“Since God has saved us, let us so order our works that they may be
acceptable to Him. Art thou rich? let thy goods administer to the
necessities of the poor. Art thou poor? let thy services be acceptable to
the rich. If thy labor is useful to thyself alone, the service that thou
pretendest to render unto God is a lie.”(208)

The people listened as if spellbound. The bread of life was broken to
those starving souls. Christ was lifted up before them as above popes,
legates, emperors, and kings. Luther made no reference to his own perilous
position. He did not seek to make himself the object of thought or
sympathy. In the contemplation of Christ, he had lost sight of self. He
hid behind the Man of Calvary, seeking only to present Jesus as the
sinner’s Redeemer.

As the Reformer proceeded on his journey, he was everywhere regarded with
great interest. An eager multitude thronged about him, and friendly voices
warned him of the purpose of the Romanists. “They will burn you,” said
some, “and reduce your body to ashes, as they did with John Huss.” Luther
answered, “Though they should kindle a fire all the way from Worms to
Wittenberg, the flames of which reached to heaven, I would walk through it
in the name of the Lord; I would appear before them; I would enter the
jaws of this behemoth, and break his teeth, confessing the Lord Jesus
Christ.”(209)

The news of his approach to Worms created great commotion. His friends
trembled for his safety; his enemies feared for the success of their
cause. Strenuous efforts were made to dissuade him from entering the city.
At the instigation of the papists he was urged to repair to the castle of
a friendly knight, where, it was declared, all difficulties could be
amicably adjusted. Friends endeavored to excite his fears by describing
the dangers that threatened him. All their efforts failed; Luther, still
unshaken, declared, “Even should there be as many devils in Worms as tiles
on the housetops, still I would enter it.”(210)

Upon his arrival at Worms, a vast crowd flocked to the gates to welcome
him. So great a concourse had not assembled to greet the emperor himself.
The excitement was intense, and from the midst of the throng a shrill and
plaintive voice chanted a funeral dirge, as a warning to Luther of the
fate that awaited him. “God will be my defense,” said he, as he alighted
from his carriage.

The papists had not believed that Luther would really venture to appear at
Worms, and his arrival filled them with consternation. The emperor
immediately summoned his councilors to consider what course should be
pursued. One of the bishops, a rigid papist, declared: “We have long
consulted on this matter. Let your imperial majesty get rid of this man at
once. Did not Sigismund cause John Huss to be burnt? We are not bound
either to give or to observe the safe-conduct of a heretic.” “No,” said
the emperor; “we must keep our promise.”(211) It was therefore decided
that the Reformer should be heard.

All the city were eager to see this remarkable man, and a throng of
visitors soon filled his lodgings. Luther had scarcely recovered from his
recent illness; he was wearied from the journey, which had occupied two
full weeks; he must prepare to meet the momentous events of the morrow,
and he needed quiet and repose. But so great was the desire to see him,
that he had enjoyed only a few hours’ rest, when noblemen, knights,
priests, and citizens gathered eagerly about him. Among these were many of
the nobles who had so boldly demanded of the emperor a reform of
ecclesiastical abuses, and who, says Luther, “had all been freed by my
gospel.”(212) Enemies, as well as friends, came to look upon the dauntless
monk; but he received them with unshaken calmness, replying to all with
dignity and wisdom. His bearing was firm and courageous. His pale, thin
face, marked with the traces of toil and illness, wore a kindly and even
joyous expression. The solemnity and deep earnestness of his words gave
him a power that even his enemies could not wholly withstand. Both friends
and foes were filled with wonder. Some were convinced that a divine
influence attended him; others declared, as had the Pharisees concerning
Christ, “He hath a devil.”

On the following day, Luther was summoned to attend the Diet. An imperial
officer was appointed to conduct him to the hall of audience; yet it was
with difficulty that he reached the place. Every avenue was crowded with
spectators, eager to look upon the monk who had dared resist the authority
of the pope.

As he was about to enter the presence of his judges, an old general, the
hero of many battles, said to him kindly: “Poor monk, poor monk, thou art
now going to make a nobler stand than I or any other captains have ever
made in the bloodiest of our battles. But if thy cause is just, and thou
art sure of it, go forward in God’s name, and fear nothing. God will not
forsake thee.”(213)

At length Luther stood before the council. The emperor occupied the
throne. He was surrounded by the most illustrious personages in the
empire. Never had any man appeared in the presence of a more imposing
assembly than that before which Martin Luther was to answer for his faith.
“This appearance was of itself a signal victory over the papacy. The pope
had condemned the man, and he was now standing before a tribunal which, by
this very act, set itself above the pope. The pope had laid him under an
interdict, and cut him off from all human society; and yet he was summoned
in respectful language, and received before the most august assembly in
the world. The pope had condemned him to perpetual silence, and he was now
about to speak before thousands of attentive hearers drawn together from
the farthest parts of Christendom. An immense revolution had thus been
effected by Luther’s instrumentality. Rome was already descending from her
throne, and it was the voice of a monk that caused this humiliation.”(214)

In the presence of that powerful and titled assembly, the lowly-born
Reformer seemed awed and embarrassed. Several of the princes, observing
his emotion, approached him, and one of them whispered, “Fear not them
which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul.” Another said,
“When ye shall be brought before governors and kings for My sake, it shall
be given you, by the Spirit of your Father, what ye shall say.” Thus the
words of Christ were brought by the world’s great men to strengthen His
servant in the hour of trial.

Luther was conducted to a position directly in front of the emperor’s
throne. A deep silence fell upon the crowded assembly. Then an imperial
officer arose, and pointing to a collection of Luther’s writings, demanded
that the Reformer answer two questions,—whether he acknowledged them as
his, and whether he proposed to retract the opinions which he had therein
advanced. The titles of the books having been read, Luther replied that as
to the first question, he acknowledged the books to be his. “As to the
second,” he said, “seeing that it is a question which concerns faith and
the salvation of souls, and in which the word of God, the greatest and
most precious treasure either in heaven or earth, is interested, I should
act imprudently were I to reply without reflection. I might affirm less
than the circumstance demands, or more than truth requires, and so sin
against this saying of Christ: ‘Whosoever shall deny Me before men, him
will I also deny before My Father which is in heaven.’(215) For this
reason I entreat your imperial majesty, with all humility, to allow me
time, that I may answer without offending against the word of God.”(216)

In making this request, Luther moved wisely. His course convinced the
assembly that he did not act from passion or impulse. Such calmness and
self-command, unexpected in one who had shown himself bold and
uncompromising, added to his power, and enabled him afterward to answer
with a prudence, decision, wisdom, and dignity that surprised and
disappointed his adversaries, and rebuked their insolence and pride.

The next day he was to appear to render his final answer. For a time his
heart sunk within him as he contemplated the forces that were combined
against the truth. His faith faltered; fearfulness and trembling came upon
him, and horror overwhelmed him. Dangers multiplied before him; his
enemies seemed about to triumph, and the powers of darkness to prevail.
Clouds gathered about him, and seemed to separate him from God. He longed
for the assurance that the Lord of hosts would be with him. In anguish of
spirit he threw himself with his face upon the earth, and poured out those
broken, heart-rending cries, which none but God can fully understand.

“O almighty and everlasting God,” he pleaded, “how terrible is this world!
Behold, it openeth its mouth to swallow me up, and I have so little trust
in Thee.... If it is only in the strength of this world that I must put my
trust, all is over.... My last hour is come, my condemnation has been
pronounced.... O God, do Thou help me against all the wisdom of the world.
Do this, ... Thou alone; ... for this is not my work, but Thine. I have
nothing to do here, nothing to contend for with these great ones of the
world.... But the cause is Thine, ... and it is a righteous and eternal
cause. O Lord, help me! Faithful and unchangeable God, in no man do I
place my trust.... All that is of man is uncertain; all that cometh of man
fails.... Thou hast chosen me for this work.... Stand at my side, for the
sake of Thy well-beloved Jesus Christ, who is my defense, my shield, and
my strong tower.”(217)

An all-wise Providence had permitted Luther to realize his peril, that he
might not trust to his own strength, and rush presumptuously into danger.
Yet it was not the fear of personal suffering, a dread of torture or
death, which seemed immediately impending, that overwhelmed him with its
terror. He had come to the crisis, and he felt his insufficiency to meet
it. Through his weakness the cause of truth might suffer loss. Not for his
own safety, but for the triumph of the gospel did he wrestle with God.
Like Israel’s, in that night struggle beside the lonely stream, was the
anguish and conflict of his soul. Like Israel, he prevailed with God. In
his utter helplessness his faith fastened upon Christ, the mighty
deliverer. He was strengthened with the assurance that he would not appear
alone before the council. Peace returned to his soul, and he rejoiced that
he was permitted to uplift the word of God before the rulers of the
nation.

With his mind stayed upon God, Luther prepared for the struggle before
him. He thought upon the plan of his answer, examined passages in his own
writings, and drew from the Holy Scriptures suitable proofs to sustain his
positions. Then, laying his left hand on the Sacred Volume, which was open
before him, he lifted his right hand to heaven, and vowed “to remain
faithful to the gospel, and freely to confess his faith, even should he
seal his testimony with his blood.”(218)

When he was again ushered into the presence of the Diet, his countenance
bore no trace of fear or embarrassment. Calm and peaceful, yet grandly
brave and noble, he stood as God’s witness among the great ones of the
earth. The imperial officer now demanded his decision as to whether he
desired to retract his doctrines. Luther made his answer in a subdued and
humble tone, without violence or passion. His demeanor was diffident and
respectful; yet he manifested a confidence and joy that surprised the
assembly.

“Most serene emperor, illustrious princes, gracious lords,” said Luther,
“I appear before you this day, in conformity with the order given me
yesterday, and by God’s mercies I conjure your majesty and your august
highnesses to listen graciously to the defense of a cause which I am
assured is just and true. If, through ignorance, I should transgress the
usages and proprieties of courts, I entreat you to pardon me; for I was
not brought up in the palaces of kings, but in the seclusion of a
convent.”(219)

Then, proceeding to the question, he stated that his published works were
not all of the same character. In some he had treated of faith and good
works, and even his enemies declared them not only harmless but
profitable. To retract these would be to condemn truths which all parties
confessed. The second class consisted of writings exposing the corruptions
and abuses of the papacy. To revoke these works would strengthen the
tyranny of Rome, and open a wider door to many and great impieties. In the
third class of his books he had attacked individuals who had defended
existing evils. Concerning these he freely confessed that he had been more
violent than was becoming. He did not claim to be free from fault; but
even these books he could not revoke, for such a course would embolden the
enemies of truth, and they would then take occasion to crush God’s people
with still greater cruelty.

“Yet I am but a mere man, and not God, he continued; “I shall therefore
defend myself as Christ did: ‘If I have spoken evil, bear witness of the
evil.’... By the mercy of God, I conjure you, most serene emperor, and
you, most illustrious princes, and all men of every degree, to prove from
the writings of the prophets and apostles that I have erred. As soon as I
am convinced of this, I will retract every error, and be the first to lay
hold of my books and throw them into the fire.”

“What I have just said plainly shows, I hope, that I have carefully
weighed and considered the dangers to which I expose myself; but far from
being dismayed, I rejoice to see that the gospel is now, as in former
times, a cause of trouble and dissension. This is the character, this is
the destiny, of the word of God. ‘I came not to send peace on earth, but a
sword,’ said Jesus Christ. God is wonderful and terrible in His counsels;
beware lest, by presuming to quench dissensions, you should persecute the
holy word of God, and draw down upon yourselves a frightful deluge of
insurmountable dangers, of present disasters, and eternal desolation.... I
might quote many examples from the oracles of God. I might speak of the
Pharaohs, the kings of Babylon, and those of Israel, whose labors never
more effectually contributed to their own destruction than when they
sought by counsels, to all appearance most wise, to strengthen their
dominion. ‘God removeth mountains, and they know it not.’ ”(220)

Luther had spoken in German; he was now requested to repeat the same words
in Latin. Though exhausted by the previous effort, he complied, and again
delivered his speech, with the same clearness and energy as at the first.
God’s providence directed in this matter. The minds of many of the princes
were so blinded by error and superstition that at the first delivery they
did not see the force of Luther’s reasoning; but the repetition enabled
them to perceive clearly the points presented.

Those who stubbornly closed their eyes to the light, and determined not to
be convinced of the truth, were enraged at the power of Luther’s words. As
he ceased speaking, the spokesman of the Diet said angrily, “You have not
answered the question put to you.... You are required to give a clear and
precise answer.... Will you, or will you not, retract?”

The Reformer answered: “Since your most serene majesty and your high
mightinesses require from me a clear, simple, and precise answer, I will
give you one, and it is this: I cannot submit my faith either to the pope
or to the councils, because it is clear as the day that they have
frequently erred and contradicted each other. Unless therefore I am
convinced by the testimony of Scripture or by the clearest reasoning,
unless I am persuaded by means of the passages I have quoted, and unless
they thus render my conscience bound by the word of God, _I cannot and I
will not retract_, for it is unsafe for a Christian to speak against his
conscience. Here I stand, I can do no other; may God help me. Amen.”(221)

Thus stood this righteous man, upon the sure foundation of the word of
God. The light of heaven illuminated his countenance. His greatness and
purity of character, his peace and joy of heart, were manifest to all as
he testified against the power of error, and witnessed to the superiority
of that faith that overcomes the world.

The whole assembly were for a time speechless with amazement. At his first
answer, Luther had spoken in a low tone, with a respectful, almost
submissive bearing. The Romanists had interpreted this as evidence that
his courage was beginning to fail. They regarded the request for delay as
merely the prelude to his recantation. Charles himself, noting, half
contemptuously, the monk’s worn frame, his plain attire, and the
simplicity of his address, had declared, “This monk will never make a
heretic of me.” The courage and firmness which he now displayed, as well
as the power and clearness of his reasoning, filled all parties with
surprise. The emperor, moved to admiration, exclaimed, “This monk speaks
with an intrepid heart and unshaken courage.” Many of the German princes
looked with pride and joy upon this representative of their nation.

The partisans of Rome had been worsted; their cause appeared in a most
unfavorable light. They sought to maintain their power, not by appealing
to the Scriptures, but by a resort to threats, Rome’s unfailing argument.
Said the spokesman of the Diet, “If you do not retract, the emperor and
the states of the empire will consult what course to adopt against an
incorrigible heretic.”

Luther’s friends, who had with great joy listened to his noble defense,
trembled at these words; but the doctor himself said calmly, “May God be
my helper, for I can retract nothing.”(222)

He was directed to withdraw from the Diet, while the princes consulted
together. It was felt that a great crisis had come. Luther’s persistent
refusal to submit, might affect the history of the church for ages. It was
decided to give him one more opportunity to retract. For the last time he
was brought into the assembly. Again the question was put, whether he
would renounce his doctrines. “I have no other reply to make,” he said,
“than that which I have already made.” It was evident that he could not be
induced, either by promises or threats, to yield to the mandate of Rome.

The papal leaders were chagrined that their power, which had caused kings
and nobles to tremble, should be thus despised by a humble monk; they
longed to make him feel their wrath by torturing his life away. But
Luther, understanding his danger, had spoken to all with Christian dignity
and calmness. His words had been free from pride, passion, and
misrepresentation. He had lost sight of himself, and of the great men
surrounding him, and felt only that he was in the presence of One
infinitely superior to popes, prelates, kings, and emperors. Christ had
spoken through Luther’s testimony with a power and grandeur that for the
time inspired both friends and foes with awe and wonder. The Spirit of God
had been present in that council impressing the hearts of the chiefs of
the empire. Several of the princes boldly acknowledged the justice of
Luther’s cause. Many were convinced of the truth; but with some the
impressions received were not lasting. There was another class who did not
at the time express their convictions, but who, having searched the
Scriptures for themselves, at a future time became fearless supporters of
the Reformation.

The elector Frederick had looked forward anxiously to Luther’s appearance
before the Diet, and with deep emotion he listened to his speech. With joy
and pride he witnessed the doctor’s courage, firmness, and
self-possession, and determined to stand more firmly in his defense. He
contrasted the parties in contest, and saw that the wisdom of popes,
kings, and prelates had been brought to naught by the power of truth. The
papacy had sustained a defeat which would be felt among all nations and in
all ages.

As the legate perceived the effect produced by Luther’s speech, he feared,
as never before, for the security of the Romish power, and resolved to
employ every means at his command to effect the Reformer’s overthrow. With
all the eloquence and diplomatic skill for which he was so eminently
distinguished, he represented to the youthful emperor the folly and danger
of sacrificing, in the cause of an insignificant monk, the friendship and
support of the powerful see of Rome.

His words were not without effect. On the day following Luther’s answer,
Charles caused a message to be presented to the Diet, announcing his
determination to carry out the policy of his predecessors to maintain and
protect the Catholic religion. Since Luther had refused to renounce his
errors, the most vigorous measures should be employed against him and the
heresies he taught. “A single monk, misled by his own folly, has risen
against the faith of Christendom. To stay such impiety, I will sacrifice
my kingdoms, my treasures, my friends, my body, my blood, my soul, and my
life. I am about to dismiss the Augustine Luther, forbidding him to cause
the least disorder among the people; I shall then proceed against him and
his adherents as contumacious heretics, by excommunication, by interdict,
and by every means calculated to destroy them. I call on the members of
the states to behave like faithful Christians.”(223) Nevertheless the
emperor declared that Luther’s safe-conduct must be respected, and that
before proceedings against him could be instituted, he must be allowed to
reach his home in safety.

Two conflicting opinions were now urged by the members of the Diet. The
emissaries and representatives of the pope again demanded that the
Reformer’s safe-conduct should be disregarded. “The Rhine,” they said,
“should receive his ashes, as it had received those of John Huss a century
ago.”(224) But princes of Germany, though themselves papists and avowed
enemies to Luther, protested against such a breach of public faith, as a
stain upon the honor of the nation. They pointed to the calamities which
had followed the death of Huss, and declared that they dared not call down
upon Germany, and upon the head of their youthful emperor, a repetition of
those terrible evils.

Charles himself, in answer to the base proposal, said, “Though honor and
faith should be banished from all the world, they ought to find a refuge
in the hearts of princes.”(225) He was still further urged by the most
bitter of Luther’s papal enemies to deal with the Reformer as Sigismund
had dealt with Huss,—abandon him to the mercies of the church; but
recalling the scene when Huss in public assembly had pointed to his chains
and reminded the monarch of his plighted faith, Charles V. declared, “I
should not like to blush like Sigismund.”(226)

Yet Charles had deliberately rejected the truths presented by Luther. “I
am firmly resolved to imitate the example of my ancestors,”(227) wrote the
monarch. He had decided that he would not step out of the path of custom,
even to walk in the ways of truth and righteousness. Because his fathers
did, he would uphold the papacy, with all its cruelty and corruption. Thus
he took his position, refusing to accept any light in advance of what his
fathers had received, or to perform any duty that they had not performed.

There are many at the present day thus clinging to the customs and
traditions of their fathers. When the Lord sends them additional light,
they refuse to accept it, because, not having been granted to their
fathers, it was not received by them. We are not placed where our fathers
were; consequently our duties and responsibilities are not the same as
theirs. We shall not be approved of God in looking to the example of our
fathers to determine our duty instead of searching the Word of truth for
ourselves. Our responsibility is greater than was that of our ancestors.
We are accountable for the light which they received, and which was handed
down as an inheritance for us, and we are accountable also for the
additional light which is now shining upon us from the word of God.

Said Christ of the unbelieving Jews, “If I had not come and spoken unto
them, they had not had sin: but now they have no cloak for their
sin.”(228) The same divine power had spoken through Luther to the emperor
and princes of Germany. And as the light shone forth from God’s word, his
Spirit pleaded for the last time with many in that assembly. As Pilate,
centuries before, permitted pride and popularity to close his heart
against the world’s Redeemer; as the trembling Felix bade the messenger of
truth, “Go thy way for this time; when I have a convenient season, I will
call for thee;” as the proud Agrippa confessed, “Almost thou persuadest me
to be a Christian,”(229) yet turned away from the Heaven-sent message,—so
had Charles V., yielding to the dictates of worldly pride and policy,
decided to reject the light of truth.

Rumors of the designs against Luther were widely circulated, causing great
excitement throughout the city. The Reformer had made many friends, who,
knowing the treacherous cruelty of Rome toward all who dared expose her
corruptions, resolved that he should not be sacrificed. Hundreds of nobles
pledged themselves to protect him. Not a few openly denounced the royal
message as evincing a weak submission to the controlling power of Rome. On
the gates of houses and in public places, placards were posted, some
condemning and others sustaining Luther. On one of these were written
merely the significant words of the wise man, “Woe to thee, O land, when
thy king is a child.”(230) The popular enthusiasm in Luther’s favor
throughout all Germany convinced both the emperor and the Diet that any
injustice shown him would endanger the peace of the empire, and even the
stability of the throne.

Frederick of Saxony maintained a studied reserve, carefully concealing his
real feelings toward the Reformer, while at the same time he guarded him
with tireless vigilance, watching all his movements and all those of his
enemies. But there were many who made no attempt to conceal their sympathy
with Luther. He was visited by princes, counts, barons, and other persons
of distinction, both lay and ecclesiastical. “The doctor’s little room,”
wrote Spalatin, “could not contain all the visitors who presented
themselves.”(231) The people gazed upon him as if he were more than human.
Even those who had no faith in his doctrines, could not but admire that
lofty integrity which led him to brave death rather than violate his
conscience.

Earnest efforts were made to obtain Luther’s consent to a compromise with
Rome. Nobles and princes represented to him that if he persisted in
setting up his own judgment against that of the church and the councils,
he would soon be banished from the empire, and then would have no defense.
To this appeal Luther answered: “The gospel of Christ cannot be preached
without offense.... Why then should the fear or apprehension of danger
separate me from the Lord, and from that divine word which alone is truth?
No; I would rather give up my body, my blood, and my life.”(232)

Again he was urged to submit to the judgment of the emperor, and then he
would have nothing to fear. “I consent,” said he in reply, “with all my
heart, that the emperor, the princes, and even the meanest Christian,
should examine and judge my works; but on one condition, that they take
the word of God for their standard. Men have nothing to do but to obey it.
Do not offer violence to my conscience, which is bound and chained up with
the Holy Scriptures.”(233)

To another appeal he said, “I consent to renounce my safe-conduct. I place
my person and my life in the emperor’s hands, but the word of
God—never!”(234) He stated his willingness to submit to the decision of a
general council, but only on condition that the council be required to
decide according to the Scriptures. “In what concerns the word of God and
the faith,” he added, “every Christian is as good a judge as the pope,
though supported by a million councils, can be for him.”(235) Both friends
and foes were at last convinced that further effort for reconciliation
would be useless.

Had the Reformer yielded a single point, Satan and his hosts would have
gained the victory. But his unwavering firmness was the means of
emancipating the church, and beginning a new and better era. The influence
of this one man, who dared to think and act for himself in religious
matters, was to affect the church and the world, not only in his own time,
but in all future generations. His firmness and fidelity would strengthen
all, to the close of time, who should pass through a similar experience.
The power and majesty of God stood forth above the counsel of men, above
the mighty power of Satan.

Luther was soon commanded by the authority of the emperor to return home,
and he knew that this notice would be speedily followed by his
condemnation. Threatening clouds overhung his path; but as he departed
from Worms, his heart was filled with joy and praise. “The devil himself,”
said he, “guarded the pope’s citadel; but Christ has made a wide breach in
it, and Satan was constrained to confess that the Lord is mightier than
he.”(236)

After his departure, still desirous that his firmness should not be
mistaken for rebellion, Luther wrote to the emperor. “God, who is the
searcher of hearts, is my witness,” he said, “that I am ready most
earnestly to obey your majesty, in honor or in dishonor, in life or in
death, and with no exception save the word of God, by which man lives. In
all the affairs of this present life, my fidelity shall be unshaken, for
here to lose or to gain is of no consequence to salvation. But when
eternal interests are concerned, God wills not that man should submit unto
man. For such submission in spiritual matters is a real worship, and ought
to be rendered solely to the Creator.”(237)

On the journey from Worms, Luther’s reception was even more flattering
than during his progress thither. Princely ecclesiastics welcomed the
excommunicated monk, and civil rulers honored the man whom the emperor had
denounced. He was urged to preach, and notwithstanding the imperial
prohibition, he again entered the pulpit. “I never pledged myself to chain
up the word of God,” he said, “nor will I.”(238)

He had not been long absent from Worms, when the papists prevailed upon
the emperor to issue an edict against him. In this decree Luther was
denounced as “Satan himself under the form of a man and dressed in a
monk’s frock.”(239) It was commanded that as soon as his safe-conduct
should expire, measures be taken to stop his work. All persons were
forbidden to harbor him, to give him food or drink, or by word or act, in
public or private, to aid or abet him. He was to be seized wherever he
might be, and delivered to the authorities. His adherents also were to be
imprisoned, and their property confiscated. His writings were to be
destroyed, and finally, all who should dare to act contrary to this decree
were included in its condemnation. The elector of Saxony, and the princes
most friendly to Luther, had left Worms soon after his departure, and the
emperor’s decree received the sanction of the Diet. Now the Romanists were
jubilant. They considered the fate of the Reformation sealed.

God had provided a way of escape for His servant in this hour of peril. A
vigilant eye had followed Luther’s movements, and a true and noble heart
had resolved upon his rescue. It was plain that Rome would be satisfied
with nothing short of his death; only by concealment could he be preserved
from the jaws of the lion. God gave wisdom to Frederick of Saxony to
devise a plan for the Reformer’s preservation. With the co-operation of
true friends, the elector’s purpose was carried out, and Luther was
effectually hidden from friends and foes. Upon his homeward journey, he
was seized, separated from his attendants, and hurriedly conveyed through
the forest to the castle of Wartburg, an isolated mountain fortress. Both
his seizure and his concealment were so involved in mystery that even
Frederick himself for a long time knew not whither he had been conducted.
This ignorance was not without design; so long as the elector knew nothing
of Luther’s whereabouts, he could reveal nothing. He satisfied himself
that the Reformer was safe, and with this knowledge he was content.

Spring, summer, and autumn passed, and winter came, and Luther still
remained a prisoner. Aleander and his partisans exulted as the light of
the gospel seemed about to be extinguished. But instead of this, the
Reformer was filling his lamp from the storehouse of truth; and its light
was to shine forth with brighter radiance.

In the friendly security of the Wartburg, Luther for a time rejoiced in
his release from the heat and turmoil of battle. But he could not long
find satisfaction in quiet and repose. Accustomed to a life of activity
and stern conflict, he could ill endure to remain inactive. In those
solitary days, the condition of the church rose up before him, and he
cried in despair, “Alas! there is no one in this latter day of His anger,
to stand like a wall before the Lord, and save Israel!”(240) Again, his
thoughts returned to himself, and he feared being charged with cowardice
in withdrawing from the contest. Then he reproached himself for his
indolence and self-indulgence. Yet at the same time he was daily
accomplishing more than it seemed possible for one man to do. His pen was
never idle. While his enemies flattered themselves that he was silenced,
they were astonished and confused by tangible proof that he was still
active. A host of tracts, issuing from his pen, circulated throughout
Germany. He also performed a most important service for his countrymen by
translating the New Testament into the German tongue. From his rocky
Patmos he continued for nearly a whole year to proclaim the gospel, and
rebuke the sins and errors of the times.

But it was not merely to preserve Luther from the wrath of his enemies,
nor even to afford him a season of quiet for these important labors, that
God had withdrawn His servant from the stage of public life. There were
results more precious than these to be secured. In the solitude and
obscurity of his mountain retreat, Luther was removed from earthly
supports, and shut out from human praise. He was thus saved from the pride
and self-confidence that are so often caused by success. By suffering and
humiliation he was prepared again to walk safely upon the dizzy heights to
which he had been so suddenly exalted.

As men rejoice in the freedom which the truth brings them, they are
inclined to extol those whom God has employed to break the chains of error
and superstition. Satan seeks to divert men’s thoughts and affections from
God, and to fix them upon human agencies; he leads them to honor the mere
instrument, and to ignore the Hand that directs all the events of
providence. Too often, religious leaders who are thus praised and
reverenced lose sight of their dependence upon God, and are led to trust
in themselves. As a result, they seek to control the minds and consciences
of the people, who are disposed to look to them for guidance instead of
looking to the word of God. The work of reform is often retarded because
of this spirit indulged by its supporters. From this danger, God would
guard the cause of the Reformation. He desired that work to receive, not
the impress of man, but that of God. The eyes of men had been turned to
Luther as the expounder of the truth; he was removed that all eyes might
be directed to the eternal Author of truth.





9. THE SWISS REFORMER.


                     [Illustration: Chapter header.]

In the choice of instrumentalities for the reforming of the church, the
same divine plan is seen as in that for the planting of the church. The
heavenly Teacher passed by the great men of earth, the titled and wealthy,
who were accustomed to receive praise and homage as leaders of the people.
They were so proud and self-confident in their boasted superiority that
they could not be moulded to sympathize with their fellow-men, and to
become co-laborers with the humble Man of Nazareth. To the unlearned,
toiling fishermen of Galilee was the call addressed, “Follow Me, and I
will make you fishers of men.”(241) These disciples were humble and
teachable. The less they had been influenced by the false teaching of
their time, the more successfully could Christ instruct and train them for
His service. So in the days of the Great Reformation. The leading
Reformers were men from humble life,—men who were most free of any of
their time from pride of rank, and from the influence of bigotry and
priestcraft. It is God’s plan to employ humble instruments to accomplish
great results. Then the glory will not be given to men, but to Him who
works through them to will and to do of His own good pleasure.

A few weeks after the birth of Luther in a miner’s cabin in Saxony, Ulric
Zwingle was born in a herdsman’s cottage among the Alps. Zwingle’s
surroundings in childhood, and his early training, were such as to prepare
him for his future mission. Reared amid scenes of natural grandeur,
beauty, and awful sublimity, his mind was early impressed with a sense of
the greatness, the power, and the majesty of God. The history of the brave
deeds achieved upon his native mountains, kindled his youthful
aspirations. And at the side of his pious grandmother he listened to the
few precious Bible stories which she had gleaned from amid the legends and
traditions of the church. With eager interest he heard of the grand deeds
of patriarchs and prophets, of the shepherds who watched their flocks on
the hills of Palestine where angels talked with them, of the Babe of
Bethlehem and the Man of Calvary.

Like John Luther, Zwingle’s father desired an education for his son, and
the boy was early sent from his native valley. His mind rapidly developed,
and it soon became a question where to find teachers competent to instruct
him. At the age of thirteen he went to Bern, which then possessed the most
distinguished school in Switzerland. Here, however, a danger arose which
threatened to blight the promise of his life. Determined efforts were put
forth by the friars to allure him into a monastery. The Dominican and
Franciscan monks were in rivalry for popular favor. This they endeavored
to secure by the showy adornments of their churches, the pomp of their
ceremonials, and the attractions of famous relics and miracle-working
images.

The Dominicans of Bern saw that if they could win this talented young
scholar, they would secure both gain and honor. His extreme youth, his
natural ability as a speaker and writer, and his genius for music and
poetry, would be more effective than all their pomp and display, in
attracting the people to their services and increasing the revenues of
their order. By deceit and flattery they endeavored to induce Zwingle to
enter their convent. Luther, while a student at school, had buried himself
in a convent cell, and he would have been lost to the world had not God’s
providence released him. Zwingle was not permitted to encounter the same
peril. Providentially his father received information of the designs of
the friars. He had no intention of allowing his son to follow the idle and
worthless life of the monks. He saw that his future usefulness was at
stake, and directed him to return home without delay.

The command was obeyed; but the youth could not be long content in his
native valley, and he soon resumed his studies, repairing, after a time,
to Basel. It was here that Zwingle first heard the gospel of God’s free
grace. Wittembach, a teacher of the ancient languages, had, while studying
Greek and Hebrew, been led to the Holy Scriptures, and thus rays of divine
light were shed into the minds of the students under his instruction. He
declared that there was a truth more ancient, and of infinitely greater
worth, than the theories taught by schoolmen and philosophers. This
ancient truth was that the death of Christ is the sinner’s only ransom. To
Zwingle these words were as the first ray of light that precedes the dawn.

Zwingle was soon called from Basel, to enter upon his life-work. His first
field of labor was in an Alpine parish, not far distant from his native
valley. Having received ordination as a priest, he “devoted himself with
his whole soul to the search after divine truth; for he was well aware,”
says a fellow-reformer, “how much he must know to whom the flock of Christ
is entrusted.”(242) The more he searched the Scriptures, the clearer
appeared the contrast between their truths and the heresies of Rome. He
submitted himself to the Bible as the word of God, the only sufficient,
infallible rule. He saw that it must be its own interpreter. He dared not
attempt to explain Scripture to sustain a preconceived theory or doctrine,
but held it his duty to learn what is its direct and obvious teaching. He
sought to avail himself of every help to obtain a full and correct
understanding of its meaning, and he invoked the aid of the Holy Spirit,
which would, he declared, reveal it to all who sought it in sincerity and
with prayer.

“The Scriptures,” said Zwingle, “come from God, not from man, and even
that God who enlightens will give thee to understand that the speech comes
from God. The word of God ... cannot fail; it is bright, it teaches
itself, it discloses itself, it illumines the soul with all salvation and
grace, comforts it in God, humbles it, so that it loses and even forfeits
itself, and embraces God.”(243) The truth of these words Zwingle himself
had proved. Speaking of his experience at this time, he afterward wrote:
“When ... I began to give myself wholly up to the Holy Scriptures,
philosophy and theology (scholastic) would always keep suggesting quarrels
to me. At last I came to this, that I thought, ‘Thou must let all that
lie, and learn the meaning of God purely out of His own simple word.’ Then
I began to ask God for His light, and the Scriptures began to be much
easier to me.”(244)

The doctrine preached by Zwingle was not received from Luther. It was the
doctrine of Christ. “If Luther preaches Christ,” said the Swiss Reformer,
“he does what I am doing. Those whom he has brought to Christ are more
numerous than those whom I have led. But this matters not. I will bear no
other name than that of Christ, whose soldier I am, and who alone is my
chief. Never has one single word been written by me to Luther, nor by
Luther to me. And why?... That it might be shown how much the Spirit of
God is in unison with itself, since both of us, without any collusion,
teach the doctrine of Christ with such uniformity.”(245)

In 1516 Zwingle was invited to become a preacher in the convent at
Einsiedeln. Here he was to have a closer view of the corruptions of Rome,
and was to exert an influence as a Reformer that would be felt far beyond
his native Alps. Among the chief attractions of Einsiedeln was an image of
the Virgin which was said to have the power of working miracles. Above the
gateway of the convent was the inscription, “Here a plenary remission of
sins may be obtained.”(246) Pilgrims at all seasons resorted to the shrine
of the Virgin, but at the great yearly festival of its consecration,
multitudes came from all parts of Switzerland, and even from France and
Germany. Zwingle, greatly afflicted at the sight, seized the opportunity
to proclaim liberty through the gospel to these bond-slaves of
superstition.

“Do not imagine,” he said, “that God is in this temple more than in any
other part of creation. Whatever be the country in which you dwell, God is
around you, and hears you.... Can unprofitable works, long pilgrimages,
offerings, images, the invocation of the Virgin or of the saints, secure
for you the grace of God?... What avails the multitude of words with which
we embody our prayers? What efficacy has a glossy cowl, a smooth-shorn
head, a long and flowing robe, or gold-embroidered slippers?... God looks
at the heart, and our hearts are far from Him.” “Christ,” he said, “who
was once offered upon the cross, is the sacrifice and victim, that had
made satisfaction for the sins of believers to all eternity.”(247)

To many listeners these teachings were unwelcome. It was a bitter
disappointment to them to be told that their toilsome journey had been
made in vain. The pardon freely offered to them through Christ they could
not comprehend. They were satisfied with the old way to heaven which Rome
had marked out for them. They shrank from the perplexity of searching for
anything better. It was easier to trust their salvation to the priests and
the pope than to seek for purity of heart.

But another class received with gladness the tidings of redemption through
Christ. The observances enjoined by Rome had failed to bring peace of
soul, and in faith they accepted the Saviour’s blood as their
propitiation. These returned to their homes to reveal to others the
precious light which they had received. The truth was thus carried from
hamlet to hamlet, from town to town, and the number of pilgrims to the
Virgin’s shrine greatly lessened. There was a falling off in the
offerings, and consequently in the salary of Zwingle, which was drawn from
them. But this caused him only joy as he saw that the power of fanaticism
and superstition was being broken.

The authorities of the church were not blind to the work which Zwingle was
accomplishing; but for the present they forbore to interfere. Hoping yet
to secure him to their cause, they endeavored to win him by flatteries;
and meanwhile the truth was gaining a hold upon the hearts of the people.

Zwingle’s labors at Einsiedeln had prepared him for a wider field, and
this he was soon to enter. After three years here, he was called to the
office of preacher in the cathedral at Zurich. This was then the most
important town of the Swiss confederacy, and the influence exerted here
would be widely felt. The ecclesiastics by whose invitation he came to
Zurich were, however, desirous of preventing any innovations, and they
accordingly proceeded to instruct him as to his duties.

“You will make every exertion,” they said, “to collect the revenues of the
chapter, without overlooking the least. You will exhort the faithful, both
from the pulpit and in the confessional, to pay all tithes and dues, and
to show by their offerings their affection to the church. You will be
diligent in increasing the income arising from the sick, from masses, and
in general from every ecclesiastical ordinance.” “As for the
administration of the sacraments, the preaching, and the care of the
flock,” added his instructors, “these are also the duties of the chaplain.
But for these you may employ a substitute, and particularly in preaching.
You should administer the sacraments to none but persons of note, and only
when called upon; you are forbidden to do so without distinction of
persons.”(248)

Zwingle listened in silence to this charge, and in reply, after expressing
his gratitude for the honor of a call to this important station, he
proceeded to explain the course which he proposed, to adopt. “The life of
Christ,” he said, “has been too long hidden from the people. I shall
preach upon the whole of the Gospel of St. Matthew, ... drawing solely
from the fountains of Scripture, sounding its depths, comparing one
passage with another, and seeking for understanding by constant and
earnest prayer. It is to God’s glory, to the praise of His only Son, to
the real salvation of souls, and to their edification in the true faith,
that I shall consecrate my ministry.”(249) Though some of the
ecclesiastics disapproved his plan, and endeavored to dissuade him from
it, Zwingle remained steadfast. He declared that he was about to introduce
no new method, but the old method employed by the church in earlier and
purer times.

Already an interest had been awakened in the truths he taught; and the
people flocked in great numbers to listen to his preaching. Many who had
long since ceased to attend service were among his hearers. He began his
ministry by opening the Gospels, and reading and explaining to his hearers
the inspired narrative of the life, teachings, and death of Christ. Here,
as at Einsiedeln, he presented the word of God as the only infallible
authority, and the death of Christ as the only complete sacrifice. “It is
to Christ,” he said, “that I desire to lead you,—to Christ, the true
source of salvation.”(250) Around the preacher crowded the people of all
classes, from statesmen and scholars to the artisan and the peasant. With
deep interest they listened to his words. He not only proclaimed the offer
of a free salvation, but fearlessly rebuked the evils and corruptions of
the times. Many returned from the cathedral praising God. “This man,” they
said, “is a preacher of the truth. He will be our Moses, to lead us forth
from this Egyptian darkness.”(251)

But though at first his labors were received with great enthusiasm, after
a time opposition arose. The monks set themselves to hinder his work and
condemn his teachings. Many assailed him with gibes and sneers; others
resorted to insolence and threats. But Zwingle bore all with patience,
saying, “If we desire to gain over the wicked to Jesus Christ, we must
shut our eyes against many things.”(252)

About this time a new agency came in to advance the work of reform. One
Lucian was sent to Zurich with some of Luther’s writings, by a friend of
the reformed faith at Basel, who suggested that the sale of these books
might be a powerful means of scattering the light. “Ascertain,” he wrote
to Zwingle, “whether this man possesses sufficient prudence and skill; if
so, let him carry from city to city, from town to town, from village to
village, and even from house to house, among the Swiss, the works of
Luther, and especially his exposition of the Lord’s prayer written for the
laity. The more they are known, the more purchasers they will find.”(253)
Thus the light found entrance.

At the time when God is preparing to break the shackles of ignorance and
superstition, then it is that Satan works with greatest power to enshroud
men in darkness, and to bind their fetters still more firmly. As men were
rising up in different lands to present to the people forgiveness and
justification through the blood of Christ, Rome proceeded with renewed
energy to open her market throughout Christendom, offering pardon for
money.

Every sin had its price, and men were granted free license for crime, if
the treasury of the church was kept well filled. Thus the two movements
advanced,—one offering forgiveness of sin for money, the other forgiveness
through Christ,—Rome licensing sin, and making it her source of revenue;
the Reformers condemning sin, and pointing to Christ as the propitiation
and deliverer.

In Germany the sale of indulgences had been committed to the Dominican
friars, and was conducted by the infamous Tetzel. In Switzerland the
traffic was put into the hands of the Franciscans, under the control of
Samson, an Italian monk. Samson had already done good service to the
church, having secured immense sums from Germany and Switzerland to fill
the papal treasury. Now he traversed Switzerland, attracting great crowds,
despoiling the poor peasants of their scanty earnings, and exacting rich
gifts from the wealthy classes. But the influence of the reform already
made itself felt in curtailing, though it could not stop, the traffic.
Zwingle was still at Einsiedeln when Samson, soon after entering
Switzerland, arrived with his wares at a neighboring town. Being apprised
of his mission, the Reformer immediately set out to oppose him. The two
did not meet, but such was Zwingle’s success in exposing the friar’s
pretensions that he was obliged to leave for other quarters.

At Zurich, Zwingle preached zealously against the pardon-mongers; and when
Samson approached the place, he was met by a messenger from the council,
with an intimation that he was expected to pass on. He finally secured an
entrance by stratagem, but was sent away without the sale of a single
pardon, and he soon after left Switzerland.

A strong impetus was given to the reform by the appearance of the plague,
or “great death,” which swept over Switzerland in the year 1519. As men
were thus brought face to face with the destroyer, many were led to feel
how vain and worthless were the pardons which they had so lately
purchased; and they longed for a surer foundation for their faith. Zwingle
at Zurich was smitten down; he was brought so low that all hope of his
recovery was relinquished, and the report was widely circulated that he
was dead. In that trying hour his hope and courage were unshaken. He
looked in faith to the cross of Calvary, trusting in the all-sufficient
propitiation for sin. When he came back from the gates of death, it was to
preach the gospel with greater fervor than ever before; and his words
exerted an unwonted power. The people welcomed with joy their beloved
pastor, returned to them from the brink of the grave. They themselves had
come from attending upon the sick and the dying, and they felt, as never
before, the value of the gospel.

Zwingle had arrived at a clearer understanding of its truths, and had more
fully experienced in himself its renewing power. The fall of man and the
plan of redemption were the subjects upon which he dwelt. “In Adam,” he
said, “we are all dead, sunk in corruption and condemnation.”(254) “Christ
... has purchased for us a never-ending redemption ... His passion is ...
an eternal sacrifice, and everlastingly effectual to heal; it satisfies
the divine justice forever in behalf of all those who rely upon it with
firm and unshaken faith.” Yet he clearly taught that men are not, because
of the grace of Christ, free to continue in sin. “Wherever there is faith
in God, there God is; and wherever God abideth, there a zeal exists urging
and impelling men to good works.”(255)

Such was the interest in Zwingle’s preaching that the cathedral was filled
to overflowing with the crowds that came to listen to him. Little by
little, as they could bear it, he opened the truth to his hearers. He was
careful not to introduce, at first, points which would startle them and
create prejudice. His work was to win their hearts to the teachings of
Christ, to soften them by His love, and keep before them His example; and
as they should receive the principles of the gospel, their superstitious
beliefs and practices would inevitably be overthrown.

Step by step the Reformation advanced in Zurich. In alarm its enemies
aroused to active opposition. One year before, the monk of Wittenberg had
uttered his “No” to the pope and the emperor at Worms, and now everything
seemed to indicate a similar withstanding of the papal claims at Zurich.
Repeated attacks were made upon Zwingle. In the papal cantons, from time
to time, disciples of the gospel were brought to the stake, but this was
not enough; the teacher of heresy must be silenced. Accordingly the bishop
of Constance dispatched three deputies to the Council of Zurich, accusing
Zwingle of teaching the people to transgress the laws of the church, thus
endangering the peace and good order of society. If the authority of the
church were to be set aside, he urged, universal anarchy would result.
Zwingle replied that he had been for four years teaching the gospel in
Zurich, “which was more quiet and peaceful than any other town in the
confederacy.” “Is not, then,” he said, “Christianity the best safeguard of
the general security?”(256)

The deputies had admonished the councilors to continue in the church, out
of which, they declared, there was no salvation. Zwingle responded: “Let
not this accusation move you. The foundation of the church is the same
Rock, the same Christ, that gave Peter his name because he confessed Him
faithfully. In every nation whosoever believes with all his heart in the
Lord Jesus is accepted of God. Here, truly, is the church, out of which no
one can be saved.”(257) As a result of the conference, one of the bishop’s
deputies accepted the reformed faith.

The council declined to take action against Zwingle, and Rome prepared for
a fresh attack. The Reformer, when apprised of the plots of his enemies,
exclaimed, “Let them come on; I fear them as the beetling cliff fears the
waves that thunder at its feet.”(258) The efforts of the ecclesiastics
only furthered the cause which they sought to overthrow. The truth
continued to spread. In Germany its adherents, cast down by Luther’s
disappearance, took heart again, as they saw the progress of the gospel in
Switzerland.

As the Reformation became established in Zurich, its fruits were more
fully seen in the suppression of vice, and the promotion of order and
harmony. “Peace has her habitation in our town,” wrote Zwingle; “no
quarrel, no hypocrisy, no envy, no strife. Whence can such union come but
from the Lord, and our doctrine, which fills us with the fruits of peace
and piety?”(259)

The victories gained by the Reformation stirred the Romanists to still
more determined efforts for its overthrow. Seeing how little had been
accomplished by persecution in suppressing Luther’s work in Germany, they
decided to meet the reform with its own weapons. They would hold a
disputation with Zwingle, and having the arrangement of matters, they
would make sure of victory by choosing, themselves, not only the place of
the combat, but the judges that should decide between the disputants. And
if they could once get Zwingle into their power, they would take care that
he did not escape them. The leader silenced, the movement could speedily
be crushed. This purpose, however, was carefully concealed.

The disputation was appointed to be held at Baden; but Zwingle was not
present. The Council of Zurich, suspecting the designs of the papists, and
warned by the burning piles kindled in the papal cantons for confessors of
the gospel, forbade their pastor to expose himself to this peril. At
Zurich he was ready to meet all the partisans that Rome might send; but to
go to Baden, where the blood of martyrs for the truth had just been shed,
was to go to certain death. Œcolampadius and Haller were chosen to
represent the Reformers, while the famous Doctor Eck, supported by a host
of learned doctors and prelates, was the champion of Rome.

Though Zwingle was not present at the conference, his influence was felt.
The secretaries were all chosen by the papists, and others were forbidden
to take notes, on pain of death. Notwithstanding this, Zwingle received
daily a faithful account of what was said at Baden. A student in
attendance at the disputation, made a record each evening of the arguments
that day presented. These papers two other students undertook to deliver,
with the daily letters of Œcolampadius, to Zwingle at Zurich. The Reformer
answered, giving counsel and suggestions. His letters were written by
night, and the students returned with them to Baden in the morning. To
elude the vigilance of the guard stationed at the city gates, these
messengers brought baskets of poultry on their heads, and they were
permitted to pass without hindrance.

Thus Zwingle maintained the battle with his wily antagonists. He “has
labored more,” said Myconius, “by his meditations, his sleepless nights,
and the advice which he transmitted to Baden, than he would have done by
discussing in person in the midst of his enemies.”(260)

The Romanists, flushed with anticipated triumph, had come to Baden attired
in their richest robes and glittering with jewels. They fared luxuriously,
their tables spread with the most costly delicacies and the choicest
wines. The burden of their ecclesiastical duties was lightened by gaiety
and reveling. In marked contrast appeared the Reformers, who were looked
upon by the people as little better than a company of beggars, and whose
frugal fare kept them but short time at table. Œcolampadius’s landlord,
taking occasion to watch him in his room, found him always engaged in
study or at prayer, and greatly wondering, reported that the heretic was
at least “very pious.”

At the conference, “Eck haughtily ascended a pulpit splendidly decorated,
while the humble Œcolampadius, meanly clothed, was forced to take his seat
in front of his opponent on a rudely carved stool.”(261) Eck’s stentorian
voice and unbounded assurance never failed him. His zeal was stimulated by
the hope of gold as well as fame; for the defender of the faith was to be
rewarded by a handsome fee. When better arguments failed, he had resort to
insults, and even to oaths.

Œcolampadius, modest and self-distrustful, had shrunk from the combat, and
he entered upon it with the solemn avowal, “I acknowledge no other
standard of judgment than the word of God.”(262) Though gentle and
courteous in demeanor, he proved himself able and unflinching. While the
Romanists, according to their wont, appealed for authority to the customs
of the church, the Reformer adhered steadfastly to the Holy Scriptures.
“Custom,” he said, “has no force in our Switzerland, unless it be
according to the constitution; now, in matters of faith, the Bible is our
constitution.”(263)

The contrast between the two disputants was not without effect. The calm,
clear reasoning of the Reformer, so gently and modestly presented,
appealed to minds that turned in disgust from Eck’s boastful and
boisterous assumptions.

The discussion continued eighteen days. At its close, the papists with
great confidence claimed the victory. Most of the deputies sided with
Rome, and the Diet pronounced the Reformers vanquished, and declared that
they, together with Zwingle, their leader, were cut off from the church.
But the fruits of the conference revealed on which side the advantage lay.
The contest resulted in a strong impetus to the Protestant cause, and it
was not long afterward that the important cities of Bern and Basel
declared for the Reformation.





10. PROGRESS OF REFORM IN GERMANY.


                     [Illustration: Chapter header.]

Luther’s mysterious disappearance excited consternation throughout all
Germany. Inquiries concerning him were heard everywhere. The wildest
rumors were circulated, and many believed that he had been murdered. There
was great lamentation, not only by his avowed friends, but by thousands
who had not openly taken their stand with the Reformation. Many bound
themselves by a solemn oath to avenge his death.

The Romish leaders saw with terror to what a pitch had risen the feeling
against them. Though at first exultant at the supposed death of Luther,
they soon desired to hide from the wrath of the people. His enemies had
not been so troubled by his most daring acts while among them, as they
were at his removal. Those who in their rage had sought to destroy the
bold Reformer, were filled with fear now that he had become a helpless
captive. “The only remaining way of saving ourselves,” said one, “is to
light torches, and hunt for Luther through the whole world, to restore him
to the nation that is calling for him.”(264) The edict of the emperor
seemed to fall powerless. The papal legates were filled with indignation
as they saw that it commanded far less attention than did the fate of
Luther.

                 [Illustration: Luther at the Wartburg.]

Luther at the Wartburg.  “The tidings that he was safe, though a prisoner,
                     calmed the fears of the people.”


The tidings that he was safe, though a prisoner, calmed the fears of the
people, while it still further aroused their enthusiasm in his favor. His
writings were read with greater eagerness than ever before. Increasing
numbers joined the cause of the heroic man who had, at such fearful odds,
defended the word of God. The Reformation was constantly gaining in
strength. The seed which Luther had sown sprung up everywhere. His absence
accomplished a work which his presence would have failed to do. Other
laborers felt a new responsibility, now that their great leader was
removed. With new faith and earnestness they pressed forward to do all in
their power, that the work so nobly begun might not be hindered.

But Satan was not idle. He now attempted what he has attempted in every
other reformatory movement,—to deceive and destroy the people by palming
off upon them a counterfeit in place of the true work. As there were false
christs in the first century of the Christian church, so there arose false
prophets in the sixteenth century.

A few men, deeply affected by the excitement in the religious world,
imagined themselves to have received special revelations from Heaven, and
claimed to have been divinely commissioned to carry forward to its
completion the Reformation which, they declared, had been but feebly begun
by Luther. In truth, they were undoing the very work which he had
accomplished. They rejected the great principle which was the very
foundation of the Reformation,—that the word of God is the all-sufficient
rule of faith and practice; and for that unerring guide they substituted
the changeable, uncertain standard of their own feelings and impressions.
By this act of setting aside the great detector of error and falsehood,
the way was opened for Satan to control minds as best pleased himself.

One of these prophets claimed to have been instructed by the angel
Gabriel. A student who united with him forsook his studies, declaring that
he had been endowed by God Himself with wisdom to expound His word. Others
who were naturally inclined to fanaticism united with them. The
proceedings of these enthusiasts created no little excitement. The
preaching of Luther had aroused the people everywhere to feel the
necessity of reform, and now some really honest persons were misled by the
pretensions of the new prophets.

The leaders of the movement proceeded to Wittenberg, and urged their
claims upon Melanchthon and his co-laborers. Said they: “We are sent by
God to instruct the people. We have held familiar conversations with the
Lord; we know what will happen; in a word, we are apostles and prophets,
and appeal to Doctor Luther.”(265)

The Reformers were astonished and perplexed. This was such an element as
they had never before encountered, and they knew not what course to
pursue. Said Melanchthon: “There are indeed extraordinary spirits in these
men; but what spirits?... On the one hand, let us beware of quenching the
Spirit of God, and on the other, of being led astray by the spirit of
Satan.”(266)

The fruit of the new teaching soon became apparent. The people were led to
neglect the Bible, or to cast it wholly aside. The schools were thrown
into confusion. Students, spurning all restraint, abandoned their studies,
and withdrew from the university. The men who thought themselves competent
to revive and control the work of the Reformation, succeeded only in
bringing it to the verge of ruin. The Romanists now regained their
confidence, and exclaimed exultingly, “One last struggle, and all will be
ours.”(267)

Luther at the Wartburg, hearing of what had occurred, said with deep
concern, “I always expected that Satan would send us this plague.”(268) He
perceived the true character of those pretended prophets, and saw the
danger that threatened the cause of truth. The opposition of the pope and
the emperor had not caused him so great perplexity and distress as he now
experienced. From the professed friends of the Reformation had risen its
worst enemies. The very truths which had brought him so great joy and
consolation were being employed to stir up strife and create confusion in
the church.

In the work of reform, Luther had been urged forward by the Spirit of God,
and had been carried beyond himself. He had not purposed to take such
positions as he did, or to make so radical changes. He had been but the
instrument in the hand of Infinite Power. Yet he often trembled for the
result of his work. He had once said, “If I knew that my doctrine injured
one man, one single man, however lowly and obscure,—which it cannot, for
it is the gospel itself,—I would rather die ten times than not retract
it.”(269)

And now Wittenberg itself, the very center of the Reformation, was fast
falling under the power of fanaticism and lawlessness. This terrible
condition had not resulted from the teachings of Luther; but throughout
Germany his enemies were charging it upon him. In bitterness of soul he
sometimes asked, “Can such then be the end of this great work of the
Reformation?”(270) Again, as he wrestled with God in prayer, peace flowed
into his heart. “The work is not mine, but Thine own,” he said; “Thou wilt
not suffer it to be corrupted by superstition or fanaticism.” But the
thought of remaining longer from the conflict in such a crisis, became
insupportable. He determined to return to Wittenberg.

Without delay he set out on his perilous journey. He was under the ban of
the empire. Enemies were at liberty to take his life; friends were
forbidden to aid or shelter him. The imperial government was adopting the
most stringent measures against his adherents. But he saw that the work of
the gospel was imperiled, and in the name of the Lord he went out
fearlessly to battle for the truth.

In a letter to the elector, after stating his purpose to leave the
Wartburg, Luther said: “Be it known to your highness that I am going to
Wittenberg under a protection far higher than that of princes and
electors. I think not of soliciting your highness’ support, and far from
desiring your protection, I would rather protect you myself. If I knew
that your highness could or would protect me, I would not go to Wittenberg
at all. There is no sword that can further this cause. God alone must do
everything, without the help or concurrence of man. He who has the
greatest faith is he who is most able to protect.”(271)

In a second letter, written on the way to Wittenberg, Luther added: “I am
ready to incur the displeasure of your highness and the anger of the whole
world. Are not the Wittenbergers my sheep? Has not God entrusted them to
me? And ought I not, if necessary, to expose myself to death for their
sakes? Besides, I fear to see a terrible outbreak in Germany, by which God
will punish our nation.”(272)

With great caution and humility, yet with decision and firmness, he
entered upon his work. “By the Word,” said he, “must we overthrow and
destroy what has been set up by violence. I will not make use of force
against the superstitious and unbelieving.... No one must be constrained.
Liberty is the very essence of faith.”(273)

It was soon noised through Wittenberg that Luther had returned, and that
he was to preach. The people flocked from all directions, and the church
was filled to overflowing. Ascending the pulpit, he with great wisdom and
gentleness instructed, exhorted, and reproved. Touching the course of some
who had resorted to violent measures in abolishing the mass, he said:

“The mass is a bad thing; God is opposed to it; it ought to be abolished;
and I would that throughout the whole world it were replaced by the supper
of the gospel. But let no one be torn from it by force. We must leave the
matter in God’s hands. His word must act, and not we. And why so? you will
ask. Because I do not hold men’s hearts in my hand, as the potter holds
the clay. We have a right to speak: we have _not_ the right to act. Let us
preach; the rest belongs unto God. Were I to employ force, what should I
gain? Grimace, formality, apings, human ordinances, and hypocrisy.... But
there would be no sincerity of heart, nor faith, nor charity. Where these
three are wanting, all is wanting, and I would not give a pear-stalk for
such a result.... God does more by His word alone than you and I and all
the world by our united strength. God lays hold upon the heart; and when
the heart is taken, all is won....

“I will preach, discuss, and write; but I will constrain none, for faith
is a voluntary act. See what I have done. I stood up against the pope,
indulgences, and papists, but without violence or tumult. I put forward
God’s word; I preached and wrote—this was all I did. And yet while I was
asleep, ... the word that I had preached overthrew popery, so that neither
prince nor emperor has done it so much harm. And yet I did nothing; the
Word alone did all. If I had wished to appeal to force, the whole of
Germany would perhaps have been deluged with blood. But what would have
been the result? Ruin and desolation both to body and soul. I therefore
kept quiet, and left the Word to run through the world alone.”(274)

Day after day, for a whole week, Luther continued to preach to eager
crowds. The word of God broke the spell of fanatical excitement. The power
of the gospel brought back the misguided people into the way of truth.

Luther had no desire to encounter the fanatics whose course had been
productive of so great evil. He knew them to be men of unsound judgment
and undisciplined passions, who, while claiming to be especially
illuminated from heaven, would not endure the slightest contradiction, or
even the kindest reproof or counsel. Arrogating to themselves supreme
authority, they required every one, without a question, to acknowledge
their claims. But as they demanded an interview with him, he consented to
meet them; and so successfully did he expose their pretensions, that the
impostors at once departed from Wittenberg.

The fanaticism was checked for a time; but several years later it broke
out with greater violence and more terrible results. Said Luther,
concerning the leaders in this movement: “To them the Holy Scriptures were
but a dead letter, and they all began to cry, ‘The Spirit! the Spirit!’
But most assuredly I will not follow where their spirit leads them. May
God of His mercy preserve me from a church in which there are none but
saints. I desire to dwell with the humble, the feeble, the sick, who know
and feel their sins, and who groan and cry continually to God from the
bottom of their hearts to obtain His consolation and support.”(275)

Thomas Münzer, the most active of the fanatics, was a man of considerable
ability, which, rightly directed, would have enabled him to do good; but
he had not learned the first principles of true religion. “He was
possessed with a desire of reforming the world, and forgot, as all
enthusiasts do, that the reformation should begin with himself.”(276) He
was ambitious to obtain position and influence, and was unwilling to be
second, even to Luther. He declared that the Reformers, in substituting
the authority of Scripture for that of the pope, were only establishing a
different form of popery. He himself, he claimed, had been divinely
commissioned to introduce the true reform. “He who possesses this spirit,”
said Münzer, “possesses the true faith, although he should never see the
Scriptures in his life.”(277)

The fanatical teachers gave themselves up to be governed by impressions,
regarding every thought and impulse as the voice of God; consequently they
went to great extremes. Some even burned their Bibles, exclaiming, “The
letter killeth, but the Spirit giveth life.” Münzer’s teaching appealed to
men’s desire for the marvelous, while it gratified their pride by
virtually placing human ideas and opinions above the word of God. His
doctrines were received by thousands. He soon denounced all order in
public worship, and declared that to obey princes was to attempt to serve
both God and Belial.

The minds of the people, already beginning to throw off the yoke of the
papacy, were also becoming impatient under the restraints of civil
authority. Münzer’s revolutionary teachings, claiming divine sanction, led
them to break away from all control, and give the rein to their prejudices
and passions. The most terrible scenes of sedition and strife followed,
and the fields of Germany were drenched with blood.

The agony of soul which Luther had so long before experienced at Erfurt,
now pressed upon him with redoubled power as he saw the results of
fanaticism charged upon the Reformation. The papist princes declared—and
many were ready to credit the statement—that the rebellion was the
legitimate fruit of Luther’s doctrines. Although this charge was without
the slightest foundation, it could not but cause the Reformer great
distress. That the cause of truth should be thus disgraced by being ranked
with the basest fanaticism, seemed more than he could endure. On the other
hand, the leaders in the revolt hated Luther because he had not only
opposed their doctrines and denied their claims to divine inspiration, but
had pronounced them rebels against the civil authority. In retaliation
they denounced him as a base pretender. He seemed to have brought upon
himself the enmity of both princes and people.

The Romanists exulted, expecting to witness the speedy downfall of the
Reformation; and they blamed Luther, even for the errors which he had been
most earnestly endeavoring to correct. The fanatical party, by falsely
claiming to have been treated with great injustice, succeeded in gaining
the sympathies of a large class of the people, and, as is often the case
with those who take the wrong side, they came to be regarded as martyrs.
Thus the ones who were exerting every energy in opposition to the
Reformation, were pitied and lauded as the victims of cruelty and
oppression. This was the work of Satan, prompted by the same spirit of
rebellion which was first manifested in heaven.

Satan is constantly seeking to deceive men, and lead them to call sin
righteousness, and righteousness sin. How successful has been his work!
How often censure and reproach are cast upon God’s faithful servants
because they will stand fearlessly in defense of the truth! Men who are
but agents of Satan are praised and flattered, and even looked upon as
martyrs, while those who should be respected and sustained for their
fidelity to God, are left to stand alone, under suspicion and distrust.

Counterfeit holiness, spurious sanctification, is still doing its work of
deception. Under various forms it exhibits the same spirit as in the days
of Luther, diverting minds from the Scriptures, and leading men to follow
their own feelings and impressions rather than to yield obedience to the
law of God. This is one of Satan’s most successful devices to cast
reproach upon purity and truth.

Fearlessly did Luther defend the gospel from the attacks which came from
every quarter. The word of God proved itself a weapon mighty in every
conflict. With that Word he warred against the usurped authority of the
pope, and the rationalistic philosophy of the schoolmen, while he stood
firm as a rock against the fanaticism that sought to ally itself with the
Reformation.

Each of these opposing elements was in its own way setting aside the Holy
Scriptures, and exalting human wisdom as the source of religious truth and
knowledge. Rationalism idolizes reason, and makes this the criterion for
religion. Romanism, claiming for her sovereign pontiff an inspiration
descended in unbroken line from the apostles, and unchangeable through all
time, gives ample opportunity for every species of extravagance and
corruption to be concealed under the sanctity of the apostolic commission.
The inspiration claimed by Münzer and his associates proceeded from no
higher source than the vagaries of the imagination, and its influence was
subversive of all authority, human or divine. True Christianity receives
the word of God as the great treasure-house of inspired truth, and the
test of all inspiration.

Upon his return from the Wartburg, Luther completed his translation of the
New Testament, and the gospel was soon after given to the people of
Germany in their own language. This translation was received with great
joy by all who loved the truth; but it was scornfully rejected by those
who chose human traditions and the commandments of men.

The priests were alarmed at the thought that the common people would now
be able to discuss with them the precepts of God’s word, and that their
own ignorance would thus be exposed. The weapons of their carnal reasoning
were powerless against the sword of the Spirit. Rome summoned all her
authority to prevent the circulation of the Scriptures; but decrees,
anathemas, and tortures were alike in vain. The more she condemned and
prohibited the Bible, the greater was the anxiety of the people to know
what it really taught. All who could read were eager to study the word of
God for themselves. They carried it about with them, and read and re-read,
and could not be satisfied until they had committed large portions to
memory. Seeing the favor with which the New Testament was received, Luther
immediately began the translation of the Old, and published it in parts as
fast as completed.

Luther’s writings were welcomed alike in city and in hamlet. “What Luther
and his friends composed, others circulated. Monks, convinced of the
unlawfulness of monastic obligations, desirous of exchanging a long life
of slothfulness for one of active exertion, but too ignorant to proclaim
the word of God, traveled through the provinces, visiting hamlets and
cottages, where they sold the books of Luther and his friends. Germany
soon swarmed with these bold colporteurs.”(278)

These writings were studied with deep interest by rich and poor, the
learned and the ignorant. At night the teachers of the village schools
read them aloud to little groups gathered at the fireside. With every
effort, some souls would be convicted of the truth, and, receiving the
word with gladness, would in their turn tell the good news to others.

The words of inspiration were verified: “The entrance of Thy words giveth
light; it giveth understanding unto the simple.”(279) The study of the
Scriptures was working a mighty change in the minds and hearts of the
people. The papal rule had placed upon its subjects an iron yoke which
held them in ignorance and degradation. A superstitious observance of
forms had been scrupulously maintained; but in all their service the heart
and intellect had had little part. The preaching of Luther, setting forth
the plain truths of God’s word, and then the word itself, placed in the
hands of the common people, had aroused their dormant powers, not only
purifying and ennobling the spiritual nature, but imparting new strength
and vigor to the intellect.

Persons of all ranks were to be seen with the Bible in their hands,
defending the doctrines of the Reformation. The papists who had left the
study of the Scriptures to the priests and monks, now called upon them to
come forward and refute the new teachings. But, ignorant alike of the
Scriptures and of the power of God, priests and friars were totally
defeated by those whom they had denounced as unlearned and heretical.
“Unhappily,” said a Catholic writer, “Luther had persuaded his followers
to put no faith in any other oracle than the Holy Scriptures.”(280) Crowds
would gather to hear the truth advocated by men of little education, and
even discussed by them with learned and eloquent theologians. The shameful
ignorance of these great men was made apparent as their arguments were met
by the simple teachings of God’s word. Laborers, soldiers, women, and even
children, were better acquainted with the Bible teachings than were the
priests and learned doctors.

The contrast between the disciples of the gospel and the upholders of
popish superstition was no less manifest in the ranks of scholars than
among the common people. “Opposed to the old champions of the hierarchy,
who had neglected the study of languages and the cultivation of
literature, ... were generous-minded youths, devoted to study,
investigating Scripture, and familiarizing themselves with the
masterpieces of antiquity. Possessing an active mind, an elevated soul,
and intrepid heart, these young men soon acquired such knowledge that for
a long period none could compete with them.... Accordingly, when these
youthful defenders of the Reformation met the Romish doctors in any
assembly, they attacked them with such ease and confidence that these
ignorant men hesitated, became embarrassed, and fell into a contempt
merited in the eyes of all.”(281)

As the Romish clergy saw their congregations diminishing, they invoked the
aid of the magistrates, and by every means in their power endeavored to
bring back their hearers. But the people had found in the new teachings
that which supplied the wants of their souls, and they turned away from
those who had so long fed them with the worthless husks of superstitious
rites and human traditions.

When persecution was kindled against the teachers of the truth, they gave
heed to the words of Christ, “When they persecute you in this city, flee
ye into another.”(282) The light penetrated everywhere. The fugitives
would find somewhere a hospitable door opened to them, and there abiding,
they would preach Christ, sometimes in the church, or if denied that
privilege, in private houses or in the open air. Wherever they could
obtain a hearing was a consecrated temple. The truth, proclaimed with such
energy and assurance, spread with irresistible power.

In vain both ecclesiastical and civil authorities were invoked to crush
the heresy. In vain they resorted to imprisonment, torture, fire, and
sword. Thousands of believers sealed their faith with their blood, and yet
the work went on. Persecution served only to extend the truth; and the
fanaticism which Satan endeavored to unite with it, resulted in making
more clear the contrast between the work of Satan and the work of God.





11. PROTEST OF THE PRINCES.


                     [Illustration: Chapter header.]

One of the noblest testimonies ever uttered for the Reformation, was the
Protest offered by the Christian princes of Germany at the Diet of Spires
in 1529. The courage, faith, and firmness of those men of God, gained for
succeeding ages liberty of thought and of conscience. Their Protest gave
to the reformed church the name of Protestant; its principles are “the
very essence of Protestantism.”(283)

A dark and threatening day had come for the Reformation. Notwithstanding
the edict of Worms, declaring Luther to be an outlaw, and forbidding the
teaching or belief of his doctrines, religious toleration had thus far
prevailed in the empire. God’s providence had held in check the forces
that opposed the truth. Charles V. was bent on crushing the Reformation,
but often as he raised his hand to strike, he had been forced to turn
aside the blow. Again and again the immediate destruction of all who dared
to oppose themselves to Rome appeared inevitable; but at the critical
moment the armies of the Turk appeared on the eastern frontier, or the
king of France, or even the pope himself, jealous of the increasing
greatness of the emperor, made war upon him; and thus, amid the strife and
tumult of nations, the Reformation had been left to strengthen and extend.

At last, however, the papal sovereigns had stifled their feuds, that they
might make common cause against the Reformers. The Diet of Spires in 1526
had given each state full liberty in matters of religion until the meeting
of a general council; but no sooner had the dangers passed which secured
this concession, than the emperor summoned a second Diet to convene at
Spires in 1529 for the purpose of crushing heresy. The princes were to be
induced, by peaceable means if possible, to side against the Reformation;
but if these failed, Charles was prepared to resort to the sword.

The papists were exultant. They appeared at Spires in great numbers, and
openly manifested their hostility toward the Reformers and all who favored
them. Said Melanchthon, “We are the execration and the sweepings of the
world; but Christ will look down on His poor people, and will preserve
them.”(284) The evangelical princes in attendance at the Diet were
forbidden even to have the gospel preached in their dwellings. But the
people of Spires thirsted for the word of God, and notwithstanding the
prohibition, thousands flocked to the services held in the chapel of the
elector of Saxony.

This hastened the crisis. An imperial message announced to the Diet that
as the resolution granting liberty of conscience had given rise to great
disorders, the emperor required that it be annulled. This arbitrary act
excited the indignation and alarm of the evangelical Christians. Said one,
“Christ has again fallen into the hands of Caiaphas and Pilate.” The
Romanists became more violent. A bigoted papist declared: “The Turks are
better than the Lutherans; for the Turks observe fast-days, and the
Lutherans violate them. If we must choose between the Holy Scriptures of
God and the old errors of the church, we should reject the former.” Said
Melanchthon, “Every day, in full assembly, Faber casts some new stone at
us Gospelers.”(285)

Religious toleration had been legally established, and the evangelical
states were resolved to oppose the infringement of their rights. Luther,
being still under the ban imposed by the edict of Worms, was not permitted
to be present at Spires; but his place was supplied by his co-laborers and
the princes whom God had raised up to defend His cause in this emergency.
The noble Frederick of Saxony, Luther’s former protector, had been removed
by death; but Duke John, his brother and successor, had joyfully welcomed
the Reformation, and while a friend of peace, he displayed great energy
and courage in all matters relating to the interests of the faith.

The priests demanded that the states which had accepted the Reformation
submit implicitly to Romish jurisdiction. The Reformers, on the other
hand, claimed the liberty which had previously been granted. They could
not consent that Rome should again bring under her control those states
that had with so great joy received the word of God.

As a compromise it was finally proposed that where the Reformation had not
become established, the edict of Worms should be rigorously enforced; and
that “in those where the people had deviated from it, and where they could
not conform to it without danger of revolt, they should at least effect no
new reform, they should touch upon no controverted point, they should not
oppose the celebration of the mass, they should permit no Roman Catholic
to embrace Lutheranism.”(286) This measure passed the Diet, to the great
satisfaction of the popish priests and prelates.

If this edict were enforced, “the Reformation could neither be extended
... where as yet it was unknown, nor be established on solid foundations
... where it already existed.”(287) Liberty of speech would be prohibited.
No conversions would be allowed. And to these restrictions and
prohibitions the friends of the Reformation were required at once to
submit. The hopes of the world seemed about to be extinguished. “The
re-establishment of the Romish hierarchy ... would infallibly bring back
the ancient abuses;” and an occasion would readily be found for
“completing the destruction of a work already so violently shaken” by
fanaticism and dissension.(288)

As the evangelical party met for consultation, one looked to another in
blank dismay. From one to another passed the inquiry, “What is to be
done?” Mighty issues for the world were at stake. “Shall the chiefs of the
Reformation submit, and accept the edict? How easily might the Reformers
at this crisis, which was truly a tremendous one, have argued themselves
into a wrong course! How many plausible pretexts and fair reasons might
they have found for submission! The Lutheran princes were guaranteed the
free exercise of their religion. The same boon was extended to all those
of their subjects who, prior to the passing of the measure, had embraced
the reformed views. Ought not this to content them? How many perils would
submission avoid! On what unknown hazards and conflicts would opposition
launch them! Who knows what opportunities the future may bring? Let us
embrace peace; let us seize the olive-branch Rome holds out, and close the
wounds of Germany. With arguments like these might the Reformers have
justified their adoption of a course which would have assuredly issued in
no long time in the overthrow of their cause.

“Happily they looked at the principle on which this arrangement was based,
and they acted in faith. What was that principle? It was the right of Rome
to coerce conscience and forbid free inquiry. But were not themselves and
their Protestant subjects to enjoy religious freedom? Yes, as a favor
specially stipulated for in the arrangement, but not as a right. As to all
outside that arrangement, the great principle of authority was to rule;
conscience was out of court; Rome was infallible judge, and must be
obeyed. The acceptance of the proposed arrangement would have been a
virtual admission that religious liberty ought to be confined to reformed
Saxony; and as to all the rest of Christendom, free inquiry and the
profession of the reformed faith were crimes, and must be visited with the
dungeon and the stake. Could they consent to localize religious liberty?
to have it proclaimed that the Reformation had made its last convert? had
subjugated its last acre? and that wherever Rome bore sway at this hour,
there her dominion was to be perpetuated? Could the Reformers have pleaded
that they were innocent of the blood of those hundreds and thousands who,
in pursuance of this arrangement, would have to yield up their lives in
popish lands? This would have been to betray, at that supreme hour, the
cause of the gospel and the liberties of Christendom.”(289) Rather would
they “sacrifice everything, even their states, their crowns, and their
lives.”(290)

“Let us reject this decree,” said the princes. “In matters of conscience
the majority has no power.” The deputies declared: “It is to the decree of
1526 that we are indebted for the peace that the empire enjoys: its
abolition would fill Germany with troubles and divisions. The Diet is
incompetent to do more than preserve religious liberty until the council
meets.”(291) To protect liberty of conscience is the duty of the state,
and this is the limit of its authority in matters of religion. Every
secular government that attempts to regulate or enforce religious
observances by civil authority, is sacrificing the very principle for
which the evangelical Christians so nobly struggled.

The papists determined to put down what they termed “daring obstinacy.”
They began by endeavoring to cause divisions among the supporters of the
Reformation, and to intimidate all who had not openly declared in its
favor. The representatives of the free cities were at last summoned before
the Diet, and required to declare whether they would accede to the terms
of the proposition. They pleaded for delay, but in vain. When brought to
the test, nearly one half their number sided with the Reformers. Those who
thus refused to sacrifice liberty of conscience and the right of
individual judgment, well knew that their position marked them for future
criticism, condemnation, and persecution. Said one of the delegates, “We
must either deny the word of God, or—be burnt.”(292)

King Ferdinand, the emperor’s representative at the Diet, saw that the
decree would cause serious divisions unless the princes could be induced
to accept and sustain it. He therefore tried the art of persuasion, well
knowing that to employ force with such men would only render them the more
determined. He “begged the princes to accept the decree, assuring them
that the emperor would be exceedingly pleased with them.” But these
faithful men acknowledged an authority above that of earthly rulers, and
they answered calmly, “We will obey the emperor in everything that may
contribute to maintain peace and the honor of God.”(293)

In the presence of the Diet, the king at last announced to the elector and
his friends that the edict “was about to be drawn up in the form of an
imperial decree,” and that “their only remaining course was to submit to
the majority.” Having thus spoken, he withdrew from the assembly, giving
the Reformers no opportunity for deliberation or reply. “To no purpose
they sent a deputation entreating the king to return.” To their
remonstrances he answered only, “It is a settled affair; submission is all
that remains.”(294)

The imperial party were convinced that the Christian princes would adhere
to the Holy Scriptures as superior to human doctrines and requirements;
and they knew that wherever this principle was accepted, the papacy would
eventually be overthrown. But, like thousands since their time, looking
only “at the things which are seen,” they flattered themselves that the
cause of the emperor and the pope was strong, and that of the Reformers
weak. Had the Reformers depended upon human aid alone, they would have
been as powerless as the papists supposed. But though weak in numbers, and
at variance with Rome, they had their strength. They appealed “from the
report of the Diet to the word of God, and from the emperor Charles to
Jesus Christ, the King of kings and Lord of lords.”(295)

As Ferdinand had refused to regard their conscientious convictions, the
princes decided not to heed his absence, but to bring their Protest before
the national council without delay. A solemn declaration was therefore
drawn up, and presented to the Diet:

“We protest by these presents, before God, our only Creator, Preserver,
Redeemer, and Saviour, and who will one day be our Judge, as well as
before all men and all creatures, that we, for us and for our people,
neither consent nor adhere in any manner whatsoever to the proposed
decree, in anything that is contrary to God, to His holy word, to our
right conscience, to the salvation of our souls.”

“What! we ratify this edict! We assert that when Almighty God calls a man
to His knowledge, this man nevertheless cannot receive the knowledge of
God?” “There is no sure doctrine but such as is conformable to the word of
God.... The Lord forbids the teaching of any other doctrine.... The Holy
Scriptures ought to be explained by other and clearer texts; ... this holy
book is, in all things necessary for the Christian, easy of understanding,
and calculated to scatter the darkness. We are resolved, with the grace of
God, to maintain the pure and exclusive preaching of His only word, such
as it is contained in the biblical books of the Old and New Testaments,
without adding anything thereto that may be contrary to it. 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. He who builds on this foundation shall stand
against all the powers of hell, while all the human vanities that are set
up against it shall fall before the face of God.”

“For this reason we reject the yoke that is imposed on us.” “At the same
time we are in expectation that his imperial majesty will behave toward us
like a Christian prince who loves God above all things; and we declare
ourselves ready to pay unto him, as well as unto you, gracious lords, all
the affection and obedience that are our just and legitimate duty.”(296)

A deep impression was made upon the Diet. The majority were filled with
amazement and alarm at the boldness of the protesters. The future appeared
to them stormy and uncertain. Dissension, strife, and bloodshed seemed
inevitable. But the Reformers, assured of the justice of their cause, and
relying upon the arm of Omnipotence, were “full of courage and firmness.”

“The principles contained in this celebrated Protest ... constitute the
very essence of Protestantism. Now this Protest opposes two abuses of man
in matters of faith: the first is the intrusion of the civil magistrate,
and the second the arbitrary authority of the church. Instead of these
abuses, Protestantism sets the power of conscience above the magistrate,
and the authority of the word of God above the visible church. In the
first place, it rejects the civil power in divine things, and says with
the prophets and apostles, ‘_We must obey God rather than man._’ In
presence of the crown of Charles the Fifth, it uplifts the crown of Jesus
Christ. But it goes farther: it lays down the principle that all human
teaching should be subordinate to the oracles of God.”(297) The protesters
had moreover affirmed their right to utter freely their convictions of
truth. They would not only believe and obey, but teach what the word of
God presents, and they denied the right of priest or magistrate to
interfere. The Protest of Spires was a solemn witness against religious
intolerance, and an assertion of the right of all men to worship God
according to the dictates of their own consciences.

The declaration had been made. It was written in the memory of thousands,
and registered in the books of heaven, where no effort of man could erase
it. All evangelical Germany adopted the Protest as the expression of its
faith. Everywhere men beheld in this declaration the promise of a new and
better era. Said one of the princes to the Protestants of Spires, “May the
Almighty, who has given you grace to confess energetically, freely, and
fearlessly, preserve you in that Christian firmness until the day of
eternity.”(298)

Had the Reformation, after attaining a degree of success, consented to
temporize to secure favor with the world, it would have been untrue to God
and to itself, and would thus have insured its own destruction. The
experience of these noble Reformers contains a lesson for all succeeding
ages. Satan’s manner of working against God and His word has not changed;
he is still as much opposed to the Scriptures being made the guide of life
as in the sixteenth century. In our time there is a wide departure from
their doctrines and precepts, and there is need of a return to the great
Protestant principle,—the Bible, and the Bible only, as the rule of faith
and duty. Satan is still working through every means which he can control
to destroy religious liberty. The antichristian power which the protesters
of Spires rejected, is now with renewed vigor seeking to re-establish its
lost supremacy. The same unswerving adherence to the word of God
manifested at that crisis of the Reformation, is the only hope of reform
to-day.

There appeared tokens of danger to the Protestants; there were tokens,
also, that the divine hand was stretched out to protect the faithful. It
was about this time that “Melanchthon hastily conducted through the
streets of Spires toward the Rhine his friend Simon Grynæus, pressing him
to cross the river. The latter was astonished at such precipitation. ‘An
old man of grave and solemn air, but who is unknown to me,’ said
Melanchthon, ‘appeared before me and said, In a minute officers of justice
will be sent by Ferdinand to arrest Grynæus.’ ”

During the day, Grynæus had been scandalized at a sermon by Faber, a
leading papal doctor; and at the close, remonstrated with him for
defending “certain detestable errors.” “Faber dissembled his anger, but
immediately after repaired to the king, from whom he had obtained an order
against the importunate professor of Heidelberg. Melanchthon doubted not
that God had saved his friend by sending one of His holy angels to
forewarn him.

“Motionless on the banks of the Rhine, he waited until the waters of that
stream had rescued Grynæus from his persecutors. ‘At last,’ cried
Melanchthon, as he saw him on the opposite side, ‘at last he is torn from
the cruel jaws of those who thirst for innocent blood.’ When he returned
to his house, Melanchthon was informed that officers in search of Grynæus
had ransacked it from top to bottom.”(299)

The Reformation was to be brought into greater prominence before the
mighty ones of the earth. The evangelical princes had been denied a
hearing by King Ferdinand; but they were to be granted an opportunity to
present their cause in the presence of the emperor and the assembled
dignitaries of church and state. To quiet the dissensions which disturbed
the empire, Charles V., in the year following the Protest of Spires,
convoked a Diet at Augsburg, over which he announced his intention to
preside in person. Thither the Protestant leaders were summoned.

Great dangers threatened the Reformation; but its advocates still trusted
their cause with God, and pledged themselves to be firm to the gospel. The
elector of Saxony was urged by his councilors not to appear at the Diet.
The emperor, they said, required the attendance of the princes in order to
draw them into a snare. “Is it not risking everything to go and shut
oneself up within the walls of a city with a powerful enemy?” But others
nobly declared, “Let the princes only comport themselves with courage, and
God’s cause is saved.” “God is faithful; He will not abandon us,”(300)
said Luther. The elector set out, with his retinue, for Augsburg. All were
acquainted with the dangers that menaced him, and many went forward with
gloomy countenance and troubled heart. But Luther, who accompanied them as
far as Coburg, revived their sinking faith by singing the hymn, written on
that journey, “A strong tower is our God.” Many an anxious foreboding was
banished, many a heavy heart lightened, at the sound of the inspiring
strains.

The reformed princes had determined upon having a statement of their views
in systematic form, with the evidence from the Scriptures, to present
before the Diet; and the task of its preparation was committed to Luther,
Melanchthon, and their associates. This Confession was accepted by the
Protestants as an exposition of their faith, and they assembled to affix
their names to the important document. It was a solemn and trying time.
The Reformers were solicitous that their cause should not be confounded
with political questions; they felt that the Reformation should exercise
no other influence than that which proceeds from the word of God. As the
Christian princes advanced to sign the Confession, Melanchthon interposed,
saying, “It is for the theologians and ministers to propose these things;
let us reserve for other matters the authority of the mighty ones of the
earth.” “God forbid,” replied John of Saxony, “that you should exclude me.
I am resolved to do what is right, without troubling myself about my
crown. I desire to confess the Lord. My electoral hat and my ermine are
not so precious to me as the cross of Jesus Christ.” Having thus spoken,
he wrote down his name. Said another of the princes as he took the pen,
“If the honor of my Lord Jesus Christ requires it, I am ready ... to leave
my goods and life behind.” “I would rather renounce my subjects and my
states, rather quit the country of my fathers staff in hand,” he
continued, “than receive any other doctrine than that which is contained
in this Confession.”(301) Such was the faith and daring of those men of
God.

The appointed time came to appear before the emperor. Charles V., seated
upon his throne, surrounded by the electors and the princes, gave audience
to the Protestant Reformers. The confession of their faith was read. In
that august assembly the truths of the gospel were clearly set forth, and
the errors of the papal church were pointed out. Well has that day been
pronounced “the greatest day of the Reformation, and one of the most
glorious in the history of Christianity and of mankind.”(302)

But a few years had passed since the monk of Wittenberg stood alone at
Worms before the national council. Now in his stead were the noblest and
most powerful princes of the empire. Luther had been forbidden to appear
at Augsburg, but he had been present by his words and prayers. “I am
overjoyed,” he wrote, “that I have lived until this hour, in which Christ
has been publicly exalted by such illustrious confessors, and in so
glorious an assembly.”(303) Thus was fulfilled what the Scripture says, “I
will speak of Thy testimonies before kings.”(304)

In the days of Paul, the gospel for which he was imprisoned was thus
brought before the princes and nobles of the imperial city. So on this
occasion, that which the emperor had forbidden to be preached from the
pulpit, was proclaimed in the palace; what many had regarded as unfit even
for servants to listen to, was heard with wonder by the masters and lords
of the empire. Kings and great men were the auditory, crowned princes were
the preachers, and the sermon was the royal truth of God. “Since the
apostolic age,” says a writer, “there has never been a greater work or a
more magnificent confession.”(305)

“All that the Lutherans have said is true; we cannot deny it,” declared a
papist bishop. “Can you refute by sound reasons the Confession made by the
elector and his allies?” asked another, of Doctor Eck. “With the writings
of the apostles and prophets—no!” was the reply; “but with those of the
Fathers and of the councils—yes!” “I understand,” responded the
questioner. “The Lutherans, according to you, are in Scripture, and we are
outside.”(306)

Some of the princes of Germany were won to the reformed faith. The emperor
himself declared that the Protestant articles were but the truth. The
Confession was translated into many languages, and circulated through all
Europe, and it has been accepted by millions in succeeding generations as
the expression of their faith.

God’s faithful servants were not toiling alone. While “principalities and
powers and wicked spirits in high places” were leagued against them, the
Lord did not forsake His people. Could their eyes have been opened, they
would have seen as marked evidence of divine presence and aid as was
granted to a prophet of old. When Elisha’s servant pointed his master to
the hostile army surrounding them, and cutting off all opportunity for
escape, the prophet prayed, “Lord, I pray Thee, open his eyes, that he may
see.”(307) And, lo, the mountain was filled with chariots and horses of
fire, the army of heaven stationed to protect the man of God. Thus did
angels guard the workers in the cause of the Reformation.

One of the principles most firmly maintained by Luther was that there
should be no resort to secular power in support of the Reformation, and no
appeal to arms for its defense. He rejoiced that the gospel was confessed
by princes of the empire; but when they proposed to unite in a defensive
league, he declared that “the doctrine of the gospel should be defended by
_God_ alone.... The less man meddled in the work, the more striking would
be God’s intervention in its behalf. All the politic precautions suggested
were, in his view, attributable to unworthy fear and sinful
mistrust.”(308)

When powerful foes were uniting to overthrow the reformed faith, and
thousands of swords seemed about to be unsheathed against it, Luther
wrote: “Satan is putting forth his fury; ungodly pontiffs are conspiring;
and we are threatened with war. Exhort the people to contend valiantly
before the throne of the Lord, by faith and prayer, so that our enemies,
vanquished by the Spirit of God, may be constrained to peace. Our chief
want, our chief labor, is prayer; let the people know that they are now
exposed to the edge of the sword and to the rage of Satan, and let them
pray.”(309)

Again, at a later date, referring to the league contemplated by the
reformed princes, Luther declared that the only weapon employed in this
warfare should be “the sword of the Spirit.” He wrote to the elector of
Saxony: “We cannot on our conscience approve of the proposed alliance. We
would rather die ten times than see our gospel cause one drop of blood to
be shed. Our part is to be like lambs of the slaughter. The cross of
Christ must be borne. Let your highness be without fear. We shall do more
by our prayers than all our enemies by their boastings. Only let not your
hands be stained with the blood of your brethren. If the emperor requires
us to be given up to his tribunals, we are ready to appear. You cannot
defend our faith: each one should believe at his own risk and peril.”(310)

From the secret place of prayer came the power that shook the world in the
Great Reformation. There with holy calmness, the servants of the Lord set
their feet upon the rock of His promises. During the struggle at Augsburg,
Luther “did not pass a day without devoting three hours at least to
prayer, and they were hours selected from those the most favorable to
study.” In the privacy of his chamber he was heard to pour out his soul
before God in words “full of adoration, fear, and hope, as when one speaks
to a friend.” “I know that Thou art our Father and our God,” he said, “and
that Thou wilt scatter the persecutors of Thy children; for Thou art
Thyself endangered with us. All this matter is Thine, and it is only by
Thy constraint that we have put our hands to it. Defend us, then, O
Father!”(311)

To Melanchthon, who was crushed under the burden of anxiety and fear, he
wrote: “Grace and peace in Christ—in Christ, I say, and not in the world.
Amen. I hate with exceeding hatred those extreme cares which consume you.
If the cause is unjust, abandon it; if the cause is just, why should we
belie the promises of Him who commands us to sleep without fear?... Christ
will not be wanting to the work of justice and of truth. He lives, He
reigns; what fear, then, can we have?”(312)

God did listen to the cries of His servants. He gave to princes and
ministers grace and courage to maintain the truth against the rulers of
the darkness of this world. Saith the Lord, “Behold, I lay in Zion a chief
corner-stone, elect, precious: and he that believeth on Him shall not be
confounded.”(313) The Protestant Reformers had built on Christ, and the
gates of hell could not prevail against them.





12. THE FRENCH REFORMATION.


                     [Illustration: Chapter header.]

The Protest of Spires and the Confession at Augsburg, which marked the
triumph of the Reformation in Germany, were followed by years of conflict
and darkness. Weakened by divisions among its supporters, and assailed by
powerful foes, Protestantism seemed destined to be utterly destroyed.
Thousands sealed their testimony with their blood. Civil war broke out;
the Protestant cause was betrayed by one of its leading adherents; the
noblest of the reformed princes fell into the hands of the emperor, and
were dragged as captives from town to town. But in the moment of his
apparent triumph, the emperor was smitten with defeat. He saw the prey
wrested from his grasp, and he was forced at last to grant toleration to
the doctrines which it had been the ambition of his life to destroy. He
had staked his kingdom, his treasures, and life itself, upon the crushing
out of the heresy. Now he saw his armies wasted by battle, his treasuries
drained, his many kingdoms threatened by revolt, while everywhere the
faith which he had vainly endeavored to suppress, was extending. Charles
V. had been battling against omnipotent power. God had said, “Let there be
light,” but the emperor had sought to keep the darkness unbroken. His
purposes had failed; and in premature old age, worn out with the long
struggle, he abdicated the throne, and buried himself in a cloister.

In Switzerland, as in Germany, there came dark days for the Reformation.
While many cantons accepted the reformed faith, others clung with blind
persistence to the creed of Rome. Their persecution of those who desired
to receive the truth, finally gave rise to civil war. Zwingle and many who
had united with him in reform, fell on the bloody field of Cappel.
Œcolampadius, overcome by these terrible disasters, soon after died. Rome
was triumphant, and in many places seemed about to recover all that she
had lost. But He whose counsels are from everlasting had not forsaken His
cause or His people. His hand would bring deliverance for them. In other
lands He had raised up laborers to carry forward the reform.

In France, before the name of Luther had been heard as a Reformer, the day
had already begun to break. One of the first to catch the light was the
aged Lefevre, a man of extensive learning, a professor in the University
of Paris, and a sincere and zealous papist. In his researches into ancient
literature his attention was directed to the Bible, and he introduced its
study among his students.

Lefevre was an enthusiastic adorer of the saints, and he had undertaken to
prepare a history of the saints and martyrs, as given in the legends of
the church. This was a work which involved great labor; but he had already
made considerable progress in it, when, thinking that he might obtain
useful assistance from the Bible, he began its study with this object.
Here indeed he found saints brought to view, but not such as figured in
the Roman calendar. A flood of divine light broke in upon his mind. In
amazement and disgust he turned away from his self-appointed task, and
devoted himself to the word of God. The precious truths which he there
discovered, he soon began to teach.

In 1512, before either Luther or Zwingle had begun the work of reform,
Lefevre wrote: “It is God who gives us, by faith, that righteousness which
by grace alone justifies to eternal life.”(314) Dwelling upon the
mysteries of redemption, he exclaimed, “Oh, the unspeakable greatness of
that exchange,—the Sinless One is condemned, and he who is guilty goes
free; the Blessing bears the curse, and the cursed is brought into
blessing; the Life dies, and the dead live; the Glory is whelmed in
darkness, and he who knew nothing but confusion of face is clothed with
glory.”(315)

And while teaching that the glory of salvation belongs solely to God, he
also declared that the duty of obedience belongs to man. “If thou art a
member of Christ’s church,” he said, “thou art a member of His body; if
thou art of His body, then thou art full of the divine nature.... Oh, if
men could but enter into the understanding of this privilege, how purely,
chastely, and holily would they live, and how contemptible, when compared
with the glory within them,—that glory which the eye of flesh cannot
see,—would they deem all the glory of this world.”(316)

There were some among Lefevre’s students who listened eagerly to his
words, and who, long after the teacher’s voice should be silenced, were to
continue to declare the truth. Such was William Farel. The son of pious
parents, and educated to accept with implicit faith the teachings of the
church, he might, with the apostle Paul, have declared concerning himself,
“After the most straitest sect of our religion I lived a Pharisee.”(317) A
devoted Romanist, he burned with zeal to destroy all who should dare to
oppose the church. “I would gnash my teeth like a furious wolf,” he
afterward said, referring to this period of his life, “when I heard any
one speaking against the pope.”(318) He had been untiring in his adoration
of the saints, in company with Lefevre making the round of the churches of
Paris, worshiping at the altars, and adorning with gifts the holy shrines.
But these observances could not bring peace of soul. Conviction of sin
fastened upon him, which all the acts of penance that he practised, failed
to banish. As to a voice from heaven, he listened to the Reformer’s words:
“Salvation is of grace.” “The Innocent One is condemned, and the criminal
is acquitted.” “It is the cross of Christ alone that openeth the gates of
heaven, and shutteth the gates of hell.”(319)

Farel joyfully accepted the truth. By a conversion like that of Paul, he
turned from the bondage of tradition to the liberty of the sons of God.
“Instead of the murderous heart of a ravening wolf, he came back,” he
says, “quietly, like a meek and harmless lamb, having his heart entirely
withdrawn from the pope, and given to Jesus Christ.”(320)

While Lefevre continued to spread the light among his students, Farel, as
zealous in the cause of Christ as he had been in that of the pope, went
forth to declare the truth in public. A dignitary of the church, the
bishop of Meaux, soon after united with them. Other teachers who ranked
high for their ability and learning, joined in proclaiming the gospel, and
it won adherents among all classes, from the homes of artisans and
peasants to the palace of the king. The sister of Francis I., then the
reigning monarch, accepted the reformed faith. The king himself, and the
queen mother, appeared for a time to regard it with favor, and with high
hopes the Reformers looked forward to the time when France should be won
to the gospel.

But their hopes were not to be realized. Trial and persecution awaited the
disciples of Christ. This, however, was mercifully veiled from their eyes.
A time of peace intervened, that they might gain strength to meet the
tempest; and the Reformation made rapid progress. The bishop of Meaux
labored zealously in his own diocese to instruct both the clergy and the
people. Ignorant and immoral priests were removed, and, so far as
possible, replaced by men of learning and piety. The bishop greatly
desired that his people might have access to the word of God for
themselves, and this was soon accomplished. Lefevre undertook the
translation of the New Testament; and at the very time when Luther’s
German Bible was issuing from the press in Wittenberg, the French New
Testament was published at Meaux. The bishop spared no labor or expense to
circulate it in his parishes, and soon the peasants of Meaux were in
possession of the Holy Scriptures.

As travelers perishing from thirst welcome with joy a living water-spring,
so did these souls receive the message of heaven. The laborers in the
field, the artisans in the workshop, cheered their daily toil by talking
of the precious truths of the Bible. At evening, instead of resorting to
the wine shops, they assembled in one another’s homes to read God’s word
and join in prayer and praise. A great change was soon manifest in these
communities. Though belonging to the humblest class, an unlearned and
hard-working peasantry, the reforming, uplifting power of divine grace was
seen in their lives. Humble, loving, and holy, they stood as witnesses to
what the gospel will accomplish for those who receive it in sincerity.

The light kindled at Meaux shed its beams afar. Every day the number of
converts was increasing. The rage of the hierarchy was for a time held in
check by the king, who despised the narrow bigotry of the monks; but the
papal leaders finally prevailed. Now the stake was set up. The bishop of
Meaux, forced to choose between the fire and recantation, accepted the
easier path; but notwithstanding the leader’s fall, his flock remained
steadfast. Many witnessed for the truth amid the flames. By their courage
and fidelity at the stake, these humble Christians spoke to thousands who
in days of peace had never heard their testimony.

It was not alone the humble and the poor, that amid suffering and scorn
dared to bear witness for Christ. In the lordly halls of the castle and
the palace, there were kingly souls by whom truth was valued above wealth
or rank or even life. Kingly armor concealed a loftier and more steadfast
spirit than did the bishop’s robe and mitre. Louis de Berquin was of noble
birth. A brave and courtly knight, he was devoted to study, polished in
manners, and of blameless morals. “He was,” says a writer, “a great
follower of the papistical constitutions, and a great hearer of masses and
sermons; ... and he crowned all his other virtues by holding Lutheranism
in special abhorrence.” But, like so many others, providentially guided to
the Bible, he was amazed to find there, “not the doctrines of Rome, but
the doctrines of Luther.”(321) Henceforth he gave himself with entire
devotion to the cause of the gospel.

“The most learned of the nobles of France,” his genius and eloquence, his
indomitable courage and heroic zeal, and his influence at court,—for he
was a favorite with the king,—caused him to be regarded by many as one
destined to be the Reformer of his country. Said Beza, “Berquin would have
been a second Luther, had he found in Francis I. a second elector.” “He is
worse than Luther,”(322) cried the papists. More dreaded he was indeed by
the Romanists of France. They thrust him into prison as a heretic, but he
was set at liberty by the king. For years the struggle continued. Francis,
wavering between Rome and the Reformation, alternately tolerated and
restrained the fierce zeal of the monks. Berquin was three times
imprisoned by the papal authorities, only to be released by the monarch,
who, in admiration of his genius and his nobility of character, refused to
sacrifice him to the malice of the hierarchy.

Berquin was repeatedly warned of the danger that threatened him in France,
and urged to follow the steps of those who had found safety in voluntary
exile. The timid and time-serving Erasmus, who with all the splendor of
his scholarship failed of that moral greatness which holds life and honor
subservient to truth, wrote to Berquin: “Ask to be sent as ambassador to
some foreign country; go and travel in Germany. You know Beda and such as
he—he is a thousand-headed monster, darting venom on every side. Your
enemies are named legion. Were your cause better than that of Jesus
Christ, they will not let you go till they have miserably destroyed you.
Do not trust too much to the king’s protection. At all events, _do not
compromise me_ with the faculty of theology.”(323)

But as dangers thickened, Berquin’s zeal only waxed the stronger. So far
from adopting the politic and self-serving counsel of Erasmus, he
determined upon still bolder measures. He would not only stand in defense
of the truth, but he would attack error. The charge of heresy which the
Romanists were seeking to fasten upon him, he would rivet upon them. The
most active and bitter of his opponents were the learned doctors and monks
of the theological department in the great University of Paris, one of the
highest ecclesiastical authorities both in the city and the nation. From
the writings of these doctors, Berquin drew twelve propositions which he
publicly declared to be “opposed to the Bible, and heretical;” and he
appealed to the king to act as judge in the controversy.

The monarch, not loath to bring into contrast the power and acuteness of
the opposing champions, and glad of an opportunity of humbling the pride
of these haughty monks, bade the Romanists defend their cause by the
Bible. This weapon, they well knew, would avail them little; imprisonment,
torture, and the stake were arms which they better understood how to
wield. Now the tables were turned, and they saw themselves about to fall
into the pit into which they had hoped to plunge Berquin. In amazement
they looked about them for some way of escape.

“Just at that time an image of the Virgin at the corner of one of the
streets, was mutilated.” There was great excitement in the city. Crowds of
people flocked to the place, with expressions of mourning and indignation.
The king also was deeply moved. Here was an advantage which the monks
could turn to good account, and they were quick to improve it. “These are
the fruits of the doctrines of Berquin,” they cried. “All is about to be
overthrown—religion, the laws, the throne itself—by this Lutheran
conspiracy.”(324)

Again Berquin was apprehended. The king withdrew from Paris, and the monks
were thus left free to work their will. The Reformer was tried, and
condemned to die, and lest Francis should even yet interpose to save him,
the sentence was executed on the very day it was pronounced. At noon
Berquin was conducted to the place of death. An immense throng gathered to
witness the event, and there were many who saw with astonishment and
misgiving that the victim had been chosen from the best and bravest of the
noble families of France. Amazement, indignation, scorn, and bitter hatred
darkened the faces of that surging crowd; but upon one face no shadow
rested. The martyr’s thoughts were far from that scene of tumult; he was
conscious only of the presence of his Lord.

The wretched tumbrel upon which he rode, the frowning faces of his
persecutors, the dreadful death to which he was going,—these he heeded
not; He who liveth and was dead, and is alive forevermore, and hath the
keys of death and of hell, was beside him. Berquin’s countenance was
radiant with the light and peace of heaven. He had attired himself in
goodly raiment, wearing “a cloak of velvet, a doublet of satin and damask,
and golden hose.”(325) He was about to testify to his faith in presence of
the King of kings and the witnessing universe, and no token of mourning
should belie his joy.

As the procession moved slowly through the crowded streets, the people
marked with wonder the unclouded peace, the joyous triumph, of his look
and bearing. “He is,” they said, “like one who sits in a temple, and
meditates on holy things.”(326)

At the stake, Berquin endeavored to address a few words to the people; but
the monks, fearing the result, began to shout, and the soldiers to clash
their arms, and their clamor drowned the martyr’s voice. Thus in 1529, the
highest literary and ecclesiastical authority of cultured Paris “set the
populace of 1793 the base example of stifling on the scaffold the sacred
words of the dying.”(327)

Berquin was strangled, and his body was consumed in the flames. The
tidings of his death caused sorrow to the friends of the Reformation
throughout France. But his example was not lost. “We too are ready,” said
the witnesses for the truth, “to meet death cheerfully, setting our eyes
on the life that is to come.”(328)

During the persecution at Meaux, the teachers of the reformed faith were
deprived of their license to preach, and they departed to other fields.
Lefevre after a time made his way to Germany. Farel returned to his native
town in eastern France, to spread the light in the home of his childhood.
Already tidings had been received of what was going on at Meaux, and the
truth, which he taught with fearless zeal, found listeners. Soon the
authorities were roused to silence him, and he was banished from the city.
Though he could no longer labor publicly, he traversed the plains and
villages, teaching in private dwellings and in secluded meadows, and
finding shelter in the forests and among the rocky caverns which had been
his haunts in boyhood. God was preparing him for greater trials. “The
crosses, persecutions, and machinations of Satan, of which I was
forewarned, have not been wanting,” he said; “they are even much severer
than I could have borne of myself; but God is my Father; He has provided
and always will provide me the strength which I require.”(329)

As in apostolic days, persecution had “fallen out rather unto the
furtherance of the gospel.”(330) Driven from Paris and Meaux, “they that
were scattered abroad went everywhere preaching the word.”(331) And thus
the light found its way into many of the remote provinces of France.

God was still preparing workers to extend His cause. In one of the schools
of Paris was a thoughtful, quiet youth, already giving evidence of a
powerful and penetrating mind, and no less marked for the blamelessness of
his life than for intellectual ardor and religious devotion. His genius
and application soon made him the pride of the college, and it was
confidently anticipated that John Calvin would become one of the ablest
and most honored defenders of the church. But a ray of divine light
penetrated even within the walls of scholasticism and superstition by
which Calvin was inclosed. He heard of the new doctrines with a shudder,
nothing doubting that the heretics deserved the fire to which they were
given. Yet all unwittingly he was brought face to face with the heresy,
and forced to test the power of Romish theology to combat the Protestant
teaching.

A cousin of Calvin’s, who had joined the Reformers, was in Paris. The two
kinsmen often met, and discussed together the matters that were disturbing
Christendom. “There are but two religions in the world,” said Olivetan,
the Protestant. “The one class of religions are those which men have
invented, in all of which man saves himself by ceremonies and good works;
the other is that one religion which is revealed in the Bible, and which
teaches man to look for salvation solely from the free grace of God.”

“I will have none of your new doctrines,” exclaimed Calvin; “think you
that I have lived in error all my days?”(332)

But thoughts had been awakened in his mind which he could not banish at
will. Alone in his chamber he pondered upon his cousin’s words. Conviction
of sin fastened upon him; he saw himself, without an intercessor, in the
presence of a holy and just Judge. The mediation of saints, good works,
the ceremonies of the church, all were powerless to atone for sin. He
could see before him nothing but the blackness of eternal despair. In vain
the doctors of the church endeavored to relieve his woe. Confession,
penance, were resorted to in vain; they could not reconcile the soul with
God.

While still engaged in these fruitless struggles, Calvin, chancing one day
to visit one of the public squares, witnessed there the burning of a
heretic. He was filled with wonder at the expression of peace which rested
upon the martyr’s countenance. Amid the tortures of that dreadful death,
and under the more terrible condemnation of the church, he manifested a
faith and courage which the young student painfully contrasted with his
own despair and darkness, while living in strictest obedience to the
church. Upon the Bible, he knew, the heretics rested their faith. He
determined to study it, and discover, if he could, the secret of their
joy.

In the Bible he found Christ. “O Father,” he cried, “His sacrifice has
appeased Thy wrath; His blood has washed away my impurities; His cross has
borne my curse; His death has atoned for me. We had devised for ourselves
many useless follies, but Thou hast placed Thy word before me like a
torch, and Thou hast touched my heart, in order that I may hold in
abomination all other merits save those of Jesus.”(333)

Calvin had been educated for the priesthood. When only twelve years of age
he had been appointed to the chaplaincy of a small church, and his head
had been shorn by the bishop in accordance with the canon of the church.
He did not receive consecration, nor did he fulfil the duties of a priest,
but he became a member of the clergy, holding the title of his office, and
receiving an allowance in consideration thereof.

Now, feeling that he could never become a priest, he turned for a time to
the study of law, but finally abandoned this purpose, and determined to
devote his life to the gospel. But he hesitated to become a public
teacher. He was naturally timid, and was burdened with a sense of the
weighty responsibility of the position, and he desired still to devote
himself to study. The earnest entreaties of his friends, however, at last
won his consent. “Wonderful it is,” he said, “that one of so lowly an
origin should be exalted to so great a dignity.”(334)

Quietly did Calvin enter upon his work, and his words were as the dew
falling to refresh the earth. He had left Paris, and was now in a
provincial town under the protection of the princess Margaret, who, loving
the gospel, extended her protection to its disciples. Calvin was still a
youth, of gentle, unpretentious bearing. His work began with the people at
their homes. Surrounded by the members of the household, he read the
Bible, and opened the truths of salvation. Those who heard the message,
carried the good news to others, and soon the teacher passed beyond the
city to the outlying towns and hamlets. To both the castle and the cabin
he found entrance, and he went forward, laying the foundation of churches
that were to yield fearless witnesses for the truth.

A few months, and he was again in Paris. There was unwonted agitation in
the circle of learned men and scholars. The study of the ancient languages
had led men to the Bible, and many whose hearts were untouched by its
truths were eagerly discussing them, and even giving battle to the
champions of Romanism. Calvin, though an able combatant in the fields of
theological controversy, had a higher mission to accomplish than that of
these noisy schoolmen. The minds of men were stirred, and now was the time
to open to them the truth. While the halls of the universities were filled
with the clamor of theological disputation, Calvin was making his way from
house to house, opening the Bible to the people, and speaking to them of
Christ and Him crucified.

In God’s providence, Paris was to receive another invitation to accept the
gospel. The call of Lefevre and Farel had been rejected, but again the
message was to be heard by all classes in that great capital. The king,
influenced by political considerations, had not yet fully sided with Rome
against the Reformation. Margaret still clung to the hope that
Protestantism was to triumph in France. She resolved that the reformed
faith should be preached in Paris. During the absence of the king, she
ordered a Protestant minister to preach in the churches of the city. This
being forbidden by the papal dignitaries, the princess threw open the
palace. An apartment was fitted up as a chapel, and it was announced that
every day, at a specified hour, a sermon would be preached, and the people
of every rank and station were invited to attend. Crowds flocked to the
service. Not only the chapel, but the ante-chambers and halls were
thronged. Thousands every day assembled,—nobles, statesmen, lawyers,
merchants, and artisans. The king, instead of forbidding the assemblies,
ordered that two of the churches of Paris should be opened. Never before
had the city been so moved by the word of God. The spirit of life from
heaven seemed to be breathed upon the people. Temperance, purity, order,
and industry were taking the place of drunkenness, licentiousness, strife,
and idleness.

But the hierarchy were not idle. The king still refused to interfere to
stop the preaching, and they turned to the populace. No means were spared
to excite the fears, the prejudices, and the fanaticism of the ignorant
and superstitious multitudes. Yielding blindly to her false teachers,
Paris, like Jerusalem of old, knew not the time of her visitation, nor the
things which belonged unto her peace. For two years the word of God was
preached in the capital; but while there were many who accepted the
gospel, the majority of the people rejected it. Francis had made a show of
toleration, merely to serve his own purposes, and the papists succeeded in
regaining the ascendency. Again the churches were closed, and the stake
was set up.

Calvin was still in Paris, preparing himself by study, meditation, and
prayer, for his future labors, and continuing to spread the light. At
last, however, suspicion fastened upon him. The authorities determined to
bring him to the flames. Regarding himself as secure in his seclusion, he
had no thought of danger, when friends came hurrying to his room with the
news that officers were on their way to arrest him. At the instant a loud
knocking was heard at the outer entrance. There was not a moment to be
lost. Some of his friends detained the officers at the door, while others
assisted the Reformer to let himself down from a window, and he rapidly
made his way to the outskirts of the city. Finding shelter in the cottage
of a laborer who was a friend to the reform, he disguised himself in the
garments of his host, and shouldering a hoe, started on his journey.
Traveling southward, he again found refuge in the dominions of
Margaret.(335)

Here for a few months he remained, safe under the protection of powerful
friends, and engaged as before in study. But his heart was set upon the
evangelization of France, and he could not long remain inactive. As soon
as the storm had somewhat abated, he sought a new field of labor in
Poitiers, where was a university, and where already the new opinions had
found favor. Persons of all classes gladly listened to the gospel. There
was no public preaching, but in the home of the chief magistrate, in his
own lodgings, and sometimes in a public garden, Calvin opened the words of
eternal life to those who desired to listen. After a time, as the number
of hearers increased, it was thought safer to assemble outside the city. A
cave in the side of a deep and narrow gorge, where trees and overhanging
rocks made the seclusion still more complete, was chosen as the place of
meeting. Little companies, leaving the city by different routes, found
their way hither. In this retired spot the Bible was read and explained.
Here the Lord’s supper was celebrated for the first time by the
Protestants of France. From this little church several faithful
evangelists were sent out.

Once more Calvin returned to Paris. He could not even yet relinquish the
hope that France as a nation would accept the Reformation. But he found
almost every door of labor closed. To teach the gospel was to take the
direct road to the stake, and he at last determined to depart to Germany.
Scarcely had he left France when a storm burst over the Protestants, that,
had he remained, must surely have involved him in the general ruin.

The French Reformers, eager to see their country keeping pace with Germany
and Switzerland, determined to strike a bold blow against the
superstitions of Rome, that should arouse the whole nation. Accordingly
placards attacking the mass were in one night posted all over France.
Instead of advancing the reform, this zealous but ill-judged movement
brought ruin, not only upon its propagators, but upon the friends of the
reformed faith throughout France. It gave the Romanists what they had long
desired,—a pretext for demanding the utter destruction of the heretics as
agitators dangerous to the stability of the throne and the peace of the
nation.

By some secret hand—whether of indiscreet friend or wily foe was never
known—one of the placards was attached to the door of the king’s private
chamber. The monarch was filled with horror. In this paper, superstitions
that had received the veneration of ages were attacked with an unsparing
hand. And the unexampled boldness of obtruding these plain and startling
utterances into the royal presence, aroused the wrath of the king. In his
amazement he stood for a little time trembling and speechless. Then his
rage found utterance in the terrible words: “Let all be seized without
distinction who are suspected of Lutheresy. I will exterminate them
all.”(336) The die was cast. The king had determined to throw himself
fully on the side of Rome.

Measures were at once taken for the arrest of every Lutheran in Paris. A
poor artisan, an adherent of the reformed faith, who had been accustomed
to summon the believers to their secret assemblies, was seized, and with
the threat of instant death at the stake, was commanded to conduct the
papal emissary to the home of every Protestant in the city. He shrunk in
horror from the base proposal, but at last fear of the flames prevailed,
and he consented to become the betrayer of his brethren. Preceded by the
host, and surrounded by a train of priests, incense-bearers, monks, and
soldiers, Morin, the royal detective, with the traitor, slowly and
silently passed through the streets of the city. The demonstration was
ostensibly in honor of the “holy sacrament,” an act of expiation for the
insult put upon the mass by the protesters. But beneath this pageant a
deadly purpose was concealed. On arriving opposite the house of a
Lutheran, the betrayer made a sign, but no word was uttered. The
procession halted, the house was entered, the family were dragged forth
and chained, and the terrible company went forward in search of fresh
victims. They “spared no house, great or small, not even the colleges of
the University of Paris.... Morin made all the city quake.... It was a
reign of terror.”(337)

The victims were put to death with cruel torture, it being specially
ordered that the fire should be lowered, in order to prolong their agony.
But they died as conquerors. Their constancy was unshaken, their peace
unclouded. Their persecutors, powerless to move their inflexible firmness,
felt themselves defeated. “The scaffolds were distributed over all the
quarters of Paris, and the burnings followed on successive days, the
design being to spread the terror of heresy by spreading the executions.
The advantage, however, in the end, remained with the gospel. All Paris
was enabled to see what kind of men the new opinions could produce. There
was no pulpit like the martyr’s pile. The serene joy that lighted up the
faces of these men as they passed along ... to the place of execution,
their heroism as they stood amid the bitter flames, their meek forgiveness
of injuries, transformed, in instances not a few, anger into pity, and
hate into love, and pleaded with resistless eloquence in behalf of the
gospel.”(338)

The priests, bent upon keeping the popular fury at its height, circulated
the most terrible accusations against the Protestants. They were charged
with plotting to massacre the Catholics, to overthrow the government, and
to murder the king. Not a shadow of evidence could be produced in support
of the allegations. Yet these prophecies of evil were to have a
fulfilment; under far different circumstances, however, and from causes of
an opposite character. The cruelties that were inflicted upon the innocent
Protestants by the Catholics, accumulated in a weight of retribution, and
in after-centuries wrought the very doom they had predicted to be
impending, upon the king, his government, and his subjects; but it was
brought about by infidels, and by the papists themselves. It was not the
establishment, but the suppression, of Protestantism, that, three hundred
years later, was to bring upon France these dire calamities.

Suspicion, distrust, and terror now pervaded all classes of society. Amid
the general alarm it was seen how deep a hold the Lutheran teaching had
gained upon the minds of men who stood highest for education, influence,
and excellence of character. Positions of trust and honor were suddenly
found vacant. Artisans, printers, scholars, professors in the
universities, authors, and even courtiers, disappeared. Hundreds fled from
Paris, self-constituted exiles from their native land, in many cases thus
giving the first intimation that they favored the reformed faith. The
papists looked about them in amazement at thought of the unsuspected
heretics that had been tolerated among them. Their rage spent itself upon
the multitudes of humbler victims who were within their power. The prisons
were crowded, and the very air seemed darkened with the smoke of burning
piles, kindled for the confessors of the gospel.

Francis I. had gloried in being a leader in the great movement for the
revival of learning which marked the opening of the sixteenth century. He
had delighted to gather at his court men of letters from every country. To
his love of learning and his contempt for the ignorance and superstition
of the monks was due, in part at least, the degree of toleration that had
been granted to the reform. But, inspired with zeal to stamp out heresy,
this patron of learning issued an edict declaring printing abolished all
over France! Francis I. presents one among the many examples on record
showing that intellectual culture is not a safeguard against religious
intolerance and persecution.

France by a solemn and public ceremony was to commit herself fully to the
destruction of Protestantism. The priests demanded that the affront
offered to high Heaven in the condemnation of the mass, be expiated in
blood, and that the king, in behalf of his people, publicly give his
sanction to the dreadful work.

The 21st of January, 1535, was fixed upon for the awful ceremonial. The
superstitious fears and bigoted hatred of the whole nation had been
roused. Paris was thronged with the multitudes that from all the
surrounding country crowded her streets. The day was to be ushered in by a
vast and imposing procession. “The houses along the line of march were
hung with mourning drapery, and altars rose at intervals.” Before every
door was a lighted torch in honor of the “holy sacrament.” Before daybreak
the procession formed, at the palace of the king. “First came the banners
and crosses of the several parishes; next appeared the citizens, walking
two and two, and bearing torches.” The four orders of friars followed,
each in its own peculiar dress. Then came a vast collection of famous
relics. Following these rode lordly ecclesiastics in their purple and
scarlet robes and jeweled adornings, a gorgeous and glittering array.

“The host was carried by the bishop of Paris under a magnificent canopy,
... supported by four princes of the blood.... After the host walked the
king.... Francis I. on that day wore no crown, nor robe of state.” With
“head uncovered, his eyes cast on the ground, and in his hand a lighted
taper,” the king of France appeared “in the character of a penitent.”(339)
At every altar he bowed down in humiliation, not for the vices that
defiled his soul, nor the innocent blood that stained his hands, but for
the deadly sin of his subjects who had dared to condemn the mass.
Following him came the queen and the dignitaries of state, also walking
two and two, each with a lighted torch.

As a part of the services of the day, the monarch himself addressed the
high officials of the kingdom in the great hall of the bishop’s palace.
With a sorrowful countenance he appeared before them, and in words of
moving eloquence bewailed “the crime, the blasphemy, the day of sorrow and
disgrace,” that had come upon the nation. And he called upon every loyal
subject to aid in the extirpation of the pestilent heresy that threatened
France with ruin. “As true, Messieurs, as I am your king,” he said, “if I
knew one of my own limbs spotted or infected with this detestable
rottenness, I would give it you to cut off.... And further, if I saw one
of my children defiled by it, I would not spare him.... I would deliver
him up myself, and would sacrifice him to God.” Tears choked his
utterance, and the whole assembly wept, with one accord exclaiming, “We
will live and die for the Catholic religion!”(340)

Terrible had become the darkness of the nation that had rejected the light
of truth. “The grace that bringeth salvation” had appeared; but France,
after beholding its power and holiness, after thousands had been drawn by
its divine beauty, after cities and hamlets had been illuminated by its
radiance, had turned away, choosing darkness rather than light. They had
put from them the heavenly gift, when it was offered them. They had called
evil good, and good evil, till they had fallen victims to their wilful
self-deception. Now, though they might actually believe that they were
doing God service in persecuting His people, yet their sincerity did not
render them guiltless. The light that would have saved them from
deception, from staining their souls with blood-guiltiness, they had
wilfully rejected.

A solemn oath to extirpate heresy was taken in the great cathedral where,
nearly three centuries later, the “Goddess of Reason” was to be enthroned
by a nation that had forgotten the living God. Again the procession
formed, and the representatives of France set out to begin the work which
they had sworn to do. “At short distances scaffolds had been erected, on
which certain Protestant Christians were to be burned alive, and it was
arranged that the fagots should be lighted at the moment the king
approached, and that the procession should halt to witness the
execution.”(341) The details of the tortures endured by these witnesses
for Christ are too harrowing for recital; but there was no wavering on the
part of the victims. On being urged to recant, one answered: “I only
believe in what the prophets and the apostles formerly preached, and what
all the company of saints believed. My faith has a confidence in God which
will resist all the powers of hell.”(342)

Again and again the procession halted at the places of torture. Upon
reaching their starting-point at the royal palace, the crowd dispersed,
and the king and the prelates withdrew, well satisfied with the day’s
proceedings, and congratulating themselves that the work now begun would
be continued to the complete destruction of heresy.

The gospel of peace which France had rejected was to be only too surely
rooted out, and terrible would be the results. On the 21st of January,
1793, two hundred and fifty-eight years from the very day that fully
committed France to the persecution of the Reformers, another procession,
with a far different purpose, passed through the streets of Paris. “Again
the king was the chief figure; again there were tumult and shouting; again
there was heard the cry for more victims; again there were black
scaffolds; and again the scenes of the day were closed by horrid
executions; Louis XVI., struggling hand to hand with his jailers and
executioners, was dragged forward to the block, and there held down by
main force till the axe had fallen, and his dissevered head rolled on the
scaffold.”(343) Nor was the king the only victim; near the same spot two
thousand and eight hundred human beings perished by the guillotine during
the bloody days of the Reign of Terror.

The Reformation had presented to the world an open Bible, unsealing the
precepts of the law of God, and urging its claims upon the consciences of
the people. Infinite Love had unfolded to men the statutes and principles
of heaven. God had said, “Keep therefore and do them; for this is your
wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the nations, which shall
hear all these statutes, and say, Surely this great nation is a wise and
understanding people.”(344) When France rejected the gift of heaven, she
sowed the seeds of anarchy and ruin; and the inevitable outworking of
cause and effect resulted in the Revolution and the Reign of Terror.

Long before the persecution excited by the placards, the bold and ardent
Farel had been forced to flee from the land of his birth. He repaired to
Switzerland, and by his labors, seconding the work of Zwingle, he helped
to turn the scale in favor of the Reformation. His later years were to be
spent here, yet he continued to exert a decided influence upon the reform
in France. During the first years of his exile, his efforts were
especially directed to spreading the gospel in his native country. He
spent considerable time in preaching among his countrymen near the
frontier, where with tireless vigilance he watched the conflict, and aided
by his words of encouragement and counsel. With the assistance of other
exiles, the writings of the German Reformers were translated into the
French language, and together with the French Bible, were printed in large
quantities. By colporteurs, these works were sold extensively in France.
They were furnished to the colporteurs at a low price, and thus the
profits of the work enabled them to continue it.

Farel entered upon his work in Switzerland in the humble guise of a
schoolmaster. Repairing to a secluded parish, he devoted himself to the
instruction of children. Besides the usual branches of learning, he
cautiously introduced the truths of the Bible, hoping through the children
to reach their parents. There were some who believed, but the priests came
forward to stop the work, and the superstitious country people were roused
to oppose it. “That cannot be the gospel of Christ,” urged the priests,
“seeing the preaching of it does not bring peace, but war.”(345) Like the
first disciples, when persecuted in one city he fled to another. From
village to village, from city to city, he went, traveling on foot,
enduring hunger, cold, and weariness, and everywhere in peril of his life.
He preached in the market-places, in the churches, sometimes in the
pulpits of the cathedrals. Sometimes he found the church empty of hearers;
at times his preaching was interrupted by shouts and jeers; again he was
pulled violently out of the pulpit. More than once he was set upon by the
rabble, and beaten almost to death. Yet he pressed forward. Though often
repulsed, with unwearying persistence he returned to the attack; and one
after another, he saw towns and cities which had been strongholds of
popery, opening their gates to the gospel. The little parish where he had
first labored, soon accepted the reformed faith. The cities of Morat and
Neuchâtel also renounced the Romish rites, and removed the idolatrous
images from their churches.

Farel had long desired to plant the Protestant standard in Geneva. If this
city could be won, it would be a center for the Reformation in France, in
Switzerland, and in Italy. With this object before him, he had continued
his labors until many of the surrounding towns and hamlets had been
gained. Then with a single companion he entered Geneva. But only two
sermons was he permitted to preach. The priests, having vainly endeavored
to secure his condemnation by the civil authorities, summoned him before
an ecclesiastical council, to which they came with arms concealed under
their robes, determined to take his life. Outside the hall, a furious mob,
with clubs and swords, was gathered to make sure of his death if he should
succeed in escaping the council. The presence of magistrates and an armed
force, however, saved him. Early next morning he was conducted, with his
companion, across the lake to a place of safety. Thus ended his first
effort to evangelize Geneva.

For the next trial a lowlier instrument was chosen,—a young man, so humble
in appearance that he was coldly treated even by the professed friends of
reform. But what could such a one do where Farel had been rejected? How
could one of little courage and experience withstand the tempest before
which the strongest and bravest had been forced to flee? “Not by might,
nor by power, but by My Spirit, saith the Lord.”(346) “God hath chosen the
weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty.”
“Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men; and the weakness of God
is stronger than men.”(347)

Froment began his work as a schoolmaster. The truths which he taught the
children at school, they repeated at their homes. Soon the parents came to
hear the Bible explained, until the schoolroom was filled with attentive
listeners. New Testaments and tracts were freely distributed, and they
reached many who dared not come openly to listen to the new doctrines.
After a time this laborer also was forced to flee; but the truths he
taught had taken hold upon the minds of the people. The Reformation had
been planted, and it continued to strengthen and extend. The preachers
returned, and through their labors the Protestant worship was finally
established in Geneva.

The city had already declared for the Reformation, when Calvin, after
various wanderings and vicissitudes, entered its gates. Returning from a
last visit to his birthplace, he was on his way to Basel, when, finding
the direct road occupied by the armies of Charles V., he was forced to
take the circuitous route by Geneva.

In this visit, Farel recognized the hand of God. Though Geneva had
accepted the reformed faith, yet a great work remained to be accomplished
here. It is not as communities but as individuals that men are converted
to God; the work of regeneration must be wrought in the heart and
conscience by the power of the Holy Spirit, not by the decrees of
councils. While the people of Geneva had cast off the authority of Rome,
they were not so ready to renounce the vices that had flourished under her
rule. To establish here the pure principles of the gospel, and to prepare
this people to fill worthily the position to which Providence seemed
calling them, was no light task.

Farel was confident that he had found in Calvin one whom he could unite
with himself in this work. In the name of God he solemnly adjured the
young evangelist to remain and labor here. Calvin drew back in alarm.
Timid and peace-loving, he shrank from contact with the bold, independent,
and even violent spirit of the Genevese. The feebleness of his health,
together with his studious habits, led him to seek retirement. Believing
that by his pen he could best serve the cause of reform, he desired to
find a quiet retreat for study, and there, through the press, instruct and
build up the churches. But Farel’s solemn admonition came to him as a call
from heaven, and he dared not refuse. It seemed to him, he said, “that the
hand of God was stretched down from heaven, that it lay hold of him, and
fixed him irrevocably to the place he was so impatient to leave.”(348)

At this time great perils surrounded the Protestant cause. The anathemas
of the pope thundered against Geneva, and mighty nations threatened it
with destruction. How was this little city to resist the powerful
hierarchy that had so often forced kings and emperors to submission? How
could it stand against the armies of the world’s great conquerors?

Throughout Christendom, Protestantism was menaced by formidable foes. The
first triumphs of the Reformation past, Rome summoned new forces, hoping
to accomplish its destruction. At this time, the order of the Jesuits was
created, the most cruel, unscrupulous, and powerful of all the champions
of popery. Cut off from earthly ties and human interests, dead to the
claims of natural affection, reason and conscience wholly silenced, they
knew no rule, no tie, but that of their order, and no duty but to extend
its power.(349) The gospel of Christ had enabled its adherents to meet
danger and endure suffering, undismayed by cold, hunger, toil, and
poverty, to uphold the banner of truth in face of the rack, the dungeon,
and the stake. To combat these forces, Jesuitism inspired its followers
with a fanaticism that enabled them to endure like dangers, and to oppose
to the power of truth all the weapons of deception. There was no crime too
great for them to commit, no deception too base for them to practise, no
disguise too difficult for them to assume. Vowed to perpetual poverty and
humility, it was their studied aim to secure wealth and power, to be
devoted to the overthrow of Protestantism, and the reestablishment of the
papal supremacy.

When appearing as members of their order, they wore a garb of sanctity,
visiting prisons and hospitals, ministering to the sick and the poor,
professing to have renounced the world, and bearing the sacred name of
Jesus, who went about doing good. But under this blameless exterior the
most criminal and deadly purposes were often concealed. It was a
fundamental principle of the order that the end justifies the means. By
this code, lying, theft, perjury, assassination, were not only pardonable
but commendable, when they served the interests of the church. Under
various disguises the Jesuits worked their way into offices of state,
climbing up to be the counselors of kings, and shaping the policy of
nations. They became servants, to act as spies upon their masters. They
established colleges for the sons of princes and nobles, and schools for
the common people; and the children of Protestant parents were drawn into
an observance of popish rites. All the outward pomp and display of the
Romish worship was brought to bear to confuse the mind, and dazzle and
captivate the imagination; and thus the liberty for which the fathers had
toiled and bled was betrayed by the sons. The Jesuits rapidly spread
themselves over Europe, and wherever they went, there followed a revival
of popery.

To give them greater power, a bull was issued re-establishing the
Inquisition.(350) Notwithstanding the general abhorrence with which it was
regarded, even in Catholic countries, this terrible tribunal was again set
up by popish rulers, and atrocities too terrible to bear the light of day
were repeated in its secret dungeons. In many countries, thousands upon
thousands of the very flower of the nation, the purest and noblest, the
most intellectual and highly educated, pious and devoted pastors,
industrious and patriotic citizens, brilliant scholars, talented artists,
skilful artisans, were slain, or forced to flee to other lands.

Such were the means which Rome had invoked to quench the light of the
Reformation, to withdraw from men the Bible, and to restore the ignorance
and superstition of the Dark Ages. But under God’s blessing and the labors
of those noble men whom He had raised up to succeed Luther, Protestantism
was not overthrown. Not to the favor or arms of princes was it to owe its
strength. The smallest countries, the humblest and least powerful nations,
became its strongholds. It was little Geneva in the midst of mighty foes
plotting her destruction; it was Holland on her sand-banks by the northern
sea, wrestling against the tyranny of Spain, then the greatest and most
opulent of kingdoms; it was bleak, sterile Sweden, that gained victories
for the Reformation.

For nearly thirty years, Calvin labored at Geneva; first to establish
there a church adhering to the morality of the Bible, and then for the
advancement of the Reformation throughout Europe. His course as a public
leader was not faultless, nor were his doctrines free from error. But he
was instrumental in promulgating truths that were of special importance in
his time, in maintaining the principles of Protestantism against the
fast-returning tide of popery, and in promoting in the reformed churches
simplicity and purity of life, in place of the pride and corruption
fostered under the Romish teaching.

From Geneva, publications and teachers went out to spread the reformed
doctrines. To this point the persecuted of all lands looked for
instruction, counsel, and encouragement. The city of Calvin became a
refuge for the hunted Reformers of all Western Europe. Fleeing from the
awful tempests that continued for centuries, the fugitives came to the
gates of Geneva. Starving, wounded, bereft of home and kindred, they were
warmly welcomed and tenderly cared for; and finding a home here, they
blessed the city of their adoption by their skill, their learning, and
their piety. Many who sought here a refuge returned to their own countries
to resist the tyranny of Rome. John Knox, the brave Scotch Reformer, not a
few of the English Puritans, the Protestants of Holland and of Spain, and
the Huguenots of France, carried from Geneva the torch of truth to lighten
the darkness of their native lands.





13. THE NETHERLANDS AND SCANDINAVIA.


                     [Illustration: Chapter header.]

In the Netherlands the papal tyranny very early called forth resolute
protest. Seven hundred years before Luther’s time, the Roman pontiff was
thus fearlessly impeached by two bishops, who, having been sent on an
embassy to Rome, had learned the true character of the “holy see:” God
“has made His queen and spouse, the church, a noble and everlasting
provision for her family, with a dowry that is neither fading nor
corruptible, and given her an eternal crown and scepter; ... all which
benefits you like a thief intercept. You set up yourself in the temple as
God; instead of pastor, you are become a wolf to the sheep; ... you would
make us believe you are a supreme bishop, but you rather behave like a
tyrant.... Whereas you ought to be a servant of servants, as you call
yourself, you endeavor to become a lord of lords.... You bring the
commands of God into contempt.... The Holy Ghost is the builder of all
churches as far as the earth extends.... The city of our God, of which we
are the citizens, reaches to all the regions of the heavens; and it is
greater than the city, by the holy prophets named Babylon, which pretends
to be divine, wins herself to heaven, and brags that her wisdom is
immortal; and finally, though without reason, that she never did err, nor
ever can.”(351)

Others arose from century to century to echo this protest. And those early
teachers, who, traversing different lands and known by various names, bore
the character of the Vaudois missionaries, and spread everywhere the
knowledge of the gospel, penetrated to the Netherlands. Their doctrines
spread rapidly. The Waldensian Bible they translated in verse into the
Dutch language. They declared “that there was great advantage in it; no
jests, no fables, no trifles, no deceits, but the words of truth; that
indeed there was here and there a hard crust, but that the marrow and
sweetness of what was good and holy might be easily discovered in
it.”(352) Thus wrote the friends of the ancient faith, in the twelfth
century.

Now began the Romish persecutions; but in the midst of fagots and torture
the believers continued to multiply, steadfastly declaring that the Bible
is the only infallible authority in religion, and that “no man should be
coerced to believe, but should be won by preaching.”(353)

The teachings of Luther found a congenial soil in the Netherlands, and
earnest and faithful men arose to preach the gospel. From one of the
provinces of Holland came Menno Simons. Educated a Roman Catholic, and
ordained to the priesthood, he was wholly ignorant of the Bible, and he
would not read it, for fear of being beguiled into heresy. When a doubt
concerning the doctrine of transubstantiation forced itself upon him, he
regarded it as a temptation from Satan, and by prayer and confession
sought to free himself from it; but in vain. By mingling in scenes of
dissipation he endeavored to silence the accusing voice of conscience; but
without avail. After a time he was led to the study of the New Testament,
and this, with Luther’s writings, caused him to accept the reformed faith.
He soon after witnessed in a neighboring village the beheading of a man
who was put to death for having been rebaptized. This led him to study the
Bible in regard to infant baptism. He could find no evidence for it in the
Scriptures, but saw that repentance and faith are everywhere required as
the condition of receiving baptism.

Menno withdrew from the Roman Church, and devoted his life to teaching the
truths which he had received. In both Germany and the Netherlands a class
of fanatics had risen, advocating absurd and seditious doctrines,
outraging order and decency, and proceeding to violence and insurrection.
Menno saw the horrible results to which these movements would inevitably
lead, and he strenuously opposed the erroneous teachings and wild schemes
of the fanatics. There were many, however, who had been misled by these
fanatics, but who had renounced their pernicious doctrines; and there were
still remaining many descendants of the ancient Christians, the fruits of
the Waldensian teaching. Among these classes Menno labored with great zeal
and success.

For twenty-five years he traveled, with his wife and children, enduring
great hardships and privations, and frequently in peril of his life. He
traversed the Netherlands and northern Germany, laboring chiefly among the
humbler classes, but exerting a wide-spread influence. Naturally eloquent,
though possessing a limited education, he was a man of unwavering
integrity, of humble spirit and gentle manners, and of sincere and earnest
piety, exemplifying in his own life the precepts which he taught, and he
commanded the confidence of the people. His followers were scattered and
oppressed. They suffered greatly from being confounded with the fanatical
Munsterites. Yet great numbers were converted under his labors.

Nowhere were the reformed doctrines more generally received than in the
Netherlands. In few countries did their adherents endure more terrible
persecution. In Germany Charles V. had banned the Reformation, and he
would gladly have brought all its adherents to the stake; but the princes
stood up as a barrier against his tyranny. In the Netherlands his power
was greater, and persecuting edicts followed each other in quick
succession. To read the Bible, to hear or preach it, or even to speak
concerning it, was to incur the penalty of death by the stake. To pray to
God in secret, to refrain from bowing to an image, or to sing a psalm, was
also punishable with death. Even those who should abjure their errors,
were condemned, if men, to die by the sword; if women, to be buried alive.
Thousands perished under the reign of Charles and of Philip II.

At one time a whole family was brought before the inquisitors, charged
with remaining away from mass, and worshiping at home. On his examination
as to their practices in secret, the youngest son answered, “We fall on
our knees, and pray that God may enlighten our minds and pardon our sins;
we pray for our sovereign, that his reign may be prosperous and his life
happy; we pray for our magistrates, that God may preserve them.”(354) Some
of the judges were deeply moved, yet the father and one of his sons were
condemned to the stake.

The rage of the persecutors was equaled by the faith of the martyrs. Not
only men but delicate women and young maidens displayed unflinching
courage. “Wives would take their stand by their husband’s stake, and while
he was enduring the fire they would whisper words of solace, or sing
psalms to cheer him.” “Young maidens would lie down in their living grave
as if they were entering into their chamber of nightly sleep; or go forth
to the scaffold and the fire, dressed in their best apparel, as if they
were going to their marriage.”(355)

As in the days when paganism sought to destroy the gospel, the blood of
the Christians was seed.(356) Persecution served to increase the number of
witnesses for the truth. Year after year the monarch, stung to madness by
the unconquerable determination of the people, urged on his cruel work;
but in vain. Under the noble William of Orange, the Revolution at last
brought to Holland freedom to worship God.

In the mountains of Piedmont, on the plains of France and the shores of
Holland, the progress of the gospel was marked with the blood of its
disciples. But in the countries of the North it found a peaceful entrance.
Students at Wittenberg, returning to their homes, carried the reformed
faith to Scandinavia. The publication of Luther’s writings also spread the
light. The simple, hardy people of the North turned from the corruption,
the pomp, and the superstitions of Rome, to welcome the purity, the
simplicity, and the life-giving truths of the Bible.

Tausen, “the Reformer of Denmark,” was a peasant’s son. The boy early gave
evidence of vigorous intellect; he thirsted for an education; but this was
denied him by the circumstances of his parents, and he entered a cloister.
Here the purity of his life, together with his diligence and fidelity, won
the favor of his superior. Examination showed him to possess talent that
promised at some future day good service to the church. It was determined
to give him an education at some one of the universities of Germany or the
Netherlands. The young student was granted permission to choose a school
for himself, with one proviso, that he must not go to Wittenberg. The
scholar of the church was not to be endangered by the poison of heresy. So
said the friars.

Tausen went to Cologne, which was then, as now, one of the strongholds of
Romanism. Here he soon became disgusted with the mysticisms of the
schoolmen. About the same time he obtained Luther’s writings. He read them
with wonder and delight, and greatly desired to enjoy the personal
instruction of the Reformer. But to do so he must risk giving offense to
his monastic superior, and forfeiting his support. His decision was soon
made, and erelong he was enrolled as a student at Wittenberg.

On returning to Denmark, he again repaired to his cloister. No one as yet
suspected him of Lutheranism; he did not reveal his secret, but
endeavored, without exciting the prejudices of his companions, to lead
them to a purer faith and a holier life. He opened the Bible, and
explained its true meaning, and at last preached Christ to them as the
sinner’s righteousness and his only hope of salvation. Great was the wrath
of the prior, who had built high hopes upon him as a valiant defender of
Rome. He was at once removed from his own monastery to another, and
confined to his cell, under strict supervision.

To the terror of his new guardians, several of the monks soon declared
themselves converts to Protestantism. Through the bars of his cell, Tausen
had communicated to his companions a knowledge of the truth. Had those
Danish fathers been skilled in the church’s plan of dealing with heresy,
Tausen’s voice would never again have been heard; but instead of
consigning him to a tomb in some underground dungeon, they expelled him
from the monastery. Now they were powerless. A royal edict, just issued,
offered protection to the teachers of the new doctrine. Tausen began to
preach. The churches were opened to him, and the people thronged to
listen. Others also were preaching the word of God. The New Testament,
translated into the Danish tongue, was widely circulated. The efforts made
by the papists to overthrow the work resulted in extending it, and erelong
Denmark declared its acceptance of the reformed faith.

In Sweden, also, young men who had drunk from the well of Wittenberg
carried the water of life to their countrymen. Two of the leaders in the
Swedish Reformation, Olaf and Laurentius Petri, the sons of a blacksmith
of Orebro, studied under Luther and Melanchthon, and the truths which they
thus learned they were diligent to teach. Like the great Reformer, Olaf
aroused the people by his zeal and eloquence, while Laurentius, like
Melanchthon, was learned, thoughtful, and calm. Both were men of ardent
piety, of high theological attainments, and of unflinching courage in
advancing the truth. Papist opposition was not lacking. The Catholic
priests stirred up the ignorant and superstitious people. Olaf Petri was
often assailed by the mob, and upon several occasions barely escaped with
his life. These reformers were, however, favored and protected by the
king.

Under the rule of the Roman Church, the people were sunken in poverty, and
ground down by oppression. They were destitute of the Scriptures; and
having a religion of mere signs and ceremonies, which conveyed no light to
the mind, they were returning to the superstitious beliefs and pagan
practices of their heathen ancestors. The nation was divided into
contending factions, whose perpetual strife increased the misery of all.
The king determined upon a reformation in the state and the church, and he
welcomed these able assistants in the battle against Rome.

In the presence of the monarch and the leading men of Sweden, Olaf Petri
with great ability defended the doctrines of the reformed faith against
the Romish champions. He declared that the teachings of the Fathers are to
be received only when in accordance with the Scriptures; that the
essential doctrines of the faith are presented in the Bible in a clear and
simple manner, so that all men may understand them. Christ said, “My
doctrine is not Mine, but His that sent Me;”(357) and Paul declared that
should he preach any other gospel than that which he had received, he
would be accursed.(358) “How, then,” said the Reformer, “shall others
presume to enact dogmas at their pleasure, and impose them as things
necessary to salvation?”(359) He showed that the decrees of the church are
of no authority when in opposition to the commands of God, and maintained
the great Protestant principle, that “the Bible and the Bible only,” is
the rule of faith and practice.

This contest, though conducted upon a stage comparatively obscure, serves
to show us “the sort of men that formed the rank and file of the army of
the Reformers. They were not illiterate, sectarian, noisy
controversialists—far from it; they were men who had studied the word of
God, and knew well how to wield the weapons with which the armory of the
Bible supplied them. In respect of erudition they were ahead of their age.
When we confine our attention to such brilliant centers as Wittenberg and
Zurich, and to such illustrious names as those of Luther and Melanchthon,
of Zwingle and Œcolampadius, we are apt to be told, these were the leaders
of the movement, and we should naturally expect in them prodigious power
and vast acquisitions; but the subordinates were not like these. Well, we
turn to the obscure theater of Sweden, and the humble names of Olaf and
Laurentius Petri—from the masters to the disciples—what do we find?...
Scholars and theologians; men who have thoroughly mastered the whole
system of gospel truth, and who win an easy victory over the sophists of
the schools and the dignitaries of Rome.”(360)

As the result of this disputation, the king of Sweden accepted the
Protestant faith, and not long afterward the national assembly declared in
its favor. The New Testament had been translated by Olaf Petri into the
Swedish language, and at the desire of the king the two brothers undertook
the translation of the whole Bible. Thus for the first time the people of
Sweden received the word of God in their native tongue. It was ordered by
the Diet that throughout the kingdom, ministers should explain the
Scriptures, and that the children in the schools should be taught to read
the Bible.

Steadily and surely the darkness of ignorance and superstition was
dispelled by the blessed light of the gospel. Freed from Romish
oppression, the nation attained to a strength and greatness it had never
before reached. Sweden became one of the bulwarks of Protestantism. A
century later, at a time of sorest peril, this small and hitherto feeble
nation—the only one in Europe that dared lend a helping hand—came to the
deliverance of Germany in the terrible struggles of the Thirty Years’ War.
All Northern Europe seemed about to be brought again under the tyranny of
Rome. It was the armies of Sweden that enabled Germany to turn the tide of
popish success, to win toleration for the Protestants,—Calvinists as well
as Lutherans,—and to restore liberty of conscience to those countries that
had accepted the Reformation.





14. LATER ENGLISH REFORMERS.


                     [Illustration: Chapter header.]

While Luther was opening a closed Bible to the people of Germany, Tyndale
was impelled by the Spirit of God to do the same for England. Wycliffe’s
Bible had been translated from the Latin text, which contained many
errors. It had never been printed, and the cost of manuscript copies was
so great that few but wealthy men or nobles could procure it; and
furthermore, being strictly proscribed by the church, it had had a
comparatively narrow circulation. In 1516, a year before the appearance of
Luther’s theses, Erasmus had published his Greek and Latin version of the
New Testament. Now for the first time the word of God was printed in the
original tongue. In this work many errors of former versions were
corrected, and the sense was more clearly rendered. It led many among the
educated classes to a better knowledge of the truth, and gave a new
impetus to the work of reform. But the common people were still, to a
great extent, debarred from God’s word. Tyndale was to complete the work
of Wycliffe in giving the Bible to his countrymen.

A diligent student and an earnest seeker for truth, he had received the
gospel from the Greek Testament of Erasmus. He fearlessly preached his
convictions, urging that all doctrines be tested by the Scriptures. To the
papist claim that the church had given the Bible, and the church alone
could explain it, Tyndale responded: “Do you know who taught the eagles to
find their prey? Well, that same God teaches His hungry children to find
their Father in His word. Far from having given us the Scriptures, it is
you who have hidden them from us; it is you who burn those who teach them,
and if you could, you would burn the Scriptures themselves.”(361)

Tyndale’s preaching excited great interest; many accepted the truth. But
the priests were on the alert, and no sooner had he left the field than
they by their threats and misrepresentations endeavored to destroy his
work. Too often they succeeded. “What is to be done?” he exclaimed. “While
I am sowing in one place, the enemy ravages the field I have just left. I
cannot be everywhere. Oh! if Christians possessed the Holy Scriptures in
their own tongue, they could of themselves withstand these sophists.
Without the Bible it is impossible to establish the laity in the
truth.”(362)

A new purpose now took possession of his mind. “It was in the language of
Israel,” said he, “that the psalms were sung in the temple of Jehovah; and
shall not the gospel speak the language of England among us?... Ought the
church to have less light at noonday than at the dawn?... Christians must
read the New Testament in their mother-tongue.” The doctors and teachers
of the church disagreed among themselves. Only by the Bible could men
arrive at the truth. “One holdeth this doctor, another that.... Now each
of these authors contradicts the other. How then can we distinguish him
who says right from him who says wrong?... How?... Verily by God’s
word.”(363)

It was not long after that a learned Catholic doctor, engaging in
controversy with him, exclaimed, “We were better to be without God’s laws
than the pope’s.” Tyndale replied, “I defy the pope and all his laws; and
if God spare my life, ere many years I will cause a boy that driveth the
plow to know more of the Scripture than you do.”(364)

The purpose which he had begun to cherish, of giving to the people the New
Testament Scriptures in their own language, was now confirmed, and he
immediately applied himself to the work. Driven from his home by
persecution, he went to London, and there for a time pursued his labors
undisturbed. But again the violence of the papists forced him to flee. All
England seemed closed against him, and he resolved to seek shelter in
Germany. Here he began the printing of the English New Testament. Twice
the work was stopped; but when forbidden to print in one city, he went to
another. At last he made his way to Worms, where, a few years before,
Luther had defended the gospel before the Diet. In that ancient city were
many friends of the Reformation, and Tyndale there prosecuted his work
without further hindrance. Three thousand copies of the New Testament were
soon finished, and another edition followed in the same year.

With great earnestness and perseverance he continued his labors.
Notwithstanding the English authorities had guarded their ports with the
strictest vigilance, the word of God was in various ways secretly conveyed
to London, and thence circulated throughout the country. The papists
attempted to suppress the truth, but in vain. The bishop of Durham at one
time bought of a bookseller who was a friend of Tyndale, his whole stock
of Bibles, for the purpose of destroying them, supposing that this would
greatly hinder the work. But on the contrary, the money thus furnished,
purchased material for a new and better edition, which, but for this,
could not have been published. When Tyndale was afterward made a prisoner,
his liberty was offered him on condition that he would reveal the names of
those who had helped him meet the expense of printing his Bibles. He
replied that the bishop of Durham had done more than any other person; for
by paying a large price for the books left on hand, he had enabled him to
go on with good courage.

Tyndale was betrayed into the hands of his enemies, and at one time
suffered imprisonment for many months. He finally witnessed for his faith
by a martyr’s death; but the weapons which he prepared have enabled other
soldiers to do battle through all the centuries even to our time.

Latimer maintained from the pulpit that the Bible ought to be read in the
language of the people. The Author of Holy Scripture, said he, “is God
Himself;” and this Scripture partakes of the might and eternity of its
Author. “There is no king, emperor, magistrate, and ruler ... but are
bound to obey ... His holy word.” “Let us not take any by-walks, but let
God’s word direct us: let us not walk after ... our forefathers, nor seek
not what they did, but what they should have done.”(365)

Barnes and Frith, the faithful friends of Tyndale, arose to defend the
truth. The Ridleys and Cranmer followed. These leaders in the English
Reformation were men of learning, and most of them had been highly
esteemed for zeal or piety in the Romish communion. Their opposition to
the papacy was the result of their knowledge of the errors of the “holy
see.” Their acquaintance with the mysteries of Babylon, gave greater power
to their testimonies against her.

“Now I would ask a strange question,” said Latimer. “Who is the most
diligent bishop and prelate in all England? ... I see you listening and
hearkening that I should name him.... I will tell you: it is the devil....
He is never out of his diocese; ... call for him when you will, he is ever
at home; ... he is ever at his plow.... Ye shall never find him idle, I
warrant you.... Where the devil is resident, ... there away with books,
and up with candles; away with Bibles, and up with beads; away with the
light of the gospel, and up with the light of candles, yea, at noondays;
... down with Christ’s cross, up with purgatory pick-purse; ... away with
clothing the naked, the poor, and impotent, up with decking of images and
gay garnishing of stocks and stones; up with man’s traditions and his
laws, down with God’s traditions and His most holy word.... O that our
prelates would be as diligent to sow the corn of good doctrine, as Satan
is to sow cockle and darnel!”(366)

The grand principle maintained by these Reformers—the same that had been
held by the Waldenses, by Wycliffe, by John Huss, by Luther, Zwingle, and
those who united with them—was the infallible authority of the Holy
Scriptures as a rule of faith and practice. They denied the right of
popes, councils, Fathers, and kings, to control the conscience in matters
of religion. The Bible was their authority, and by its teaching they
tested all doctrines and all claims. Faith in God and His word sustained
these holy men as they yielded up their lives at the stake. “Be of good
comfort,” exclaimed Latimer to his fellow-martyr as the flames were about
to silence their voices, “we shall this day light such a candle, by God’s
grace, in England, as I trust shall never be put out.”(367)

In Scotland the seeds of truth scattered by Columba and his co-laborers
had never been wholly destroyed. For hundreds of years after the churches
of England submitted to Rome, those of Scotland maintained their freedom.
In the twelfth century, however, popery became established here, and in no
country did it exercise a more absolute sway. Nowhere was the darkness
deeper. Still there came rays of light to pierce the gloom, and give
promise of the coming day. The Lollards, coming from England with the
Bible and the teachings of Wycliffe, did much to preserve the knowledge of
the gospel, and every century had its witnesses and martyrs.

With the opening of the Great Reformation came the writings of Luther, and
then Tyndale’s English New Testament. Unnoticed by the hierarchy, these
messengers silently traversed the mountains and valleys, kindling into new
life the torch of truth so nearly extinguished in Scotland, and undoing
the work which Rome for four centuries of oppression had done.

Then the blood of martyrs gave fresh impetus to the movement. The papist
leaders, suddenly awakening to the danger that threatened their cause,
brought to the stake some of the noblest and most honored of the sons of
Scotland. They did but erect a pulpit, from which the words of these dying
witnesses were heard throughout the land, thrilling the souls of the
people with an undying purpose to cast off the shackles of Rome.

Hamilton and Wishart, princely in character as in birth, with a long line
of humbler disciples, yielded up their lives at the stake. But from the
burning pile of Wishart there came one whom the flames were not to
silence, one who under God was to strike the death-knell of popery in
Scotland.

John Knox had turned away from the traditions and mysticisms of the
church, to feed upon the truths of God’s word; and the teaching of Wishart
had confirmed his determination to forsake the communion of Rome, and join
himself to the persecuted Reformers.

Urged by his companions to take the office of preacher, he shrunk with
trembling from its responsibility, and it was only after days of seclusion
and painful conflict with himself that he consented. But having once
accepted the position, he pressed forward with inflexible determination
and undaunted courage as long as life continued. This true-hearted
Reformer feared not the face of man. The fires of martyrdom, blazing
around him, served only to quicken his zeal to greater intensity. With the
tyrant’s axe held menacingly over his head, he stood his ground, striking
sturdy blows on the right hand and on the left to demolish idolatry.

When brought face to face with the queen of Scotland, in whose presence
the zeal of many a leader of the Protestants had abated, John Knox bore
unswerving witness for the truth. He was not to be won by caresses; he
quailed not before threats. The queen charged him with heresy. He had
taught the people to receive a religion prohibited by the state, she
declared, and had thus transgressed God’s command enjoining subjects to
obey their princes. Knox answered firmly:

“As right religion took neither original strength nor authority from
worldly princes, but from the eternal God alone, so are not subjects bound
to frame their religion according to the appetites of their princes. For
oft it is that princes are the most ignorant of all others in God’s true
religion.... If all the seed of Abraham had been of the religion of
Pharaoh, whose subjects they long were, I pray you, madam, what religion
would there have been in the world? Or if all men in the days of the
apostles had been of the religion of the Roman emperors, what religion
would there have been upon the face of the earth?... And so, madam, ye may
perceive that subjects are not bound to the religion of their princes,
albeit they are commanded to give them obedience.”

Said Mary, “Ye interpret the Scriptures in one manner, and they [the Roman
Catholic teachers] interpret in another; whom shall I believe, and who
shall be judge?”

“Ye shall believe God, that plainly speaketh in His word,” answered the
Reformer; “and farther than the Word teaches you, ye neither shall believe
the one nor the other. The word of God is plain in itself; and if there
appear any obscurity in one place, the Holy Ghost, which is never contrary
to Himself, explains the same more clearly in other places, so that there
can remain no doubt but unto such as obstinately remain ignorant.”(368)

Such were the truths that the fearless Reformer, at the peril of his life,
spoke in the ear of royalty. With the same undaunted courage he kept to
his purpose, praying and fighting the battles of the Lord, until Scotland
was free from popery.

In England the establishment of Protestantism as the national religion
diminished, but did not wholly stop, persecution. While many of the
doctrines of Rome had been renounced, not a few of its forms were
retained. The supremacy of the pope was rejected, but in his place the
monarch was enthroned as the head of the church. In the service of the
church there was still a wide departure from the purity and simplicity of
the gospel. The great principle of religious liberty was not as yet
understood. Though the horrible cruelties which Rome employed against
heresy were resorted to but rarely by Protestant rulers, yet the right of
every man to worship God according to the dictates of his own conscience
was not acknowledged. All were required to accept the doctrines and
observe the forms of worship prescribed by the established church.
Dissenters suffered persecution, to a greater or less extent, for hundreds
of years.

In the seventeenth century thousands of pastors were expelled from their
positions. The people were forbidden, on pain of heavy fines,
imprisonment, and banishment, to attend any religious meetings except such
as were sanctioned by the church. Those faithful souls who could not
refrain from gathering to worship God, were compelled to meet in dark
alleys, in obscure garrets, and at some seasons in the woods at midnight.
In the sheltering depths of the forest, a temple of God’s own building,
those scattered and persecuted children of the Lord assembled to pour out
their souls in prayer and praise. But despite all their precautions, many
suffered for their faith. The jails were crowded. Families were broken up.
Many were banished to foreign lands. Yet God was with His people, and
persecution could not prevail to silence their testimony. Many were driven
across the ocean to America, and here laid the foundations of civil and
religious liberty which have been the bulwark and glory of this country.

Again, as in apostolic days, persecution turned out to the furtherance of
the gospel. In a loathsome dungeon crowded with profligates and felons,
John Bunyan breathed the very atmosphere of heaven; and there he wrote his
wonderful allegory of the pilgrim’s journey from the land of destruction
to the celestial city. For over two hundred years that voice from Bedford
jail has spoken with thrilling power to the hearts of men. Bunyan’s
“Pilgrim’s Progress” and “Grace Abounding to the Chief of Sinners” have
guided many feet into the path of life.

Baxter, Flavel, Alleine, and other men of talent, education, and deep
Christian experience, stood up in valiant defense of the faith which was
once delivered to the saints. The work accomplished by these men,
proscribed and outlawed by the rulers of this world, can never perish.
Flavel’s “Fountain of Life” and “Method of Grace” have taught thousands
how to commit the keeping of their souls to Christ. Baxter’s “Reformed
Pastor” has proved a blessing to many who desire a revival of the work of
God, and his “Saints’ Everlasting Rest” has done its work in leading souls
to the “rest that remaineth for the people of God.”

A hundred years later, in a day of great spiritual darkness, Whitefield
and the Wesleys appeared as light-bearers for God. Under the rule of the
established church, the people of England had lapsed into a state of
religious declension hardly to be distinguished from heathenism. Natural
religion was the favorite study of the clergy, and included most of their
theology. The higher classes sneered at piety, and prided themselves on
being above what they called its fanaticism. The lower classes were
grossly ignorant, and abandoned to vice, while the church had no courage
or faith any longer to support the downfallen cause of truth.

The great doctrine of justification by faith, so clearly taught by Luther,
had been almost wholly lost sight of; and the Romish principle of trusting
to good works for salvation, had taken its place. Whitefield and the
Wesleys, who were members of the established church, were sincere seekers
for the favor of God, and this they had been taught was to be secured by a
virtuous life and an observance of the ordinances of religion.

When Charles Wesley at one time fell ill, and anticipated that death was
approaching, he was asked upon what he rested his hope of eternal life.
His answer was, “I have used my best endeavors to serve God.” As the
friend who had put the question seemed not to be fully satisfied with his
answer, Wesley thought, “What! are not my endeavors a sufficient ground of
hope? Would he rob me of my endeavors? I have nothing else to trust
to.”(369) Such was the dense darkness that had settled down on the church,
hiding the atonement, robbing Christ of His glory, and turning the minds
of men from their only hope of salvation,—the blood of the crucified
Redeemer.

Wesley and his associates were led to see that true religion is seated in
the heart, and that God’s law extends to the thoughts as well as to the
words and actions. Convinced of the necessity of holiness of heart, as
well as correctness of outward deportment, they set out in earnest upon a
new life. By the most diligent and prayerful efforts they endeavored to
subdue the evils of the natural heart. They lived a life of self-denial,
charity, and humiliation, observing with great rigor and exactness every
measure which they thought could be helpful to them in obtaining what they
most desired,—that holiness which could secure the favor of God. But they
did not obtain the object which they sought. In vain were their endeavors
to free themselves from the condemnation of sin or to break its power. It
was the same struggle which Luther had experienced in his cell at Erfurt.
It was the same question which had tortured his soul,—“How should man be
just before God?”(370)

The fires of divine truth, well-nigh extinguished upon the altars of
Protestantism, were to be rekindled from the ancient torch handed down the
ages by the Bohemian Christians. After the Reformation, Protestantism in
Bohemia had been trampled out by the hordes of Rome. All who refused to
renounce the truth were forced to flee. Some of these, finding refuge in
Saxony, there maintained the ancient faith. It was from the descendants of
these Christians that light came to Wesley and his associates.

John and Charles Wesley, after being ordained to the ministry, were sent
on a mission to America. On board the ship was a company of Moravians.
Violent storms were encountered on the passage, and John Wesley, brought
face to face with death, felt that he had not the assurance of peace with
God. The Germans, on the contrary, manifested a calmness and trust to
which he was a stranger.

“I had long before,” he says, “observed the great seriousness of their
behavior. Of their humility they had given a continual proof, by
performing those servile offices for the other passengers which none of
the English would undertake; for which they desired and would receive no
pay, saying it was good for their proud hearts, and their loving Saviour
had done more for them. And every day had given them occasion of showing a
meekness which no injury could move. If they were pushed, struck, or
thrown down, they rose again and went away; but no complaint was found in
their mouth. There was now an opportunity of trying whether they were
delivered from the spirit of fear, as well as from that of pride, anger,
and revenge. In the midst of the psalm wherewith their service began, the
sea broke over, split the mainsail in pieces, covered the ship, and poured
in between the decks as if the great deep had already swallowed us up. A
terrible screaming began among the English. The Germans calmly sung on. I
asked one of them afterward, ‘Were you not afraid?’ He answered, ‘I thank
God, no,’ I asked, ‘But were not your women and children afraid?’ He
replied mildly, ‘No; our women and children are not afraid to die.’ ”(371)

Upon arriving in Savannah, Wesley for a short time abode with the
Moravians, and was deeply impressed with their Christian deportment. Of
one of their religious services, in striking contrast to the lifeless
formalism of the Church of England, he wrote: “The great simplicity as
well as solemnity of the whole almost made me forget the seventeen hundred
years between, and imagine myself in one of those assemblies where form
and state were not; but Paul, the tent-maker, or Peter, the fisherman,
presided; yet with the demonstration of the Spirit and of power.”(372)

On his return to England, Wesley, under the instruction of a Moravian
preacher, arrived at a clearer understanding of Bible faith. He was
convinced that he must renounce all dependence upon his own works for
salvation, and must trust wholly to the “Lamb of God that taketh away the
sin of the world.” At a meeting of the Moravian society in London, a
statement was read from Luther, describing the change which the Spirit of
God works in the heart of the believer. As Wesley listened, faith was
kindled in his soul. “I felt my heart strangely warmed,” he says. “I felt
I did trust in Christ, Christ alone, for salvation: and an assurance was
given me, that He had taken away _my_ sins, even _mine_, and saved _me_
from the law of sin and death.”(373)

Through long years of wearisome and comfortless striving,—years of
rigorous self-denial, of reproach and humiliation,—Wesley had steadfastly
adhered to his one purpose of seeking God. Now he had found Him; and he
found that the grace which he had toiled to win by prayers and fasts, by
almsdeeds and self-abnegation, was a gift, “without money, and without
price.”

Once established in the faith of Christ, his whole soul burned with the
desire to spread everywhere a knowledge of the glorious gospel of God’s
free grace. “I look upon all the world as my parish,” he said; “in
whatever part of it I am, I judge it meet, right, and my bounden duty, to
declare unto all that are willing to hear, the glad tidings of
salvation.”(374)

He continued his strict and self-denying life, not now as the _ground_,
but the _result_ of faith; not the _root_, but the _fruit_ of holiness.
The grace of God in Christ is the foundation of the Christian’s hope, and
that grace will be manifested in obedience. Wesley’s life was devoted to
the preaching of the great truths which he had received,—justification
through faith in the atoning blood of Christ, and the renewing power of
the Holy Spirit upon the heart, bringing forth fruit in a life conformed
to the example of Christ.

Whitefield and the Wesleys had been prepared for their work by long and
sharp personal convictions of their own lost condition; and that they
might be able to endure hardness as good soldiers of Christ, they had been
subjected to the fiery ordeal of scorn, derision, and persecution, both in
the university and as they were entering the ministry. They and a few
others who sympathized with them were contemptuously called Methodists by
their ungodly fellow-students,—a name which is at the present time
regarded as honorable by one of the largest denominations in England and
America.

As members of the Church of England, they were strongly attached to her
forms of worship, but the Lord had presented before them in His word a
higher standard. The Holy Spirit urged them to preach Christ and Him
crucified. The power of the Highest attended their labors. Thousands were
convicted and truly converted. It was necessary that these sheep be
protected from ravening wolves. Wesley had no thought of forming a new
denomination, but he organized them under what was called the Methodist
Connection.

Mysterious and trying was the opposition which these preachers encountered
from the established church; yet God, in His wisdom, had overruled events
to cause the reform to begin within the church itself. Had it come wholly
from without, it would not have penetrated where it was so much needed.
But as the revival preachers were churchmen, and labored within the pale
of the church wherever they could find opportunity, the truth had an
entrance where the doors would otherwise have remained closed. Some of the
clergy were roused from their moral stupor, and became zealous preachers
in their own parishes. Churches that had been petrified by formalism were
quickened into life.

In Wesley’s time, as in all ages of the church’s history, men of different
gifts performed their appointed work. They did not harmonize upon every
point of doctrine, but all were moved by the Spirit of God, and united in
the absorbing aim to win souls to Christ. The differences between
Whitefield and the Wesleys threatened at one time to create alienation;
but as they learned meekness in the school of Christ, mutual forbearance
and charity reconciled them. They had no time to dispute, while error and
iniquity were teeming everywhere, and sinners were going down to ruin.

The servants of God trod a rugged path. Men of influence and learning
employed their powers against them. After a time many of the clergy
manifested determined hostility, and the doors of the churches were closed
against a pure faith and those who proclaimed it. The course of the clergy
in denouncing them from the pulpit, aroused the elements of darkness,
ignorance, and iniquity. Again and again did John Wesley escape death by a
miracle of God’s mercy. When the rage of the mob was excited against him,
and there seemed no way of escape, an angel in human form came to his
side, the mob fell back, and the servant of Christ passed in safety from
the place of danger.

Of his deliverance from the enraged mob on one of these occasions, Wesley
said: “Many endeavored to throw me down while we were going down hill on a
slippery path to the town; as well judging that if I was once on the
ground, I should hardly rise any more. But I made no stumble at all, nor
the least slip, till I was entirely out of their hands.... Although many
strove to lay hold on my collar or clothes, to pull me down, they could
not fasten at all: only one got fast hold of the flap of my waistcoat,
which was soon left in his hand; the other flap, in the pocket of which
was a bank-note, was torn but half off.... A lusty man just behind, struck
at me several times, with a large oaken stick; with which if he had struck
me once on the back part of my head, it would have saved him all further
trouble. But every time the blow was turned aside, I know not how; for I
could not move to the right hand or left.... Another came rushing through
the press, and raising his arm to strike, on a sudden let it drop, and
only stroked my head, saying, ‘What soft hair he has!’ ... The very first
men whose hearts were turned were the heroes of the town, the captains of
the rabble on all occasions, one of them having been a prize-fighter at
the bear-gardens....

“By how gentle degrees does God prepare us for His will! Two years ago, a
piece of brick grazed my shoulders. It was a year after that the stone
struck me between the eyes. Last month I received one blow, and this
evening two, one before we came into the town, and one after we were gone
out; but both were as nothing: for though one man struck me on the breast
with all his might, and the other on the mouth with such a force that the
blood gushed out immediately, I felt no more pain from either of the blows
than if they had touched me with a straw.”(375)

The Methodists of those early days—people as well as preachers—endured
ridicule and persecution, alike from church-members and from the openly
irreligious who were inflamed by their misrepresentations. They were
arraigned before courts of justice—such only in name, for justice was rare
in the courts of that time. Often they suffered violence from their
persecutors. Mobs went from house to house, destroying furniture and
goods, plundering whatever they chose, and brutally abusing men, women,
and children. In some instances, public notices were posted, calling upon
those who desired to assist in breaking the windows and robbing the houses
of the Methodists, to assemble at a given time and place. These open
violations of both human and divine law were allowed to pass without a
reprimand. A systematic persecution was carried on against a people whose
only fault was that of seeking to turn the feet of sinners from the path
of destruction to the path of holiness.

Said John Wesley, referring to the charges against himself and his
associates: “Some allege that the doctrines of these men are false,
erroneous, and enthusiastic; that they are new and unheard-of till of
late; that they are Quakerism, fanaticism, popery. This whole pretense has
been already cut up by the roots, it having been shown at large that every
branch of this doctrine is the plain doctrine of Scripture interpreted by
our own church. Therefore it cannot be either false or erroneous, provided
the Scripture be true.” “Others allege, ‘Their doctrine is too strict;
they make the way to heaven too narrow.’ And this is in truth the original
objection, (as it was almost the only one for some time,) and is secretly
at the bottom of a thousand more, which appear in various forms. But do
they make the way to heaven any narrower than our Lord and His apostles
made it? Is their doctrine stricter than that of the Bible? Consider only
a few plain texts: ‘Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart,
and with all thy mind, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength.’
‘For every idle word which men shall speak, they shall give an account in
the day of judgment.’ ‘Whether ye eat, or drink, or whatever ye do, do all
to the glory of God.’

“If their doctrine is stricter than this, they are to blame; but you know
in your conscience it is not. And who can be one jot less strict without
corrupting the word of God? Can any steward of the mysteries of God be
found faithful if he change any part of that sacred depositum? No. He can
abate nothing, he can soften nothing; he is constrained to declare to all
men, ‘I may not bring down the Scripture to your taste. You must come up
to it, or perish forever.’ This is the real ground of that other popular
cry concerning ‘the uncharitableness of these men.’ Uncharitable, are
they? In what respect? Do they not feed the hungry and clothe the naked?
‘No; that is not the thing: they are not wanting in this: but they are so
uncharitable in judging! they think none can be saved but those of their
own way.’ ”(376)

The spiritual declension which had been manifest in England just before
the time of Wesley, was in great degree the result of Antinomian teaching.
Many affirmed that Christ had abolished the moral law, and that Christians
are therefore under no obligation to observe it; that a believer is freed
from the “bondage of good works.” Others, though admitting the perpetuity
of the law, declared that it was unnecessary for ministers to exhort the
people to obedience of its precepts, since those whom God had elected to
salvation would, “by the irresistible impulse of divine grace, be led to
the practice of piety and virtue,” while those who were doomed to eternal
reprobation “did not have power to obey the divine law.”

Others, also holding that “the elect cannot fall from grace nor forfeit
the divine favor,” arrived at the still more hideous conclusion that “the
wicked actions they commit are not really sinful, nor to be considered as
instances of their violation of the divine law, and that consequently they
have no occasion either to confess their sins or to break them off by
repentance.”(377) Therefore, they declared that even one of the vilest of
sins, “considered universally an enormous violation of the divine law, is
not a sin in the sight of God,” if committed by one of the elect, “because
it is one of the essential and distinctive characteristics of the elect,
that they cannot do anything that is either displeasing to God or
prohibited by the law.”

These monstrous doctrines are essentially the same as the later teaching
of popular educators and theologians,—that there is no unchangeable divine
law as the standard of right, but that the standard of morality is
indicated by society itself, and has constantly been subject to change.
All these ideas are inspired by the same master-spirit,—by him who, even
among the sinless inhabitants of heaven, began his work of seeking to
break down the righteous restraints of the law of God.

The doctrine of the divine decrees, unalterably fixing the character of
men, had led many to a virtual rejection of the law of God. Wesley
steadfastly opposed the errors of the Antinomian teachers, and showed that
this doctrine which led to Antinomianism was contrary to the Scriptures.
“The grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to _all men_.”
“This is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour; who will
have _all men_ to be saved; and to come unto the knowledge of the truth.
For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ
Jesus; who gave Himself a ransom for _all_.”(378) The Spirit of God is
freely bestowed, to enable every man to lay hold upon the means of
salvation. Thus Christ, “the true Light,” “lighteth every man that cometh
into the world.”(379) Men fail of salvation through their own wilful
refusal of the gift of life.

In answer to the claim that at the death of Christ the precepts of the
decalogue had been abolished with the ceremonial law, Wesley said: “The
moral law, contained in the ten commandments and enforced by the prophets,
He 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.’ ... This was from the beginning of the
world, being ‘written not on tables of stone,’ but on the hearts of all
the children of men, when they came out of the hands of the Creator. And
however the letters once wrote by the finger of God are now in a great
measure defaced by sin, yet can they not wholly be blotted out, while we
have any consciousness of good and evil. 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.

“ ‘I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil.’... Without question, His
meaning in this place is (consistently with all that goes before and
follows after),—I am come to establish it in its fulness, in spite of all
the glosses of men: I am come to place in a full and clear view whatsoever
was dark or obscure therein: I am come to declare the true and full import
of every part of it; to show the length and breadth, the entire extent, of
every commandment contained therein, and the height and depth, the
inconceivable purity and spirituality of it in all its branches.”(380)

Wesley declared the perfect harmony of the law and the gospel. “There is,
therefore, the closest connection that can be conceived, between the law
and the gospel. On the one hand, the law continually makes way for, and
points us to, the gospel; on the other, the gospel continually leads us to
a more exact fulfilling of the law. The law, for instance, requires us to
love God, to love our neighbor, to be meek, humble, or holy. We feel that
we are not sufficient for these things; yea, that ‘with man this is
impossible:’ but we see a promise of God to give us that love, and to make
us humble, meek, and holy: we lay hold of this gospel, of these glad
tidings; it is done unto us according to our faith; and ‘the righteousness
of the law is fulfilled in us,’ through faith which is in Christ Jesus....

“In the highest rank of the enemies of the gospel of Christ,” said Wesley,
“are they who openly and explicitly ‘judge the law’ itself, and ‘speak
evil of the law;’ who teach men to break (to dissolve, to loose, to untie
the obligation of) not one only, whether of the least or of the greatest,
but all the commandments at a stroke.... The most surprising of all the
circumstances that attend this strong delusion, is that they who are given
up to it, really believe that they honor Christ by overthrowing His law,
and that they are magnifying His office while they are destroying His
doctrine! Yea, they honor Him just as Judas did when he said, ‘Hail,
Master, and kissed Him.’ And He may as justly say to every one of them,
‘Betrayest thou the Son of man with a kiss?’ It is no other than betraying
Him with a kiss, to talk of His blood, and take away His crown; to set
light by any part of His law, under pretense of advancing His gospel. Nor
indeed can any one escape this charge, who preaches faith in any such a
manner as either directly or indirectly tends to set aside any branch of
obedience: who preaches Christ so as to disannul, or weaken in any wise,
the least of the commandments of God.”(381)

To those who urged that “the preaching of the gospel answers all the ends
of the law,” Wesley replied: “This we utterly deny. It does not answer the
very first end of the law, namely, the convincing men of sin, the
awakening those who are still asleep on the brink of hell.” The apostle
Paul declares that “by the law is the knowledge of sin;” “and not until
man is convicted of sin, will he truly feel his need of the atoning blood
of Christ.... ‘They that be whole,’ as our Lord Himself observes, ‘need
not a physician, but they that are sick.’ It is absurd, therefore, to
offer a physician to them that are whole, or that at least imagine
themselves so to be. You are first to convince them that they are sick;
otherwise they will not thank you for your labor. It is equally absurd to
offer Christ to them whose heart is whole, having never yet been
broken.”(382)

Thus while preaching the gospel of the grace of God, Wesley, like his
Master, sought to “magnify the law, and make it honorable.” Faithfully did
he accomplish the work given him of God, and glorious were the results
which he was permitted to behold. At the close of his long life of more
than fourscore years—above half a century spent in itinerant ministry—his
avowed adherents numbered more than half a million souls. But the
multitude that through his labors had been lifted from the ruin and
degradation of sin to a higher and a purer life, and the number who by his
teaching had attained to a deeper and richer experience, will never be
known till the whole family of the redeemed shall be gathered into the
kingdom of God. His life presents a lesson of priceless worth to every
Christian. Would that the faith and humility, the untiring zeal,
self-sacrifice, and devotion of this servant of Christ, might be reflected
in the churches of to-day!





15. THE BIBLE AND THE FRENCH REVOLUTION.


                     [Illustration: Chapter header.]

In the sixteenth century the Reformation, presenting an open Bible to the
people, had sought admission to all the countries of Europe. Some nations
welcomed it with gladness, as a messenger of Heaven. In other lands, the
papacy succeeded to a great extent in preventing its entrance; and the
light of Bible knowledge, with its elevating influences, was almost wholly
excluded. In one country, though the light found entrance, it was not
comprehended by the darkness. For centuries, truth and error struggled for
the mastery. At last the evil triumphed, and the truth of Heaven was
thrust out. “This is the condemnation, that light is come into the world,
and men loved darkness rather than light.”(383) The nation was left to
reap the results of the course which she had chosen. The restraint of
God’s Spirit was removed from a people that had despised the gift of His
grace. Evil was permitted to come to maturity. And all the world saw the
fruit of wilful rejection of the light.

The war against the Bible, carried forward for so many centuries in
France, culminated in the scenes of the Revolution. That terrible
outbreaking was but the legitimate result of Rome’s suppression of the
Scriptures.(384) It presented the most striking illustration which the
world has ever witnessed, of the working out of the papal policy,—an
illustration of the results to which for more than a thousand years the
teaching of the Roman Church had been tending.

The suppression of the Scriptures during the period of papal supremacy was
foretold by the prophets; and the Revelator points also to the terrible
results that were to accrue especially to France from the domination of
“the man of sin.”

Said the angel of the Lord: “The holy city shall they tread under foot
forty and two months. And I will give power unto My two witnesses, and
they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and threescore days, clothed in
sackcloth.... And when they shall have finished their testimony, the beast
that ascendeth out of the bottomless pit shall make war against them, and
shall overcome them, and kill them. And their dead bodies shall lie in the
street of the great city, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt,
where also our Lord was crucified.... And they that dwell upon the earth
shall rejoice over them, and make merry, and shall send gifts one to
another; because these two prophets tormented them that dwelt on the
earth. And after three days and a half the Spirit of life from God entered
into them, and they stood upon their feet; and great fear fell upon them
which saw them.”(385)

The periods here mentioned—“forty and two months,” and “a thousand two
hundred and threescore days”—are the same, alike representing the time in
which the church of Christ was to suffer oppression from Rome. The 1260
years of papal supremacy began in A.D. 538, and would therefore terminate
in 1798.(386) At that time a French army entered Rome, and made the pope a
prisoner, and he died in exile. Though a new pope was soon afterward
elected, the papal hierarchy has never since been able to wield the power
which it before possessed.

The persecution of the church did not continue throughout the entire
period of the 1260 years. God in mercy to His people cut short the time of
their fiery trial. In foretelling the “great tribulation” to befall the
church, the Saviour said, “Except those days should be shortened, there
should no flesh be saved: but for the elect’s sake those days shall be
shortened.”(387) Through the influence of the Reformation, the persecution
was brought to an end prior to 1798.

Concerning the two witnesses, the prophet declares further, “These are the
two olive-trees, and the two candle-sticks standing before the God of the
earth.” “Thy word,” said the psalmist, “is a lamp unto my feet, and a
light unto my path.”(388) The two witnesses represent the Scriptures of
the Old and the New Testament. Both are important testimonies to the
origin and perpetuity of the law of God. Both are witnesses also to the
plan of salvation. The types, sacrifices, and prophecies of the Old
Testament point forward to a Saviour to come. The Gospels and Epistles of
the New Testament tell of a Saviour who has come in the exact manner
foretold by type and prophecy.

“They shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and threescore days, clothed
in sackcloth.” During the greater part of this period, God’s witnesses
remained in a state of obscurity. The papal power sought to hide from the
people the Word of truth, and set before them false witnesses to
contradict its testimony.(389) When the Bible was proscribed by religious
and secular authority; when its testimony was perverted, and every effort
made that men and demons could invent to turn the minds of the people from
it; when those who dared proclaim its sacred truths were hunted, betrayed,
tortured, buried in dungeon cells, martyred for their faith, or compelled
to flee to mountain fastnesses, and to dens and caves of the earth,—then
the faithful witnesses prophesied in sackcloth. Yet they continued their
testimony throughout the entire period of 1260 years. In the darkest times
there were faithful men who loved God’s word, and were jealous for His
honor. To these loyal servants were given wisdom, power, and authority to
declare His truth during the whole of this time.

“And if any man will hurt them, fire proceedeth out of their mouth, and
devoureth their enemies: and if any man will hurt them, he must in this
manner be killed.”(390) Men cannot with impunity trample upon the word of
God. The meaning of this fearful denunciation is set forth in the closing
chapter of the Revelation: “I testify unto every man that heareth the
words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these
things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book:
and if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this
prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of
the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book.”(391)

Such are the warnings which God has given to guard men against changing in
any manner that which He has revealed or commanded. These solemn
denunciations apply to all who by their influence lead men to regard
lightly the law of God. They should cause those to fear and tremble who
flippantly declare it a matter of little consequence whether we obey God’s
law or not. All who exalt their own opinions above divine revelation, all
who would change the plain meaning of Scripture to suit their own
convenience, or for the sake of conforming to the world, are taking upon
themselves a fearful responsibility. The written word, the law of God,
will measure the character of every man, and condemn all whom this
unerring test shall declare wanting.

“When they shall have finished [are finishing] their testimony.” The
period when the two witnesses were to prophesy clothed in sackcloth, ended
in 1798. As they were approaching the termination of their work in
obscurity, war was to be made upon them by the power represented as “the
beast that ascendeth out of the bottomless pit.” In many of the nations of
Europe the powers that ruled in church and state had for centuries been
controlled by Satan, through the medium of the papacy. But here is brought
to view a new manifestation of satanic power.

It had been Rome’s policy, under a profession of reverence for the Bible,
to keep it locked up in an unknown tongue, and hidden away from the
people. Under her rule the witnesses prophesied, “clothed in sackcloth.”
But another power—the beast from the bottomless pit—was to arise to make
open, avowed war upon the word of God.

The “great city” in whose streets the witnesses are slain, and where their
dead bodies lie, “is spiritually Egypt.” Of all nations presented in Bible
history, Egypt most boldly denied the existence of the living God, and
resisted His commands. No monarch ever ventured upon more open and
high-handed rebellion against the authority of Heaven than did the king of
Egypt. When the message was brought him by Moses, in the name of the Lord,
Pharaoh proudly answered, “Who is Jehovah, that I should obey His voice to
let Israel go? I know not Jehovah, neither will I let Israel go.”(392)
This is atheism; and the nation represented by Egypt would give voice to a
similar denial of the claims of the living God, and would manifest a like
spirit of unbelief and defiance. The “great city” is also compared,
“spiritually,” to Sodom. The corruption of Sodom in breaking the law of
God was especially manifested in licentiousness. And this sin was also to
be a pre-eminent characteristic of the nation that should fulfil the
specifications of this scripture.

According to the words of the prophet, then, a little before the year 1798
some power of satanic origin and character would rise to make war upon the
Bible. And in the land where the testimony of God’s two witnesses should
thus be silenced, there would be manifest the atheism of the Pharaoh and
the licentiousness of Sodom.

This prophecy has received a most exact and striking fulfilment in the
history of France. During the Revolution, in 1793, “the world for the
first time heard an assembly of men, born and educated in civilization,
and assuming the right to govern one of the finest of the European
nations, uplift their united voice to deny the most solemn truth which
man’s soul receives, and renounce unanimously the belief and worship of a
Deity.”(393) “France is the only nation in the world concerning which the
authentic record survives, that as a nation she lifted her hand in open
rebellion against the Author of the universe. Plenty of blasphemers,
plenty of infidels, there have been, and still continue to be, in England,
Germany, Spain, and elsewhere; but France stands apart in the world’s
history as the single state which, by the decree of her Legislative
Assembly, pronounced that there was no God, and of which the entire
population of the capital, and a vast majority elsewhere, women as well as
men, danced and sang with joy in accepting the announcement.”(394)

France presented also the characteristic which especially distinguished
Sodom. During the Revolution there was manifest a state of moral
debasement and corruption similar to that which brought destruction upon
the cities of the plain. And the historian presents together the atheism
and the licentiousness of France, as given in the prophecy: “Intimately
connected with these laws affecting religion, was that which reduced the
union of marriage—the most sacred engagement which human beings can form,
and the permanence of which leads most strongly to the consolidation of
society—to the state of a mere civil contract of a transitory character,
which any two persons might engage in and cast loose at pleasure.... If
fiends had set themselves to work to discover a mode of most effectually
destroying whatever is venerable, graceful, or permanent in domestic life,
and of obtaining at the same time an assurance that the mischief which it
was their object to create should be perpetuated from one generation to
another, they could not have invented a more effectual plan than the
degradation of marriage.... Sophie Arnoult, an actress famous for the
witty things she said, described the republican marriage as ‘the sacrament
of adultery.’ ”(395)

“Where also our Lord was crucified.” This specification of the prophecy
was also fulfilled by France. In no land had the spirit of enmity against
Christ been more strikingly displayed. In no country had the truth
encountered more bitter and cruel opposition. In the persecution which
France had visited upon the confessors of the gospel, she had crucified
Christ in the person of His disciples.

Century after century the blood of the saints had been shed. While the
Waldenses laid down their lives upon the mountains of Piedmont “for the
word of God, and for the testimony of Jesus Christ,” similar witness to
the truth had been borne by their brethren, the Albigenses of France. In
the days of the Reformation, its disciples had been put to death with
horrible tortures. King and nobles, high-born women and delicate maidens,
the pride and chivalry of the nation, had feasted their eyes upon the
agonies of the martyrs of Jesus. The brave Huguenots, battling for those
rights which the human heart holds most sacred, had poured out their blood
on many a hard-fought field. The Protestants were counted as outlaws, a
price was set upon their heads, and they were hunted down like wild
beasts.

The “Church in the Desert,” the few descendants of the ancient Christians
that still lingered in France in the eighteenth century, hiding away in
the mountains of the south, still cherished the faith of their fathers. As
they ventured to meet by night on mountainside or lonely moor, they were
chased by dragoons, and dragged away to life-long slavery in the galleys.
The purest, the most refined, and the most intelligent of the French, were
chained, in horrible torture, amidst robbers and assassins.(396) Others,
more mercifully dealt with, were shot down in cold blood, as, unarmed and
helpless, they fell upon their knees in prayer. Hundreds of aged men,
defenseless women, and innocent children were left dead upon the earth at
their place of meeting. In traversing the mountainside or the forest,
where they had been accustomed to assemble, it was not unusual to find “at
every four paces, dead bodies dotting the sward, and corpses hanging
suspended from the trees.” Their country, laid waste with the sword, the
axe, the fagot, “was converted into one vast, gloomy wilderness.” “These
atrocities were enacted ... in no dark age, but in the brilliant era of
Louis XIV. Science was then cultivated, letters flourished, the divines of
the court and of the capital were learned and eloquent men, and greatly
affected the graces of meekness and charity.”(397)

But blackest in the black catalogue of crime, most horrible among the
fiendish deeds of all the dreadful centuries, was the St. Bartholomew
Massacre. The world still recalls with shuddering horror the scenes of
that most cowardly and cruel onslaught. The king of France, urged on by
Romish priests and prelates, lent his sanction to the dreadful work. A
bell, tolling at dead of night, was a signal for the slaughter.
Protestants by thousands, sleeping quietly in their homes, trusting to the
plighted honor of their king, were dragged forth without a warning, and
murdered in cold blood.

As Christ was the invisible leader of His people from Egyptian bondage, so
was Satan the unseen leader of his subjects in this horrible work of
multiplying martyrs. For seven days the massacre was continued in Paris,
the first three with inconceivable fury. And it was not confined to the
city itself, but by special order of the king, was extended to all the
provinces and towns where Protestants were found. Neither age nor sex was
respected. Neither the innocent babe nor the man of gray hairs was spared.
Noble and peasant, old and young, mother and child, were cut down
together. Throughout France the butchery continued for two months. Seventy
thousand of the very flower of the nation perished.

“When the news of the massacre reached Rome, the exultation among the
clergy knew no bounds. The cardinal of Lorraine rewarded the messenger
with a thousand crowns; the cannon of St. Angelo thundered forth a joyous
salute; the bells rang out from every steeple; bonfires turned night into
day; and Gregory XIII., attended by the cardinals and other ecclesiastical
dignitaries, went in long procession to the church of St. Louis, where the
cardinal of Lorraine chanted a _Te Deum_.... A medal was struck to
commemorate the massacre, and in the Vatican may still be seen three
frescoes of Vasari, describing the attack upon the admiral, the king in
council plotting the massacre, and the massacre itself. Gregory sent
Charles the Golden Rose; and four months after the massacre, ... he
listened complacently to the sermon of a French priest, ... who spoke of
‘that day so full of happiness and joy, when the most holy father received
the news, and went in solemn state to render thanks to God and St.
Louis.’ ”(398)

The same master-spirit that urged on the St. Bartholomew Massacre led also
in the scenes of the Revolution. Jesus Christ was declared to be an
impostor, and the rallying cry of the French infidels was, “Crush the
Wretch,” meaning Christ. Heaven-daring blasphemy and abominable wickedness
went hand in hand, and the basest of men, the most abandoned monsters of
cruelty and vice, were most highly exalted. In all this, supreme homage
was paid to Satan; while Christ, in His characteristics of truth, purity,
and unselfish love, was crucified.

“The beast that ascendeth out of the bottomless pit shall make war against
them, and shall overcome them, and kill them.” The atheistical power that
ruled in France during the Revolution and the Reign of Terror, did wage
such a war against God and His holy word as the world had never witnessed.
The worship of the Deity was abolished by the National Assembly. Bibles
were collected and publicly burned with every possible manifestation of
scorn.

The law of God was trampled under foot. The institutions of the Bible were
abolished. The weekly rest-day was set aside, and in its stead every tenth
day was devoted to reveling and blasphemy. Baptism and the communion were
prohibited. And announcements posted conspicuously over the burial-places
declared death to be an eternal sleep.

The fear of God was said to be so far from the beginning of wisdom that it
was the beginning of folly. All religious worship was prohibited, except
that of liberty and the country. The “constitutional bishop of Paris was
brought forward to play the principal part in the most impudent and
scandalous farce ever acted in the face of a national representation....
He was brought forward in full procession, to declare to the Convention
that the religion which he had taught so many years was, in every respect,
a piece of priestcraft, which had no foundation either in history or
sacred truth. He disowned, in solemn and explicit terms, the existence of
the Deity to whose worship he had been consecrated, and devoted himself in
future to the homage of liberty, equality, virtue, and morality. He then
laid on the table his episcopal decorations, and received a fraternal
embrace from the president of the Convention. Several apostate priests
followed the example of this prelate.”(399)

“And they that dwell upon the earth shall rejoice over them, and make
merry, and shall send gifts one to another; because these two prophets
tormented them that dwelt on the earth.” Infidel France had silenced the
reproving voice of God’s two witnesses. The Word of truth lay dead in her
streets, and those who hated the restrictions and requirements of God’s
law were jubilant. Men publicly defied the King of heaven. Like the
sinners of old, they cried, “How doth God know? and is there knowledge in
the Most High?”(400)

With blasphemous boldness almost beyond belief, one of the priests of the
new order said: “God, if You exist, avenge Your injured name. I bid You
defiance! You remain silent; You dare not launch Your thunders. Who after
this will believe in Your existence?”(401) What an echo is this of the
Pharaoh’s demand: “Who is Jehovah, that I should obey His voice?” “I know
not Jehovah!”

“The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God.”(402) And the Lord
declares concerning the perverters of the truth, “Their folly shall be
manifest unto all.”(403) After France had renounced the worship of the
living God, “the high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity,” it was only
a little time till she descended to degrading idolatry, by the worship of
the Goddess of Reason, in the person of a profligate woman. And this in
the representative assembly of the nation, and by its highest civil and
legislative authorities! Says the historian: “One of the ceremonies of
this insane time stands unrivaled for absurdity combined with impiety. The
doors of the Convention were thrown open to a band of musicians, preceded
by whom, the members of the municipal body entered in solemn procession,
singing a hymn in praise of liberty, and escorting, as the object of their
future worship, a veiled female, whom they termed the Goddess of Reason.
Being brought within the bar, she was unveiled with great form, and placed
on the right of the president, when she was generally recognized as a
dancing girl of the opera.... To this person, as the fittest
representative of that reason whom they worshiped, the National Convention
of France rendered public homage.

“This impious and ridiculous mummery had a certain fashion; and the
installation of the Goddess of Reason was renewed and imitated throughout
the nation, in such places where the inhabitants desired to show
themselves equal to all the heights of the Revolution.”(404)

Said the orator who introduced the worship of Reason: “Legislators!
Fanaticism has given way to reason. Its bleared eyes could not endure the
brilliancy of the light. This day an immense concourse has assembled
beneath those gothic vaults, which, for the first time, re-echoed the
truth. There the French have celebrated the only true worship,—that of
Liberty, that of Reason. There we have formed wishes for the prosperity of
the arms of the Republic. There we have abandoned inanimate idols for
Reason, for that animated image, the masterpiece of nature.”(405)

When the goddess was brought into the Convention, the orator took her by
the hand, and turning to the assembly said: “Mortals, cease to tremble
before the powerless thunders of a God whom your fears have created.
Henceforth acknowledge no divinity but Reason. I offer you its noblest and
purest image; if you must have idols, sacrifice only to such as this....
Fall before the august Senate of Freedom, oh! Veil of Reason!...

“The goddess, after being embraced by the president, was mounted on a
magnificent car, and conducted, amid an immense crowd, to the cathedral of
Notre Dame, to take the place of the Deity. There she was elevated on the
high altar, and received the adoration of all present.”(406)

This was followed, not long afterward, by the public burning of the Bible.
On one occasion “the Popular Society of the Museum” entered the hall of
the municipality, exclaiming, “_Vive la Raison!_” and carrying on the top
of a pole the half-burned remains of several books, among others
breviaries, missals, and the Old and New Testaments, which “expiated in a
great fire,” said the president, “all the fooleries which they have made
the human race commit.”(407)

It was popery that had begun the work which atheism was completing. The
policy of Rome had wrought out those conditions, social, political, and
religious, that were hurrying France on to ruin. Writers, in referring to
the horrors of the Revolution, say that these excesses are to be charged
upon the throne and the church.(408) In strict justice they are to be
charged upon the church. Popery had poisoned the minds of kings against
the Reformation, as an enemy to the crown, an element of discord that
would be fatal to the peace and harmony of the nation. It was the genius
of Rome that by this means inspired the direst cruelty and the most
galling oppression which proceeded from the throne.

The spirit of liberty went with the Bible. Wherever the gospel was
received, the minds of the people were awakened. They began to cast off
the shackles that had held them bond-slaves of ignorance, vice, and
superstition. They began to think and act as men. Monarchs saw it, and
trembled for their despotism.

Rome was not slow to inflame their jealous fears. Said the pope to the
regent of France in 1525: “This mania [Protestantism] will not only
confound and destroy religion, but all principalities, nobility, laws,
orders, and ranks besides.”(409) A few years later a papal nuncio warned
the king: “Sire, be not deceived. The Protestants will upset all civil as
well as religious order.... The throne is in as much danger as the
altar.... The introduction of a new religion must necessarily introduce a
new government.”(410) And theologians appealed to the prejudices of the
people by declaring that the Protestant doctrine “entices men away to
novelties and folly; it robs the king of the devoted affection of his
subjects, and devastates both church and state.” Thus Rome succeeded in
arraying France against the Reformation. “It was to uphold the throne,
preserve the nobles, and maintain the laws, that the sword of persecution
was first unsheathed in France.”(411)

Little did the rulers of the land foresee the results of that fateful
policy. The teaching of the Bible would have implanted in the minds and
hearts of the people those principles of justice, temperance, truth,
equity, and benevolence which are the very corner-stone of a nation’s
prosperity. “Righteousness exalteth a nation.” Thereby “the throne is
established.”(412) “The work of righteousness shall be peace;” and the
effect “quietness and assurance forever.”(413) He who obeys the divine law
will most truly respect and obey the laws of his country. He who fears God
will honor the king in the exercise of all just and legitimate authority.
But unhappy France prohibited the Bible, and banned its disciples. Century
after century, men of principle and integrity, men of intellectual
acuteness and moral strength, who had the courage to avow their
convictions, and the faith to suffer for the truth,—for centuries these
men toiled as slaves in the galleys, perished at the stake, or rotted in
dungeon cells. Thousands upon thousands found safety in flight; and this
continued for two hundred and fifty years after the opening of the
Reformation.

“Scarcely was there a generation of Frenchmen during that long period that
did not witness the disciples of the gospel fleeing before the insane fury
of the persecutor, and carrying with them the intelligence, the arts, the
industry, the order, in which, as a rule, they pre-eminently excelled, to
enrich the lands in which they found an asylum. And in proportion as they
replenished other countries with these good gifts, did they empty their
own of them. If all that was now driven away had been retained in France;
if, during these three hundred years, the industrial skill of the exiles
had been cultivating her soil; if, during these three hundred years, their
artistic bent had been improving her manufactures; if, during these three
hundred years, their creative genius and analytic power had been enriching
her literature and cultivating her science; if their wisdom had been
guiding her councils, their bravery fighting her battles, their equity
framing her laws, and the religion of the Bible strengthening the
intellect and governing the conscience of her people, what a glory would
at this day have encompassed France! What a great, prosperous, and happy
country—a pattern to the nations—would she have been!

“But a blind and inexorable bigotry chased from her soil every teacher of
virtue, every champion of order, every honest defender of the throne; it
said to the men who would have made their country a ‘renown and glory’ in
the earth, Choose which you will have, a stake or exile. At last the ruin
of the state was complete; there remained no more conscience to be
proscribed; no more religion to be dragged to the stake; no more
patriotism to be chased into banishment.”(414) And the Revolution, with
all its horrors, was the dire result.

“With the flight of the Huguenots a general decline settled upon France.
Flourishing manufacturing cities fell into decay; fertile districts
returned to their native wildness; intellectual dulness and moral
declension succeeded a period of unwonted progress. Paris became one vast
almshouse, and it is estimated that, at the breaking out of the
Revolution, two hundred thousand paupers claimed charity from the hands of
the king. The Jesuits alone flourished in the decaying nation, and ruled
with dreadful tyranny over churches and schools, the prisons and the
galleys.”

The gospel would have brought to France the solution of those political
and social problems that baffled the skill of her clergy, her king, and
her legislators, and finally plunged the nation into anarchy and ruin. But
under the domination of Rome the people had lost the Saviour’s blessed
lessons of self-sacrifice and unselfish love. They had been led away from
the practice of self-denial for the good of others. The rich had found no
rebuke for their oppression of the poor, the poor no help for their
servitude and degradation. The selfishness of the wealthy and powerful
grew more and more apparent and oppressive. For centuries the greed and
profligacy of the noble resulted in grinding extortion toward the peasant.
The rich wronged the poor, and the poor hated the rich.

In many provinces the estates were held by the nobles, and the laboring
classes were only tenants; they were at the mercy of their landlords, and
were forced to submit to their exorbitant demands. The burden of
supporting both the church and the state fell upon the middle and lower
classes, who were heavily taxed by the civil authorities and by the
clergy. “The pleasure of the nobles was considered the supreme law; the
farmers and the peasants might starve, for aught their oppressors
cared.... The people were compelled at every turn to consult the exclusive
interest of the landlord. The lives of the agricultural laborers were
lives of incessant work and unrelieved misery; their complaints, if they
ever dared to complain, were treated with insolent contempt. The courts of
justice would always listen to a noble as against a peasant; bribes were
notoriously accepted by the judges; and the merest caprice of the
aristocracy had the force of law, by virtue of this system of universal
corruption. Of the taxes wrung from the commonalty, by the secular
magnates on the one hand, and the clergy on the other, not half ever found
its way into the royal or episcopal treasury; the rest was squandered in
profligate self-indulgence. And the men who thus impoverished their
fellow-subjects were themselves exempt from taxation, and entitled by law
or custom to all the appointments of the state. The privileged classes
numbered a hundred and fifty thousand, and for their gratification
millions were condemned to hopeless and degrading lives.”(415)

The court was given up to luxury and profligacy. There was little
confidence existing between the people and the rulers. Suspicion fastened
upon all the measures of the government, as designing and selfish. For
more than half a century before the time of the Revolution, the throne was
occupied by Louis XV., who, even in those evil times, was distinguished as
an indolent, frivolous, and sensual monarch. With a depraved and cruel
aristocracy and an impoverished and ignorant lower class, the state
financially embarrassed, and the people exasperated, it needed no
prophet’s eye to foresee a terrible impending outbreak. To the warnings of
his counselors the king was accustomed to reply, “Try to make things go on
as long as I am likely to live; after my death it may be as it will.” It
was in vain that the necessity of reform was urged. He saw the evils, but
had neither the courage nor the power to meet them. The doom awaiting
France was but too truly pictured in his indolent and selfish
answer,—“After me, the deluge!”

By working upon the jealousy of the kings and the ruling classes, Rome had
influenced them to keep the people in bondage, well knowing that the state
would thus be weakened, and purposing by this means to fasten both rulers
and people in her thrall. With far-sighted policy she perceived that in
order to enslave men effectually, the shackles must be bound upon their
souls; that the surest way to prevent them from escaping their bondage was
to render them incapable of freedom. A thousandfold more terrible than the
physical suffering which resulted from her policy, was the moral
degradation. Deprived of the Bible, and abandoned to the teachings of
bigotry and selfishness, the people were shrouded in ignorance and
superstition, and sunken in vice, so that they were wholly unfitted for
self-government.

But the outworking of all this was widely different from what Rome had
purposed. Instead of holding the masses in a blind submission to her
dogmas, her work resulted in making them infidels and revolutionists.
Romanism they despised as priestcraft. They beheld the clergy as a party
to their oppression. The only god they knew was the god of Rome; her
teaching was their only religion. They regarded her greed and cruelty as
the legitimate fruit of the Bible, and they would have none of it.

Rome had misrepresented the character of God, and perverted His
requirements, and now men rejected both the Bible and its Author. She had
required a blind faith in her dogmas, under the pretended sanction of the
Scriptures. In the reaction, Voltaire and his associates cast aside God’s
word altogether, and spread everywhere the poison of infidelity. Rome had
ground down the people under her iron heel; and now the masses, degraded
and brutalized, in their recoil from her tyranny, cast off all restraint.
Enraged at the glittering cheat to which they had so long paid homage,
they rejected truth and falsehood together; and mistaking license for
liberty, the slaves of vice exulted in their imagined freedom.

At the opening of the Revolution, by a concession of the king, the people
were granted a representation exceeding that of the nobles and the clergy
combined. Thus the balance of power was in their hands; but they were not
prepared to use it with wisdom and moderation. Eager to redress the wrongs
they had suffered, they determined to undertake the reconstruction of
society. An outraged populace, whose minds were filled with bitter and
long-treasured memories of wrong, resolved to revolutionize the state of
misery that had grown unbearable, and to revenge themselves upon those
whom they regarded as the authors of their sufferings. The oppressed
wrought out the lesson they had learned under tyranny, and became the
oppressors of those who had oppressed them.

Unhappy France reaped in blood the harvest she had sown. Terrible were the
results of her submission to the controlling power of Rome. Where France,
under the influence of Romanism, had set up the first stake at the opening
of the Reformation, there the Revolution set up its first guillotine. On
the very spot where the first martyrs to the Protestant faith were burned
in the sixteenth century, the first victims were guillotined in the
eighteenth. In repelling the gospel, which would have brought her healing,
France had opened the door to infidelity and ruin. When the restraints of
God’s law were cast aside, it was found that the laws of man were
inadequate to hold in check the powerful tides of human passion; and the
nation swept on to revolt and anarchy. The war against the Bible
inaugurated an era which stands in the world’s history as “The Reign of
Terror.” Peace and happiness were banished from the homes and hearts of
men. No one was secure. He who triumphed to-day was suspected, condemned,
to-morrow. Violence and lust held undisputed sway.

King, clergy, and nobles were compelled to submit to the atrocities of an
excited and maddened people. Their thirst for vengeance was only
stimulated by the execution of the king; and those who had decreed his
death, soon followed him to the scaffold. A general slaughter of all
suspected of hostility to the Revolution was determined. The prisons were
crowded, at one time containing more than two hundred thousand captives.
The cities of the kingdom were filled with scenes of horror. One party of
revolutionists was against another party, and France became a vast field
for contending masses, swayed by the fury of their passions. “In Paris one
tumult succeeded another, and the citizens were divided into a medley of
factions, that seemed intent on nothing but mutual extermination.” And to
add to the general misery, the nation became involved in a prolonged and
devastating war with the great powers of Europe. “The country was nearly
bankrupt, the armies were clamoring for arrears of pay, the Parisians were
starving, the provinces were laid waste by brigands, and civilization was
almost extinguished in anarchy and license.”

All too well the people had learned the lessons of cruelty and torture
which Rome had so diligently taught. A day of retribution at last had
come. It was not now the disciples of Jesus that were thrust into dungeons
and dragged to the stake. Long ago these had perished or been driven into
exile. Unsparing Rome now felt the deadly power of those whom she had
trained to delight in deeds of blood. “The example of persecution which
the clergy of France had exhibited for so many ages, was now retorted upon
them with signal vigor. The scaffolds ran red with the blood of the
priests. The galleys and the prisons, once crowded with Huguenots, were
now filled with their persecutors. Chained to the bench and toiling at the
oar, the Roman Catholic clergy experienced all those woes which their
church had so freely inflicted on the gentle heretics.”(416)

“Then came those days when the most barbarous of all codes was
administered by the most barbarous of all tribunals; when no man could
greet his neighbors or say his prayers ... without danger of committing a
capital crime; when spies lurked in every corner; when the guillotine was
long and hard at work every morning; when the jails were filled as close
as the holds of a slave-ship; when the gutters ran foaming with blood into
the Seine.... While the daily wagon-loads of victims were carried to their
doom through the streets of Paris, the proconsuls, whom the sovereign
committee had sent forth to the departments, reveled in an extravagance of
cruelty unknown even in the capital. The knife of the deadly machine rose
and fell too slow for their work of slaughter. Long rows of captives were
mowed down with grape-shot. Holes were made in the bottom of crowded
barges. Lyons was turned into a desert. At Arras even the cruel mercy of a
speedy death was denied to the prisoners. All down the Loire, from Saumur
to the sea, great flocks of crows and kites feasted on naked corpses,
twined together in hideous embraces. No mercy was shown to sex or age. The
number of young lads and of girls of seventeen who were murdered by that
execrable government, is to be reckoned by hundreds. Babies torn from the
breast were tossed from pike to pike along the Jacobin ranks.”(417) In the
short space of ten years, multitudes of human beings perished.

All this was as Satan would have it. This was what for ages he had been
working to secure. His policy is deception from first to last, and his
steadfast purpose is to bring woe and wretchedness upon men, to deface and
defile the workmanship of God, to mar the divine purposes of benevolence
and love, and thus cause grief in heaven. Then by his deceptive arts he
blinds the minds of men, and leads them to throw back the blame of his
work upon God, as if all this misery were the result of the Creator’s
plan. In like manner, when those who have been degraded and brutalized
through his cruel power achieve their freedom, he urges them on to
excesses and atrocities. Then this picture of unbridled license is pointed
out by tyrants and oppressors as an illustration of the results of
liberty.

When error in one garb has been detected, Satan only masks it in a
different disguise, and multitudes receive it as eagerly as at the first.
When the people found Romanism to be a deception, and he could not through
this agency lead them to transgression of God’s law, he urged them to
regard all religion as a cheat, and the Bible a fable; and casting aside
the divine statutes, they gave themselves up to unbridled iniquity.

The fatal error which wrought such woe for the inhabitants of France was
the ignoring of this one great truth: that true freedom lies within the
proscriptions of the law of God. “O that thou hadst hearkened to My
commandments! then had thy peace been as a river, and thy righteousness as
the waves of the sea.” “There is no peace, saith the Lord, unto the
wicked.” “But whoso hearkeneth unto Me shall dwell safely, and shall be
quiet from fear of evil.”(418)

Atheists, infidels, and apostates oppose and denounce God’s law; but the
results of their influence prove that the well-being of man is bound up
with his obedience of the divine statutes. Those who will not read the
lesson from the book of God, are bidden to read it in the history of
nations.

When Satan wrought through the Roman Church to lead men away from
obedience, his agency was concealed, and his work was so disguised that
the degradation and misery which resulted were not seen to be the fruit of
transgression. And his power was so far counteracted by the working of the
Spirit of God, that his purposes were prevented from reaching their full
fruition. The people did not trace the effect to its cause, and discover
the source of their miseries. But in the Revolution, the law of God was
openly set aside by the National Council. And in the Reign of Terror which
followed, the working of cause and effect could be seen by all.

When France publicly rejected God and set aside the Bible, wicked men and
spirits of darkness exulted in their attainment of the object so long
desired,—a kingdom free from the restraints of the law of God. Because
sentence against an evil work was not speedily executed, therefore the
heart of the sons of men was “fully set in them to do evil.”(419) But the
transgression of a just and righteous law must inevitably result in misery
and ruin. Though not visited at once with judgments, the wickedness of men
was nevertheless surely working out their doom. Centuries of apostasy and
crime had been treasuring up wrath against the day of retribution; and
when their iniquity was full, the despisers of God learned too late that
it is a fearful thing to have worn out the divine patience. The
restraining Spirit of God, which imposes a check upon the cruel power of
Satan, was in a great measure removed, and he whose only delight is the
wretchedness of men, was permitted to work his will. Those who had chosen
the service of rebellion, were left to reap its fruits, until the land was
filled with crimes too horrible for pen to trace. From devastated
provinces and ruined cities a terrible cry was heard,—a cry of bitterest
anguish. France was shaken as if by an earthquake. Religion, law, social
order, the family, the state, and the church,—all were smitten down by the
impious hand that had been lifted against the law of God. Truly spake the
wise man: “The wicked shall fall by his own wickedness.” “Though a sinner
do evil a hundred times, and his days be prolonged, yet surely I know that
it shall be well with them that fear God, which fear before Him: but it
shall not be well with the wicked.”(420) “They hated knowledge, and did
not choose the fear of the Lord;” “therefore shall they eat of the fruit
of their own way, and be filled with their own devices.”(421)

God’s faithful witnesses, slain by the blasphemous power that “ascendeth
out of the bottomless pit,” were not long to remain silent. “After three
days and a half the Spirit of life from God entered into them, and they
stood upon their feet; and great fear fell upon them which saw them.”(422)
It was in 1793 that the decrees which abolished the Christian religion and
set aside the Bible, passed the French Assembly. Three years and a half
later a resolution rescinding these decrees, thus granting toleration to
the Scriptures, was adopted by the same body. The world stood aghast at
the enormity of guilt which had resulted from a rejection of the Sacred
Oracles, and men recognized the necessity of faith in God and His word as
the foundation of virtue and morality. Saith the Lord, “Whom hast thou
reproached and blasphemed? and against whom hast thou exalted thy voice,
and lifted up thine eyes on high? even against the Holy One of
Israel.”(423) “Therefore, behold, I will this once cause them to know, I
will cause them to know Mine hand and My might; and they shall know that
My name is Jehovah.”(424)

Concerning the two witnesses the prophet declares further: “And they heard
a great voice from heaven saying unto them, Come up hither. And they
ascended up to heaven in a cloud; and their enemies beheld them.”(425)
Since France made war upon God’s two witnesses, they have been honored as
never before. In 1804 the British and Foreign Bible Society was organized.
This was followed by similar organizations, with numerous branches, upon
the continent of Europe. In 1816 the American Bible Society was founded.
When the British Society was formed, the Bible had been printed and
circulated in fifty tongues. It has since been translated into more than
four hundred languages and dialects.(426)

For the fifty years preceding 1792, little attention was given to the work
of foreign missions. No new societies were formed, and there were but few
churches that made any effort for the spread of Christianity in heathen
lands. But toward the close of the eighteenth century a great change took
place. Men became dissatisfied with the results of rationalism, and
realized the necessity of divine revelation and experimental religion.
From this time the work of foreign missions attained an unprecedented
growth.(427)

The improvements in printing have given an impetus to the work of
circulating the Bible. The increased facilities for communication between
different countries, the breaking down of ancient barriers of prejudice
and national exclusiveness, and the loss of secular power by the pontiff
of Rome, have opened the way for the entrance of the word of God. For some
years the Bible has been sold without restraint in the streets of Rome,
and it has now been carried to every part of the habitable globe.

The infidel Voltaire once boastingly said: “I am weary of hearing people
repeat that twelve men established the Christian religion. I will prove
that one man may suffice to overthrow it.” A century has passed since his
death. Millions have joined in the war upon the Bible. But it is so far
from being destroyed, that where there were a hundred in Voltaire’s time,
there are now ten thousand, yes, a hundred thousand copies of the Book of
God. In the words of an early Reformer concerning the Christian church,
“The Bible is an anvil that has worn out many hammers.” Saith the Lord,
“No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper; and every tongue
that shall rise against thee in judgment thou shalt condemn.”(428)

“The word of our God shall stand forever.” “All His commandments are sure.
They stand fast forever and ever, and are done in truth and
uprightness.”(429) Whatever is built upon the authority of man will be
overthrown; but that which is founded upon the rock of God’s immutable
word shall stand forever.





16. THE PILGRIM FATHERS.


                     [Illustration: Chapter header.]

The English Reformers, while renouncing the doctrines of Romanism, had
retained many of its forms. Thus though the authority and the creed of
Rome were rejected, not a few of her customs and ceremonies were
incorporated into the worship of the Church of England. It was claimed
that these things were not matters of conscience; that though they were
not commanded in Scripture, and hence were non-essential, yet not being
forbidden, they were not intrinsically evil. Their observance tended to
narrow the gulf which separated the reformed churches from Rome, and it
was urged that they would promote the acceptance of the Protestant faith
by Romanists.

To the conservative and compromising, these arguments seemed conclusive.
But there was another class that did not so judge. The fact that these
customs “tended to bridge over the chasm between Rome and the
Reformation,”(430) was in their view a conclusive argument against
retaining them. They looked upon them as badges of the slavery from which
they had been delivered, and to which they had no disposition to return.
They reasoned that God has in His word established the regulations
governing His worship, and that men are not at liberty to add to these or
to detract from them. The very beginning of the great apostasy was in
seeking to supplement the authority of God by that of the church. Rome
began by enjoining what God had not forbidden, and she ended by forbidding
what He had explicitly enjoined.

Many earnestly desired to return to the purity and simplicity which
characterized the primitive church. They regarded many of the established
customs of the English Church as monuments of idolatry, and they could not
in conscience unite in her worship. But the church, being supported by the
civil authority, would permit no dissent from her forms. Attendance upon
her service was required by law, and unauthorized assemblies for religious
worship were prohibited, under penalty of imprisonment, exile, and death.

At the opening of the seventeenth century the monarch who had just
ascended the throne of England declared his determination to make the
Puritans “conform, or ... harry them out of the land, or else worse.”(431)
Hunted, persecuted, and imprisoned, they could discern in the future no
promise of better days, and many yielded to the conviction that for such
as would serve God according to the dictates of their conscience, “England
was ceasing forever to be a habitable place.”(432) They were at last
determined to seek refuge in Holland. Difficulties, losses, and
imprisonment were encountered. Their purposes were thwarted, and they were
betrayed into the hands of their enemies. But steadfast perseverance
finally conquered, and they found shelter on the friendly shores of the
Dutch Republic.

In their flight they had left their houses, their goods, and their means
of livelihood. They were strangers in a strange land, among a people of
different language and customs. They were forced to resort to new and
untried occupations to earn their bread. Middle-aged men, who had spent
their lives in tilling the soil, had now to learn mechanical trades. But
they cheerfully accepted the situation, and lost no time in idleness or
repining. Though often pinched with poverty, they thanked God for the
blessings which were still granted them, and found their joy in unmolested
spiritual communion. “They knew they were pilgrims, and looked not much on
those things, but lifted up their eyes to heaven, their dearest country,
and quieted their spirits.”(433)

In the midst of exile and hardship, their love and faith waxed strong.
They trusted the Lord’s promises, and He did not fail them in time of
need. His angels were by their side, to encourage and support them. And
when God’s hand seemed pointing them across the sea, to a land where they
might found for themselves a state, and leave to their children the
precious heritage of religious liberty, they went forward, without
shrinking, in the path of providence.

God had permitted trials to come upon His people to prepare them for the
accomplishment of His gracious purpose toward them. The church had been
brought low, that she might be exalted. God was about to display His power
in her behalf, to give to the world another evidence that He will not
forsake those who trust in Him. He had overruled events to cause the wrath
of Satan and the plots of evil men to advance His glory, and to bring His
people to a place of security. Persecution and exile were opening the way
to freedom.

When first constrained to separate from the English Church, the Puritans
had joined themselves together by a solemn covenant, as the Lord’s free
people, “to walk together in all His ways made known or to be made known
to them.”(434) Here was the true spirit of reform, the vital principle of
Protestantism. It was with this purpose that the Pilgrims departed from
Holland to find a home in the New World. John Robinson, their pastor, who
was providentially prevented from accompanying them, in his farewell
address to the exiles said:

“Brethren, we are now erelong to part asunder, and the Lord knoweth
whether I shall live ever to see your faces more. But whether the Lord
hath appointed it 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 ever you were to receive any truth of my ministry; for I am very
confident the Lord hath more truth and light yet to break forth out of His
holy word.”(435)

“For my part, I cannot sufficiently bewail the condition of the reformed
churches, who are come to a period in religion, and will go at present no
farther than the instruments of their reformation. The Lutherans cannot be
drawn to go beyond 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.”(436)

“Remember your church covenant, in which you have agreed to walk in all
the ways of the Lord, made or to be made known unto you. Remember your
promise and covenant with God and with one another, to receive whatever
light and truth shall be made known to you from His written word; but
withal, take heed, I beseech you, what you receive for truth, and compare
it and weigh it with other scriptures of truth before you accept it; for
it is not possible the Christian world should come so lately out of such
thick antichristian darkness, and that full perfection of knowledge should
break forth at once.”(437)

It was the desire for liberty of conscience that inspired the Pilgrims to
brave the perils of the long journey across the sea, to endure the
hardships and dangers of the wilderness, and with God’s blessing to lay,
on the shores of America, the foundation of a mighty nation. Yet honest
and God-fearing as they were, the Pilgrims did not yet comprehend the
great principle of religious liberty. The freedom which they sacrificed so
much to secure for themselves, they were not equally ready to grant to
others. “Very few, even of the foremost thinkers and moralists of the
seventeenth century, had any just conception of that grand principle, the
outgrowth of the New Testament, which acknowledges God as the sole judge
of human faith.”(438) The doctrine that God has committed to the church
the right to control the conscience, and to define and punish heresy, is
one of the most deeply rooted of papal errors. While the Reformers
rejected the creed of Rome, they were not entirely free from her spirit of
intolerance. The dense darkness in which, through the long ages of her
rule, popery had enveloped all Christendom, had not even yet been wholly
dissipated. Said one of the leading ministers in the colony of
Massachusetts Bay: “It was toleration that made the world antichristian;
and the church never took harm by the punishment of heretics.”(439) The
regulation was adopted by the colonists, that only church-members should
have a voice in the civil government. A kind of state church was formed,
all the people being required to contribute to the support of the clergy,
and the magistrates being authorized to suppress heresy. Thus the secular
power was in the hands of the church. It was not long before these
measures led to the inevitable result—persecution.

Eleven years after the planting of the first colony, Roger Williams came
to the New World. Like the early Pilgrims, he came to enjoy religious
freedom; but unlike them, he saw—what so few in his time had yet seen—that
this freedom was the inalienable right of all, whatever might be their
creed. He was an earnest seeker for truth, with Robinson holding it
impossible that all the light from God’s word had yet been received.
Williams “was the first person in modern Christendom to establish civil
government on the doctrine of the liberty of conscience, the equality of
opinions before the law.”(440) He declared it to be the duty of the
magistrate to restrain crime, but never to control the conscience. “The
public or the magistrates may decide,” he said, “what is due from man to
man; but when they attempt to prescribe a man’s duties to God, they are
out of place, and there can be no safety; for it is clear that if the
magistrate has the power, he may decree one set of opinions or beliefs
to-day and another to-morrow; as has been done in England by different
kings and queens, and by different popes and councils in the Roman Church;
so that belief would become a heap of confusion.”(441)

Attendance at the services of the established church was required under a
penalty of fine or imprisonment. “Williams reprobated the law; the worst
statute in the English code was that which did but enforce attendance upon
the parish church. To compel men to unite with those of a different creed,
he regarded as an open violation of their natural rights; to drag to
public worship the irreligious and the unwilling, seemed only like
requiring hypocrisy.... ‘No one should be bound to worship, or,’ he added,
‘to maintain a worship, against his own consent.’ ‘What!’ exclaimed his
antagonists, amazed at his tenets, ‘is not the laborer worthy of his
hire?’ ‘Yes,’ replied he, ‘from them that hire him.’ ”(442)

Roger Williams was respected and beloved as a faithful minister, a man of
rare gifts, of unbending integrity and true benevolence; yet his steadfast
denial of the right of civil magistrates to authority over the church, and
his demand for religious liberty, could not be tolerated. The application
of this new doctrine, it was urged, would “subvert the fundamental state
and government of the country.”(443) He was sentenced to banishment from
the colonies, and finally, to avoid arrest, he was forced to flee, amid
the cold and storms of winter, into the unbroken forest.

“For fourteen weeks,” he says, “I was sorely tossed in a bitter season,
not knowing what bread or bed did mean.” But “the ravens fed me in the
wilderness,” and a hollow tree often served him for a shelter.(444) Thus
he continued his painful flight through the snow and the trackless forest,
until he found refuge with an Indian tribe whose confidence and affection
he had won while endeavoring to teach them the truths of the gospel.

Making his way at last, after months of change and wandering, to the
shores of Narragansett Bay, he there laid the foundation of the first
state of modern times that in the fullest sense recognized the right of
religious freedom. The fundamental principle of Roger Williams’s colony,
was “that every man should have liberty to worship God according to the
light of his own conscience.”(445) His little State, Rhode Island, became
the asylum of the oppressed, and it increased and prospered until its
foundation principles—civil and religious liberty—became the corner-stones
of the American Republic.

In that grand old document which our forefathers set forth as their bill
of rights—the Declaration of Independence—they declared: “We hold these
truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal; that they are
endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights; that among these
are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” And the Constitution
guarantees, in the most explicit terms, the inviolability of conscience:
“No religious test shall ever be required as a qualification to any office
of public trust under the United States.” “Congress shall make no law
respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise
thereof.”

“The framers of the Constitution recognized the eternal principle that
man’s relation with his God is above human legislation, and his rights of
conscience inalienable. Reasoning was not necessary to establish this
truth; we are conscious of it in our own bosoms. It is this consciousness
which, in defiance of human laws, has sustained so many martyrs in
tortures and flames. They felt that their duty to God was superior to
human enactments, and that man could exercise no authority over their
consciences. It is an inborn principle which nothing can eradicate.”(446)

As the tidings spread through the countries of Europe, of a land where
every man might enjoy the fruit of his own labor and obey the convictions
of his conscience, thousands flocked to the shores of the New World.
Colonies rapidly multiplied. “Massachusetts, by special law, offered free
welcome and aid, at the public cost, to Christians of any nationality who
might fly beyond the Atlantic ‘to escape from wars or famine, or the
oppression of their persecutors.’ Thus the fugitive and the downtrodden
were, by statute, made the guests of the commonwealth.”(447) In twenty
years from the first landing at Plymouth, as many thousand Pilgrims were
settled in New England.

To secure the object which they sought, “they were content to earn a bare
subsistence by a life of frugality and toil. They asked nothing from the
soil but the reasonable returns of their own labor. No golden vision threw
a deceitful halo around their path.... They were content with the slow but
steady progress of their social polity. They patiently endured the
privations of the wilderness, watering the tree of liberty with their
tears, and with the sweat of their brow, till it took deep root in the
land.”

The Bible was held as the foundation of faith, the source of wisdom, and
the charter of liberty. Its principles were diligently taught in the home,
in the school, and in the church, and its fruits were manifest in thrift,
intelligence, purity, and temperance. One might be for years a dweller in
the Puritan settlements, “and not see a drunkard, or hear an oath, or meet
a beggar.”(448) It was demonstrated that the principles of the Bible are
the surest safeguards of national greatness. The feeble and isolated
colonies grew to a confederation of powerful States, and the world marked
with wonder the peace and prosperity of “a church without a pope, and a
state without a king.”

But continually increasing numbers were attracted to the shores of
America, actuated by motives widely different from those of the first
Pilgrims. Though the primitive faith and purity exerted a wide-spread and
moulding power, yet its influence became less and less as the numbers
increased of those who sought only worldly advantage.

The regulation adopted by the early colonists, of permitting only members
of the church to vote or to hold office in the civil government, led to
most pernicious results. This measure had been accepted as a means of
preserving the purity of the state, but it resulted in the corruption of
the church. A profession of religion being the condition of suffrage and
office-holding, many, actuated solely by motives of worldly policy, united
with the church without a change of heart. Thus the churches came to
consist, to a considerable extent, of unconverted persons; and even in the
ministry were those who not only held errors of doctrine, but who were
ignorant of the renewing power of the Holy Spirit. Thus again was
demonstrated the evil results, so often witnessed in the history of the
church from the days of Constantine to the present, of attempting to build
up the church by the aid of the state, of appealing to the secular power
in support of the gospel of Him who declared, “My kingdom is not of this
world.”(449) The union of the church with the state, be the degree never
so slight, while it may appear to bring the world nearer to the church,
does in reality but bring the church nearer to the world.

The great principle so nobly advocated by Robinson and Roger Williams,
that truth is progressive, that Christians should stand ready to accept
all the light which may shine from God’s holy word, was lost sight of by
their descendants. The Protestant churches of America—and those of Europe
as well—so highly favored in receiving the blessings of the Reformation,
failed to press forward in the path of reform. Though a few faithful men
arose, from time to time, to proclaim new truth and expose long-cherished
error, the majority, like the Jews in Christ’s day or the papists in the
time of Luther, were content to believe as their fathers had believed, and
to live as they had lived. Therefore religion again degenerated into
formalism; and errors and superstitions which would have been cast aside
had the church continued to walk in the light of God’s word, were retained
and cherished. Thus the spirit inspired by the Reformation gradually died
out, until there was almost as great need of reform in the Protestant
churches as in the Roman Church in the time of Luther. There was the same
worldliness and spiritual stupor, a similar reverence for the opinions of
men, and substitution of human theories for the teachings of God’s word.

The wide circulation of the Bible in the early part of the nineteenth
century, and the great light thus shed upon the world, was not followed by
a corresponding advance in knowledge of revealed truth, or in experimental
religion. Satan could not, as in former ages, keep God’s word from the
people; it had been placed within the reach of all; but in order still to
accomplish his object, he led many to value it but lightly. Men neglected
to search the Scriptures, and thus they continued to accept false
interpretations, and to cherish doctrines which had no foundation in the
Bible.

Seeing the failure of his efforts to crush out the truth by persecution,
Satan had again resorted to the plan of compromise which led to the great
apostasy and the formation of the Church of Rome. He had induced
Christians to ally themselves, not now with pagans, but with those who, by
their devotion to the things of this world, had proved themselves to be as
truly idolaters as were the worshipers of graven images. And the results
of this union were no less pernicious now than in former ages; pride and
extravagance were fostered under the guise of religion, and the churches
became corrupted. Satan continued to pervert the doctrines of the Bible,
and traditions that were to ruin millions were taking deep root. The
church was upholding and defending these traditions, instead of contending
for “the faith which was once delivered to the saints.” Thus were degraded
the principles for which the Reformers had done and suffered so much.





17. HERALDS OF THE MORNING.


                     [Illustration: Chapter header.]

One of the most solemn and yet most glorious truths revealed in the Bible
is that of Christ’s second coming, to complete the great work of
redemption. To God’s pilgrim people, so long left to sojourn in “the
region and shadow of death,” a precious, joy-inspiring hope is given in
the promise of His appearing, who is “the resurrection and the life,” to
“bring home again His banished.” The doctrine of the second advent is the
very key-note of the Sacred Scriptures. From the day when the first pair
turned their sorrowing steps from Eden, the children of faith have waited
the coming of the Promised One to break the destroyer’s power and bring
them again to the lost Paradise. Holy men of old looked forward to the
advent of the Messiah in glory, as the consummation of their hope. Enoch,
only the seventh in descent from them that dwelt in Eden, he who for three
centuries on earth walked with his God, was permitted to behold from afar
the coming of the Deliverer. “Behold,” he declared, “the Lord cometh with
ten thousands of His saints, to execute judgment upon all.”(450) The
patriarch Job in the night of his affliction exclaimed with unshaken
trust: “I know that my Redeemer liveth, and that He shall stand at the
latter day upon the earth: ... in my flesh shall I see God: whom I shall
see for myself, and mine eyes shall behold, and not another.”(451)

The coming of Christ to usher in the reign of righteousness, has inspired
the most sublime and impassioned utterances of the sacred writers. The
poets and prophets of the Bible have dwelt upon it in words glowing with
celestial fire. The psalmist sung of the power and majesty of Israel’s
King: “Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty, God hath shined. Our God
shall come, and shall not keep silence.... He shall call to the heavens
from above, and to the earth, that He may judge His people.”(452) “Let the
heavens rejoice, and let the earth be glad ... before the Lord: for He
cometh, for He cometh to judge the earth: He shall judge the world with
righteousness, and the people with His truth.”(453)

Said the prophet Isaiah: “Awake and sing, ye that dwell in dust: for thy
dew is as the dew of herbs, and the earth shall cast out the dead.” “Thy
dead men shall live, together with my dead body shall they arise.” “He
will swallow up death in victory; and the Lord God will wipe away tears
from off all faces; and the rebuke of His people shall He take away from
off all the earth: for the Lord hath spoken it. And it shall be said in
that day, Lo, this is our God; we have waited for Him, and He will save
us: this is the Lord; we have waited for Him, we will be glad and rejoice
in His salvation.”(454)

And Habakkuk, rapt in holy vision, beheld His appearing. “God came from
Teman, and the Holy One from Mount Paran. His glory covered the heavens,
and the earth was full of His praise. And His brightness was as the
light.” “He stood, and measured the earth: He beheld, and drove asunder
the nations; and the everlasting mountains were scattered, the perpetual
hills did bow: His ways are everlasting.” “Thou didst ride upon Thine
horses and Thy chariots of salvation.” “The mountains saw Thee, and they
trembled: ... the deep uttered his voice, and lifted up his hands on high.
The sun and moon stood still in their habitation: at the light of Thine
arrows they went, and at the shining of Thy glittering spear.” “Thou
wentest forth for the salvation of Thy people, even for salvation with
Thine anointed.”(455)

When the Saviour was about to be separated from His disciples, He
comforted them in their sorrow with the assurance that He would come
again: “Let not your heart be troubled.... In My Father’s house are many
mansions.... 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.”(456) “The
Son of man shall come in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him. Then
shall He sit upon the throne of His glory: and before Him shall be
gathered all nations.”(457)

The angels who lingered upon Olivet after Christ’s ascension, repeated to
the disciples the promise of His return: “This _same_ Jesus, which is
taken up from you into heaven, shall _so_ come in like manner as ye have
seen Him go into heaven.”(458) And the apostle Paul, speaking by the
Spirit of inspiration, testified: “The Lord _Himself_ shall descend from
heaven with a shout, with the voice of the Archangel, and with the trump
of God.”(459) Says the prophet of Patmos, “Behold, He cometh with clouds;
and every eye shall see Him.”(460)

About His coming cluster the glories of that “restitution of all things,
which God hath spoken by the mouth of all His holy prophets since the
world began.”(461) Then the long-continued rule of evil shall be broken;
“the kingdoms of this world” will become “the kingdoms of our Lord, and of
His Christ; and He shall reign forever and ever.”(462) “The glory of the
Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together.” “The Lord
God will cause righteousness and praise to spring forth before all the
nations.” He shall be “for a crown of glory, and for a diadem of beauty,
unto the residue of His people.”(463)

It is then that the peaceful and long-desired kingdom of the Messiah shall
be established under the whole heaven. “The Lord shall comfort Zion: He
will comfort all her waste places; and He will make her wilderness like
Eden, and her desert like the garden of the Lord.” “The glory of Lebanon
shall be given unto it, the excellency of Carmel and Sharon.” “Thou shalt
no more be termed Forsaken; neither shall thy land any more be termed
Desolate: but thou shalt be called My Delight, and thy land Beulah.” “As
the bridegroom rejoiceth over the bride, so shall thy God rejoice over
thee.”(464)

The coming of the Lord has been in all ages the hope of His true
followers. The Saviour’s parting promise upon Olivet, that He would come
again, lighted up the future for His disciples, filling their hearts with
joy and hope that sorrow could not quench nor trials dim. Amid suffering
and persecution, “the appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus
Christ” was the “blessed hope.” When the Thessalonian Christians were
filled with grief as they buried their loved ones, who had hoped to live
to witness the coming of the Lord, Paul, their teacher, pointed them to
the resurrection, to take place at the Saviour’s advent. Then the dead in
Christ should rise, and together with the living be caught up to meet the
Lord in the air. “And so,” he said, “shall we ever be with the Lord.
Wherefore comfort one another with these words.”(465)

On rocky Patmos the beloved disciple hears the promise, “Surely I come
quickly,” and his longing response voices the prayer of the church in all
her pilgrimage, “Even so, come, Lord Jesus.”(466)

From the dungeon, the stake, the scaffold, where saints and martyrs
witnessed for the truth, comes down the centuries the utterance of their
faith and hope. Being “assured of His personal resurrection, and
consequently of their own at His coming, for this cause,” says one of
these Christians, “they despised death, and were found to be above
it.”(467) They were willing to go down to the grave, that they might “rise
free.”(468) They looked for the “Lord to come from heaven in the clouds
with the glory of His Father,” “bringing to the just the times of the
kingdom.” The Waldenses cherished the same faith.(469) Wycliffe looked
forward to the Redeemer’s appearing as the hope of the church.(470)

Luther declared: “I persuade myself verily, that the day of judgment will
not be absent full three hundred years. God will not, can not, suffer this
wicked world much longer.” “The great day is drawing near in which the
kingdom of abominations shall be overthrown.”(471)

“This aged world is not far from its end,” said Melanchthon. Calvin bids
Christians “not to hesitate, ardently desiring the day of Christ’s coming
as of all events most auspicious;” and declares that “the whole family of
the faithful will keep in view that day.” “We must hunger after Christ, we
must seek, contemplate,” he says, “till the dawning of that great day,
when our Lord will fully manifest the glory of His kingdom.”(472)

“Has not our Lord Jesus carried up our flesh into heaven?” said Knox, the
Scotch Reformer, “and shall He not return? We know that He shall return,
and that with expedition.” Ridley and Latimer, who laid down their lives
for the truth, looked in faith for the Lord’s coming. Ridley wrote: “The
world without doubt—this I do believe, and therefore I say it—draws to an
end. Let us with John, the servant of God, cry in our hearts unto our
Saviour Christ, Come, Lord Jesus, come.”(473)

“The thoughts of the coming of the Lord,” said Baxter, “are most sweet and
joyful to me.”(474) “It is the work of faith and the character of His
saints to love His appearing and to look for that blessed hope.” “If death
be the last enemy to be destroyed at the resurrection, we may learn how
earnestly believers should long and pray for the second coming of Christ,
when this full and final conquest shall be made.”(475) “This is the day
that all believers should long, and hope, and wait for, as being the
accomplishment of all the work of their redemption, and all the desires
and endeavors of their souls.” “Hasten, O Lord, this blessed day!”(476)
Such was the hope of the apostolic church, of the “church in the
wilderness,” and of the Reformers.

Prophecy not only foretells the manner and object of Christ’s coming, but
presents tokens by which men are to know when it is near. Said Jesus:
“There shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars.”(477)
“The sun shall be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the
stars of heaven shall fall, and the powers that are in heaven shall be
shaken. And then shall they see the Son of man coming in the clouds with
great power and glory.”(478) The revelator thus describes the first of the
signs to precede the second advent: “There was a great earthquake; and the
sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood.”(479)

These signs were witnessed before the opening of the nineteenth century.
In fulfilment of this prophecy there occurred, in the year 1755, the most
terrible earthquake that has ever been recorded. Though commonly known as
the earthquake of Lisbon, it extended to the greater part of Europe,
Africa, and America. It was felt in Greenland, in the West Indies, in the
island of Madeira, in Norway and Sweden, Great Britain and Ireland. It
pervaded an extent of not less than four million square miles. In Africa
the shock was almost as severe as in Europe. A great part of Algiers was
destroyed; and a short distance from Morocco, a village containing eight
or ten thousand inhabitants was swallowed up. A vast wave swept over the
coast of Spain and Africa, engulfing cities, and causing great
destruction.

It was in Spain and Portugal that the shock manifested its extreme
violence. At Cadiz the inflowing wave was said to be sixty feet high.
Mountains, “some of the largest in Portugal, were impetuously shaken, as
it were, from their very foundations; and some of them opened at their
summits, which were split and rent in a wonderful manner, huge masses of
them being thrown down into the adjacent valleys. Flames are related to
have issued from these mountains.”(480)

At Lisbon “a sound of thunder was heard underground, and immediately
afterward a violent shock threw down the greater part of that city. In the
course of about six minutes, sixty thousand persons perished. The sea
first retired, and laid the bar dry; it then rolled in, rising fifty feet
or more above its ordinary level.” “Among other extraordinary events
related to have occurred at Lisbon during the catastrophe, was the
subsidence of a new quay, built entirely of marble, at an immense expense.
A great concourse of people had collected there for safety, as a spot
where they might be beyond the reach of falling ruins; but suddenly the
quay sank down with all the people on it, and not one of the dead bodies
ever floated to the surface.”(481)

“The shock” of the earthquake “was instantly followed by the fall of every
church and convent, almost all the large public buildings, and more than
one fourth of the houses. In about two hours after the shock, fires broke
out in different quarters, and raged with such violence for the space of
nearly three days, that the city was completely desolated. The earthquake
happened on a holy-day, when the churches and convents were full of
people, very few of whom escaped.”(482) “The terror of the people was
beyond description. Nobody wept; it was beyond tears. They ran hither and
thither, delirious with horror and astonishment, beating their faces and
breasts, crying, ‘_Misericordia! the world’s at an end!_’ Mothers forgot
their children, and ran about loaded with crucifixed images.
Unfortunately, many ran to the churches for protection; but in vain was
the sacrament exposed; in vain did the poor creatures embrace the altars;
images, priests, and people were buried in one common ruin.” It has been
estimated that ninety thousand persons lost their lives on that fatal day.

Twenty-five years later appeared the next sign mentioned in the
prophecy,—the darkening of the sun and moon. What rendered this more
striking was the fact that the time of its fulfilment had been definitely
pointed out. In the Saviour’s conversation with His disciples upon Olivet,
after describing the long period of trial for the church,—the 1260 years
of papal persecution, concerning which He had promised that the
tribulation should be shortened,—He thus mentioned certain events to
precede His coming, and fixed the time when the first of these should be
witnessed: “In those days, after that tribulation, the sun shall be
darkened, and the moon shall not give her light.”(483) The 1260 days, or
years, terminated in 1798. A quarter of a century earlier, persecution had
almost wholly ceased. Following this persecution, according to the words
of Christ, the sun was to be darkened. On the 19th of May, 1780, this
prophecy was fulfilled.

“Almost if not altogether alone, as the most mysterious and as yet
unexplained phenomenon of its kind, ... stands the dark day of May 19,
1780,—a most unaccountable darkening of the whole visible heavens and
atmosphere in New England.”(484)

An eye-witness living in Massachusetts describes the event as follows:

“In the morning the sun rose clear, but was soon overcast. The clouds
became lowery, and from them, black and ominous, as they soon appeared,
lightning flashed, thunder rolled, and a little rain fell. Toward nine
o’clock, the clouds became thinner, and assumed a brassy or coppery
appearance, and earth, rocks, trees, buildings, water, and persons were
changed by this strange, unearthly light. A few minutes later, a heavy
black cloud spread over the entire sky except a narrow rim at the horizon,
and it was as dark as it usually is at nine o’clock on a summer
evening....

“Fear, anxiety, and awe gradually filled the minds of the people. Women
stood at the door, looking out upon the dark landscape; men returned from
their labor in the fields; the carpenter left his tools, the blacksmith
his forge, the tradesman his counter. Schools were dismissed, and
tremblingly the children fled homeward. Travelers put up at the nearest
farmhouse. ‘What is coming?’ queried every lip and heart. It seemed as if
a hurricane was about to dash across the land, or as if it was the day of
the consummation of all things.

“Candles were used; and hearth-fires shone as brightly as on a moonless
evening in autumn.... Fowls retired to their roosts and went to sleep,
cattle gathered at the pasture-bars and lowed, frogs peeped, birds sang
their evening songs, and bats flew about. But the human knew that night
had not come....

“Dr. Nathanael Whittaker, pastor of the Tabernacle church in Salem, held
religious services in the meeting-house, and preached a sermon in which he
maintained that the darkness was supernatural. Congregations came together
in many other places. The texts for the extemporaneous sermons were
invariably those that seemed to indicate that the darkness was consonant
with scriptural prophecy.... The darkness was most dense shortly after
eleven o’clock.”(485) “In most parts of the country it was so great in the
daytime, that the people could not tell the hour by either watch or clock,
nor dine, nor manage their domestic business, without the light of
candles....

“The extent of this darkness was extraordinary. It was observed as far
east as Falmouth. To the westward it reached to the farthest part of
Connecticut, and to Albany. To the southward, it was observed along the
seacoasts; and to the north as far as the American settlements
extend.”(486)

The intense darkness of the day was succeeded, an hour or two before
evening, by a partially clear sky, and the sun appeared, though it was
still obscured by the black, heavy mist. “After sundown, the clouds came
again overhead, and it grew dark very fast.” “Nor was the darkness of the
night less uncommon and terrifying than that of the day; notwithstanding
there was almost a full moon, no object was discernible but by the help of
some artificial light, which, when seen from the neighboring houses and
other places at a distance, appeared through a kind of Egyptian darkness
which seemed almost impervious to the rays.”(487) Said an eye-witness of
the scene: “I could not help conceiving at the time, that if every
luminous body in the universe had been shrouded in impenetrable shades, or
struck out of existence, the darkness could not have been more
complete.”(488) Though at nine o’clock that night the moon rose to the
full, “it had not the least effect to dispel the deathlike shadows.” After
midnight the darkness disappeared, and the moon, when first visible, had
the appearance of blood.

May 19, 1780, stands in history as “The Dark Day.” Since the time of
Moses, no period of darkness of equal density, extent, and duration, has
ever been recorded. The description of this event, as given by
eye-witnesses, is but an echo of the words of the Lord, recorded by the
prophet Joel, twenty-five hundred years previous to their fulfilment: “The
sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the
great and the terrible day of the Lord come.”(489)

Christ had bidden His people watch for the signs of His advent, and
rejoice as they should behold the tokens of their coming King. “When these
things begin to come to pass,” He said, “then look up, and lift up your
heads; for your redemption draweth nigh.” He pointed His followers to the
budding trees of spring, and said: “When they now shoot forth, ye see and
know of your own selves that summer is now nigh at hand. So likewise ye,
when ye see these things come to pass, know ye that the kingdom of God is
nigh at hand.”(490)

But as the spirit of humility and devotion in the church had given place
to pride and formalism, love for Christ and faith in His coming had grown
cold. Absorbed in worldliness and pleasure-seeking, the professed people
of God were blinded to the Saviour’s instructions concerning the signs of
His appearing. The doctrine of the second advent had been neglected; the
scriptures relating to it were obscured by misinterpretation, until it
was, to a great extent, ignored and forgotten. Especially was this the
case in the churches of America. The freedom and comfort enjoyed by all
classes of society, the ambitious desire for wealth and luxury, begetting
an absorbing devotion to money-making, the eager rush for popularity and
power, which seemed to be within the reach of all, led men to center their
interests and hopes on the things of this life, and to put far in the
future that solemn day when the present order of things should pass away.

When the Saviour pointed out to His followers the signs of His return, He
foretold the state of backsliding that would exist just prior to His
second advent. There would be, as in the days of Noah, the activity and
stir of worldly business and pleasure-seeking—buying, selling, planting,
building, marrying, and giving in marriage—with forgetfulness of God and
the future life. For those living at this time, Christ’s admonition is:
“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 ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be
accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and
to stand before the Son of man.”(491)

The condition of the church at this time is pointed out in the Saviour’s
words in the Revelation, “Thou hast a name that thou livest, and art
dead.”(492) And to those who refuse to arouse from their careless
security, the solemn warning is addressed, “If therefore thou shalt not
watch, I will come on thee as a thief, and thou shalt not know what hour I
will come upon thee.”(493)

It was needful that men should be awakened to their danger; that they
should be roused to prepare for the solemn events connected with the close
of probation. The prophet of God declares: “The day of the Lord is great
and very terrible; and who can abide it?” Who shall stand when He
appeareth who is “of purer eyes than to behold evil,” and cannot “look on
iniquity”?(494) To them that cry, “My God, we know Thee,” yet have
transgressed His covenant, and hastened after another god,(495) hiding
iniquity in their hearts, and loving the paths of unrighteousness,—to
these the day of the Lord is “darkness, and not light, even very dark, and
no brightness in it.”(496) “It shall come to pass at that time,” saith the
Lord, “that I will search Jerusalem with candles, and punish the men that
are settled on their lees: that say in their heart, The Lord will not do
good, neither will He do evil.”(497) “I will punish the world for their
evil, and the wicked for their iniquity; and I will cause the arrogancy of
the proud to cease, and will lay low the haughtiness of the
terrible.”(498) “Neither their silver nor their gold shall be able to
deliver them;” “their goods shall become a booty, and their houses a
desolation.”(499)

The prophet Jeremiah, looking forward to this fearful time, exclaimed: “I
am pained at my very heart.” “I cannot hold my peace, because thou hast
heard, O my soul, the sound of the trumpet, the alarm of war. Destruction
upon destruction is cried.”(500)

“That day is a day of wrath, a day of trouble and distress, a day of
wasteness and desolation, a day of darkness and gloominess, a day of
clouds and thick darkness, a day of the trumpet and alarm.”(501) “Behold,
the day of the Lord cometh, ... to lay the land desolate: and He shall
destroy the sinners thereof out of it.”(502)

In view of that great day the word of God, in the most solemn and
impressive language, calls upon His people to arouse from their spiritual
lethargy, and to seek His face with repentance and humiliation: “Blow ye
the trumpet in Zion, and sound an alarm in My holy mountain: let all the
inhabitants of the land tremble: for the day of the Lord cometh, for it is
nigh at hand.” “Sanctify a fast, call a solemn assembly: gather the
people, sanctify the congregation, assemble the elders, gather the
children: ... let the bridegroom go forth of his chamber, and the bride
out of her closet. Let the priests, the ministers of the Lord, weep
between the porch and the altar.” “Turn ye even to Me with all your heart,
and with fasting, and with weeping, and with mourning: and rend your
heart, and not your garments, and turn unto the Lord your God: for He is
gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness.”(503)

To prepare a people to stand in the day of God, a great work of reform was
to be accomplished. God saw that many of His professed people were not
building for eternity, and in His mercy He was about to send a message of
warning to arouse them from their stupor, and lead them to make ready for
the coming of the Lord.

This warning is brought to view in Revelation 14. Here is a threefold
message represented as proclaimed by heavenly beings, and immediately
followed by the coming of the Son of man “to reap the harvest of the
earth.” The first of these warnings announces the approaching judgment.
The prophet beheld an angel flying “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.”(504)

This message is declared to be a part of the “everlasting gospel.” The
work of preaching the gospel has not been committed to angels, but has
been intrusted to men. Holy angels have been employed in directing this
work, they have in charge the great movements for the salvation of men;
but the actual proclamation of the gospel is performed by the servants of
Christ upon the earth.

Faithful men, who were obedient to the promptings of God’s Spirit and the
teachings of His word, were to proclaim this warning to the world. They
were those who had taken heed to the “sure word of prophecy,” the “light
that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day-star
arise.”(505) They had been seeking the knowledge of God more than all hid
treasures, counting it “better than the merchandise of silver, and the
gain thereof than fine gold.”(506) And the Lord revealed to them the great
things of the kingdom. “The secret of the Lord is with them that fear Him;
and He will show them His covenant.”(507)

It was not the scholarly theologians who had an understanding of this
truth, and engaged in its proclamation. Had these been faithful watchmen,
diligently and prayerfully searching the Scriptures, they would have known
the time of night; the prophecies would have opened to them the events
about to take place. But they did not occupy this position, and the
message was given by humbler men. Said Jesus, “Walk while ye have the
light, lest darkness come upon you.”(508) Those who turn away from the
light which God has given, or who neglect to seek it when it is within
their reach, are left in darkness. But the Saviour declares, “He that
followeth Me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of
life.”(509) Whoever is with singleness of purpose seeking to do God’s
will, earnestly heeding the light already given, will receive greater
light; to that soul some star of heavenly radiance will be sent, to guide
him into all truth.

At the time of Christ’s first advent, the priests and scribes of the holy
city, to whom were intrusted the oracles of God, might have discerned the
signs of the times, and proclaimed the coming of the Promised One. The
prophecy of Micah designated His birthplace;(510) Daniel specified the
time of His advent.(511) God committed these prophecies to the Jewish
leaders; they were without excuse if they did not know and declare to the
people that the Messiah’s coming was at hand. Their ignorance was the
result of sinful neglect. The Jews were building monuments for the slain
prophets of God, while by their deference to the great men of earth they
were paying homage to the servants of Satan. Absorbed in their ambitious
strife for place and power among men, they lost sight of the divine honors
proffered them by the King of heaven.

With profound and reverent interest the elders of Israel should have been
studying the place, the time, the circumstances, of the greatest event in
the world’s history,—the coming of the Son of God to accomplish the
redemption of man. All the people should have been watching and waiting
that they might be among the first to welcome the world’s Redeemer. But
lo, at Bethlehem two weary travelers from the hills of Nazareth traverse
the whole length of the narrow street to the eastern extremity of the
town, vainly seeking a place of rest and shelter for the night. No doors
are open to receive them. In a wretched hovel prepared for cattle, they at
last find refuge, and there the Saviour of the world is born.

Heavenly angels had seen the glory which the Son of God shared with the
Father before the world was, and they had looked forward with intense
interest to His appearing on earth, as an event fraught with the greatest
joy to all people. Angels were appointed to carry the glad tidings to
those who were prepared to receive it, and who would joyfully make it
known to the inhabitants of the earth. Christ had stooped to take upon
Himself man’s nature; He was to bear an infinite weight of woe as He
should make His soul an offering for sin; yet angels desired that even in
His humiliation, the Son of the Highest might appear before men with a
dignity and glory befitting His character. Would the great men of earth
assemble at Israel’s capital to greet His coming? Would legions of angels
present Him to the expectant company?

An angel visits the earth to see who are prepared to welcome Jesus. But he
can discern no tokens of expectancy. He hears no voice of praise and
triumph, that the period of Messiah’s coming is at hand. The angel hovers
for a time over the chosen city and the temple where the divine presence
has been manifested for ages; but even here is the same indifference. The
priests, in their pomp and pride, are offering polluted sacrifices in the
temple. The Pharisees are with loud voices addressing the people, or
making boastful prayers at the corners of the streets. In the palaces of
kings, in the assemblies of philosophers, in the schools of the rabbis,
all are alike unmindful of the wondrous fact which has filled all heaven
with joy and praise,—that the Redeemer of men is about to appear upon the
earth.

There is no evidence that Christ is expected, and no preparation for the
Prince of life. In amazement the celestial messenger is about to return to
heaven with the shameful tidings, when he discovers a group of shepherds
who are watching their flocks by night, and as they gaze into the starry
heavens, are contemplating the prophecy of a Messiah to come to earth, and
longing for the advent of the world’s Redeemer. Here is a company that is
prepared to receive the heavenly message. And suddenly the angel of the
Lord appears, declaring the good tidings of great joy. Celestial glory
floods all the plain, an innumerable company of angels is revealed, and as
if the joy were too great for one messenger to bring from heaven, a
multitude of voices break forth in the anthem which all the nations of the
saved shall one day sing, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth
peace, good will toward men.”(512)

O, what a lesson is this wonderful story of Bethlehem! How it rebukes our
unbelief, our pride and self-sufficiency. How it warns us to beware, lest
by our criminal indifference we also fail to discern the signs of the
times, and therefore know not the day of our visitation.

It was not alone upon the hills of Judea, not among the lowly shepherds
only, that angels found the watchers for Messiah’s coming. In the land of
the heathen also were those that looked for Him; they were wise men, rich
and noble, the philosophers of the East. Students of nature, the magi had
seen God in His handiwork. From the Hebrew Scriptures they had learned of
the Star to arise out of Jacob, and with eager desire they awaited His
coming, who should be not only the “Consolation of Israel,” but a “Light
to lighten the Gentiles,” and “for salvation unto the ends of the
earth.”(513) They were seekers for light, and light from the throne of God
illumined the path for their feet. While the priests and rabbis of
Jerusalem, the appointed guardians and expounders of the truth, were
shrouded in darkness, the Heaven-sent star guided these Gentile strangers
to the birthplace of the new-born King.

It is “unto them that look for Him” that Christ is to “appear the second
time without sin unto salvation.”(514) Like the tidings of the Saviour’s
birth, the message of the second advent was not committed to the religious
leaders of the people. They had failed to preserve their connection with
God, and had refused light from heaven; therefore they were not of the
number described by the apostle Paul: “But ye, brethren, are not in
darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief. Ye are all the
children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night,
nor of darkness.”(515)

The watchmen upon the walls of Zion should have been the first to catch
the tidings of the Saviour’s advent, the first to lift their voices to
proclaim Him near, the first to warn the people to prepare for His coming.
But they were at ease, dreaming of peace and safety, while the people were
asleep in their sins. Jesus saw His church, like the barren fig-tree,
covered with pretentious leaves, yet destitute of precious fruit. There
was a boastful observance of the forms of religion, while the spirit of
true humility, penitence, and faith—which alone could render the service
acceptable to God—was lacking. Instead of the graces of the Spirit, there
were manifested pride, formalism, vainglory, selfishness, oppression. A
backsliding church closed their eyes to the signs of the times. God did
not forsake them, or suffer His faithfulness to fail; but they departed
from Him, and separated themselves from His love. As they refused to
comply with the conditions, His promises were not fulfilled to them.

Such is the sure result of neglect to appreciate and improve the light and
privileges which God bestows. Unless the church will follow on in His
opening providence, accepting every ray of light, performing every duty
which may be revealed, religion will inevitably degenerate into the
observance of forms, and the spirit of vital godliness will disappear.
This truth has been repeatedly illustrated in the history of the church.
God requires of His people works of faith and obedience corresponding to
the blessings and privileges bestowed. Obedience requires a sacrifice and
involves a cross; and this is why so many of the professed followers of
Christ refused to receive the light from heaven, and, like the Jews of
old, knew not the time of their visitation.(516) Because of their pride
and unbelief, the Lord passed them by, and revealed His truth to those
who, like the shepherds of Bethlehem and the Eastern magi, had given heed
to all the light they had received.





18. AN AMERICAN REFORMER.


                     [Illustration: Chapter header.]

An upright, honest-hearted farmer, who had been led to doubt the divine
authority of the Scriptures, yet who sincerely desired to know the truth,
was the man specially chosen of God to lead out in the proclamation of
Christ’s second coming. Like many other reformers, William Miller had in
early life battled with poverty, and had thus learned the great lessons of
energy and self-denial. The members of the family from which he sprung
were characterized by an independent, liberty-loving spirit, by capability
of endurance, and ardent patriotism,—traits which were also prominent in
his character. His father was a captain in the army of the Revolution, and
to the sacrifices which he made in the struggles and sufferings of that
stormy period, may be traced the straitened circumstances of Miller’s
early life.

He had a sound physical constitution, and even in childhood gave evidence
of more than ordinary intellectual strength. As he grew older, this became
more marked. His mind was active and well developed, and he had a keen
thirst for knowledge. Though he did not enjoy the advantages of a
collegiate education, his love of study and a habit of careful thought and
close criticism rendered him a man of sound judgment and comprehensive
views. He possessed an irreproachable moral character and an enviable
reputation, being generally esteemed for integrity, thrift, and
benevolence. By dint of energy and application he early acquired a
competence, though his habits of study were still maintained. He filled
various civil and military offices with credit, and the avenues to wealth
and honor seemed wide open to him.

His mother was a woman of sterling piety, and in childhood he had been
subject to religious impressions. In early manhood, however, he was thrown
into the society of deists, whose influence was the stronger from the fact
that they were mostly good citizens, and men of humane and benevolent
disposition. Living, as they did, in the midst of Christian institutions,
their characters had been to some extent moulded by their surroundings.
For the excellencies which won them respect and confidence they were
indebted to the Bible; and yet these good gifts were so perverted as to
exert an influence against the word of God. By association with these men,
Miller was led to adopt their sentiments. The current interpretations of
Scripture presented difficulties which seemed to him insurmountable; yet
his new belief, while setting aside the Bible, offered nothing better to
take its place, and he remained far from satisfied. He continued to hold
these views, however, for about twelve years. But at the age of
thirty-four, the Holy Spirit impressed his heart with a sense of his
condition as a sinner. He found in his former belief no assurance of
happiness beyond the grave. The future was dark and gloomy. Referring
afterward to his feelings at this time, he said:

“Annihilation was a cold and chilling thought, and accountability was sure
destruction to all. The heavens were as brass over my head, and the earth
as iron under my feet. Eternity—what was it? And death—why was it? The
more I reasoned, the further I was from demonstration. The more I thought,
the more scattered were my conclusions. I tried to stop thinking, but my
thoughts would not be controlled. I was truly wretched, but did not
understand the cause. I murmured and complained, but knew not of whom. I
knew that there was a wrong, but knew not how or where to find the right.
I mourned, but without hope.”

In this state he continued for some months. “Suddenly,” he says, “the
character of a Saviour was vividly impressed upon my mind. It seemed that
there might be a being so good and compassionate as to himself atone for
our transgressions, and thereby save us from suffering the penalty of sin.
I immediately felt how lovely such a being must be, and imagined that I
could cast myself into the arms of, and trust in the mercy of, such a one.
But the question arose, How can it be proved that such a being does exist?
Aside from the Bible, I found that I could get no evidence of the
existence of such a Saviour, or even of a future state....

“I saw that the Bible did bring to view just such a Saviour as I needed;
and I was perplexed to find how an uninspired book should develop
principles so perfectly adapted to the wants of a fallen world. I was
constrained to admit that the Scriptures must be a revelation from God.
They became my delight; and in Jesus I found a friend. The Saviour became
to me the chiefest among ten thousand; and the Scriptures, which before
were dark and contradictory, now became the lamp to my feet and light to
my path. My mind became settled and satisfied. I found the Lord God to be
a Rock in the midst of the ocean of life. The Bible now became my chief
study, and I can truly say, I searched it with great delight. I found the
half was never told me. I wondered why I had not seen its beauty and glory
before, and marveled that I could have ever rejected it. I found
everything revealed that my heart could desire, and a remedy for every
disease of the soul. I lost all taste for other reading, and applied my
heart to get wisdom from God.”(517)

Miller publicly professed his faith in the religion which he had despised.
But his infidel associates were not slow to bring forward all those
arguments which he himself had often urged against the divine authority of
the Scriptures. He was not then prepared to answer them; but he reasoned
that if the Bible is a revelation from God, it must be consistent with
itself; and that as it was given for man’s instruction, it must be adapted
to his understanding. He determined to study the Scriptures for himself,
and ascertain if every apparent contradiction could not be harmonized.

Endeavoring to lay aside all preconceived opinions, and dispensing with
commentaries, he compared scripture with scripture by the aid of the
marginal references and the concordance. He pursued his study in a regular
and methodical manner; beginning with Genesis, and reading verse by verse,
he proceeded no faster than the meaning of the several passages so
unfolded as to leave him free from all embarrassment. When he found
anything obscure, it was his custom to compare it with every other text
which seemed to have any reference to the matter under consideration.
Every word was permitted to have its proper bearing upon the subject of
the text, and if his view of it harmonized with every collateral passage,
it ceased to be a difficulty. Thus whenever he met with a passage hard to
be understood, he found an explanation in some other portion of the
Scriptures. As he studied with earnest prayer for divine enlightenment,
that which had before appeared dark to his understanding was made clear.
He experienced the truth of the psalmist’s words, “The entrance of Thy
words giveth light; it giveth understanding unto the simple.”(518)

With intense interest he studied the books of Daniel and the Revelation,
employing the same principles of interpretation as in the other
scriptures, and found, to his great joy, that the prophetic symbols could
be understood. He saw that the prophecies, so far as they had been
fulfilled, had been fulfilled literally; that all the various figures,
metaphors, parables, similitudes, etc., were either explained in their
immediate connection, or the terms in which they were expressed were
defined in other scriptures, and when thus explained, were to be literally
understood. “I was thus satisfied,” he says, “that the Bible is a system
of revealed truths, so clearly and simply given that the wayfaring man,
though a fool, need not err therein.”(519) Link after link of the chain of
truth rewarded his efforts, as step by step he traced down the great lines
of prophecy. Angels of heaven were guiding his mind and opening the
Scriptures to his understanding.

Taking the manner in which the prophecies had been fulfilled in the past,
as a criterion by which to judge of the fulfilment of those which were
still future, he became satisfied that the popular view of the spiritual
reign of Christ—a temporal millennium before the end of the world—was not
sustained by the word of God. This doctrine, pointing to a thousand years
of righteousness and peace before the personal coming of the Lord, put far
off the terrors of the day of God. But, pleasing though it may be, it is
contrary to the teachings of Christ and His apostles, who declared that
the wheat and the tares are to grow together until the harvest, the end of
the world;(520) that “evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse;”
that “in the last days perilous times shall come;”(521) and that the
kingdom of darkness shall continue until the advent of the Lord, and shall
be consumed with the spirit of His mouth, and be destroyed with the
brightness of His coming.(522)

The doctrine of the world’s conversion and the spiritual reign of Christ
was not held by the apostolic church. It was not generally accepted by
Christians until about the beginning of the eighteenth century. Like every
other error, its results were evil. It taught men to look far in the
future for the coming of the Lord, and prevented them from giving heed to
the signs heralding His approach. It induced a feeling of confidence and
security that was not well founded, and led many to neglect the
preparation necessary in order to meet their Lord.

Miller found the literal, personal coming of Christ to be plainly taught
in the Scriptures. Says Paul, “The Lord Himself shall descend from heaven
with a shout, with the voice of the Archangel, and with the trump of
God.”(523) And the Saviour declares: “They shall _see_ the Son of man
coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.” “For as the
lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west; so shall
also the coming of the Son of man be.”(524) He is to be accompanied by all
the hosts of heaven. “The Son of man shall come in His glory, and all the
holy angels with Him.”(525) “And He shall send His angels with a great
sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together His elect.”(526)

At His coming the righteous dead will be raised, and the righteous living
will be changed. “We shall not all sleep,” says Paul, “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.”(527) And in his letter to the
Thessalonians, after describing the coming of the Lord, he says: “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.”

Not until the personal advent of Christ can His people receive the
kingdom. The Saviour said: “When the Son of man shall come in His glory,
and all the holy angels with Him, then shall He sit upon the throne of His
glory: and before Him shall be gathered all nations: and He shall separate
them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats:
and He shall set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats on the left.
Then shall the King say unto them on His right hand, Come, ye blessed of
My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the
world.” We have seen by the scriptures just given that when the Son of man
comes, the dead are raised incorruptible, and the living are changed. By
this great change they are prepared to receive the kingdom; for Paul says,
“Flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth
corruption inherit incorruption.”(528) Man in his present state is mortal,
corruptible; but the kingdom of God will be incorruptible, enduring
forever. Therefore man in his present state cannot enter into the kingdom
of God. But when Jesus comes, He confers immortality upon His people; and
then He calls them to inherit the kingdom of which they have hitherto been
only heirs.

These and other scriptures clearly proved to Miller’s mind that the events
which were generally expected to take place before the coming of Christ,
such as the universal reign of peace and the setting up of the kingdom of
God upon the earth, were to be subsequent to the second advent.
Furthermore, all the signs of the times and the condition of the world
corresponded to the prophetic description of the last days. He was forced
to the conclusion, from the study of Scripture alone, that the period
allotted for the continuance of the earth in its present state was about
to close.

“Another kind of evidence that vitally affected my mind,” he says, “was
the chronology of the Scriptures.... I found that predicted events, which
had been fulfilled in the past, often occurred within a given time. The
one hundred and twenty years to the flood (Gen. 6:3); the seven days that
were to precede it, with forty days of predicted rain (Gen. 7:4); the four
hundred years of the sojourn of Abraham’s seed (Gen. 15:13); the three
days of the butler’s and baker’s dreams (Gen. 40:12-20); the seven years
of Pharaoh’s (Gen. 41:28-54); the forty years in the wilderness (Num.
14:34); the three and a half years of famine (1 Kings 17:1);(529) ... the
seventy years’ captivity (Jer. 25:11); Nebuchadnezzar’s seven times (Dan.
4:13-16); and the seven weeks, threescore and two weeks, and the one week,
making seventy weeks, determined upon the Jews (Dan. 9:24-27),—the events
limited by these times were all once only a matter of prophecy, and were
fulfilled in accordance with the predictions.”(530)

When, therefore, he found, in his study of the Bible, various
chronological periods that, according to his understanding of them,
extended to the second coming of Christ, he could not but regard them as
the “times before appointed,” which God had revealed unto His servants.
“The secret things,” says Moses, “belong unto the Lord our God: but those
things which are revealed belong unto us and to our children
forever;”(531) and the Lord declares by the prophet Amos, that He “will do
nothing, but He revealeth His secret unto His servants the prophets.”(532)
The students of God’s word may, then, confidently expect to find the most
stupendous event to take place in human history clearly pointed out in the
Scriptures of truth.

“As I was fully convinced,” says Miller, “that ‘all Scripture given by
inspiration of God is profitable;’(533) that it came not at any time by
the will of man, but was written as holy men were moved by the Holy
Ghost,(534) and was written ‘for our learning, that we through patience
and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope,’(535) I could but regard
the chronological portions of the Bible as being as much a portion of the
word of God, and as much entitled to our serious consideration, as any
other portion of the Scriptures. I therefore felt that in endeavoring to
comprehend what God had in His mercy seen fit to reveal to us, I had no
right to pass over the prophetic periods.”(536)

The prophecy which seemed most clearly to reveal the _time_ of the second
advent was that of Dan. 8:14: “Unto two thousand and three hundred days;
then shall the sanctuary be cleansed.” Following his rule of making
Scripture its own interpreter, Miller learned that a day in symbolic
prophecy represents a year;(537) he saw that the period of 2300 prophetic
days, or literal years, would extend far beyond the close of the Jewish
dispensation, hence it could not refer to the sanctuary of that
dispensation. Miller accepted the generally received view, that in the
Christian age the earth is the sanctuary, and he therefore understood that
the cleansing of the sanctuary foretold in Dan. 8:14 represented the
purification of the earth by fire at the second coming of Christ. If,
then, the correct starting-point could be found for the 2300 days, he
concluded that the time of the second advent could be readily ascertained.
Thus would be revealed the time of that great consummation, the time when
the present state, with “all its pride and power, pomp and vanity,
wickedness and oppression, would come to an end;” when the curse would be
“removed from off the earth, death be destroyed, reward be given to the
servants of God, the prophets and saints, and them who fear His name, and
those be destroyed that destroy the earth.”(538)

With a new and deeper earnestness, Miller continued the examination of the
prophecies, whole nights as well as days being devoted to the study of
what now appeared of such stupendous importance and all-absorbing
interest. In the eighth chapter of Daniel he could find no clue to the
starting-point of the 2300 days; the angel Gabriel, though commanded to
make Daniel understand the vision, gave him only a partial explanation. As
the terrible persecution to befall the church was unfolded to the
prophet’s vision, physical strength gave way. He could endure no more, and
the angel left him for a time. Daniel “fainted, and was sick certain
days.” “And I was astonished at the vision,” he says, “but none understood
it.”

Yet God had bidden His messenger, “Make this man to understand the
vision.” That commission must be fulfilled. In obedience to it, the angel,
some time afterward, returned to Daniel, saying, “I am now come forth to
give thee skill and understanding;” “therefore understand the matter, and
consider the vision.”(539) There was one important point in the vision of
chapter eight which had been left unexplained, namely, that relating to
time,—the period of the 2300 days; therefore the angel, in resuming his
explanation, dwells chiefly upon the subject of time:

“Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city....
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 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.”

The angel had been sent to Daniel for the express purpose of explaining to
him the point which he had failed to understand in the vision of the
eighth chapter, the statement relative to time,—“Unto two thousand and
three hundred days; then shall the sanctuary be cleansed.” After bidding
Daniel “understand the matter, and consider the vision,” the very first
words of the angel are, “Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and
upon thy holy city.” The word here translated “determined,” literally
signifies “cut off.” Seventy weeks, representing 490 years, are declared
by the angel to be cut off, as specially pertaining to the Jews. But from
what were they cut off? As the 2300 days was the only period of time
mentioned in chapter eight, it must be the period from which the seventy
weeks were cut off; the seventy weeks must therefore be a part of the 2300
days, and the two periods must begin together. The seventy weeks were
declared by the angel to date from the going forth of the commandment to
restore and build Jerusalem. If the date of this commandment could be
found, then the starting-point for the great period of the 2300 days would
be ascertained.

In the seventh chapter of Ezra the decree is found.(540) In its completest
form it was issued by Artaxerxes, king of Persia, B.C. 457. But in Ezra
6:14 the house of the Lord at Jerusalem is said to have been built
“according to the commandment [margin, decree] of Cyrus, and Darius, and
Artaxerxes king of Persia.” These three kings, in originating,
re-affirming, and completing the decree, brought it to the perfection
required by the prophecy to mark the beginning of the 2300 years. Taking
B.C. 457, the time when the decree was completed, as the date of the
commandment, every specification of the prophecy concerning the seventy
weeks was seen to have been fulfilled.

“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,”—namely, sixty-nine weeks, or 483 years. The decree of Artaxerxes
went into effect in the autumn of B.C. 457. From this date, 483 years
extend to the autumn of A.D. 27.(541) At that time this prophecy was
fulfilled. The word “Messiah” signifies “the Anointed One.” In the autumn
of A.D. 27, Christ was baptized by John, and received the anointing of the
Spirit. The apostle Peter testifies that “God anointed Jesus of Nazareth
with the Holy Ghost and with power.”(542) And the Saviour Himself
declared, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He hath anointed Me
to preach the gospel to the poor.”(543) After His baptism He went into
Galilee, “preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God, and saying, _The
time_ is fulfilled.”(544)

“And He shall confirm the covenant with many for one week.” The “week”
here brought to view is the last one of the seventy; it is the last seven
years of the period allotted especially to the Jews. During this time,
extending from A.D. 27 to A.D. 34, Christ, at first in person and
afterward by His disciples, extended the gospel invitation especially to
the Jews. As the apostles went forth with the good tidings of the kingdom,
the Saviour’s direction was, “Go not into the way of the Gentiles, and
into any city of the Samaritans enter ye not: but go rather to the lost
sheep of the house of Israel.”(545)

“In the midst of the week He shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to
cease.” In A.D. 31, three and a half years after His baptism, our Lord was
crucified. With the great sacrifice offered upon Calvary, ended that
system of offerings which for four thousand years had pointed forward to
the Lamb of God. Type had met antitype, and all the sacrifices and
oblations of the ceremonial system were there to cease.

The seventy weeks, or 490 years, especially allotted to the Jews, ended,
as we have seen, in A.D. 34. At that time, through the action of the
Jewish Sanhedrim, the nation sealed its rejection of the gospel by the
martyrdom of Stephen and the persecution of the followers of Christ. Then
the message of salvation, no longer restricted to the chosen people, was
given to the world. The disciples, forced by persecution to flee from
Jerusalem, “went everywhere preaching the Word.” “Philip went down to the
city of Samaria, and preached Christ unto them.” Peter, divinely guided,
opened the gospel to the centurion of Cæsarea, the God-fearing Cornelius;
and the ardent Paul, won to the faith of Christ, was commissioned to carry
the glad tidings “far hence unto the Gentiles.”(546)

Thus far every specification of the prophecies is strikingly fulfilled,
and the beginning of the seventy weeks is fixed beyond question at B.C.
457, and their expiration in A.D. 34. From this data there is no
difficulty in finding the termination of the 2300 days. The seventy
weeks—490 days—having been cut off from the 2300, there were 1810 days
remaining. After the end of 490 days, the 1810 days were still to be
fulfilled. From A.D. 34, 1810 years extend to 1844. Consequently the 2300
days of Dan. 8:14 terminate in 1844. At the expiration of this great
prophetic period, upon the testimony of the angel of God, “the sanctuary
shall be cleansed.” Thus the time of the cleansing of the sanctuary—which
was almost universally believed to take place at the second advent—was
definitely pointed out.

Miller and his associates at first believed that the 2300 days would
terminate in the _spring_ of 1844, whereas the prophecy points to the
_autumn_ of that year.(547) The misapprehension of this point brought
disappointment and perplexity to those who had fixed upon the earlier date
as the time of the Lord’s coming. But this did not in the least affect the
strength of the argument showing that the 2300 days terminated in the year
1844, and that the great event represented by the cleansing of the
sanctuary must then take place.

Entering upon the study of the Scriptures as he had done, in order to
prove that they were a revelation from God, Miller had not, at the outset,
the slightest expectation of reaching the conclusion at which he had now
arrived. He himself could hardly credit the results of his investigation.
But the Scripture evidence was too clear and forcible to be set aside.

He had devoted two years to the study of the Bible, when, in 1818, he
reached the solemn conviction that in about twenty-five years Christ would
appear for the redemption of His people. “I need not speak,” says Miller,
“of the joy that filled my heart in view of the delightful prospect, nor
of the ardent longings of my soul for a participation in the joys of the
redeemed. The Bible was now to me a new book. It was indeed a feast of
reason; all that was dark, mystical, or obscure to me in its teachings,
had been dissipated from my mind before the clear light that now dawned
from its sacred pages; and oh, how bright and glorious the truth appeared!
All the contradictions and inconsistencies I had before found in the Word
were gone; and although there were many portions of which I was not
satisfied I had a full understanding, yet so much light had emanated from
it to the illumination of my before darkened mind, that I felt a delight
in studying the Scripture which I had not before supposed could be derived
from its teachings.”(548)

“With the solemn conviction that such momentous events were predicted in
the Scriptures to be fulfilled in so short a space of time, the question
came home to me with mighty power regarding my duty to the world, in view
of the evidence that had affected my own mind.”(549) He could not but feel
that it was his duty to impart to others the light which he had received.
He expected to encounter opposition from the ungodly, but was confident
that all Christians would rejoice in the hope of meeting the Saviour whom
they professed to love. His only fear was, that in their great joy at the
prospect of glorious deliverance, so soon to be consummated, many would
receive the doctrine without sufficiently examining the Scriptures in
demonstration of its truth. He therefore hesitated to present it, lest he
should be in error, and be the means of misleading others. He was thus led
to review the evidences in support of the conclusions at which he had
arrived, and to consider carefully every difficulty which presented itself
to his mind. He found that objections vanished before the light of God’s
word, as mist before the rays of the sun. Five years spent thus, left him
fully convinced of the correctness of his position.

And now the duty of making known to others what he believed to be so
clearly taught in the Scriptures, urged itself with new force upon him.
“When I was about my business,” he said, “it was continually ringing in my
ears, ‘Go and tell the world of their danger.’ This text was constantly
occurring to me: ‘When I say unto the wicked, O wicked man, thou shalt
surely die; if thou dost not speak to warn the wicked from his way, that
wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at
thine hand. Nevertheless, if thou warn the wicked of his way to turn from
it; if he do not turn from his way, he shall die in his iniquity; but thou
hast delivered thy soul.’(550) I felt that if the wicked could be
effectually warned, multitudes of them would repent; and that if they were
not warned, their blood might be required at my hand.”(551)

He began to present his views in private as he had opportunity, praying
that some minister might feel their force and devote himself to their
promulgation. But he could not banish the conviction that he had a
personal duty to perform in giving the warning. The words were ever
recurring to his mind, “Go and tell it to the world; their blood will I
require at thy hand.” For nine years he waited, the burden still pressing
upon his soul, until in 1831 he for the first time publicly gave the
reasons of his faith.

As Elisha was called from following his oxen in the field, to receive the
mantle of consecration to the prophetic office, so was William Miller
called to leave his plow, and open to the people the mysteries of the
kingdom of God. With trembling he entered upon his work, leading his
hearers down, step by step, through the prophetic periods to the second
appearing of Christ. With every effort he gained strength and courage as
he saw the wide-spread interest excited by his words.

It was only at the solicitation of his brethren, in whose words he heard
the call of God, that Miller consented to present his views in public. He
was now fifty years of age, unaccustomed to public speaking, and burdened
with a sense of unfitness for the work before him. But from the first his
labors were blessed in a remarkable manner to the salvation of souls. His
first lecture was followed by a religious awakening in which thirteen
entire families, with the exception of two persons, were converted. He was
immediately urged to speak in other places, and in nearly every place his
labor resulted in a revival of the work of God. Sinners were converted,
Christians were roused to greater consecration, and deists and infidels
were led to acknowledge the truth of the Bible and the Christian religion.
The testimony of those among whom he labored was, “A class of minds are
reached by him not within the influence of other men.”(552) His preaching
was calculated to arouse the public mind to the great things of religion,
and to check the growing worldliness and sensuality of the age.

In nearly every town there were scores, in some, hundreds, converted as
the result of his preaching. In many places Protestant churches of nearly
all denominations were thrown open to him; and the invitations to labor
usually came from the ministers of the several congregations. It was his
invariable rule not to labor in any place to which he had not been
invited, yet he soon found himself unable to comply with half the requests
that poured in upon him.

Many who did not accept his views as to the exact time of the second
advent, were convinced of the certainty and nearness of Christ’s coming
and their need of preparation. In some of the large cities his work
produced a marked impression. Liquor-dealers abandoned the traffic, and
turned their shops into meeting-rooms; gambling dens were broken up;
infidels, deists, Universalists, and even the most abandoned profligates
were reformed, some of whom had not entered a house of worship for years.
Prayer-meetings were established by the various denominations, in
different quarters, at almost every hour, business men assembling at
midday for prayer and praise. There was no extravagant excitement, but an
almost universal solemnity on the minds of the people. His work, like that
of the early Reformers, tended rather to convince the understanding and
arouse the conscience than merely to excite the emotions.

In 1833 Miller received a license to preach, from the Baptist Church, of
which he was a member. A large number of the ministers of his denomination
also approved his work, and it was with their formal sanction that he
continued his labors. He traveled and preached unceasingly, though his
personal labors were confined principally to the New England and Middle
States. For several years his expenses were met wholly from his own
private purse, and he never afterward received enough to meet the expense
of travel to the places where he was invited. Thus his public labors, so
far from being a pecuniary benefit, were a heavy tax upon his property,
which gradually diminished during this period of his life. He was the
father of a large family, but as they were all frugal and industrious, his
farm sufficed for their maintenance as well as his own.

In 1833, two years after Miller began to present in public the evidences
of Christ’s soon coming, the last of the signs appeared which were
promised by the Saviour as tokens of His second advent. Said Jesus, “The
stars shall fall from heaven”(553) And John in the Revelation declared, as
he beheld in vision the scenes that should herald the day of God, “The
stars of heaven fell unto the earth, even as a fig-tree casteth her
untimely figs, when she is shaken of a mighty wind.”(554) This prophecy
received a striking and impressive fulfilment in the great meteoric shower
of November 13, 1833. That was the most extensive and wonderful display of
falling stars which has ever been recorded; “the whole firmament, over all
the United States, being then, for hours, in fiery commotion! No celestial
phenomenon has ever occurred in this country, since its first settlement,
which was viewed with such intense admiration by one class in the
community, or with so much dread and alarm by another.” “Its sublimity and
awful beauty still linger in many minds.... Never did rain fall much
thicker than the meteors fell toward the earth; east, west, north, and
south, it was the same. In a word, the whole heavens seemed in motion....
The display, as described in Professor Silliman’s Journal, was seen all
over North America.... From two o’clock until broad daylight, the sky
being perfectly serene and cloudless, an incessant play of dazzlingly
brilliant luminosities was kept up in the whole heavens.”(555)

“No language, indeed, can come up to the splendor of that magnificent
display; ... no one who did not witness it can form an adequate conception
of its glory. It seemed as if the whole starry heavens had congregated at
one point near the zenith, and were simultaneously shooting forth, with
the velocity of lightning, to every part of the horizon; and yet they were
not exhausted—thousands swiftly followed in the tracks of thousands, as if
created for the occasion.”(556) “A more correct picture of a fig-tree
casting its figs when blown by a mighty wind, it was not possible to
behold.”(557)

In the New York _Journal of Commerce_ of Nov. 14, 1833, appeared a long
article regarding this wonderful phenomenon, containing this statement:
“No philosopher or scholar has told or recorded an event, I suppose, like
that of yesterday morning. A prophet eighteen hundred years ago foretold
it exactly, if we will be at the trouble of understanding stars falling to
mean falling stars, ... in the only sense in which it is possible to be
literally true.”

Thus was displayed the last of those signs of His coming, concerning which
Jesus bade His disciples, “When ye shall see all these things, _know_ that
it is near, even at the doors.”(558) After these signs, John beheld, as
the great event next impending, the heavens departing as a scroll, while
the earth quaked, mountains and islands removed out of their places, and
the wicked in terror sought to flee from the presence of the Son of
man.(559)

Many who witnessed the falling of the stars, looked upon it as a herald of
the coming judgment,—“an awful type, a sure forerunner, a merciful sign,
of that great and dreadful day.” Thus the attention of the people was
directed to the fulfilment of prophecy, and many were led to give heed to
the warning of the second advent.

In the year 1840, another remarkable fulfilment of prophecy excited
wide-spread interest. Two years before, Josiah Litch, one of the leading
ministers preaching the second advent, published an exposition of
Revelation 9, predicting the fall of the Ottoman empire. According to his
calculations, this power was to be overthrown “in A.D. 1840, sometime in
the month of August;” and only a few days previous to its accomplishment
he wrote: “Allowing the first period, 150 years, to have been exactly
fulfilled before Deacozes ascended the throne by permission of the Turks,
and that the 391 years, fifteen days, commenced at the close of the first
period, it will end on the 11th of August, 1840, when the Ottoman power in
Constantinople may be expected to be broken. And this, I believe, will be
found to be the case.”(560)

At the very time specified, Turkey, through her ambassadors, accepted the
protection of the allied powers of Europe, and thus placed herself under
the control of Christian nations. The event exactly fulfilled the
prediction.(561) When it became known, multitudes were convinced of the
correctness of the principles of prophetic interpretation adopted by
Miller and his associates, and a wonderful impetus was given to the Advent
Movement. Men of learning and position united with Miller, both in
preaching and publishing his views, and from 1840 to 1844 the work rapidly
extended.

William Miller possessed strong mental powers, disciplined by thought and
study; and he added to these the wisdom of heaven, by connecting himself
with the Source of wisdom. He was a man of sterling worth, who could not
but command respect and esteem wherever integrity of character and moral
excellence were valued. Uniting true kindness of heart with Christian
humility and the power of self-control, he was attentive and affable to
all, ready to listen to the opinions of others, and to weigh their
arguments. Without passion or excitement, he tested all theories and
doctrines by the word of God; and his sound reasoning, and thorough
knowledge of the Scriptures, enabled him to refute error and expose
falsehood.

Yet he did not prosecute his work without bitter opposition. As with
earlier Reformers, the truths which he presented were not received with
favor by popular religious teachers. As these could not maintain their
position by the Scriptures, they were driven to resort to the sayings and
doctrines of men, to the traditions of the Fathers. But the word of God
was the only testimony accepted by the preachers of the advent truth. “The
Bible, and the Bible only,” was their watchword. The lack of Scripture
argument on the part of their opponents was supplied by ridicule and
scoffing. Time, means, and talents were employed in maligning those whose
only offense was that they looked with joy for the return of their Lord,
and were striving to live holy lives, and to exhort others to prepare for
His appearing.

Earnest were the efforts put forth to draw away the minds of the people
from the subject of the second advent. It was made to appear a sin,
something of which men should be ashamed, to study the prophecies which
relate to the coming of Christ and the end of the world. Thus the popular
ministry undermined faith in the word of God. Their teaching made men
infidels, and many took license to walk after their own ungodly lusts.
Then the authors of the evil charged it all upon Adventists.

While drawing crowded houses of intelligent and attentive hearers,
Miller’s name was seldom mentioned by the religious press except by way of
ridicule or denunciation. The careless and ungodly, emboldened by the
position of religious teachers, resorted to opprobrious epithets, to base
and blasphemous witticisms, in their efforts to heap contumely upon him
and his work. The gray-headed man who had left a comfortable home to
travel at his own expense from city to city, from town to town, toiling
unceasingly to bear to the world the solemn warning of the judgment near,
was sneeringly denounced as a fanatic, a liar, a speculating knave.

The ridicule, falsehood, and abuse heaped upon him called forth indignant
remonstrance, even from the secular press. “To treat a subject of such
overwhelming majesty and fearful consequences,” with lightness and
ribaldry, was declared by worldly men to be “not merely to sport with the
feelings of its propagators and advocates,” but “to make a jest of the day
of judgment, to scoff at the Deity Himself, and contemn the terrors of His
judgment-bar.”(562)

The instigator of all evil sought not only to counteract the effect of the
advent message, but to destroy the messenger himself. Miller made a
practical application of Scripture truth to the hearts of his hearers,
reproving their sins and disturbing their self-satisfaction, and his plain
and cutting words aroused their enmity. The opposition manifested by
church-members toward his message, emboldened the baser classes to go to
greater lengths; and enemies plotted to take his life as he should leave
the place of meeting. But holy angels were in the throng, and one of
these, in the form of a man, took the arm of this servant of the Lord, and
led him in safety from the angry mob. His work was not yet done, and Satan
and his emissaries were disappointed in their purpose.

Despite all opposition, the interest in the Advent Movement had continued
to increase. From scores and hundreds, the congregations had grown to as
many thousands. Large accessions had been made to the various churches,
but after a time the spirit of opposition was manifested even against
these converts, and the churches began to take disciplinary steps with
those who had embraced Miller’s views. This action called forth a response
from his pen, in an address to Christians of all denominations, urging
that if his doctrines were false, he should be shown his error from the
Scriptures.

“What have we believed,” he said, “that we have not been commanded to
believe by the word of God, which you yourselves allow is the rule, and
only rule, of our faith and practice? What have we done that should call
down such virulent denunciations against us from pulpit and press, and
give you just cause to exclude us [Adventists] from your churches and
fellowship?” “If we are wrong, pray show us wherein consists our wrong.
Show us from the word of God that we are in error; we have had ridicule
enough; that can never convince us that we are in the wrong; the word of
God alone can change our views. Our conclusions have been formed
deliberately and prayerfully, as we have seen the evidence in the
Scriptures.”(563)

From age to age the warnings which God has sent to the world by His
servants have been received with like incredulity and unbelief. When the
iniquity of the antediluvians moved Him to bring a flood of waters upon
the earth, He first made known to them His purpose, that they might have
opportunity to turn from their evil ways. For a hundred and twenty years
was sounded in their ears the warning to repent, lest the wrath of God be
manifested in their destruction. But the message seemed to them an idle
tale, and they believed it not. Emboldened in their wickedness, they
mocked the messenger of God, made light of his entreaties, and even
accused him of presumption. How dare one man stand up against all the
great men of the earth? If Noah’s message were true, why did not all the
world see it and believe it? One man’s assertion against the wisdom of
thousands! They would not credit the warning, nor would they seek shelter
in the ark.

Scoffers pointed to the things of nature,—to the unvarying succession of
the seasons, to the blue skies that had never poured out rain, to the
green fields refreshed by the soft dews of night,—and they cried out,
“Doth he not speak parables?” In contempt they declared the preacher of
righteousness to be a wild enthusiast; and they went on, more eager in
their pursuit of pleasure, more intent upon their evil ways, than ever
before. But their unbelief did not hinder the predicted event. God bore
long with their wickedness, giving them ample opportunity for repentance;
but at the appointed time His judgments were visited upon the rejecters of
His mercy.

Christ declares that there will exist similar unbelief concerning His
second coming. As the people of Noah’s day “knew not until the flood came,
and took them all away; so,” in the words of our Saviour, “shall also the
coming of the Son of man be.”(564) When the professed people of God are
uniting with the world, living as they live, and joining with them in
forbidden pleasure; when the luxury of the world becomes the luxury of the
church; when the marriage bells are chiming, and all are looking forward
to many years of worldly prosperity,—then, suddenly as the lightning
flashes from the heavens, will come the end of their bright visions and
delusive hopes.

As God sent His servant to warn the world of the coming flood, so He sent
chosen messengers to make known the nearness of the final judgment. And as
Noah’s contemporaries laughed to scorn the predictions of the preacher of
righteousness, so in Miller’s day many, even of the professed people of
God, scoffed at the words of warning.

And why were the doctrine and preaching of Christ’s second coming so
unwelcome to the churches? While to the wicked the advent of the Lord
brings woe and desolation, to the righteous it is fraught with joy and
hope. This great truth had been the consolation of God’s faithful ones
through all the ages; why had it become, like its Author, “a stone of
stumbling and a rock of offense” to His professed people? It was our Lord
Himself who promised His disciples, “If I go and prepare a place for you,
I will come again, and receive you unto Myself.”(565) It was the
compassionate Saviour, who, anticipating the loneliness and sorrow of His
followers, commissioned angels to comfort them with the assurance that He
would come again in person, even as He went into heaven. As the disciples
stood gazing intently upward to catch the last glimpse of Him whom they
loved, their attention was arrested by the words, “Ye men of Galilee, why
stand ye gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up from
you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen Him go into
heaven.”(566) Hope was kindled afresh by the angel’s message. The
disciples “returned to Jerusalem with great joy, and were continually in
the temple, praising and blessing God.”(567) They were not rejoicing
because Jesus had been separated from them, and they were left to struggle
with the trials and temptations of the world, but because of the angel’s
assurance that He would come again.

The proclamation of Christ’s coming should now be, as when made by the
angels to the shepherds of Bethlehem, good tidings of great joy. Those who
really love the Saviour cannot but hail with gladness the announcement
founded upon the word of God, that He in whom their hopes of eternal life
are centered, is coming again, not to be insulted, despised, and rejected,
as at His first advent, but in power and glory, to redeem His people. It
is those who do not love the Saviour, that desire Him to remain away; and
there can be no more conclusive evidence that the churches have departed
from God than the irritation and animosity excited by this Heaven-sent
message.

Those who accepted the advent doctrine were roused to the necessity of
repentance and humiliation before God. Many had long been halting between
Christ and the world; now they felt that it was time to take a stand. “The
things of eternity assumed to them an unwonted reality. Heaven was brought
near, and they felt themselves guilty before God.”(568) Christians were
quickened to new spiritual life. They were made to feel that time was
short, that what they had to do for their fellow-men must be done quickly.
Earth receded, eternity seemed to open before them, and the soul, with all
that pertains to its immortal weal or woe, was felt to eclipse every
temporal object. The Spirit of God rested upon them, and gave power to
their earnest appeals to their brethren, as well as to sinners, to prepare
for the day of God. The silent testimony of their daily life was a
constant rebuke to formal and unconsecrated church-members. These did not
wish to be disturbed in their pursuit of pleasure, their devotion to
money-making, and their ambition for worldly honor. Hence the enmity and
opposition excited against the advent faith and those who proclaimed it.

As the arguments from the prophetic periods were found to be impregnable,
opposers endeavored to discourage investigation of the subject, by
teaching that the prophecies were sealed. Thus Protestants followed in the
steps of Romanists. While the papal church withholds the Bible(569) from
the people, Protestant churches claimed that an important part of the
sacred word—and that the part which brings to view truths specially
applicable to our time—could not be understood.

Ministers and people declared that the prophecies of Daniel and the
Revelation were incomprehensible mysteries. But Christ directed His
disciples to the words of the prophet Daniel concerning events to take
place in their time, and said, “Whoso readeth, let him _understand_.”(570)
And the assertion that the Revelation is a mystery, not to be understood,
is contradicted by the very title of the book: “The Revelation of Jesus
Christ, which God gave unto Him, to show unto His servants things which
must shortly come to pass.... _Blessed_ is he that _readeth_, and they
that _hear_ the words of this prophecy, and _keep_ those things which are
written therein: for the time is at hand.”(571)

Says the prophet: “Blessed is he that readeth”—there are those who will
not read; the blessing is not for them. “And they that hear”—there are
some, also, who refuse to hear anything concerning the prophecies; the
blessing is not for this class. “And keep those things which are written
therein”—many refuse to heed the warnings and instructions contained in
the Revelation; none of these can claim the blessing promised. All who
ridicule the subjects of the prophecy, and mock at the symbols here
solemnly given, all who refuse to reform their lives, and prepare for the
coming of the Son of man, will be unblessed.

In view of the testimony of Inspiration, how dare men teach that the
Revelation is a mystery, beyond the reach of human understanding? It is a
mystery revealed, a book opened. The study of the Revelation directs the
mind to the prophecies of Daniel, and both present most important
instruction, given of God to men, concerning events to take place at the
close of this world’s history.

To John were opened scenes of deep and thrilling interest in the
experience of the church. He saw the position, dangers, conflicts, and
final deliverance of the people of God. He records the closing messages
which are to ripen the harvest of the earth, either as sheaves for the
heavenly garner or as fagots for the fires of destruction. Subjects of
vast importance were revealed to him, especially for the last church, that
those who should turn from error to truth might be instructed concerning
the perils and conflicts before them. None need be in darkness in regard
to what is coming upon the earth.

Why, then, this wide-spread ignorance concerning an important part of Holy
Writ? Why this general reluctance to investigate its teachings? It is the
result of a studied effort of the prince of darkness to conceal from men
that which reveals his deceptions. For this reason, Christ the Revelator,
foreseeing the warfare that would be waged against the study of the
Revelation, pronounced a blessing upon all who should read, hear, and
observe the words of the prophecy.





19. LIGHT THROUGH DARKNESS.


                     [Illustration: Chapter header.]

The work of God in the earth presents, from age to age, a striking
similarity in every great reformation or religious movement. The
principles of God’s dealing with men are ever the same. The important
movements of the present have their parallel in those of the past, and the
experience of the church in former ages has lessons of great value for our
own time.

No truth is more clearly taught in the Bible than that God by His Holy
Spirit especially directs His servants on earth in the great movements for
the carrying forward of the work of salvation. Men are instruments in the
hand of God, employed by Him to accomplish His purposes of grace and
mercy. Each has his part to act; to each is granted a measure of light,
adapted to the necessities of his time, and sufficient to enable him to
perform the work which God has given him to do. But no man, however
honored of Heaven, has ever attained to a full understanding of the great
plan of redemption, or even to a perfect appreciation of the divine
purpose in the work for his own time. Men do not fully understand what God
would accomplish by the work which He gives them to do; they do not
comprehend, in all its bearings, the message which they utter in His name.

“Canst thou by searching find out God? canst thou find out the Almighty
unto perfection?” “My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your
ways My ways, saith the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the
earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your
thoughts.” “I am God, and there is none like Me, declaring the end from
the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet
done.”(572)

Even the prophets who were favored with the special illumination of the
Spirit, did not fully comprehend the import of the revelations committed
to them. The meaning was to be unfolded from age to age, as the people of
God should need the instruction therein contained.

Peter, writing of the salvation brought to light through the gospel, says:
Of this salvation “the prophets have inquired and searched diligently, who
prophesied of the grace that should come unto you: searching _what_, or
_what manner of time_ the Spirit of Christ which was in them did signify,
when it testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that
should follow. Unto whom it was revealed, that not unto _themselves_, but
unto _us_ they did minister.”(573)

Yet while it was not given to the prophets to understand fully the things
revealed to them, they earnestly sought to obtain all the light which God
had been pleased to make manifest. They “inquired and searched
diligently,” “searching what, or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ
which was in them did signify.” What a lesson to the people of God in the
Christian age, for whose benefit these prophecies were given to His
servants! “Unto whom it was revealed that not unto themselves, but unto us
they did minister.” Witness those holy men of God as they “inquired and
searched diligently” concerning revelations given them for generations
that were yet unborn. Contrast their holy zeal with the listless unconcern
with which the favored ones of later ages treat this gift of heaven. What
a rebuke to the ease-loving, world-loving indifference which is content to
declare that the prophecies cannot be understood.

Though the finite minds of men are inadequate to enter into the counsels
of the Infinite One, or to understand fully the working out of His
purposes, yet often it is because of some error or neglect on their own
part, that they so dimly comprehend the messages of Heaven. Not
infrequently the minds of the people, and even of God’s servants, are so
blinded by human opinions, the traditions and false teaching of men, that
they are able only partially to grasp the great things which He has
revealed in His word. Thus it was with the disciples of Christ, even when
the Saviour was with them in person. Their minds had become imbued with
the popular conception of the Messiah as a temporal prince, who was to
exalt Israel to the throne of universal empire, and they could not
understand the meaning of His words foretelling His sufferings and death.

Christ Himself had sent them forth with the message, “The time is
fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the
gospel.”(574) That message was based on the prophecy of Daniel 9. The
sixty-nine weeks were declared by the angel to extend to “the Messiah the
Prince,” and with high hopes and joyful anticipations the disciples looked
forward to the establishment of Messiah’s kingdom at Jerusalem, to rule
over the whole earth.

They preached the message which Christ had committed to them, though they
themselves misapprehended its meaning. While their announcement was
founded on Dan. 9:25, they did not see, in the next verse of the same
chapter, that Messiah was to be cut off. From their very birth their
hearts had been set upon the anticipated glory of an earthly empire, and
this blinded their understanding alike to the specifications of the
prophecy and to the words of Christ.

They performed their duty in presenting to the Jewish nation the
invitation of mercy, and then, at the very time when they expected to see
their Lord ascend the throne of David, they beheld Him seized as a
malefactor, scourged, derided, and condemned, and lifted up on the cross
of Calvary. What despair and anguish wrung the hearts of those disciples
during the days while their Lord was sleeping in the tomb!

Christ had come at the exact time and in the manner foretold by prophecy.
The testimony of Scripture had been fulfilled in every detail of His
ministry. He had preached the message of salvation, and “His word was with
power.” The hearts of His hearers had witnessed that it was of Heaven. The
word and the Spirit of God attested the divine commission of His Son.

The disciples still clung with undying affection to their beloved Master.
And yet their minds were shrouded in uncertainty and doubt. In their
anguish they did not then recall the words of Christ pointing forward to
His suffering and death. If Jesus of Nazareth had been the true Messiah,
would they have been thus plunged in grief and disappointment? This was
the question that tortured their souls while the Saviour lay in His
sepulcher during the hopeless hours of that Sabbath which intervened
between His death and His resurrection.

Though the night of sorrow gathered dark about these followers of Jesus,
yet were they not forsaken. Saith the prophet: “When I sit in darkness,
the Lord shall be a light unto me.... He will bring me forth to the light,
and I shall behold His righteousness.” “Yea, the darkness hideth not from
Thee; but the night shineth as the day: the darkness and the light are
both alike to Thee.” God hath spoken: “Unto the upright there ariseth
light in the darkness.” “I will bring the blind by a way that they knew
not; I will lead them in paths that they have not known: I will make
darkness light before them, and crooked things straight. These things will
I do unto them, and not forsake them.”(575)

The announcement which had been made by the disciples in the name of the
Lord was in every particular correct, and the events to which it pointed
were even then taking place. “The time is fulfilled, the kingdom of God is
at hand,” had been their message. At the expiration of “the time”—the
sixty-nine weeks of Daniel 9, which were to extend to the Messiah, “the
Anointed One”—Christ had received the anointing of the Spirit, after His
baptism by John in Jordan. And the “kingdom of God” which they had
declared to be at hand, was established by the death of Christ. This
kingdom was not, as they had been taught to believe, an earthly empire.
Nor was it that future, immortal kingdom which shall be set up when “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;” that
everlasting kingdom, in which “all dominions shall serve and obey
Him.”(576) As used in the Bible, the expression “kingdom of God” is
employed to designate both the kingdom of grace and the kingdom of glory.
The kingdom of grace is brought to view by Paul in the Epistle to the
Hebrews. After pointing to Christ, the compassionate intercessor who is
“touched with the feeling of our infirmities,” the apostle says, “Let us
therefore come boldly unto _the throne of grace_, that we may obtain
mercy, and find grace.”(577) The throne of grace represents the kingdom of
grace; for the existence of a throne implies the existence of a kingdom.
In many of His parables, Christ uses the expression, “the kingdom of
heaven,” to designate the work of divine grace upon the hearts of men.

So the throne of glory represents the kingdom of glory; and this kingdom
is referred to in the Saviour’s words, “When the Son of man shall come in
His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then shall He sit upon the
throne of His glory: and before Him shall be gathered all nations.”(578)
This kingdom is yet future. It is not to be set up until the second advent
of Christ.

The kingdom of grace was instituted immediately after the fall of man,
when a plan was devised for the redemption of the guilty race. It then
existed in the purpose and by the promise of God; and through faith, men
could become its subjects. Yet it was not actually established until the
death of Christ. Even after entering upon His earthly mission, the
Saviour, wearied with the stubbornness and ingratitude of men, might have
drawn back from the sacrifice of Calvary. In Gethsemane the cup of woe
trembled in His hand. He might even then have wiped the blood-sweat from
His brow, and have left the guilty race to perish in their iniquity. Had
He done this, there could have been no redemption for fallen men. But when
the Saviour yielded up His life, and with His expiring breath cried out,
“It is finished,” then the fulfilment of the plan of redemption was
assured. The promise of salvation made to the sinful pair in Eden was
ratified. The kingdom of grace, which had before existed by the promise of
God, was then established.

Thus the death of Christ—the very event which the disciples had looked
upon as the final destruction of their hope—was that which made it forever
sure. While it had brought them a cruel disappointment, it was the climax
of proof that their belief had been correct. The event that had filled
them with mourning and despair, was that which opened the door of hope to
every child of Adam, and in which centered the future life and eternal
happiness of all God’s faithful ones in all the ages.

Purposes of infinite mercy were reaching their fulfilment, even through
the disappointment of the disciples. While their hearts had been won by
the divine grace and power of His teaching, who “spake as never man
spake,” yet intermingled with the pure gold of their love for Jesus, was
the base alloy of worldly pride and selfish ambitions. Even in the
Passover chamber, at that solemn hour when their Master was already
entering the shadow of Gethsemane, there was “a strife among them, which
of them should be accounted the greatest.”(579) Their vision was filled
with the throne, the crown, and the glory, while just before them lay the
shame and agony of the garden, the judgment-hall, the cross of Calvary. It
was their pride of heart, their thirst for worldly glory, that had led
them to cling so tenaciously to the false teaching of their time, and to
pass unheeded the Saviour’s words showing the true nature of His kingdom,
and pointing forward to His agony and death. And these errors resulted in
the trial—sharp but needful—which was permitted for their correction.
Though the disciples had mistaken the meaning of their message, and had
failed to realize their expectations, yet they had preached the warning
given them of God, and the Lord would reward their faith and honor their
obedience. To them was to be intrusted the work of heralding to all
nations the glorious gospel of their risen Lord. It was to prepare them
for this work, that the experience which seemed to them so bitter had been
permitted.

After His resurrection, Jesus appeared to His disciples on the way to
Emmaus, and “beginning at Moses and all the prophets, He expounded unto
them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself.”(580) The hearts
of the disciples were stirred. Faith was kindled. They were “begotten
again unto a lively hope,” even before Jesus revealed Himself to them. It
was His purpose to enlighten their understanding, and to fasten their
faith upon the “sure word of prophecy.” He wished the truth to take firm
root in their minds, not merely because it was supported by His personal
testimony, but because of the unquestionable evidence presented by the
symbols and shadows of the typical law, and by the prophecies of the Old
Testament. It was needful for the followers of Christ to have an
intelligent faith, not only in their own behalf, but that they might carry
the knowledge of Christ to the world. And as the very first step in
imparting this knowledge, Jesus directed the disciples to “Moses and the
prophets.” Such was the testimony given by the risen Saviour to the value
and importance of the Old Testament Scriptures.

What a change was wrought in the hearts of the disciples, as they looked
once more on the loved countenance of their Master!(581) In a more
complete and perfect sense than ever before, they had “found Him, of whom
Moses in the law, and the prophets, did write.” The uncertainty, the
anguish, the despair, gave place to perfect assurance, to unclouded faith.
What marvel that after His ascension they “were continually in the temple,
praising and blessing God.” The people, knowing only of the Saviour’s
ignominious death, looked to see in their faces the expression of sorrow,
confusion, and defeat; but they saw there gladness and triumph. What a
preparation these disciples had received for the work before them! They
had passed through the deepest trial which it was possible for them to
experience, and had seen how, when to human vision all was lost, the word
of God had been triumphantly accomplished. Henceforward what could daunt
their faith, or chill the ardor of their love? In the keenest sorrow they
had “strong consolation,” a hope which was as “an anchor of the soul, both
sure and steadfast.”(582) They had been witness to the wisdom and power of
God, and they were “persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels,
nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come,
nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature,” would be able to separate
them from “the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” “In all
these things,” they said, “we are more than conquerors through Him that
loved us.”(583) “The word of the Lord endureth forever.”(584) And “who is
he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is _risen
again_, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession
for us.”(585)

Saith the Lord: “My people shall never be ashamed.”(586) “Weeping may
endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning.”(587) When on His
resurrection day these disciples met the Saviour, and their hearts burned
within them as they listened to His words; when they looked upon the head
and hands and feet that had been bruised for them; when, before His
ascension, Jesus led them out as far as Bethany, and lifting up His hands
in blessing, bade them, “Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel,”
adding, “Lo, I am with you alway;”(588) when on the day of Pentecost the
promised Comforter descended, and the power from on high was given, and
the souls of the believers thrilled with the conscious presence of their
ascended Lord,—then, even though, like His, their pathway led through
sacrifice and martyrdom, would they have exchanged the ministry of the
gospel of His grace, with the “crown of righteousness” to be received at
His coming, for the glory of an earthly throne, which had been the hope of
their earlier discipleship? He who is “able to do exceeding abundantly
above all that we ask or think,” had granted them, with the fellowship of
His sufferings, the communion of His joy,—the joy of “bringing many sons
unto glory,” joy unspeakable, “an eternal weight of glory,” to which, says
Paul, “our light affliction, which is but for a moment,” is “not worthy to
be compared.”

The experience of the disciples who preached the “gospel of the kingdom”
at the first advent of Christ, had its counterpart in the experience of
those who proclaimed the message of His second advent. As the disciples
went out preaching, “The time is fulfilled, the kingdom of God is at
hand,” so Miller and his associates proclaimed that the longest and last
prophetic period brought to view in the Bible was about to expire, that
the judgment was at hand, and the everlasting kingdom was to be ushered
in. The preaching of the disciples in regard to time was based on the
seventy weeks of Daniel 9. The message given by Miller and his associates
announced the termination of the 2300 days of Dan. 8:14, of which the
seventy weeks form a part. The preaching of each was based upon the
fulfilment of a different portion of the same great prophetic period.

Like the first disciples, William Miller and his associates did not,
themselves, fully comprehend the import of the message which they bore.
Errors that had been long established in the church prevented them from
arriving at a correct interpretation of an important point in the
prophecy. Therefore, though they proclaimed the message which God had
committed to them to be given to the world, yet through a misapprehension
of its meaning, they suffered disappointment.

In explaining Dan. 8:14, “Unto two thousand and three hundred days, then
shall the sanctuary be cleansed,” Miller, as has been stated, adopted the
generally received view that the earth is the sanctuary, and he believed
that the cleansing of the sanctuary represented the purification of the
earth by fire at the coming of the Lord. When, therefore, he found that
the close of the 2300 days was definitely foretold, he concluded that this
revealed the time of the second advent. His error resulted from accepting
the popular view as to what constitutes the sanctuary.

In the typical system, which was a shadow of the sacrifice and priesthood
of Christ, the cleansing of the sanctuary was the last service performed
by the high priest in the yearly round of ministration. It was the closing
work of the atonement,—a removal or putting away of sin from Israel. It
prefigured the closing work in the ministration of our High Priest in
heaven, in the removal or blotting out of the sins of His people, which
are registered in the heavenly records. This service involves a work of
investigation, a work of judgment; and it immediately precedes the coming
of Christ in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory; for when He
comes, every case has been decided. Says Jesus, “My reward is with Me, to
give every man according as his work shall be.”(589) It is this work of
judgment, immediately preceding the second advent, that is announced in
the first angel’s message of Rev. 14:7, “Fear God, and give glory to Him;
for the hour of His judgment is come.”

Those who proclaimed this warning gave the right message at the right
time. But as the early disciples declared, “The time is fulfilled, and the
kingdom of God is at hand,” based on the prophecy of Daniel 9, while they
failed to perceive that the death of the Messiah was foretold in the same
scripture; so Miller and his associates preached the message based on Dan.
8:14 and Rev. 14:7, and failed to see that there were still other messages
brought to view in Revelation 14, which were also to be given before the
advent of the Lord. As the disciples were mistaken in regard to the
kingdom to be set up at the end of the seventy weeks, so Adventists were
mistaken in regard to the event to take place at the expiration of the
2300 days. In both cases there was an acceptance of, or rather an
adherence to, popular errors that blinded the mind to the truth. Both
classes fulfilled the will of God in delivering the message which He
desired to be given, and both, through their own misapprehension of their
message, suffered disappointment.

Yet God accomplished His own beneficent purpose in permitting the warning
of the judgment to be given just as it was. The great day was at hand, and
in His providence the people were brought to the test of a definite time,
in order to reveal to them what was in their hearts. The message was
designed for the testing and purification of the church. They were to be
led to see whether their affections were set upon this world or upon
Christ and heaven. They professed to love the Saviour; now they were to
prove their love. Were they ready to renounce their worldly hopes and
ambitions, and welcome with joy the advent of their Lord? The message was
designed to enable them to discern their true spiritual state; it was sent
in mercy to arouse them to seek the Lord with repentance and humiliation.

The disappointment also, though the result of their own misapprehension of
the message which they gave, was to be overruled for good. It would test
the hearts of those who had professed to receive the warning. In the face
of their disappointment, would they rashly give up their experience, and
cast away their confidence in God’s word? or would they, in prayer and
humility, seek to discern where they had failed to comprehend the
significance of the prophecy? How many had moved from fear, or from
impulse and excitement? How many were half-hearted and unbelieving?
Multitudes professed to love the appearing of the Lord. When called to
endure the scoffs and reproach of the world, and the test of delay and
disappointment, would they renounce the faith? Because they did not
immediately understand the dealings of God with them, would they cast
aside truths sustained by the clearest testimony of His word?

This test would reveal the strength of those who with real faith had
obeyed what they believed to be the teaching of the word and the Spirit of
God. It would teach them, as only such an experience could, the danger of
accepting the theories and interpretations of men, instead of making the
Bible its own interpreter. To the children of faith the perplexity and
sorrow resulting from their error, would work the needed correction. They
would be led to a closer study of the prophetic word. They would be taught
to examine more carefully the foundation of their faith, and to reject
everything, however widely accepted by the Christian world, that was not
founded upon the Scriptures of truth.

With these believers, as with the first disciples, that which in the hour
of trial seemed dark to their understanding, would afterward be made
plain. When they should see the “end of the Lord,” they would know that
notwithstanding the trial resulting from their errors, His purposes of
love toward them had been steadily fulfilling. They would learn by a
blessed experience that He is “very pitiful, and of tender mercy;” that
all His paths “are mercy and truth unto such as keep His covenant and His
testimonies.”





20. A GREAT RELIGIOUS AWAKENING.


                     [Illustration: Chapter header.]

A great religious awakening under the proclamation of Christ’s soon
coming, is foretold in the prophecy of the first angel’s message of
Revelation 14. An angel is seen flying “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.” “With a loud voice” he
proclaims the message, “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.”(590)

The fact that an angel is said to be the herald of this warning, is
significant. By the purity, the glory, and the power of the heavenly
messenger, divine wisdom has been pleased to represent the exalted
character of the work to be accomplished by the message, and the power and
glory that were to attend it. And the angel’s flight “in the midst of
heaven,” the “loud voice” with which the warning is uttered, and its
promulgation to all “that dwell on the earth,”—“to every nation, and
kindred, and tongue, and people,”—give evidence of the rapidity and
world-wide extent of the movement.

The message itself sheds light as to the time when this movement is to
take place. It is declared to be a part of the “everlasting gospel;” and
it announces the opening of the judgment. The message of salvation has
been preached in all ages; but this message is a part of the gospel which
could be proclaimed only in the last days, for only then would it be true
that the hour of judgment _had come_. The prophecies present a succession
of events leading down to the opening of the judgment. This is especially
true of the book of Daniel. But that part of his prophecy which related to
the last days, Daniel was bidden to close up and seal “to the time of the
end.” Not till we reach this time could a message concerning the judgment
be proclaimed, based on a fulfilment of these prophecies. But at the time
of the end, says the prophet, “many shall run to and fro, and knowledge
shall be increased.”(591)

The apostle Paul warned the church not to look for the coming of Christ in
his day. “That day shall not come,” he says, “except there come a falling
away first, and that man of sin be revealed.”(592) Not till after the
great apostasy, and the long period of the reign of the “man of sin,” can
we look for the advent of our Lord. The “man of sin,” which is also styled
the “mystery of iniquity,” the “son of perdition,” and “that wicked,”
represents the papacy, which, as foretold in prophecy, was to maintain its
supremacy for 1260 years. This period ended in 1798. The coming of Christ
could not take place before that time. Paul covers with his caution the
whole of the Christian dispensation down to the year 1798. It is this side
of that time that the message of Christ’s second coming is to be
proclaimed.

No such message has ever been given in past ages. Paul, as we have seen,
did not preach it; he pointed his brethren into the then far-distant
future for the coming of the Lord. The Reformers did not proclaim it.
Martin Luther placed the judgment about three hundred years in the future
from his day. But since 1798 the book of Daniel has been unsealed,
knowledge of the prophecies has increased, and many have proclaimed the
solemn message of the judgment near.

Like the great Reformation of the sixteenth century, the Advent Movement
appeared in different countries of Christendom at the same time. In both
Europe and America, men of faith and prayer were led to the study of the
prophecies, and tracing down the inspired record, they saw convincing
evidence that the end of all things was at hand. In different lands there
were isolated bodies of Christians who, solely by the study of the
Scriptures, arrived at the belief that the Saviour’s advent was near.

In 1821, three years after Miller had arrived at his exposition of the
prophecies pointing to the time of the judgment, Dr. Joseph Wolff, “the
missionary to the world,” began to proclaim the Lord’s soon coming. Wolff
was born in Germany, of Hebrew parentage, his father being a Jewish rabbi.
While very young, he was convinced of the truth of the Christian religion.
Of an active, inquiring mind, he had been an eager listener to the
conversations that took place in his father’s house, as devout Hebrews
daily assembled to recount the hopes and anticipations of their people,
the glory of the coming Messiah, and the restoration of Israel. One day
hearing Jesus of Nazareth mentioned, the boy inquired who He was. “A Jew
of the greatest talent,” was the answer; “but as He pretended to be the
Messiah, the Jewish tribunal sentenced Him to death.” “Why,” rejoined the
questioner, “is Jerusalem destroyed, and why are we in captivity?” “Alas,
alas!” answered his father, “because the Jews murdered the prophets.” The
thought was at once suggested to the child, “Perhaps Jesus was also a
prophet, and the Jews killed Him when He was innocent.”(593) So strong was
this feeling, that though forbidden to enter a Christian church, he would
often linger outside to listen to the preaching.

When only seven years old, he was boasting to an aged Christian neighbor
of the future triumph of Israel at the advent of the Messiah, when the old
man said kindly, “Dear boy, I will tell you who the real Messiah was: He
was Jesus of Nazareth, ... whom your ancestors have crucified, as they did
the prophets of old. Go home and read the fifty-third chapter of Isaiah,
and you will be convinced that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.”(594)
Conviction at once fastened upon him. He went home and read the scripture,
wondering to see how perfectly it had been fulfilled in Jesus of Nazareth.
Were the words of the Christian true? The boy asked of his father an
explanation of the prophecy, but was met with a silence so stern that he
never again dared to refer to the subject. This, however, only increased
his desire to know more of the Christian religion.

The knowledge he sought was studiously kept from him in his Jewish home;
but when only eleven years old, he left his father’s house, and went out
into the world to gain for himself an education, to choose his religion
and his life-work. He found a home for a time with kinsmen, but was soon
driven from them as an apostate, and alone and penniless he had to make
his own way among strangers. He went from place to place, studying
diligently, and maintaining himself by teaching Hebrew. Through the
influence of a Catholic instructor, he was led to accept the Romish faith,
and formed the purpose of becoming a missionary to his own people. With
this object he went, a few years later, to pursue his studies in the
College of the Propaganda at Rome. Here his habit of independent thought
and candid speech brought upon him the imputation of heresy. He openly
attacked the abuses of the church, and urged the necessity of reform.
Though at first treated with special favor by the papal dignitaries, he
was after a time removed from Rome. Under the surveillance of the church
he went from place to place, until it became evident that he could never
be brought to submit to the bondage of Romanism. He was declared to be
incorrigible, and was left at liberty to go where he pleased. He now made
his way to England, and professing the Protestant faith, united with the
English Church. After two years’ study he set out, in 1821, upon his
mission. While Wolff accepted the great truth of Christ’s first advent as
“a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief,” he saw that the prophecies
bring to view with equal clearness His second advent with power and glory.
And while he sought to lead his people to Jesus of Nazareth as the
Promised One, and to point them to His first coming in humiliation as a
sacrifice for the sins of men, he taught them also of His second coming as
a king and deliverer.

“Jesus of Nazareth, the true Messiah,” he said, “whose hands and feet were
pierced, who was brought like a lamb to the slaughter, who was the Man of
sorrows and acquainted with grief, who after the scepter was taken from
Judah, and the legislative power from between his feet, came the first
time; shall come the second time in the clouds of heaven, and with the
trump of the Archangel,”(595) “and shall stand upon the Mount of Olives;
and that dominion, once consigned to Adam over the creation, and forfeited
by him (Gen. 1:26; 3:17), shall be given to Jesus. He shall be king over
all the earth. The groanings and lamentations of the creation shall cease,
but songs of praises and thanksgivings shall be heard.... When Jesus comes
in the glory of His Father, with the holy angels, ... the dead believers
shall rise first. 1 Thess. 4:16; 1 Cor. 15: 23. This is what we Christians
call the first resurrection. Then the animal kingdom shall change its
nature (Isa. 11:6-9), and be subdued unto Jesus. Psalm 8. Universal peace
shall prevail.”(596) “The Lord again shall look down upon the earth, and
say, ‘Behold, it is very good.’ ”(597)

Wolff believed the coming of the Lord to be at hand, his interpretation of
the prophetic periods placing the great consummation within a very few
years of the time pointed out by Miller. To those who urged from the
scripture, “Of that day and hour knoweth no man,” that men are to know
nothing concerning the nearness of the advent, Wolff replied: “Did our
Lord say that that day and hour should _never_ be known? Did He not give
us signs of the times, in order that we may know at least the _approach_
of His coming, as one knows the approach of the summer by the fig-tree
putting forth its leaves? Matt. 24:32. Are we never to know that period,
whilst He Himself exhorteth us not only to read Daniel the prophet, but to
understand it? and in that very Daniel, where it is said that the words
were shut up to the time of the end (which was the case in his time), and
that ‘many shall run to and fro’ (a Hebrew expression for observing and
thinking upon the time), ‘and _knowledge_’ (regarding that time) ‘shall be
increased.’ Dan. 12:4. Besides this, our Lord does not intend to say by
this, that the _approach_ of the time shall not be known, but that the
_exact_ ‘_day_ and _hour_ knoweth no man.’ Enough, He does say, shall be
known by the signs of the times, to induce us to prepare for His coming,
as Noah prepared the ark.”(598)

Concerning the popular system of interpreting, or misinterpreting, the
Scriptures, Wolff wrote: “The greater part of the Christian church have
swerved from the plain sense of Scripture, and have turned to the
phantomizing system of the Buddhists, who believe that the future
happiness of mankind will consist in moving about in the air, and suppose
that when they are reading _Jews_, they must understand _Gentiles_; and
when they read _Jerusalem_, they must understand the _church_; and if it
is said _earth_, it means _sky_; and for the coming of the _Lord_ they
must understand the progress of the _missionary societies_; and going up
to the mountain of the Lord’s house, signifies a grand _class-meeting of
Methodists_.”(599)

During the twenty-four years from 1821 to 1845, Wolff traveled
extensively: in Africa, visiting Egypt and Abyssinia; in Asia, traversing
Palestine, Syria, Persia, Bokhara, and India. He also visited the United
States, on the journey thither preaching on the island of St. Helena. He
arrived in New York in August, 1837; and after speaking in that city, he
preached in Philadelphia and Baltimore, and finally proceeded to
Washington. Here, he says, “on a motion brought forward by the
ex-president, John Quincy Adams, in one of the houses of Congress, the
House unanimously granted to me the use of the Congress Hall for a
lecture, which I delivered on a Saturday, honored with the presence of all
the members of Congress, and also of the bishop of Virginia, and of the
clergy and citizens of Washington. The same honor was granted to me by the
members of the government of New Jersey and Pennsylvania, in whose
presence I delivered lectures on my researches in Asia, and also on the
personal reign of Jesus Christ.”(600)

Dr. Wolff traveled in the most barbarous countries, without the protection
of any European authority, enduring many hardships, and surrounded with
countless perils. He was bastinadoed and starved, sold as a slave, and
three times condemned to death. He was beset by robbers, and sometimes
nearly perished from thirst. Once he was stripped of all that he
possessed, and left to travel hundreds of miles on foot through the
mountains, the snow beating in his face, and his naked feet benumbed by
contact with the frozen ground.

When warned against going unarmed among savage and hostile tribes, he
declared himself “provided with arms,”—“prayer, zeal for Christ, and
confidence in His help.” “I am also,” he said, “provided with the love of
God and my neighbor in my heart, and the Bible is in my hand.”(601) The
Bible in Hebrew and English he carried with him wherever he went. Of one
of his later journeys he says, “I ... kept the Bible open in my hand. I
felt my power was in the book, and that its might would sustain me.”(602)

Thus he persevered in his labors until the message of the judgment had
been carried to a large part of the habitable globe. Among Jews, Turks,
Parsees, Hindoos, and many other nationalities and races, he distributed
the word of God in these various tongues, and everywhere heralded the
approaching reign of the Messiah.

In his travels in Bokhara he found the doctrine of the Lord’s soon coming
held by a remote and isolated people. The Arabs of Yemen, he says, “are in
possession of a book called ‘Seera,’ which gives notice of the second
coming of Christ and His reign in glory; and they expect great events to
take place in the year 1840.”(603) “In Yemen ... I spent six days with the
children of Rechab. They drink no wine, plant no vineyard, sow no seed,
and live in tents, and remember good old Jonadab, the son of Rechab; and I
found in their company children of Israel, of the tribe of Dan, ... who
expect, with the children of Rechab, the speedy arrival of the Messiah in
the clouds of heaven.”(604)

A similar belief was found by another missionary to exist in Tartary. A
Tartar priest put the question to the missionary, as to when Christ would
come the second time. When the missionary answered that he knew nothing
about it, the priest seemed greatly surprised at such ignorance in one who
professed to be a Bible teacher, and stated his own belief, founded on
prophecy, that Christ would come about 1844.

As early as 1826 the advent message began to be preached in England. The
movement here did not take so definite a form as in America; the exact
time of the advent was not so generally taught, but the great truth of
Christ’s soon coming in power and glory was extensively proclaimed. And
this not among the dissenters and non-conformists only. Mourant Brock, an
English writer, states that about seven hundred ministers of the Church of
England were engaged in preaching this “gospel of the kingdom.” The
message pointing to 1844 as the time of the Lord’s coming was also given
in Great Britain. Advent publications from the United States were widely
circulated. Books and journals were republished in England. And in 1842,
Robert Winter, an Englishman by birth, who had received the advent faith
in America, returned to his native country to herald the coming of the
Lord. Many united with him in the work, and the message of the judgment
was proclaimed in various parts of England.

In South America, in the midst of barbarism and priestcraft, Lacunza, a
Spaniard and a Jesuit, found his way to the Scriptures, and thus received
the truth of Christ’s speedy return. Impelled to give the warning, yet
desiring to escape the censures of Rome, he published his views under the
assumed name of “Rabbi Ben-Israel,” representing himself as a converted
Jew. Lacunza lived in the eighteenth century, but it was about 1825 that
his book, having found its way to London, was translated into the English
language. Its publication served to deepen the interest already awakening
in England in the subject of the second advent.

In Germany the doctrine had been taught in the eighteenth century by
Bengel, a minister in the Lutheran Church, and a celebrated biblical
scholar and critic. Upon completing his education, Bengel had “devoted
himself to the study of theology, to which the grave and religious tone of
his mind, deepened and strengthened by his early training and discipline,
naturally inclined him. Like other young men of thoughtful character,
before and since, he had to struggle with doubts and difficulties of a
religious nature, and he alludes, with much feeling, to the ‘many arrows
which pierced his poor heart, and made his youth hard to bear.’ ”(605)
Becoming a member of the consistory of Würtemberg, he advocated the cause
of religious liberty. “While maintaining the rights and privileges of the
church, he was an advocate for all reasonable freedom being accorded to
those who felt themselves bound, on grounds of conscience, to withdraw
from her communion.”(606) The good effects of this policy are still felt
in his native province.

It was while preparing a sermon from Revelation 21 for “Advent Sunday”
that the light of Christ’s second coming broke in upon Bengel’s mind. The
prophecies of the Revelation unfolded to his understanding as never
before. Overwhelmed with a sense of the stupendous importance and
surpassing glory of the scenes presented by the prophet, he was forced to
turn for a time from the contemplation of the subject. In the pulpit it
again presented itself to him with all its vividness and power. From that
time he devoted himself to the study of the prophecies, especially those
of the Apocalypse, and soon arrived at the belief that they pointed to the
coming of Christ as near. The date which he fixed upon as the time of the
second advent was within a very few years of that afterward held by
Miller.

Bengel’s writings have been spread throughout Christendom. His views of
prophecy were quite generally received in his own state of Würtemberg, and
to some extent in other parts of Germany. The movement continued after his
death, and the advent message was heard in Germany at the same time that
it was attracting attention in other lands. At an early date some of the
believers went to Russia, and there formed colonies, and the faith of
Christ’s soon coming is still held by the German churches of that country.

The light shone also in France and Switzerland. At Geneva, where Farel and
Calvin had spread the truths of the Reformation, Gaussen preached the
message of the second advent. While a student at school, Gaussen had
encountered that spirit of rationalism which pervaded all Europe during
the latter part of the eighteenth and the opening of the nineteenth
century; and when he entered the ministry he was not only ignorant of true
faith, but inclined to skepticism. In his youth he had become interested
in the study of prophecy. After reading Rollin’s “Ancient History,” his
attention was called to the second chapter of Daniel, and he was struck
with the wonderful exactness with which the prophecy had been fulfilled,
as seen in the historian’s record. Here was a testimony to the inspiration
of the Scriptures, which served as an anchor to him amid the perils of
later years. He could not rest satisfied with the teachings of
rationalism, and in studying the Bible and searching for clearer light he
was, after a time, led to a positive faith.

As he pursued his investigation of the prophecies, he arrived at the
belief that the coming of the Lord was at hand. Impressed with the
solemnity and importance of this great truth, he desired to bring it
before the people; but the popular belief that the prophecies of Daniel
are mysteries and cannot be understood, was a serious obstacle in his way.
He finally determined—as Farel had done before him in evangelizing
Geneva—to begin with the children, through whom he hoped to interest the
parents.

“I desire this to be understood,” he afterward said, speaking of his
object in this undertaking, “it is not because of its small importance,
but on the contrary because of its great value, that I wished to present
it in this familiar form, and that I addressed it to the children. I
desired to be heard, and I feared that I would not be if I addressed
myself to the grown people first.” “I determined therefore to go to the
youngest. I gather an audience of children; if the group enlarges, if it
is seen that they listen, are pleased, interested, that they understand
and explain the subject, I am sure to have a second circle soon, and in
their turn, grown people will see that it is worth their while to sit down
and study. When this is done, the cause is gained.”(607)

The effort was successful. As he addressed the children, older persons
came to listen. The galleries of his church were filled with attentive
hearers. Among them were men of rank and learning, and strangers and
foreigners visiting Geneva; and thus the message was carried to other
parts.

Encouraged by this success, Gaussen published his lessons, with the hope
of promoting the study of the prophetic books in the churches of the
French-speaking people. “To publish instruction given to the children,”
says Gaussen, “is to say to adults, who too often neglect such books under
the false pretense that they are obscure, ‘How can they be obscure, since
your children understand them?’ ” “I had a great desire,” he adds, “to
render a knowledge of the prophecies popular in our flocks, if possible.”
“There is no study, indeed, which it seems to me answers the needs of the
time better.” “It is by this that we are to prepare for the tribulation
near at hand, and watch and wait for Jesus Christ.”

Though one of the most distinguished and beloved of preachers in the
French language, Gaussen was after a time suspended from the ministry, his
principal offense being that instead of the church’s catechism, a tame and
rationalistic manual, almost destitute of positive faith, he had used the
Bible in giving instruction to the youth. He afterward became teacher in a
theological school, while on Sunday he continued his work as catechist,
addressing the children, and instructing them in the Scriptures. His works
on prophecy also excited much interest. From the professor’s chair,
through the press, and in his favorite occupation as teacher of children,
he continued for many years to exert an extensive influence, and was
instrumental in calling the attention of many to the study of the
prophecies which showed that the coming of the Lord was near.

In Scandinavia also the advent message was proclaimed, and a wide-spread
interest was kindled. Many were roused from their careless security, to
confess and forsake their sins, and seek pardon in the name of Christ. But
the clergy of the state church opposed the movement, and through their
influence some who preached the message were thrown into prison. In many
places where the preachers of the Lord’s soon coming were thus silenced,
God was pleased to send the message, in a miraculous manner, through
little children. As they were under age, the law of the state could not
restrain them, and they were permitted to speak unmolested.

The movement was chiefly among the lower class, and it was in the humble
dwellings of the laborers that the people assembled to hear the warning.
The child-preachers themselves were mostly poor cottagers. Some of them
were not more than six or eight years of age; and while their lives
testified that they loved the Saviour, and were trying to live in
obedience to God’s holy requirements, they ordinarily manifested only the
intelligence and ability usually seen in children of that age. When
standing before the people, however, it was evident that they were moved
by an influence beyond their own natural gifts. Tone and manner changed,
and with solemn power they gave the warning of the judgment, employing the
very words of Scripture, “Fear God, and give glory to Him; for the hour of
His judgment is come.” They reproved the sins of the people, not only
condemning immorality and vice, but rebuking worldliness and backsliding,
and warning their hearers to make haste to flee from the wrath to come.

The people heard with trembling. The convicting Spirit of God spoke to
their hearts. Many were led to search the Scriptures with new and deeper
interest, the intemperate and immoral were reformed, others abandoned
their dishonest practices, and a work was done so marked that even
ministers of the state church were forced to acknowledge that the hand of
God was in the movement.

It was God’s will that the tidings of the Saviour’s coming should be given
in the Scandinavian countries; and when the voices of His servants were
silenced, He put His Spirit upon the children, that the work might be
accomplished. When Jesus drew near to Jerusalem attended by the rejoicing
multitudes that, with shouts of triumph and the waving of palm branches,
heralded Him as the Son of David, the jealous Pharisees called upon Him to
silence them; but Jesus answered that all this was in fulfilment of
prophecy, and if these should hold their peace, the very stones would cry
out. The people, intimidated by the threats of the priests and rulers,
ceased their joyful proclamation as they entered the gates of Jerusalem;
but the children in the temple courts afterward took up the refrain, and
waving their branches of palm, they cried, “Hosanna to the Son of
David!”(608) When the Pharisees, sorely displeased, said unto Him,
“Hearest Thou what these say?” Jesus answered, “Yea; have ye never read,
Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings Thou hast perfected praise?” As
God wrought through children at the time of Christ’s first advent, so He
wrought through them in giving the message of His second advent. God’s
word must be fulfilled, that the proclamation of the Saviour’s coming
should be given to all peoples, tongues, and nations.

To William Miller and his co-laborers it was given to preach the warning
in America. This country became the center of the great Advent Movement.
It was here that the prophecy of the first angel’s message had its most
direct fulfilment. The writings of Miller and his associates were carried
to distant lands. Wherever missionaries had penetrated in all the world,
were sent the glad tidings of Christ’s speedy return. Far and wide spread
the message of the everlasting gospel, “Fear God, and give glory to Him;
for the hour of His judgment is come.”

The testimony of the prophecies which seemed to point to the coming of
Christ in the spring of 1844, took deep hold of the minds of the people.
As the message went from State to State, there was everywhere awakened
wide-spread interest. Many were convinced that the arguments from the
prophetic periods were correct, and sacrificing their pride of opinion,
they joyfully received the truth. Some ministers laid aside their
sectarian views and feelings, left their salaries and their churches, and
united in proclaiming the coming of Jesus. There were comparatively few
ministers, however, who would accept this message; therefore it was
largely committed to humble laymen. Farmers left their fields, mechanics
their tools, traders their merchandise, professional men their positions;
and yet the number of workers was small in comparison with the work to be
accomplished. The condition of an ungodly church and a world lying in
wickedness, burdened the souls of the true watchmen, and they willingly
endured toil, privation, and suffering, that they might call men to
repentance unto salvation. Though opposed by Satan, the work went steadily
forward, and the advent truth was accepted by many thousands.

Everywhere the searching testimony was heard, warning sinners, both
worldlings and church-members, to flee from the wrath to come. Like John
the Baptist, the forerunner of Christ, the preachers laid the axe at the
root of the tree, and urged all to bring forth fruit meet for repentance.
Their stirring appeals were in marked contrast to the assurances of peace
and safety that were heard from popular pulpits; and wherever the message
was given, it moved the people. The simple, direct testimony of the
Scriptures, set home by the power of the Holy Spirit, brought a weight of
conviction which few were able wholly to resist. Professors of religion
were roused from their false security. They saw their backslidings, their
worldliness and unbelief, their pride and selfishness. Many sought the
Lord with repentance and humiliation. The affections that had so long
clung to earthly things they now fixed upon heaven. The Spirit of God
rested upon them, and with hearts softened and subdued they joined to
sound the cry, “Fear God, and give glory to Him; for the hour of His
judgment is come.”

Sinners inquired with weeping, “What must I do to be saved?” Those whose
lives had been marked with dishonesty were anxious to make restitution.
All who found peace in Christ longed to see others share the blessing. The
hearts of parents were turned to their children, and the hearts of
children to their parents. The barriers of pride and reserve were swept
away. Heartfelt confessions were made, and the members of the household
labored for the salvation of those who were nearest and dearest. Often was
heard the sound of earnest intercession. Everywhere were souls in deep
anguish, pleading with God. Many wrestled all night in prayer for the
assurance that their own sins were pardoned, or for the conversion of
their relatives or neighbors.

All classes flocked to the Adventist meetings. Rich and poor, high and
low, were, from various causes, anxious to hear for themselves the
doctrine of the second advent. The Lord held the spirit of opposition in
check while His servants explained the reasons of their faith. Sometimes
the instrument was feeble; but the Spirit of God gave power to His truth.
The presence of holy angels was felt in these assemblies, and many were
daily added to the believers. As the evidences of Christ’s soon coming
were repeated, vast crowds listened in breathless silence to the solemn
words. Heaven and earth seemed to approach each other. The power of God
was felt upon old and young and middle-aged. Men sought their homes with
praises upon their lips, and the glad sound rang out upon the still night
air. None who attended those meetings can ever forget those scenes of
deepest interest.

The proclamation of a definite time for Christ’s coming called forth great
opposition from many of all classes, from the minister in the pulpit down
to the most reckless, Heaven-daring sinner. The words of prophecy were
fulfilled: “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.”(609) Many who professed to love the Saviour,
declared that they had no opposition to the doctrine of the second advent;
they merely objected to the definite time. But God’s all-seeing eye read
their hearts. They did not wish to hear of Christ’s coming to judge the
world in righteousness. They had been unfaithful servants, their works
would not bear the inspection of the heart-searching God, and they feared
to meet their Lord. Like the Jews at the time of Christ’s first advent,
they were not prepared to welcome Jesus. They not only refused to listen
to the plain arguments from the Bible, but ridiculed those who were
looking for the Lord. Satan and his angels exulted, and flung the taunt in
the face of Christ and holy angels, that His professed people had so
little love for Him that they did not desire His appearing.

“No man knoweth the day nor the hour,” was the argument most often brought
forward by rejecters of the advent faith. The scripture is, “Of that day
and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but My Father
only.”(610) A clear and harmonious explanation of this text was given by
those who were looking for the Lord, and the wrong use made of it by their
opponents was clearly shown. The words were spoken by Christ in that
memorable conversation with His disciples upon Olivet, after He had for
the last time departed from the temple. The disciples had asked the
question, “What shall be the sign of Thy coming, and of the end of the
world?” Jesus gave them signs, and said, “When ye shall see all these
things, know that it is near, even at the doors.”(611) One saying of the
Saviour must not be made to destroy another. Though no man knoweth the
_day_ nor the _hour_ of His coming, we are instructed and required to know
when it is near. We are further taught that to disregard His warning, and
refuse or neglect to know when His advent is near, will be as fatal for us
as it was for those who lived in the days of Noah not to know when the
flood was coming. And the parable in the same chapter, contrasting the
faithful and the unfaithful servant, and giving the doom of him who said
in his heart, “My Lord delayeth His coming,” shows in what light Christ
will regard and reward those whom He finds watching, and teaching His
coming, and those denying it. “Watch therefore,” He says; “blessed is that
servant, whom his Lord when He cometh shall find so doing.”(612) “If
therefore thou shalt not watch, I will come on thee as a thief, and thou
shalt not know what hour I will come upon thee.”(613)

Paul speaks of a class to whom the Lord’s appearing will come unawares.
“The day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night. For when they
shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, ...
and they shall not escape.” But He adds, to those who have given heed to
the Saviour’s warning, “Ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day
should overtake you as a thief. Ye are all the children of light, and the
children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness.”(614)

Thus it was shown that Scripture gives no warrant for men to remain in
ignorance concerning the nearness of Christ’s coming. But those who
desired only an excuse to reject the truth closed their ears to this
explanation; and the words, “No man knoweth the day nor the hour,”
continued to be echoed by the bold scoffer, and even by the professed
minister of Christ. As the people were roused, and began to inquire the
way of salvation, religious teachers stepped in between them and the
truth, seeking to quiet their fears by falsely interpreting the word of
God. Unfaithful watchmen united in the work of the great deceiver, crying,
Peace, peace, when God had not spoken peace. Like the Pharisees in
Christ’s day, many refused to enter the kingdom of heaven themselves, and
those who were entering in, they hindered. The blood of these souls will
be required at their hand.

The most humble and devoted in the churches were usually the first to
receive the message. Those who studied the Bible for themselves could not
but see the unscriptural character of the popular views of prophecy; and
wherever the people were not controlled by the influence of the clergy,
wherever they would search the word of God for themselves, the advent
doctrine needed only to be compared with the Scriptures to establish its
divine authority.

Many were persecuted by their unbelieving brethren. In order to retain
their position in the church, some consented to be silent in regard to
their hope; but others felt that loyalty to God forbade them thus to hide
the truths which He had committed to their trust. Not a few were cut off
from the fellowship of the church for no other reason than expressing
their belief in the coming of Christ. Very precious to those who bore this
trial of their faith were the words of the prophet, “Your brethren that
hated you, that cast you out for My name’s sake, said, Let the Lord be
glorified: but He shall appear to your joy, and they shall be
ashamed.”(615)

Angels of God were watching with the deepest interest the result of the
warning. When there was a general rejection of the message by the
churches, angels turned away in sadness. But there were many who had not
yet been tested in regard to the advent truth. Many were misled by
husbands, wives, parents, or children, and were made to believe it a sin
even to listen to such heresies as were taught by the Adventists. Angels
were bidden to keep faithful watch over these souls; for another light was
yet to shine upon them from the throne of God.

With unspeakable desire those who had received the message watched for the
coming of their Saviour. The time when they expected to meet Him was at
hand. They approached this hour with a calm solemnity. They rested in
sweet communion with God, an earnest of the peace that was to be theirs in
the bright hereafter. None who experienced this hope and trust can forget
those precious hours of waiting. For some weeks preceding the time,
worldly business was for the most part laid aside. The sincere believers
carefully examined every thought and emotion of their hearts as if upon
their death-beds and in a few hours to close their eyes upon earthly
scenes. There was no making of “ascension robes;”(616) but all felt the
need of internal evidence that they were prepared to meet the Saviour;
their white robes were purity of soul,—characters cleansed from sin by the
atoning blood of Christ. Would that there was still with the professed
people of God the same spirit of heart-searching, the same earnest,
determined faith. Had they continued thus to humble themselves before the
Lord, and press their petitions at the mercy-seat, they would be in
possession of a far richer experience than they now have. There is too
little prayer, too little real conviction of sin, and the lack of living
faith leaves many destitute of the grace so richly provided by our
Redeemer.

God designed to prove His people. His hand covered a mistake in the
reckoning of the prophetic periods. Adventists did not discover the error,
nor was it discovered by the most learned of their opponents. The latter
said: “Your reckoning of the prophetic periods is correct. Some great
event is about to take place; but it is not what Mr. Miller predicts; it
is the conversion of the world, and not the second advent of Christ.”(617)

The time of expectation passed, and Christ did not appear for the
deliverance of His people. Those who with sincere faith and love had
looked for their Saviour, experienced a bitter disappointment. Yet the
purposes of God were being accomplished: He was testing the hearts of
those who professed to be waiting for His appearing. There were among them
many who had been actuated by no higher motive than fear. Their profession
of faith had not affected their hearts or their lives. When the expected
event failed to take place, these persons declared that they were not
disappointed; they had never believed that Christ would come. They were
among the first to ridicule the sorrow of the true believers.

But Jesus and all the heavenly host looked with love and sympathy upon the
tried and faithful yet disappointed ones. Could the veil separating the
visible from the invisible world have been swept back, angels would have
been seen drawing near to these steadfast souls, and shielding them from
the shafts of Satan.





21. A WARNING REJECTED.


                     [Illustration: Chapter header.]

In preaching the doctrine of the second advent, William Miller and his
associates had labored with the sole purpose of arousing men to a
preparation for the judgment. They had sought to awaken professors of
religion to the true hope of the church, and to their need of a deeper
Christian experience; and they labored also to awaken the unconverted to
the duty of immediate repentance and conversion to God. “They made no
attempt to convert men to a sect or party in religion. Hence they labored
among all parties and sects, without interfering with their organization
or discipline.”(618)

“In all my labors,” said Miller, “I never had the desire or thought to
establish any separate interest from that of existing denominations, or to
benefit one at the expense of another. I thought to benefit all. Supposing
that all Christians would rejoice in the prospect of Christ’s coming, and
that those who could not see as I did would not love any the less those
who should embrace this doctrine, I did not conceive there would ever be
any necessity for separate meetings. My whole object was a desire to
convert souls to God, to notify the world of a coming judgment, and to
induce my fellow-men to make that preparation of heart which will enable
them to meet their God in peace. The great majority of those who were
converted under my labors united with the various existing churches.”(619)

As his work tended to build up the churches, it was for a time regarded
with favor. But as ministers and religious leaders decided against the
advent doctrine, and desired to suppress all agitation of the subject,
they not only opposed it from the pulpit, but denied their members the
privilege of attending preaching upon the second advent, or even of
speaking of their hope in the social meetings of the church. Thus the
believers found themselves in a position of great trial and perplexity.
They loved their churches, and were loath to separate from them; but as
they saw the testimony of God’s word suppressed, and their right to
investigate the prophecies denied, they felt that loyalty to God forbade
them to submit. Those who sought to shut out the testimony of God’s word,
they could not regard as constituting the church of Christ, “the pillar
and ground of the truth.” Hence they felt themselves justified in
separating from their former connection. In the summer of 1844 about fifty
thousand withdrew from the churches.

About this time a marked change was apparent in most of the churches
throughout the United States. There had been for many years a gradual but
steadily increasing conformity to worldly practices and customs, and a
corresponding decline in real spiritual life; but in that year there were
evidences of a sudden and marked declension in nearly all the churches of
the land. While none seemed able to suggest the cause, the fact itself was
widely noted and commented upon, by both the press and the pulpit.

At a meeting of the presbytery of Philadelphia, Mr. Barnes, author of a
commentary widely used, and pastor of one of the leading churches in that
city, “stated that he had been in the ministry for twenty years, and
never, till the last communion, had he administered the ordinance without
receiving more or less into the church. But now there are _no awakenings,
no conversions_, not much apparent growth in grace in professors, and none
come to his study to converse about the salvation of their souls. With the
increase of business, and the brightening prospects of commerce and
manufacture, there is an increase of worldly-mindedness. _Thus it is with
all the denominations._”(620)

In the month of February of the same year, Professor Finney, of Oberlin
College, said: “We have had the fact before our minds, that, in general,
the Protestant churches of our country, as such, were either apathetic or
hostile to nearly all the moral reforms of the age. There are partial
exceptions, yet not enough to render the fact otherwise than general. We
have also another corroborated fact: the almost universal absence of
revival influence in the churches. The spiritual apathy is almost
all-pervading, and is fearfully deep; so the religious press of the whole
land testifies.... Very extensively, church-members are becoming devotees
of fashion,—join hands with the ungodly in parties of pleasure, in
dancing, in festivities, etc.... But we need not expand this painful
subject. Suffice it that the evidence thickens and rolls heavily upon us,
to show that the _churches generally are becoming sadly degenerate_. They
have gone very far from the Lord, and He has withdrawn Himself from them.”

And a writer in the _Religious Telescope_ testified: “We have never
witnessed such a general declension of religion as at the present. Truly,
the church should awake, and search into the cause of this affliction; for
as an affliction every one that loves Zion must view it. When we call to
mind how ‘few and far between’ cases of true conversion are, and the
almost unparalleled impertinence and hardness of sinners, we almost
involuntarily exclaim, ‘Has God forgotten to be gracious? or, Is the door
of mercy closed?’ ”

Such a condition never exists without cause in the church itself. The
spiritual darkness which falls upon nations, upon churches and
individuals, is due, not to an arbitrary withdrawal of the succors of
divine grace on the part of God, but to neglect or rejection of divine
light on the part of men. A striking illustration of this truth is
presented in the history of the Jewish people in the time of Christ. By
their devotion to the world and forgetfulness of God and His word, their
understanding had become darkened, their hearts earthly and sensual. Thus
they were in ignorance concerning Messiah’s advent, and in their pride and
unbelief they rejected the Redeemer. God did not even then cut off the
Jewish nation from a knowledge of, or a participation in, the blessings of
salvation. But those who rejected the truth lost all desire for the gift
of Heaven. They had “put darkness for light, and light for darkness,”
until the light which was in them became darkness; and how great was that
darkness!

It suits the policy of Satan, that men should retain the forms of
religion, if but the spirit of vital godliness is lacking. After their
rejection of the gospel, the Jews continued zealously to maintain their
ancient rites, they rigorously preserved their national exclusiveness,
while they themselves could not but admit that the presence of God was no
longer manifest among them. The prophecy of Daniel pointed so unmistakably
to the time of Messiah’s coming, and so directly foretold His death, that
they discouraged its study, and finally the rabbis pronounced a curse on
all who should attempt a computation of the time. In blindness and
impenitence, the people of Israel for eighteen hundred years have stood,
indifferent to the gracious offers of salvation, unmindful of the
blessings of the gospel, a solemn and fearful warning of the danger of
rejecting light from heaven.

Wherever the cause exists, the same results will follow. He who
deliberately stifles his convictions of duty because it interferes with
his inclinations, will finally lose the power to distinguish between truth
and error. The understanding becomes darkened, the conscience callous, the
heart hardened, and the soul is separated from God. Where the message of
divine truth is spurned or slighted, there the church will be enshrouded
in darkness; faith and love grow cold, and estrangement and dissension
enter. Church-members center their interests and energies in worldly
pursuits, and sinners become hardened in their impenitence.

The first angel’s message of Revelation 14, announcing the hour of God’s
judgment, and calling upon men to fear and worship Him, was designed to
separate the professed people of God from the corrupting influences of the
world, and to arouse them to see their true condition of worldliness and
backsliding. In this message, God had sent to the church a warning, which,
had it been accepted, would have corrected the evils that were shutting
them away from Him. Had they received the message from heaven, humbling
their hearts before the Lord, and seeking in sincerity a preparation to
stand in His presence, the Spirit and power of God would have been
manifested among them. The church would again have reached that blessed
state of unity, faith, and love, which existed in apostolic days, when the
believers “were of one heart and of one soul,” and “spake the word of God
with boldness,” when “the Lord added to the church daily such as should be
saved.”(621)

If God’s professed people would receive the light as it shines upon them
from His word, they would reach that unity for which Christ prayed, that
which the apostle describes, “the unity of the Spirit in the bond of
peace.” “There is,” he says, “_one_ body, and _one_ Spirit, even as ye are
called in _one_ hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one
baptism.”(622)

Such were the blessed results experienced by those who accepted the advent
message. They came from different denominations, and their denominational
barriers were hurled to the ground; conflicting creeds were shivered to
atoms; the unscriptural hope of a temporal millennium was abandoned, false
views of the second advent were corrected, pride and conformity to the
world were swept away; wrongs were made right; hearts were united in the
sweetest fellowship, and love and joy reigned supreme. If this doctrine
did this for the few who did receive it, it would have done the same for
all, if all had received it.

But the churches generally did not accept the warning. Their ministers,
who, as “watchmen unto the house of Israel,” should have been the first to
discern the tokens of Jesus’ coming, had failed to learn the truth, either
from the testimony of the prophets or from the signs of the times. As
worldly hopes and ambitions filled the heart, love for God and faith in
His word had grown cold; and when the advent doctrine was presented, it
only aroused their prejudice and unbelief. The fact that the message was,
to a great extent, preached by laymen, was urged as an argument against
it. As of old, the plain testimony of God’s word was met with the inquiry,
“Have any of the rulers or of the Pharisees believed?” And finding how
difficult a task it was to refute the arguments drawn from the prophetic
periods, many discouraged the study of the prophecies, teaching that the
prophetic books were sealed, and were not to be understood. Multitudes,
trusting implicitly to their pastors, refused to listen to the warning;
and others, though convinced of the truth, dared not confess it, lest they
should be “put out of the synagogue.” The message which God had sent for
the testing and purification of the church, revealed all too surely how
great was the number who had set their affections on this world rather
than upon Christ. The ties which bound them to earth were stronger than
the attractions heavenward. They chose to listen to the voice of worldly
wisdom, and turned away from the heart-searching message of truth.

In refusing the warning of the first angel, they rejected the means which
Heaven had provided for their restoration. They spurned the gracious
messenger that would have corrected the evils which separated them from
God, and with greater eagerness they turned to seek the friendship of the
world. Here was the cause of that fearful condition of worldliness,
backsliding, and spiritual death which existed in the churches in 1844.

In Revelation 14, the first angel is followed by a second, proclaiming,
“Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city, because she made all
nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication.”(623) The term
“Babylon” is derived from “Babel,” and signifies confusion. It is employed
in Scripture to designate the various forms of false or apostate religion.
In Revelation 17, Babylon is represented as a woman,—a figure which is
used in the Bible as the symbol of a church, a virtuous woman representing
a pure church, a vile woman an apostate church.

In the Bible the sacred and enduring character of the relation that exists
between Christ and His church is represented by the union of marriage. The
Lord has joined His people to Himself by a solemn covenant, He promising
to be their God, and they pledging themselves to be His, and His alone. He
declares, “I will betroth thee unto Me forever; yea, I will betroth thee
unto Me in righteousness, and in judgment, and in loving-kindness, and in
mercies.”(624) And again, “I am married unto you.”(625) And Paul employs
the same figure in the New Testament when he says, “I have espoused you to
one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ.”(626)

The unfaithfulness of the church to Christ in permitting her confidence
and affection to be turned from Him, and allowing the love of worldly
things to occupy the soul, is likened to the violation of the marriage
vow. The sin of Israel in departing from the Lord is presented under this
figure; and the wonderful love of God which they thus despised is
touchingly portrayed: “I sware unto thee, and entered into a covenant with
thee, saith the Lord God, and thou becamest Mine.” “And thou wast
exceeding beautiful, and thou didst prosper into a kingdom. And thy renown
went forth among the heathen for thy beauty: for it was perfect through My
comeliness, which I had put upon thee.... But thou didst trust in thine
own beauty, and playedst the harlot because of thy renown.” “As a wife
treacherously departeth from her husband, so have ye dealt treacherously
with Me, O house of Israel, saith the Lord;” “as a wife that committeth
adultery, which taketh strangers instead of her husband.”(627)

In the New Testament, language very similar is addressed to professed
Christians who seek the friendship of the world above the favor of God.
Says the apostle James: “Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that
the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will
be a friend of the world is the enemy of God.”

The woman (Babylon) of Revelation 17, is described as “arrayed in purple
and scarlet color, and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls,
having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and filthiness: ...
and upon her forehead was a name written, Mystery, Babylon the Great, the
mother of harlots.” Says the prophet, “I saw the woman drunken with the
blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus.” Babylon
is further declared to be “that great city, which reigneth over the kings
of the earth.”(628) The power that for so many centuries maintained
despotic sway over the monarchs of Christendom, is Rome. The purple and
scarlet color, the gold and precious stones and pearls, vividly picture
the magnificence and more than kingly pomp affected by the haughty see of
Rome. And no other power could be so truly declared “drunken with the
blood of the saints” as that church which has so cruelly persecuted the
followers of Christ. Babylon is also charged with the sin of unlawful
connection with “the kings of the earth.” It was by departure from the
Lord, and alliance with the heathen, that the Jewish church became a
harlot; and Rome, corrupting herself in like manner by seeking the support
of worldly powers, receives a like condemnation.

Babylon is said to be “the _mother_ of harlots.” By her _daughters_ must
be symbolized churches that cling to her doctrines and traditions, and
follow her example of sacrificing the truth and the approval of God, in
order to form an unlawful alliance with the world. The message of
Revelation 14, announcing the _fall_ of Babylon, must apply to religious
bodies that were once pure and have become corrupt. Since this message
follows the warning of the judgment, it must be given in the last days;
therefore it cannot refer to the Roman Church alone, for that church has
been in a fallen condition for many centuries. Furthermore, in the
eighteenth chapter of the Revelation, the people of God are called upon to
come out of Babylon. According to this scripture, many of God’s people
must still be in Babylon. And in what religious bodies are the greater
part of the followers of Christ now to be found? Without doubt, in the
various churches professing the Protestant faith. At the time of their
rise, these churches took a noble stand for God and the truth, and His
blessing was with them. Even the unbelieving world was constrained to
acknowledge the beneficent results that followed an acceptance of the
principles of the gospel. In the words of the prophet to Israel, “Thy
renown went forth among the heathen for thy beauty: for it was perfect
through My comeliness, which I had put upon thee, saith the Lord
God.”(629) But they fell by the same desire which was the curse and ruin
of Israel,—the desire of imitating the practices and courting the
friendship of the ungodly. “Thou didst trust in thine own beauty, and
playedst the harlot because of thy renown.”(630)

Many of the Protestant churches are following Rome’s example of iniquitous
connection with “the kings of the earth”—the state churches, by their
relation to secular governments; and other denominations, by seeking the
favor of the world. And the term “Babylon”—confusion—may be appropriately
applied to these bodies, all professing to derive their doctrines from the
Bible, yet divided into almost innumerable sects, with widely conflicting
creeds and theories.

Besides a sinful union with the world, the churches that separated from
Rome present other of her characteristics. A Roman Catholic work argues
that “if the Church of Rome were ever guilty of idolatry in relation to
the saints, her daughter, the Church of England, stands guilty of the
same, which has ten churches dedicated to Mary for one dedicated to
Christ.”(631)

And Dr. Hopkins, in “A Treatise on the Millennium,” declares: “There is no
reason to consider the antichristian spirit and practices to be confined
to that which is now called the Church of Rome. The Protestant churches
have much of antichrist in them, and are far from being wholly reformed
from ... corruptions and wickedness.”(632)

Concerning the separation of the Presbyterian Church from Rome, Dr.
Guthrie writes: “Three hundred years ago, our church, with an open Bible
on her banner, and this motto, ‘Search the Scriptures,’ on her scroll,
marched out from the gates of Rome.” Then he asks the significant
question, “Did they come _clean_ out of Babylon?”(633)

“The Church of England,” says Spurgeon, “seems to be eaten through and
through with sacramentarianism; but non-conformity appears to be almost as
badly riddled with philosophical infidelity. Those of whom we thought
better things are turning aside one by one from the fundamentals of the
faith. Through and through, I believe, the very heart of England is
honeycombed with a damnable infidelity which dares still go into the
pulpit and call itself Christian.”

What was the origin of the great apostasy? How did the church first depart
from the simplicity of the gospel? By conforming to the practices of
paganism, to facilitate the acceptance of Christianity by the heathen. The
apostle Paul declared, even in his day, “The mystery of iniquity doth
already work.”(634) During the lives of the apostles the church remained
comparatively pure. But “toward the latter end of the second century most
of the churches assumed a new form; the first simplicity disappeared, and
insensibly, as the old disciples retired to their graves, their children,
along with new converts, ... came forward and new-modeled the cause.”(635)
To secure converts, the exalted standard of the Christian faith was
lowered, and as the result “a pagan flood, flowing into the church,
carried with it its customs, practices, and idols.”(636) As the Christian
religion secured the favor and support of secular rulers, it was nominally
accepted by multitudes; but while in appearance Christians, many “remained
in substance pagans, especially worshiping in secret their idols.”(637)

Has not the same process been repeated in nearly every church calling
itself Protestant? As its founders, those who possessed the true spirit of
reform, pass away, their descendants come forward and “new-model the
cause.” While blindly clinging to the creed of their fathers and refusing
to accept any truth in advance of what they saw, the children of the
reformers depart widely from their example of humility, self-denial, and
renunciation of the world. Thus “the first simplicity disappears.” A
worldly flood, flowing into the church, “carries with it its customs,
practices, and idols.”

Alas, to what a fearful extent is that friendship of the world which is
“enmity with God,” now cherished among the professed followers of Christ!
How widely have the popular churches throughout Christendom departed from
the Bible standard of humility, self-denial, simplicity, and godliness!
Said John Wesley, in speaking of the right use of money: “Do not waste any
part of so precious a talent, merely in gratifying the desire of the eye,
by superfluous or expensive apparel, or by needless ornaments. Waste no
part of it in curiously adorning your houses; in superfluous or expensive
furniture; in costly pictures, painting, gilding.... Lay out nothing to
gratify the pride of life, to gain the admiration or praise of men.... ‘So
long as thou doest well unto thyself, men will speak good of thee.’ So
long as thou art ‘clothed in purple and fine linen, and farest sumptuously
every day,’ no doubt many will applaud thy elegance of taste, thy
generosity and hospitality. But do not buy their applause so dear. Rather
be content with the honor that cometh from God.”(638) But in many churches
of our time, such teaching is disregarded.

A profession of religion has become popular with the world. Rulers,
politicians, lawyers, doctors, merchants, join the church as a means of
securing the respect and confidence of society, and advancing their own
worldly interests. Thus they seek to cover all their unrighteous
transactions under a profession of Christianity. The various religious
bodies, re-enforced by the wealth and influence of these baptized
worldlings, make a still higher bid for popularity and patronage. Splendid
churches, embellished in the most extravagant manner, are erected on
popular avenues. The worshipers array themselves in costly and fashionable
attire. A high salary is paid for a talented minister to entertain and
attract the people. His sermons must not touch popular sins, but be made
smooth and pleasing for fashionable ears. Thus fashionable sinners are
enrolled on the church-records, and fashionable sins are concealed under a
pretense of godliness.

Commenting on the present attitude of professed Christians toward the
world, a leading secular journal says: “Insensibly the church has yielded
to the spirit of the age, and adapted its forms of worship to modern
wants.” “All things, indeed, that help to make religion attractive, the
church now employs as its instruments.” And a writer in the New York
_Independent_ speaks thus concerning Methodism as it is: “The line of
separation between the godly and the irreligious fades out into a kind of
penumbra, and zealous men on both sides are toiling to obliterate all
difference between their modes of action and enjoyment.” “The popularity
of religion tends vastly to increase the number of those who would secure
its benefits without squarely meeting its duties.”

Says Howard Crosby: “It is a matter of deep concern that we find Christ’s
church so little fulfilling the designs of its Lord. Just as the ancient
Jews let a familiar intercourse with the idolatrous nations steal away
their hearts from God, ... so the church of Jesus now is, by its false
partnerships with an unbelieving world, giving up the divine methods of
its true life, and yielding itself to the pernicious, though often
plausible, habits of a Christless society, using the arguments and
reaching the conclusions which are foreign to the revelation of God, and
directly antagonistic to all growth in grace.”(639)

In this tide of worldliness and pleasure-seeking, self-denial and
self-sacrifice for Christ’s sake are almost wholly lost. “Some of the men
and women now in active life in our churches were educated, when children,
to make sacrifices in order to be able to give or do something for
Christ.” But “if funds are wanted now, ... nobody must be called on to
give. Oh, no! have a fair, tableaux, mock trial, antiquarian supper, or
something to eat—anything to amuse the people.”

Governor Washburn, of Wisconsin, in his annual message, Jan. 9, 1873,
declared: “Some law seems to be required to break up the schools where
gamblers are made. These are everywhere. Even the church (unwittingly, no
doubt) is sometimes found doing the work of the devil. Gift concerts, gift
enterprises and raffles, sometimes in aid of religious or charitable
objects, but often for less worthy purposes, lotteries, prize packages,
etc., are all devices to obtain money without value received. Nothing is
so demoralizing or intoxicating, particularly to the young, as the
acquisition of money or property without labor. Respectable people
engaging in these chance enterprises, and easing their consciences with
the reflection that the money is to go to a good object, it is not strange
that the youth of the State should so often fall into the habits which the
excitement of games of hazard is almost certain to engender.”

The spirit of worldly conformity is invading the churches throughout
Christendom. Robert Atkins, in a sermon preached in London, draws a dark
picture of the spiritual declension that prevails in England: “The truly
righteous are diminished from the earth, and no man layeth it to heart.
The professors of religion of the present day, in every church, are lovers
of the world, conformers to the world, lovers of creature comfort, and
aspirers after respectability. They are called to suffer with Christ, but
they shrink from even reproach.... _apostasy, apostasy, apostasy_, is
engraven on the very front of every church; and did they know it, and did
they feel it, there might be hope; but, alas! they cry, ‘We are rich, and
increased in goods, and stand in need of nothing.’ ”(640)

The great sin charged against Babylon is, that she “made all nations drink
of the wine of the wrath of her fornication.” This cup of intoxication
which she presents to the world, represents the false doctrines that she
has accepted as the result of her unlawful connection with the great ones
of the earth. Friendship with the world corrupts her faith, and in her
turn she exerts a corrupting influence upon the world by teaching
doctrines which are opposed to the plainest statements of Holy Writ.

Rome withheld the Bible from the people, and required all men to accept
her teachings in its place. It was the work of the Reformation to restore
to men the word of God; but is it not too true that in the churches of our
time men are taught to rest their faith upon their creed and the teachings
of their church rather than on the Scriptures? Said Charles Beecher,
speaking of the Protestant churches: “They shrink from any rude word
against creeds with the same sensitiveness with which those holy fathers
would have shrunk from a rude word against the rising veneration of saints
and martyrs which they were fostering.... The Protestant evangelical
denominations have so tied up one another’s hands, and their own, that,
between them all, a man cannot become a preacher at all, anywhere, without
accepting some book besides the Bible.... There is nothing imaginary in
the statement that the creed power is now beginning to prohibit the Bible
as really as Rome did, though in a subtler way.”(641)

When faithful teachers expound the word of God, there arise men of
learning, ministers professing to understand the Scriptures, who denounce
sound doctrine as heresy, and thus turn away inquirers after truth. Were
it not that the world is hopelessly intoxicated with the wine of Babylon,
multitudes would be convicted and converted by the plain, cutting truths
of the word of God. But religious faith appears so confused and
discordant, that the people know not what to believe as truth. The sin of
the world’s impenitence lies at the door of the church.

The second angel’s message of Revelation 14 was first preached in the
summer of 1844, and it then had a more direct application to the churches
of the United States, where the warning of the judgment had been most
widely proclaimed and most generally rejected, and where the declension in
the churches had been most rapid. But the message of the second angel did
not reach its complete fulfilment in 1844. The churches then experienced a
moral fall, in consequence of their refusal of the light of the advent
message; but that fall was not complete. As they have continued to reject
the special truths for this time, they have fallen lower and lower. Not
yet, however, can it be said that “Babylon is fallen, ... because she made
_all nations_ drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication.” She has
not yet made all nations do this. The spirit of world-conforming and
indifference to the testing truths for our time, exists and has been
gaining ground in churches of the Protestant faith in all the countries of
Christendom; and these churches are included in the solemn and terrible
denunciation of the second angel. But the work of apostasy has not yet
reached its culmination.

The Bible declares that before the coming of the Lord, Satan will work
“with _all_ power and signs and lying wonders, and with all deceivableness
of unrighteousness;” and they that “received not the love of the truth,
that they might be saved,” will be left to receive “strong delusion, that
they should believe a lie.”(642) Not until this condition shall be
reached, and the union of the church with the world shall be fully
accomplished throughout Christendom, will the fall of Babylon be complete.
The change is a progressive one, and the perfect fulfilment of Rev. 14:8
is yet future.

Notwithstanding the spiritual darkness and alienation from God that exist
in the churches which constitute Babylon, the great body of Christ’s true
followers are still to be found in their communion. There are many of
these who have never seen the special truths for this time. Not a few are
dissatisfied with their present condition, and are longing for clearer
light. They look in vain for the image of Christ in the churches with
which they are connected. As these bodies depart farther and farther from
the truth, and ally themselves more closely with the world, the difference
between the two classes will widen, and it will finally result in
separation. The time will come when those who love God supremely can no
longer remain in connection with such as are “lovers of pleasures more
than lovers of God; having a form of godliness, but denying the power
thereof.”

Revelation 18 points to the time when, as the result of rejecting the
threefold warning of Rev. 14:6-12, the church will have fully reached the
condition foretold by the second angel, and the people of God still in
Babylon will be called upon to separate from her communion. This message
is the last that will ever be given to the world; and it will accomplish
its work. When those that “believed not the truth, but had pleasure in
unrighteousness,”(643) shall be left to receive strong delusion and to
believe a lie, then the light of truth will shine upon all whose hearts
are open to receive it, and all the children of the Lord that remain in
Babylon will heed the call, “Come out of her, My people.”(644)





22. PROPHECIES FULFILLED.


                     [Illustration: Chapter header.]

When the time passed at which the Lord’s coming was first expected,—in the
spring of 1844,—those who had looked in faith for His appearing were for a
season involved in doubt and uncertainty. While the world regarded them as
having been utterly defeated, and proved to have been cherishing a
delusion, their source of consolation was still the word of God. Many
continued to search the Scriptures, examining anew the evidences of their
faith, and carefully studying the prophecies to obtain further light. The
Bible testimony in support of their position seemed clear and conclusive.
Signs which could not be mistaken pointed to the coming of Christ as near.
The special blessing of the Lord, both in the conversion of sinners and
the revival of spiritual life among Christians, had testified that the
message was of Heaven. And though the believers could not explain their
disappointment, they felt assured that God had led them in their past
experience.

Interwoven with prophecies which they had regarded as applying to the time
of the second advent, was instruction specially adapted to their state of
uncertainty and suspense, and encouraging them to wait patiently in the
faith that what was now dark to their understanding would in due time be
made plain.

Among these prophecies was that of Hab. 2:1-4: “I will stand upon my
watch, and set me upon the tower, and will watch to see what He will say
unto me, and what I shall answer when I am reproved. And the Lord answered
me, and said, Write the vision, and make it plain upon tables, that he may
run that readeth it. For the vision is yet for an appointed time, but at
the end it shall speak, and not lie: though it tarry, wait for it; because
it will surely come, it will not tarry. Behold, his soul which is lifted
up is not upright in him: but the just shall live by his faith.”

As early as 1842, the direction given in this prophecy, to “write the
vision, and make it plain upon tables, that he may run that readeth it,”
had suggested to Charles Fitch the preparation of a prophetic chart to
illustrate the visions of Daniel and the Revelation. The publication of
this chart was regarded as a fulfilment of the command given by Habakkuk.
No one, however, then noticed that an apparent delay in the accomplishment
of the vision—a tarrying time—is presented in the same prophecy. After the
disappointment, this scripture appeared very significant: “The vision is
yet for an appointed time, but at the end it shall speak, and not lie:
though it tarry, wait for it; because it will surely come, it will not
tarry.... The just shall live by his _faith_.”

A portion of Ezekiel’s prophecy also was a source of strength and comfort
to believers: “The word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Son of man, what
is that proverb that ye have in the land of Israel, saying, The days are
prolonged, and every vision faileth? Tell them therefore, Thus saith the
Lord God, ... The days are at hand, and the effect of every vision.... I
will speak, and the word that I shall speak shall come to pass; it shall
be no more prolonged.” “They of the house of Israel say, The vision that
he seeth is for many days to come, and he prophesieth of the times that
are far off. Therefore say unto them, Thus saith the Lord God: There shall
none of My words be prolonged any more, but the word which I have spoken
shall be done.”(645)

The waiting ones rejoiced, believing that He who knows the end from the
beginning had looked down through the ages, and foreseeing their
disappointment, had given them words of courage and hope. Had it not been
for such portions of Scripture, admonishing them to wait with patience,
and to hold fast their confidence in God’s word, their faith would have
failed in that trying hour.

The parable of the ten virgins of Matthew 25 also illustrates the
experience of the Adventist people. In Matthew 24, in answer to the
question of His disciples concerning the sign of His coming and of the end
of the world, Christ had pointed out some of the most important events in
the history of the world and of the church from His first to His second
advent; namely, the destruction of Jerusalem, the great tribulation of the
church under the pagan and papal persecutions, the darkening of the sun
and moon, and the falling of the stars. After this He spoke of His coming
in His kingdom, and related the parable describing the two classes of
servants who look for His appearing. Chapter 25 opens with the words,
“_Then_ shall the kingdom of heaven be likened unto ten virgins.” Here is
brought to view the church living in the last days, the same that is
pointed out in the close of chapter 24. In this parable their experience
is illustrated by the incidents of an Eastern marriage.

“Then shall the kingdom of heaven be likened unto ten virgins, which took
their lamps, and went forth to meet the bridegroom. And five of them were
wise, and five were foolish. They that were foolish took their lamps, and
took no oil with them: but the wise took oil in their vessels with their
lamps. While the bridegroom tarried, they all slumbered and slept. And at
midnight there was a cry made, Behold, the bridegroom cometh; go ye out to
meet him.”

The coming of Christ, as announced by the first angel’s message, was
understood to be represented by the coming of the bridegroom. The
wide-spread reformation under the proclamation of His soon coming,
answered to the going forth of the virgins. In this parable, as in that of
Matthew 24, two classes are represented. All had taken their lamps, the
Bible, and by its light had gone forth to meet the Bridegroom. But while
“they that were foolish took their lamps, and took no oil with them,” “the
wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps.” The latter class had
received the grace of God, the regenerating, enlightening power of the
Holy Spirit, which renders His word a lamp to the feet and a light to the
path. In the fear of God they had studied the Scriptures to learn the
truth, and had earnestly sought for purity of heart and life. These had a
personal experience, a faith in God and in His word, which could not be
overthrown by disappointment and delay. Others “took their lamps, and took
no oil with them.” They had moved from impulse. Their fears had been
excited by the solemn message, but they had depended upon the faith of
their brethren, satisfied with the flickering light of good emotions,
without a thorough understanding of the truth, or a genuine work of grace
in the heart. These had gone forth to meet the Lord, full of hope in the
prospect of immediate reward; but they were not prepared for delay and
disappointment. When trials came, their faith failed, and their lights
burned dim.

“While the bridegroom tarried, they all slumbered and slept.” By the
tarrying of the bridegroom is represented the passing of the time when the
Lord was expected, the disappointment, and the seeming delay. In this time
of uncertainty, the interest of the superficial and half-hearted soon
began to waver, and their efforts to relax; but those whose faith was
based on a personal knowledge of the Bible, had a rock beneath their feet,
which the waves of disappointment could not wash away. “They all slumbered
and slept;” one class in unconcern and abandonment of their faith, the
other class patiently waiting till clearer light should be given. Yet in
the night of trial the latter seemed to lose, to some extent, their zeal
and devotion. The half-hearted and superficial could no longer lean upon
the faith of their brethren. Each must stand or fall for himself.

About this time, fanaticism began to appear. Some who had professed to be
zealous believers in the message, rejected the word of God as the one
infallible guide, and claiming to be led by the Spirit, gave themselves up
to the control of their own feelings, impressions, and imaginations. There
were some who manifested a blind and bigoted zeal, denouncing all who
would not sanction their course. Their fanatical ideas and exercises met
with no sympathy from the great body of Adventists; yet they served to
bring reproach upon the cause of truth.

Satan was seeking by this means to oppose and destroy the work of God. The
people had been greatly stirred by the Advent Movement, thousands of
sinners had been converted, and faithful men were giving themselves to the
work of proclaiming the truth, even in the tarrying time. The prince of
evil was losing his subjects; and in order to bring reproach upon the
cause of God, he sought to deceive some who professed the faith, and to
drive them to extremes. Then his agents stood ready to seize upon every
error, every failure, every unbecoming act, and hold it up before the
people in the most exaggerated light, to render Adventists and their faith
odious. Thus the greater the number whom he could crowd in to make a
profession of faith in the second advent while his power controlled their
hearts, the greater advantage would he gain by calling attention to them
as representatives of the whole body of believers.

Satan is “the accuser of the brethren,” and it is his spirit that inspires
men to watch for the errors and defects of the Lord’s people, and to hold
them up to notice, while their good deeds are passed by without a mention.
He is always active when God is at work for the salvation of souls. When
the sons of God come to present themselves before the Lord, Satan comes
also among them. In every revival he is ready to bring in those who are
unsanctified in heart and unbalanced in mind. When these have accepted
some points of truth, and gained a place with believers, he works through
them to introduce theories that will deceive the unwary. No man is proved
to be a true Christian because he is found in company with the children of
God, even in the house of worship and around the table of the Lord. Satan
is frequently there upon the most solemn occasions, in the form of those
whom he can use as his agents.

The prince of evil contests every inch of ground over which God’s people
advance in their journey toward the heavenly city. In all the history of
the church, no reformation has been carried forward without encountering
serious obstacles. Thus it was in Paul’s day. Wherever the apostle raised
up a church, there were some who professed to receive the faith, but who
brought in heresies, that, if received, would eventually crowd out the
love of the truth. Luther also suffered great perplexity and distress from
the course of fanatical persons who claimed that God had spoken directly
through them, and who therefore set their own ideas and opinions above the
testimony of the Scriptures. Many who were lacking in faith and
experience, but who had considerable self-sufficiency, and who loved to
hear and tell some new thing, were beguiled by the pretensions of the new
teachers, and they joined the agents of Satan in their work of tearing
down what God had moved Luther to build up. And the Wesleys, and others
who blessed the world by their influence and their faith, encountered at
every step the wiles of Satan in pushing overzealous, unbalanced, and
unsanctified ones into fanaticism of every grade.

William Miller had no sympathy with those influences that led to
fanaticism. He declared, with Luther, that every spirit should be tested
by the word of God. “The devil,” said Miller, “has great power over the
minds of some at the present day. And how shall we know what manner of
spirit they are of? The Bible answers: ‘By their fruits ye shall know
them.’... There are many spirits gone out into the world; and we are
commanded to try the spirits. The spirit that does not cause us to live
soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world, is not the Spirit
of Christ. I am more and more convinced that Satan has much to do in these
wild movements.... Many among us, who pretend to be wholly sanctified, are
following the traditions of men, and apparently are as ignorant of truth
as others who make no such pretensions.”(646) “The spirit of error will
lead us from the truth; and the Spirit of God will lead us into truth.
But, say you, a man may be in an error, and think he has the truth. What
then? We answer, The Spirit and word agree. If a man judges himself by the
word of God, and finds a perfect harmony through the whole word, then he
must believe he has the truth; but if he finds the spirit by which he is
led does not harmonize with the whole tenor of God’s law or book, then let
him walk carefully, lest he be caught in the snare of the devil.”(647) “I
have often obtained more evidence of inward piety from a kindling eye, a
wet cheek, and a choked utterance, than from all the noise in
Christendom.”(648)

In the days of the Reformation its enemies charged all the evils of
fanaticism upon the very ones who were laboring most earnestly against it.
A similar course was pursued by the opposers of the Advent Movement. And
not content with misrepresenting and exaggerating the errors of extremists
and fanatics, they circulated unfavorable reports that had not the
slightest semblance of truth. These persons were actuated by prejudice and
hatred. Their peace was disturbed by the proclamation of Christ at the
door. They feared it might be true, yet hoped it was not, and this was the
secret of their warfare against Adventists and their faith.

The fact that a few fanatics worked their way into the ranks of Adventists
is no more a reason to decide that the movement was not of God, than was
the presence of fanatics and deceivers in the church in Paul’s or Luther’s
day a sufficient excuse for condemning their work. Let the people of God
arouse out of sleep, and begin in earnest the work of repentance and
reformation; let them search the Scriptures to learn the truth as it is in
Jesus; let them make an entire consecration to God, and evidence will not
be wanting that Satan is still active and vigilant. With all possible
deception he will manifest his power, calling to his aid all the fallen
angels of his realm.

It was not the proclamation of the second advent that created fanaticism
and division. These appeared in the summer of 1844, when Adventists were
in a state of doubt and perplexity concerning their real position. The
preaching of the first angel’s message and of the “midnight cry” tended
directly to repress fanaticism and dissension. Those who participated in
these solemn movements were in harmony; their hearts were filled with love
for one another, and for Jesus, whom they expected soon to see. The one
faith, the one blessed hope, lifted them above the control of any human
influence, and proved a shield against the assaults of Satan.

“While the bridegroom tarried, they all slumbered and slept. And at
midnight there was a cry made, Behold, the bridegroom cometh; go ye out to
meet him. Then all those virgins arose, and trimmed their lamps.”(649) In
the summer of 1844, midway between the time when it had been first thought
that the 2300 days would end, and the autumn of the same year, to which it
was afterward found that they extended, the message was proclaimed in the
very words of Scripture, “Behold, the Bridegroom cometh!”

That which led to this movement was the discovery that the decree of
Artaxerxes for the restoration of Jerusalem, which formed the
starting-point for the period of the 2300 days, went into effect in the
autumn of the year B.C. 457, and not at the beginning of the year, as had
been formerly believed. Reckoning from the autumn of 457, the 2300 years
terminate in the autumn of 1844.(650)

Arguments drawn from the Old Testament types also pointed to the autumn as
the time when the event represented by the “cleansing of the sanctuary”
must take place. This was made very clear as attention was given to the
manner in which the types relating to the first advent of Christ had been
fulfilled.

The slaying of the Passover lamb was a shadow of the death of Christ. Says
Paul, “Christ our passover is sacrificed for us.”(651) The sheaf of
first-fruits, which at the time of the Passover was waved before the Lord,
was typical of the resurrection of Christ. Paul says, in speaking of the
resurrection of the Lord, and of all His people, “Christ the first-fruits;
afterward they that are Christ’s at His coming.”(652) Like the wave-sheaf,
which was the first ripe grain gathered before the harvest, Christ is the
first-fruits of that immortal harvest of redeemed ones that at the future
resurrection shall be gathered into the garner of God.

These types were fulfilled, not only as to the event, but as to the time.
On the fourteenth day of the first Jewish month, the very day and month on
which, for fifteen long centuries, the Passover lamb had been slain,
Christ, having eaten the Passover with His disciples, instituted that
feast which was to commemorate His own death as “the Lamb of God, which
taketh away the sin of the world.” That same night He was taken by wicked
hands, to be crucified and slain. And as the antitype of the wave-sheaf,
our Lord was raised from the dead on the third day, “the first-fruits of
them that slept,”(653) a sample of all the resurrected just, whose “vile
body” shall be changed, and “fashioned like unto His glorious body.”(654)

In like manner, the types which relate to the second advent must be
fulfilled at the time pointed out in the symbolic service. Under the
Mosaic system, the cleansing of the sanctuary, or the great day of
atonement, occurred on the tenth day of the seventh Jewish month,(655)
when the high priest, having made an atonement for all Israel, and thus
removed their sins from the sanctuary, came forth and blessed the people.
So it was believed that Christ, our great High Priest, would appear to
purify the earth by the destruction of sin and sinners, and to bless His
waiting people with immortality. The tenth day of the seventh month, the
great day of atonement, the time of the cleansing of the sanctuary, which
in the year 1844 fell upon the twenty-second of October, was regarded as
the time of the Lord’s coming. This was in harmony with the proofs already
presented, that the 2300 days would terminate in the autumn, and the
conclusion seemed irresistible.

In the parable of Matthew 25 the time of waiting and slumber is followed
by the coming of the bridegroom. This was in accordance with the arguments
just presented, both from prophecy and from the types. They carried strong
conviction of their truthfulness; and the “midnight cry” was heralded by
thousands of believers.

Like a tidal wave the movement swept over the land. From city to city,
from village to village, and into remote country places it went, until the
waiting people of God were fully aroused. Fanaticism disappeared before
this proclamation, like early frost before the rising sun. Believers saw
their doubt and perplexity removed, and hope and courage animated their
hearts. The work was free from those extremes which are ever manifested
when there is human excitement without the controlling influence of the
word and Spirit of God. It was similar in character to those seasons of
humiliation and returning unto the Lord which among ancient Israel
followed messages of reproof from His servants. It bore the
characteristics that mark the work of God in every age. There was little
ecstatic joy, but rather deep searching of heart, confession of sin, and
forsaking of the world. A preparation to meet the Lord was the burden of
agonizing spirits. There was persevering prayer, and unreserved
consecration to God.

Said Miller, in describing that work: “There is no great expression of
joy: that is, as it were, suppressed for a future occasion, when all
heaven and earth will rejoice together with joy unspeakable and full of
glory. There is no shouting: that, too, is reserved for the shout from
heaven. The singers are silent: they are waiting to join the angelic
hosts, the choir from heaven.... There is no clashing of sentiments: all
are of one heart and of one mind.”(656)

Another who participated in the movement testified: “It produced
everywhere the most deep searching of heart and humiliation of soul before
the God of high heaven. It caused a weaning of affections from the things
of this world, a healing of controversies and animosities, a confession of
wrongs, a breaking down before God, and penitent, broken-hearted
supplications to Him for pardon and acceptance. It caused self-abasement
and prostration of soul, such as we never before witnessed. As God by Joel
commanded, when the great day of God should be at hand, it produced a
rending of hearts and not of garments, and a turning unto the Lord with
fasting, and weeping, and mourning. As God said by Zechariah, a spirit of
grace and supplication was poured out upon His children; they looked to
Him whom they had pierced, there was a great mourning in the land, ... and
those who were looking for the Lord afflicted their souls before
Him.”(657)

Of all the great religious movements since the days of the apostles, none
have been more free from human imperfection and the wiles of Satan than
was that of the autumn of 1844. Even now, after the lapse of many years,
all who shared in that movement and who have stood firm upon the platform
of truth, still feel the holy influence of that blessed work, and bear
witness that it was of God.

At the call, “The Bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet Him,” the waiting
ones “arose and trimmed their lamps;” they studied the word of God with an
intensity of interest before unknown. Angels were sent from heaven to
arouse those who had become discouraged, and prepare them to receive the
message. The work did not stand in the wisdom and learning of men, but in
the power of God. It was not the most talented, but the most humble and
devoted, who were the first to hear and obey the call. Farmers left their
crops standing in the fields, mechanics laid down their tools, and with
tears and rejoicing went out to give the warning. Those who had formerly
led in the cause were among the last to join in this movement. The
churches in general closed their doors against this message, and a large
company of those who received it withdrew from their connection. In the
providence of God, this proclamation united with the second angel’s
message, and gave power to that work.

The message, “Behold, the Bridegroom cometh!” was not so much a matter of
argument, though the Scripture proof was clear and conclusive. There went
with it an impelling power that moved the soul. There was no doubt, no
questioning. Upon the occasion of Christ’s triumphal entry into Jerusalem,
the people who were assembled from all parts of the land to keep the
feast, flocked to the Mount of Olives, and as they joined the throng that
were escorting Jesus, they caught the inspiration of the hour, and helped
to swell the shout, “Blessed is He that cometh in the name of the
Lord!”(658) In like manner did unbelievers who flocked to the Adventist
meetings—some from curiosity, some merely to ridicule—feel the convincing
power attending the message, “Behold, the Bridegroom cometh!”

At that time there was faith that brought answers to prayer,—faith that
had respect to the recompense of reward. Like showers of rain upon the
thirsty earth, the Spirit of grace descended upon the earnest seekers.
Those who expected soon to stand face to face with their Redeemer, felt a
solemn joy that was unutterable. The softening, subduing power of the Holy
Spirit melted the heart, as His blessing was bestowed in rich measure upon
the faithful, believing ones.

Carefully and solemnly those who received the message came up to the time
when they hoped to meet their Lord. Every morning they felt that it was
their first duty to secure the evidence of their acceptance with God.
Their hearts were closely united, and they prayed much with and for one
another. They often met together in secluded places to commune with God,
and the voice of intercession ascended to heaven from the fields and
groves. The assurance of the Saviour’s approval was more necessary to them
than their daily food; and if a cloud darkened their minds, they did not
rest until it was swept away. As they felt the witness of pardoning grace,
they longed to behold Him whom their souls loved.

But again they were destined to disappointment. The time of expectation
passed, and their Saviour did not appear. With unwavering confidence they
had looked forward to His coming, and now they felt as did Mary, when,
coming to the Saviour’s tomb and finding it empty, she exclaimed with
weeping, “They have taken away my Lord, and I know not where they have
laid Him.”(659)

A feeling of awe, a fear that the message might be true, had for a time
served as a restraint upon the unbelieving world. After the passing of the
time, this did not at once disappear; at first they dared not triumph over
the disappointed ones; but as no tokens of God’s wrath were seen, they
recovered from their fears, and resumed their reproach and ridicule. A
large class who had professed to believe in the Lord’s soon coming,
renounced their faith. Some who had been very confident were so deeply
wounded in their pride that they felt like fleeing from the world. Like
Jonah, they complained of God, and chose death rather than life.

Those who had based their faith upon the opinions of others, and not upon
the word of God, were now as ready again to change their views. The
scoffers won the weak and cowardly to their ranks, and all these united in
declaring that there could be no more fears or expectations now. The time
had passed, the Lord had not come, and the world might remain the same for
thousands of years.

The earnest, sincere believers had given up all for Christ, and had shared
His presence as never before. They had, as they believed, given their last
warning to the world; and expecting soon to be received into the society
of their divine Master and the heavenly angels, they had, to a great
extent, withdrawn from the society of those who did not receive the
message. With intense desire they had prayed, “Come, Lord Jesus, and come
quickly.” But He had not come. And now to take up again the heavy burden
of life’s cares and perplexities, and to endure the taunts and sneers of a
scoffing world, was a terrible trial of faith and patience.

Yet this disappointment was not so great as was that experienced by the
disciples at the time of Christ’s first advent. When Jesus rode
triumphantly into Jerusalem, His followers believed that He was about to
ascend the throne of David, and deliver Israel from her oppressors. With
high hopes and joyful anticipations they vied with one another in showing
honor to their King. Many spread their outer garments as a carpet in His
path, or strewed before Him the leafy branches of the palm. In their
enthusiastic joy they united in the glad acclaim, “Hosanna to the Son of
David!” When the Pharisees, disturbed and angered by this outburst of
rejoicing, wished Jesus to rebuke His disciples, He replied, “If these
should hold their peace, the stones would immediately cry out.”(660)
Prophecy must be fulfilled. The disciples were accomplishing the purpose
of God; yet they were doomed to a bitter disappointment. But a few days
had passed ere they witnessed the Saviour’s agonizing death, and laid Him
in the tomb. Their expectations had not been realized in a single
particular, and their hopes died with Jesus. Not till their Lord had come
forth triumphant from the grave could they perceive that all had been
foretold by prophecy, and “that Christ must needs have suffered, and risen
again from the dead.”(661)

Five hundred years before, the Lord had declared by the prophet Zechariah,
“Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem:
behold, thy King cometh unto thee: He is just, and having salvation;
lowly, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass.”(662)
Had the disciples realized that Christ was going to judgment and to death,
they could not have fulfilled this prophecy.

In like manner, Miller and his associates fulfilled prophecy, and gave a
message which Inspiration had foretold should be given to the world, but
which they could not have given had they fully understood the prophecies
pointing out their disappointment, and presenting another message to be
preached to all nations before the Lord should come. The first and second
angels’ messages were given at the right time, and accomplished the work
which God designed to accomplish by them.

The world had been looking on, expecting that if the time passed and
Christ did not appear, the whole system of Adventism would be given up.
But while many, under strong temptation, yielded their faith, there were
some who stood firm. The fruits of the Advent Movement, the spirit of
humility and heart-searching, of renouncing of the world and reformation
of life, which had attended the work, testified that it was of God. They
dared not deny that the power of the Holy Spirit had witnessed to the
preaching of the second advent, and they could detect no error in their
reckoning of the prophetic periods. The ablest of their opponents had not
succeeded in overthrowing their system of prophetic interpretation. They
could not consent, without Bible evidence, to renounce positions which had
been reached through earnest, prayerful study of the Scriptures, by minds
enlightened by the Spirit of God, and hearts burning with its living
power; positions which had withstood the most searching criticisms and the
most bitter opposition of popular religious teachers and worldly-wise men,
and which had stood firm against the combined forces of learning and
eloquence, and the taunts and revilings alike of the honorable and the
base.

True, there had been a failure as to the expected event, but even this
could not shake their faith in the word of God. When Jonah proclaimed in
the streets of Nineveh that within forty days the city would be
overthrown, the Lord accepted the humiliation of the Ninevites, and
extended their period of probation; yet the message of Jonah was sent of
God, and Nineveh was tested according to His will. Adventists believed
that in like manner God had led them to give the warning of the judgment.
“It has,” they declared, “tested the hearts of all who heard it, and
awakened a love for the Lord’s appearing; or it has called forth a hatred,
more or less perceivable, but known to God, of His coming. It has drawn a
line, ... so that those who will examine their own hearts, may know on
which side of it they would have been found, had the Lord then
come—whether they would have exclaimed, ‘Lo! this is our God, we have
waited for Him, and He will save us;’ or whether they would have called to
the rocks and mountains to fall on them to hide them from the face of Him
that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb. God thus, as
we believe, has tested His people, has tried their faith, has proved them,
and seen whether they would shrink, in the hour of trial, from the
position in which He might see fit to place them; and whether they would
relinquish this world and rely with implicit confidence in the word of
God.”(663)

The feelings of those who still believed that God had led them in their
past experience, are expressed in the words of William Miller: “Were I to
live my life over again, with the same evidence that I then had, to be
honest with God and man I should have to do as I have done.” “I hope that
I have cleansed my garments from the blood of souls. I feel that, as far
as it was in my power, I have freed myself from all guilt in their
condemnation.” “Although I have been twice disappointed,” wrote this man
of God, “I am not yet cast down or discouraged.... My hope in the coming
of Christ is as strong as ever. I have done only what, after years of
solemn consideration, I felt it my solemn duty to do. If I have erred, it
has been on the side of charity, love to my fellow-men, and conviction of
duty to God.” “One thing I do know, I have preached nothing but what I
believed; and God has been with me; His power has been manifested in the
work, and much good has been effected.” “Many thousands, to all human
appearance, have been made to study the Scriptures by the preaching of the
time; and by that means, through faith and the sprinkling of the blood of
Christ, have been reconciled to God.”(664) “I have never courted the
smiles of the proud, nor quailed when the world frowned. I shall not now
purchase their favor, nor shall I go beyond duty to tempt their hate. I
shall never seek my life at their hands, nor shrink, I hope, from losing
it, if God in His good providence so orders.”(665)

God did not forsake His people; His Spirit still abode with those who did
not rashly deny the light which they had received, and denounce the Advent
Movement. In the Epistle to the Hebrews are words of encouragement and
warning for the tried, waiting ones at this crisis: “Cast not away
therefore your confidence, which hath great recompense of reward. For ye
have need of patience, that, after ye have done the will of God, ye might
receive the promise. For yet a little while, and He that shall come will
come, and will not tarry. Now the just shall live by faith: but if any man
draw back, My soul shall have no pleasure in him. But we are not of them
who draw back unto perdition; but of them that believe to the saving of
the soul.”(666)

That this admonition is addressed to the church in the last days is
evident from the words pointing to the nearness of the Lord’s coming: “For
yet a little while, and He that shall come will come, and will not tarry.”
And it is plainly implied that there would be a seeming delay, and that
the Lord would appear to tarry. The instruction here given is especially
adapted to the experience of Adventists at this time. The people here
addressed were in danger of making shipwreck of faith. They had done the
will of God in following the guidance of His Spirit and His word; yet they
could not understand His purpose in their past experience, nor could they
discern the pathway before them, and they were tempted to doubt whether
God had indeed been leading them. At this time the words were applicable,
“Now the just shall live by faith.” As the bright light of the “midnight
cry” had shone upon their pathway, and they had seen the prophecies
unsealed, and the rapidly fulfilling signs telling that the coming of
Christ was near, they had walked, as it were, by sight. But now, bowed
down by disappointed hopes, they could stand only by faith in God and in
His word. The scoffing world were saying: “You have been deceived. Give up
your faith, and say that the Advent Movement was of Satan.” But God’s word
declared, “If any man draw back, My soul shall have no pleasure in him.”
To renounce their faith now, and deny the power of the Holy Spirit which
had attended the message, would be drawing back toward perdition. They
were encouraged to steadfastness by the words of Paul, “Cast not away
therefore your confidence;” “ye have need of patience,” “for yet a little
while, and He that shall come will come, and will not tarry.” Their only
safe course was to cherish the light which they had already received of
God, hold fast to His promises, and continue to search the Scriptures, and
patiently wait and watch to receive further light.





23. WHAT IS THE SANCTUARY?


                     [Illustration: Chapter header.]

The scripture which above all others had been both the foundation and the
central pillar of the advent faith, was the declaration, “Unto two
thousand and three hundred days; then shall the sanctuary be
cleansed.”(667) These had been familiar words to all believers in the
Lord’s soon coming. By the lips of thousands was this prophecy repeated as
the watchword of their faith. All felt that upon the events therein
foretold depended their brightest expectations and most cherished hopes.
These prophetic days had been shown to terminate in the autumn of 1844. In
common with the rest of the Christian world, Adventists then held that the
earth, or some portion of it, was the sanctuary. They understood that the
cleansing of the sanctuary was the purification of the earth by the fires
of the last great day, and that this would take place at the second
advent. Hence the conclusion that Christ would return to the earth in
1844.

But the appointed time had passed, and the Lord had not appeared. The
believers knew that God’s word could not fail; their interpretation of the
prophecy must be at fault; but where was the mistake? Many rashly cut the
knot of difficulty by denying that the 2300 days ended in 1844. No reason
could be given for this, except that Christ had not come at the time they
expected Him. They argued that if the prophetic days had ended in 1844,
Christ would then have returned to cleanse the sanctuary by the
purification of the earth by fire; and that since He had not come, the
days could not have ended.

To accept this conclusion was to renounce the former reckoning of the
prophetic periods. The 2300 days had been found to begin when the
commandment of Artaxerxes for the restoration and building of Jerusalem,
went into effect, in the autumn of B.C. 457. Taking this as the
starting-point, there was perfect harmony in the application of all the
events foretold in the explanation of that period in Dan. 9:25-27.
Sixty-nine weeks, the first 483 of the 2300 years, were to reach to the
Messiah, the Anointed One; and Christ’s baptism and anointing by the Holy
Spirit, A.D. 27, exactly fulfilled the specification. In the midst of the
seventieth week, Messiah was to be cut off. Three and a half years after
His baptism, Christ was crucified, in the spring of A.D. 31. The seventy
weeks, or 490 years, were to pertain especially to the Jews. At the
expiration of this period, the nation sealed its rejection of Christ by
the persecution of His disciples, and the apostles turned to the Gentiles,
A.D. 34. The first 490 years of the 2300 having then ended, 1810 years
would remain. From A.D. 34, 1810 years extend to 1844. “Then,” said the
angel, “shall the sanctuary be cleansed.” All the preceding specifications
of the prophecy had been unquestionably fulfilled at the time appointed.

With this reckoning, all was clear and harmonious, except that it was not
seen that any event answering to the cleansing of the sanctuary had taken
place in 1844. To deny that the days ended at that time was to involve the
whole question in confusion, and to renounce positions which had been
established by unmistakable fulfilments of prophecy.

But God had led His people in the great Advent Movement; His power and
glory had attended the work, and He would not permit it to end in darkness
and disappointment, to be reproached as a false and fanatical excitement.
He would not leave His word involved in doubt and uncertainty. Though many
abandoned their former reckoning of the prophetic periods, and denied the
correctness of the movement based thereon, others were unwilling to
renounce points of faith and experience that were sustained by the
Scriptures and by the witness of the Spirit of God. They believed that
they had adopted sound principles of interpretation in their study of the
prophecies, and that it was their duty to hold fast the truths already
gained, and to continue the same course of biblical research. With earnest
prayer they reviewed their position, and studied the Scriptures to
discover their mistake. As they could see no error in their reckoning of
the prophetic periods, they were led to examine more closely the subject
of the sanctuary.

In their investigation they learned that there is no Scripture evidence
sustaining the popular view that the earth is the sanctuary; but they
found in the Bible a full explanation of the subject of the sanctuary, its
nature, location, and services; the testimony of the sacred writers being
so clear and ample as to place the matter beyond all question. The apostle
Paul, in the Epistle to the Hebrews, says: “Then verily the first covenant
had also ordinances of divine service, and a worldly sanctuary. For there
was a tabernacle made; the first, wherein was the candlestick, and the
table, and the showbread; which is called the sanctuary. And after the
second veil, the tabernacle which is called the holiest of all; which had
the golden censer, and the ark of the covenant overlaid round about with
gold, wherein was the golden pot that had manna, and Aaron’s rod that
budded, and the tables of the covenant; and over it the cherubim of glory
shadowing the mercy-seat.”(668)

The sanctuary to which Paul here refers was the tabernacle built by Moses
at the command of God, as the earthly dwelling-place of the Most High.
“Let them make Me a sanctuary; that I may dwell among them,”(669) was the
direction given to Moses while in the mount with God. The Israelites were
journeying through the wilderness, and the tabernacle was so constructed
that it could be removed from place to place; yet it was a structure of
great magnificence. Its walls consisted of upright boards heavily plated
with gold, and set in sockets of silver, while the roof was formed of a
series of curtains, or coverings, the outer of skins, the innermost of
fine linen beautifully wrought with figures of cherubim. Besides the outer
court, which contained the altar of burnt-offering, the tabernacle itself
consisted of two apartments called the holy and the most holy place,
separated by a rich and beautiful curtain, or veil; a similar veil closed
the entrance to the first apartment.

In the holy place was the candlestick, on the south, with its seven lamps
giving light to the sanctuary both by day and by night; on the north stood
the table of showbread; and before the veil separating the holy from the
most holy was the golden altar of incense, from which the cloud of
fragrance, with the prayers of Israel, was daily ascending before God.

In the most holy place stood the ark, a chest of precious wood overlaid
with gold, the depository of the two tables of stone upon which God had
inscribed the law of ten commandments. Above the ark, and forming the
cover to the sacred chest, was the mercy-seat, a magnificent piece of
workmanship, surmounted by two cherubim, one at each end, and all wrought
of solid gold. In this apartment the divine presence was manifested in the
cloud of glory between the cherubim.

After the settlement of the Hebrews in Canaan, the tabernacle was replaced
by the temple of Solomon, which, though a permanent structure and upon a
larger scale, observed the same proportions, and was similarly furnished.
In this form the sanctuary existed—except while it lay in ruins in
Daniel’s time—until its destruction by the Romans, in A.D. 70.

This is the only sanctuary that ever existed on the earth, of which the
Bible gives any information. This was declared by Paul to be the sanctuary
of the first covenant. But has the new covenant no sanctuary?

Turning again to the book of Hebrews, the seekers for truth found that the
existence of a second, or new-covenant sanctuary, was implied in the words
of Paul already quoted: “Then verily the first covenant had _also_
ordinances of divine service, and a worldly sanctuary.” And the use of the
word “also” intimates that Paul has before made mention of this sanctuary.
Turning back to the beginning of the previous chapter, they read: “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.”(670)

Here is revealed the sanctuary of the new covenant. The sanctuary of the
first covenant was pitched by man, built by Moses; this is pitched by the
Lord, not by man. In that sanctuary the earthly priests performed their
service; in this, Christ, our great high priest, ministers at God’s right
hand. One sanctuary was on earth, the other is in heaven.

Further, the tabernacle built by Moses was made after a pattern. The Lord
directed him, “According to all that I show thee, after the pattern of the
tabernacle, and the pattern of all the instruments thereof, even so shall
ye make it.” And again the charge was given, “Look that thou make them
after their pattern, which was showed thee in the mount.”(671) And Paul
says that the first tabernacle “was a figure for the time then present, in
which were offered both gifts and sacrifices;” that its holy places were
“patterns of things in the heavens;” that the priests who offered gifts
according to the law, served “unto the example and shadow of heavenly
things,” and that “Christ is not entered into the holy places made with
hands, which are the figures of the true, but into heaven itself, now to
appear in the presence of God for us.”(672)

The sanctuary in heaven, in which Jesus ministers in our behalf, is the
great original, of which the sanctuary built by Moses was a copy. God
placed His Spirit upon the builders of the earthly sanctuary. The artistic
skill displayed in its construction was a manifestation of divine wisdom.
The walls had the appearance of massive gold, reflecting in every
direction the light of the seven lamps of the golden candlestick. The
table of showbread and the altar of incense glittered like burnished gold.
The gorgeous curtain which formed the ceiling, inwrought with figures of
angels in blue and purple and scarlet, added to the beauty of the scene.
And beyond the second veil was the holy shekinah, the visible
manifestation of God’s glory, before which none but the high priest could
enter and live.

The matchless splendor of the earthly tabernacle reflected to human vision
the glories of that heavenly temple where Christ our forerunner ministers
for us before the throne of God. The abiding-place of the King of kings,
where thousand thousands minister unto Him, and ten thousand times ten
thousand stand before Him;(673) that temple, filled with the glory of the
eternal throne, where seraphim, its shining guardians, veil their faces in
adoration, could find, in the most magnificent structure ever reared by
human hands, but a faint reflection of its vastness and glory. Yet
important truths concerning the heavenly sanctuary and the great work
there carried forward for man’s redemption, were taught by the earthly
sanctuary and its services.

The holy places of the sanctuary in heaven are represented by the two
apartments in the sanctuary on earth. As in vision the apostle John was
granted a view of the temple of God in heaven, he beheld there “seven
lamps of fire burning before the throne.”(674) He saw an angel “having a
golden censer; and there was given unto him much incense, that he should
offer it with the prayers of all saints upon the golden altar which was
before the throne.”(675) Here the prophet was permitted to behold the
first apartment of the sanctuary in heaven; and he saw there the “seven
lamps of fire” and the “golden altar,” represented by the golden
candlestick and the altar of incense in the sanctuary on earth. Again,
“the temple of God was opened,”(676) and he looked within the inner veil,
upon the holy of holies. Here he beheld “the ark of His testament,”
represented by the sacred chest constructed by Moses to contain the law of
God.

Thus those who were studying the subject found indisputable proof of the
existence of a sanctuary in heaven. Moses made the earthly sanctuary after
a pattern which was shown him. Paul teaches that that pattern was the true
sanctuary which is in heaven. And John testifies that he saw it in heaven.

In the temple in heaven, the dwelling-place of God, His throne is
established in righteousness and judgment. In the most holy place is His
law, the great rule of right by which all mankind are tested. The ark that
enshrines the tables of the law is covered with the mercy-seat, before
which Christ pleads His blood in the sinner’s behalf. Thus is represented
the union of justice and mercy in the plan of human redemption. This union
infinite wisdom alone could devise, and infinite power accomplish; it is a
union that fills all heaven with wonder and adoration. The cherubim of the
earthly sanctuary, looking reverently down upon the mercy-seat, represent
the interest with which the heavenly host contemplate the work of
redemption. This is the mystery of mercy into which angels desire to
look,—that God can be just while He justifies the repenting sinner, and
renews His intercourse with the fallen race; that Christ could stoop to
raise unnumbered multitudes from the abyss of ruin, and clothe them with
the spotless garments of His own righteousness, to unite with angels who
have never fallen, and to dwell forever in the presence of God.

The work of Christ as man’s intercessor is presented in that beautiful
prophecy of Zechariah concerning Him “whose name is The Branch.” Says the
prophet: “He shall build the temple of the Lord; and He shall bear the
glory, and shall sit and rule upon His [the Father’s] throne; and He shall
be a priest upon His throne: and the _counsel of peace_ shall be between
Them both.”(677)

“He shall build the temple of the Lord.” By His sacrifice and mediation,
Christ is both the foundation and the builder of the church of God. The
apostle Paul points to Him as “the chief corner-stone; in whom all the
building fitly framed together groweth unto a holy temple in the Lord: in
whom ye also,” he says, “are builded together for a habitation of God
through the Spirit.”(678)

“He shall bear the glory.” To Christ belongs the glory of redemption for
the fallen race. Through the eternal ages, the song of the ransomed ones
will be, “Unto Him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in His own
blood, ... to Him be glory and dominion forever and ever.”(679)

He “shall sit and rule upon His throne; and He shall be a priest upon His
throne.” Not now “upon the throne of His glory;” the kingdom of glory has
not yet been ushered in. Not until His work as a mediator shall be ended,
will God “give unto Him the throne of His father David,” a kingdom of
which “there shall be no end.”(680) As a priest, Christ is now set down
with the Father in His throne.(681) Upon the throne with the eternal,
self-existent One, is He who “hath borne our griefs, and carried our
sorrows,” who “was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin,”
that He might be “able to succor them that are tempted.” “If any man sin,
we have an Advocate with the Father.”(682) His intercession is that of a
pierced and broken body, of a spotless life. The wounded hands, the
pierced side, the marred feet, plead for fallen man, whose redemption was
purchased at such infinite cost.

“And the counsel of peace shall be between Them both.” The love of the
Father, no less than of the Son, is the fountain of salvation for the lost
race. Said Jesus to His disciples, before He went away, “I say not unto
you, that I will pray the Father for you: for the Father Himself loveth
you.”(683) God was “in Christ, reconciling the world unto Himself.”(684)
And in the ministration in the sanctuary above, “the counsel of peace
shall be between Them both.” “God _so loved_ the world, that He gave His
only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but
have everlasting life.”(685)

The question, What is the sanctuary? is clearly answered in the
Scriptures. The term “sanctuary,” as used in the Bible, refers, first, to
the tabernacle built by Moses, as a pattern of heavenly things; and,
secondly, to the “true tabernacle” in heaven, to which the earthly
sanctuary pointed. At the death of Christ the typical service ended. The
“true tabernacle” in heaven is the sanctuary of the new covenant. And as
the prophecy of Dan. 8:14 is fulfilled in this dispensation, the sanctuary
to which it refers must be the sanctuary of the new covenant. At the
termination of the 2300 days, in 1844, there had been no sanctuary on
earth for many centuries. Thus the prophecy, “Unto two thousand and three
hundred days; then shall the sanctuary be cleansed,” unquestionably points
to the sanctuary in heaven.

But the most important question remains to be answered: What is the
cleansing of the sanctuary? That there was such a service in connection
with the earthly sanctuary, is stated in the Old Testament Scriptures. But
can there be anything in heaven to be cleansed? In Hebrews 9 the cleansing
of both the earthly and the heavenly sanctuary is plainly taught. “Almost
all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood
is no remission. It was therefore necessary that the patterns of things in
the heavens should be purified with these [the blood of animals]; but the
heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these,”(686) even
the precious blood of Christ.

The cleansing, both in the typical and in the real service, must be
accomplished with blood: in the former, with the blood of animals; in the
latter, with the blood of Christ. Paul states, as the reason why this
cleansing must be performed with blood, that without shedding of blood is
no _remission_. Remission, or putting away of sin, is the work to be
accomplished. But how could there be sin connected with the sanctuary,
either in heaven or upon the earth? This may be learned by reference to
the symbolic service; for the priests who officiated on earth, served
“unto the example and shadow of heavenly things.”(687)

The ministration of the earthly sanctuary consisted of two divisions; the
priests ministered daily in the holy place, while once a year the high
priest performed a special work of atonement in the most holy, for the
cleansing of the sanctuary. Day by day the repentant sinner brought his
offering to the door of the tabernacle, and placing his hand upon the
victim’s head, confessed his sins, thus in figure transferring them from
himself to the innocent sacrifice. The animal was then slain. “Without
shedding of blood,” says the apostle, there is no remission of sin. “The
life of the flesh is in the blood.”(688) The broken law of God demanded
the life of the transgressor. The blood, representing the forfeited life
of the sinner, whose guilt the victim bore, was carried by the priest into
the holy place and sprinkled before the veil, behind which was the ark
containing the law that the sinner had transgressed. By this ceremony the
sin was, through the blood, transferred in figure to the sanctuary. In
some cases the blood was not taken into the holy place; but the flesh was
then to be eaten by the priest, as Moses directed the sons of Aaron,
saying, “God hath given it you to bear the iniquity of the
congregation.”(689) Both ceremonies alike symbolized the transfer of the
sin from the penitent to the sanctuary.

Such was the work that went on, day by day, throughout the year. The sins
of Israel were thus transferred to the sanctuary, and a special work
became necessary for their removal. God commanded that an atonement be
made for each of the sacred apartments. “He shall make an atonement for
the holy place, because of the uncleanness of the children of Israel, and
because of their transgressions in all their sins: and so shall he do for
the tabernacle of the congregation, that remaineth among them in the midst
of their uncleanness.” An atonement was also to be made for the altar, to
“cleanse it, and hallow it from the uncleanness of the children of
Israel.”(690)

Once a year, on the great day of atonement, the priest entered the most
holy place for the cleansing of the sanctuary. The work there performed
completed the yearly round of ministration. On the day of atonement, two
kids of the goats were brought to the door of the tabernacle, and lots
were cast upon them, “one lot for the Lord, and the other lot for the
scapegoat.”(691) The goat upon which fell the lot for the Lord was to be
slain as a sin-offering for the people. And the priest was to bring his
blood within the veil, and sprinkle it upon the mercy-seat, and before the
mercy-seat. The blood was also to be sprinkled upon the altar of incense,
that was before the veil.

“And Aaron shall lay both his hands upon the head of the live goat, and
confess 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: and the goat shall bear upon him all their iniquities unto a
land not inhabited.”(692) The scapegoat came no more into the camp of
Israel, and the man who led him away was required to wash himself and his
clothing with water before returning to the camp.

The whole ceremony was designed to impress the Israelites with the
holiness of God and His abhorrence of sin; and, further, to show them that
they could not come in contact with sin without becoming polluted. Every
man was required to afflict his soul while this work of atonement was
going forward. All business was to be laid aside, and the whole
congregation of Israel were to spend the day in solemn humiliation before
God, with prayer, fasting, and deep searching of heart.

Important truths concerning the atonement are taught by the typical
service. A substitute was accepted in the sinner’s stead; but the sin was
not canceled by the blood of the victim. A means was thus provided by
which it was transferred to the sanctuary. By the offering of blood, the
sinner acknowledged the authority of the law, confessed his guilt in
transgression, and expressed his desire for pardon through faith in a
Redeemer to come; but he was not yet entirely released from the
condemnation of the law. On the day of atonement the high priest, having
taken an offering from the congregation, went into the most holy place
with the blood of this offering, and sprinkled it upon the mercy-seat,
directly over the law, to make satisfaction for its claims. Then, in his
character of mediator, he took the sins upon himself and bore them from
the sanctuary. Placing his hands upon the head of the scapegoat, he
confessed over him all these sins, thus in figure transferring them from
himself to the goat. The goat then bore them away, and they were regarded
as forever separated from the people.

Such was the service performed “unto the example and shadow of heavenly
things.” And what was done in type in the ministration of the earthly
sanctuary, is done in reality in the ministration of the heavenly
sanctuary. After His ascension, our Saviour began His work as our high
priest. Says Paul, “Christ is not entered into the holy places made with
hands, which are the figures of the true; but into heaven itself, now to
appear in the presence of God for us.”(693)

The ministration of the priest throughout the year in the first apartment
of the sanctuary, “within the veil” which formed the door and separated
the holy place from the outer court, represents the work of ministration
upon which Christ entered at His ascension. It was the work of the priest
in the daily ministration to present before God the blood of the
sin-offering, also the incense which ascended with the prayers of Israel.
So did Christ plead His blood before the Father in behalf of sinners, and
present before Him also, with the precious fragrance of His own
righteousness, the prayers of penitent believers. Such was the work of
ministration in the first apartment of the sanctuary in heaven.

Thither the faith of Christ’s disciples followed Him as He ascended from
their sight. Here their hopes centered, “which hope we have,” said Paul,
“as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast, and which entereth
into that within the veil; whither the forerunner is for us entered, even
Jesus, made an high priest forever.” “Neither by the blood of goats and
calves, but by His own blood He entered in once into the holy place,
having obtained eternal redemption for us.”(694)

For eighteen centuries this work of ministration continued in the first
apartment of the sanctuary. The blood of Christ, pleaded in behalf of
penitent believers, secured their pardon and acceptance with the Father,
yet their sins still remained upon the books of record. As in the typical
service there was a work of atonement at the close of the year, so before
Christ’s work for the redemption of men is completed, there is a work of
atonement for the removal of sin from the sanctuary. This is the service
which began when the 2300 days ended. At that time, as foretold by Daniel
the prophet, our High Priest entered the most holy, to perform the last
division of His solemn work,—to cleanse the sanctuary.

As anciently the sins of the people were by faith placed upon the
sin-offering, and through its blood transferred, in figure, to the earthly
sanctuary; so in the new covenant the sins of the repentant are by faith
placed upon Christ, and transferred, in fact, to the heavenly sanctuary.
And as the typical cleansing of the earthly was accomplished by the
removal of the sins by which it had been polluted, so the actual cleansing
of the heavenly is to be accomplished by the removal, or blotting out, of
the sins which are there recorded. But before this can be accomplished,
there must be an examination of the books of record to determine who,
through repentance of sin and faith in Christ, are entitled to the
benefits of His atonement. The cleansing of the sanctuary therefore
involves a work of investigation,—a work of judgment. This work must be
performed prior to the coming of Christ to redeem His people; for when He
comes, His reward is with Him to give to every man according to his
works.(695)

Thus those who followed in the light of the prophetic word saw that,
instead of coming to the earth at the termination of the 2300 days in
1844, Christ then entered the most holy place of the heavenly sanctuary,
to perform the closing work of atonement, preparatory to His coming.

It was seen, also, that while the sin-offering pointed to Christ as a
sacrifice, and the high priest represented Christ as a mediator, the
scapegoat typified Satan, the author of sin, upon whom the sins of the
truly penitent will finally be placed. When the high priest, by virtue of
the blood of the sin-offering, removed the sins from the sanctuary, he
placed them upon the scapegoat. When Christ, by virtue of His own blood,
removes the sins of His people from the heavenly sanctuary at the close of
His ministration, He will place them upon Satan, who, in the execution of
the judgment, must bear the final penalty. The scapegoat was sent away
into a land not inhabited, never to come again into the congregation of
Israel. So will Satan be forever banished from the presence of God and His
people, and he will be blotted from existence in the final destruction of
sin and sinners.





24. IN THE HOLY OF HOLIES.


                     [Illustration: Chapter header.]

The subject of the sanctuary was the key which unlocked the mystery of the
disappointment of 1844. It opened to view a complete system of truth,
connected and harmonious, showing that God’s hand had directed the great
Advent Movement, and revealing present duty as it brought to light the
position and work of His people. As the disciples of Jesus, after the
terrible night of their anguish and disappointment, were “glad when they
saw the Lord,” so did those now rejoice who had looked in faith for His
second coming. They had expected Him to appear in glory to give reward to
His servants. As their hopes were disappointed, they had lost sight of
Jesus, and with Mary at the sepulcher they cried, “They have taken away my
Lord, and I know not where they have laid Him.” Now in the holy of holies
they again beheld Him, their compassionate high priest, soon to appear as
their king and deliverer. Light from the sanctuary illumed the past, the
present, and the future. They knew that God had led them by His unerring
providence. Though, like the first disciples, they themselves had failed
to understand the message which they bore, yet it had been in every
respect correct. In proclaiming it they had fulfilled the purpose of God,
and their labor had not been in vain in the Lord. “Begotten again unto a
lively hope,” they rejoiced “with joy unspeakable and full of glory.”

Both the prophecy of Dan. 8:14, “Unto two thousand and three hundred days;
then shall the sanctuary be cleansed,” and the first angel’s message,
“Fear God, and give glory to Him; for the hour of His judgment is come,”
pointed to Christ’s ministration in the most holy place, to the
investigative judgment, and not to the coming of Christ for the redemption
of His people and the destruction of the wicked. The mistake had not been
in the reckoning of the prophetic periods, but in the _event_ to take
place at the end of the 2300 days. Through this error the believers had
suffered disappointment, yet all that was foretold by the prophecy, and
all that they had any Scripture warrant to expect, had been accomplished.
At the very time when they were lamenting the failure of their hopes, the
event had taken place which was foretold by the message, and which must be
fulfilled before the Lord could appear to give reward to His servants.

Christ had come, not to the earth, as they expected, but, as foreshadowed
in the type, to the most holy place of the temple of God in heaven. He is
represented by the prophet Daniel as coming at this time to the Ancient of
days: “I saw in the night visions, and, behold, one like the Son of man
came with the clouds of heaven, and came”—not to the earth, but—“to the
Ancient of days, and they brought Him near before Him.”(696)

This coming is foretold also by the prophet Malachi: “The Lord, whom ye
seek, shall suddenly come to His temple, even the messenger of the
covenant, whom ye delight in: behold, He shall come, saith the Lord of
hosts.”(697) The coming of the Lord to His temple was sudden, unexpected,
to His people. They were not looking for Him _there_. They expected Him to
come to earth, “in flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not
God, and that obey not the gospel.”(698)

But the people were not yet ready to meet their Lord. There was still a
work of preparation to be accomplished for them. Light was to be given,
directing their minds to the temple of God in heaven; and as they should
by faith follow their High Priest in His ministration there, new duties
would be revealed. Another message of warning and instruction was to be
given to the church.

Says the prophet: “Who may abide the day of His coming? and who shall
stand when He appeareth? for He is like a refiner’s fire, and like
fullers’ soap: and He shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver: and
He shall purify the sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver, that
they may offer unto the Lord an offering in righteousness.”(699) Those who
are living upon the earth when the intercession of Christ shall cease in
the sanctuary above, are to stand in the sight of a holy God without a
mediator. Their robes must be spotless, their characters must be purified
from sin by the blood of sprinkling. Through the grace of God and their
own diligent effort, they must be conquerors in the battle with evil.
While the investigative judgment is going forward in heaven, while the
sins of penitent believers are being removed from the sanctuary, there is
to be a special work of purification, of putting away of sin, among God’s
people upon earth. This work is more clearly presented in the messages of
Revelation 14.

When this work shall have been accomplished, the followers of Christ will
be ready for His appearing. “Then shall the offering of Judah and
Jerusalem be pleasant unto the Lord, as in the days of old, and as in
former years.”(700) Then the church which our Lord at His coming is to
receive to Himself will be “a glorious church, not having spot, or
wrinkle, or any such thing.”(701) Then she will look forth “as the
morning, fair as the moon, clear as the sun, and terrible as an army with
banners.”(702)

Besides the coming of the Lord to His temple, Malachi also foretells His
second advent, His coming for the execution of the judgment, in these
words: “And I will come near to you to judgment; and I will be a swift
witness against the sorcerers, and against the adulterers, and against
false swearers, and against those that oppress the hireling in his wages,
the widow, and the fatherless, and that turn aside the stranger from his
right, and fear not Me, saith the Lord of hosts.”(703) Jude refers to the
same scene when he says, “Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of
His saints, to execute judgment upon all, and to convince all that are
ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds.”(704) This coming, and the
coming of the Lord to His temple, are distinct and separate events.

The coming of Christ as our high priest to the most holy place, for the
cleansing of the sanctuary, brought to view in Dan. 8:14; the coming of
the Son of man to the Ancient of days, as presented in Dan. 7:13; and the
coming of the Lord to His temple, foretold by Malachi, are descriptions of
the same event; and this is also represented by the coming of the
bridegroom to the marriage, described by Christ in the parable of the ten
virgins, of Matthew 25.

In the summer and autumn of 1844, the proclamation, “Behold, the
Bridegroom cometh,” was given. The two classes represented by the wise and
foolish virgins were then developed,—one class who looked with joy to the
Lord’s appearing, and who had been diligently preparing to meet Him;
another class that, influenced by fear, and acting from impulse, had been
satisfied with a theory of the truth, but were destitute of the grace of
God. In the parable, when the bridegroom came, “they that were ready went
in with him to the marriage.” The coming of the bridegroom, here brought
to view, takes place before the marriage. The marriage represents the
reception by Christ of His kingdom. The holy city, the New Jerusalem,
which is the capital and representative of the kingdom, is called “the
bride, the Lamb’s wife.” Said the angel to John, “Come hither, I will show
thee the bride, the Lamb’s wife.” “He carried me away in the spirit,” says
the prophet, “and showed me that great city, the holy Jerusalem,
descending out of heaven from God.”(705) Clearly, then, the bride
represents the holy city, and the virgins that go out to meet the
bridegroom are a symbol of the church. In the Revelation the people of God
are said to be the guests at the marriage supper.(706) If _guests_, they
cannot be represented also as the _bride_. Christ, as stated by the
prophet Daniel, will receive from the Ancient of days in heaven,
“dominion, and glory, and a kingdom;” He will receive the New Jerusalem,
the capital of His kingdom, “prepared as a bride adorned for her
husband.”(707) Having received the kingdom, He will come in His glory, as
King of kings and Lord of lords, for the redemption of His people, who are
to “sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob,” at His table in His
kingdom,(708) to partake of the marriage supper of the Lamb.

The proclamation, “Behold, the Bridegroom cometh,” in the summer of 1844,
led thousands to expect the immediate advent of the Lord. At the appointed
time the Bridegroom came, not to the earth, as the people expected, but to
the Ancient of days in heaven, to the marriage, the reception of His
kingdom. “They that were ready went in with Him to the marriage, and the
door was shut.” They were not to be present in person at the marriage; for
it takes place in heaven, while they are upon the earth. The followers of
Christ are to “wait for their Lord, when He will _return from_ the
wedding.”(709) But they are to understand His work, and to follow Him by
faith as He goes in before God. It is in this sense that they are said to
go in to the marriage.

In the parable it was those that had oil in their vessels with their lamps
that went in to the marriage. Those who, with a knowledge of the truth
from the Scriptures, had also the Spirit and grace of God, and who, in the
night of their bitter trial, had patiently waited, searching the Bible for
clearer light,—these saw the truth concerning the sanctuary in heaven and
the Saviour’s change of ministration, and by faith they followed Him in
His work in the sanctuary above. And all who through the testimony of the
Scriptures accept the same truths, following Christ by faith as He enters
in before God to perform the last work of mediation, and at its close to
receive His kingdom,—all these are represented as going in to the
marriage.

In the parable of Matthew 22 the same figure of the marriage is
introduced, and the investigative judgment is clearly represented as
taking place before the marriage. Previous to the wedding the king comes
in to see the guests,(710) to see if all are attired in the wedding
garment, the spotless robe of character washed and made white in the blood
of the Lamb.(711) He who is found wanting is cast out, but all who upon
examination are seen to have the wedding garment on, are accepted of God,
and accounted worthy of a share in His kingdom and a seat upon His throne.
This work of examination of character, of determining who are prepared for
the kingdom of God, is that of the investigative judgment, the closing
work in the sanctuary above.

When the work of investigation shall be ended, when the cases of those who
in all ages have professed to be followers of Christ have been examined
and decided, then, and not till then, probation will close, and the door
of mercy will be shut. Thus in the one short sentence, “They that were
ready went in with Him to the marriage, and the door was shut,” we are
carried down through the Saviour’s final ministration, to the time when
the great work for man’s salvation shall be completed.

In the service of the earthly sanctuary, which, as we have seen, is a
figure of the service in the heavenly, when the high priest on the day of
atonement entered the most holy place, the ministration in the first
apartment ceased. God commanded, “There shall be no man in the tabernacle
of the congregation when he goeth in to make an atonement in the holy
place, until he come out.”(712) So when Christ entered the holy of holies
to perform the closing work of the atonement, He ceased His ministration
in the first apartment. But when the ministration in the first apartment
ended, the ministration in the second apartment began. When in the typical
service the high priest left the holy on the day of atonement, he went in
before God to present the blood of the sin-offering in behalf of all
Israel who truly repented of their sins. So Christ had only completed one
part of His work as our intercessor, to enter upon another portion of the
work, and He still pleaded His blood before the Father in behalf of
sinners.

This subject was not understood by Adventists in 1844. After the passing
of the time when the Saviour was expected, they still believed His coming
to be near; they held that they had reached an important crisis, and that
the work of Christ as man’s intercessor before God, had ceased. It
appeared to them to be taught in the Bible, that man’s probation would
close a short time before the actual coming of the Lord in the clouds of
heaven. This seemed evident from those scriptures which point to a time
when men will seek, knock, and cry at the door of mercy, and it will not
be opened. And it was a question with them whether the date to which they
had looked for the coming of Christ might not rather mark the beginning of
this period which was immediately to precede His coming. Having given the
warning of the judgment near, they felt that their work for the world was
done, and they lost their burden of soul for the salvation of sinners,
while the bold and blasphemous scoffing of the ungodly seemed to them
another evidence that the Spirit of God had been withdrawn from the
rejecters of His mercy. All this confirmed them in the belief that
probation had ended, or, as they then expressed it, “the door of mercy was
shut.”

But clearer light came with the investigation of the sanctuary question.
They now saw that they were correct in believing that the end of the 2300
days in 1844 marked an important crisis. But while it was true that that
door of hope and mercy by which men had for eighteen hundred years found
access to God, was closed, another door was opened, and forgiveness of
sins was offered to men through the intercession of Christ in the most
holy. One part of His ministration had closed, only to give place to
another. There was still an “open door” to the heavenly sanctuary, where
Christ was ministering in the sinner’s behalf.

Now was seen the application of those words of Christ in the Revelation,
addressed to the church at this very time: “These things saith He that is
holy, He that is true, He that hath the key of David, He that openeth, and
no man shutteth; and shutteth, and no man openeth; I know thy works:
behold, I have set before thee an open door, and no man can shut it.”(713)

It is those who by faith follow Jesus in the great work of the atonement,
who receive the benefits of His mediation in their behalf; while those who
reject the light which brings to view this work of ministration, are not
benefited thereby. The Jews who rejected the light given at Christ’s first
advent, and refused to believe on Him as the Saviour of the world, could
not receive pardon through Him. When Jesus at His ascension entered by His
own blood into the heavenly sanctuary to shed upon His disciples the
blessings of His mediation, the Jews were left in total darkness, to
continue their useless sacrifices and offerings. The ministration of types
and shadows had ceased. That door by which men had formerly found access
to God, was no longer open. The Jews had refused to seek Him in the only
way whereby He could then be found, through the ministration in the
sanctuary in heaven. Therefore they found no communion with God. To them
the door was shut. They had no knowledge of Christ as the true sacrifice
and the only mediator before God; hence they could not receive the
benefits of His mediation.

The condition of the unbelieving Jews illustrates the condition of the
careless and unbelieving among professed Christians, who are willingly
ignorant of the work of our merciful High Priest. In the typical service,
when the high priest entered the most holy place, all Israel were required
to gather about the sanctuary, and in the most solemn manner humble their
souls before God, that they might receive the pardon of their sins, and
not be cut off from the congregation. How much more essential in this
antitypical day of atonement that we understand the work of our High
Priest, and know what duties are required of us.

Men cannot with impunity reject the warnings which God in mercy sends
them. A message was sent from heaven to the world in Noah’s day, and their
salvation depended upon the manner in which they treated that message.
Because they rejected the warning, the Spirit of God was withdrawn from
the sinful race, and they perished in the waters of the flood. In the time
of Abraham, mercy ceased to plead with the guilty inhabitants of Sodom,
and all but Lot with his wife and two daughters, were consumed by the fire
sent down from heaven. So in the days of Christ. The Son of God declared
to the unbelieving Jews of that generation, “Your house is left unto you
desolate.”(714) Looking down to the last days, the same Infinite Power
declares, concerning those who “"received not the love of the truth, that
they might be saved,” “For this cause God shall send them strong delusion,
that they should believe a lie: that they all might be damned who believed
not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.”(715) As they reject
the teachings of His word, God withdraws His Spirit, and leaves them to
the deceptions which they love.

But Christ still intercedes in man’s behalf, and light will be given to
those who seek it. Though this was not at first understood by Adventists,
it was afterward made plain, as the scriptures which define their true
position began to open before them.

The passing of the time in 1844 was followed by a period of great trial to
those who still held the advent faith. Their only relief, so far as
ascertaining their true position was concerned, was the light which
directed their minds to the sanctuary above. Some renounced their faith in
their former reckoning of the prophetic periods, and ascribed to human or
satanic agencies the powerful influence of the Holy Spirit which had
attended the Advent Movement. Another class firmly held that the Lord had
led them in their past experience; and as they waited and watched and
prayed to know the will of God, they saw that their great High Priest had
entered upon another work of ministration, and following Him by faith,
they were led to see also the closing work of the church. They had a
clearer understanding of the first and second angels’ messages, and were
prepared to receive and give to the world the solemn warning of the third
angel of Revelation 14.





25. GOD’S LAW IMMUTABLE.


                     [Illustration: Chapter header.]

“The temple of God was opened in heaven, and there was seen in His temple
the ark of His testament.”(716) The ark of God’s testament is in the holy
of holies, the second apartment of the sanctuary. In the ministration of
the earthly tabernacle, which served “unto the example and shadow of
heavenly things,” this apartment was opened only upon the great day of
atonement, for the cleansing of the sanctuary. Therefore the announcement
that the temple of God was opened in heaven, and the ark of His testament
was seen, points to the opening of the most holy place of the heavenly
sanctuary, in 1844, as Christ entered there to perform the closing work of
the atonement. Those who by faith followed their great High Priest, as He
entered upon His ministry in the most holy place, beheld the ark of His
testament. As they had studied the subject of the sanctuary, they had come
to understand the Saviour’s change of ministration, and they saw that He
was now officiating before the ark of God, pleading His blood in behalf of
sinners.

The ark in the tabernacle on earth contained the two tables of stone, upon
which were inscribed the precepts of the law of God. The ark was merely a
receptacle for the tables of the law, and the presence of these divine
precepts gave to it its value and sacredness. When the temple of God was
opened in heaven, the ark of His testament was seen. Within the holy of
holies, in the sanctuary in heaven, the divine law is sacredly
enshrined,—the law that was spoken by God Himself amid the thunders of
Sinai, and written with His own finger on the tables of stone.

The law of God in the sanctuary in heaven is the great original, of which
the precepts inscribed upon the tables of stone, and recorded by Moses in
the Pentateuch, were an unerring transcript. Those who arrived at an
understanding of this important point, were thus led to see the sacred,
unchanging character of the divine law. They saw, as never before, the
force of the Saviour’s words, “Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one
tittle shall in no wise pass from the law.”(717) The law of God, being a
revelation of His will, a transcript of His character, must forever
endure, “as a faithful witness in heaven.” Not one command has been
annulled; not a jot or tittle has been changed. Says the psalmist:
“Forever, O Lord, Thy word is settled in heaven.” “All His commandments
are sure. They stand fast forever and ever.”(718)

In the very bosom of the decalogue is the fourth commandment, as it was
first proclaimed: “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days
shalt thou labor, and do all thy work: but the seventh day is the Sabbath
of the Lord thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son,
nor thy daughter, thy man-servant, nor thy maid-servant, 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.”(719)

The Spirit of God impressed the hearts of those students of His word. The
conviction was urged upon them, that they had ignorantly transgressed this
precept by disregarding the Creator’s rest-day. They began to examine the
reasons for observing the first day of the week instead of the day which
God had sanctified. They could find no evidence in the Scriptures that the
fourth commandment had been abolished, or that the Sabbath had been
changed; the blessing which first hallowed the seventh day had never been
removed. They had been honestly seeking to know and to do God’s will; now,
as they saw themselves transgressors of His law, sorrow filled their
hearts, and they manifested their loyalty to God by keeping His Sabbath
holy.

Many and earnest were the efforts made to overthrow their faith. None
could fail to see that if the earthly sanctuary was a figure or pattern of
the heavenly, the law deposited in the ark on earth was an exact
transcript of the law in the ark in heaven; and that an acceptance of the
truth concerning the heavenly sanctuary involved an acknowledgment of the
claims of God’s law, and the obligation of the Sabbath of the fourth
commandment. Here was the secret of the bitter and determined opposition
to the harmonious exposition of the Scriptures that revealed the
ministration of Christ in the heavenly sanctuary. Men sought to close the
door which God had opened, and to open the door which He had closed. But
“He that openeth, and no man shutteth; and shutteth, and no man openeth,”
had declared, “Behold, I have set before thee an open door, and no man can
shut it.”(720) Christ had opened the door, or ministration, of the most
holy place, light was shining from that open door of the sanctuary in
heaven, and the fourth commandment was shown to be included in the law
which is there enshrined; what God had established, no man could
overthrow.

Those who had accepted the light concerning the mediation of Christ and
the perpetuity of the law of God, found that these were the truths
presented in Revelation 14. The messages of this chapter constitute a
threefold warning,(721) which is to prepare the inhabitants of the earth
for the Lord’s second coming. The announcement, “The hour of His judgment
is come,” points to the closing work of Christ’s ministration for the
salvation of men. It heralds a truth which must be proclaimed until the
Saviour’s intercession shall cease, and He shall return to the earth to
take His people to Himself. The work of judgment which began in 1844, must
continue until the cases of all are decided, both of the living and the
dead; hence it will extend to the close of human probation. That men may
be prepared to stand in the judgment, the message commands them to “fear
God, and give glory to Him,” “and worship Him that made heaven, and earth,
and the sea, and the fountains of waters.” The result of an acceptance of
these messages is given in the words, “Here are they that keep the
commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.” In order to be prepared for
the judgment, it is necessary that men should keep the law of God. That
law will be the standard of character in the judgment. The apostle Paul
declares, “As many as have sinned in the law shall be judged by the law,
... in the day when God shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ.”
And he says that “the doers of the law shall be justified.”(722) Faith is
essential in order to the keeping of the law of God; for “without faith it
is impossible to please Him.” And “whatsoever is not of faith is
sin.”(723)

By the first angel, men are called upon to “fear God, and give glory to
Him,” and to worship Him as the Creator of the heavens and the earth. In
order to do this, they must obey His law. Says the wise man, “Fear God,
and keep His commandments: for this is the whole duty of man.”(724)
Without obedience to His commandments, no worship can be pleasing to God.
“This is the love of God, that we keep His commandments.” “He that turneth
away his ear from hearing the law, even his prayer shall be
abomination.”(725)

The duty to worship God is based upon the fact that He is the Creator, and
that to Him all other beings owe their existence. And wherever, in the
Bible, His claim to reverence and worship, above the gods of the heathen,
is presented, there is cited the evidence of His creative power. “All the
gods of the nations are idols: but the Lord made the heavens.”(726) “To
whom then will ye liken Me, or shall I be equal? saith the Holy One. Lift
up your eyes on high, and behold who hath created these things.” “Thus
saith the Lord that created the heavens; God Himself that formed the earth
and made it:... I am Jehovah; and there is none else.”(727) Says the
psalmist, “Know ye that Jehovah, He is God: it is He that hath made us,
and not we ourselves.” “O come, let us worship and bow down: let us kneel
before the Lord our Maker.”(728) And the holy beings who worship God in
heaven state, as the reason why their homage is due to Him, “Thou art
worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power: for Thou hast
created all things.”(729)

In Revelation 14, men are called upon to worship the Creator; and the
prophecy brings to view a class that, as the result of the threefold
message, are keeping the commandments of God. One of these commandments
points directly to God as the creator. The fourth precept declares: “The
seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God: ... for in six days the
Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested
the seventh day: wherefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day, and hallowed
it.”(730) Concerning the Sabbath, the Lord says, further, that it is “a
sign, ... that ye may know that I am the Lord your God.”(731) And the
reason given is, “For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, and on
the seventh day He rested, and was refreshed.”(732)

“The importance of the Sabbath as a memorial of creation is that it keeps
ever present the true reason why worship is due to God,”—because He is the
Creator, and we are His creatures. “The Sabbath, therefore, lies at the
very foundation of divine worship; for it teaches this great truth in the
most impressive manner, and no other institution does this. The true
ground of divine worship, not of that on the seventh day merely, but of
all worship, is found in the distinction between the Creator and His
creatures. This great fact can never become obsolete, and must never be
forgotten.”(733) It was to keep this truth ever before the minds of men,
that God instituted the Sabbath in Eden; and so long as the fact that He
is our Creator continues to be a reason why we should worship Him, so long
the Sabbath will continue as its sign and memorial. Had the Sabbath been
universally kept, man’s thoughts and affections would have been led to the
Creator as the object of reverence and worship, and there would never have
been an idolater, an atheist, or an infidel. The keeping of the Sabbath is
a sign of loyalty to the true God, “Him that made heaven, and earth, and
the sea, and the fountains of waters.” It follows that the message which
commands men to worship God and keep His commandments, will especially
call upon them to keep the fourth commandment.

In contrast to those who keep the commandments of God and have the faith
of Jesus, the third angel points to another class, against whose errors a
solemn and fearful warning is uttered: “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.”(734) A correct
interpretation of the symbols employed is necessary to an understanding of
this message. What is represented by the beast, the image, the mark?

The line of prophecy in which these symbols are found, begins with
Revelation 12, with the dragon that sought to destroy Christ at His birth.
The dragon is said to be Satan;(735) he it was that moved upon Herod to
put the Saviour to death. But the chief agent of Satan in making war upon
Christ and His people during the first centuries of the Christian era, was
the Roman empire, in which paganism was the prevailing religion. Thus
while the dragon, primarily, represents Satan, it is, in a secondary
sense, a symbol of pagan Rome.

In chapter 13(736) is described another beast, “like unto a leopard,” to
which the dragon gave “his power, and his seat, and great authority.” This
symbol, as most Protestants have believed, represents the papacy, which
succeeded to the power and seat and authority once held by the ancient
Roman empire. Of the leopard-like beast it is declared: “There was given
unto him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies.... And he opened
his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme His name, and His
tabernacle, and them that dwell in heaven. And it was given unto him to
make war with the saints, and to overcome them: and power was given him
over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations.” This prophecy, which is
nearly identical with the description of the little horn of Daniel 7,
unquestionably points to the papacy.

“Power was given unto him to continue forty and two months.” And, says the
prophet, “I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death.” And again,
“He that leadeth into captivity shall go into captivity: he that killeth
with the sword must be killed with the sword.” The forty and two months
are the same as the “time and times and the dividing of time,” three years
and a half, or 1260 days, of Daniel 7,—the time during which the papal
power was to oppress God’s people. This period, as stated in preceding
chapters, began with the supremacy of the papacy, A.D. 538, and terminated
in 1798. At that time, the pope was made captive by the French army, the
papal power received its deadly wound, and the prediction was fulfilled,
“He that leadeth into captivity shall go into captivity.”

At this point another symbol is introduced. Says the prophet, “I beheld
another beast coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns like a
lamb.”(737) Both the appearance of this beast and the manner of its rise
indicate that the nation which it represents is unlike those presented
under the preceding symbols. The great kingdoms that have ruled the world
were presented to the prophet Daniel as beasts of prey, rising when the
“four winds of the heaven strove upon the great sea.”(738) In Revelation
17, an angel explained that waters represent “peoples, and multitudes, and
nations, and tongues.”(739) Winds are a symbol of strife. The four winds
of heaven striving upon the great sea, represent the terrible scenes of
conquest and revolution by which kingdoms have attained to power.

But the beast with lamb-like horns was seen “coming up out of the earth.”
Instead of overthrowing other powers to establish itself, the nation thus
represented must arise in territory previously unoccupied, and grow up
gradually and peacefully. It could not, then, arise among the crowded and
struggling nationalities of the Old World,—that turbulent sea of “peoples,
and multitudes, and nations, and tongues.” It must be sought in the
Western Continent.

What nation of the New World was in 1798 rising into power, giving promise
of strength and greatness, and attracting the attention of the world? The
application of the symbol admits of no question. One nation, and only one,
meets the specifications of this prophecy; it points unmistakably to the
United States of America. Again and again the thought, almost the exact
words, of the sacred writer have been unconsciously employed by the orator
and the historian in describing the rise and growth of this nation. The
beast was seen “coming up out of the earth;” and according to the
translators, the word here rendered “coming up” literally signifies “to
grow or spring up as a plant.” And, as we have seen, the nation must arise
in territory previously unoccupied. A prominent writer, describing the
rise of the United States, speaks of “_the mystery of her coming forth
from vacancy_,”(740) and says, “Like a _silent seed_ we grew into empire.”
A European journal in 1850 spoke of the United States as a wonderful
empire, which was “emerging,” and “_amid the silence of the earth_ daily
adding to its power and pride.”(741) Edward Everett, in an oration on the
Pilgrim founders of this nation, said: “Did they look for a retired spot,
inoffensive for its obscurity, and safe in its remoteness, where the
little church of Leyden might enjoy the freedom of conscience? Behold the
_mighty regions_ over which, in _peaceful conquest_, ... they have borne
the banners of the cross!”(742)

“And he had two horns like a lamb.” The lamb-like horns indicate youth,
innocence, and gentleness, fitly representing the character of the United
States when presented to the prophet as “coming up” in 1798. Among the
Christian exiles who first fled to America, and sought an asylum from
royal oppression and priestly intolerance, were many who determined to
establish a government upon the broad foundation of civil and religious
liberty. Their view found place in the Declaration of Independence, which
sets forth the great truth that “all men are created equal,” and endowed
with the inalienable right to “life, liberty, and the pursuit of
happiness.” And the Constitution guarantees to the people the right of
self-government, providing that representatives elected by the popular
vote shall enact and administer the laws. Freedom of religious faith was
also granted, every man being permitted to worship God according to the
dictates of his conscience. Republicanism and Protestantism became the
fundamental principles of the nation. These principles are the secret of
its power and prosperity. The oppressed and down-trodden throughout
Christendom have turned to this land with interest and hope. Millions have
sought its shores, and the United States has risen to a place among the
most powerful nations of the earth.

But the beast with lamb-like horns “spake as a dragon. And he exerciseth
all the power of the first beast before him, and causeth the earth and
them which dwell therein to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound
was healed; and ... saying to them that dwell on the earth, that they
should make an image to the beast, which had the wound by a sword and did
live.”(743)

The lamb-like horns and dragon voice of the symbol point to a striking
contradiction between the professions and the practice of the nation thus
represented. The “speaking” of the nation is the action of its legislative
and judicial authorities. By such action it will give the lie to those
liberal and peaceful principles which it has put forth as the foundation
of its policy. The prediction that it will speak “as a dragon,” and
exercise “all the power of the first beast,” plainly foretells a
development of the spirit of intolerance and persecution that was
manifested by the nations represented by the dragon and the leopard-like
beast. And the statement that the beast with two horns “causeth the earth
and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast,” indicates that
the authority of this nation is to be exercised in enforcing some
observance which shall be an act of homage to the papacy.

Such action would be directly contrary to the principles of this
government, to the genius of its free institutions, to the direct and
solemn avowals of the Declaration of Independence, and to the
Constitution. The founders of the nation wisely sought to guard against
the employment of secular power on the part of the church, with its
inevitable result—intolerance and persecution. The Constitution provides
that “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion,
or prohibiting the free exercise thereof,” and that “no religious test
shall ever be required as a qualification to any office of public trust
under the United States.” Only in flagrant violation of these safeguards
to the nation’s liberty, can any religious observance be enforced by civil
authority. But the inconsistency of such action is no greater than is
represented in the symbol. It is the beast with lamb-like horns—in
profession pure, gentle, and harmless—that speaks as a dragon.

“Saying to them that dwell on the earth, that _they_ should make an image
to the beast.” Here is clearly presented a form of government in which the
legislative power rests with the people; a most striking evidence that the
United States is the nation denoted in the prophecy.

But what is the “image to the beast”? and how is it to be formed? The
image is made by the two-horned beast, and is an image _to_ the first
beast. It is also called an image _of_ the beast. Then to learn what the
image is like, and how it is to be formed, we must study the
characteristics of the beast itself,—the papacy.

When the early church became corrupted by departing from the simplicity of
the gospel and accepting heathen rites and customs, she lost the Spirit
and power of God; and in order to control the consciences of the people,
she sought the support of the secular power. The result was the papacy, a
church that controlled the power of the state, and employed it to further
her own ends, especially for the punishment of “heresy.” In order for the
United States to form an image of the beast, the religious power must so
control the civil government that the authority of the state will also be
employed by the church to accomplish her own ends.

Whenever the church has obtained secular power, she has employed it to
punish dissent from her doctrines. Protestant churches that have followed
in the steps of Rome by forming alliance with worldly powers, have
manifested a similar desire to restrict liberty of conscience. An example
of this is given in the long-continued persecution of dissenters by the
Church of England. During the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries,
thousands of non-conformist ministers were forced to leave their churches,
and many, both of pastors and people, were subjected to fine,
imprisonment, torture, and martyrdom.

It was apostasy that led the early church to seek the aid of the civil
government, and this prepared the way for the development of the
papacy,—the beast. Said Paul, “There” shall “come a falling away, ... and
that man of sin be revealed.”(744) So apostasy in the church will prepare
the way for the image to the beast.

The Bible declares that before the coming of the Lord there will exist a
state of religious declension similar to that in the first centuries. “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, truce-breakers,
false accusers, incontinent, fierce, _despisers 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.”(745)
“Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall
depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of
devils.”(746) Satan will work “with all power and signs and lying wonders,
and with all deceivableness of unrighteousness.” And all that “received
not the love of the truth, that they might be saved,” will be left to
accept “strong delusion, that they should believe a lie.”(747) When this
state of ungodliness shall be reached, the same results will follow as in
the first centuries.

The wide diversity of belief in the Protestant churches is regarded by
many as decisive proof that no effort to secure a forced uniformity can
ever be made. But there has been for years, in churches of the Protestant
faith, a strong and growing sentiment in favor of a union based upon
common points of doctrine. To secure such a union, the discussion of
subjects upon which all were not agreed—however important they might be
from a Bible standpoint—must necessarily be waived.

Charles Beecher, in a sermon in the year 1846, declared that the ministry
of “the evangelical Protestant denominations” is “not only formed all the
way up under a tremendous pressure of merely human fear, but they live,
and move, and breathe in a state of things radically corrupt, and
appealing every hour to every baser element of their nature to hush up the
truth, and bow the knee to the power of apostasy. Was not this the way
things went with Rome? Are we not living her life over again? And what do
we see just ahead? Another general council! A world’s convention!
Evangelical alliance, and universal creed!”(748) When this shall be
gained, then, in the effort to secure complete uniformity, it will be only
a step to the resort to force.

When the leading churches of the United States, uniting upon such points
of doctrine as are held by them in common, shall influence the state to
enforce their decrees and to sustain their institutions, then Protestant
America will have formed an image of the Roman hierarchy, and the
infliction of civil penalties upon dissenters will inevitably result.

The beast with two horns “causeth [commands] all, both small and great,
rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in
their foreheads: and that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the
mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.”(749) The third
angel’s warning is, “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.” “The beast” mentioned in this message,
whose worship is enforced by the two-horned beast, is the first, or
leopard-like beast of Revelation 13,—the papacy. The “image to the beast”
represents that form of apostate Protestantism which will be developed
when the Protestant churches shall seek the aid of the civil power for the
enforcement of their dogmas. The “mark of the beast” still remains to be
defined.

After the warning against the worship of the beast and his image, the
prophecy declares, “Here are they that keep the commandments of God, and
the faith of Jesus.” Since those who keep God’s commandments are thus
placed in contrast with those that worship the beast and his image and
receive his mark, it follows that the keeping of God’s law, on the one
hand, and its violation, on the other, will make the distinction between
the worshipers of God and the worshipers of the beast.

The special characteristic of the beast, and therefore of his image, is
the breaking of God’s commandments. Says Daniel, of the little horn, the
papacy, “He shall think to change the times and the law.”(750) And Paul
styled the same power the “man of sin,” who was to exalt himself above
God. One prophecy is a complement of the other. Only by changing God’s law
could the papacy exalt itself above God; whoever should understandingly
keep the law as thus changed would be giving supreme honor to that power
by which the change was made. Such an act of obedience to papal laws would
be a mark of allegiance to the pope in the place of God.

The papacy has attempted to change the law of God. The second commandment,
forbidding image worship, has been dropped from the law, and the fourth
commandment has been so changed as to authorize the observance of the
first instead of the seventh day as the Sabbath. But papists urge, as a
reason for omitting the second commandment, that it is unnecessary, being
included in the first, and that they are giving the law exactly as God
designed it to be understood. This cannot be the change foretold by the
prophet. An intentional, deliberate change is presented: “He shall _think_
to change the times and the law.” The change in the fourth commandment
exactly fulfils the prophecy. For this the only authority claimed is that
of the church. Here the papal power openly sets itself above God.

While the worshipers of God will be especially distinguished by their
regard for the fourth commandment,—since this is the sign of His creative
power, and the witness to His claim upon man’s reverence and homage,—the
worshipers of the beast will be distinguished by their efforts to tear
down the Creator’s memorial, to exalt the institution of Rome. It was in
behalf of the Sunday that popery first asserted its arrogant claims;(751)
and its first resort to the power of the state was to compel the
observance of Sunday as “the Lord’s day.” But the Bible points to the
seventh day, and not to the first, as the Lord’s day. Said Christ, “The
Son of man is Lord also of the Sabbath.” The fourth commandment declares,
“The seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord.” And by the prophet Isaiah
the Lord designates it, “My holy day.”(752)

The claim so often put forth, that Christ changed the Sabbath, is
disproved by His own words. In His sermon on the mount He said: “Think not
that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to
destroy, but to fulfil. For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth
pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all
be fulfilled. Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least
commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the
kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall
be called great in the kingdom of heaven.”(753)

It is a fact generally admitted by Protestants, that the Scriptures give
no authority for the change of the Sabbath. This is plainly stated in
publications issued by the American Tract Society and the American
Sunday-school Union. One of these works acknowledges “the complete silence
of the New Testament so far as any explicit command for the Sabbath
[Sunday, the first day of the week] or definite rules for its observance
are concerned.”(754)

Another says: “Up to the time of Christ’s death, no change had been made
in the day;”(755) and, “so far as the record shows, they [the apostles]
did not ... give any explicit command enjoining the abandonment of the
seventh-day Sabbath, and its observance on the first day of the
week.”(756)

Roman Catholics acknowledge that the change of the Sabbath was made by
their church, and declare that Protestants, by observing the Sunday, are
recognizing her power. In the “Catholic Catechism of Christian Religion,”
in answer to a question as to the day to be observed in obedience to the
fourth commandment, this statement is made: “During the old law, Saturday
was the day sanctified; but _the church_, instructed by Jesus Christ, and
directed by the Spirit of God, has substituted Sunday for Saturday; so now
we sanctify the first, not the seventh day. Sunday means, and now is, the
day of the Lord.”

As the sign of the authority of the Catholic Church, papist writers cite
“the very act of changing the Sabbath into Sunday, which Protestants allow
of; ... because by keeping Sunday, they acknowledge the church’s power to
ordain feasts, and to command them under sin.”(757) What then is the
change of the Sabbath, but the sign, or mark, of the authority of the
Roman Church—“the mark of the beast”?

The Roman Church has not relinquished her claim to supremacy; and when the
world and the Protestant churches accept a sabbath of her creating, while
they reject the Bible Sabbath, they virtually admit this assumption. They
may claim the authority of tradition and of the Fathers for the change;
but in so doing they ignore the very principle which separates them from
Rome,—that “the Bible, and the Bible only, is the religion of
Protestants.” The papist can see that they are deceiving themselves,
willingly closing their eyes to the facts in the case. As the movement for
Sunday enforcement gains favor, he rejoices, feeling assured that it will
eventually bring the whole Protestant world under the banner of Rome.

Romanists declare that “the observance of Sunday by the Protestants is an
homage they pay, in spite of themselves, to the authority of the
[Catholic] Church.”(758) The enforcement of Sunday-keeping on the part of
Protestant churches is an enforcement of the worship of the papacy—of the
beast. Those who, understanding the claims of the fourth commandment,
choose to observe the false instead of the true Sabbath, are thereby
paying homage to that power by which alone it is commanded. But in the
very act of enforcing a religious duty by secular power, the churches
would themselves form an image to the beast; hence the enforcement of
Sunday-keeping in the United States would be an enforcement of the worship
of the beast and his image.

But Christians of past generations observed the Sunday, supposing that in
so doing they were keeping the Bible Sabbath; and there are now true
Christians in every church, not excepting the Roman Catholic communion,
who honestly believe that Sunday is the Sabbath of divine appointment. God
accepts their sincerity of purpose and their integrity before Him. But
when Sunday observance shall be enforced by law, and the world shall be
enlightened concerning the obligation of the true Sabbath, then whoever
shall transgress the command of God, to obey a precept which has no higher
authority than that of Rome, will thereby honor popery above God. He is
paying homage to Rome, and to the power which enforces the institution
ordained by Rome. He is worshiping the beast and his image. As men then
reject the institution which God has declared to be the sign of His
authority, and honor in its stead that which Rome has chosen as the token
of her supremacy, they will thereby accept the sign of allegiance to
Rome—“the mark of the beast.” And it is not until the issue is thus
plainly set before the people, and they are brought to choose between the
commandments of God and the commandments of men, that those who continue
in transgression will receive “the mark of the beast.”

The most fearful threatening ever addressed to mortals is contained in the
third angel’s message. That must be a terrible sin which calls down the
wrath of God unmingled with mercy. Men are not to be left in darkness
concerning this important matter; the warning against this sin is to be
given to the world before the visitation of God’s judgments, that all may
know why they are to be inflicted, and have opportunity to escape them.
Prophecy declares that the first angel would make his announcement to
“every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people.” The warning of the
third angel, which forms a part of the same threefold message, is to be no
less wide-spread. It is represented in the prophecy as being proclaimed
with a loud voice, by an angel flying in the midst of heaven; and it will
command the attention of the world.

In the issue of the contest, all Christendom will be divided into two
great classes,—those who keep the commandments of God and the faith of
Jesus, and those who worship the beast and his image and receive his mark.
Although church and state will unite their power to compel “all, both
small and great, rich and poor, free and bond,” to receive “the mark of
the beast,”(759) yet the people of God will not receive it. The prophet of
Patmos beholds “them that had gotten the victory over the beast, and over
his image, and over his mark, and over the number of his name, stand on
the sea of glass, having the harps of God,” and singing the song of Moses
and the Lamb.(760)





26. A WORK OF REFORM.


                     [Illustration: Chapter header.]

The work of Sabbath reform to be accomplished in the last days is foretold
in the prophecy of Isaiah: “Thus saith the Lord, Keep ye judgment, and do
justice: for My salvation is near to come, and My righteousness to be
revealed. Blessed is the man that doeth this, and the son of man that
layeth hold on it; that keepeth the Sabbath from polluting it, and keepeth
his hand from doing any evil.” “The sons of the stranger, that join
themselves to the Lord, to serve Him, and to love the name of the Lord, to
be His servants, every one that keepeth the Sabbath from polluting it, and
taketh hold of My covenant; even them will I bring to My holy mountain,
and make them joyful in My house of prayer.”(761)

These words apply in the Christian age, as shown by the context: “The Lord
God which gathereth the outcasts of Israel saith, Yet will I gather others
to him, beside those that are gathered unto him.”(762) Here is
foreshadowed the gathering in of the Gentiles by the gospel. And upon
those who then honor the Sabbath, a blessing is pronounced. Thus the
obligation of the fourth commandment extends past the crucifixion,
resurrection, and ascension of Christ, to the time when His servants
should preach to all nations the message of glad tidings.

The Lord commands by the same prophet, “Bind up the testimony, seal the
law among My disciples.”(763) The seal of God’s law is found in the fourth
commandment. This only, of all the ten, brings to view both the name and
the title of the Lawgiver. It declares Him to be the Creator of the
heavens and the earth, and thus shows His claim to reverence and worship
above all others. Aside from this precept, there is nothing in the
decalogue to show by whose authority the law is given. When the Sabbath
was changed by the papal power, the seal was taken from the law. The
disciples of Jesus are called upon to restore it, by exalting the Sabbath
of the fourth commandment to its rightful position as the Creator’s
memorial and the sign of His authority.

“To the law and to the testimony.” While conflicting doctrines and
theories abound, the law of God is the one unerring rule by which all
opinions, doctrines, and theories are to be tested. Says the prophet, “If
they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in
them.”(764)

Again, the command is given, “Cry aloud, spare not, lift up thy voice like
a trumpet, and show My people their transgression, and the house of Jacob
their sins.” It is not the wicked world, but those whom the Lord
designates as “My people,” that are to be reproved for their
transgressions. He declares further, “Yet they seek Me daily, and delight
to know My ways, as a nation that did righteousness, and forsook not the
ordinance of their God.”(765) Here is brought to view a class who think
themselves righteous, and appear to manifest great interest in the service
of God; but the stern and solemn rebuke of the Searcher of hearts proves
them to be trampling upon the divine precepts.

The prophet thus points out the ordinance which has been forsaken: “Thou
shalt raise up the foundations of many generations; and thou shalt be
called, The repairer of the breach, The restorer of paths to dwell in. If
thou turn away thy foot from the Sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on My
holy day; and call the Sabbath a delight, the holy of the Lord, honorable;
and shalt honor Him, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own
pleasure, nor speaking thine own words: then shalt thou delight thyself in
the Lord.”(766) This prophecy also applies in our time. The breach was
made in the law of God when the Sabbath was changed by the Roman power.
But the time has come for that divine institution to be restored. The
breach is to be repaired, and the foundation of many generations to be
raised up.

Hallowed by the Creator’s rest and blessing, the Sabbath was kept by Adam
in his innocence in holy Eden; by Adam, fallen yet repentant, when he was
driven from his happy estate. It was kept by all the patriarchs, from Abel
to righteous Noah, to Abraham, to Jacob. When the chosen people were in
bondage in Egypt, many, in the midst of prevailing idolatry, lost their
knowledge of God’s law; but when the Lord delivered Israel, He proclaimed
His law in awful grandeur to the assembled multitude, that they might know
His will, and fear and obey Him forever.

From that day to the present, the knowledge of God’s law has been
preserved in the earth, and the Sabbath of the fourth commandment has been
kept. Though the “man of sin” succeeded in trampling under foot God’s holy
day, yet even in the period of his supremacy there were, hidden in secret
places, faithful souls who paid it honor. Since the Reformation, there
have been some in every generation to maintain its observance. Though
often in the midst of reproach and persecution, a constant testimony has
been borne to the perpetuity of the law of God, and the sacred obligation
of the creation Sabbath.

These truths, as presented in Revelation 14 in connection with the
“everlasting gospel,” will distinguish the church of Christ at the time of
His appearing. For as the result of the threefold message it is announced,
“Here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.”
And this message is the last to be given before the coming of the Lord.
Immediately following its proclamation, the Son of man is seen by the
prophet, coming in glory to reap the harvest of the earth.

Those who received the light concerning the sanctuary and the immutability
of the law of God, were filled with joy and wonder, as they saw the beauty
and harmony of the system of truth that opened to their understanding.
They desired that the light which appeared to them so precious might be
imparted to all Christians; and they could not but believe that it would
be joyfully accepted. But truths that would place them at variance with
the world were not welcome to many who claimed to be followers of Christ.
Obedience to the fourth commandment required a sacrifice from which the
majority drew back.

As the claims of the Sabbath were presented, many reasoned from the
worldling’s standpoint. Said they: “We have always kept Sunday, our
fathers kept it, and many good and pious men have died happy while keeping
it. If they were right, so are we. The keeping of this new Sabbath would
throw us out of harmony with the world, and we would have no influence
over them. What can a little company keeping the seventh day hope to
accomplish against all the world who are keeping Sunday?” It was by
similar arguments that the Jews endeavored to justify their rejection of
Christ. Their fathers had been accepted of God in presenting the
sacrificial offerings, and why could not the children find salvation in
pursuing the same course? So, in the time of Luther, papists reasoned that
true Christians had died in the Catholic faith, and therefore that
religion was sufficient for salvation. Such reasoning would prove an
effectual barrier to all advancement in religious faith or practice.

Many urged that Sunday-keeping had been an established doctrine and a
wide-spread custom of the church for many centuries. Against this argument
it was shown that the Sabbath and its observance were more ancient and
widespread, even as old as the world itself, and bearing the sanction both
of angels and of God. When the foundations of the earth were laid, when
the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy,
then was laid the foundation of the Sabbath.(767) Well may this
institution demand our reverence: it was ordained by no human authority,
and rests upon no human traditions; it was established by the Ancient of
days, and commanded by His eternal word.

As the attention of the people was called to the subject of Sabbath
reform, popular ministers perverted the word of God, placing such
interpretations upon its testimony as would best quiet inquiring minds.
And those who did not search the Scriptures for themselves were content to
accept conclusions that were in accordance with their desires. By
argument, sophistry, the traditions of the Fathers, and the authority of
the church, many endeavored to overthrow the truth. Its advocates were
driven to their Bibles to defend the validity of the fourth commandment.
Humble men, armed with the Word of truth alone, withstood the attacks of
men of learning, who, with surprise and anger, found their eloquent
sophistry powerless against the simple, straightforward reasoning of men
who were versed in the Scriptures rather than in the subtleties of the
schools.

In the absence of Bible testimony in their favor, many with unwearying
persistence urged,—forgetting how the same reasoning had been employed
against Christ and His apostles,—“Why do not our great men understand this
Sabbath question? But few believe as you do. It cannot be that you are
right, and that all the men of learning in the world are wrong.”

To refute such arguments it was needful only to cite the teachings of the
Scriptures and the history of the Lord’s dealings with His people in all
ages. God works through those who hear and obey His voice, those who will,
if need be, speak unpalatable truths, those who do not fear to reprove
popular sins. The reason why He does not oftener choose men of learning
and high position to lead out in reform movements, is that they trust to
their creeds, theories, and theological systems, and feel no need to be
taught of God. Only those who have a personal connection with the Source
of wisdom are able to understand or explain the Scriptures. Men who have
little of the learning of the schools are sometimes called to declare the
truth, not because they are unlearned, but because they are not too
self-sufficient to be taught of God. They learn in the school of Christ,
and their humility and obedience make them great. In committing to them a
knowledge of His truth, God confers upon them an honor, in comparison with
which earthly honor and human greatness sink into insignificance.

The majority of Adventists rejected the truths concerning the sanctuary
and the law of God, and many also renounced their faith in the Advent
Movement, and adopted unsound and conflicting views of the prophecies
which applied to that work. Some were led into the error of repeatedly
fixing upon a definite time for the coming of Christ. The light which was
now shining on the subject of the sanctuary would have shown them that no
prophetic period extends to the second advent; that the exact time of this
event is not foretold. But, turning from the light, they continued to set
time after time for the Lord to come, and as often they were disappointed.

When the Thessalonian church received erroneous views concerning the
coming of Christ, the apostle Paul counseled them to test their hopes and
anticipations carefully by the word of God. He cited them to prophecies
revealing the events to take place before Christ should come, and showed
that they had no ground to expect Him in their day. “Let no man deceive
you by any means,”(768) are his words of warning. Should they indulge
expectations that were not sanctioned by the Scriptures, they would be led
to a mistaken course of action; disappointment would expose them to the
derision of unbelievers, and they would be in danger of yielding to
discouragement, and would be tempted to doubt the truths essential for
their salvation. The apostle’s admonition to the Thessalonians contains an
important lesson for those who live in the last days. Many Adventists have
felt that unless they could fix their faith upon a definite time for the
Lord’s coming, they could not be zealous and diligent in the work of
preparation. But as their hopes are again and again excited, only to be
destroyed, their faith receives such a shock that it becomes well-nigh
impossible for them to be impressed by the great truths of prophecy.

The preaching of a definite time for the judgment, in the giving of the
first message, was ordered of God. The computation of the prophetic
periods on which that message was based, placing the close of the 2300
days in the autumn of 1844, stands without impeachment. The repeated
efforts to find new dates for the beginning and close of the prophetic
periods, and the unsound reasoning necessary to sustain these positions,
not only lead minds away from the present truth, but throw contempt upon
all efforts to explain the prophecies. The more frequently a definite time
is set for the second advent, and the more widely it is taught, the better
it suits the purposes of Satan. After the time has passed, he excites
ridicule and contempt of its advocates, and thus casts reproach upon the
great Advent Movement of 1843 and 1844. Those who persist in this error
will at last fix upon a date too far in the future for the coming of
Christ. Thus they will be led to rest in a false security, and many will
not be undeceived until it is too late.

The history of ancient Israel is a striking illustration of the past
experience of the Adventist body. God led His people in the Advent
Movement, even as He led the children of Israel from Egypt. In the great
disappointment their faith was tested as was that of the Hebrews at the
Red Sea. Had they still trusted to the guiding hand that had been with
them in their past experience, they would have seen of the salvation of
God. If all who had labored unitedly in the work in 1844, had received the
third angel’s message and proclaimed it in the power of the Holy Spirit,
the Lord would have wrought mightily with their efforts. A flood of light
would have been shed upon the world. Years ago the inhabitants of the
earth would have been warned, the closing work completed, and Christ would
have come for the redemption of His people.

It was not the will of God that Israel should wander forty years in the
wilderness; He desired to lead them directly to the land of Canaan, and
establish them there, a holy, happy people. But “they could not enter in
because of unbelief.”(769) Because of their backsliding and apostasy, they
perished in the desert, and others were raised up to enter the promised
land. In like manner, it was not the will of God that the coming of Christ
should be so long delayed, and His people should remain so many years in
this world of sin and sorrow. But unbelief separated them from God. As
they refused to do the work which He had appointed them, others were
raised up to proclaim the message. In mercy to the world, Jesus delays His
coming, that sinners may have an opportunity to hear the warning, and find
in Him a shelter before the wrath of God shall be poured out.

Now, as in former ages, the presentation of a truth that reproves the sins
and errors of the times, will excite opposition. “Every one that doeth
evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should
be reproved.”(770) As men see that they cannot maintain their position by
the Scriptures, many determine to maintain it at all hazards, and with a
malicious spirit they assail the character and motives of those who stand
in defense of unpopular truth. It is the same policy which has been
pursued in all ages. Elijah was declared to be a troubler in Israel,
Jeremiah a traitor, Paul a polluter of the temple. From that day to this,
those who would be loyal to truth have been denounced as seditious,
heretical, or schismatic. Multitudes who are too unbelieving to accept the
sure word of prophecy, will receive with unquestioning credulity an
accusation against those who dare to reprove fashionable sins. This spirit
will increase more and more. And the Bible plainly teaches that a time is
approaching when the laws of the state will so conflict with the law of
God that whosoever would obey all the divine precepts must brave reproach
and punishment as an evil-doer.

In view of this, what is the duty of the messenger of truth? Shall he
conclude that the truth ought not to be presented, since often its only
effect is to arouse men to evade or resist its claims? No; he has no more
reason for withholding the testimony of God’s word, because it excites
opposition, than had earlier reformers. The confession of faith made by
saints and martyrs was recorded for the benefit of succeeding generations.
Those living examples of holiness and steadfast integrity have come down
to inspire courage in those who are now called to stand as witnesses for
God. They received grace and truth, not for themselves alone, but that,
through them, the knowledge of God might enlighten the earth. Has God
given light to His servants in this generation? Then they should let it
shine forth to the world.

Anciently the Lord declared to one who spoke in His name, “The house of
Israel will not hearken unto thee; for they will not hearken unto Me.”
Nevertheless He said, “Thou shalt speak My words unto them, whether they
will hear, or whether they will forbear.”(771) To the servant of God at
this time is the command addressed, “Lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and
show My people their transgression, and the house of Jacob their sins.”

So far as his opportunities extend, every one who has received the light
of truth is under the same solemn and fearful responsibility as was the
prophet of Israel, to whom the word of the Lord came, saying: “Son of man,
I have set thee a watchman unto the house of Israel; therefore thou shalt
hear the word at My mouth, and warn them from Me. When I say unto the
wicked, O wicked man, thou shalt surely die; if thou dost not speak to
warn the wicked from his way, that wicked man shall die in his iniquity;
but his blood will I require at thine hand. Nevertheless, if thou warn the
wicked of his way to turn from it; if he do not turn from his way, he
shall die in his iniquity; but thou hast delivered thy soul.”(772)

The great obstacle both to the acceptance and to the promulgation of
truth, is the fact that it involves inconvenience and reproach. This is
the only argument against the truth which its advocates have never been
able to refute. But this does not deter the true followers of Christ.
These do not wait for truth to become popular. Being convinced of their
duty, they deliberately accept the cross, with the apostle Paul counting
that “our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a
far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory;”(773) with one of old,
“esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in
Egypt.”(774)

Whatever may be their profession, it is only those who are world-servers
at heart that act from policy rather than principle in religious things.
We should choose the right because it is right, and leave consequences
with God. To men of principle, faith, and daring, the world is indebted
for its great reforms. By such men the work of reform for this time must
be carried forward.

Thus saith the Lord: “Hearken unto Me, ye that know righteousness, the
people in whose heart is My law; fear ye not the reproach of men, neither
be ye afraid of their revilings. For the moth shall eat them up like a
garment, and the worm shall eat them like wool: but My righteousness shall
be forever, and My salvation from generation to generation.”(775)





27. MODERN REVIVALS.


                     [Illustration: Chapter header.]

Wherever the word of God has been faithfully preached, results have
followed that attested its divine origin. The Spirit of God accompanied
the message of His servants, and the word was with power. Sinners felt
their consciences quickened. The “light which lighteth every man that
cometh into the world,” illumined the secret chambers of their souls, and
the hidden things of darkness were made manifest. Deep conviction took
hold upon their minds and hearts. They were convinced of sin, and of
righteousness, and of judgment to come. They had a sense of the
righteousness of Jehovah, and felt the terror of appearing, in their guilt
and uncleanness, before the Searcher of hearts. In anguish they cried out,
“Who shall deliver me from the body of this death?” As the cross of
Calvary, with its infinite sacrifice for the sins of men, was revealed,
they saw that nothing but the merits of Christ could suffice to atone for
their transgressions; this alone could reconcile man to God. With faith
and humility they accepted the Lamb of God, that taketh away the sin of
the world. Through the blood of Jesus they had “remission of sins that are
past.”

These souls brought forth fruit meet for repentance. They believed and
were baptized, and rose to walk in newness of life,—new creatures in
Christ Jesus; not to fashion themselves according to the former lusts, but
by the faith of the Son of God to follow in His steps, to reflect His
character, and to purify themselves even as He is pure. The things they
once hated, they now loved; and the things they once loved, they hated.
The proud and self-assertive became meek and lowly of heart. The vain and
supercilious became serious and unobtrusive. The profane became reverent,
the drunken sober, and the profligate pure. The vain fashions of the world
were laid aside. Christians sought not the “outward adorning of plaiting
the hair, and of wearing of gold, or of putting on of apparel; but ... the
hidden man of the heart, in that which is not corruptible, even the
ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great
price.”(776)

Revivals brought deep heart-searching and humility. They were
characterized by solemn, earnest appeals to the sinner, by yearning
compassion for the purchase of the blood of Christ. Men and women prayed
and wrestled with God for the salvation of souls. The fruits of such
revivals were seen in souls who shrank not at self-denial and sacrifice,
but rejoiced that they were counted worthy to suffer reproach and trial
for the sake of Christ. Men beheld a transformation in the lives of those
who had professed the name of Jesus. The community was benefited by their
influence. They gathered with Christ, and sowed to the Spirit, to reap
life everlasting.

It could be said of them: “Ye sorrowed to repentance.” “For godly sorrow
worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of: but the sorrow of
the world worketh death. For behold this selfsame thing, that ye sorrowed
after a godly sort, what carefulness it wrought in you, yea, what clearing
of yourselves, yea, what indignation, yea, what fear, yea, what vehement
desire, yea, what zeal, yea, what revenge! In all things ye have approved
yourselves to be clear in this matter.”(777)

This is the result of the work of the Spirit of God. There is no evidence
of genuine repentance unless it works reformation. If he restore the
pledge, give again that he had robbed, confess his sins, and love God and
his fellow-men, the sinner may be sure that he has found peace with God.
Such were the effects that in former years followed seasons of religious
awakening. Judged by their fruits, they were known to be blessed of God in
the salvation of men and the uplifting of humanity.

But many of the revivals of modern times have presented a marked contrast
to those manifestations of divine grace which in earlier days followed the
labors of God’s servants. It is true that a wide-spread interest is
kindled, many profess conversion, and there are large accessions to the
churches; nevertheless the results are not such as to warrant the belief
that there has been a corresponding increase of real spiritual life. The
light which flames up for a time soon dies out, leaving the darkness more
dense than before.

Popular revivals are too often carried by appeals to the imagination, by
exciting the emotions, by gratifying the love for what is new and
startling. Converts thus gained have little desire to listen to Bible
truth, little interest in the testimony of prophets and apostles. Unless a
religious service has something of a sensational character, it has no
attractions for them. A message which appeals to unimpassioned reason
awakens no response. The plain warnings of God’s word, relating directly
to their eternal interests, are unheeded.

With every truly converted soul the relation to God and to eternal things
will be the great topic of life. But where, in the popular churches of
to-day, is the spirit of consecration to God? The converts do not renounce
their pride and love of the world. They are no more willing to deny self,
to take up the cross, and follow the meek and lowly Jesus, than before
their conversion. Religion has become the sport of infidels and skeptics
because so many who bear its name are ignorant of its principles. The
power of godliness has well-nigh departed from many of the churches.
Picnics, church theatricals, church fairs, fine houses, personal display,
have banished thoughts of God. Lands and goods and worldly occupations
engross the mind, and things of eternal interest receive hardly a passing
notice.

Notwithstanding the wide-spread declension of faith and piety, there are
true followers of Christ in these churches. Before the final visitation of
God’s judgments upon the earth, there will be, among the people of the
Lord, such a revival of primitive godliness as has not been witnessed
since apostolic times. The Spirit and power of God will be poured out upon
His children. At that time many will separate themselves from those
churches in which the love of this world has supplanted love for God and
His word. Many, both of ministers and people, will gladly accept those
great truths which God has caused to be proclaimed at this time, to
prepare a people for the Lord’s second coming. The enemy of souls desires
to hinder this work; and before the time for such a movement shall come,
he will endeavor to prevent it, by introducing a counterfeit. In those
churches which he can bring under his deceptive power, he will make it
appear that God’s special blessing is poured out; there will be manifest
what is thought to be great religious interest. Multitudes will exult that
God is working marvelously for them, when the work is that of another
spirit. Under a religious guise, Satan will seek to extend his influence
over the Christian world.

In many of the revivals which have occurred during the last half century,
the same influences have been at work, to a greater or less degree, that
will be manifest in the more extensive movements of the future. There is
an emotional excitement, a mingling of the true with the false, that is
well adapted to mislead. Yet none need be deceived. In the light of God’s
word it is not difficult to determine the nature of these movements.
Wherever men neglect the testimony of the Bible, turning away from those
plain, soul-testing truths which require self-denial and renunciation of
the world, there we may be sure that God’s blessing is not bestowed. And
by the rule which Christ Himself has given, “Ye shall know them by their
fruits,”(778) it is evident that these movements are not the work of the
Spirit of God.

In the truths of His word, God has given to men a revelation of Himself;
and to all who accept them they are a shield against the deceptions of
Satan. It is a neglect of these truths that has opened the door to the
evils which are now becoming so wide-spread in the religious world. The
nature and the importance of the law of God have been, to a great extent,
lost sight of. A wrong conception of the character, the perpetuity, and
the obligation of the divine law, has led to errors in relation to
conversion and sanctification, and has resulted in lowering the standard
of piety in the church. Here is to be found the secret of the lack of the
Spirit and power of God in the revivals of our time.

There are, in the various denominations, men eminent for their piety, by
whom this fact is acknowledged and deplored. Prof. Edwards A. Park, in
setting forth the current religious perils, ably says: “One source of
danger is the neglect of the pulpit to enforce the divine law. In former
days the pulpit was an echo of the voice of conscience.... Our most
illustrious preachers gave a wonderful majesty to their discourses by
following the example of the Master, and giving prominence to the law, its
precepts, and its threatenings. They repeated the two great maxims, that
the law is a transcript of the divine perfections, and that a man who does
not love the law does not love the gospel; for the law, as well as the
gospel, is a mirror reflecting the true character of God. This peril leads
to another, that of underrating the evil of sin, the extent of it, the
demerit of it. In proportion to the rightfulness of the commandment is the
wrongfulness of disobeying it....

“Affiliated to the dangers already named is the danger of underestimating
the justice of God. The tendency of the modern pulpit is to strain out the
divine justice from the divine benevolence, to sink benevolence into a
sentiment rather than exalt it into a principle. The new theological prism
puts asunder what God has joined together. Is the divine law a good or an
evil? It is a good. Then justice is good; for it is a disposition to
execute the law. From the habit of underrating the divine law and justice,
the extent and demerit of human disobedience, men easily slide into the
habit of underestimating the grace which has provided an atonement for
sin.” Thus the gospel loses its value and importance in the minds of men,
and soon they are ready practically to cast aside the Bible itself.

Many religious teachers assert that Christ by His death abolished the law,
and men are henceforth free from its requirements. There are some who
represent it as a grievous yoke; and in contrast to the bondage of the
law, they present the liberty to be enjoyed under the gospel.

But not so did prophets and apostles regard the holy law of God. Said
David, “I will walk at liberty: for I seek Thy precepts.”(779) The apostle
James, who wrote after the death of Christ, refers to the decalogue as the
“royal law,” and the “perfect law of liberty.”(780) And the Revelator,
half a century after the crucifixion, pronounces a blessing upon them
“that do His commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life,
and may enter in through the gates into the city.”(781)

The claim that Christ by His death abolished His Father’s law, is without
foundation. Had it been possible for the law to be changed or set aside,
then Christ need not have died to save man from the penalty of sin. The
death of Christ, so far from abolishing the law, proves that it is
immutable. The Son of God came to “magnify the law, and make it
honorable.”(782) He said, “Think not that I am come to destroy the law;”
“till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass
from the law.”(783) And concerning Himself He declares, “I delight to do
Thy will, O My God: yea, Thy law is within My heart.”(784)

The law of God, from its very nature, is unchangeable. It is a revelation
of the will and the character of its Author. God is love, and His law is
love. Its two great principles are love to God and love to man. “Love is
the fulfilling of the law.”(785) The character of God is righteousness and
truth; such is the nature of His law. Says the psalmist, “Thy law is the
truth;” “all Thy commandments are righteousness.”(786) And the apostle
Paul declares, “The law is holy, and the commandment holy, and just, and
good.”(787) Such a law, being an expression of the mind and will of God,
must be as enduring as its Author.

It is the work of conversion and sanctification to reconcile men to God,
by bringing them into accord with the principles of His law. In the
beginning, man was created in the image of God. He was in perfect harmony
with the nature and the law of God; the principles of righteousness were
written upon his heart. But sin alienated him from his Maker. He no longer
reflected the divine image. His heart was at war with the principles of
God’s law. “The carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject
to the law of God, neither indeed can be.”(788) But “God so loved the
world, that He gave His only begotten Son,” that man might be reconciled
to God. Through the merits of Christ he can be restored to harmony with
his Maker. His heart must be renewed by divine grace; he must have a new
life from above. This change is the new birth, without which, says Jesus,
“he cannot see the kingdom of God.”

The first step in reconciliation to God, is the conviction of sin. “Sin is
the transgression of the law.” “By the law is the knowledge of sin.”(789)
In order to see his guilt, the sinner must test his character by God’s
great standard of righteousness. It is a mirror which shows the perfection
of a righteous character, and enables him to discern the defects in his
own.

The law reveals to man his sins, but it provides no remedy. While it
promises life to the obedient, it declares that death is the portion of
the transgressor. The gospel of Christ alone can free him from the
condemnation or the defilement of sin. He must exercise repentance toward
God, whose law has been transgressed; and faith in Christ, his atoning
sacrifice. Thus he obtains “remission of sins that are past,” and becomes
a partaker of the divine nature. He is a child of God, having received the
spirit of adoption, whereby he cries, “Abba, Father!”

Is he now free to transgress God’s law? Says Paul: “Do we then make void
the law through faith? God forbid: yea, we establish the law.” “How shall
we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?” And John declares,
“This is the love of God, that we keep His commandments: and His
commandments are not grievous.”(790) In the new birth the heart is brought
into harmony with God, as it is brought into accord with His law. When
this mighty change has taken place in the sinner, he has passed from death
unto life, from sin unto holiness, from transgression and rebellion to
obedience and loyalty. The old life of alienation from God has ended; the
new life of reconciliation, of faith and love, has begun. Then “the
righteousness of the law” will “be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the
flesh, but after the Spirit.”(791) And the language of the soul will be,
“O how love I Thy law! it is my meditation all the day.”(792)

“The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul.”(793) Without the
law, men have no just conception of the purity and holiness of God, or of
their own guilt and uncleanness. They have no true conviction of sin, and
feel no need of repentance. Not seeing their lost condition as violators
of God’s law, they do not realize their need of the atoning blood of
Christ. The hope of salvation is accepted without a radical change of
heart or reformation of life. Thus superficial conversions abound, and
multitudes are joined to the church who have never been united to Christ.

Erroneous theories of sanctification, also, springing from neglect or
rejection of the divine law, have a prominent place in the religious
movements of the day. These theories are both false in doctrine and
dangerous in practical results; and the fact that they are so generally
finding favor, renders it doubly essential that all have a clear
understanding of what the Scriptures teach upon this point.

True sanctification is a Bible doctrine. The apostle Paul, in his letter
to the Thessalonian church, declares, “This is the will of God, even your
sanctification.” And he prays, “The very God of peace sanctify you
wholly.”(794) The Bible clearly teaches what sanctification is, and how it
is to be attained. The Saviour prayed for His disciples, “Sanctify them
through Thy truth: Thy word is truth.”(795) And Paul teaches that
believers are to be “sanctified by the Holy Ghost.”(796) What is the work
of the Holy Spirit? Jesus told His disciples, “When He, the Spirit of
truth, is come, He will guide you into all truth.”(797) And the psalmist
says, “Thy law is the truth.” By the word and the Spirit of God are opened
to men the great principles of righteousness embodied in His law. And
since the law of God is “holy, and just, and good,” a transcript of the
divine perfection, it follows that a character formed by obedience to that
law will be holy. Christ is a perfect example of such a character. He
says, “I have kept My Father’s commandments.” “I do always those things
that please Him.”(798) The followers of Christ are to become like Him,—by
the grace of God to form characters in harmony with the principles of His
holy law. This is Bible sanctification.

This work can be accomplished only through faith in Christ, by the power
of the indwelling Spirit of God. Paul admonishes believers, “Work out your
own salvation with fear and trembling. For it is God which worketh in you
both to will and to do of His good pleasure.”(799) The Christian will feel
the promptings of sin, but he will maintain a constant warfare against it.
Here is where Christ’s help is needed. Human weakness becomes united to
divine strength, and faith exclaims, “Thanks be to God, which giveth us
the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.”(800)

The Scriptures plainly show that the work of sanctification is
progressive. When in conversion the sinner finds peace with God through
the blood of the atonement, the Christian life has but just begun. Now he
is to “go on unto perfection;” to grow up “unto the measure of the stature
of the fulness of Christ.” Says the apostle Paul, “This one thing I do,
forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those
things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high
calling of God in Christ Jesus.”(801) And Peter sets before us the steps
by which Bible sanctification is to be attained: “Giving all diligence,
add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge; and to knowledge
temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness; and to
godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity.... If ye
do these things, ye shall never fall.”(802)

Those who experience the sanctification of the Bible will manifest a
spirit of humility. Like Moses, they have had a view of the awful majesty
of holiness, and they see their own unworthiness in contrast with the
purity and exalted perfection of the Infinite One.

The prophet Daniel was an example of true sanctification. His long life
was filled up with noble service for his Master. He was a man “greatly
beloved”(803) of Heaven. Yet instead of claiming to be pure and holy, this
honored prophet identified himself with the really sinful of Israel, as he
pleaded before God in behalf of his people: “We do not present our
supplications before Thee for our righteousnesses, but for Thy great
mercies.” “We have sinned, we have done wickedly.” He declares, “I was
speaking, and praying, and confessing my sin and the sin of my people.”
And when at a later time the Son of God appeared, to give him instruction,
Daniel says, “My comeliness was turned in me into corruption, and I
retained no strength.”(804)

When Job heard the voice of the Lord out of the whirlwind, he exclaimed,
“I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes.”(805) It was when Isaiah
saw the glory of the Lord, and heard the cherubim crying, “Holy, holy,
holy, is the Lord of hosts,” that he cried out, “Woe is me! for I am
undone.”(806) Paul, after he was caught up into the third heaven, and
heard things which it was not possible for a man to utter, speaks of
himself as “less than the least of all saints.”(807) It was the beloved
John, who leaned on Jesus’ breast and beheld His glory, that fell as one
dead before the feet of the angel.(808)

There can be no self-exaltation, no boastful claim to freedom from sin, on
the part of those who walk in the shadow of Calvary’s cross. They feel
that it was their sin which caused the agony that broke the heart of the
Son of God, and this thought will lead them to self-abasement. Those who
live nearest to Jesus discern most clearly the frailty and sinfulness of
humanity, and their only hope is in the merit of a crucified and risen
Saviour.

The sanctification now gaining prominence in the religious world, carries
with it a spirit of self-exaltation, and a disregard for the law of God,
that mark it as foreign to the religion of the Bible. Its advocates teach
that sanctification is an instantaneous work, by which, through faith
alone, they attain to perfect holiness. “Only believe,” say they, “and the
blessing is yours.” No further effort on the part of the receiver is
supposed to be required. At the same time they deny the authority of the
law of God, urging that they are released from obligation to keep the
commandments. But is it possible for men to be holy, in accord with the
will and character of God, without coming into harmony with the principles
which are an expression of His nature and will, and which show what is
well pleasing to Him?

The desire for an easy religion, that requires no striving, no
self-denial, no divorce from the follies of the world, has made the
doctrine of faith, and faith only, a popular doctrine; but what saith the
word of God? Says the apostle James: “What doth it profit, my brethren,
though a man say he hath faith, and have not works? can faith save him?...
Wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead? Was not
Abraham our father justified by works, when he had offered Isaac his son
upon the altar? Seest thou how faith wrought with his works, and by works
was faith made perfect?... Ye see then how that by works a man is
justified, and not by faith only.”(809)

The testimony of the word of God is against this ensnaring doctrine of
faith without works. It is not faith that claims the favor of Heaven
without complying with the conditions upon which mercy is to be granted,
it is presumption; for genuine faith has its foundation in the promises
and provisions of the Scriptures.

Let none deceive themselves with the belief that they can become holy
while wilfully violating one of God’s requirements. The commission of a
known sin silences the witnessing voice of the Spirit, and separates the
soul from God. “Sin is the transgression of the law.” And “whosoever
sinneth [transgresseth the law] hath not seen Him, neither known
Him.”(810) Though John in his epistles dwells so fully upon love, yet he
does not hesitate to reveal the true character of that class who claim to
be sanctified while living in transgression of the law of God. “He that
saith, I know Him, and keepeth not His commandments, is a liar, and the
truth is not in him. But whoso keepeth His word, in him verily is the love
of God perfected.”(811) Here is the test of every man’s profession. We
cannot accord holiness to any man without bringing him to the measurement
of God’s only standard of holiness in heaven and in earth. If men feel no
weight of the moral law, if they belittle and make light of God’s
precepts, if they break one of the least of these commandments, and teach
men so, they shall be of no esteem in the sight of Heaven, and we may know
that their claims are without foundation.

And the claim to be without sin is, in itself, evidence that he who makes
this claim is far from holy. It is because he has no true conception of
the infinite purity and holiness of God, or of what they must become who
shall be in harmony with His character; because he has no true conception
of the purity and exalted loveliness of Jesus, and the malignity and evil
of sin, that man can regard himself as holy. The greater the distance
between himself and Christ, and the more inadequate his conceptions of the
divine character and requirements, the more righteous he appears in his
own eyes.

The sanctification set forth in the Scriptures embraces the entire
being,—spirit, soul, and body. Paul prayed for the Thessalonians, that
their “whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the
coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.”(812) Again he writes to believers, “I
beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present
your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God.”(813) In the
time of ancient Israel, every offering brought as a sacrifice to God was
carefully examined. If any defect was discovered in the animal presented,
it was refused; for God had commanded that the offering be “without
blemish.” So Christians are bidden to present their bodies, “a living
sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God.” In order to do this, all their
powers must be preserved in the best possible condition. Every practice
that weakens physical or mental strength unfits man for the service of his
Creator. And will God be pleased with anything less than the best we can
offer? Said Christ, “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart.”
Those who do love God with all the heart will desire to give Him the best
service of their life, and they will be constantly seeking to bring every
power of their being into harmony with the laws that will promote their
ability to do His will. They will not, by the indulgence of appetite or
passion, enfeeble or defile the offering which they present to their
heavenly Father.

Peter says, “Abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul.”(814)
Every sinful gratification tends to benumb the faculties and deaden the
mental and spiritual perceptions, and the word or the Spirit of God can
make but a feeble impression upon the heart. Paul writes to the
Corinthians, “Let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh
and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.”(815) And with the
fruits of the Spirit,—“love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness,
goodness, faith, meekness,”—he classes “temperance.”(816)

Notwithstanding these inspired declarations, how many professed Christians
are enfeebling their powers in the pursuit of gain or the worship of
fashion; how many are debasing their godlike manhood by gluttony, by
wine-drinking, by forbidden pleasure. And the church, instead of rebuking,
too often encourages the evil by appealing to appetite, to desire for gain
or love of pleasure, to replenish her treasury, which love for Christ is
too feeble to supply. Were Jesus to enter the churches of to-day, and
behold the feasting and unholy traffic there conducted in the name of
religion, would He not drive out those desecrators, as He banished the
money-changers from the temple?

The apostle James declares that the wisdom from above is “first pure.” Had
he encountered those who take the precious name of Jesus upon lips defiled
by tobacco, those whose breath and person are contaminated by its foul
odor, and who pollute the air of heaven, and force all about them to
inhale the poison,—had the apostle come in contact with a practice so
opposed to the purity of the gospel, would he not have denounced it as
“earthly, sensual, devilish”? Slaves of tobacco, claiming the blessing of
entire sanctification, talk of their hope of heaven; but God’s word
plainly declares that “there shall in no wise enter into it anything that
defileth.”(817)

“Know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in
you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? for ye are bought with
a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are
God’s.”(818) He whose body is the temple of the Holy Spirit will not be
enslaved by a pernicious habit. His powers belong to Christ, who has
bought him with the price of blood. His property is the Lord’s. How could
he be guiltless in squandering this intrusted capital? Professed
Christians yearly expend an immense sum upon useless and pernicious
indulgences, while souls are perishing for the word of life. God is robbed
in tithes and offerings, while they consume upon the altar of destroying
lust more than they give to relieve the poor or for the support of the
gospel. If all who profess to be followers of Christ were truly
sanctified, their means, instead of being spent for needless and even
hurtful indulgences, would be turned into the Lord’s treasury, and
Christians would set an example of temperance, self-denial, and
self-sacrifice. Then they would be the light of the world.

The world is given up to self-indulgence. “The lust of the flesh, the lust
of the eye, and the pride of life,” control the masses of the people. But
Christ’s followers have a holier calling. “Come out from among them, and
be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean.” In the light
of God’s word we are justified in declaring that sanctification cannot be
genuine which does not work this utter renunciation of the sinful pursuits
and gratifications of the world.

To those who comply with the conditions, “Come out from among them, and be
ye separate, ... and touch not the unclean,” God’s promise is, “I will
receive you, and will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be My sons and
daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.”(819) It is the privilege and the duty
of every Christian to have a rich and abundant experience in the things of
God. “I am the light of the world,” said Jesus. “He that followeth Me
shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.”(820) “The
path of the just is as the shining light, that shineth more and more unto
the perfect day.”(821) Every step of faith and obedience brings the soul
into closer connection with the Light of the world, in whom “there is no
darkness at all.” The bright beams of the Sun of Righteousness shine upon
the servants of God, and they are to reflect His rays. As the stars tell
us that there is a great light in heaven with whose glory they are made
bright, so Christians are to make it manifest that there is a God on the
throne of the universe whose character is worthy of praise and imitation.
The graces of His Spirit, the purity and holiness of His character, will
be manifest in His witnesses.

Paul, in his letter to the Colossians, sets forth the rich blessings
granted to the children of God. He says: We “do not cease to pray for you,
and to desire that ye might be filled with the knowledge of His will in
all wisdom and spiritual understanding; that ye might walk worthy of the
Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing
in the knowledge of God; strengthened with all might, according to His
glorious power, unto all patience and long-suffering with
joyfulness.”(822)

Again he writes of his desire that the brethren at Ephesus might come to
understand the height of the Christian’s privilege. He opens before them,
in the most comprehensive language, the marvelous power and knowledge that
they might possess as sons and daughters of the Most High. It was theirs
“to be strengthened with might by His Spirit in the inner man,” to be
“rooted and grounded in love,” to “comprehend with all saints what is the
breadth, and length, and depth, and height; and to know the love of
Christ, which passeth knowledge.” But the prayer of the apostle reaches
the climax of privilege when he prays that “ye might be filled with all
the fulness of God.”(823)

Here are revealed the heights of attainment that we may reach through
faith in the promises of our heavenly Father, when we fulfil His
requirements. Through the merits of Christ, we have access to the throne
of Infinite Power. “He that spared not His own Son, but delivered Him up
for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all
things?”(824) The Father gave His Spirit without measure to His Son, and
we also may partake of its fulness. Jesus says: “If ye then, being evil,
know how to give good gifts unto your children: how much more shall your
heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask Him?”(825) “If ye
shall ask anything in My name, I will do it.” “Ask, and ye shall receive,
that your joy may be full.”(826)

While the Christian’s life will be characterized by humility, it should
not be marked with sadness and self-depreciation. It is the privilege of
every one so to live that God will approve and bless him. It is not the
will of our heavenly Father that we should be ever under condemnation and
darkness. There is no evidence of true humility in going with the head
bowed down and the heart filled with thoughts of self. We may go to Jesus
and be cleansed, and stand before the law without shame and remorse.
“There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus,
who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.”(827)

Through Jesus the fallen sons of Adam become “sons of God.” “Both He that
sanctifieth and they that are sanctified are all of one: for which cause
He is not ashamed to call them brethren.”(828) The Christian’s life should
be one of faith, of victory, and joy in God. “Whatsoever is born of God
overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world,
even our faith.”(829) Truly spake God’s servant Nehemiah, “The _joy_ of
the Lord is your strength.”(830) And Paul says: “Rejoice in the Lord
alway: and again I say, Rejoice.” “Rejoice evermore. Pray without ceasing.
In everything give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus
concerning you.”(831)

Such are the fruits of Bible conversion and sanctification; and it is
because the great principles of righteousness set forth in the law of God
are so indifferently regarded by the Christian world, that these fruits
are so rarely witnessed. This is why there is manifest so little of that
deep, abiding work of the Spirit of God which marked revivals in former
years.

It is by beholding that we become changed. And as those sacred precepts in
which God has opened to men the perfection and holiness of His character
are neglected, and the minds of the people are attracted to human
teachings and theories, what marvel that there has followed a decline of
living piety in the church. Saith the Lord, “They have forsaken Me the
fountain of living waters, and hewed them out cisterns, broken cisterns,
that can hold no water.”(832)

“Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly.... But
his delight is in the law of the Lord; and in His law doth he meditate day
and night. And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water,
that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not
wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.”(833) It is only as the law
of God is restored to its rightful position that there can be a revival of
primitive faith and godliness among His professed people. “Thus saith the
Lord, Stand ye in the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths, where is
the good way, and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your
souls.”(834)





28. THE INVESTIGATIVE JUDGMENT.


                     [Illustration: Chapter header.]

“I beheld,” says the prophet Daniel, “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: thousand thousands ministered unto Him, and ten thousand times
ten thousand stood before Him: the judgment was set, and the books were
opened.”(835)

Thus was presented to the prophet’s vision the great and solemn day when
the characters and the lives of men should pass in review before the Judge
of all the earth, and to every man should be rendered “according to his
works.” The Ancient of days is God the Father. Says the psalmist, “Before
the mountains were brought forth, or ever Thou hadst formed the earth and
the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, Thou art God.”(836) It is
He, the source of all being, and the fountain of all law, that is to
preside in the judgment. And holy angels, as ministers and witnesses, in
number “ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands,”
attend this great tribunal.

“And, behold, one like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven, and
came to the Ancient of days, and they brought Him near before Him. And
there was given Him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people,
nations, and languages, should serve Him: His dominion is an everlasting
dominion, which shall not pass away.”(837) The coming of Christ here
described is not His second coming to the earth. He comes to the Ancient
of days in heaven to receive dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, which
will be given Him at the close of His work as a mediator. It is this
coming, and not His second advent to the earth, that was foretold in
prophecy to take place at the termination of the 2300 days in 1844.
Attended by heavenly angels, our great High Priest enters the holy of
holies, and there appears in the presence of God, to engage in the last
acts of His ministration in behalf of man,—to perform the work of
investigative judgment, and to make an atonement for all who are shown to
be entitled to its benefits.

In the typical service, only those who had come before God with confession
and repentance, and whose sins, through the blood of the sin-offering,
were transferred to the sanctuary, had a part in the service of the day of
atonement. So in the great day of final atonement and investigative
judgment, the only cases considered are those of the professed people of
God. The judgment of the wicked is a distinct and separate work, and takes
place at a later period. “Judgment must begin at the house of God: and if
it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the
gospel?”(838)

The books of record in heaven, in which the names and the deeds of men are
registered, are to determine the decisions of the judgment. Says the
prophet Daniel, “The judgment was set, and the books were opened.” The
revelator, describing the same scene, adds, “Another book was opened,
which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things
which were written in the books, according to their works.”(839)

The book of life contains the names of all who have ever entered the
service of God. Jesus bade His disciples, “Rejoice, because your names are
written in heaven.”(840) Paul speaks of his faithful fellow-workers,
“whose names are in the book of life.”(841) Daniel, looking down to “a
time of trouble, such as never was,” declares that God’s people shall be
delivered, “every one that shall be found written in the book.” And the
revelator says that those only shall enter the city of God whose names
“are written in the Lamb’s book of life.”(842)

“A book of remembrance” is written before God, in which are recorded the
good deeds of “them that feared the Lord, and that thought upon His
name.”(843) Their words of faith, their acts of love, are registered in
heaven. Nehemiah refers to this when he says, “Remember me, O my God, ...
and wipe not out my good deeds that I have done for the house of my
God.”(844) In the book of God’s remembrance every deed of righteousness is
immortalized. There every temptation resisted, every evil overcome, every
word of tender pity expressed, is faithfully chronicled. And every act of
sacrifice, every suffering and sorrow endured for Christ’s sake, is
recorded. Says the psalmist, “Thou tellest my wanderings: put Thou my
tears into Thy bottle: are they not in Thy book?”(845)

There is a record also of the sins of men. “For God shall bring every work
into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it
be evil.” “Every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account
thereof in the day of judgment.” Said the Saviour: “By thy words thou
shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned.”(846) The
secret purposes and motives appear in the unerring register; for God “will
bring to light the hidden things of darkness, and will make manifest the
counsels of the hearts.”(847) “Behold, it is written before Me, ... your
iniquities, and the iniquities of your fathers together, saith the
Lord.”(848)

Every man’s work passes in review before God, and is registered for
faithfulness or unfaithfulness. Opposite each name in the books of heaven
is entered, with terrible exactness, every wrong word, every selfish act,
every unfulfilled duty, and every secret sin, with every artful
dissembling. Heaven-sent warnings or reproofs neglected, wasted moments,
unimproved opportunities, the influence exerted for good or for evil, with
its far-reaching results, all are chronicled by the recording angel.

The law of God is the standard by which the characters and the lives of
men will be tested in the judgment. Says the wise man: “Fear God, and keep
His commandments: for this is the whole duty of man. For God shall bring
every work into judgment.”(849) The apostle James admonishes his brethren,
“So speak ye, and so do, as they that shall be judged by the law of
liberty.”(850)

Those who in the judgment are “accounted worthy,” will have a part in the
resurrection of the just. Jesus said, “They which shall be accounted
worthy to obtain that world, and the resurrection from the dead, ... are
equal unto the angels; and are the children of God, being the children of
the resurrection.”(851) And again He declares that “they that have done
good” shall come forth “unto the resurrection of life.”(852) The righteous
dead will not be raised until after the judgment at which they are
accounted worthy of “the resurrection of life.” Hence they will not be
present in person at the tribunal when their records are examined and
their cases decided.

Jesus will appear as their advocate, to plead in their behalf before God.
“If any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the
righteous.”(853) “For Christ is not entered into the holy places made with
hands, which are the figures of the true; but into heaven itself, now to
appear in the presence of God for us.” “Wherefore He is able also to save
them to the uttermost that come unto God by Him, seeing He ever liveth to
make intercession for them.”(854)

As the books of record are opened in the judgment, the lives of all who
have believed on Jesus come in review before God. Beginning with those who
first lived upon the earth, our Advocate presents the cases of each
successive generation, and closes with the living. Every name is
mentioned, every case closely investigated. Names are accepted, names
rejected. When any have sins remaining upon the books of record,
unrepented of and unforgiven, their names will be blotted out of the book
of life, and the record of their good deeds will be erased from the book
of God’s remembrance. The Lord declared to Moses, “Whosoever hath sinned
against Me, him will I blot out of My book.”(855) And says the prophet
Ezekiel, “When the righteous turneth away from his righteousness, and
committeth iniquity, ... all his righteousness that he hath done shall not
be mentioned.”(856)

All who have truly repented of sin, and by faith claimed the blood of
Christ as their atoning sacrifice, have had pardon entered against their
names in the books of heaven; as they have become partakers of the
righteousness of Christ, and their characters are found to be in harmony
with the law of God, their sins will be blotted out, and they themselves
will be accounted worthy of eternal life. The Lord declares, by the
prophet Isaiah, “I, even I, am He that blotteth out thy transgressions for
Mine own sake, and will not remember thy sins.”(857) Said Jesus: “He that
overcometh, 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.” “Whosoever therefore shall
confess Me before men, him will I confess also before My Father which is
in heaven. But whosoever shall deny Me before men, him will I also deny
before My Father which is in heaven.”(858)

The deepest interest manifested among men in the decisions of earthly
tribunals but faintly represents the interest evinced in the heavenly
courts when the names entered in the book of life come up in review before
the Judge of all the earth. The divine Intercessor presents the plea that
all who have overcome through faith in His blood be forgiven their
transgressions, that they be restored to their Eden home, and crowned as
joint-heirs with Himself to the “first dominion.”(859) Satan, in his
efforts to deceive and tempt our race, had thought to frustrate the divine
plan in man’s creation; but Christ now asks that this plan be carried into
effect, as if man had never fallen. He asks for His people not only pardon
and justification, full and complete, but a share in His glory and a seat
upon His throne.

While Jesus is pleading for the subjects of His grace, Satan accuses them
before God as transgressors. The great deceiver has sought to lead them
into skepticism, to cause them to lose confidence in God, to separate
themselves from His love, and to break His law. Now he points to the
record of their lives, to the defects of character, the unlikeness to
Christ, which has dishonored their Redeemer, to all the sins that he has
tempted them to commit, and because of these he claims them as his
subjects.

Jesus does not excuse their sins, but shows their penitence and faith,
and, claiming for them forgiveness, He lifts His wounded hands before the
Father and the holy angels, saying, “I know them by name. I have graven
them on the palms of My hands. ‘The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit:
a broken and a contrite heart, O God, Thou wilt not despise.’ ”(860) And
to the accuser of His people He declares, “The Lord rebuke thee, O Satan;
even the Lord that hath chosen Jerusalem rebuke thee: is not this a brand
plucked out of the fire?”(861) Christ will clothe His faithful ones with
His own righteousness, that He may present them to His Father “a glorious
church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing.”(862) Their names
stand enrolled in the book of life, and concerning them it is written,
“They shall walk with Me in white: for they are worthy.”(863)

Thus will be realized the complete fulfilment of the new-covenant promise,
“I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.”
“In those days, and in that time, saith the Lord, the iniquity of Israel
shall be sought for, and there shall be none; and the sins of Judah, and
they shall not be found.”(864) “In that day shall the branch of the Lord
be beautiful and glorious, and the fruit of the earth shall be excellent
and comely for them that are escaped of Israel. And it shall come to pass,
that he that is left in Zion, and he that remaineth in Jerusalem, shall be
called holy, even every one that is written among the living in
Jerusalem.”(865)

The work of the investigative judgment and the blotting out of sins is to
be accomplished before the second advent of the Lord. Since the dead are
to be judged out of the things written in the books, it is impossible that
the sins of men should be blotted out until after the judgment at which
their cases are to be investigated. But the apostle Peter distinctly
states that the sins of believers will be blotted out “when the times of
refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord; and He shall send
Jesus Christ.”(866) When the investigative judgment closes, Christ will
come, and His reward will be with Him to give to every man as his work
shall be.

In the typical service the high priest, having made the atonement for
Israel, came forth and blessed the congregation. So Christ, at the close
of His work as mediator, will appear, “without sin unto salvation,”(867)
to bless His waiting people with eternal life. As the priest, in removing
the sins from the sanctuary, confessed them upon the head of the
scapegoat, so Christ will place all these sins upon Satan, the originator
and instigator of sin. The scapegoat, bearing the sins of Israel, was sent
away “unto a land not inhabited;”(868) so Satan, bearing the guilt of all
the sins which he has caused God’s people to commit, will be for a
thousand years confined to the earth, which will then be desolate, without
inhabitant, and he will at last suffer the full penalty of sin in the
fires that shall destroy all the wicked. Thus the great plan of redemption
will reach its accomplishment in the final eradication of sin, and the
deliverance of all who have been willing to renounce evil.

At the time appointed for the judgment—the close of the 2300 days, in
1844—began the work of investigation and blotting out of sins. All who
have ever taken upon themselves the name of Christ must pass its searching
scrutiny. Both the living and the dead are to be judged “out of those
things which were written in the books, according to their works.”

Sins that have not been repented of and forsaken will not be pardoned, and
blotted out of the books of record, but will stand to witness against the
sinner in the day of God. He may have committed his evil deeds in the
light of day or in the darkness of night; but they were open and manifest
before Him with whom we have to do. Angels of God witnessed each sin, and
registered it in the unerring records. Sin may be concealed, denied,
covered up from father, mother, wife, children, and associates; no one but
the guilty actors may cherish the least suspicion of the wrong; but it is
laid bare before the intelligences of heaven. The darkness of the darkest
night, the secrecy of all deceptive arts, is not sufficient to veil one
thought from the knowledge of the Eternal. God has an exact record of
every unjust account and every unfair dealing. He is not deceived by
appearances of piety. He makes no mistakes in His estimation of character.
Men may be deceived by those who are corrupt in heart, but God pierces all
disguises, and reads the inner life.

How solemn is the thought! Day after day, passing into eternity, bears its
burden of records for the books of heaven. Words once spoken, deeds once
done, can never be recalled. Angels have registered both the good and the
evil. 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.

As the features of the countenance are reproduced with unerring accuracy
on the polished plate of the artist, so the character is faithfully
delineated in the books above. Yet how little solicitude is felt
concerning that record which is to meet the gaze of heavenly beings. 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.

In the judgment, the use made of every talent will be scrutinized. How
have we employed the capital lent us of Heaven? Will the Lord at His
coming receive His own with usury? Have we improved the powers intrusted
us, in hand and heart and brain, to the glory of God and the blessing of
the world? How have we used our time, our pen, our voice, our money, our
influence? What have we done for Christ, in the person of the poor, the
afflicted, the orphan, or the widow? God has made us the depositaries of
His holy word; what have we done with the light and truth given us to make
men wise unto salvation? No value is attached to a mere profession of
faith in Christ; only the love which is shown by works is counted genuine.
Yet it is love alone which in the sight of Heaven makes any act of value.
Whatever is done from love, however small it may appear in the estimation
of men, is accepted and rewarded of God.

The hidden selfishness of men stands revealed in the books of heaven.
There is the record of unfulfilled duties to their fellow-men, of
forgetfulness of the Saviour’s claims. There they will see how often were
given to Satan the time, thought, and strength that belonged to Christ.
Sad is the record which angels bear to heaven. Intelligent beings,
professed followers of Christ, are absorbed in the acquirement of worldly
possessions or the enjoyment of earthly pleasures. Money, time, and
strength are sacrificed for display and self-indulgence; but few are the
moments devoted to prayer, to the searching of the Scriptures, to
humiliation of soul and confession of sin.

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

Those who would share the benefits of the Saviour’s mediation should
permit nothing to interfere with their duty to perfect holiness in the
fear of God. The precious hours, instead of being given to pleasure, to
display, or to gain-seeking, should be devoted to an earnest, prayerful
study of the Word of truth. The subject of the sanctuary and the
investigative judgment should be clearly understood by the people of God.
All need a knowledge for themselves of the position and work of their
great High Priest. Otherwise, it will be impossible for them to exercise
the faith which is essential at this time, or to occupy the position which
God designs them to fill. Every individual has a soul to save or to lose.
Each has a case pending at the bar of God. Each must meet the great Judge
face to face. How important, then, that every mind contemplate often the
solemn scene when the judgment shall sit and the books shall be opened,
when, with Daniel, every individual must stand in his lot, at the end of
the days.

All who have received the light upon these subjects are to bear testimony
of the great truths which God has committed to them. The sanctuary in
heaven is the very center of Christ’s work in behalf of men. It concerns
every soul living upon the earth. It opens to view the plan of redemption,
bringing us down to the very close of time, and revealing the triumphant
issue of the contest between righteousness and sin. It is of the utmost
importance that all should thoroughly investigate these subjects, and be
able to give an answer to every one that asketh them a reason of the hope
that is in them.

The intercession of Christ in man’s behalf in the sanctuary above is as
essential to the plan of salvation as was His death upon the cross. By His
death He began that work which after His resurrection He ascended to
complete in heaven. We must by faith enter within the veil, “whither the
Forerunner is for us entered.”(869) There the light from the cross of
Calvary is reflected. There we may gain a clearer insight into the
mysteries of redemption. The salvation of man is accomplished at an
infinite expense to heaven; the sacrifice made is equal to the broadest
demands of the broken law of God. Jesus has opened the way to the Father’s
throne, and through His mediation the sincere desire of all who come to
Him in faith may be presented before God.

“He that covereth his sins shall not prosper: but whoso confesseth and
forsaketh them shall have mercy.”(870) If those who hide and excuse their
faults could see how Satan exults over them, how he taunts Christ and holy
angels with their course, they would make haste to confess their sins and
to put them away. Through defects in the character, Satan works to gain
control of the whole mind, and he knows that if these defects are
cherished, he will succeed. Therefore he is constantly seeking to deceive
the followers of Christ with his fatal sophistry that it is impossible for
them to overcome. But Jesus pleads in their behalf His wounded hands, His
bruised body; and He declares to all who would follow Him, “My grace is
sufficient for thee.”(871) “Take My yoke upon you, and learn of Me; for I
am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For My
yoke is easy, and My burden is light.”(872) Let none, then, regard their
defects as incurable. God will give faith and grace to overcome them.

We are now living in the great day of atonement. In the typical service,
while the high priest was making the atonement for Israel, all were
required to afflict their souls by repentance of sin and humiliation
before the Lord, lest they be cut off from among the people. In like
manner, all who would have their names retained in the book of life,
should now, in the few remaining days of their probation, afflict their
souls before God by sorrow for sin and true repentance. There must be
deep, faithful searching of heart. The light, frivolous spirit indulged by
so many professed Christians must be put away. There is earnest warfare
before all who would subdue the evil tendencies that strive for the
mastery. The work of preparation is an individual work. We are not saved
in groups. The purity and devotion of one will not offset the want of
these qualities in another. Though all nations are to pass in judgment
before God, yet He will examine the case of each individual with as close
and searching scrutiny as if there were not another being upon the earth.
Every one must be tested, and found without spot or wrinkle or any such
thing.

Solemn are the scenes connected with the closing work of the atonement.
Momentous are the interests involved therein. The judgment is now passing
in the sanctuary above. For many years this work has been in progress.
Soon—none know how soon—it will pass to the cases of the living. In the
awful presence of God our lives are to come up in review. At this time
above all others it behooves every soul to heed the Saviour’s admonition,
“Watch and pray: for ye know not when the time is.”(873) “If therefore
thou shalt not watch, I will come on thee as a thief, and thou shalt not
know what hour I will come upon thee.”(874)

When the work of the investigative judgment closes, the destiny of all
will have been decided for life or death. Probation is ended a short time
before the appearing of the Lord in the clouds of heaven. Christ in the
Revelation looking forward to that time, declares: “He that is unjust, let
him be unjust still: and he which is filthy, let him be filthy still: and
he that is righteous, let him be righteous still: and he that is holy, let
him be holy still. And, behold, I come quickly; and My reward is with Me,
to give every man according as his work shall be.”(875)

The righteous and the wicked will still be living upon the earth in their
mortal state,—men will be planting and building, eating and drinking, all
unconscious that the final, irrevocable decision has been pronounced in
the sanctuary above. Before the flood, after Noah entered the ark, God
shut him in, and shut the ungodly out; but for seven days the people,
knowing not that their doom was fixed, continued their careless,
pleasure-loving life, and mocked the warnings of impending judgment. “So,”
says the Saviour, “shall also the coming of the Son of man be.”(876)
Silently, unnoticed as the midnight thief, will come the decisive hour
which marks the fixing of every man’s destiny, the final withdrawal of
mercy’s offer to guilty men.

“Watch ye therefore: ... lest coming suddenly He find you sleeping.”(877)
Perilous is the condition of those who, growing weary of their watch, turn
to the attractions of the world. While the man of business is absorbed in
the pursuit of gain, while the pleasure-lover is seeking indulgence, while
the daughter of fashion is arranging her adornments,—it may be in that
hour the Judge of all the earth will pronounce the sentence, “Thou art
weighed in the balances, and art found wanting.”(878)





29. THE ORIGIN OF EVIL.


                     [Illustration: Chapter header.]

To many minds, the origin of sin and the reason for its existence are a
source of great perplexity. They see the work of evil, with its terrible
results of woe and desolation, and they question how all this can exist
under the sovereignty of One who is infinite in wisdom, in power, and in
love. Here is a mystery, of which they find no explanation. And in their
uncertainty and doubt, they are blinded to truths plainly revealed in
God’s word, and essential to salvation. There are those who, in their
inquiries concerning the existence of sin, endeavor to search into that
which God has never revealed; hence they find no solution of their
difficulties; and such as are actuated by a disposition to doubt and
cavil, seize upon this as an excuse for rejecting the words of Holy Writ.
Others, however, fail of a satisfactory understanding of the great problem
of evil, from the fact that tradition and misinterpretation have obscured
the teaching of the Bible concerning the character of God, the nature of
His government, and the principles of His dealing with sin.

It is impossible to explain the origin of sin so as to give a reason for
its existence. Yet enough may be understood concerning both the origin and
the final disposition of sin, to make fully manifest the justice and
benevolence of God in all His dealings with evil. Nothing is more plainly
taught in Scripture than that God was in no wise responsible for the
entrance of sin; that there was no arbitrary withdrawal of divine grace,
no deficiency in the divine government, that gave occasion for the
uprising of rebellion. Sin is an intruder, for whose presence no reason
can be given. It is mysterious, unaccountable; to excuse it, is to defend
it. Could excuse for it be found, or cause be shown for its existence, it
would cease to be sin. Our only definition of sin is that given in the
word of God; it is “the transgression of the law,” it is the outworking of
a principle at war with the great law of love which is the foundation of
the divine government.

Before the entrance of evil, there was peace and joy throughout the
universe. All was in perfect harmony with the Creator’s will. Love for God
was supreme, love for one another impartial. Christ the Word, the only
begotten of God, was one with the eternal Father,—one in nature, in
character, and in purpose,—the only being in all the universe that could
enter into all the counsels and purposes of God. By Christ, the Father
wrought in the creation of all heavenly beings. “By Him were all things
created, that are in heaven, ... whether they be thrones, or dominions, or
principalities, or powers;”(879) and to Christ, equally with the Father,
all heaven gave allegiance.

The law of love being the foundation of the government of God, the
happiness of all created beings depended upon their perfect accord with
its great principles of righteousness. God desires from all His creatures
the service of love,—homage that springs from an intelligent appreciation
of His character. He takes no pleasure in a forced allegiance, and to all
He grants freedom of will, that they may render Him voluntary service.

But there was one that chose to pervert this freedom. Sin originated with
him who, next to Christ, had been most honored of God, and who stood
highest in power and glory among the inhabitants of heaven. Before his
fall, Lucifer was first of the covering cherubs, holy and undefiled. “Thus
saith the Lord God: Thou sealest up the sum, full of wisdom, and perfect
in beauty. Thou hast been in Eden the garden of God; every precious stone
was thy covering.” “Thou art the anointed cherub that covereth; and I have
set thee so: thou wast upon the holy mountain of God; thou hast walked up
and down in the midst of the stones of fire. Thou wast perfect in thy ways
from the day that thou wast created, till iniquity was found in
thee.”(880)

Lucifer might have remained in favor with God, beloved and honored by all
the angelic host, exercising his noble powers to bless others and to
glorify his Maker. But, says the prophet, “Thine heart was lifted up
because of thy beauty, thou hast corrupted thy wisdom by reason of thy
brightness.”(881) Little by little, Lucifer came to indulge a desire for
self-exaltation. “Thou hast set thine heart as the heart of God.” “Thou
hast said, ... I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit
also upon the mount of the congregation.... I will ascend above the
heights of the clouds; I will be like the Most High.”(882) Instead of
seeking to make God supreme in the affections and allegiance of His
creatures, it was Lucifer’s endeavor to win their service and homage to
himself. And coveting the honor which the infinite Father had bestowed
upon His Son, this prince of angels aspired to power which it was the
prerogative of Christ alone to wield.

All heaven had rejoiced to reflect the Creator’s glory and to show forth
His praise. And while God was thus honored, all had been peace and
gladness. But a note of discord now marred the celestial harmonies. The
service and exaltation of self, contrary to the Creator’s plan, awakened
forebodings of evil in minds to whom God’s glory was supreme. The heavenly
councils pleaded with Lucifer. The Son of God presented before him the
greatness, the goodness, and the justice of the Creator, and the sacred,
unchanging nature of His law. God Himself had established the order of
heaven; and in departing from it, Lucifer would dishonor his Maker, and
bring ruin upon himself. But the warning, given in infinite love and
mercy, only aroused a spirit of resistance. Lucifer allowed jealousy of
Christ to prevail, and he became the more determined.

Pride in his own glory nourished the desire for supremacy. The high honors
conferred upon Lucifer were not appreciated as the gift of God, and called
forth no gratitude to the Creator. He gloried in his brightness and
exaltation, and aspired to be equal with God. He was beloved and
reverenced by the heavenly host. Angels delighted to execute his commands,
and he was clothed with wisdom and glory above them all. Yet the Son of
God was the acknowledged Sovereign of heaven, one in power and authority
with the Father. In all the counsels of God, Christ was a participant,
while Lucifer was not permitted thus to enter into the divine purposes.
“Why,” questioned this mighty angel, “should Christ have the supremacy?
Why is He thus honored above Lucifer?”

Leaving his place in the immediate presence of God, Lucifer went forth to
diffuse the spirit of discontent among the angels. Working with mysterious
secrecy, and for a time concealing his real purpose under an appearance of
reverence for God, he endeavored to excite dissatisfaction concerning the
laws that governed heavenly beings, intimating that they imposed an
unnecessary restraint. Since their natures were holy, he urged that the
angels should obey the dictates of their own will. He sought to create
sympathy for himself, by representing that God had dealt unjustly with him
in bestowing supreme honor upon Christ. He claimed that in aspiring to
greater power and honor he was not aiming at self-exaltation, but was
seeking to secure liberty for all the inhabitants of heaven, that by this
means they might attain to a higher state of existence.

God, in His great mercy, bore long with Lucifer. He was not immediately
degraded from his exalted station when he first indulged the spirit of
discontent, nor even when he began to present his false claims before the
loyal angels. Long was he retained in heaven. Again and again he was
offered pardon, on condition of repentance and submission. Such efforts as
only infinite love and wisdom could devise, were made to convince him of
his error. The spirit of discontent had never before been known in heaven.
Lucifer himself did not at first see whither he was drifting; he did not
understand the real nature of his feelings. But as his dissatisfaction was
proved to be without cause, Lucifer was convinced that he was in the
wrong, that the divine claims were just, and that he ought to acknowledge
them as such before all heaven. Had he done this, he might have saved
himself and many angels. He had not at this time fully cast off his
allegiance to God. Though he had forsaken his position as covering cherub,
yet if he had been willing to return to God, acknowledging the Creator’s
wisdom, and satisfied to fill the place appointed him in God’s great plan,
he would have been re-instated in his office. But pride forbade him to
submit. He persistently defended his own course, maintained that he had no
need of repentance, and fully committed himself, in the great controversy,
against his Maker.

All the powers of his master-mind were now bent to the work of deception,
to secure the sympathy of the angels that had been under his command. Even
the fact that Christ had warned and counseled him, was perverted to serve
his traitorous designs. To those whose loving trust bound them most
closely to him, Satan had represented that he was wrongly judged, that his
position was not respected, and that his liberty was to be abridged. From
misrepresentation of the words of Christ, he passed to prevarication and
direct falsehood, accusing the Son of God of a design to humiliate him
before the inhabitants of heaven. He sought also to make a false issue
between himself and the loyal angels. All whom he could not subvert and
bring fully to his side, he accused of indifference to the interests of
heavenly beings. The very work which he himself was doing, he charged upon
those who remained true to God. And to sustain his charge of God’s
injustice toward him, he resorted to misrepresentation of the words and
acts of the Creator. It was his policy to perplex the angels with subtle
arguments concerning the purposes of God. Everything that was simple he
shrouded in mystery, and by artful perversion cast doubt upon the plainest
statements of Jehovah. His high position, in such close connection with
the divine administration, gave greater force to his representations, and
many were induced to unite with him in rebellion against Heaven’s
authority.

God in His wisdom permitted Satan to carry forward his work, until the
spirit of disaffection ripened into active revolt. It was necessary for
his plans to be fully developed, that their true nature and tendency might
be seen by all. Lucifer, as the anointed cherub, had been highly exalted;
he was greatly loved by the heavenly beings, and his influence over them
was strong. God’s government included not only the inhabitants of heaven,
but of all the worlds that He had created; and Satan thought that if he
could carry the angels of heaven with him in rebellion, he could carry
also the other worlds. He had artfully presented his side of the question,
employing sophistry and fraud to secure his objects. His power to deceive
was very great, and by disguising himself in a cloak of falsehood he had
gained an advantage. Even the loyal angels could not fully discern his
character, or see to what his work was leading.

Satan had been so highly honored, and all his acts were so clothed with
mystery, that it was difficult to disclose to the angels the true nature
of his work. Until fully developed, sin would not appear the evil thing it
was. Heretofore it had had no place in the universe of God, and holy
beings had no conception of its nature and malignity. They could not
discern the terrible consequences that would result from setting aside the
divine law. Satan had, at first, concealed his work under a specious
profession of loyalty to God. He claimed to be seeking to promote the
honor of God, the stability of His government, and the good of all the
inhabitants of heaven. While instilling discontent into the minds of the
angels under him, he had artfully made it appear that he was seeking to
remove dissatisfaction. When he urged that changes be made in the order
and laws of God’s government, it was under the pretense that these were
necessary in order to preserve harmony in heaven.

In His dealing with sin, God could employ only righteousness and truth.
Satan could use what God could not—flattery and deceit. He had sought to
falsify the word of God, and had misrepresented His plan of government
before the angels, claiming that God was not just in laying laws and rules
upon the inhabitants of heaven; that in requiring submission and obedience
from His creatures, He was seeking merely the exaltation of Himself.
Therefore it must be demonstrated before the inhabitants of heaven, as
well as of all the worlds, that God’s government was just, His law
perfect. Satan had made it appear that he himself was seeking to promote
the good of the universe. The true character of the usurper, and his real
object, must be understood by all. He must have time to manifest himself
by his wicked works.

The discord which his own course had caused in heaven, Satan charged upon
the law and government of God. All evil he declared to be the result of
the divine administration. He claimed that it was his own object to
improve upon the statutes of Jehovah. Therefore it was necessary that he
should demonstrate the nature of his claims, and show the working out of
his proposed changes in the divine law. His own work must condemn him.
Satan had claimed from the first that he was not in rebellion. The whole
universe must see the deceiver unmasked.

Even when it was decided that he could no longer remain in heaven,
Infinite Wisdom did not destroy Satan. Since the service of love can alone
be acceptable to God, the allegiance of His creatures must rest upon a
conviction of His justice and benevolence. The inhabitants of heaven and
of other worlds, being unprepared to comprehend the nature or consequences
of sin, could not then have seen the justice and mercy of God in the
destruction of Satan. Had he been immediately blotted from existence, they
would have served God from fear, rather than from love. The influence of
the deceiver would not have been fully destroyed, nor would the spirit of
rebellion have been utterly eradicated. Evil must be permitted to come to
maturity. For the good of the entire universe through ceaseless ages,
Satan must more fully develop his principles, that his charges against the
divine government might be seen in their true light by all created beings,
that the justice and mercy of God and the immutability of His law might
forever be placed beyond all question.

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

To the very close of the controversy in heaven, the great usurper
continued to justify himself. When it was announced that with all his
sympathizers he must be expelled from the abodes of bliss, then the rebel
leader boldly avowed his contempt for the Creator’s law. He reiterated his
claim that angels needed no control, but should be left to follow their
own will, which would ever guide them right. He denounced the divine
statutes as a restriction of their liberty, and declared that it was his
purpose to secure the abolition of law; that, freed from this restraint,
the hosts of heaven might enter upon a more exalted, more glorious state
of existence.

With one accord, Satan and his host threw the blame of their rebellion
wholly upon Christ, declaring that if they had not been reproved, they
would never have rebelled. Thus stubborn and defiant in their disloyalty,
seeking vainly to overthrow the government of God, yet blasphemously
claiming to be themselves the innocent victims of oppressive power, the
arch-rebel and all his sympathizers were at last banished from heaven.

The same spirit that prompted rebellion in heaven, still inspires
rebellion on earth. Satan has continued with men the same policy which he
pursued with the angels. His spirit now reigns in the children of
disobedience. Like him they seek to break down the restraints of the law
of God, and promise men liberty through transgression of its precepts.
Reproof of sin still arouses the spirit of hatred and resistance. When
God’s messages of warning are brought home to the conscience, Satan leads
men to justify themselves, and to seek the sympathy of others in their
course of sin. Instead of correcting their errors, they excite indignation
against the reprover, as if he were the sole cause of difficulty. From the
days of righteous Abel to our own time, such is the spirit which has been
displayed toward those who dare to condemn sin.

By the same misrepresentation of the character of God as he had practised
in heaven, causing Him to be regarded as severe and tyrannical, Satan
induced man to sin. And having succeeded thus far, he declared that God’s
unjust restrictions had led to man’s fall, as they had led to his own
rebellion.

But the Eternal One Himself proclaims His character: “The Lord God,
merciful and gracious, long-suffering, and abundant in goodness and truth,
keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin,
and that will by no means clear the guilty.”(883)

In the banishment of Satan from heaven, God declared His justice, and
maintained the honor of His throne. But when man had sinned through
yielding to the deceptions of this apostate spirit, God gave an evidence
of His love by yielding up His only begotten Son to die for the fallen
race. In the atonement the character of God is revealed. The mighty
argument of the cross demonstrates to the whole universe that the course
of sin which Lucifer had chosen was in no wise chargeable upon the
government of God.

In the contest between Christ and Satan, during the Saviour’s earthly
ministry, the character of the great deceiver was unmasked. Nothing could
so effectually have uprooted Satan from the affections of the heavenly
angels and the whole loyal universe, as did his cruel warfare upon the
world’s Redeemer. The daring blasphemy of his demand that Christ should
pay him homage, his presumptuous boldness in bearing Him to the mountain
summit and the pinnacle of the temple, the malicious intent betrayed in
urging Him to cast Himself down from the dizzy height, the unsleeping
malice that hunted Him from place to place, inspiring the hearts of
priests and people to reject His love, and at the last to cry, “Crucify
Him! crucify Him!”—all this excited the amazement and indignation of the
universe.

It was Satan that prompted the world’s rejection of Christ. The prince of
evil exerted all his power and cunning to destroy Jesus; for he saw that
the Saviour’s mercy and love, His compassion and pitying tenderness, were
representing to the world the character of God. Satan contested every
claim put forth by the Son of God, and employed men as his agents to fill
the Saviour’s life with suffering and sorrow. The sophistry and falsehood
by which he had sought to hinder the work of Jesus, the hatred manifested
through the children of disobedience, his cruel accusations against Him
whose life was one of unexampled goodness, all sprung from deep-seated
revenge. The pent-up fires of envy and malice, hatred and revenge, burst
forth on Calvary against the Son of God, while all heaven gazed upon the
scene in silent horror.

When the great sacrifice had been consummated, Christ ascended on high,
refusing the adoration of angels until He had presented the request, “I
will that they also, whom Thou hast given Me, be with Me where I am.”(884)
Then with inexpressible love and power came forth the answer from the
Father’s throne, “Let all the angels of God worship Him.”(885) Not a stain
rested upon Jesus. His humiliation ended, His sacrifice completed, there
was given unto Him a name that is above every name.

Now the guilt of Satan stood forth without excuse. He had revealed his
true character as a liar and a murderer. It was seen that the very same
spirit with which he ruled the children of men, who were under his power,
he would have manifested had he been permitted to control the inhabitants
of heaven. He had claimed that the transgression of God’s law would bring
liberty and exaltation; but it was seen to result in bondage and
degradation.

Satan’s lying charges against the divine character and government appeared
in their true light. He had accused God of seeking merely the exaltation
of Himself in requiring submission and obedience from His creatures, and
had declared that while the Creator exacted self-denial from all others,
He Himself practised no self-denial and made no sacrifice. Now it was seen
that for the salvation of a fallen and sinful race, the Ruler of the
universe had made the greatest sacrifice which love could make; for “God
was in Christ, reconciling the world unto Himself.”(886) It was seen,
also, that while Lucifer had opened the door for the entrance of sin, by
his desire for honor and supremacy, Christ had, in order to destroy sin,
humbled Himself, and become obedient unto death.

God had manifested His abhorrence of the principles of rebellion. All
heaven saw His justice revealed, both in the condemnation of Satan and in
the redemption of man. Lucifer had declared that if the law of God was
changeless, and its penalty could not be remitted, every transgressor must
be forever debarred from the Creator’s favor. He had claimed that the
sinful race were placed beyond redemption, and were therefore his rightful
prey. But the death of Christ was an argument in man’s behalf that could
not be overthrown. The penalty of the law fell upon Him who was equal with
God, and man was free to accept the righteousness of Christ, and by a life
of penitence and humiliation to triumph, as the Son of God had triumphed,
over the power of Satan. Thus God is just, and yet the justifier of all
who believe in Jesus.

But it was not merely to accomplish the redemption of man that Christ came
to the earth to suffer and to die. He came to “magnify the law” and to
“make it honorable.” Not alone that the inhabitants of this world might
regard the law as it should be regarded; but it was to demonstrate to all
the worlds of the universe that God’s law is unchangeable. Could its
claims have been set aside, then the Son of God need not have yielded up
His life to atone for its transgression. The death of Christ proves it
immutable. And the sacrifice to which infinite love impelled the Father
and the Son, that sinners might be redeemed, demonstrates to all the
universe—what nothing less than this plan of atonement could have sufficed
to do—that justice and mercy are the foundation of the law and government
of God.

In the final execution of the judgment it will be seen that no cause for
sin exists. When the Judge of all the earth shall demand of Satan, “Why
hast thou rebelled against Me, and robbed Me of the subjects of My
kingdom?” the originator of evil can render no excuse. Every mouth will be
stopped, and all the hosts of rebellion will be speechless.

The cross of Calvary, while it declares the law immutable, proclaims to
the universe that the wages of sin is death. In the Saviour’s expiring
cry, “It is finished,” the death-knell of Satan was rung. The great
controversy which had been so long in progress was then decided, and the
final eradication of evil was made certain. The Son of God passed through
the portals of the tomb, that “through death He might destroy him that had
the power of death, that is, the devil.”(887) Lucifer’s desire for
self-exaltation had led him to say, “I will exalt my throne above the
stars of God: ... I will be like the Most High.” God declares, “I will
bring thee to ashes upon the earth, ... and never shalt thou be any
more.”(888) When “the day cometh, that shall burn as an oven, ... all the
proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble: and the day that
cometh shall burn them up, saith the Lord of hosts, that it shall leave
them neither root nor branch.”(889)

The whole universe will have become witnesses to the nature and results of
sin. And its utter extermination, which in the beginning would have
brought fear to angels and dishonor to God, will now vindicate His love
and establish His honor before the universe of beings who delight to do
His will, and in whose heart is His law. Never will evil again be
manifest. Says the word of God, “Affliction shall not rise up the second
time.”(890) The law of God, which Satan has reproached as the yoke of
bondage, will be honored as the law of liberty. A tested and proved
creation will never again be turned from allegiance to Him whose character
has been fully manifested before them as fathomless love and infinite
wisdom.





30. ENMITY BETWEEN MAN AND SATAN.


                     [Illustration: Chapter header.]

“I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and
her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.”(891)
The divine sentence pronounced against Satan after the fall of man, was
also a prophecy, embracing all the ages to the close of time, and
foreshadowing the great conflict to engage all the races of men who should
live upon the earth.

God declares, “I will put enmity.” This enmity is not naturally
entertained. When man transgressed the divine law, his nature became evil,
and he was in harmony, and not at variance, with Satan. There exists
naturally no enmity between sinful man and the originator of sin. Both
became evil through apostasy. The apostate is never at rest, except as he
obtains sympathy and support by inducing others to follow his example. For
this reason, fallen angels and wicked men unite in desperate
companionship. Had not God specially interposed, Satan and man would have
entered into an alliance against Heaven; and instead of cherishing enmity
against Satan, the whole human family would have been united in opposition
to God.

Satan tempted man to sin, as he had caused angels to rebel, that he might
thus secure co-operation in his warfare against Heaven. There was no
dissension between himself and the fallen angels as regards their hatred
of Christ; while on all other points there was discord, they were firmly
united in opposing the authority of the Ruler of the universe. But when
Satan heard the declaration that enmity should exist between himself and
the woman, and between his seed and her seed, he knew that his efforts to
deprave human nature would be interrupted; that by some means man was to
be enabled to resist his power.

Satan’s enmity against the human race is kindled, because, through Christ,
they are the objects of God’s love and mercy. He desires to thwart the
divine plan for man’s redemption, to cast dishonor upon God, by defacing
and defiling His handiwork; he would cause grief in heaven, and fill the
earth with woe and desolation. And he points to all this evil as the
result of God’s work in creating man.

It is the grace that Christ implants in the soul which creates in man
enmity against Satan. Without this converting grace and renewing power,
man would continue the captive of Satan, a servant ever ready to do his
bidding. But the new principle in the soul creates conflict where hitherto
had been peace. The power which Christ imparts, enables man to resist the
tyrant and usurper. Whoever is seen to abhor sin instead of loving it,
whoever resists and conquers those passions that have held sway within,
displays the operation of a principle wholly from above.

The antagonism that exists between the spirit of Christ and the spirit of
Satan was most strikingly displayed in the world’s reception of Jesus. It
was not so much because He appeared without worldly wealth, pomp, or
grandeur, that the Jews were led to reject Him. They saw that He possessed
power which would more than compensate for the lack of these outward
advantages. But the purity and holiness of Christ called forth against Him
the hatred of the ungodly. His life of self-denial and sinless devotion
was a perpetual reproof to a proud, sensual people. It was this that
evoked enmity against the Son of God. Satan and evil angels joined with
evil men. All the energies of apostasy conspired against the Champion of
truth.

The same enmity is manifested toward Christ’s followers as was manifested
toward their Master. Whoever sees the repulsive character of sin, and in
strength from above resists temptation, will assuredly arouse the wrath of
Satan and his subjects. Hatred of the pure principles of truth, and
reproach and persecution of its advocates, will exist as long as sin and
sinners remain. The followers of Christ and the servants of Satan cannot
harmonize. The offense of the cross has not ceased. “All that will live
godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.”(892)

Satan’s agents are constantly working under his direction to establish his
authority and build up his kingdom in opposition to the government of God.
To this end they seek to deceive Christ’s followers, and allure them from
their allegiance. Like their leader, they misconstrue and pervert the
Scriptures to accomplish their object. As Satan endeavored to cast
reproach upon God, so do his agents seek to malign God’s people. The
spirit which put Christ to death moves the wicked to destroy His
followers. All this is foreshadowed in that first prophecy, “I will put
enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed.” And
this will continue to the close of time.

Satan summons all his forces, and throws his whole power into the combat.
Why is it that he meets with no greater resistance? Why are the soldiers
of Christ so sleepy and indifferent? Because they have so little real
connection with Christ; because they are so destitute of His Spirit. Sin
is not to them repulsive and abhorrent, as it was to their Master. They do
not meet it, as did Christ, with decisive and determined resistance. They
do not realize the exceeding evil and malignity of sin, and they are
blinded both to the character and the power of the prince of darkness.
There is little enmity against Satan and his works, because there is so
great ignorance concerning his power and malice, and the vast extent of
his warfare against Christ and His church. Multitudes are deluded here.
They do not know that their enemy is a mighty general, who controls the
minds of evil angels, and that with well-matured plans and skilful
movements he is warring against Christ to prevent the salvation of souls.
Among professed Christians, and even among ministers of the gospel, there
is heard scarcely a reference to Satan, except perhaps an incidental
mention in the pulpit. They overlook the evidences of his continual
activity and success; they neglect the many warnings of his subtlety; they
seem to ignore his very existence.

While men are ignorant of his devices, this vigilant foe is upon their
track every moment. He is intruding his presence in every department of
the household, in every street of our cities, in the churches, in the
national councils, in the courts of justice, perplexing, deceiving,
seducing, everywhere ruining the souls and bodies of men, women, and
children, breaking up families, sowing hatred, emulation, strife,
sedition, murder. And the Christian world seem to regard these things as
though God had appointed them, and they must exist.

Satan is continually seeking to overcome the people of God by breaking
down the barriers which separate them from the world. Ancient Israel were
enticed into sin when they ventured into forbidden association with the
heathen. In a similar manner are modern Israel led astray. “The god of
this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the
light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should
shine unto them.”(893) All who are not decided followers of Christ are
servants of Satan. In the unregenerate heart there is love of sin, and a
disposition to cherish and excuse it. In the renewed heart there is hatred
of sin, and determined resistance against it. When Christians choose the
society of the ungodly and unbelieving, they expose themselves to
temptation. Satan conceals himself from view, and stealthily draws his
deceptive covering over their eyes. They cannot see that such company is
calculated to do them harm; and while all the time assimilating to the
world in character, words, and actions, they are becoming more and more
blinded.

Conformity to worldly customs converts the church to the world; it never
converts the world to Christ. Familiarity with sin will inevitably cause
it to appear less repulsive. He who chooses to associate with the servants
of Satan, will soon cease to fear their master. When in the way of duty we
are brought into trial, as was Daniel in the king’s court, we may be sure
that God will protect us; but if we place ourselves under temptation, we
shall fall sooner or later.

The tempter often works most successfully through those who are least
suspected of being under his control. The possessors of talent and
education are admired and honored, as if these qualities could atone for
the absence of the fear of God, or entitle men to His favor. Talent and
culture, considered in themselves, are gifts of God; but when these are
made to supply the place of piety, when, instead of bringing the soul
nearer to God, they lead away from Him, then they become a curse and a
snare. The opinion prevails with many that all which appears like courtesy
or refinement must, in some sense, pertain to Christ. Never was there a
greater mistake. These qualities should grace the character of every
Christian, for they would exert a powerful influence in favor of true
religion; but they must be consecrated to God, or they also are a power
for evil. Many a man of cultured intellect and pleasant manners, who would
not stoop to what is commonly regarded as an immoral act, is but a
polished instrument in the hands of Satan. The insidious, deceptive
character of his influence and example renders him a more dangerous enemy
to the cause of Christ than are those who are ignorant and uncultured.

By earnest prayer and dependence upon God, Solomon obtained the wisdom
which excited the wonder and admiration of the world. But when he turned
from the Source of his strength, and went forward relying upon himself, he
fell a prey to temptation. Then the marvelous powers bestowed on this
wisest of kings, only rendered him a more effective agent of the adversary
of souls.

While Satan is constantly seeking to blind their minds to the fact, let
Christians never forget that they “wrestle not against flesh and blood,
but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the
darkness of this world, against wicked spirits in high places.”(894) The
inspired warning is sounding down the centuries to our time: “Be sober, be
vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh
about, seeking whom he may devour.”(895) “Put on the whole armor of God,
that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.”(896)

From the days of Adam to our own time, our great enemy has been exercising
his power to oppress and destroy. He is now preparing for his last
campaign against the church. All who seek to follow Jesus will be brought
into conflict with this relentless foe. The more nearly the Christian
imitates the divine Pattern, the more surely will he make himself a mark
for the attacks of Satan. All who are actively engaged in the cause of
God, seeking to unveil the deceptions of the evil one and to present
Christ before the people, will be able to join in the testimony of Paul,
in which he speaks of serving the Lord with all humility of mind, with
many tears and temptations.

Satan assailed Christ with his fiercest and most subtle temptations; but
he was repulsed in every conflict. Those battles were fought in our
behalf; those victories make it possible for us to conquer. Christ will
give strength to all who seek it. No man without his own consent can be
overcome by Satan. The tempter has no power to control the will or to
force the soul to sin. He may distress, but he cannot contaminate. He can
cause agony, but not defilement. The fact that Christ has conquered should
inspire His followers with courage to fight manfully the battle against
sin and Satan.





31. AGENCY OF EVIL SPIRITS.


                     [Illustration: Chapter header.]

The connection of the visible with the invisible world, the ministration
of angels of God, and the agency of evil spirits, are plainly revealed in
the Scriptures, and inseparably interwoven with human history. There is a
growing tendency to disbelief in the existence of evil spirits, while the
holy angels that “minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation,”(897)
are regarded by many as the spirits of the dead. But the Scriptures not
only teach the existence of angels, both good and evil, but present
unquestionable proof that these are not the disembodied spirits of dead
men.

Before the creation of man, angels were in existence; for when the
foundations of the earth were laid, “the morning stars sang together, and
all the sons of God shouted for joy.”(898) After the fall of man, angels
were sent to guard the tree of life, and this before a human being had
died. Angels are in nature superior to men; for the psalmist says that man
was made “a little lower than the angels.”(899)

We are informed in Scripture as to the number, and the power and glory, of
the heavenly beings, of their connection with the government of God, and
also of their relation to the work of redemption. “The Lord hath prepared
His throne in the heavens; and His kingdom ruleth over all.” And, says the
prophet, “I heard the voice of many angels round about the throne.” In the
presence-chamber of the King of kings they wait—“angels, that excel in
strength,” “ministers of His, that do His pleasure,” “hearkening unto the
voice of His word.”(900) Ten thousand times ten thousand and thousands of
thousands, were the heavenly messengers beheld by the prophet Daniel. The
apostle Paul declared them “an innumerable company.”(901) As God’s
messengers they go forth, like “the appearance of a flash of
lightning,”(902) so dazzling their glory, and so swift their flight. The
angel that appeared at the Saviour’s tomb, his countenance “like
lightning, and his raiment white as snow,” caused the keepers for fear of
him to quake, and they “became as dead men.”(903) When Sennacherib, the
haughty Assyrian, reproached and blasphemed God, and threatened Israel
with destruction, “it came to pass that night, that the angel of the Lord
went out, and smote in the camp of the Assyrians an hundred fourscore and
five thousand.” There were “cut off all the mighty men of valor, and the
leaders and captains,” from the army of Sennacherib. “So he returned with
shame of face to his own land.”(904)

Angels are sent on missions of mercy to the children of God. To Abraham,
with promises of blessing; to the gates of Sodom, to rescue righteous Lot
from its fiery doom; to Elijah, as he was about to perish from weariness
and hunger in the desert; to Elisha, with chariots and horses of fire
surrounding the little town where he was shut in by his foes; to Daniel,
while seeking divine wisdom in the court of a heathen king, or abandoned
to become the lions’ prey; to Peter, doomed to death in Herod’s dungeon;
to the prisoners at Philippi; to Paul and his companions in the night of
tempest on the sea; to open the mind of Cornelius to receive the gospel;
to dispatch Peter with the message of salvation to the Gentile
stranger,—thus holy angels have, in all ages, ministered to God’s people.

A guardian angel is appointed to every follower of Christ. These heavenly
watchers shield the righteous from the power of the wicked one. This Satan
himself recognized when he said, “Doth Job fear God for naught? Hast not
Thou made a hedge about him, and about his house, and about all that he
hath on every side?”(905) The agency by which God protects His people is
presented in the words of the psalmist, “The angel of the Lord encampeth
round about them that fear Him, and delivereth them.”(906) Said the
Saviour, speaking of those that believe in Him, “Take heed that ye 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.”(907) The angels appointed
to minister to the children of God have at all times access to His
presence.

Thus God’s people, exposed to the deceptive power and unsleeping malice of
the prince of darkness, and in conflict with all the forces of evil, are
assured of the unceasing guardianship of heavenly angels. Nor is such
assurance given without need. If God has granted to His children promise
of grace and protection, it is because there are mighty agencies of evil
to be met,—agencies numerous, determined, and untiring, of whose malignity
and power none can safely be ignorant or unheeding.

Evil spirits, in the beginning created sinless, were equal in nature,
power, and glory with the holy beings that are now God’s messengers. But
fallen through sin, they are leagued together for the dishonor of God and
the destruction of men. United with Satan in his rebellion, and with him
cast out from heaven, they have, through all succeeding ages, co-operated
with him in his warfare against the divine authority. We are told in
Scripture of their confederacy and government, of their various orders, of
their intelligence and subtlety, and of their malicious designs against
the peace and happiness of men.

Old Testament history presents occasional mentions of their existence and
agency; but it was during the time when Christ was upon the earth that
evil spirits manifested their power in the most striking manner. Christ
had come to enter upon the plan devised for man’s redemption, and Satan
determined to assert his right to control the world. He had succeeded in
establishing idolatry in every part of the earth except the land of
Palestine. To the only land that had not fully yielded to the tempter’s
sway, Christ came to shed upon the people the light of heaven. Here two
rival powers claimed supremacy. Jesus was stretching out His arms of love,
inviting all who would to find pardon and peace in Him. The hosts of
darkness saw that they did not possess unlimited control, and they
understood that if Christ’s mission should be successful, their rule was
soon to end. Satan raged like a chained lion, and defiantly exhibited his
power over the bodies as well as the souls of men.

The fact that men have been possessed with demons, is clearly stated in
the New Testament. The persons thus afflicted were not merely suffering
with disease from natural causes. Christ had perfect understanding of that
with which He was dealing, and He recognized the direct presence and
agency of evil spirits.

A striking example of their number, power, and malignity, and also of the
power and mercy of Christ, is given in the Scripture account of the
healing of the demoniacs at Gadara. Those wretched maniacs, spurning all
restraint, writhing, foaming, raging, were filling the air with their
cries, doing violence to themselves, and endangering all who should
approach them. Their bleeding and disfigured bodies and distracted minds
presented a spectacle well-pleasing to the prince of darkness. One of the
demons controlling the sufferers declared, “My name is Legion: for we are
many.”(908) In the Roman army a legion consisted of from three to five
thousand men. Satan’s hosts also are marshaled in companies, and the
single company to which these demons belonged numbered no less than a
legion.

At the command of Jesus, the evil spirits departed from their victims,
leaving them calmly sitting at the Saviour’s feet, subdued, intelligent,
and gentle. But the demons were permitted to sweep a herd of swine into
the sea; and to the dwellers of Gadara the loss of these outweighed the
blessings which Christ had bestowed, and the divine Healer was entreated
to depart. This was the result which Satan designed to secure. By casting
the blame of their loss upon Jesus, he aroused the selfish fears of the
people, and prevented them from listening to His words. Satan is
constantly accusing Christians as the cause of loss, misfortune, and
suffering, instead of allowing the reproach to fall where it belongs,—upon
himself and his agents.

But the purposes of Christ were not thwarted. He allowed the evil spirits
to destroy the herd of swine as a rebuke to those Jews who were raising
these unclean beasts for the sake of gain. Had not Christ restrained the
demons, they would have plunged into the sea, not only the swine, but also
their keepers and owners. The preservation of both the keepers and the
owners was due alone to His power, mercifully exercised for their
deliverance. Furthermore, this event was permitted to take place that the
disciples might witness the cruel power of Satan upon both man and beast.
The Saviour desired His followers to have a knowledge of the foe whom they
were to meet, that they might not be deceived and overcome by his devices.
It was also His will that the people of that region should behold His
power to break the bondage of Satan and release his captives. And though
Jesus Himself departed, the men so marvelously delivered, remained to
declare the mercy of their Benefactor.

Other instances of a similar nature are recorded in the Scriptures. The
daughter of the Syro-Phenician woman was grievously vexed with a devil,
whom Jesus cast out by His word.(909) One “possessed with a devil, blind,
and dumb;”(910) a youth who had a dumb spirit, that ofttimes “cast him
into the fire, and into the waters, to destroy him;”(911) the maniac who,
tormented by “a spirit of an unclean devil,”(912) disturbed the Sabbath
quiet of the synagogue at Capernaum,—all were healed by the compassionate
Saviour. In nearly every instance, Christ addressed the demon as an
intelligent entity, commanding him to come out of his victim and to
torment him no more. The worshipers at Capernaum, beholding His mighty
power, “were all amazed, and spake among themselves, saying, ‘What a word
is this! for with authority and power He commandeth the unclean spirits,
and they come out.’ ”(913)

Those possessed with devils are usually represented as being in a
condition of great suffering; yet there were exceptions to this rule. For
the sake of obtaining supernatural power, some welcomed the satanic
influence. These of course had no conflict with the demons. Of this class
were those who possessed the spirit of divination,—Simon Magus, Elymas the
sorcerer, and the damsel who followed Paul and Silas at Philippi.

None are in greater danger from the influence of evil spirits than those
who, notwithstanding the direct and ample testimony of the Scriptures,
deny the existence and agency of the devil and his angels. So long as we
are ignorant of their wiles, they have almost inconceivable advantage;
many give heed to their suggestions while they suppose themselves to be
following the dictates of their own wisdom. This is why, as we approach
the close of time, when Satan is to work with greatest power to deceive
and destroy, he spreads everywhere the belief that he does not exist. It
is his policy to conceal himself and his manner of working.

There is nothing that the great deceiver fears so much as that we shall
become acquainted with his devices. The better to disguise his real
character and purposes, he has caused himself to be so represented as to
excite no stronger emotion than ridicule or contempt. He is well pleased
to be painted as a ludicrous or loathsome object, misshapen, half animal
and half human. He is pleased to hear his name used in sport and mockery
by those who think themselves intelligent and well informed.

It is because he has masked himself with consummate skill that the
question is so widely asked, “Does such a being really exist?” It is an
evidence of his success that theories giving the lie to the plainest
testimony of the Scriptures are so generally received in the religious
world. And it is because Satan can most readily control the minds of those
who are unconscious of his influence, that the word of God gives us so
many examples of his malignant work, unveiling before us his secret
forces, and thus placing us on our guard against his assaults.

The power and malice of Satan and his host might justly alarm us, were it
not that we may find shelter and deliverance in the superior power of our
Redeemer. We carefully secure our houses with bolts and locks to protect
our property and our lives from evil men; but we seldom think of the evil
angels who are constantly seeking access to us, and against whose attacks
we have, in our own strength, no method of defense. If permitted, they can
distract our minds, disorder and torment our bodies, destroy our
possessions and our lives. Their only delight is in misery and
destruction. Fearful is the condition of those who resist the divine
claims, and yield to Satan’s temptations, until God gives them up to the
control of evil spirits. But those who follow Christ are ever safe under
His watchcare. Angels that excel in strength are sent from heaven to
protect them. The wicked one cannot break through the guard which God has
stationed about His people.





32. SNARES OF SATAN.


                     [Illustration: Chapter header.]

The great controversy between Christ and Satan, that has been carried
forward for nearly six thousand years, is soon to close; and the wicked
one redoubles his efforts to defeat the work of Christ in man’s behalf,
and to fasten souls in his snares. To hold the people in darkness and
impenitence till the Saviour’s mediation is ended, and there is no longer
a sacrifice for sin, is the object which he seeks to accomplish.

When there is no special effort made to resist his power, when
indifference prevails in the church and the world, Satan is not concerned;
for he is in no danger of losing those whom he is leading captive at his
will. But when the attention is called to eternal things, and souls are
inquiring, “What must I do to be saved?” he is on the ground, seeking to
match his power against the power of Christ, and to counteract the
influence of the Holy Spirit.

The Scriptures declare that upon one occasion, when the angels of God came
to present themselves before the Lord, Satan came also among them,(914)
not to bow before the Eternal King, but to further his own malicious
designs against the righteous. With the same object he is in attendance
when men assemble for the worship of God. Though hidden from sight, he is
working with all diligence to control the minds of the worshipers. Like a
skilful general, he lays his plans beforehand. As he sees the messenger of
God searching the Scriptures, he takes note of the subject to be presented
to the people. Then he employs all his cunning and shrewdness so to
control circumstances that the message may not reach those whom he is
deceiving on that very point. The one who most needs the warning will be
urged into some business transaction which requires his presence, or will
by some other means be prevented from hearing the words that might prove
to him a savor of life unto life.

Again, Satan sees the Lord’s servants burdened because of the spiritual
darkness that enshrouds the people. He hears their earnest prayers for
divine grace and power to break the spell of indifference, carelessness,
and indolence. Then with renewed zeal he plies his arts. He tempts men to
the indulgence of appetite or to some other form of self-gratification,
and thus benumbs their sensibilities, so that they fail to hear the very
things which they most need to learn.

Satan well knows that all whom he can lead to neglect prayer and the
searching of the Scriptures, will be overcome by his attacks. Therefore he
invents every possible device to engross the mind. There has ever been a
class professing godliness, who, instead of following on to know the
truth, make it their religion to seek some fault of character or error of
faith in those with whom they do not agree. Such are Satan’s right-hand
helpers. Accusers of the brethren are not few; and they are always active
when God is at work, and His servants are rendering Him true homage. They
will put a false coloring upon the words and acts of those who love and
obey the truth. They will represent the most earnest, zealous,
self-denying servants of Christ as deceived or deceivers. It is their work
to misrepresent the motives of every true and noble deed, to circulate
insinuations, and arouse suspicion in the minds of the inexperienced. In
every conceivable manner they will seek to cause that which is pure and
righteous to be regarded as foul and deceptive.

But none need be deceived concerning them. It may be readily seen whose
children they are, whose example they follow, and whose work they do. “Ye
shall know them by their fruits.”(915) Their course resembles that of
Satan, the envenomed slanderer, “the accuser of our brethren.”(916)

The great deceiver has many agents ready to present any and every kind of
error to ensnare souls,—heresies prepared to suit the varied tastes and
capacities of those whom he would ruin. It is his plan to bring into the
church insincere, unregenerate elements that will encourage doubt and
unbelief, and hinder all who desire to see the work of God advance, and to
advance with it. Many who have no real faith in God or in His word, assent
to some principles of truth, and pass as Christians; and thus they are
enabled to introduce their errors as scriptural doctrines.

The position that it is of no consequence what men believe, is one of
Satan’s most successful deceptions. He knows that the truth, received in
the love of it, sanctifies the soul of the receiver; therefore he is
constantly seeking to substitute false theories, fables, another gospel.
From the beginning, the servants of God have contended against false
teachers, not merely as vicious men, but as inculcators of falsehoods that
were fatal to the soul. Elijah, Jeremiah, Paul, firmly and fearlessly
opposed those who were turning men from the word of God. That liberality
which regards a correct religious faith as unimportant, found no favor
with these holy defenders of the truth.

The vague and fanciful interpretations of Scripture, and the many
conflicting theories concerning religious faith, that are found in the
Christian world, are the work of our great adversary, to confuse minds so
that they shall not discern the truth. And the discord and division which
exist among the churches of Christendom are in a great measure due to the
prevailing custom of wresting the Scriptures to support a favorite theory.
Instead of carefully studying God’s word with humility of heart to obtain
a knowledge of His will, many seek only to discover something odd or
original.

In order to sustain erroneous doctrines or unchristian practices, some
will seize upon passages of Scripture separated from the context, perhaps
quoting half of a single verse as proving their point, when the remaining
portion would show the meaning to be quite the opposite. With the cunning
of the serpent, they entrench themselves behind disconnected utterances
construed to suit their carnal desires. Thus do many wilfully pervert the
word of God. Others, who have an active imagination, seize upon the
figures and symbols of Holy Writ, interpret them to suit their fancy, with
little regard to the testimony of Scripture as its own interpreter, and
then they present their vagaries as the teachings of the Bible.

Whenever the study of the Scriptures is entered upon without a prayerful,
humble, teachable spirit, the plainest and simplest as well as the most
difficult passages will be wrested from their true meaning. The papal
leaders select such portions of Scripture as best serve their purpose,
interpret to suit themselves, and then present these to the people, while
they deny them the privilege of studying the Bible and understanding its
sacred truths for themselves. The whole Bible should be given to the
people just as it reads. It would be better for them not to have Bible
instruction at all, than to have the teaching of the Scriptures thus
grossly misrepresented.

The Bible was designed to be a guide to all who wish to become acquainted
with the will of their Maker. God gave to men the sure word of prophecy;
angels and even Christ Himself came to make known to Daniel and John the
things that must shortly come to pass. Those important matters that
concern our salvation were not left involved in mystery. They were not
revealed in such a way as to perplex and mislead the honest seeker after
truth. Said the Lord by the prophet Habakkuk, “Write the vision, and make
it plain, ... that he may run that readeth it.”(917) The word of God is
plain to all who study it with a prayerful heart. Every truly honest soul
will come to the light of truth. “Light is sown for the righteous.”(918)
And no church can advance in holiness unless its members are earnestly
seeking for truth as for hid treasure.

By the cry, Liberality, men are blinded to the devices of their adversary,
while he is all the time working steadily for the accomplishment of his
object. As he succeeds in supplanting the Bible by human speculations, the
law of God is set aside, and the churches are under the bondage of sin
while they claim to be free.

To many, scientific research has become a curse. God has permitted a flood
of light to be poured upon the world in discoveries in science and art;
but even the greatest minds, if not guided by the word of God in their
research, become bewildered in their attempts to investigate the relations
of science and revelation.

Human knowledge of both material and spiritual things is partial and
imperfect; therefore many are unable to harmonize their views of science
with Scripture statements. Many accept mere theories and speculations as
scientific facts, and they think that God’s word is to be tested by the
teachings of “science falsely so called.”(919) The Creator and His works
are beyond their comprehension; and because they cannot explain these by
natural laws, Bible history is regarded as unreliable. Those who doubt the
reliability of the records of the Old and New Testaments, too often go a
step farther, and doubt the existence of God, and attribute infinite power
to nature. Having let go their anchor, they are left to beat about upon
the rocks of infidelity.

Thus many err from the faith, and are seduced by the devil. Men have
endeavored to be wiser than their Creator; human philosophy has attempted
to search out and explain mysteries which will never be revealed, through
the eternal ages. If men would but search and understand what God has made
known of Himself and His purposes, they would obtain such a view of the
glory, majesty, and power of Jehovah, that they would realize their own
littleness, and would be content with that which has been revealed for
themselves and their children.

It is a masterpiece of Satan’s deceptions to keep the minds of men
searching and conjecturing in regard to that which God has not made known,
and which He does not intend that we shall understand. It was thus that
Lucifer lost his place in heaven. He became dissatisfied because all the
secrets of God’s purposes were not confided to him, and he entirely
disregarded that which was revealed concerning his own work in the lofty
position assigned him. By arousing the same discontent in the angels under
his command, he caused their fall. Now he seeks to imbue the minds of men
with the same spirit, and to lead them also to disregard the direct
commands of God.

Those who are unwilling to accept the plain, cutting truths of the Bible,
are continually seeking for pleasing fables that will quiet the
conscience. The less spiritual, self-denying, and humiliating the
doctrines presented, the greater the favor with which they are received.
These persons degrade the intellectual powers to serve their carnal
desires. Too wise in their own conceit to search the Scriptures with
contrition of soul and earnest prayer for divine guidance, they have no
shield from delusion. Satan is ready to supply the heart’s desire, and he
palms off his deceptions in the place of truth. It was thus that the
papacy gained its power over the minds of men; and by rejection of the
truth because it involves a cross, Protestants are following the same
path. All who neglect the word of God to study convenience and policy,
that they may not be at variance with the world, will be left to receive
damnable heresy for religious truth. Every conceivable form of error will
be accepted by those who wilfully reject the truth. He who looks with
horror upon one deception will readily receive another. The apostle Paul,
speaking of a class who “received not the love of the truth, that they
might be saved,” declares, “For this cause God shall send them strong
delusion, that they should believe a lie: that they all might be damned
who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.”(920)
With such a warning before us, it behooves us to be on our guard as to
what doctrines we receive.

Among the most successful agencies of the great deceiver are the delusive
teachings and lying wonders of Spiritualism. Disguised as an angel of
light, he spreads his nets where least suspected. If men would but study
the Book of God with earnest prayer that they might understand it, they
would not be left in darkness to receive false doctrines. But as they
reject the truth, they fall a prey to deception.

Another dangerous error is the doctrine that denies the deity of Christ,
claiming that He had no existence before His advent to this world. This
theory is received with favor by a large class who profess to believe the
Bible; yet it directly contradicts the plainest statements of our Saviour
concerning His relationship with the Father, His divine character, and His
pre-existence. It cannot be entertained without the most unwarranted
wresting of the Scriptures. It not only lowers man’s conceptions of the
work of redemption, but undermines faith in the Bible as a revelation from
God. While this renders it the more dangerous, it makes it also harder to
meet. If men reject the testimony of the inspired Scriptures concerning
the deity of Christ, it is in vain to argue the point with them; for no
argument, however conclusive, could convince them. “The natural man
receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness
unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually
discerned.”(921) None who hold this error can have a true conception of
the character or the mission of Christ, or of the great plan of God for
man’s redemption.

Still another subtle and mischievous error is the fast-spreading belief
that Satan has no existence as a personal being; that the name is used in
Scripture merely to represent men’s evil thoughts and desires.

The teaching so widely echoed from popular pulpits, that the second advent
of Christ is His coming to each individual at death, is a device to divert
the minds of men from His personal coming in the clouds of heaven. For
years Satan has thus been saying, “Behold, He is in the secret
chambers,”(922) and many souls have been lost by accepting this deception.

Again, worldly wisdom teaches that prayer is not essential. Men of science
claim that there can be no real answer to prayer; that this would be a
violation of law, a miracle, and that miracles have no existence. The
universe, say they, is governed by fixed laws, and God Himself does
nothing contrary to these laws. Thus they represent God as bound by His
own laws—as if the operation of divine laws could exclude divine freedom.
Such teaching is opposed to the testimony of the Scriptures. Were not
miracles wrought by Christ and His apostles? The same compassionate
Saviour lives to-day, and He is as willing to listen to the prayer of
faith as when He walked visibly among men. The natural co-operates with
the supernatural. It is a part of God’s plan to grant us, in answer to the
prayer of faith, that which He would not bestow did we not thus ask.

Innumerable are the erroneous doctrines and fanciful ideas that are
obtaining among the churches of Christendom. It is impossible to estimate
the evil results of removing one of the landmarks fixed by the word of
God. Few who venture to do this stop with the rejection of a single truth.
The majority continue to set aside one after another of the principles of
truth, until they become actual infidels.

The errors of popular theology have driven many a soul to skepticism, who
might otherwise have been a believer in the Scriptures. It is impossible
for him to accept doctrines which outrage his sense of justice, mercy, and
benevolence: and since these are represented as the teaching of the Bible,
he refuses to receive it as the word of God.

And this is the object which Satan seeks to accomplish. There is nothing
that he desires more than to destroy confidence in God and in His word.
Satan stands at the head of the great army of doubters, and he works to
the utmost of his power to beguile souls into his ranks. It is becoming
fashionable to doubt. There is a large class by whom the word of God is
looked upon with distrust for the same reason as was its Author,—because
it reproves and condemns sin. Those who are unwilling to obey its
requirements, endeavor to overthrow its authority. They read the Bible, or
listen to its teachings as presented from the sacred desk, merely to find
fault with the Scriptures or with the sermon. Not a few become infidels in
order to justify or excuse themselves in neglect of duty. Others adopt
skeptical principles from pride and indolence. Too ease-loving to
distinguish themselves by accomplishing anything worthy of honor, which
requires effort and self-denial, they aim to secure a reputation for
superior wisdom by criticising the Bible. There is much which the finite
mind, unenlightened by divine wisdom, is powerless to comprehend; and thus
they find occasion to criticise. There are many who seem to feel that it
is a virtue to stand on the side of unbelief, skepticism, and infidelity.
But underneath an appearance of candor, it will be found that such persons
are actuated by self-confidence and pride. Many delight in finding
something in the Scriptures to puzzle the minds of others. Some at first
criticise and reason on the wrong side, from a mere love of controversy.
They do not realize that they are thus entangling themselves in the snare
of the fowler. But having openly expressed unbelief, they feel that they
must maintain their position. Thus they unite with the ungodly, and close
to themselves the gates of Paradise.

God has given in His word sufficient evidence of its divine character. The
great truths which concern our redemption are clearly presented. By the
aid of the Holy Spirit, which is promised to all who seek it in sincerity,
every man may understand these truths for himself. God has granted to men
a strong foundation upon which to rest their faith.

Yet the finite minds of men are inadequate fully to comprehend the plans
and purposes of the Infinite One. We can never by searching find out God.
We must not attempt to lift with presumptuous hand the curtain behind
which He veils His majesty. The apostle exclaims, “How unsearchable are
His judgments, and His ways past finding out!”(923) We can so far
comprehend His dealings with us, and the motives by which He is actuated,
that we may discern boundless love and mercy united to infinite power. Our
Father in heaven orders everything in wisdom and righteousness, and we are
not to be dissatisfied and distrustful, but to bow in reverent submission.
He will reveal to us as much of His purposes as it is for our good to
know, and beyond that we must trust the Hand that is omnipotent, the Heart
that is full of love.

While God has given ample evidence for faith, He will never remove all
excuse for unbelief. All who look for hooks to hang their doubts upon,
will find them. And those who refuse to accept and obey God’s word until
every objection has been removed, and there is no longer an opportunity
for doubt, will never come to the light.

Distrust of God is the natural outgrowth of the unrenewed heart, which is
at enmity with Him. But faith is inspired by the Holy Spirit, and it will
flourish only as it is cherished. No man can become strong in faith
without a determined effort. Unbelief strengthens as it is encouraged; and
if men, instead of dwelling upon the evidences which God has given to
sustain their faith, permit themselves to question and cavil, they will
find their doubts constantly becoming more confirmed.

But those who doubt God’s promises, and distrust the assurance of His
grace, are dishonoring Him; and their influence, instead of drawing others
to Christ, tends to repel them from Him. They are unproductive trees, that
spread their dark branches far and wide, shutting away the sunlight from
other plants, and causing them to droop and die under the chilling shadow.
The life-work of these persons will appear as a never-ceasing witness
against them. They are sowing seeds of doubt and skepticism that will
yield an unfailing harvest.

There is but one course for those to pursue who honestly desire to be
freed from doubts. Instead of questioning and caviling concerning that
which they do not understand, let them give heed to the light which
already shines upon them, and they will receive greater light. Let them do
every duty which has been made plain to their understanding, and they will
be enabled to understand and perform those of which they are now in doubt.

Satan can present a counterfeit so closely resembling the truth that it
deceives those who are willing to be deceived, who desire to shun the
self-denial and sacrifice demanded by the truth; but it is impossible for
him to hold under his power one soul who honestly desires, at whatever
cost, to know the truth. Christ is the truth, and the “light, which
lighteth every man that cometh into the world.”(924) The Spirit of truth
has been sent to guide men into all truth. And upon the authority of the
Son of God it is declared, “Seek, and ye shall find.” “If any man will do
His will, he shall know of the doctrine.”(925)

The followers of Christ know little of the plots which Satan and his hosts
are forming against them. But He who sitteth in the heavens will overrule
all these devices for the accomplishment of His deep designs. The Lord
permits His people to be subjected to the fiery ordeal of temptation, not
because He takes pleasure in their distress and affliction, but because
this process is essential to their final victory. He could not,
consistently with His own glory, shield them from temptation; for the very
object of the trial is to prepare them to resist all the allurements of
evil.

Neither wicked men nor devils can hinder the work of God, or shut out His
presence from His people, if they will, with subdued, contrite hearts,
confess and put away their sins, and in faith claim His promises. Every
temptation, every opposing influence, whether open or secret, may be
successfully resisted, “not by might, nor by power, but by My Spirit,
saith the Lord of hosts.”(926)

“The eyes of the Lord are over the righteous, and His ears are open unto
their prayers.... And who is he that will harm you, if ye be followers of
that which is good?”(927) When Balaam, allured by the promise of rich
rewards, practised enchantments against Israel, and by sacrifices to the
Lord sought to invoke a curse upon His people, the Spirit of God forbade
the evil which he longed to pronounce, and Balaam was forced to exclaim:
“How shall I curse, whom God hath not cursed? or how shall I defy, whom
the Lord hath not defied?” “Let me die the death of the righteous, and let
my last end be like his!” When sacrifice had again been offered, the
ungodly prophet declared: “Behold, I have received commandment to bless:
and He hath blessed; and I cannot reverse it. He hath not beheld iniquity
in Jacob, neither hath He seen perverseness in Israel: the Lord his God is
with him, and the shout of a King is among them.” “Surely there is no
enchantment against Jacob, neither is there any divination against Israel:
according to this time it shall be said of Jacob and of Israel, What hath
God wrought!”(928) Yet a third time altars were erected, and again Balaam
essayed to secure a curse. But from the unwilling lips of the prophet, the
Spirit of God declared the prosperity of His chosen, and rebuked the folly
and malice of their foes: “Blessed is he that blesseth thee, and cursed is
he that curseth thee.”(929)

The people of Israel were at this time loyal to God; and so long as they
continued in obedience to His law, no power in earth or hell could prevail
against them. But the curse which Balaam had not been permitted to
pronounce against God’s people, he finally succeeded in bringing upon them
by seducing them into sin. When they transgressed God’s commandments, then
they separated themselves from Him, and they were left to feel the power
of the destroyer.

Satan is well aware that the weakest soul who abides in Christ is more
than a match for the hosts of darkness, and that, should he reveal himself
openly, he would be met and resisted. Therefore he seeks to draw away the
soldiers of the cross from their strong fortification, while he lies in
ambush with his forces, ready to destroy all who venture upon his ground.
Only in humble reliance upon God, and obedience to all His commandments,
can we be secure.

No man is safe for a day or an hour without prayer. Especially should we
entreat the Lord for wisdom to understand His word. Here are revealed the
wiles of the tempter, and the means by which he may be successfully
resisted. Satan is an expert in quoting Scripture, placing his own
interpretation upon passages, by which he hopes to cause us to stumble. We
should study the Bible with humility of heart, never losing sight of our
dependence upon God. While we must constantly guard against the devices of
Satan, we should pray in faith continually, “Lead us not into temptation.”





33. THE FIRST GREAT DECEPTION.


                     [Illustration: Chapter header.]

With the earliest history of man, Satan began his efforts to deceive our
race. He who had incited rebellion in heaven, desired to bring the
inhabitants of the earth to unite with him in his warfare against the
government of God. Adam and Eve had been perfectly happy in obedience to
the law of God, and this fact was a constant testimony against the claim
which Satan had urged in heaven, that God’s law was oppressive, and
opposed to the good of His creatures. And furthermore, Satan’s envy was
excited as he looked upon the beautiful home prepared for the sinless
pair. He determined to cause their fall, that, having separated them from
God and brought them under his own power, he might gain possession of the
earth, and here establish his kingdom, in opposition to the Most High.

Had Satan revealed himself in his real character, he would have been
repulsed at once, for Adam and Eve had been warned against this dangerous
foe; but he worked in the dark, concealing his purpose, that he might more
effectually accomplish his object. Employing as his medium the serpent,
then a creature of fascinating appearance, he addressed himself to Eve,
“Hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?”(930) Had
Eve refrained from entering into argument with the tempter, she would have
been safe; but she ventured to parley with him, and fell a victim to his
wiles. It is thus that many are still overcome. They doubt and argue
concerning the requirements of God; and instead of obeying the divine
commands, they accept human theories, which but disguise the devices of
Satan.

“The woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of
the garden: but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the
garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it,
lest ye die. And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die:
for God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be
opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.”(931) He declared
that they would become like God, possessing greater wisdom than before,
and being capable of a higher state of existence. Eve yielded to
temptation; and through her influence, Adam was led into sin. They
accepted the words of the serpent, that God did not mean what He said;
they distrusted their Creator, and imagined that He was restricting their
liberty, and that they might obtain great wisdom and exaltation by
transgressing His law.

But what did Adam, after his sin, find to be the meaning of the words, “In
the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die”? Did he find them
to mean, as Satan had led him to believe, that he was to be ushered into a
more exalted state of existence? Then indeed there was great good to be
gained by transgression, and Satan was proved to be a benefactor of the
race. But Adam did not find this to be the meaning of the divine sentence.
God declared that as a penalty for his sin, man should return to the
ground whence he was taken: “Dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou
return.”(932) The words of Satan, “Your eyes shall be opened,” proved to
be true in this sense only: After Adam and Eve had disobeyed God, their
eyes were opened to discern their folly; they did know evil, and they
tasted the bitter fruit of transgression.

In the midst of Eden grew the tree of life, whose fruit had the power of
perpetuating life. Had Adam remained obedient to God, he would have
continued to enjoy free access to this tree, and would have lived forever.
But when he sinned, he was cut off from partaking of the tree of life, and
he became subject to death. The divine sentence, “Dust thou art, and unto
dust shalt thou return,” points to the utter extinction of life.

Immortality, promised to man on condition of obedience, had been forfeited
by transgression. Adam could not transmit to his posterity that which he
did not possess; and there could have been no hope for the fallen race had
not God, by the sacrifice of His Son, brought immortality within their
reach. While “death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned,” Christ
“hath brought life and immortality to light through the gospel.”(933) And
only through Christ can immortality be obtained. Said Jesus, “He that
believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the
Son shall not see life.”(934) Every man may come into possession of this
priceless blessing if he will comply with the conditions. All “who by
patient continuance in well doing seek for glory and honor and
immortality,” will receive “eternal life.”(935)

The only one who promised Adam life in disobedience was the great
deceiver. And the declaration of the serpent to Eve in Eden,—“Ye shall not
surely die,”—was the first sermon ever preached upon the immortality of
the soul. Yet this declaration, resting solely upon the authority of
Satan, is echoed from the pulpits of Christendom, and is received by the
majority of mankind as readily as it was received by our first parents.
The divine sentence, “The soul that sinneth, it shall die,”(936) is made
to mean, The soul that sinneth, it shall not die, but live eternally. We
cannot but wonder at the strange infatuation which renders men so
credulous concerning the words of Satan, and so unbelieving in regard to
the words of God.

Had man, after his fall, been allowed free access to the tree of life, he
would have lived forever, and thus sin would have been immortalized. But
cherubim and a flaming sword kept “the way of the tree of life,”(937) and
not one of the family of Adam has been permitted to pass that barrier and
partake of the life-giving fruit. Therefore there is not an immortal
sinner.

But after the fall, Satan bade his angels make a special effort to
inculcate the belief in man’s natural immortality; and having induced the
people to receive this error, they were to lead them on to conclude that
the sinner would live in eternal misery. Now the prince of darkness,
working through his agents, represents God as a revengeful tyrant,
declaring that He plunges into hell all those who do not please Him, and
causes them ever to feel His wrath; and that while they suffer unutterable
anguish, and writhe in the eternal flames, their Creator looks down upon
them with satisfaction.

Thus the arch-fiend clothes with his own attributes the Creator and
Benefactor of mankind. Cruelty is satanic. God is love; and all that He
created was pure, holy, and lovely, until sin was brought in by the first
great rebel. Satan himself is the enemy who tempts man to sin, and then
destroys him if he can; and when he has made sure of his victim, then he
exults in the ruin he has wrought. If permitted, he would sweep the entire
race into his net. Were it not for the interposition of divine power, not
one son or daughter of Adam would escape.

Satan is seeking to overcome men to-day, as he overcame our first parents,
by shaking their confidence in their Creator, and leading them to doubt
the wisdom of His government and the justice of His laws. Satan and his
emissaries represent God as even worse than themselves, in order to
justify their own malignity and rebellion. The great deceiver endeavors to
shift his own horrible cruelty of character upon our heavenly Father, that
he may cause himself to appear as one greatly wronged by his expulsion
from heaven because he would not submit to so unjust a governor. He
presents before the world the liberty which they may enjoy under his mild
sway, in contrast with the bondage imposed by the stern decrees of
Jehovah. Thus he succeeds in luring souls away from their allegiance to
God.

How repugnant to every emotion of love and mercy, and even to our sense of
justice, is the doctrine that the wicked dead are tormented with fire and
brimstone in an eternally burning hell; that for the sins of a brief
earthly life they are to suffer torture as long as God shall live. Yet
this doctrine has been widely taught, and is still embodied in many of the
creeds of Christendom. Said a learned doctor of divinity: “The sight of
hell-torments will exalt the happiness of the saints forever. When they
see others who are of the same nature and born under the same
circumstances, plunged in such misery, and they so distinguished, it will
make them sensible of how happy they are.” Another used these words:
“While the decree of reprobation is eternally executing on the vessels of
wrath, the smoke of their torment will be eternally ascending in view of
the vessels of mercy, who, instead of taking the part of these miserable
objects, will say, Amen, Alleluia! praise ye the Lord!”

Where, in the pages of God’s word, is such teaching to be found? Will the
redeemed in heaven be lost to all emotions of pity and compassion, and
even to feelings of common humanity? Are these to be exchanged for the
indifference of the stoic, or the cruelty of the savage? No, no; such is
not the teaching of the Book of God. Those who present the views expressed
in the quotations given above may be learned and even honest men; but they
are deluded by the sophistry of Satan. He leads them to misconstrue strong
expressions of Scripture, giving to the language the coloring of
bitterness and malignity which pertains to himself, but not to our
Creator. “As I live, saith the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the death
of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his way and live: turn ye,
turn ye from your evil ways; for why will ye die?”(938)

What would be gained to God should we admit that He delights in witnessing
unceasing tortures; that He is regaled with the groans and shrieks and
imprecations of the suffering creatures whom He holds in the flames of
hell? Can these horrid sounds be music in the ear of Infinite Love? It is
urged that the infliction of endless misery upon the wicked would show
God’s hatred of sin as an evil which is ruinous to the peace and order of
the universe. Oh, dreadful blasphemy! As if God’s hatred of sin is the
reason why it is perpetuated. For, according to the teachings of these
theologians, continued torture without hope of mercy maddens its wretched
victims, and as they pour out their rage in curses and blasphemy, they are
forever augmenting their load of guilt. God’s glory is not enhanced by
thus perpetuating continually increasing sin through ceaseless ages.

It is beyond the power of the human mind to estimate the evil which has
been wrought by the heresy of eternal torment. The religion of the Bible,
full of love and goodness, and abounding in compassion, is darkened by
superstition and clothed with terror. When we consider in what false
colors Satan has painted the character of God, can we wonder that our
merciful Creator is feared, dreaded, and even hated? The appalling views
of God which have spread over the world from the teachings of the pulpit
have made thousands, yes, millions, of skeptics and infidels.

The theory of eternal torment is one of the false doctrines that
constitute the wine of the abominations of Babylon, of which she makes all
nations drink.(939) That ministers of Christ should have accepted this
heresy and proclaimed it from the sacred desk, is indeed a mystery. They
received it from Rome, as they received the false sabbath. True, it has
been taught by great and good men; but the light on this subject had not
come to them as it has come to us. They were responsible only for the
light which shone in their time; we are accountable for that which shines
in our day. If we turn from the testimony of God’s word, and accept false
doctrines because our fathers taught them, we fall under the condemnation
pronounced upon Babylon; we are drinking of the wine of her abominations.

A large class to whom the doctrine of eternal torment is revolting, are
driven to the opposite error. They see that the Scriptures represent God
as a being of love and compassion, and they cannot believe that He will
consign His creatures to the fires of an eternally burning hell. But
holding that the soul is naturally immortal, they see no alternative but
to conclude that all mankind will finally be saved. Many regard the
threatenings of the Bible as designed merely to frighten men into
obedience, and not to be literally fulfilled. Thus the sinner can live in
selfish pleasure, disregarding the requirements of God, and yet expect to
be finally received into His favor. Such a doctrine, presuming upon God’s
mercy, but ignoring His justice, pleases the carnal heart, and emboldens
the wicked in their iniquity.

To show how believers in universal salvation wrest the Scriptures to
sustain their soul-destroying dogmas, it is needful only to cite their own
utterances. At the funeral of an irreligious young man, who had been
killed instantly by an accident, a Universalist minister selected as his
text the Scripture statement concerning David, “He was comforted
concerning Amnon, seeing he was dead.”(940)

“I am frequently asked,” said the speaker, “what will be the fate of those
who leave the world in sin, die, perhaps, in a state of inebriation, die
with the scarlet stains of crime unwashed from their robes, or die as this
young man died, having never made a profession or enjoyed an experience of
religion. We are content with the Scriptures; their answer shall solve the
awful problem. Amnon was exceedingly sinful; he was unrepentant, he was
made drunk, and while drunk was killed. David was a prophet of God; he
must have known whether it would be ill or well for Amnon in the world to
come. What were the expressions of his heart? ‘The soul of King David
longed to go forth unto Absalom: for he was comforted concerning Amnon,
seeing he was dead.’

“And what is the inference to be deduced from this language? Is it not
that endless suffering formed no part of his religious belief? So we
conceive; and here we discover a triumphant argument in support of the
more pleasing, more enlightened, more benevolent hypothesis of ultimate
universal purity and peace. He was comforted, seeing his son was dead. And
why so? Because by the eye of prophecy he could look forward into the
glorious future, and see that son far removed from all temptations,
released from the bondage and purified from the corruptions of sin, and
after being made sufficiently holy and enlightened, admitted to the
assembly of ascended and rejoicing spirits. His only comfort was, that in
being removed from the present state of sin and suffering, his beloved son
had gone where the loftiest breathings of the Holy Spirit would be shed
upon his darkened soul; where his mind would be unfolded to the wisdom of
heaven and the sweet raptures of immortal love, and thus prepared with a
sanctified nature to enjoy the rest and society of the heavenly
inheritance.

“In these thoughts we would be understood to believe that the salvation of
heaven depends upon nothing which we can do in this life; neither upon a
present change of heart, nor upon present belief, or a present profession
of religion.”

Thus does the professed minister of Christ reiterate the falsehood uttered
by the serpent in Eden, “Ye shall not surely die.” “In the day ye eat
thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods.” He
declares that the vilest of sinners,—the murderer, the thief, and the
adulterer,—will after death be prepared to enter into immortal bliss.

And from what does this perverter of the Scriptures draw his conclusions?
From a single sentence expressing David’s submission to the dispensation
of Providence. His soul “longed to go forth unto Absalom: for he was
comforted concerning Amnon, seeing he was dead.” The poignancy of his
grief having been softened by time, his thoughts turned from the dead to
the living son, self-banished through fear of the just punishment of his
crime. And this is the evidence that the incestuous, drunken Amnon was at
death immediately transported to the abodes of bliss, there to be purified
and prepared for the companionship of sinless angels! A pleasing fable
indeed, well suited to gratify the carnal heart! This is Satan’s own
doctrine, and it does his work effectually. Should we be surprised that,
with such instruction, wickedness abounds?

The course pursued by this one false teacher illustrates that of many
others. A few words of Scripture are separated from the context, which
would, in many cases, show their meaning to be exactly opposite to the
interpretation put upon them; and such disjointed passages are perverted
and used in proof of doctrines that have no foundation in the word of God.
The testimony cited as evidence that the drunken Amnon is in heaven, is a
mere inference, directly contradicted by the plain and positive statement
of the Scriptures, that no drunkard shall inherit the kingdom of God.(941)
It is thus that doubters, unbelievers, and skeptics turn the truth into a
lie. And multitudes have been deceived by their sophistry, and rocked to
sleep in the cradle of carnal security.

If it were true that the souls of all men passed directly to heaven at the
hour of dissolution, then we might well covet death rather than life. Many
have been led by this belief to put an end to their existence. When
overwhelmed with trouble, perplexity, and disappointment, it seems an easy
thing to break the brittle thread of life, and soar away into the bliss of
the eternal world.

God has given in His word decisive evidence that He will punish the
transgressors of His law. Those who flatter themselves that He is too
merciful to execute justice upon the sinner, have only to look to the
cross of Calvary. The death of the spotless Son of God testifies that “the
wages of sin is death,” that every violation of God’s law must receive its
just retribution. Christ the sinless became sin for man. He bore the guilt
of transgression, and the hiding of His Father’s face, until His heart was
broken and His life crushed out. All this sacrifice was made that sinners
might be redeemed. In no other way could man be freed from the penalty of
sin. And every soul that refuses to become a partaker of the atonement
provided at such a cost, must bear in his own person the guilt and
punishment of transgression.

Let us consider what the Bible teaches further concerning the ungodly and
unrepentant, whom the Universalist places in heaven as holy, happy angels.

“I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life
freely.”(942) This promise is only to those that thirst. None but those
who feel their need of the water of life, and seek it at the loss of all
things else, will be supplied. “He that overcometh shall inherit all
things; and I will be his God, and he shall be My son.”(943) Here, also,
conditions are specified. In order to inherit all things, we must resist
and overcome sin.

The Lord declares by the prophet Isaiah, “Say ye to the righteous, that it
shall be well with him.” “Woe unto the wicked! it shall be ill with him:
for the reward of his hands shall be given him.”(944) “Though a sinner do
evil a hundred times,” says the wise man, “and his days be prolonged, yet
surely I know that it shall be well with them that fear God, which fear
before Him: but it shall not be well with the wicked.”(945) And Paul
testifies that the sinner is treasuring up unto himself “wrath against the
day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God, who will
render to every man according to his deeds;” “tribulation and anguish upon
every soul of man that doeth evil.”(946)

“No fornicator, nor unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater,
hath any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God.”(947) “Follow peace
with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord.”(948)
“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. For
without are dogs, and sorcerers, and whoremongers, and murderers, and
idolaters, and whosoever loveth and maketh a lie.”(949)

God has given to men a declaration of His character, and of His method of
dealing with sin. “The Lord God, merciful and gracious, long-suffering,
and abundant in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving
iniquity and transgression and sin, and that will by no means clear the
guilty.”(950) “All the wicked will He destroy.” “The transgressors shall
be destroyed together: the end of the wicked shall be cut off.”(951) The
power and authority of the divine government will be employed to put down
rebellion; yet all the manifestations of retributive justice will be
perfectly consistent with the character of God as a merciful,
long-suffering, benevolent being.

God does not force the will or judgment of any. He takes no pleasure in a
slavish obedience. He desires that the creatures of His hands shall love
Him because He is worthy of love. He would have them obey Him because they
have an intelligent appreciation of His wisdom, justice, and benevolence.
And all who have a just conception of these qualities will love Him
because they are drawn toward Him in admiration of His attributes.

The principles of kindness, mercy, and love, taught and exemplified by our
Saviour, are a transcript of the will and character of God. Christ
declared that He taught nothing except that which He had received from His
Father. The principles of the divine government are in perfect harmony
with the Saviour’s precept, “Love your enemies.” God executes justice upon
the wicked, for the good of the universe, and even for the good of those
upon whom His judgments are visited. He would make them happy if He could
do so in accordance with the laws of His government and the justice of His
character. He surrounds them with the tokens of His love, He grants them a
knowledge of His law, and follows them with the offers of His mercy; but
they despise His love, make void His law, and reject His mercy. While
constantly receiving His gifts, they dishonor the Giver; they hate God
because they know that He abhors their sins. The Lord bears long with
their perversity; but the decisive hour will come at last, when their
destiny is to be decided. Will He then chain these rebels to His side?
Will He force them to do His will?

Those who have chosen Satan as their leader, and have been controlled by
his power, are not prepared to enter the presence of God. Pride,
deception, licentiousness, cruelty, have become fixed in their characters.
Can they enter heaven, to dwell forever with those whom they despised and
hated on earth? Truth will never be agreeable to a liar; meekness will not
satisfy self-esteem and pride; purity is not acceptable to the corrupt;
disinterested love does not appear attractive to the selfish. What source
of enjoyment could heaven offer to those who are wholly absorbed in
earthly and selfish interests?

Could those whose lives have been spent in rebellion against God be
suddenly transported to heaven, and witness the high, the holy state of
perfection that ever exists there,—every soul filled with love, every
countenance beaming with joy, enrapturing music in melodious strains
rising in honor of God and the Lamb, and ceaseless streams of light
flowing upon the redeemed from the face of Him who sitteth upon the
throne,—could those whose hearts are filled with hatred of God, of truth
and holiness, mingle with the heavenly throng and join their songs of
praise? Could they endure the glory of God and the Lamb? No, no; years of
probation were granted them, that they might form characters for heaven;
but they have never trained the mind to love purity; they have never
learned the language of heaven, and now it is too late. A life of
rebellion against God has unfitted them for heaven. Its purity, holiness,
and peace would be torture to them; the glory of God would be a consuming
fire. They would long to flee from that holy place. They would welcome
destruction, that they might be hidden from the face of Him who died to
redeem them. The destiny of the wicked is fixed by their own choice. Their
exclusion from heaven is voluntary with themselves, and just and merciful
on the part of God.

Like the waters of the flood, the fires of the great day declare God’s
verdict that the wicked are incurable. They have no disposition to submit
to divine authority. Their will has been exercised in revolt; and when
life is ended, it is too late to turn the current of their thoughts in the
opposite direction, too late to turn from transgression to obedience, from
hatred to love.

In sparing the life of Cain the murderer, God gave the world an example of
what would be the result of permitting the sinner to live, to continue a
course of unbridled iniquity. Through the influence of Cain’s teaching and
example, multitudes of his descendants were led into sin, until “the
wickedness of man was great in the earth,” and “every imagination of the
thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.” “The earth also was
corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence.”(952)

In mercy to the world, God blotted out its wicked inhabitants in Noah’s
time. In mercy, He destroyed the corrupt dwellers in Sodom. Through the
deceptive power of Satan, the workers of iniquity obtain sympathy and
admiration, and are thus constantly leading others to rebellion. It was so
in Cain’s and in Noah’s day, and in the time of Abraham and Lot; it is so
in our time. It is in mercy to the universe that God will finally destroy
the rejecters of His grace.

“The wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through
Jesus Christ our Lord.”(953) While life is the inheritance of the
righteous, death is the portion of the wicked. Moses declared to Israel,
“I have set before thee this day life and good, and death and evil.”(954)
The death referred to in these scriptures is not that pronounced upon
Adam, for all mankind suffer the penalty of his transgression. It is the
“second death” that is placed in contrast with everlasting life.

In consequence of Adam’s sin, death passed upon the whole human race. All
alike go down into the grave. And through the provisions of the plan of
salvation, all are to be brought forth from their graves. “There shall be
a resurrection of the dead, both of the just and unjust;”(955) “for as in
Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.”(956) But a
distinction is made between the two classes that are brought forth. “All
that are in the graves shall hear His voice, and shall come forth; they
that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have
done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation.”(957) They who have been
“accounted worthy” of the resurrection of life, are “blessed and holy.”
“On such the second death hath no power.”(958) But those who have not,
through repentance and faith, secured pardon, must receive the penalty of
transgression,—“the wages of sin.” They suffer punishment varying in
duration and intensity, “according to their works,” but finally ending in
the second death. Since it is impossible for God, consistently with His
justice and mercy, to save the sinner in his sins, He deprives him of the
existence which his transgressions have forfeited, and of which he has
proved himself unworthy. Says an inspired writer, “Yet a little while, and
the wicked shall not be: yea, thou shalt diligently consider his place,
and it shall not be.” And another declares, “They shall be as though they
had not been.”(959) Covered with infamy, they sink into hopeless, eternal
oblivion.

Thus will be made an end of sin, with all the woe and ruin which have
resulted from it. Says the psalmist: “Thou hast destroyed the wicked, Thou
hast put out their name forever and ever. O thou enemy, destructions are
come to a perpetual end.”(960) John, in the Revelation, looking forward to
the eternal state, hears a universal anthem of praise, undisturbed by one
note of discord. Every creature in heaven and earth was heard ascribing
glory to God.(961) There will then be no lost souls to blaspheme God, as
they writhe in never-ending torment; no wretched beings in hell will
mingle their shrieks with the songs of the saved.

Upon the fundamental error of natural immortality rests the doctrine of
consciousness in death,—a doctrine, like eternal torment, opposed to the
teachings of the Scriptures, to the dictates of reason, and to our
feelings of humanity. According to the popular belief, the redeemed in
heaven are acquainted with all that takes place on the earth, and
especially with the lives of the friends whom they have left behind. But
how could it be a source of happiness to the dead to know the troubles of
the living, to witness the sins committed by their own loved ones, and to
see them enduring all the sorrows, disappointments, and anguish of life?
How much of heaven’s bliss would be enjoyed by those who were hovering
over their friends on earth? And how utterly revolting is the belief that
as soon as the breath leaves the body, the soul of the impenitent is
consigned to the flames of hell! To what depths of anguish must those be
plunged who see their friends passing to the grave unprepared, to enter
upon an eternity of woe and sin! Many have been driven to insanity by this
harrowing thought.

What say the Scriptures concerning these things? David declares that man
is not conscious in death. “His breath goeth forth, he returneth to his
earth; in that very day his thoughts perish.”(962) Solomon bears the same
testimony: “The living know that they shall die: but the dead know not
anything.” “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.” “There is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom,
in the grave, whither thou goest.”(963)

When, in answer to his prayer, Hezekiah’s life was prolonged fifteen
years, the grateful king rendered to God a tribute of praise for His great
mercy. In this song he tells the reason why he thus rejoices: “The grave
cannot praise Thee, death cannot celebrate Thee: they that go down into
the pit cannot hope for Thy truth. The living, the living, he shall praise
Thee, as I do this day.”(964) Popular theology represents the righteous
dead as in heaven, entered into bliss, and praising God with an immortal
tongue; but Hezekiah could see no such glorious prospect in death. With
his words agrees the testimony of the psalmist: “In death there is no
remembrance of Thee: in the grave who shall give Thee thanks?” “The dead
praise not the Lord, neither any that go down into silence.”(965)

Peter, on the day of Pentecost, declared that the patriarch David “is both
dead and buried, and his sepulcher is with us unto this day.” “For David
is not ascended into the heavens.”(966) The fact that David remains in the
grave until the resurrection, proves that the righteous do not go to
heaven at death. It is only through the resurrection, and by virtue of the
fact that Christ has risen, that David can at last sit at the right hand
of God.

And said Paul: “If the dead rise not, then is not Christ raised: and if
Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins. Then
they also which are fallen asleep in Christ are perished.”(967) If for
four thousand years the righteous had gone directly to heaven at death,
how could Paul have said that if there is no resurrection, “they which are
fallen asleep in Christ are perished”? No resurrection would be necessary.

The martyr Tyndale, referring to the state of the dead, declared: “I
confess openly, that I am not persuaded that they be already in the full
glory that Christ is in, or the elect angels of God are in. Neither is it
any article of my faith; for if it were so, I see not but then the
preaching of the resurrection of the flesh were a thing in vain.”(968)

It is an undeniable fact that the hope of immortal blessedness at death
has led to wide-spread neglect of the Bible doctrine of the resurrection.
This tendency was remarked by Dr. Adam Clarke, who said: “The doctrine of
the resurrection appears to have been thought of much more consequence
among the primitive Christians than it is _now!_ How is this? The apostles
were continually insisting on it, and exciting the followers of God to
diligence, obedience, and cheerfulness through it. And their successors in
the present day seldom mention it! So apostles preached, and so primitive
Christians believed; so we preach, and so our hearers believe. There is
not a doctrine in the gospel on which more stress is laid; and there is
not a doctrine in the present system of preaching which is treated with
more neglect!”(969)

This has continued until the glorious truth of the resurrection has been
almost wholly obscured, and lost sight of by the Christian world. Thus a
leading religious writer, commenting on the words of Paul in 1 Thess.
4:13-18, says: “For all practical purposes of comfort the doctrine of the
blessed immortality of the righteous takes the place for us of any
doubtful doctrine of the Lord’s second coming. At our death the Lord comes
for us. That is what we are to wait and watch for. The dead are already
passed into glory. They do not wait for the trump for their judgment and
blessedness.”

But when about to leave His disciples, Jesus did not tell them that they
would soon come to Him. “I go to prepare a place for you,” He said. “And
if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you
unto Myself.”(970) And Paul tells us, further, that “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.” And he adds, “Comfort one another with these words.”(971) How wide
the contrast between these words of comfort and those of the Universalist
minister previously quoted. The latter consoled the bereaved friends with
the assurance, that, however sinful the dead might have been, when he
breathed out his life here he was to be received among the angels. Paul
points his brethren to the future coming of the Lord, when the fetters of
the tomb shall be broken, and the “dead in Christ” shall be raised to
eternal life.

Before any can enter the mansions of the blest, their cases must be
investigated, and their characters and their deeds must pass in review
before God. All are to be judged according to the things written in the
books, and to be rewarded as their works have been. This judgment does not
take place at death. Mark the words of Paul: “He hath appointed a day, in
the which He will judge the world in righteousness by that Man whom He
hath ordained; whereof He hath given assurance unto all men, in that He
hath raised Him from the dead.”(972) Here the apostle plainly stated that
a specified time, then future, had been fixed upon for the judgment of the
world.

Jude refers to the same period: “The angels which kept not their first
estate, but left their own habitation, He hath reserved in everlasting
chains under darkness unto the judgment of the great day.” And again he
quotes the words of Enoch: “Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of
His saints, to execute judgment upon all.”(973) John declares that he “saw
the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened;
... and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the
books.”(974)

But if the dead are already enjoying the bliss of heaven or writhing in
the flames of hell, what need of a future judgment? The teachings of God’s
word on these important points are neither obscure nor contradictory; they
may be understood by common minds. But what candid mind can see either
wisdom or justice in the current theory? Will the righteous, after the
investigation of their cases at the judgment, receive the commendation,
“Well done, thou good and faithful servant, ... _enter thou_ into the joy
of thy Lord,”(975) when they have been dwelling in His presence, perhaps
for long ages? Are the wicked summoned from the place of torment to
receive the sentence from the Judge of all the earth, “Depart from Me, ye
cursed, into everlasting fire”?(976) Oh, solemn mockery! shameful
impeachment of the wisdom and justice of God!

The theory of the immortality of the soul was one of those false doctrines
that Rome, borrowing from paganism, incorporated into the religion of
Christendom. Martin Luther classed it with the “monstrous fables that form
part of the Roman dunghill of decretals.”(977) Commenting on the words of
Solomon in Ecclesiastes, that the dead know not anything, the Reformer
says: “Another place proving that the dead have no ... feeling. There is,
saith he, no duty, no science, no knowledge, no wisdom there. Solomon
judgeth that the dead are asleep, and feel nothing at all. For the dead
lie there, accounting neither days nor years, but when they are awaked,
they shall seem to have slept scarce one minute.”(978)

Nowhere in the Sacred Scriptures is found the statement that the righteous
go to their reward or the wicked to their punishment at death. The
patriarchs and prophets have left no such assurance. Christ and His
apostles have given no hint of it. The Bible clearly teaches that the dead
do not go immediately to heaven. They are represented as sleeping until
the resurrection.(979) In the very day when the silver cord is loosed and
the golden bowl broken,(980) man’s thoughts perish. They that go down to
the grave are in silence. They know no more of anything that is done under
the sun.(981) Blessed rest for the weary righteous! Time, be it long or
short, is but a moment to them. They sleep; they are awakened by the trump
of God to a glorious immortality. “For the trumpet shall sound, and the
dead shall be raised incorruptible.... 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.”(982) As they are called forth from their deep slumber, they
begin to think just where they ceased. The last sensation was the pang of
death, the last thought that they were falling beneath the power of the
grave. When they arise from the tomb, their first glad thought will be
echoed in the triumphal shout, “O death, where is thy sting? O grave,
where is thy victory?”(983)





34. SPIRITUALISM.


                     [Illustration: Chapter header.]

The ministration of holy angels, as presented in the Scriptures, is a
truth most comforting and precious to every follower of Christ. But the
Bible teaching upon this point has been obscured and perverted by the
errors of popular theology. The doctrine of natural immortality, first
borrowed from the pagan philosophy, and in the darkness of the great
apostasy incorporated into the Christian faith, has supplanted the truth,
so plainly taught in Scripture, that “the dead know not anything.”
Multitudes have come to believe that it is the spirits of the dead who are
the “ministering spirits sent forth to minister for them who shall be
heirs of salvation.” And this notwithstanding the testimony of Scripture
to the existence of heavenly angels, and their connection with the history
of man, before the death of a human being.

The doctrine of man’s consciousness in death, especially the belief that
the spirits of the dead return to minister to the living, has prepared the
way for modern Spiritualism. If the dead are admitted to the presence of
God and holy angels, and privileged with knowledge far exceeding what they
before possessed, why should they not return to the earth to enlighten and
instruct the living? If, as taught by popular theologians, the spirits of
the dead are hovering about their friends on earth, why should they not be
permitted to communicate with them, to warn them against evil, or to
comfort them in sorrow? How can those who believe in man’s consciousness
in death reject what comes to them as divine light communicated by
glorified spirits? Here is a channel regarded as sacred, through which
Satan works for the accomplishment of his purposes. The fallen angels who
do his bidding appear as messengers from the spirit world. While
professing to bring the living into communication with the dead, the
prince of evil exercises his bewitching influence upon their minds.

He has power to bring before men the appearance of their departed friends.
The counterfeit is perfect; the familiar look, the words, the tone, are
reproduced with marvelous distinctness. Many are comforted with the
assurance that their loved ones are enjoying the bliss of heaven; and
without suspicion of danger, they give ear to “seducing spirits, and
doctrines of devils.”

When they have been led to believe that the dead actually return to
communicate with them, Satan causes those to appear who went into the
grave unprepared. They claim to be happy in heaven, and even to occupy
exalted positions there; and thus the error is widely taught, that no
difference is made between the righteous and the wicked. The pretended
visitants from the world of spirits sometimes utter cautions and warnings
which prove to be correct. Then, as confidence is gained, they present
doctrines that directly undermine faith in the Scriptures. With an
appearance of deep interest in the well-being of their friends on earth,
they insinuate the most dangerous errors. The fact that they state some
truths, and are able at times to foretell future events, gives to their
statements an appearance of reliability; and their false teachings are
accepted by the multitudes as readily, and believed as implicitly, as if
they were the most sacred truths of the Bible. The law of God is set
aside, the Spirit of grace despised, the blood of the covenant counted an
unholy thing. The spirits deny the deity of Christ, and place even the
Creator on a level with themselves. Thus under a new disguise the great
rebel still carries on his warfare against God, begun in heaven, and for
nearly six thousand years continued upon the earth.

Many endeavor to account for spiritual manifestations by attributing them
wholly to fraud and sleight of hand on the part of the medium. But while
it is true that the results of trickery have often been palmed off as
genuine manifestations, there have been, also, marked exhibitions of
supernatural power. The mysterious rapping with which modern Spiritualism
began was not the result of human trickery or cunning, but was the direct
work of evil angels, who thus introduced one of the most successful of
soul-destroying delusions. Many will be ensnared through the belief that
Spiritualism is a merely human imposture; when brought face to face with
manifestations which they cannot but regard as supernatural, they will be
deceived, and will be led to accept them as the great power of God.

These persons overlook the testimony of the Scriptures concerning the
wonders wrought by Satan and his agents. It was by satanic aid that
Pharaoh’s magicians were enabled to counterfeit the work of God. Paul
testifies that before the second advent of Christ there will be similar
manifestations of satanic power. The coming of the Lord is to be preceded
by “the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders, and
with all deceivableness of unrighteousness.”(984) And the apostle John,
describing the miracle-working power that will be manifested in the last
days, declares: “He doeth great wonders, so that he maketh fire come down
from heaven on the earth in the sight of men, and deceiveth them that
dwell on the earth by the means of those miracles which he had power to
do.”(985) No mere impostures are here foretold. Men are deceived by the
miracles which Satan’s agents have power to do, not which they pretend to
do.

The prince of darkness, who has so long bent the powers of his master-mind
to the work of deception, skilfully adapts his temptations to men of all
classes and conditions. To persons of culture and refinement he presents
Spiritualism in its more refined and intellectual aspects, and thus
succeeds in drawing many into his snare. The wisdom which Spiritualism
imparts is that described by the apostle James, which “descendeth not from
above, but is earthly, sensual, devilish.”(986) This, however, the great
deceiver conceals, when concealment will best suit his purpose. He who
could appear clothed with the brightness of the heavenly seraphs before
Christ in the wilderness of temptation, comes to men in the most
attractive manner, as an angel of light. He appeals to the reason by the
presentation of elevating themes; he delights the fancy with enrapturing
scenes; and he enlists the affections by his eloquent portrayals of love
and charity. He excites the imagination to lofty flights, leading men to
take so great pride in their own wisdom that in their hearts they despise
the Eternal One. That mighty being who could take the world’s Redeemer to
an exceedingly high mountain, and bring before Him all the kingdoms of the
earth and the glory of them, will present his temptations to men in a
manner to pervert the senses of all who are not shielded by divine power.

Satan beguiles men now as he beguiled Eve in Eden, by flattery, by
kindling a desire to obtain forbidden knowledge, by exciting ambition for
self-exaltation. It was cherishing these evils that caused his fall, and
through them he aims to compass the ruin of men. “Ye shall be as gods,” he
declares, “knowing good and evil.”(987) Spiritualism teaches “that man is
the creature of progression; that it is his destiny from his birth to
progress, even to eternity, toward the Godhead.” And again: “Each mind
will judge itself and not another.” “The judgment will be right, because
it is the judgment of self.... The throne is within you.” Said a
Spiritualistic teacher, as the “spiritual consciousness” awoke within him,
“My fellow-men, all were unfallen demigods.” And another declares, “Any
just and perfect being is Christ.”

Thus, in place of the righteousness and perfection of the infinite God,
the true object of adoration; in place of the perfect righteousness of His
law, the true standard of human attainment, Satan has substituted the
sinful, erring nature of man himself, as the only object of adoration, the
only rule of judgment, or standard of character. This is progress, not
upward, but downward.

It is a law both of the intellectual and the spiritual nature, that by
beholding, we become changed. The mind gradually adapts itself to the
subjects upon which it is allowed to dwell. It becomes assimilated to that
which it is accustomed to love and reverence. Man will never rise higher
than his standard of purity or goodness or truth. If self is his loftiest
ideal, he will never attain to anything more exalted. Rather, he will
constantly sink lower and lower. The grace of God alone has power to exalt
man. Left to himself, his course must inevitably be downward.

To the self-indulgent, the pleasure-loving, the sensual, Spiritualism
presents itself under a less subtle disguise than to the more refined and
intellectual; in its grosser forms they find that which is in harmony with
their inclinations. Satan studies every indication of the frailty of human
nature, he marks the sins which each individual is inclined to commit, and
then he takes care that opportunities shall not be wanting to gratify the
tendency to evil. He tempts men to excess in that which is in itself
lawful, causing them, through intemperance, to weaken physical, mental,
and moral power. He has destroyed and is destroying thousands through the
indulgence of the passions, thus brutalizing the entire nature of man. And
to complete his work, he declares, through the spirits, that “true
knowledge places man above all law;” that “whatever is, is right;” that
“God doth not condemn;” and that “_all_ sins which are committed are
innocent.” When the people are thus led to believe that desire is the
highest law, that liberty is license, and that man is accountable only to
himself, who can wonder that corruption and depravity teem on every hand?
Multitudes eagerly accept teachings that leave them at liberty to obey the
promptings of the carnal heart. The reins of self-control are laid upon
the neck of lust, the powers of mind and soul are made subject to the
animal propensities, and Satan exultingly sweeps into his net thousands
who profess to be followers of Christ.

But none need be deceived by the lying claims of Spiritualism. God has
given the world sufficient light to enable them to discover the snare. As
already shown, the theory which forms the very foundation of Spiritualism
is at war with the plainest statements of Scripture. The Bible declares
that the dead know not anything, that their thoughts have perished; they
have no part in anything that is done under the sun; they know nothing of
the joys or sorrows of those who were dearest to them on earth.

Furthermore, God has expressly forbidden all pretended communication with
departed spirits. In the days of the Hebrews there was a class of people
who claimed, as do the Spiritualists of to-day, to hold communication with
the dead. But the “familiar spirits,” as these visitants from other worlds
were called, are declared by the Bible to be the “spirits of devils.”(988)
The work of dealing with familiar spirits was pronounced an abomination to
the Lord, and was solemnly forbidden under penalty of death.(989) The very
name of witchcraft is now held in contempt. The claim that men can hold
intercourse with evil spirits is regarded as a fable of the Dark Ages. But
Spiritualism, which numbers its converts by hundreds of thousands, yea, by
millions, which has made its way into scientific circles, which has
invaded churches, and has found favor in legislative bodies, and even in
the courts of kings,—this mammoth deception is but a revival, in a new
disguise, of the witchcraft condemned and prohibited of old.

If there were no other evidence of the real character of Spiritualism, it
should be enough for the Christian that the spirits make no difference
between righteousness and sin, between the noblest and purest of the
apostles of Christ and the most corrupt of the servants of Satan. By
representing the basest of men as in heaven, and highly exalted there,
Satan says to the world: “No matter how wicked you are; no matter whether
you believe or disbelieve God and the Bible. Live as you please; heaven is
your home.” The Spiritualist teachers virtually declare, “Every one that
doeth evil is good in the sight of the Lord, and He delighteth in them;
or, Where is the God of judgment?”(990) Saith the word of God, “Woe unto
them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and
light for darkness.”(991)

The apostles, as personated by these lying spirits, are made to contradict
what they wrote at the dictation of the Holy Spirit when on earth. They
deny the divine origin of the Bible, and thus tear away the foundation of
the Christian’s hope, and put out the light that reveals the way to
heaven. Satan is making the world believe that the Bible is a mere
fiction, or at least a book suited to the infancy of the race, but now to
be lightly regarded, or cast aside as obsolete. And to take the place of
the word of God he holds out spiritual manifestations. Here is a channel
wholly under his control; by this means he can make the world believe what
he will. The Book that is to judge him and his followers he puts in the
shade, just where he wants it; the Saviour of the world he makes to be no
more than a common man. And as the Roman guard that watched the tomb of
Jesus spread the lying report which the priests and elders put into their
mouths to disprove His resurrection, so do the believers in spiritual
manifestations try to make it appear that there is nothing miraculous in
the circumstances of our Saviour’s life. After thus seeking to put Jesus
in the background, they call attention to their own miracles, declaring
that these far exceed the works of Christ.

It is true that Spiritualism is now changing its form, and, veiling some
of its more objectionable features, is assuming a Christian guise. But its
utterances from the platform and the press have been before the public for
many years, and in these its real character stands revealed. These
teachings cannot be denied or hidden.

Even in its present form, so far from being more worthy of toleration than
formerly, it is really a more dangerous, because a more subtle deception.
While it formerly denounced Christ and the Bible, it now _professes_ to
accept both. But the Bible is interpreted in a manner that is pleasing to
the unrenewed heart, while its solemn and vital truths are made of no
effect. Love is dwelt upon as the chief attribute of God, but it is
degraded to a weak sentimentalism, making little distinction between good
and evil. God’s justice, His denunciations of sin, the requirements of His
holy law, are all kept out of sight. The people are taught to regard the
decalogue as a dead letter. Pleasing, bewitching fables captivate the
senses, and lead men to reject the Bible as the foundation of their faith.
Christ is as verily denied as before; but Satan has so blinded the eyes of
the people that the deception is not discerned.

There are few who have any just conception of the deceptive power of
Spiritualism and the danger of coming under its influence. Many tamper
with it, merely to gratify their curiosity. They have no real faith in it,
and would be filled with horror at the thought of yielding themselves to
the spirits’ control. But they venture upon the forbidden ground, and the
mighty destroyer exercises his power upon them against their will. Let
them once be induced to submit their minds to his direction, and he holds
them captive. It is impossible, in their own strength, to break away from
the bewitching, alluring spell. Nothing but the power of God, granted in
answer to the earnest prayer of faith, can deliver these ensnared souls.

All who indulge sinful traits of character, or wilfully cherish a known
sin, are inviting the temptations of Satan. They separate themselves from
God and from the watchcare of His angels; as the evil one presents his
deceptions, they are without defense, and fall an easy prey. Those who
thus place themselves in his power, little realize where their course will
end. Having achieved their overthrow, the tempter will employ them as his
agents to lure others to ruin.

Says the prophet Isaiah: “When they shall say unto you, Seek unto them
that have familiar spirits, and unto wizards that peep, and that mutter:
should not a people seek unto their God? for the living to the dead? To
the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it
is because there is no light in them.”(992) If men had been willing to
receive the truth so plainly stated in the Scriptures, concerning the
nature of man and the state of the dead, they would see in the claims and
manifestations of Spiritualism the working of Satan with power and signs
and lying wonders. But rather than yield the liberty so agreeable to the
carnal heart, and renounce the sins which they love, multitudes close
their eyes to the light, and walk straight on, regardless of warnings,
while Satan weaves his snares about them, and they become his prey.
“Because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be
saved,” therefore “God shall send them strong delusion, that they should
believe a lie.”(993)

Those who oppose the teachings of Spiritualism are assailing, not men
alone, but Satan and his angels. They have entered upon a contest against
principalities and powers and wicked spirits in high places. Satan will
not yield one inch of ground except as he is driven back by the power of
heavenly messengers. The people of God should be able to meet him, as did
our Saviour, with the words, “It is written.” Satan can quote Scripture
now as in the days of Christ, and he will pervert its teachings to sustain
his delusions. Those who would stand in this time of peril must understand
for themselves the testimony of the Scriptures. Many will be confronted by
the spirits of devils personating beloved relatives or friends, and
declaring the most dangerous heresies. These visitants will appeal to our
tenderest sympathies, and will work miracles to sustain their pretensions.
We must be prepared to withstand them with the Bible truth that the dead
know not anything, and that they who thus appear are the spirits of
devils.

Just before us is the “hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the
world, to try them that dwell upon the earth.”(994) All whose faith is not
firmly established upon the word of God will be deceived and overcome.
Satan “works with all deceivableness of unrighteousness” to gain control
of the children of men; and his deceptions will continually increase. But
he can gain his object only as men voluntarily yield to his temptations.
Those who are earnestly seeking a knowledge of the truth, and are striving
to purify their souls through obedience, thus doing what they can to
prepare for the conflict, will find, in the God of truth, a sure defense.
“Because thou hast kept the word of My patience, I also will keep
thee,”(995) is the Saviour’s promise. He would sooner send every angel out
of heaven to protect His people, than leave one soul that trusts in Him to
be overcome by Satan.

The prophet Isaiah brings to view the fearful deception which will come
upon the wicked, causing them to count themselves secure from the
judgments of God: “We have made a covenant with death, and with hell are
we at agreement; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, it shall
not come unto us: for we have made lies our refuge, and under falsehood
have we hid ourselves.”(996) In the class here described are included
those who in their stubborn impenitence comfort themselves with the
assurance that there is to be no punishment for the sinner; that all
mankind, it matters not how corrupt, are to be exalted to heaven, to
become as the angels of God. But still more emphatically are those making
a covenant with death and an agreement with hell, who renounce the truths
which Heaven has provided as a defense for the righteous in the day of
trouble, and accept the refuge of lies offered by Satan in its stead,—the
delusive pretensions of Spiritualism.

Marvelous beyond expression is the blindness of the people of this
generation. Thousands reject the word of God as unworthy of belief, and
with eager confidence receive the deceptions of Satan. Skeptics and
scoffers denounce the bigotry of those who contend for the faith of
prophets and apostles, and they divert themselves by holding up to
ridicule the solemn declarations of the Scriptures concerning Christ and
the plan of salvation, and the retribution to be visited upon the
rejecters of the truth. They affect great pity for minds so narrow, weak,
and superstitious as to acknowledge the claims of God and obey the
requirements of His law. They manifest as much assurance as if, indeed,
they had made a covenant with death and an agreement with hell,—as if they
had erected an impassable, impenetrable barrier between themselves and the
vengeance of God. Nothing can arouse their fears. So fully have they
yielded to the tempter, so closely are they united with him, and so
thoroughly imbued with his spirit, that they have no power and no
inclination to break away from his snare.

Satan has long been preparing for his final effort to deceive the world.
The foundation of his work was laid by the assurance given to Eve in Eden,
“Ye shall not surely die.” “In the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes
shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.”(997)
Little by little he has prepared the way for his masterpiece of deception
in the development of Spiritualism. He has not yet reached the full
accomplishment of his designs; but it will be reached in the last remnant
of time. Says the prophet: “I saw three unclean spirits like frogs; ...
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.”(998) Except those who are kept by the
power of God, through faith in His word, the whole world will be swept
into the ranks of this delusion. The people are fast being lulled to a
fatal security, to be awakened only by the outpouring of the wrath of God.

Saith the Lord God: “Judgment also will I lay to the line, and
righteousness to the plummet: and the hail shall sweep away the refuge of
lies, and the waters shall overflow the hiding-place. And your covenant
with death shall be disannulled, and your agreement with hell shall not
stand; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, then ye shall be
trodden down by it.”(999)





35. AIMS OF THE PAPACY.


                     [Illustration: Chapter header.]

Romanism is now regarded by Protestants with far greater favor than in
former years. In those countries where Catholicism is not in the
ascendency, and the papists are taking a conciliatory course in order to
gain influence, there is an increasing indifference concerning the
doctrines that separate the reformed churches from the papal hierarchy;
the opinion is gaining ground, that, after all, we do not differ so widely
upon vital points as has been supposed, and that a little concession on
our part will bring us into a better understanding with Rome. The time was
when Protestants placed a high value upon the liberty of conscience which
had been so dearly purchased. They taught their children to abhor popery,
and held that to seek harmony with Rome would be disloyalty to God. But
how widely different are the sentiments now expressed.

The defenders of the papacy declare that the church has been maligned; and
the Protestant world are inclined to accept the statement. Many urge that
it is unjust to judge the church of to-day by the abominations and
absurdities that marked her reign during the centuries of ignorance and
darkness. They excuse her horrible cruelty as the result of the barbarism
of the times, and plead that the influence of modern civilization has
changed her sentiments.

Have these persons forgotten the claim of infallibility put forth for
eight hundred years by this haughty power? So far from being relinquished,
this claim was affirmed in the nineteenth century with greater
positiveness than ever before. As Rome asserts that the church “_never
erred_; nor will it, according to the Scriptures, _ever err_,”(1000) how
can she renounce the principles which governed her course in past ages?

The papal church will never relinquish her claim to infallibility. All
that she has done in her persecution of those who reject her dogmas, she
holds to be right; and would she not repeat the same acts, should the
opportunity be presented? Let the restraints now imposed by secular
governments be removed, and Rome be re-instated in her former power, and
there would speedily be a revival of her tyranny and persecution.

A well-known writer speaks thus of the attitude of the papal hierarchy as
regards freedom of conscience, and of the perils which especially threaten
the United States from the success of her policy:

“There are many who are disposed to attribute any fear of Roman
Catholicism in the United States to bigotry or childishness. Such see
nothing in the character and attitude of Romanism that is hostile to our
free institutions, or find nothing portentous in its growth. Let us, then,
first compare some of the fundamental principles of our government with
those of the Catholic Church.

“The Constitution of the United States guarantees _liberty of conscience_.
Nothing is dearer or more fundamental. Pope Pius IX., in his Encyclical
Letter of August 15, 1854, said: ‘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.’ The same
pope, in his Encyclical Letter of December 8, 1864, anathematized ‘those
who assert the liberty of conscience science and of religious worship,’
also ‘all such as maintain that the church may not employ force.’

“The pacific tone of Rome in the United States does not imply a change of
heart. She is tolerant where she is helpless. Says Bishop O’Connor:
‘Religious liberty is merely endured until the opposite can be carried
into effect without peril to the Catholic world.’... The archbishop of St.
Louis once said: ‘Heresy and unbelief are crimes; and in Christian
countries, as in Italy and Spain, for instance, where all the people are
Catholics, and where the Catholic religion is an essential part of the law
of the land, they are punished as other crimes.’...

“Every cardinal, archbishop, and bishop in the Catholic Church takes an
oath of allegiance to the pope, in which occur the following words:
‘Heretics, schismatics, and rebels to our said lord (the pope), or his
aforesaid successors, I will to my utmost persecute and oppose.’ ”(1001)

It is true that there are real Christians in the Roman Catholic communion.
Thousands in that church are serving God according to the best light they
have. They are not allowed access to His word, and therefore they do not
discern the truth. They have never seen the contrast between a living
heart-service and a round of mere forms and ceremonies. God looks with
pitying tenderness upon these souls, educated as they are in a faith that
is delusive and unsatisfying. He will cause rays of light to penetrate the
dense darkness that surrounds them. He will reveal to them the truth as it
is in Jesus, and many will yet take their position with His people.

But Romanism as a system is no more in harmony with the gospel of Christ
now than at any former period in her history. The Protestant churches are
in great darkness, or they would discern the signs of the times. The Roman
Church is far-reaching in her plans and modes of operation. She is
employing every device to extend her influence and increase her power in
preparation for a fierce and determined conflict to regain control of the
world, to re-establish persecution, and to undo all that Protestantism has
done. Catholicism is gaining ground upon every side. See the increasing
number of her churches and chapels in Protestant countries. Look at the
popularity of her colleges and seminaries in America, so widely patronized
by Protestants. Look at the growth of ritualism in England, and the
frequent defections to the ranks of the Catholics. These things should
awaken the anxiety of all who prize the pure principles of the gospel.

Protestants have tampered with and patronized popery; they have made
compromises and concessions which papists themselves are surprised to see,
and fail to understand. Men are closing their eyes to the real character
of Romanism, and the dangers to be apprehended from her supremacy. The
people need to be aroused to resist the advances of this most dangerous
foe to civil and religious liberty.

Many Protestants suppose that the Catholic religion is unattractive, and
that its worship is a dull, meaningless round of ceremony. Here they
mistake. While Romanism is based upon deception, it is not a coarse and
clumsy imposture. The religious service of the Roman Church is a most
impressive ceremonial. Its gorgeous display and solemn rites fascinate the
senses of the people, and silence the voice of reason and of conscience.
The eye is charmed. Magnificent churches, imposing processions, golden
altars, jeweled shrines, choice paintings, and exquisite sculpture appeal
to the love of beauty. The ear also is captivated. The music is
unsurpassed. The rich notes of the deep-toned organ, blending with the
melody of many voices as it swells through the lofty domes and pillared
aisles of her grand cathedrals, cannot fail to impress the mind with awe
and reverence.

                         [Interior of a church.]

This outward splendor, pomp, and ceremony, that only mocks the longings of
the sin-sick soul, is an evidence of inward corruption. The religion of
Christ needs not such attractions to recommend it. In the light shining
from the cross, true Christianity appears so pure and lovely that no
external decorations can enhance its true worth. It is the beauty of
holiness, a meek and quiet spirit, which is of value with God.

Brilliancy of style is not necessarily an index of pure, elevated thought.
High conceptions of art, delicate refinement of taste, often exist in
minds that are earthly and sensual. They are often employed by Satan to
lead men to forget the necessities of the soul, to lose sight of the
future, immortal life, to turn away from their infinite Helper, and to
live for this world alone.

A religion of externals is attractive to the unrenewed heart. The pomp and
ceremony of the Catholic worship has a seductive, bewitching power, by
which many are deceived; and they come to look upon the Roman Church as
the very gate of heaven. None but those who have planted their feet firmly
upon the foundation of truth, and whose hearts are renewed by the Spirit
of God, are proof against her influence. Thousands who have not an
experimental knowledge of Christ will be led to accept the forms of
godliness without the power. Such a religion is just what the multitudes
desire.

The church’s claim to the right to pardon, leads the Romanist to feel at
liberty to sin; and the ordinance of confession, without which her pardon
is not granted, tends also to give license to evil. He who kneels before
fallen man, and opens in confession the secret thoughts and imaginations
of his heart, is debasing his manhood, and degrading every noble instinct
of his soul. In unfolding the sins of his life to a priest,—an erring,
sinful mortal, and too often corrupted with wine and licentiousness,—his
standard of character is lowered, and he is defiled in consequence. His
thought of God is degraded to the likeness of fallen humanity; for the
priest stands as a representative of God. This degrading confession of man
to man is the secret spring from which has flowed much of the evil that is
defiling the world, and fitting it for the final destruction. Yet to him
who loves self-indulgence, it is more pleasing to confess to a
fellow-mortal than to open the soul to God. It is more palatable to human
nature to do penance than to renounce sin; it is easier to mortify the
flesh by sackcloth and nettles and galling chains than to crucify fleshly
lusts. Heavy is the yoke which the carnal heart is willing to bear rather
than bow to the yoke of Christ.

There is a striking similarity between the Church of Rome and the Jewish
Church at the time of Christ’s first advent. While the Jews secretly
trampled upon every principle of the law of God, they were outwardly
rigorous in the observance of its precepts, loading it down with exactions
and traditions that made obedience painful and burdensome. As the Jews
professed to revere the law, so do Romanists claim to reverence the cross.
They exalt the symbol of Christ’s sufferings, while in their lives they
deny Him whom it represents.

Papists place crosses upon their churches, upon their altars, and upon
their garments. Everywhere is seen the insignia of the cross. Everywhere
it is outwardly honored and exalted. But the teachings of Christ are
buried beneath a mass of senseless traditions, false interpretations, and
rigorous exactions. The Saviour’s words concerning the bigoted Jews, apply
with still greater force to the leaders of the Roman Catholic Church:
“They bind heavy burdens and grievous to be borne, and lay them on men’s
shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with one of their
fingers.”(1002) Conscientious souls are kept in constant terror, fearing
the wrath of an offended God, while many of the dignitaries of the church
are living in luxury and sensual pleasure.

The worship of images and relics, the invocation of saints, and the
exaltation of the pope, are devices of Satan to attract the minds of the
people from God and from His Son. To accomplish their ruin, he endeavors
to turn their attention from Him through whom alone they can find
salvation. He will direct them to any object that can be substituted for
the One who has said, “Come unto Me, all ye that labor and are heavy
laden, and I will give you rest.”(1003)

It is Satan’s constant effort to misrepresent the character of God, the
nature of sin, and the real issues at stake in the great controversy. His
sophistry lessens the obligation of the divine law, and gives men license
to sin. At the same time he causes them to cherish false conceptions of
God, so that they regard Him with fear and hate, rather than with love.
The cruelty inherent in his own character is attributed to the Creator; it
is embodied in systems of religion, and expressed in modes of worship.
Thus the minds of men are blinded, and Satan secures them as his agents to
war against God. By perverted conceptions of the divine attributes,
heathen nations were led to believe human sacrifices necessary to secure
the favor of Deity; and horrible cruelties have been perpetrated under the
various forms of idolatry.

The Roman Catholic Church, uniting the forms of paganism and Christianity,
and, like paganism, misrepresenting the character of God, has resorted to
practices no less cruel and revolting. In the days of Rome’s supremacy,
there were instruments of torture to compel assent to her doctrines. There
was the stake for those who would not concede to her claims. There were
massacres on a scale that will never be known until revealed in the
judgment. Dignitaries of the church studied, under Satan their master, to
invent means to cause the greatest possible torture, and not end the life
of their victim. In many cases the infernal process was repeated to the
utmost limit of human endurance, until nature gave up the struggle, and
the sufferer hailed death as a sweet release.

Such was the fate of Rome’s opponents. For her adherents she had the
discipline of the scourge, of famishing hunger, of bodily austerities in
every conceivable, heart-sickening form. To secure the favor of Heaven,
penitents violated the laws of God by violating the laws of nature. They
were taught to sunder the ties which He has formed to bless and gladden
man’s earthly sojourn. The churchyard contains millions of victims, who
spent their lives in vain endeavors to subdue their natural affections, to
repress, as offensive to God, every thought and feeling of sympathy with
their fellow-creatures.

If we desire to understand the determined cruelty of Satan, manifested for
hundreds of years, not among those who never heard of God, but in the very
heart and throughout the extent of Christendom, we have only to look at
the history of Romanism. Through this mammoth system of deception the
prince of evil achieves his purpose of bringing dishonor to God and
wretchedness to man. And as we see how he succeeds in disguising himself,
and accomplishing his work through the leaders of the church, we may
better understand why he has so great antipathy to the Bible. If that book
is read, the mercy and love of God will be revealed; it will be seen that
He lays upon men none of these heavy burdens. All that He asks is a broken
and contrite heart, a humble, obedient spirit.

Christ gives no example in His life for men and women to shut themselves
in monasteries in order to become fitted for heaven. He has never taught
that love and sympathy must be repressed. The Saviour’s heart overflowed
with love. The nearer man approaches to moral perfection, the keener are
his sensibilities, the more acute is his perception of sin, and the deeper
his sympathy for the afflicted. The pope claims to be the vicar of Christ;
but how does his character bear comparison with that of our Saviour? Was
Christ ever known to consign men to the prison or the rack because they
did not pay Him homage as the King of heaven? Was His voice heard
condemning to death those who did not accept Him? When He was slighted by
the people of a Samaritan village, the apostle John was filled with
indignation, and inquired, “Lord, wilt Thou that we command fire to come
down from heaven, and consume them, even as Elias did?” Jesus looked with
pity upon His disciple, and rebuked his harsh spirit, saying, “The Son of
man is not come to destroy men’s lives, but to save them.”(1004) How
different from the spirit manifested by Christ is that of His professed
vicar.

The Roman Church now presents a fair front to the world, covering with
apologies her record of horrible cruelties. She has clothed herself in
Christlike garments; but she is unchanged. Every principle of the papacy
that existed in past ages exists to-day. The doctrines devised in the
darkest ages are still held. Let none deceive themselves. The papacy that
Protestants are now so ready to honor is the same that ruled the world in
the days of the Reformation, when men of God stood up, at the peril of
their lives, to expose her iniquity. She possesses the same pride and
arrogant assumption that lorded it over kings and princes, and claimed the
prerogatives of God. Her spirit is no less cruel and despotic now than
when she crushed out human liberty, and slew the saints of the Most High.

The papacy is just what prophecy declared that she would be, the apostasy
of the latter times.(1005) It is a part of her policy to assume the
character which will best accomplish her purpose; but beneath the variable
appearance of the chameleon, she conceals the invariable venom of the
serpent. “Faith ought not to be kept with heretics, nor persons suspected
of heresy,”(1006) she declares. Shall this power, whose record for a
thousand years is written in the blood of the saints, be now acknowledged
as a part of the church of Christ?

It is not without reason that the claim has been put forth in Protestant
countries, that Catholicism differs less widely from Protestantism than in
former times. There has been a change; but the change is not in the
papacy. Catholicism indeed resembles much of the Protestantism that now
exists; because Protestantism has so greatly degenerated since the days of
the Reformers.

As the Protestant churches have been seeking the favor of the world, false
charity has blinded their eyes. They do not see but that it is right to
believe good of all evil; and as the inevitable result, they will finally
believe evil of all good. Instead of standing in defense of the faith once
delivered to the saints, they are now, as it were, apologizing to Rome for
their uncharitable opinion of her, begging pardon for their bigotry.

A large class, even of those who look upon Romanism with no favor,
apprehend little danger from her power and influence. Many urge that the
intellectual and moral darkness prevailing during the Middle Ages favored
the spread of her dogmas, superstitions, and oppression, and that the
greater intelligence of modern times, the general diffusion of knowledge,
and the increasing liberality in matters of religion, forbid a revival of
intolerance and tyranny. The very thought that such a state of things will
exist in this enlightened age is ridiculed. It is true that great light,
intellectual, moral, and religious, is shining upon this generation. In
the open pages of God’s holy word, light from heaven has been shed upon
the world. But it should be remembered that the greater the light
bestowed, the greater the darkness of those who pervert or reject it.

A prayerful study of the Bible would show Protestants the real character
of the papacy, and would cause them to abhor and to shun it; but many are
so wise in their own conceit that they feel no need of humbly seeking God
that they may be led into the truth. Although priding themselves on their
enlightenment, they are ignorant both of the Scriptures and of the power
of God. They must have some means of quieting their consciences; and they
seek that which is least spiritual and humiliating. What they desire is a
method of forgetting God which shall pass as a method of remembering Him.
The papacy is well adapted to meet the wants of all these. It is prepared
for two classes of mankind, embracing nearly the whole world,—those who
would be saved by their merits, and those who would be saved in their
sins. Here is the secret of its power.

A day of great intellectual darkness has been shown to be favorable to the
success of the papacy. It will yet be demonstrated that a day of great
intellectual light is equally favorable for its success. In past ages,
when men were without God’s word, and without the knowledge of the truth,
their eyes were blindfolded, and thousands were ensnared, not seeing the
net spread for their feet. In this generation there are many whose eyes
become dazzled by the glare of human speculations, “science falsely so
called;” they discern not the net, and walk into it as readily as if
blindfolded. God designed that man’s intellectual powers should be held as
a gift from his Maker, and should be employed in the service of truth and
righteousness; but when pride and ambition are cherished, and men exalt
their own theories above the word of God, then intelligence can accomplish
greater harm than ignorance. Thus the false science of the present day,
which undermines faith in the Bible, will prove as successful in preparing
the way for the acceptance of the papacy, with its pleasing forms, as did
the withholding of knowledge in opening the way for its aggrandizement in
the Dark Ages.

In the movements now in progress in the United States to secure for the
institutions and usages of the church the support of the state,
Protestants are following in the steps of papists. Nay, more, they are
opening the door for the papacy to regain in Protestant America the
supremacy which she has lost in the Old World. And that which gives
greater significance to this movement is the fact that the principal
object contemplated is the enforcement of Sunday observance,—a custom
which originated with Rome, and which she claims as the sign of her
authority. It is the spirit of the papacy,—the spirit of conformity to
worldly customs, the veneration for human traditions above the
commandments of God,—that is permeating the Protestant churches, and
leading them on to do the same work of Sunday exaltation which the papacy
has done before them.

If the reader would understand the agencies to be employed in the
soon-coming contest, he has but to trace the record of the means which
Rome employed for the same object in ages past. If he would know how
papists and Protestants united will deal with those who reject their
dogmas, let him see the spirit which Rome manifested toward the Sabbath
and its defenders.

Royal edicts, general councils, and church ordinances sustained by secular
power, were the steps by which the pagan festival attained its position of
honor in the Christian world. The first public measure enforcing Sunday
observance was the law enacted by Constantine.(1007) This edict required
townspeople to rest on “the venerable day of the sun,” but permitted
countrymen to continue their agricultural pursuits. Though virtually a
heathen statute, it was enforced by the emperor after his nominal
acceptance of Christianity.

The royal mandate not proving a sufficient substitute for divine
authority, Eusebius, a bishop who sought the favor of princes, and who was
the special friend and flatterer of Constantine, advanced the claim that
Christ had transferred the Sabbath to Sunday. Not a single testimony of
the Scriptures was produced in proof of the new doctrine. Eusebius himself
unwittingly acknowledges its falsity, and points to the real authors of
the change. “All things,” he says, “whatever that it was duty to do on the
Sabbath, these _we_ have transferred to the Lord’s day.”(1008) But the
Sunday argument, groundless as it was, served to embolden men in trampling
upon the Sabbath of the Lord. All who desired to be honored by the world
accepted the popular festival.

As the papacy became firmly established, the work of Sunday exaltation was
continued. For a time the people engaged in agricultural labor when not
attending church, and the seventh day was still regarded as the Sabbath.
But steadily a change was effected. Those in holy office were forbidden to
pass judgment in any civil controversy on the Sunday. Soon after, all
persons, of whatever rank, were commanded to refrain from common labor, on
pain of a fine for freemen, and stripes in the case of servants. Later it
was decreed that rich men should be punished with the loss of half of
their estates; and finally, that if still obstinate they should be made
slaves. The lower classes were to suffer perpetual banishment.

Miracles also were called into requisition. Among other wonders it was
reported that as a husbandman who was about to plow his field on Sunday,
cleaned his plow with an iron, the iron stuck fast in his hand, and for
two years he carried it about with him, “to his exceeding great pain and
shame.”(1009)

Later, the pope gave directions that the parish priest should admonish the
violators of Sunday, and wish them to go to church and say their prayers,
lest they bring some great calamity on themselves and neighbors. An
ecclesiastical council brought forward the argument, since so widely
employed, even by Protestants, that because persons had been struck by
lightning while laboring on Sunday, it must be the Sabbath. “It is
apparent,” said the prelates, “how high the displeasure of God was upon
their neglect of this day.” An appeal was then made that priests and
ministers, kings and princes, and all faithful people, “use their utmost
endeavors and care that the day be restored to its honor, and, for the
credit of Christianity, more devoutly observed for the time to
come.”(1010)

The decrees of councils proving insufficient, the secular authorities were
besought to issue an edict that would strike terror to the hearts of the
people, and force them to refrain from labor on the Sunday. At a synod
held in Rome, all previous decisions were reaffirmed with greater force
and solemnity. They were also incorporated into the ecclesiastical law,
and enforced by the civil authorities throughout nearly all
Christendom.(1011)

Still the absence of scriptural authority for Sunday-keeping occasioned no
little embarrassment. The people questioned the right of their teachers to
set aside the positive declaration of Jehovah, “The seventh day is the
Sabbath of the Lord thy God,” in order to honor the day of the sun. To
supply the lack of Bible testimony, other expedients were necessary. A
zealous advocate of Sunday, who about the close of the twelfth century
visited the churches of England, was resisted by faithful witnesses for
the truth; and so fruitless were his efforts that he departed from the
country for a season, and cast about him for some means to enforce his
teachings. When he returned, the lack was supplied, and in his
after-labors he met with greater success. He brought with him a roll
purporting to be from God Himself, which contained the needed command for
Sunday observance, with awful threats to terrify the disobedient. This
precious document—as base a counterfeit as the institution it
supported—was said to have fallen from heaven, and to have been found in
Jerusalem, upon the altar of St. Simeon, in Golgotha. But in fact, the
pontifical palace at Rome was the source whence it proceeded. Frauds and
forgeries to advance the power and prosperity of the church have in all
ages been esteemed lawful by the papal hierarchy.

The roll forbade labor from the ninth hour, three o’clock, on Saturday
afternoon, till sunrise on Monday; and its authority was declared to be
confirmed by many miracles. It was reported that persons laboring beyond
the appointed hour were stricken with paralysis. A miller who attempted to
grind his corn, saw, instead of flour, a torrent of blood come forth, and
the mill-wheel stood still, notwithstanding the strong rush of the water.
A woman who placed dough in the oven, found it raw when taken out, though
the oven was very hot. Another who had dough prepared for baking at the
ninth hour, but determined to set it aside till Monday, found, the next
day, that it had been made into loaves and baked by divine power. A man
who baked bread after the ninth hour on Saturday, found, when he broke it
the next morning, that blood started therefrom. By such absurd and
superstitious fabrications did the advocates of Sunday endeavor to
establish its sacredness.(1012)

In Scotland, as in England, a greater regard for Sunday was secured by
uniting with it a portion of the ancient Sabbath. But the time required to
be kept holy varied. An edict from the king of Scotland declared that
“Saturday from twelve at noon ought to be accounted holy,” and that no
man, from that time till Monday morning, should engage in worldly
business.(1013)

But notwithstanding all the efforts to establish Sunday sacredness,
papists themselves publicly confessed the divine authority of the Sabbath,
and the human origin of the institution by which it had been supplanted.
In the sixteenth century a papal council plainly declared: “Let all
Christians remember that the seventh day was consecrated by God, and hath
been received and observed, not only by the Jews, but by all others who
pretend to worship God; though we Christians have changed their Sabbath
into the Lord’s day.”(1014) Those who were tampering with the divine law
were not ignorant of the character of their work. They were deliberately
setting themselves above God.

A striking illustration of Rome’s policy toward those who disagree with
her was given in the long and bloody persecution of the Waldenses, some of
whom were observers of the Sabbath. Others suffered in a similar manner
for their fidelity to the fourth commandment. The history of the churches
of Ethiopia and Abyssinia is especially significant. Amid the gloom of the
Dark Ages, the Christians of Central Africa were lost sight of and
forgotten by the world, and for many centuries they enjoyed freedom in the
exercise of their faith. But at last Rome learned of their existence, and
the emperor of Abyssinia was soon beguiled into an acknowledgment of the
pope as the vicar of Christ. Other concessions followed. An edict was
issued forbidding the observance of the Sabbath under the severest
penalties.(1015) But papal tyranny soon became a yoke so galling that the
Abyssinians determined to break it from their necks. After a terrible
struggle, the Romanists were banished from their dominions, and the
ancient faith was restored. The churches rejoiced in their freedom, and
they never forgot the lesson they had learned concerning the deception,
the fanaticism, and the despotic power of Rome. Within their solitary
realm they were content to remain, unknown to the rest of Christendom.

The churches of Africa held the Sabbath as it was held by the papal church
before her complete apostasy. While they kept the seventh day in obedience
to the commandment of God, they abstained from labor on the Sunday in
conformity to the custom of the church. Upon obtaining supreme power, Rome
had trampled upon the Sabbath of God to exalt her own; but the churches of
Africa, hidden for nearly a thousand years, did not share in this
apostasy. When brought under the sway of Rome, they were forced to set
aside the true and exalt the false sabbath; but no sooner had they
regained their independence than they returned to obedience to the fourth
commandment.(1016)

These records of the past clearly reveal the enmity of Rome toward the
true Sabbath and its defenders, and the means which she employs to honor
the institution of her creating. The word of God teaches that these scenes
are to be repeated as Roman Catholics and Protestants shall unite for the
exaltation of the Sunday.

The prophecy of Revelation 13 declares that the power represented by the
beast with lamb-like horns shall cause “the earth and them which dwell
therein” to worship the papacy—there symbolized by the beast “like unto a
leopard.” The beast with two horns is also to say “to them that dwell on
the earth, that they should make an image to the beast;” and, furthermore,
it is to command all, “both small and great, rich and poor, free and
bond,” to receive “the mark of the beast.”(1017) It has been shown that
the United States is the power represented by the beast with lamb-like
horns, and that this prophecy will be fulfilled when the United States
shall enforce Sunday observance, which Rome claims as the special
acknowledgment of her supremacy. But in this homage to papacy the United
States will not be alone. The influence of Rome in the countries that once
acknowledged her dominion, is still far from being destroyed. And prophecy
foretells a restoration of her power. “I saw one of his heads as it were
wounded to death; and his deadly wound was healed: and all the world
wondered after the beast.”(1018) The infliction of the deadly wound points
to the downfall of the papacy in 1798. After this, says the prophet, “His
deadly wound was healed: and all the world wondered after the beast.” Paul
states plainly that the man of sin will continue until the second
advent.(1019) To the very close of time he will carry forward his work of
deception. And the revelator declares, also referring to the papacy, “All
that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written
in the book of life.”(1020) In both the Old and the New World, the papacy
will receive homage in the honor paid to the Sunday institution, that
rests solely upon the authority of the Roman Church.

For more than half a century, students of prophecy in the United States
have presented this testimony to the world. In the events now taking place
is seen a rapid advance toward the fulfilment of the prediction. With
Protestant teachers there is the same claim of divine authority for
Sunday-keeping, and the same lack of scriptural evidence, as with the
papal leaders who fabricated miracles to supply the place of a command
from God. The assertion that God’s judgments are visited upon men for
their violation of the Sunday-sabbath, will be repeated; already it is
beginning to be urged. And a movement to enforce Sunday observance is fast
gaining ground.

Marvelous in her shrewdness and cunning is the Roman Church. She can read
what is to be. She bides her time, seeing that the Protestant churches are
paying her homage in their acceptance of the false sabbath, and that they
are preparing to enforce it by the very means which she herself employed
in bygone days. Those who reject the light of truth will yet seek the aid
of this self-styled infallible power to exalt an institution that
originated with her. How readily she will come to the help of Protestants
in this work, it is not difficult to conjecture. Who understands better
than the papal leaders how to deal with those who are disobedient to the
church?

The Roman Catholic Church, with all its ramifications throughout the
world, forms one vast organization, under the control, and designed to
serve the interests, of the papal see. Its millions of communicants, in
every country on the globe, are instructed to hold themselves as bound in
allegiance to the pope. Whatever their nationality or their government,
they are to regard the authority of the church as above all other. Though
they may take the oath pledging their loyalty to the state, yet back of
this lies the vow of obedience to Rome, absolving them from every pledge
inimical to her interests.

History testifies of her artful and persistent efforts to insinuate
herself into the affairs of nations; and having gained a foothold, to
further her own aims, even at the ruin of princes and people. In the year
1204, Pope Innocent III. extracted from Peter II., king of Arragon, the
following extraordinary oath: “I, Peter, king of Arragonians, profess and
promise to be ever faithful and obedient to my lord, Pope Innocent, to his
Catholic successors, and the Roman Church, and faithfully to preserve my
kingdom in his obedience, defending the Catholic faith, and persecuting
heretical pravity.”(1021) This is in harmony with the claims regarding the
power of the Roman pontiff, that “it is lawful for him to depose
emperors,” and that “he can absolve subjects from their allegiance to
unrighteous rulers.”(1022)

And let it be remembered, it is the boast of Rome that she never changes.
The principles of Gregory VII. and Innocent III. are still the principles
of the Roman Catholic Church. And had she but the power, she would put
them in practice with as much vigor now as in past centuries. Protestants
little know what they are doing when they propose to accept the aid of
Rome in the work of Sunday exaltation. While they are bent upon the
accomplishment of their purpose, Rome is aiming to re-establish her power,
to recover her lost supremacy. Let the principle once be established in
the United States, that the church may employ or control the power of the
state; that religious observances may be enforced by secular laws; in
short, that the authority of church and state is to dominate the
conscience, and the triumph of Rome in this country is assured.

God’s word has given warning of the impending danger; let this be
unheeded, and the Protestant world will learn what the purposes of Rome
really are, only when it is too late to escape the snare. She is silently
growing into power. Her doctrines are exerting their influence in
legislative halls, in the churches, and in the hearts of men. She is
piling up her lofty and massive structures, in the secret recesses of
which her former persecutions will be repeated. Stealthily and
unsuspectedly she is strengthening her forces to further her own ends when
the time shall come for her to strike. All that she desires is
vantage-ground, and this is already being given her. We shall soon see and
shall feel what the purpose of the Roman element is. Whoever shall believe
and obey the word of God, will thereby incur reproach and persecution.





36. THE IMPENDING CONFLICT.


                     [Illustration: Chapter header.]

From the very beginning of the great controversy in heaven, it has been
Satan’s purpose to overthrow the law of God. It was to accomplish this
that he entered upon his rebellion against the Creator; and though he was
cast out of heaven, he has continued the same warfare upon the earth. To
deceive men, and thus lead them to transgress God’s law, is the object
which he has steadfastly pursued. Whether this be accomplished by casting
aside the law altogether, or by rejecting one of its precepts, the result
will be ultimately the same. He that offends “in one point,” manifests
contempt for the whole law; his influence and example are on the side of
transgression; he becomes “guilty of all.”(1023)

In seeking to cast contempt upon the divine statutes, Satan has perverted
the doctrines of the Bible, and errors have thus become incorporated into
the faith of thousands who profess to believe the Scriptures. The last
great conflict between truth and error is but the final struggle of the
long-standing controversy concerning the law of God. Upon this battle we
are now entering,—a battle between the laws of men and the precepts of
Jehovah, between the religion of the Bible and the religion of fable and
tradition.

The agencies which will unite against truth and righteousness in this
contest are now actively at work. God’s holy word, which has been handed
down to us at such a cost of suffering and blood, is but little valued.
The Bible is within the reach of all, but there are few who really accept
it as the guide of life. Infidelity prevails to an alarming extent, not in
the world merely, but in the church. Many have come to deny doctrines
which are the very pillars of the Christian faith. The great facts of
creation as presented by the inspired writers, the fall of man, the
atonement, and the perpetuity of the law of God, are practically rejected,
either wholly or in part, by a large share of the professedly Christian
world. Thousands who pride themselves upon their wisdom and independence,
regard it an evidence of weakness to place implicit confidence in the
Bible; they think it a proof of superior talent and learning to cavil at
the Scriptures, and to spiritualize and explain away their most important
truths. Many ministers are teaching their people, and many professors and
teachers are instructing their students, that the law of God has been
changed or abrogated; and those who regard its requirements as still
valid, to be literally obeyed, are thought to be deserving only of
ridicule or contempt.

In rejecting the truth, men reject its Author. In trampling upon the law
of God, they deny the authority of the Lawgiver. It is as easy to make an
idol of false doctrines and theories as to fashion an idol of wood or
stone. By misrepresenting the attributes of God, Satan leads men to
conceive of Him in a false character. With many, a philosophical idol is
enthroned in the place of Jehovah; while the living God, as He is revealed
in His word, in Christ, and in the works of creation, is worshiped by but
few. Thousands deify nature, while they deny the God of nature. Though in
a different form, idolatry exists in the Christian world to-day as verily
as it existed among ancient Israel in the days of Elijah. The god of many
professedly wise men, of philosophers, poets, politicians,
journalists,—the god of polished fashionable circles, of many colleges and
universities, even of some theological institutions,—is little better than
Baal, the sun-god of Phenicia.

No error accepted by the Christian world strikes more boldly against the
authority of Heaven, none is more directly opposed to the dictates of
reason, none is more pernicious in its results, than the modern doctrine,
so rapidly gaining ground, that God’s law is no longer binding upon men.
Every nation has its laws, which command respect and obedience; no
government could exist without them; and can it be conceived that the
Creator of the heavens and the earth has no law to govern the beings He
has made? Suppose that prominent ministers were publicly to teach that the
statutes which govern their land and protect the rights of its citizens
were not obligatory,—that they restricted the liberties of the people, and
therefore ought not to be obeyed; how long would such men be tolerated in
the pulpit? But is it a graver offense to disregard the laws of states and
nations than to trample upon those divine precepts which are the
foundation of all government?

It would be far more consistent for nations to abolish their statutes, and
permit the people to do as they please, than for the Ruler of the universe
to annul His law, and leave the world without a standard to condemn the
guilty or justify the obedient. Would we know the result of making void
the law of God? The experiment has been tried. Terrible were the scenes
enacted in France when atheism became the controlling power. It was then
demonstrated to the world that to throw off the restraints which God has
imposed is to accept the rule of the cruelest of tyrants. When the
standard of righteousness is set aside, the way is open for the prince of
evil to establish his power in the earth.

Wherever the divine precepts are rejected, sin ceases to appear sinful, or
righteousness desirable. Those who refuse to submit to the government of
God are wholly unfitted to govern themselves. Through their pernicious
teachings, the spirit of insubordination is implanted in the hearts of
children and youth, who are naturally impatient of control; and a lawless,
licentious state of society results. While scoffing at the credulity of
those who obey the requirements of God, the multitudes eagerly accept the
delusions of Satan. They give the rein to lust, and practise the sins
which have called down judgments upon the heathen.

Those who teach the people to regard lightly the commandments of God, sow
disobedience, to reap disobedience. Let the restraint imposed by the
divine law be wholly cast aside, and human laws would soon be disregarded.
Because God forbids dishonest practices, coveting, lying, and defrauding,
men are ready to trample upon His statutes as a hindrance to their worldly
prosperity; but the results of banishing these precepts would be such as
they do not anticipate. If the law were not binding, why should any fear
to transgress? Property would no longer be safe. Men would obtain their
neighbors’ possessions by violence; and the strongest would become
richest. Life itself would not be respected. The marriage vow would no
longer stand as a sacred bulwark to protect the family. He who had the
power, would, if he desired, take his neighbor’s wife by violence. The
fifth commandment would be set aside with the fourth. Children would not
shrink from taking the life of their parents, if by so doing they could
obtain the desire of their corrupt hearts. The civilized world would
become a horde of robbers and assassins; and peace, rest, and happiness
would be banished from the earth.

Already the doctrine that men are released from obedience to God’s
requirements has weakened the force of moral obligation, and opened the
flood-gates of iniquity upon the world. Lawlessness, dissipation, and
corruption are sweeping in upon us like an overwhelming tide. In the
family, Satan is at work. His banner waves, even in professedly Christian
households. There is envy, evil surmising, hypocrisy, estrangement,
emulation, strife, betrayal of sacred trusts, indulgence of lust. The
whole system of religious principles and doctrines, which should form the
foundation and framework of social life, seems to be a tottering mass,
ready to fall to ruin. The vilest of criminals, when thrown into prison
for their offenses, are often made the recipients of gifts and attentions,
as if they had attained an enviable distinction. Great publicity is given
to their character and crimes. The press publishes the revolting details
of vice, thus initiating others into the practice of fraud, robbery, and
murder; and Satan exults in the success of his hellish schemes. The
infatuation of vice, the wanton taking of life, the terrible increase of
intemperance and iniquity of every order and degree, should arouse all who
fear God, to inquire what can be done to stay the tide of evil.

Courts of justice are corrupt. Rulers are actuated by desire for gain, and
love of sensual pleasure. Intemperance has beclouded the faculties of
many, so that Satan has almost complete control of them. Jurists are
perverted, bribed, deluded. Drunkenness and revelry, passion, envy,
dishonesty of every sort, are represented among those who administer the
laws. “Justice standeth afar off: for truth is fallen in the street, and
equity cannot enter.”(1024)

The iniquity and spiritual darkness that prevailed under the supremacy of
Rome were the inevitable result of her suppression of the Scriptures; but
where is to be found the cause of the wide-spread infidelity, the
rejection of the law of God, and the consequent corruption, under the full
blaze of gospel light in an age of religious freedom? Now that Satan can
no longer keep the world under his control by withholding the Scriptures,
he resorts to other means to accomplish the same object. To destroy faith
in the Bible serves his purpose as well as to destroy the Bible itself. By
introducing the belief that God’s law is not binding, he as effectually
leads men to transgress as if they were wholly ignorant of its precepts.
And now, as in former ages, he has worked through the church to further
his designs. The religious organizations of the day have refused to listen
to unpopular truths plainly brought to view in the Scriptures, and in
combating them they have adopted interpretations and taken positions which
have sown broadcast the seeds of skepticism. Clinging to the papal error
of natural immortality and man’s consciousness in death, they have
rejected the only defense against the delusions of Spiritualism. The
doctrine of eternal torment has led many to disbelieve the Bible. And as
the claims of the fourth commandment are urged upon the people, it is
found that the observance of the seventh-day Sabbath is enjoined; and as
the only way to free themselves from a duty which they are unwilling to
perform, many popular teachers declare that the law of God is no longer
binding. Thus they cast away the law and the Sabbath together. As the work
of Sabbath reform extends, this rejection of the divine law to avoid the
claims of the fourth commandment will become well-nigh universal. The
teachings of religious leaders have opened the door to infidelity, to
Spiritualism, and to contempt for God’s holy law; and upon these leaders
rests a fearful responsibility for the iniquity that exists in the
Christian world.

Yet this very class put forth the claim that the fast-spreading corruption
is largely attributable to the desecration of the so-called “Christian
sabbath,” and that the enforcement of Sunday observance would greatly
improve the morals of society. This claim is especially urged in America,
where the doctrine of the true Sabbath has been most widely preached. Here
the temperance work, one of the most prominent and important of moral
reforms, is often combined with the Sunday movement, and the advocates of
the latter represent themselves as laboring to promote the highest
interest of society; and those who refuse to unite with them are denounced
as the enemies of temperance and reform. But the fact that a movement to
establish error is connected with a work which is in itself good, is not
an argument in favor of the error. We may disguise poison by mingling it
with wholesome food, but we do not change its nature. On the contrary, it
is rendered more dangerous, as it is more likely to be taken unawares. It
is one of Satan’s devices to combine with falsehood just enough truth to
give it plausibility. The leaders of the Sunday movement may advocate
reforms which the people need, principles which are in harmony with the
Bible; yet while there is with these a requirement which is contrary to
God’s law, His servants cannot unite with them. Nothing can justify them
in setting aside the commandments of God for the precepts of men.

Through the two great errors, the immortality of the soul and Sunday
sacredness, Satan will bring the people under his deceptions. While the
former lays the foundation of Spiritualism, the latter creates a bond of
sympathy with Rome. The Protestants of the United States will be foremost
in stretching their hands across the gulf to grasp the hand of
Spiritualism; they will reach over the abyss to clasp hands with the Roman
power; and under the influence of this threefold union, this country will
follow in the steps of Rome in trampling on the rights of conscience.

As Spiritualism more closely imitates the nominal Christianity of the day,
it has greater power to deceive and ensnare. Satan himself is converted,
after the modern order of things. He will appear in the character of an
angel of light. Through the agency of Spiritualism, miracles will be
wrought, the sick will be healed, and many undeniable wonders will be
performed. And as the spirits will profess faith in the Bible, and
manifest respect for the institutions of the church, their work will be
accepted as a manifestation of divine power.

The line of distinction between professed Christians and the ungodly is
now hardly distinguishable. Church-members love what the world loves, and
are ready to join with them; and Satan determines to unite them in one
body, and thus strengthen his cause by sweeping all into the ranks of
Spiritualism. Papists, who boast of miracles as a certain sign of the true
church, will be readily deceived by this wonder-working power; and
Protestants, having cast away the shield of truth, will also be deluded.
Papists, Protestants, and worldlings will alike accept the form of
godliness without the power, and they will see in this union a grand
movement for the conversion of the world, and the ushering in of the
long-expected millennium.

Through Spiritualism, Satan appears as a benefactor of the race, healing
the diseases of the people, and professing to present a new and more
exalted system of religious faith; but at the same time he works as a
destroyer. His temptations are leading multitudes to ruin. Intemperance
dethrones reason; sensual indulgence, strife, and bloodshed follow. Satan
delights in war; for it excites the worst passions of the soul, and then
sweeps into eternity its victims steeped in vice and blood. It is his
object to incite the nations to war against one another; for he can thus
divert the minds of the people from the work of preparation to stand in
the day of God.

Satan works through the elements also to garner his harvest of unprepared
souls. He has studied the secrets of the laboratories of nature, and he
uses all his power to control the elements as far as God allows. When he
was suffered to afflict Job, how quickly flocks and herds, servants,
houses, children, were swept away, one trouble succeeding another as in a
moment. It is God that shields His creatures, and hedges them in from the
power of the destroyer. But the Christian world have shown contempt for
the law of Jehovah; and the Lord will do just what He has declared that He
would,—He will withdraw His blessings from the earth, and remove His
protecting care from those who are rebelling against His law, and teaching
and forcing others to do the same. Satan has control of all whom God does
not especially guard. He will favor and prosper some, in order to further
his own designs; and he will bring trouble upon others, and lead men to
believe that it is God who is afflicting them.

While appearing to the children of men as a great physician who can heal
all their maladies, he will bring disease and disaster, until populous
cities are reduced to ruin and desolation. Even now he is at work. In
accidents and calamities by sea and by land, in great conflagrations, in
fierce tornadoes and terrific hail-storms, in tempests, floods, cyclones,
tidal waves, and earthquakes, in every place and in a thousand forms,
Satan is exercising his power. He sweeps away the ripening harvest, and
famine and distress follow. He imparts to the air a deadly taint, and
thousands perish by the pestilence. These visitations are to become more
and more frequent and disastrous. Destruction will be upon both man and
beast. “The earth mourneth and fadeth away,” “the haughty people ... do
languish. The earth also is defiled under the inhabitants thereof; because
they have transgressed the laws, changed the ordinance, broken the
everlasting covenant.”(1025)

And then the great deceiver will persuade men that those who serve God are
causing these evils. The class that have provoked the displeasure of
Heaven will charge all their troubles upon those whose obedience to God’s
commandments is a perpetual reproof to transgressors. It will be declared
that men are offending God by the violation of the Sunday-sabbath; that
this sin has brought calamities which will not cease until Sunday
observance shall be strictly enforced; and that those who present the
claims of the fourth commandment, thus destroying reverence for Sunday,
are troublers of the people, preventing their restoration to divine favor
and temporal prosperity. Thus the accusation urged of old against the
servant of God will be repeated, and upon grounds equally well
established: “And it came to pass, when Ahab saw Elijah, that Ahab said
unto him, Art thou he that troubleth Israel? And he answered, I have not
troubled Israel; but thou, and thy father’s house, in that ye have
forsaken the commandments of the Lord, and thou hast followed
Baalim.”(1026) As the wrath of the people shall be excited by false
charges, they will pursue a course toward God’s ambassadors very similar
to that which apostate Israel pursued toward Elijah.

The miracle-working power manifested through Spiritualism will exert its
influence against those who choose to obey God rather than men.
Communications from the spirits will declare that God has sent them to
convince the rejecters of Sunday of their error, affirming that the laws
of the land should be obeyed as the law of God. They will lament the great
wickedness in the world, and second the testimony of religious teachers,
that the degraded state of morals is caused by the desecration of Sunday.
Great will be the indignation excited against all who refuse to accept
their testimony.

Satan’s policy in this final conflict with God’s people is the same that
he employed in the opening of the great controversy in heaven. He
professed to be seeking to promote the stability of the divine government,
while secretly bending every effort to secure its overthrow. And the very
work which he was thus endeavoring to accomplish, he charged upon the
loyal angels. The same policy of deception has marked the history of the
Roman Church. It has professed to act as the vicegerent of Heaven, while
seeking to exalt itself above God, and to change His law. Under the rule
of Rome, those who suffered death for their fidelity to the gospel were
denounced as evil-doers; they were declared to be in league with Satan;
and every possible means was employed to cover them with reproach, to
cause them to appear, in the eyes of the people, and even to themselves,
as the vilest of criminals. So it will be now. While Satan seeks to
destroy those who honor God’s law, he will cause them to be accused as
lawbreakers, as men who are dishonoring God, and bringing judgments upon
the world.

God never forces the will or the conscience; but Satan’s constant
resort—to gain control of those whom he cannot otherwise seduce—is
compulsion by cruelty. Through fear or force he endeavors to rule the
conscience, and to secure homage to himself. To accomplish this, he works
through both religious and secular authorities, moving them to the
enforcement of human laws in defiance of the law of God.

Those who honor the Bible Sabbath will be denounced as enemies of law and
order, as breaking down the moral restraints of society, causing anarchy
and corruption, and calling down the judgments of God upon the earth.
Their conscientious scruples will be pronounced obstinacy, stubbornness,
and contempt of authority. They will be accused of disaffection toward the
government. Ministers who deny the obligation of the divine law will
present from the pulpit the duty of yielding obedience to the civil
authorities as ordained of God. In legislative halls and courts of
justice, commandment-keepers will be misrepresented and condemned. A false
coloring will be given to their words; the worst construction will be put
upon their motives.

As the Protestant churches reject the clear, scriptural arguments in
defense of God’s law, they will long to silence those whose faith they
cannot overthrow by the Bible. Though they blind their own eyes to the
fact, they are now adopting a course which will lead to the persecution of
those who conscientiously refuse to do what the rest of the Christian
world are doing, and acknowledge the claims of the papal sabbath.

The dignitaries of church and state will unite to bribe, persuade, or
compel all classes to honor the Sunday. The lack of divine authority will
be supplied by oppressive enactments. Political corruption is destroying
love of justice and regard for truth; and even in free America, rulers and
legislators, in order to secure public favor, will yield to the popular
demand for a law enforcing Sunday observance. Liberty of conscience, which
has cost so great a sacrifice, will no longer be respected. In the
soon-coming conflict we shall see exemplified the prophet’s words, “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.”(1027)





37. THE SCRIPTURES A SAFEGUARD.


                     [Illustration: Chapter header.]

“To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this
word, it is because there is no light in them.”(1028) The people of God
are directed to the Scriptures as their safeguard against the influence of
false teachers and the delusive power of spirits of darkness. Satan
employs every possible device to prevent men from obtaining a knowledge of
the Bible; for its plain utterances reveal his deceptions. At every
revival of God’s work, the prince of evil is aroused to more intense
activity; he is now putting forth his utmost efforts for a final struggle
against Christ and His followers. The last great delusion is soon to open
before us. Antichrist is to perform his marvelous works in our sight. So
closely will the counterfeit resemble the true, that it will be impossible
to distinguish between them except by the Holy Scriptures. By their
testimony every statement and every miracle must be tested.

Those who endeavor to obey all the commandments of God will be opposed and
derided. They can stand only in God. In order to endure the trial before
them, they must understand the will of God as revealed in His word; they
can honor Him only as they have a right conception of His character,
government, and purposes, and act in accordance with them. None but those
who have fortified the mind with the truths of the Bible will stand
through the last great conflict. To every soul will come the searching
test, Shall I obey God rather than men? The decisive hour is even now at
hand. Are our feet planted on the rock of God’s immutable word? Are we
prepared to stand firm in defense of the commandments of God and the faith
of Jesus?

Before His crucifixion, the Saviour explained to His disciples that He was
to be put to death, and to rise again from the tomb; and angels were
present to impress His words on minds and hearts. But the disciples were
looking for temporal deliverance from the Roman yoke, and they could not
tolerate the thought that He in whom all their hopes centered should
suffer an ignominious death. The words which they needed to remember were
banished from their minds; and when the time of trial came, it found them
unprepared. The death of Jesus as fully destroyed their hopes as if He had
not forewarned them. So in the prophecies the future is opened before us
as plainly as it was opened to the disciples by the words of Christ. The
events connected with the close of probation and the work of preparation
for the time of trouble, are clearly presented. But multitudes have no
more understanding of these important truths than if they had never been
revealed. Satan watches to catch away every impression that would make
them wise unto salvation, and the time of trouble will find them unready.

When God sends to men warnings so important that they are represented as
proclaimed by holy angels flying in the midst of heaven, He requires every
person endowed with reasoning powers to heed the message. The fearful
judgments denounced against the worship of the beast and his image,(1029)
should lead all to a diligent study of the prophecies to learn what the
mark of the beast is, and how they are to avoid receiving it. But the
masses of the people turn away their ears from hearing the truth, and are
turned unto fables. The apostle Paul declared, looking down to the last
days, “The time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine.”(1030)
That time has fully come. The multitudes do not want Bible truth, because
it interferes with the desires of the sinful, world-loving heart; and
Satan supplies the deceptions which they love.

But God will have a people upon the earth to maintain the Bible, and the
Bible only, as the standard of all doctrines, and the basis of all
reforms. The opinions of learned men, the deductions of science, the
creeds or decisions of ecclesiastical councils, as numerous and discordant
as are the churches which they represent, the voice of the majority,—not
one nor all of these should be regarded as evidence for or against any
point of religious faith. Before accepting any doctrine or precept, we
should demand a plain “Thus saith the Lord” in its support.

Satan is constantly endeavoring to attract attention to man in the place
of God. He leads the people to look to bishops, to pastors, to professors
of theology, as their guides, instead of searching the Scriptures to learn
their duty for themselves. Then, by controlling the minds of these
leaders, he can influence the multitudes according to his will.

When Christ came to speak the words of life, the common people heard Him
gladly; and many, even of the priests and rulers, believed on Him. But the
chief of the priesthood and the leading men of the nation were determined
to condemn and repudiate His teachings. Though they were baffled in all
their efforts to find accusations against Him, though they could not but
feel the influence of the divine power and wisdom attending His words, yet
they encased themselves in prejudice; they rejected the clearest evidence
of His Messiahship, lest they should be forced to become His disciples.
These opponents of Jesus were men whom the people had been taught from
infancy to reverence, to whose authority they had been accustomed
implicitly to bow. “How is it,” they asked, “that our rulers and learned
scribes do not believe on Jesus? Would not these pious men receive Him if
He were the Christ?” It was the influence of such teachers that led the
Jewish nation to reject their Redeemer.

The spirit which actuated those priests and rulers is still manifested by
many who make a high profession of piety. They refuse to examine the
testimony of the Scriptures concerning the special truths for this time.
They point to their own numbers, wealth, and popularity, and look with
contempt upon the advocates of truth as few, poor, and unpopular, having a
faith that separates them from the world.

Christ foresaw that the undue assumption of authority indulged by the
scribes and Pharisees would not cease with the dispersion of the Jews. He
had a prophetic view of the work of exalting human authority to rule the
conscience, which has been so terrible a curse to the church in all ages.
And His fearful denunciations of the scribes and Pharisees, and His
warnings to the people not to follow these blind leaders, were placed on
record as an admonition to future generations.

The Roman Church reserves to the clergy the right to interpret the
Scriptures. On the ground that ecclesiastics alone are competent to
explain God’s word, it is withheld from the common people. Though the
Reformation gave the Scriptures to all, yet the selfsame principle which
was maintained by Rome prevents multitudes in Protestant churches from
searching the Bible for themselves. They are taught to accept its
teachings _as interpreted by the church_; and there are thousands who dare
receive nothing, however plainly revealed in Scripture, that is contrary
to their creed, or the established teaching of their church.

Notwithstanding the Bible is full of warnings against false teachers, many
are ready thus to commit the keeping of their souls to the clergy. There
are to-day thousands of professors of religion who can give no other
reason for points of faith which they hold than that they were so
instructed by their religious leaders. They pass by the Saviour’s
teachings almost unnoticed, and place implicit confidence in the words of
the ministers. But are ministers infallible? How can we trust our souls to
their guidance unless we know from God’s word that they are light-bearers?
A lack of moral courage to step aside from the beaten track of the world,
leads many to follow in the steps of learned men; and by their reluctance
to investigate for themselves, they are becoming hopelessly fastened in
the chains of error. They see that the truth for this time is plainly
brought to view in the Bible, and they feel the power of the Holy Spirit
attending its proclamation; yet they allow the opposition of the clergy to
turn them from the light. Though reason and conscience are convinced,
these deluded souls dare not think differently from the minister; and
their individual judgment, their eternal interests, are sacrificed to the
unbelief, the pride and prejudice, of another.

Many are the ways by which Satan works through human influence to bind his
captives. He secures multitudes to himself by attaching them by the silken
cords of affection to those who are enemies of the cross of Christ.
Whatever this attachment may be, parental, filial, conjugal, or social,
the effect is the same; the opposers of truth exert their power to control
the conscience, and the souls held under their sway have not sufficient
courage or independence to obey their own convictions of duty.

The truth and the glory of God are inseparable; it is impossible for us,
with the Bible within our reach, to honor God by erroneous opinions. Many
claim that it matters not what one believes, if his life is only right.
But the life is moulded by the faith. If light and truth is within our
reach, and we neglect to improve the privilege of hearing and seeing it,
we virtually reject it; we are choosing darkness rather than light.

“There is a way that seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the
ways of death.”(1031) Ignorance is no excuse for error or sin, when there
is every opportunity to know the will of God. A man is traveling, and
comes to a place where there are several roads, and a guide-board
indicating where each one leads. If he disregards the guide-board, and
takes whichever road seems to him to be right, he may be ever so sincere,
but will in all probability find himself on the wrong road.

God has given us His word that we may become acquainted with its
teachings, and know for ourselves what He requires of us. When the lawyer
came to Jesus with the inquiry, “What shall I do to inherit eternal life?”
the Saviour referred him to the Scriptures, saying, “What is written in
the law? how readest thou?” Ignorance will not excuse young or old, nor
release them from the punishment due for the transgression of God’s law;
because there is in their hands a faithful presentation of that law and of
its principles and its claims. It is not enough to have good intentions;
it is not enough to do what a man thinks is right, or what the minister
tells him is right. His soul’s salvation is at stake, and he should search
the Scriptures for himself. However strong may be his convictions, however
confident he may be that the minister knows what is truth, this is not his
foundation. He has a chart pointing out every way mark on the heavenward
journey, and he ought not to guess at anything.

It is the first and highest duty of every rational being to learn from the
Scriptures what is truth, and then to walk in the light, and encourage
others to follow his example. We should day by day study the Bible
diligently, weighing every thought, and comparing scripture with
scripture. With divine help, we are to form our opinions for ourselves, as
we are to answer for ourselves before God.

The truths most plainly revealed in the Bible have been involved in doubt
and darkness by learned men, who, with a pretense of great wisdom, teach
that the Scriptures have a mystical, a secret, spiritual meaning not
apparent in the language employed. These men are false teachers. It was to
such a class that Jesus declared, “Ye know not the Scriptures, neither the
power of God.”(1032) The language of the Bible should be explained
according to its obvious meaning, unless a symbol or figure is employed.
Christ has given the promise, “If any man will do His will, he shall know
of the doctrine.”(1033) If men would but take the Bible as it reads, if
there were no false teachers to mislead and confuse their minds, a work
would be accomplished that would make angels glad, and that would bring
into the fold of Christ thousands upon thousands who are now wandering in
error.

We should exert all the powers of the mind in the study of the Scriptures,
and should task the understanding to comprehend, as far as mortals can,
the deep things of God; yet we must not forget that the docility and
submission of a child is the true spirit of the learner. Scriptural
difficulties can never be mastered by the same methods that are employed
in grappling with philosophical problems. We should not engage in the
study of the Bible with that self-reliance with which so many enter the
domains of science, but with a prayerful dependence upon God, and a
sincere desire to learn His will. We must come with a humble and teachable
spirit to obtain knowledge from the great I AM. Otherwise, evil angels
will so blind our minds and harden our hearts that we shall not be
impressed by the truth.

Many a portion of Scripture which learned men pronounce a mystery, or pass
over as unimportant, is full of comfort and instruction to him who has
been taught in the school of Christ. One reason why many theologians have
no clearer understanding of God’s word is, they close their eyes to truths
which they do not wish to practise. An understanding of Bible truth
depends not so much on the power of intellect brought to the search as on
the singleness of purpose, the earnest longing after righteousness.

The Bible should never be studied without prayer. The Holy Spirit alone
can cause us to feel the importance of those things easy to be understood,
or prevent us from wresting truths difficult of comprehension. It is the
office of heavenly angels to prepare the heart so to comprehend God’s word
that we shall be charmed with its beauty, admonished by its warnings, or
animated and strengthened by its promises. We should make the psalmist’s
petition our own, “Open Thou mine eyes, that I may behold wondrous things
out of Thy law.”(1034) Temptations often appear irresistible because,
through neglect of prayer and the study of the Bible, the tempted one
cannot readily remember God’s promises and meet Satan with the Scripture
weapons. But angels are round about those who are willing to be taught in
divine things; and in the time of great necessity, they will bring to
their remembrance the very truths which are needed. Thus “when the enemy
shall come in like a flood, the Spirit of the Lord shall lift up a
standard against him.”(1035)

Jesus promised His disciples, “The Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost,
whom the Father will send in My name, He shall teach you all things, and
bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto
you.”(1036) But the teachings of Christ must previously have been stored
in the mind, in order for the Spirit of God to bring them to our
remembrance in the time of peril. “Thy word have I hid in mine heart,”
said David, “that I might not sin against Thee.”(1037)

All who value their eternal interests should be on their guard against the
inroads of skepticism. The very pillars of truth will be assailed. It is
impossible to keep beyond the reach of the sarcasms and sophisms, the
insidious and pestilent teachings, of modern infidelity. Satan adapts his
temptations to all classes. He assails the illiterate with a jest or
sneer, while he meets the educated with scientific objections and
philosophical reasoning, alike calculated to excite distrust or contempt
of the Scriptures. Even youth of little experience presume to insinuate
doubts concerning the fundamental principles of Christianity. And this
youthful infidelity, shallow as it is, has its influence. Many are thus
led to jest at the faith of their fathers, and to do despite to the Spirit
of grace.(1038) Many a life that promised to be an honor to God and a
blessing to the world, has been blighted by the foul breath of infidelity.
All who trust to the boastful decisions of human reason, and imagine that
they can explain divine mysteries, and arrive at truth unaided by the
wisdom of God, are entangled in the snare of Satan.

We are living in the most solemn period of this world’s history. The
destiny of earth’s teeming multitudes is about to be decided. Our own
future well-being, and also the salvation of other souls, depend upon the
course which we now pursue. We need to be guided by the Spirit of truth.
Every follower of Christ should earnestly inquire, “Lord, what wilt Thou
have me to do?” We need to humble ourselves before the Lord, with fasting
and prayer, and to meditate much upon His word, especially upon the scenes
of the judgment. We should now seek a deep and living experience in the
things of God. We have not a moment to lose. Events of vital importance
are taking place around us; we are on Satan’s enchanted ground. Sleep not,
sentinels of God; the foe is lurking near, ready at any moment, should you
become lax and drowsy, to spring upon you and make you his prey.

Many are deceived as to their true condition before God. They congratulate
themselves upon the wrong acts which they do not commit, and forget to
enumerate the good and noble deeds which God requires of them, but which
they have neglected to perform. It is not enough that they are trees in
the garden of God. They are to answer His expectation by bearing fruit. He
holds them accountable for their failure to accomplish all the good which
they could have done, through His grace strengthening them. In the books
of heaven they are registered as cumberers of the ground. Yet the case of
even this class is not utterly hopeless. With those who have slighted
God’s mercy and abused His grace, the heart of long-suffering Love yet
pleads. “Wherefore He saith, Awake, thou that sleepest, and arise from the
dead, and Christ shall give thee light. See then that ye walk
circumspectly, ... redeeming the time, because the days are evil.”(1039)

When the testing time shall come, those who have made God’s word their
rule of life will be revealed. In summer there is no noticeable difference
between evergreens and other trees; but when the blasts of winter come,
the evergreens remain unchanged, while other trees are stripped of their
foliage. So the false-hearted professor may not now be distinguished from
the real Christian, but the time is just upon us when the difference will
be apparent. Let opposition arise, let bigotry and intolerance again bear
sway, let persecution be kindled, and the half-hearted and hypocritical
will waver and yield the faith; but the true Christian will stand firm as
a rock, his faith stronger, his hope brighter, than in days of prosperity.

Says the psalmist: “Thy testimonies are my meditation.” “Through Thy
precepts I get understanding: therefore I hate every false way.”(1040)

“Happy is the man that findeth wisdom.” “He shall be as a tree planted by
the waters, and that spreadeth out her roots by the river, and shall not
see when heat cometh, but her leaf shall be green; and shall not be
careful in the year of drought, neither shall cease from yielding
fruit.”(1041)





38. THE FINAL WARNING.


                     [Illustration: Chapter header.]

“I saw another angel come down from heaven, having great power; and the
earth was lightened with his glory. And he cried mightily with a strong
voice, saying, Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and is become the
habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of
every unclean and hateful bird.” “And I heard another voice from heaven,
saying, Come out of her, My people, that ye be not partakers of her sins,
and that ye receive not of her plagues.”(1042)

This scripture points forward to a time when the announcement of the fall
of Babylon, as made by the second angel(1043) of Revelation 14, is to be
repeated, with the additional mention of the corruptions which have been
entering the various organizations that constitute Babylon, since that
message was first given, in the summer of 1844. A terrible condition of
the religious world is here described. With every rejection of truth, the
minds of the people will become darker, their hearts more stubborn, until
they are entrenched in an infidel hardihood. In defiance of the warnings
which God has given, they will continue to trample upon one of the
precepts of the decalogue, until they are led to persecute those who hold
it sacred. Christ is set at naught in the contempt placed upon His word
and His people. As the teachings of Spiritualism are accepted by the
churches, the restraint imposed upon the carnal heart is removed, and the
profession of religion will become a cloak to conceal the basest iniquity.
A belief in spiritual manifestations opens the door to seducing spirits,
and doctrines of devils, and thus the influence of evil angels will be
felt in the churches.

Of Babylon, at the time brought to view in this prophecy, it is declared,
“Her sins have reached unto heaven, and God hath remembered her
iniquities.”(1044) She has filled up the measure of her guilt, and
destruction is about to fall upon her. But God still has a people in
Babylon; and before the visitation of His judgments, these faithful ones
must be called out, that they “partake not of her sins, and receive not of
her plagues.” Hence the movement symbolized by the angel coming down from
heaven, lightening the earth with his glory, and crying mightily with a
strong voice, announcing the sins of Babylon. In connection with his
message the call is heard, “Come out of her, My people.” These
announcements, uniting with the third angel’s message, constitute the
final warning to be given to the inhabitants of the earth.

Fearful is the issue to which the world is to be brought. The powers of
earth, uniting to war against the commandments of God, will decree that
all, “both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond,”(1045) shall
conform to the customs of the church by the observance of the false
sabbath. All who refuse compliance will be visited with civil penalties,
and it will finally be declared that they are deserving of death. On the
other hand, the law of God enjoining the Creator’s rest-day demands
obedience, and threatens wrath against all who transgress its precepts.

With the issue thus clearly brought before him, whoever shall trample upon
God’s law to obey a human enactment, receives the mark of the beast; he
accepts the sign of allegiance to the power which he chooses to obey
instead of God. The warning from heaven is, “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.”(1046)

But not one is made to suffer the wrath of God until the truth has been
brought home to his mind and conscience, and has been rejected. There are
many who have never had an opportunity to hear the special truths for this
time. The obligation of the fourth commandment has never been set before
them in its true light. He who reads every heart, and tries every motive,
will leave none who desire a knowledge of the truth, to be deceived as to
the issues of the controversy. The decree is not to be urged upon the
people blindly. Every one is to have sufficient light to make his decision
intelligently.

The Sabbath will be the great test of loyalty; for it is the point of
truth especially controverted. When the final test shall be brought to
bear upon men, then the line of distinction will be drawn between those
who serve God and those who serve Him not. While the observance of the
false sabbath in compliance with the law of the state, contrary to the
fourth commandment, will be an avowal of allegiance to a power that is in
opposition to God, the keeping of the true Sabbath, in obedience to God’s
law, is an evidence of loyalty to the Creator. While one class, by
accepting the sign of submission to earthly powers, receive the mark of
the beast, the other, choosing the token of allegiance to divine
authority, receive the seal of God.

Heretofore those who presented the truths of the third angel’s message
have often been regarded as mere alarmists. Their predictions that
religious intolerance would gain control in the United States, that church
and state would unite to persecute those who keep the commandments of God,
have been pronounced groundless and absurd. It has been confidently
declared that this land could never become other than what it has
been,—the defender of religious freedom. But as the question of enforcing
Sunday observance is widely agitated, the event so long doubted and
disbelieved is seen to be approaching, and the third message will produce
an effect which it could not have had before.

In every generation God has sent His servants to rebuke sin, both in the
world and in the church. But the people desire smooth things spoken to
them, and the pure, unvarnished truth is not acceptable. Many reformers,
in entering upon their work, determined to exercise great prudence in
attacking the sins of the church and the nation. They hoped, by the
example of a pure Christian life, to lead the people back to the doctrines
of the Bible. But the Spirit of God came upon them as it came upon Elijah,
moving him to rebuke the sins of a wicked king and an apostate people;
they could not refrain from preaching the plain utterances of the
Bible,—doctrines which they had been reluctant to present. They were
impelled to zealously declare the truth, and the danger which threatened
souls. The words which the Lord gave them they uttered, fearless of
consequences, and the people were compelled to hear the warning.

Thus the message of the third angel will be proclaimed. As the time comes
for it to be given with greatest power, the Lord will work through humble
instruments, leading the minds of those who consecrate themselves to His
service. The laborers will be qualified rather by the unction of His
Spirit than by the training of literary institutions. Men of faith and
prayer will be constrained to go forth with holy zeal, declaring the words
which God gives them. The sins of Babylon will be laid open. The fearful
results of enforcing the observances of the church by civil authority, the
inroads of Spiritualism, the stealthy but rapid progress of the papal
power,—all will be unmasked. By these solemn warnings the people will be
stirred. Thousands upon thousands will listen who have never heard words
like these.

In amazement they hear the testimony that Babylon is the church, fallen
because of her errors and sins, because of her rejection of the truth sent
to her from heaven. As the people go to their former teachers with the
eager inquiry, Are these things so? the ministers present fables, prophesy
smooth things, to soothe their fears, and quiet the awakened conscience.
But since many refuse to be satisfied with the mere authority of men, and
demand a plain “Thus saith the Lord,” the popular ministry, like the
Pharisees of old, filled with anger as their authority is questioned, will
denounce the message as of Satan, and stir up the sin-loving multitudes to
revile and persecute those who proclaim it.

As the controversy extends into new fields, and the minds of the people
are called to God’s down-trodden law, Satan is astir. The power attending
the message will only madden those who oppose it. The clergy will put
forth almost superhuman efforts to shut away the light, lest it should
shine upon their flocks. By every means at their command they will
endeavor to suppress the discussion of these vital questions. The church
appeals to the strong arm of civil power, and in this work, papists and
Protestants unite. As the movement for Sunday enforcement becomes more
bold and decided, the law will be invoked against commandment-keepers.
They will be threatened with fines and imprisonment, and some will be
offered positions of influence, and other rewards and advantages, as
inducements to renounce their faith. But their steadfast answer is, “Show
us from the word of God our error,”—the same plea that was made by Luther
under similar circumstances. Those who are arraigned before the courts,
make a strong vindication of the truth, and some who hear them are led to
take their stand to keep all the commandments of God. Thus light will be
brought before thousands who otherwise would know nothing of these truths.

Conscientious obedience to the word of God will be treated as rebellion.
Blinded by Satan, the parent will exercise harshness and severity toward
the believing child; the master or mistress will oppress the
commandment-keeping servant. Affection will be alienated; children will be
disinherited, and driven from home. The words of Paul will be literally
fulfilled, “All that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer
persecution.”(1047) As the defenders of truth refuse to honor the
Sunday-sabbath, some of them will be thrust into prison, some will be
exiled, some will be treated as slaves. To human wisdom, all this now
seems impossible; but as the restraining Spirit of God shall be withdrawn
from men, and they shall be under the control of Satan, who hates the
divine precepts, there will be strange developments. The heart can be very
cruel when God’s fear and love are removed.

As the storm approaches, a large class who have professed faith in the
third angel’s message, but have not been sanctified through obedience to
the truth, abandon their position, and join the ranks of the opposition.
By uniting with the world and partaking of its spirit, they have come to
view matters in nearly the same light; and when the test is brought, they
are prepared to choose the easy, popular side. Men of talent and pleasing
address, who once rejoiced in the truth, employ their powers to deceive
and mislead souls. They become the most bitter enemies of their former
brethren. When Sabbath-keepers are brought before the courts to answer for
their faith, these apostates are the most efficient agents of Satan to
misrepresent and accuse them, and by false reports and insinuations to
stir up the rulers against them.

In this time of persecution the faith of the Lord’s servants will be
tried. They have faithfully given the warning, looking to God and to His
word alone. God’s Spirit, moving upon their hearts, has constrained them
to speak. Stimulated with holy zeal, and with the divine impulse strong
upon them, they entered upon the performance of their duties without
coldly calculating the consequences of speaking to the people the word
which the Lord had given them. They have not consulted their temporal
interests, nor sought to preserve their reputation or their lives. Yet
when the storm of opposition and reproach bursts upon them, some,
overwhelmed with consternation, will be ready to exclaim, “Had we foreseen
the consequences of our words, we would have held our peace.” They are
hedged in with difficulties. Satan assails them with fierce temptations.
The work which they have undertaken seems far beyond their ability to
accomplish. They are threatened with destruction. The enthusiasm which
animated them is gone; yet they cannot turn back. Then, feeling their
utter helplessness, they flee to the Mighty One for strength. They
remember that the words which they have spoken were not theirs, but His
who bade them give the warning. God put the truth into their hearts, and
they could not forbear to proclaim it.

The same trials have been experienced by men of God in ages past.
Wycliffe, Huss, Luther, Tyndale, Baxter, Wesley, urged that all doctrines
be brought to the test of the Bible, and declared that they would renounce
everything which it condemned. Against these men, persecution raged with
relentless fury; yet they ceased not to declare the truth. Different
periods in the history of the church have each been marked by the
development of some special truth, adapted to the necessities of God’s
people at that time. Every new truth has made its way against hatred and
opposition; those who were blessed with its light were tempted and tried.
The Lord gives a special truth for the people in an emergency. Who dare
refuse to publish it? He commands His servants to present the last
invitation of mercy to the world. They cannot remain silent, except at the
peril of their souls. Christ’s ambassadors have nothing to do with
consequences. They must perform their duty, and leave results with God.

As the opposition rises to a fiercer height, the servants of God are again
perplexed; for it seems to them that they have brought the crisis. But
conscience and the word of God assure them that their course is right; and
although the trials continue, they are strengthened to bear them. The
contest grows closer and sharper, but their faith and courage rise with
the emergency. Their testimony is: “We dare not tamper with God’s word,
dividing His holy law; calling one portion essential and another
non-essential, to gain the favor of the world. The Lord whom we serve is
able to deliver us. Christ has conquered the powers of earth; and shall we
be afraid of a world already conquered?”

Persecution in its varied forms is the development of a principle which
will exist as long as Satan exists and Christianity has vital power. No
man can serve God without enlisting against himself the opposition of the
hosts of darkness. Evil angels will assail him, alarmed that his influence
is taking the prey from their hands. Evil men, rebuked by his example,
will unite with them in seeking to separate him from God by alluring
temptations. When these do not succeed, then a compelling power is
employed to force the conscience.

But so long as Jesus remains man’s intercessor in the sanctuary above, the
restraining influence of the Holy Spirit is felt by rulers and people. It
still controls, to some extent, the laws of the land. Were it not for
these laws, the condition of the world would be much worse than it now is.
While many of our rulers are active agents of Satan, God also has His
agents among the leading men of the nation. The enemy moves upon his
servants to propose measures that would greatly impede the work of God;
but statesmen who fear the Lord are influenced by holy angels to oppose
such propositions with unanswerable arguments. Thus a few men will hold in
check a powerful current of evil. The opposition of the enemies of truth
will be restrained that the third angel’s message may do its work. When
the final warning shall be given, it will arrest the attention of these
leading men through whom the Lord is now working, and some of them will
accept it, and will stand with the people of God through the time of
trouble.

The angel who unites in the proclamation of the third angel’s message, is
to lighten the whole earth with his glory. A work of world-wide extent and
unwonted power is here foretold. The Advent Movement of 1840-44 was a
glorious manifestation of the power of God; the first angel’s message was
carried to every missionary station in the world, and in some countries
there was the greatest religious interest which has been witnessed in any
land since the Reformation of the sixteenth century; but these are to be
exceeded by the mighty movement under the last warning of the third angel.

The work will be similar to that of the day of Pentecost. As the “former
rain” was given, in the outpouring of the Holy Spirit at the opening of
the gospel, to cause the upspringing of the precious seed, so the “latter
rain” will be given at its close, for the ripening of the harvest. “Then
shall we know, if we follow on to know the Lord: His going forth is
prepared as the morning; and He shall come unto us as the rain, as the
latter and former rain unto the earth.”(1048) “Be glad then, ye children
of Zion, and rejoice in the Lord your God: for He hath given you the
former rain moderately, and He will cause to come down for you the rain,
the former rain, and the latter rain.”(1049) “In the last days, saith God,
I will pour out of My Spirit upon all flesh.” “And it shall come to pass,
that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved.”(1050)

The great work of the gospel is not to close with less manifestation of
the power of God than marked its opening. The prophecies which were
fulfilled in the outpouring of the former rain at the opening of the
gospel, are again to be fulfilled in the latter rain at its close. Here
are “the times of refreshing” to which the apostle Peter looked forward
when he said, “Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may
be blotted out when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence
of the Lord; and He shall send Jesus.”(1051)

Servants of God, with their faces lighted up and shining with holy
consecration, will hasten from place to place to proclaim the message from
heaven. By thousands of voices, all over the earth, the warning will be
given. Miracles will be wrought, the sick will be healed, and signs and
wonders will follow the believers. Satan also works with lying wonders,
even bringing down fire from heaven in the sight of men.(1052) Thus the
inhabitants of the earth will be brought to take their stand.

The message will be carried not so much by argument as by the deep
conviction of the Spirit of God. The arguments have been presented. The
seed has been sown, and now it will spring up and bear fruit. The
publications distributed by missionary workers have exerted their
influence, yet many whose minds were impressed have been prevented from
fully comprehending the truth or from yielding obedience. Now the rays of
light penetrate everywhere, the truth is seen in its clearness, and the
honest children of God sever the bands which have held them. Family
connections, church relations, are powerless to stay them now. Truth is
more precious than all besides. Notwithstanding the agencies combined
against the truth, a large number take their stand upon the Lord’s side.





39. “THE TIME OF TROUBLE.”


                     [Illustration: Chapter header.]

“At that time shall Michael stand up, the great prince which standeth for
the children of thy people: and 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.”(1053)

When the third angel’s message closes, mercy no longer pleads for the
guilty inhabitants of the earth. The people of God have accomplished their
work. They have received “the latter rain,” “the refreshing from the
presence of the Lord,” and they are prepared for the trying hour before
them. Angels are hastening to and fro in heaven. An angel returning from
the earth announces that his work is done; the final test has been brought
upon the world, and all who have proved themselves loyal to the divine
precepts have received “the seal of the living God.” Then Jesus ceases His
intercession in the sanctuary above. He lifts His hands, and with a loud
voice says, “It is done;” and all the angelic host lay off their crowns as
He makes the solemn announcement: “He that is unjust, let him be unjust
still: and he which is filthy, let him be filthy still: and he that is
righteous, let him be righteous still: and he that is holy, let him be
holy still.”(1054) Every case has been decided for life or death. Christ
has made the atonement for His people, and blotted out their sins. The
number of His subjects is made up; “the kingdom and dominion, and the
greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven,” is about to be given to
the heirs of salvation, and Jesus is to reign as King of kings, and Lord
of lords.

When He leaves the sanctuary, darkness covers the inhabitants of the
earth. In that fearful time the righteous must live in the sight of a holy
God without an intercessor. The restraint which has been upon the wicked
is removed, and Satan has entire control of the finally impenitent. God’s
long-suffering has ended. The world has rejected His mercy, despised His
love, and trampled upon His law. The wicked have passed the boundary of
their probation; the Spirit of God, persistently resisted, has been at
last withdrawn. Unsheltered by divine grace, they have no protection from
the wicked one. Satan will then plunge the inhabitants of the earth into
one great, final trouble. As the angels of God cease to hold in check the
fierce winds of human passion, all the elements of strife will be let
loose. The whole world will be involved in ruin more terrible than that
which came upon Jerusalem of old.

A single angel destroyed all the first-born of the Egyptians, and filled
the land with mourning. When David offended against God by numbering the
people, one angel caused that terrible destruction by which his sin was
punished. The same destructive power exercised by holy angels when God
commands, will be exercised by evil angels when He permits. There are
forces now ready, and only waiting the divine permission, to spread
desolation everywhere.

Those who honor the law of God have been accused of bringing judgments
upon the world, and they will be regarded as the cause of the fearful
convulsions of nature and the strife and bloodshed among men that are
filling the earth with woe. The power attending the last warning has
enraged the wicked; their anger is kindled against all who have received
the message, and Satan will excite to still greater intensity the spirit
of hatred and persecution.

When God’s presence was finally withdrawn from the Jewish nation, priests
and people knew it not. Though under the control of Satan, and swayed by
the most horrible and malignant passions, they still regarded themselves
as the chosen of God. The ministration in the temple continued; sacrifices
were offered upon its polluted altars, and daily the divine blessing was
invoked upon a people guilty of the blood of God’s dear Son, and seeking
to slay His ministers and apostles. So when the irrevocable decision of
the sanctuary has been pronounced, and the destiny of the world has been
forever fixed, the inhabitants of the earth will know it not. The forms of
religion will be continued by a people from whom the Spirit of God has
been finally withdrawn; and the satanic zeal with which the prince of evil
will inspire them for the accomplishment of his malignant designs, will
bear the semblance of zeal for God.

As the Sabbath has become the special point of controversy throughout
Christendom, and religious and secular authorities have combined to
enforce the observance of the Sunday, the persistent refusal of a small
minority to yield to the popular demand, will make them objects of
universal execration. It will be urged that the few who stand in
opposition to an institution of the church and a law of the state, ought
not to be tolerated; that it is better for them to suffer than for whole
nations to be thrown into confusion and lawlessness. The same argument
eighteen hundred years ago was brought against Christ by the “rulers of
the people.” “It is expedient for us,” said the wily Caiaphas, “that one
man should die for the people, and that the whole nation perish
not.”(1055) This argument will appear conclusive; and a decree will
finally be issued against those who hallow the Sabbath of the fourth
commandment, denouncing them as deserving of the severest punishment, and
giving the people liberty, after a certain time, to put them to death.
Romanism in the Old World, and apostate Protestantism in the New, will
pursue a similar course toward those who honor all the divine precepts.

The people of God will then be plunged into those scenes of affliction and
distress described by the prophet as the time of Jacob’s trouble. “Thus
saith the Lord: We have heard a voice of trembling, of fear, and not of
peace.... All faces are turned into paleness. Alas! for that day is great,
so that none is like it: it is even the time of Jacob’s trouble; but he
shall be saved out of it.”(1056)

Jacob’s night of anguish, when he wrestled in prayer for deliverance from
the hand of Esau,(1057) represents the experience of God’s people in the
time of trouble. Because of the deception practised to secure his father’s
blessing, intended for Esau, Jacob had fled for his life, alarmed by his
brother’s deadly threats. After remaining for many years an exile, he had
set out, at God’s command, to return with his wives and children, his
flocks and herds, to his native country. On reaching the borders of the
land, he was filled with terror by the tidings of Esau’s approach at the
head of a band of warriors, doubtless bent upon revenge. Jacob’s company,
unarmed and defenseless, seemed about to fall helpless victims of violence
and slaughter. And to the burden of anxiety and fear was added the
crushing weight of self-reproach; for it was his own sin that had brought
this danger. His only hope was in the mercy of God; his only defense must
be prayer. Yet he leaves nothing undone on his own part to atone for the
wrong to his brother, and to avert the threatened danger. So should the
followers of Christ, as they approach the time of trouble, make every
exertion to place themselves in a proper light before the people, to
disarm prejudice, and to avert the danger which threatens liberty of
conscience.

Having sent his family away, that they may not witness his distress, Jacob
remains alone to intercede with God. He confesses his sin, and gratefully
acknowledges the mercy of God toward him, while with deep humiliation he
pleads the covenant made with his fathers, and the promises to himself in
the night vision at Bethel and in the land of his exile. The crisis in his
life has come; everything is at stake. In the darkness and solitude he
continues praying and humbling himself before God. Suddenly a hand is laid
upon his shoulder. He thinks that an enemy is seeking his life, and with
all the energy of despair he wrestles with his assailant. As the day
begins to break, the stranger puts forth his superhuman power: at his
touch the strong man seems paralyzed, and he falls, a helpless, weeping
suppliant, upon the neck of his mysterious antagonist. Jacob knows now
that it is the Angel of the Covenant with whom he has been in conflict.
Though disabled, and suffering the keenest pain, he does not relinquish
his purpose. Long has he endured perplexity, remorse, and trouble for his
sin; now he must have the assurance that it is pardoned. The divine
visitant seems about to depart; but Jacob clings to Him, pleading for a
blessing. The Angel urges, “Let Me go; for the day breaketh;” but the
patriarch exclaims, “I will not let Thee go, except Thou bless me.” What
confidence, what firmness and perseverance, are here displayed! Had this
been a boastful, presumptuous claim, Jacob would have been instantly
destroyed; but his was the assurance of one who confesses his weakness and
unworthiness, yet trusts the mercy of a covenant-keeping God.

“He had power over the Angel, and prevailed.”(1058) Through humiliation,
repentance, and self-surrender, this sinful, erring mortal prevailed with
the Majesty of heaven. He had fastened his trembling grasp upon the
promises of God, and the heart of Infinite Love could not turn away the
sinner’s plea. As an evidence of his triumph, and an encouragement to
others to imitate his example, his name was changed from one which was a
reminder of his sin, to one that commemorated his victory. And the fact
that Jacob had prevailed with God was an assurance that he would prevail
with men. He no longer feared to encounter his brother’s anger; for the
Lord was his defense.

Satan had accused Jacob before the angels of God, claiming the right to
destroy him because of his sin; he had moved upon Esau to march against
him; and during the patriarch’s long night of wrestling, Satan endeavored
to force upon him a sense of his guilt, in order to discourage him, and
break his hold upon God. Jacob was driven almost to despair; but he knew
that without help from heaven he must perish. He had sincerely repented of
his great sin, and he appealed to the mercy of God. He would not be turned
from his purpose, but held fast the Angel, and urged his petition with
earnest, agonizing cries, until he prevailed.

As Satan influenced Esau to march against Jacob, so he will stir up the
wicked to destroy God’s people in the time of trouble. And as he accused
Jacob, he will urge his accusations against the people of God. He numbers
the world as his subjects; but the little company who keep the
commandments of God are resisting his supremacy. If he could blot them
from the earth, his triumph would be complete. He sees that holy angels
are guarding them, and he infers that their sins have been pardoned; but
he does not know that their cases have been decided in the sanctuary
above. He has an accurate knowledge of the sins which he has tempted them
to commit, and he presents these before God in the most exaggerated light,
representing this people to be just as deserving as himself of exclusion
from the favor of God. He declares that the Lord cannot in justice forgive
their sins, and yet destroy him and his angels. He claims them as his
prey, and demands that they be given into his hands to destroy.

As Satan accuses the people of God on account of their sins, the Lord
permits him to try them to the uttermost. Their confidence in God, their
faith and firmness, will be severely tested. As they review the past,
their hopes sink; for in their whole lives they can see little good. They
are fully conscious of their weakness and unworthiness. Satan endeavors to
terrify them with the thought that their cases are hopeless, that the
stain of their defilement will never be washed away. He hopes so to
destroy their faith that they will yield to his temptations, and turn from
their allegiance to God.

Though God’s people will be surrounded by enemies who are bent upon their
destruction, yet the anguish which they suffer is not a dread of
persecution for the truth’s sake; they fear that every sin has not been
repented of, and that through some fault in themselves they will fail to
realize the fulfilment of the Saviour’s promise, “I will keep thee from
the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world.”(1059) If
they could have the assurance of pardon, they would not shrink from
torture or death; but should they prove unworthy, and lose their lives
because of their own defects of character, then God’s holy name would be
reproached.

On every hand they hear the plottings of treason, and see the active
working of rebellion; and there is aroused within them an intense desire,
an earnest yearning of soul, that this great apostasy may be terminated,
and the wickedness of the wicked may come to an end. But while they plead
with God to stay the work of rebellion, it is with a keen sense of
self-reproach that they themselves have no more power to resist and urge
back the mighty tide of evil. They feel that had they always employed all
their ability in the service of Christ, going forward from strength to
strength, Satan’s forces would have less power to prevail against them.

They afflict their souls before God, pointing to their past repentance of
their many sins, and pleading the Saviour’s promise, “Let him take hold of
My strength, that he may make peace with Me; and he shall make peace with
Me.”(1060) Their faith does not fail because their prayers are not
immediately answered. Though suffering the keenest anxiety, terror, and
distress, they do not cease their intercessions. They lay hold of the
strength of God as Jacob laid hold of the Angel; and the language of their
souls is, “I will not let Thee go, except Thou bless me.”

Had not Jacob previously repented of his sin in obtaining the birthright
by fraud, God would not have heard his prayer and mercifully preserved his
life. So, in the time of trouble, if the people of God had unconfessed
sins to appear before them while tortured with fear and anguish, they
would be overwhelmed; despair would cut off their faith, and they could
not have confidence to plead with God for deliverance. But while they have
a deep sense of their unworthiness, they have no concealed wrongs to
reveal. Their sins have gone beforehand to judgment, and have been blotted
out; and they cannot bring them to remembrance.

Satan leads many to believe that God will overlook their unfaithfulness in
the minor affairs of life; but the Lord shows in His dealings with Jacob
that He will in no wise sanction or tolerate evil. All who endeavor to
excuse or conceal their sins, and permit them to remain upon the books of
heaven, unconfessed and unforgiven, will be overcome by Satan. The more
exalted their profession, and the more honorable the position which they
hold, the more grievous is their course in the sight of God, and the more
sure the triumph of their great adversary. Those who delay a preparation
for the day of God cannot obtain it in the time of trouble, or at any
subsequent time. The case of all such is hopeless.

Those professed Christians who come up to that last fearful conflict
unprepared, will, in their despair, confess their sins in words of burning
anguish, while the wicked exult over their distress. These confessions are
of the same character as was that of Esau or of Judas. Those who make
them, lament the _result_ of transgression, but not its guilt. They feel
no true contrition, no abhorrence of evil. They acknowledge their sin,
through fear of punishment; but, like Pharaoh of old, they would return to
their defiance of Heaven, should the judgments be removed.

Jacob’s history is also an assurance that God will not cast off those who
have been deceived, and tempted, and betrayed into sin, but who have
returned unto Him with true repentance. While Satan seeks to destroy this
class, God will send His angels to comfort and protect them in the time of
peril. The assaults of Satan are fierce and determined, his delusions are
terrible; but the Lord’s eye is upon His people, and His ear listens to
their cries. Their affliction is great, the flames of the furnace seem
about to consume them; but the Refiner will bring them forth as gold tried
in the fire. God’s love for His children during the period of their
severest trial, is as strong and tender as in the days of their sunniest
prosperity; but it is needful for them to be placed in the furnace of
fire; their earthliness must be consumed, that the image of Christ may be
perfectly reflected.

The season of distress and anguish before us will require a faith that can
endure weariness, delay, and hunger,—a faith that will not faint, though
severely tried. The period of probation is granted to all to prepare for
that time. Jacob prevailed because he was persevering and determined. His
victory is an evidence of the power of importunate prayer. All who will
lay hold of God’s promises, as he did, and be as earnest and persevering
as he was, will succeed as he succeeded. Those who are unwilling to deny
self, to agonize before God, to pray long and earnestly for His blessing,
will not obtain it. Wrestling with God—how few know what it is! How few
have ever had their souls drawn out after God with intensity of desire
until every power is on the stretch. When waves of despair which no
language can express sweep over the suppliant, how few cling with
unyielding faith to the promises of God.

Those who exercise but little faith now, are in the greatest danger of
falling under the power of satanic delusions and the decree to compel the
conscience. And even if they endure the test, they will be plunged into
deeper distress and anguish in the time of trouble, because they have
never made it a habit to trust in God. The lessons of faith which they
have neglected, they will be forced to learn under a terrible pressure of
discouragement.

We should now acquaint ourselves with God by proving His promises. Angels
record every prayer that is earnest and sincere. We should rather dispense
with selfish gratifications than neglect communion with God. The deepest
poverty, the greatest self-denial, with His approval, is better than
riches, honors, ease, and friendship without it. We must take time to
pray. If we allow our minds to be absorbed by worldly interests, the Lord
may give us time by removing from us our idols of gold, of houses, or of
fertile lands.

The young would not be seduced into sin if they would refuse to enter any
path save that upon which they could ask God’s blessing. If the messengers
who bear the last solemn warning to the world would pray for the blessing
of God, not in a cold, listless, lazy manner, but fervently and in faith,
as did Jacob, they would find many places where they could say, “I have
seen God face to face, and my life is preserved.”(1061) They would be
accounted of heaven as princes, having power to prevail with God and with
men.

The “time of trouble such as never was,” is soon to open upon us; and we
shall need an experience which we do not now possess, and which many are
too indolent to obtain. It is often the case that trouble is greater in
anticipation that in reality; but this is not true of the crisis before
us. The most vivid presentation cannot reach the magnitude of the ordeal.
In that time of trial, every soul must stand for himself before God.
“Though Noah, Daniel, and Job” were in the land, “as I live, saith the
Lord God, they shall deliver neither son nor daughter; they shall but
deliver their own souls by their righteousness.”(1062)

Now, while our great High Priest is making the atonement for us, we should
seek to become perfect in Christ. Not even by a thought could our Saviour
be brought to yield to the power of temptation. Satan finds in human
hearts some point where he can gain a foothold; some sinful desire is
cherished, by means of which his temptations assert their power. But
Christ declared of Himself, “The prince of this world cometh, and hath
nothing in Me.”(1063) Satan could find nothing in the Son of God that
would enable him to gain the victory. He had kept His Father’s
commandments, and there was no sin in Him that Satan could use to his
advantage. This is the condition in which those must be found who shall
stand in the time of trouble.

It is in this life that we are to separate sin from us, through faith in
the atoning blood of Christ. Our precious Saviour invites us to join
ourselves to Him, to unite our weakness to His strength, our ignorance to
His wisdom, our unworthiness to His merits. God’s providence is the school
in which we are to learn the meekness and lowliness of Jesus. The Lord is
ever setting before us, not the way we would choose, which seems easier
and pleasanter to us, but the true aims of life. It rests with us to
co-operate with the agencies which Heaven employs in the work of
conforming our characters to the divine model. None can neglect or defer
this work but at the most fearful peril to their souls.

The apostle John in vision heard a loud voice in heaven exclaiming, “Woe
to the inhabiters of the earth and of the sea! for the devil is come down
unto you, having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short
time.”(1064) Fearful are the scenes which call forth this exclamation from
the heavenly voice. The wrath of Satan increases as his time grows short,
and his work of deceit and destruction will reach its culmination in the
time of trouble.

Fearful sights of a supernatural character will soon be revealed in the
heavens, in token of the power of miracle-working demons. The spirits of
devils will go forth to the kings of the earth and to the whole world, to
fasten them in deception, and urge them on to unite with Satan in his last
struggle against the government of heaven. By these agencies, rulers and
subjects will be alike deceived. Persons will arise pretending to be
Christ Himself, and claiming the title and worship which belong to the
world’s Redeemer. They will perform wonderful miracles of healing, and
will profess to have revelations from heaven contradicting the testimony
of the Scriptures.

As the crowning act in the great drama of deception, Satan himself will
personate Christ. The church has long professed to look to the Saviour’s
advent as the consummation of her hopes. Now the great deceiver will make
it appear that Christ has come. In different parts of the earth, Satan
will manifest himself among men as a majestic being of dazzling
brightness, resembling the description of the Son of God given by John in
the Revelation.(1065) The glory that surrounds him is unsurpassed by
anything that mortal eyes have yet beheld. The shout of triumph rings out
upon the air, “Christ has come! Christ has come!” The people prostrate
themselves in adoration before him, while he lifts up his hands, and
pronounces a blessing upon them, as Christ blessed His disciples when He
was upon the earth. His voice is soft and subdued, yet full of melody. In
gentle, compassionate tones he presents some of the same gracious,
heavenly truths which the Saviour uttered; he heals the diseases of the
people, and then, in his assumed character of Christ, he claims to have
changed the Sabbath to Sunday, and commands all to hallow the day which he
has blessed. He declares that those who persist in keeping holy the
seventh day are blaspheming his name by refusing to listen to his angels
sent to them with light and truth. This is the strong, almost
overmastering delusion. Like the Samaritans who were deceived by Simon
Magus, the multitudes, from the least to the greatest, give heed to these
sorceries, saying, This is “the great power of God.”(1066)

But the people of God will not be misled. The teachings of this false
christ are not in accordance with the Scriptures. His blessing is
pronounced upon the worshipers of the beast and his image, the very class
upon whom the Bible declares that God’s unmingled wrath shall be poured
out.

And, furthermore, Satan is not permitted to counterfeit the manner of
Christ’s advent. The Saviour has warned His people against deception upon
this point, and has clearly foretold the manner of His second coming.
“There shall arise false christs, and false prophets, and shall show great
signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive
the very elect.... Wherefore if they shall say unto you, Behold, He is in
the desert; go not forth: behold, He is in the secret chambers; believe it
not. For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto
the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.”(1067) This
coming, there is no possibility of counterfeiting. It will be universally
known—witnessed by the whole world.

Only those who have been diligent students of the Scriptures, and who have
received the love of the truth, will be shielded from the powerful
delusion that takes the world captive. By the Bible testimony these will
detect the deceiver in his disguise. To all, the testing time will come.
By the sifting of temptation, the genuine Christian will be revealed. Are
the people of God now so firmly established upon His word that they would
not yield to the evidence of their senses? Would they, in such a crisis,
cling to the Bible, and the Bible only? Satan will, if possible, prevent
them from obtaining a preparation to stand in that day. He will so arrange
affairs as to hedge up their way, entangle them with earthly treasures,
cause them to carry a heavy, wearisome burden, that their hearts may be
overcharged with the cares of this life, and the day of trial may come
upon them as a thief.

As the decree issued by the various rulers of Christendom against
commandment-keepers shall withdraw the protection of government, and
abandon them to those who desire their destruction, the people of God will
flee from the cities and villages and associate together in companies,
dwelling in the most desolate and solitary places. Many will find refuge
in the strongholds of the mountains. Like the Christians of the Piedmont
valleys, they will make the high places of the earth their sanctuaries,
and will thank God for the “munitions of rocks.”(1068) But many of all
nations, and of all classes, high and low, rich and poor, black and white,
will be cast into the most unjust and cruel bondage. The beloved of God
pass weary days, bound in chains, shut in by prison bars, sentenced to be
slain, some apparently left to die of starvation in dark and loathsome
dungeons. No human ear is open to hear their moans; no human hand is ready
to lend them help.

Will the Lord forget His people in this trying hour? Did He forget
faithful Noah when judgments were visited upon the antediluvian world? Did
He forget Lot when the fire came down from heaven to consume the cities of
the plain? Did He forget Joseph surrounded by idolaters in Egypt? Did He
forget Elijah when the oath of Jezebel threatened him with the fate of the
prophets of Baal? Did He forget Jeremiah in the dark and dismal pit of his
prison-house? Did He forget the three worthies in the fiery furnace? or
Daniel in the den of lions?

“Zion said, Jehovah hath forsaken me, and my Lord hath forgotten me. Can a
woman forget her sucking child, that she should not have compassion on the
son of her womb? yea, they may forget, yet will I not forget thee. Behold,
I have graven thee upon the palms of My hands.”(1069) The Lord of hosts
has said, “He that toucheth you, toucheth the apple of His eye.”(1070)

Though enemies may thrust them into prison, yet dungeon walls cannot cut
off the communication between their souls and Christ. One who sees their
every weakness, who is acquainted with every trial, is above all earthly
powers; and angels will come to them in lonely cells, bringing light and
peace from heaven. The prison will be as a palace; for the rich in faith
dwell there, and the gloomy walls will be lighted up with heavenly light,
as when Paul and Silas prayed and sung praises at midnight in the
Philippian dungeon.

God’s judgments will be visited upon those who are seeking to oppress and
destroy His people. His long forbearance with the wicked emboldens men in
transgression, but their punishment is none the less certain and terrible
because it is long delayed. “The Lord shall rise up as in Mount Perazim,
He shall be wroth as in the valley of Gibeon, that He may do His work, His
strange work; and bring to pass His act, His strange act.”(1071) To our
merciful God the act of punishment is a strange act. “As I live, saith the
Lord God, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked.”(1072) The Lord
is “merciful and gracious, long-suffering, and abundant in goodness and
truth, ... forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin.” Yet He will “by
no means clear the guilty.” “The Lord is slow to anger, and great in
power, and will not at all acquit the wicked.”(1073) By terrible things in
righteousness He will vindicate the authority of His downtrodden law. The
severity of the retribution awaiting the transgressor may be judged by the
Lord’s reluctance to execute justice. The nation with which He bears long,
and which He will not smite until it has filled up the measure of its
iniquity in God’s account, will finally drink the cup of wrath unmixed
with mercy.

When Christ ceases His intercession in the sanctuary, the unmingled wrath
threatened against those who worship the beast and his image and receive
his mark,(1074) will be poured out. The plagues upon Egypt when God was
about to deliver Israel, were similar in character to those more terrible
and extensive judgments which are to fall upon the world just before the
final deliverance of God’s people. Says the revelator, in describing those
terrific scourges: “There fell a noisome and grievous sore upon the men
which had the mark of the beast, and upon them which worshiped his image.”
The sea “became as the blood of a dead man: and every living soul died in
the sea.” And “the rivers and fountains of waters ... became blood.”
Terrible as these inflictions are, God’s justice stands fully vindicated.
The angel of God declares: “Thou are righteous, O Lord, ... because Thou
hast judged thus. For they have shed the blood of saints and prophets, and
Thou hast given them blood to drink; for they are worthy.”(1075) By
condemning the people of God to death, they have as truly incurred the
guilt of their blood as if it had been shed by their hands. In like manner
Christ declared the Jews of His time guilty of all the blood of holy men
which had been shed since the days of Abel; for they possessed the same
spirit, and were seeking to do the same work, with these murderers of the
prophets.

In the plague that follows, power is given to the sun “to scorch men with
fire. And men were scorched with great heat.”(1076) The prophets thus
describe the condition of the earth at this fearful time: “The land
mourneth; ... because the harvest of the field is perished.” “All the
trees of the field are withered: because joy is withered away from the
sons of men.” “The seed is rotten under their clods, the garners are laid
desolate.” “How do the beasts groan! the herds of cattle are perplexed,
because they have no pasture.... The rivers of waters are dried up, and
the fire hath devoured the pastures of the wilderness.” “The songs of the
temple shall be howlings in that day, saith the Lord God: there shall be
many dead bodies in every place; they shall cast them forth with
silence.”(1077)

These plagues are not universal, or the inhabitants of the earth would be
wholly cut off. Yet they will be the most awful scourges that have ever
been known to mortals. All the judgments upon men, prior to the close of
probation, have been mingled with mercy. The pleading blood of Christ has
shielded the sinner from receiving the full measure of his guilt; but in
the final judgment, wrath is poured out unmixed with mercy.

In that day, multitudes will desire the shelter of God’s mercy which they
have so long despised. “Behold, the days come, saith the Lord God, that I
will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for
water, but of hearing the words of the Lord: and they shall wander from
sea to sea, and from the north even to the east, they shall run to and fro
to seek the word of the Lord, and shall not find it.”(1078)

The people of God will not be free from suffering; but while persecuted
and distressed, while they endure privation, and suffer for want of food,
they will not be left to perish. That God who cared for Elijah, will not
pass by one of His self-sacrificing children. He who numbers the hairs of
their head, will care for them; and in time of famine they shall be
satisfied. While the wicked are dying from hunger and pestilence, angels
will shield the righteous, and supply their wants. To him that “walketh
righteously” is the promise, “Bread shall be given him; his waters shall
be sure.” “When the poor and needy seek water, and there is none, and
their tongue faileth for thirst, I the Lord will hear them, I the God of
Israel will not forsake them.”(1079)

“Although the fig-tree shall not blossom, neither shall fruit be in the
vines; the labor of the olive shall fail, and the fields shall yield no
meat; the flock shall be cut off from the fold, and there shall be no herd
in the stalls:” yet shall they that fear Him “rejoice in the Lord,” and
joy in the God of their salvation.(1080)

“The Lord is thy keeper: the Lord is thy shade upon thy right hand. The
sun shall not smite thee by day, nor the moon by night. The Lord shall
preserve thee from all evil: He shall preserve thy soul.” “He shall
deliver thee from the snare of the fowler, and from the noisome
pestilence. He shall cover thee with His feathers, and under His wings
shalt thou trust: His truth shall be thy shield and buckler. Thou shalt
not be afraid for the terror by night; nor for the arrow that flieth by
day; nor for the pestilence that walketh in darkness; nor for the
destruction that wasteth at noonday. A thousand shall fall at thy side,
and ten thousand at thy right hand; but it shall not come nigh thee. Only
with thine eyes shalt thou behold and see the reward of the wicked.
Because thou hast made the Lord, which is my refuge, even the Most High,
thy habitation; there shall no evil befall thee, neither shall any plague
come nigh thy dwelling.”(1081)

Yet to human sight it will appear that the people of God must soon seal
their testimony with their blood, as did the martyrs before them. They
themselves begin to fear that the Lord has left them to fall by the hand
of their enemies. It is a time of fearful agony. Day and night they cry
unto God for deliverance. The wicked exult, and the jeering cry is heard,
“Where now is your faith? Why does not God deliver you out of our hands if
you are indeed His people?” But the waiting ones remember Jesus dying upon
Calvary’s cross, and the chief priests and rulers shouting in mockery, “He
saved others; Himself He cannot save. If He be the King of Israel, let Him
now come down from the cross, and we will believe Him.”(1082) Like Jacob,
all are wrestling with God. Their countenances express their internal
struggle. Paleness sits upon every face. Yet they cease not their earnest
intercession.

Could men see with heavenly vision, they would behold companies of angels
that excel in strength stationed about those who have kept the word of
Christ’s patience. With sympathizing tenderness, angels have witnessed
their distress, and have heard their prayers. They are waiting the word of
their Commander to snatch them from their peril. But they must wait yet a
little longer. The people of God must drink of the cup, and be baptized
with the baptism. The very delay, so painful to them, is the best answer
to their petitions. As they endeavor to wait trustingly for the Lord to
work, they are led to exercise faith, hope, and patience, which have been
too little exercised during their religious experience. Yet for the
elect’s sake, the time of trouble will be shortened. “Shall not God avenge
His own elect, which cry day and night unto Him?... I tell you that He
will avenge them speedily.”(1083) The end will come more quickly than men
expect. The wheat will be gathered and bound in sheaves for the garner of
God; the tares will be bound as fagots for the fires of destruction.

The heavenly sentinels, faithful to their trust, continue their watch.
Though a general decree has fixed the time when commandment-keepers may be
put to death, their enemies will in some cases anticipate the decree, and
before the time specified, will endeavor to take their lives. But none can
pass the mighty guardians stationed about every faithful soul. Some are
assailed in their flight from the cities and villages; but the swords
raised against them break and fall as powerless as a straw. Others are
defended by angels in the form of men of war.

In all ages, God has wrought through holy angels for the succor and
deliverance of His people. Celestial beings have taken an active part in
the affairs of men. They have appeared clothed in garments that shone as
the lightning; they have come as men, in the garb of wayfarers. Angels
have appeared in human form to men of God. They have rested, as if weary,
under the oaks at noon. They have accepted the hospitalities of human
homes. They have acted as guides to benighted travelers. They have, with
their own hands, kindled the fires of the altar. They have opened prison
doors, and set free the servants of the Lord. Clothed with the panoply of
heaven, they came to roll away the stone from the Saviour’s tomb.

In the form of men, angels are often in the assemblies of the righteous,
and they visit the assemblies of the wicked, as they went to Sodom, to
make a record of their deeds, to determine whether they have passed the
boundary of God’s forbearance. The Lord delights in mercy; and for the
sake of a few who really serve Him, He restrains calamities, and prolongs
the tranquillity of multitudes. Little do sinners against God realize that
they are indebted for their own lives to the faithful few whom they
delight to ridicule and oppress.

Though the rulers of this world know it not, yet often in their councils
angels have been spokesmen. Human eyes have looked upon them; human ears
have listened to their appeals; human lips have opposed their suggestions
and ridiculed their counsels; human hands have met them with insult and
abuse. In the council hall and the court of justice, these heavenly
messengers have shown an intimate acquaintance with human history; they
have proved themselves better able to plead the cause of the oppressed
than were their ablest and most eloquent defenders. They have defeated
purposes and arrested evils that would have greatly retarded the work of
God, and would have caused great suffering to His people. In the hour of
peril and distress, “the angel of the Lord encampeth round about them that
fear Him, and delivereth them.”(1084)

With earnest longing, God’s people await the tokens of their coming King.
As the watchmen are accosted, “What of the night?” the answer is given
unfalteringly, “ ‘The morning cometh, and also the night.’(1085) Light is
gleaming upon the clouds above the mountain tops. Soon there will be a
revealing of His glory. The Sun of Righteousness is about to shine forth.
The morning and the night are both at hand,—the opening of endless day to
the righteous, the settling down of eternal night to the wicked.”

As the wrestling ones urge their petitions before God, the veil separating
them from the unseen seems almost withdrawn. The heavens glow with the
dawning of eternal day, and like the melody of angel songs, the words fall
upon the ear, “Stand fast to your allegiance. Help is coming.” Christ, the
almighty victor, holds out to His weary soldiers a crown of immortal
glory; and His voice comes from the gates ajar: “Lo, I am with you. Be not
afraid. I am acquainted with all your sorrows; I have borne your griefs.
You are not warring against untried enemies. I have fought the battle in
your behalf, and in My name you are more than conquerors.”

The precious Saviour will send help just when we need it. The way to
heaven is consecrated by His footprints. Every thorn that wounds our feet
has wounded His. Every cross that we are called to bear, He has borne
before us. The Lord permits conflicts, to prepare the soul for peace. The
time of trouble is a fearful ordeal for God’s people; but it is the time
for every true believer to look up, and by faith he may see the bow of
promise encircling him.

“The redeemed of the Lord shall return, and come with singing unto Zion;
and everlasting joy shall be upon their head: they shall obtain gladness
and joy; and sorrow and mourning shall flee away. I, even I, am He that
comforteth you: who art thou, that thou shouldst be afraid of a man that
shall die, and of the son of man which shall be made as grass; and
forgettest the Lord thy Maker; ... and hast feared continually every day
because of the fury of the oppressor, as if he were ready to destroy? and
where is the fury of the oppressor? The captive exile hasteneth that he
may be loosed, and that he should not die in the pit, nor that his bread
should fail. But I am the Lord thy God, that divided the sea, whose waves
roared: the Lord of hosts is His name. And I have put My words in thy
mouth, and I have covered thee in the shadow of Mine hand.”(1086)

“Therefore hear now this, thou afflicted, and drunken, but not with wine:
Thus saith thy Lord Jehovah, and thy God that pleadeth the cause of His
people, Behold, I have taken out of thine hand the cup of trembling, even
the dregs of the cup of My fury; thou shalt no more drink it again: but I
will put it into the hand of them that afflict thee; which have said to
thy soul, Bow down, that we may go over: and thou hast laid thy body as
the ground, and as the street, to them that went over.”(1087)

The eye of God, looking down the ages, was fixed upon the crisis which His
people are to meet, when earthly powers shall be arrayed against them.
Like the captive exile, they will be in fear of death by starvation or by
violence. But the Holy One who divided the Red Sea before Israel, will
manifest His mighty power and turn their captivity. “They shall be Mine,
saith the Lord of hosts, in that day when I make up My jewels; and I will
spare them, as a man spareth his own son that serveth him.”(1088) If the
blood of Christ’s faithful witnesses were shed at this time, it would not,
like the blood of the martyrs, be as seed sown to yield a harvest for God.
Their fidelity would not be a testimony to convince others of the truth;
for the obdurate heart has beaten back the waves of mercy until they
return no more. If the righteous were now left to fall a prey to their
enemies, it would be a triumph for the prince of darkness. Says the
psalmist, “In the time of trouble He shall hide me in His pavilion: in the
secret of His tabernacle shall He hide me.”(1089) Christ has spoken:
“Come, My people, enter thou into thy chambers, and shut thy doors about
thee: hide thyself as it were for a little moment, until the indignation
be overpast. For, behold, the Lord cometh out of His place to punish the
inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity.”(1090) Glorious will be the
deliverance of those who have patiently waited for His coming, and whose
names are written in the book of life.





40. GOD’S PEOPLE DELIVERED.


                     [Illustration: Chapter header.]

When the protection of human laws shall be withdrawn from those who honor
the law of God, there will be, in different lands, a simultaneous movement
for their destruction. As the time appointed in the decree draws near, the
people will conspire to root out the hated sect. It will be determined to
strike in one night a decisive blow, which shall utterly silence the voice
of dissent and reproof.

The people of God—some in prison cells, some hidden in solitary retreats
in the forests and the mountains—still plead for divine protection, while
in every quarter companies of armed men, urged on by hosts of evil angels,
are preparing for the work of death. It is now, in the hour of utmost
extremity, that the God of Israel will interpose for the deliverance of
His chosen. Saith the Lord: “Ye shall have a song, as in the night when a
holy solemnity is kept; and gladness of heart, as when one goeth ... to
come into the mountain of Jehovah, to the Mighty One of Israel. And the
Lord shall cause His glorious voice to be heard, and shall show the
lighting down of His arm, with the indignation of His anger, and with the
flame of a devouring fire, with scattering, and tempest, and
hailstones.”(1091)

With shouts of triumph, jeering, and imprecation, throngs of evil men are
about to rush upon their prey, when, lo, a dense blackness, deeper than
the darkness of the night, falls upon the earth. Then a rainbow, shining
with the glory from the throne of God, spans the heavens, and seems to
encircle each praying company. The angry multitudes are suddenly arrested.
Their mocking cries die away. The objects of their murderous rage are
forgotten. With fearful forebodings they gaze upon the symbol of God’s
covenant, and long to be shielded from its overpowering brightness.

By the people of God a voice, clear and melodious, is heard, saying, “Look
up,” and lifting their eyes to the heavens, they behold the bow of
promise. The black, angry clouds that covered the firmament are parted,
and like Stephen they look up steadfastly into heaven, and see the glory
of God, and the Son of man seated upon His throne. In His divine form they
discern the marks of His humiliation; and from His lips they hear the
request, presented before His Father and the holy angels, “I will that
they also, whom Thou hast given Me, be with Me where I am.”(1092) Again a
voice, musical and triumphant, is heard, saying: “They come! they come!
holy, harmless, and undefiled. They have kept the word of My patience;
they shall walk among the angels;” and the pale, quivering lips of those
who have held fast their faith, utter a shout of victory.

It is at midnight that God manifests His power for the deliverance of His
people. The sun appears, shining in its strength. Signs and wonders follow
in quick succession. The wicked look with terror and amazement upon the
scene, while the righteous behold with solemn joy the tokens of their
deliverance. Everything in nature seems turned out of its course. The
streams cease to flow. Dark, heavy clouds come up, and clash against each
other. In the midst of the angry heavens is one clear space of
indescribable glory, whence comes the voice of God like the sound of many
waters, saying, “It is done.”(1093)

That voice shakes the heavens and the earth. There is a mighty earthquake,
“such as was not since men were upon the earth, so mighty an earthquake,
and so great.”(1094) The firmament appears to open and shut. The glory
from the throne of God seems flashing through. The mountains shake like a
reed in the wind, and ragged rocks are scattered on every side. There is a
roar as of a coming tempest. The sea is lashed into fury. There is heard
the shriek of the hurricane, like the voice of demons upon a mission of
destruction. The whole earth heaves and swells like the waves of the sea.
Its surface is breaking up. Its very foundations seem to be giving way.
Mountain chains are sinking. Inhabited islands disappear. The seaports
that have become like Sodom for wickedness, are swallowed up by the angry
waters. Babylon the Great has come in remembrance before God, “to give
unto her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of His wrath.”(1095) Great
hailstones, every one “about the weight of a talent,” are doing their work
of destruction. The proudest cities of the earth are laid low. The lordly
palaces, upon which the world’s great men have lavished their wealth in
order to glorify themselves, are crumbling to ruin before their eyes.
Prison walls are rent asunder, and God’s people, who have been held in
bondage for their faith, are set free.

Graves are opened, and “many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth
... awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting
contempt.”(1096) All who have died in the faith of the third angel’s
message come forth from the tomb glorified, to hear God’s covenant of
peace with those who have kept His law. “They also which pierced
Him,”(1097) those that mocked and derided Christ’s dying agonies, and the
most violent opposers of His truth and His people, are raised to behold
Him in His glory, and to see the honor placed upon the loyal and obedient.

Thick clouds still cover the sky; yet the sun now and then breaks through,
appearing like the avenging eye of Jehovah. Fierce lightnings leap from
the heavens, enveloping the earth in a sheet of flame. Above the terrific
roar of thunder, voices, mysterious and awful, declare the doom of the
wicked. The words spoken are not comprehended by all; but they are
distinctly understood by the false teachers. Those who a little before
were so reckless, so boastful and defiant, so exultant in their cruelty to
God’s commandment-keeping people, are now overwhelmed with consternation,
and shuddering in fear. Their wails are heard above the sound of the
elements. Demons acknowledge the deity of Christ, and tremble before His
power, while men are supplicating for mercy, and groveling in abject
terror.

Said the prophets of old, as they beheld in holy vision the day of God:
“Howl ye; for the day of the Lord is at hand; it shall come as a
destruction from the Almighty.”(1098) “Enter into the rock, and hide thee
in the dust, for fear of the Lord, and for the glory of His majesty. The
lofty looks of man shall be humbled, and the haughtiness of men shall be
bowed down, and the Lord alone shall be exalted in that day. For the day
of the Lord of hosts shall be upon every one that is proud and lofty, and
upon every one that is lifted up; and he shall be brought low.” “In that
day a man shall cast the idols of his silver, and the idols of his gold,
which they made each one for himself to worship, to the moles and to the
bats; to go into the clefts of the rocks, and into the tops of the ragged
rocks, for fear of the Lord, and for the glory of His majesty, when He
ariseth to shake terribly the earth.”(1099)

Through a rift in the clouds, there beams a star whose brilliancy is
increased fourfold in contrast with the darkness. It speaks hope and joy
to the faithful, but severity and wrath to the transgressors of God’s law.
Those who have sacrificed all for Christ are now secure, hidden as in the
secret of the Lord’s pavilion. They have been tested, and before the world
and the despisers of truth they have evinced their fidelity to Him who
died for them. A marvelous change has come over those who have held fast
their integrity in the very face of death. They have been suddenly
delivered from the dark and terrible tyranny of men transformed to demons.
Their faces, so lately pale, anxious, and haggard, are now aglow with
wonder, faith, and love. Their voices rise in triumphant song: “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.”(1100)

While these words of holy trust ascend to God, the clouds sweep back, and
the starry heavens are seen, unspeakably glorious in contrast with the
black and angry firmament on either side. The glory of the celestial city
streams from the gates ajar. Then there appears against the sky a hand
holding two tables of stone folded together. Says the prophet, “The
heavens shall declare His righteousness: for God is judge Himself.”(1101)
That holy law, God’s righteousness, that amid thunder and flame was
proclaimed from Sinai as the guide of life, is now revealed to men as the
rule of judgment. The hand opens the tables, and there are seen the
precepts of the decalogue, traced as with a pen of fire. The words are so
plain that all can read them. Memory is aroused, the darkness of
superstition and heresy is swept from every mind, and God’s ten words,
brief, comprehensive, and authoritative, are presented to the view of all
the inhabitants of the earth.

It is impossible to describe the horror and despair of those who have
trampled upon God’s holy requirements. The Lord gave them His law; they
might have compared their characters with it, and learned their defects
while there was yet opportunity for repentance and reform; but in order to
secure the favor of the world, they set aside its precepts and taught
others to transgress. They have endeavored to compel God’s people to
profane His Sabbath. Now they are condemned by that law which they have
despised. With awful distinctness they see that they are without excuse.
They chose whom they would serve and worship. “Then shall ye return, and
discern between the righteous and the wicked, between him that serveth God
and him that serveth Him not.”(1102)

The enemies of God’s law, from the ministers down to the least among them,
have a new conception of truth and duty. Too late they see that the
Sabbath of the fourth commandment is the seal of the living God. Too late
they see the true nature of their spurious sabbath, and the sandy
foundation upon which they have been building. They find that they have
been fighting against God. Religious teachers have led souls to perdition
while professing to guide them to the gates of Paradise. Not until the day
of final accounts will it be known how great is the responsibility of men
in holy office, and how terrible are the results of their unfaithfulness.
Only in eternity can we rightly estimate the loss of a single soul.
Fearful will be the doom of him to whom God shall say, Depart, thou wicked
servant.

The voice of God is heard from heaven, declaring the day and hour of
Jesus’ coming, and delivering the everlasting covenant to His people. Like
peals of loudest thunder, His words roll through the earth. The Israel of
God stand listening, with their eyes fixed upward. Their countenances are
lighted up with His glory, and shine as did the face of Moses when he came
down from Sinai. The wicked cannot look upon them. And when the blessing
is pronounced on those who have honored God by keeping His Sabbath holy,
there is a mighty shout of victory.

Soon there appears in the east a small black cloud, about half the size of
a man’s hand. It is the cloud which surrounds the Saviour, and which seems
in the distance to be shrouded in darkness. The people of God know this to
be the sign of the Son of man. In solemn silence they gaze upon it as it
draws nearer the earth, becoming lighter and more glorious, until it is a
great white cloud, its base a glory like consuming fire, and above it the
rainbow of the covenant. Jesus rides forth as a mighty conqueror. Not now
a “man of sorrows,” to drink the bitter cup of shame and woe, He comes,
victor in heaven and earth, to judge the living and the dead. “Faithful
and true,” “in righteousness He doth judge and make war.” And “the armies
which were in heaven follow Him.”(1103) With anthems of celestial melody
the holy angels, a vast, unnumbered throng, attend Him on His way. The
firmament seems filled with radiant forms,—“ten thousand times ten
thousand, and thousands of thousands.” No human pen can portray the scene;
no mortal mind is adequate to conceive its splendor. “His glory covered
the heavens, and the earth was full of His praise. And His brightness was
as the light.”(1104) As the living cloud comes still nearer, every eye
beholds the Prince of life. No crown of thorns now mars that sacred head,
but a diadem of glory rests on His holy brow. His countenance outshines
the dazzling brightness of the noonday sun. “And He hath on His vesture
and on His thigh a name written, King of kings, and Lord of lords.”(1105)

Before His presence, “all faces are turned into paleness;” upon the
rejecters of God’s mercy falls the terror of eternal despair. “The heart
melteth, and the knees smite together,” “and the faces of them all gather
blackness.”(1106) The righteous cry with trembling, “Who shall be able to
stand?” The angels’ song is hushed, and there is a period of awful
silence. Then the voice of Jesus is heard, saying, “My grace is sufficient
for you.” The faces of the righteous are lighted up, and joy fills every
heart. And the angels strike a note higher, and sing again, as they draw
still nearer to the earth.

The King of kings descends upon the cloud, wrapped in flaming fire. The
heavens are rolled together as a scroll, the earth trembles before Him,
and every mountain and island is moved out of its place. “Our God shall
come, and shall not keep silence: a fire shall devour before Him, and it
shall be very tempestuous round about Him. He shall call to the heavens
from above, and to the earth, that He may judge His people.”(1107)

“And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the
chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every freeman,
hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains; and said to
the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of Him that
sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb: for the great day
of His wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?”(1108)

The derisive jests have ceased. Lying lips are hushed into silence. The
clash of arms, the tumult of battle, “with confused noise, and garments
rolled in blood,”(1109) is stilled. Naught now is heard but the voice of
prayer and the sound of weeping and lamentation. The cry bursts forth from
lips so lately scoffing, “The great day of His wrath is come; and who
shall be able to stand?” The wicked pray to be buried beneath the rocks of
the mountains, rather than meet the face of Him whom they have despised
and rejected.

That voice which penetrates the ear of the dead, they know. How often have
its plaintive, tender tones called them to repentance. How often has it
been heard in the touching entreaties of a friend, a brother, a Redeemer.
To the rejecters of His grace, no other could be so full of condemnation,
so burdened with denunciation, as that voice which has so long pleaded,
“Turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways; for why will ye die?”(1110) O that
it were to them the voice of a stranger! Says Jesus: “I have called, and
ye refused; I have stretched out My hand, and no man regarded; but ye have
set at naught all My counsel, and would none of My reproof.”(1111) That
voice awakens memories which they would fain blot out,—warnings despised,
invitations refused, privileges slighted.

There are those who mocked Christ in His humiliation. With thrilling power
come to their minds the Sufferer’s words, when, adjured by the high
priest, He solemnly declared, “Hereafter shall ye see the Son of man
sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of
heaven.”(1112) Now they behold Him in His glory, and they are yet to see
Him sitting on the right hand of power.

Those who derided His claim to be the Son of God are speechless now. There
is the haughty Herod who jeered at His royal title, and bade the mocking
soldiers crown Him king. There are the very men who with impious hands
placed upon His form the purple robe, upon His sacred brow the thorny
crown, and in His unresisting hand the mimic scepter, and bowed before Him
in blasphemous mockery. The men who smote and spit upon the Prince of
life, now turn from His piercing gaze, and seek to flee from the
overpowering glory of His presence. Those who drove the nails through His
hands and feet, the soldier who pierced His side, behold these marks with
terror and remorse.

With awful distinctness do priests and rulers recall the events of
Calvary. With shuddering horror they remember how, wagging their heads in
satanic exultation, they exclaimed: “He saved others; Himself He cannot
save. If He be the King of Israel, let Him now come down from the cross,
and we will believe Him. He trusted in God; let Him deliver Him now, if He
will have Him.”(1113)

Vividly they recall the Saviour’s parable of the husbandmen who refused to
render to their lord the fruit of the vineyard, who abused his servants
and slew his son. They remember, too, the sentence which they themselves
pronounced: The lord of the vineyard “will miserably destroy those wicked
men.” In the sin and punishment of those unfaithful men, the priests and
elders see their own course and their own just doom. And now there rises a
cry of mortal agony. Louder than the shout, “Crucify Him! crucify Him!”
which rang through the streets of Jerusalem, swells the awful, despairing
wail, “He is the Son of God! He is the true Messiah!” They seek to flee
from the presence of the King of kings. In the deep caverns of the earth,
rent asunder by the warring of the elements, they vainly attempt to hide.

In the lives of all who reject truth, there are moments when conscience
awakens, when memory presents the torturing recollection of a life of
hypocrisy, and the soul is harassed with vain regrets. But what are these
compared with the remorse of that day when “fear cometh as desolation,”
when “destruction cometh as a whirlwind”!(1114) Those who would have
destroyed Christ and His faithful people, now witness the glory which
rests upon them. In the midst of their terror they hear the voices of the
saints in joyful strains exclaiming, “Lo, this is our God; we have waited
for Him, and He will save us.”(1115)

Amid the reeling of the earth, the flash of lightning, and the roar of
thunder, the voice of the Son of God calls forth the sleeping saints. He
looks upon the graves of the righteous, then raising His hands to heaven
He cries, “Awake, awake, awake, ye that sleep in the dust, and arise!”
Throughout the length and breadth of the earth, the dead shall hear that
voice; and they that hear shall live. And the whole earth shall ring with
the tread of the exceeding great army of every nation, kindred, tongue,
and people. From the prison-house of death they come, clothed with
immortal glory, crying, “O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is
thy victory?”(1116) And the living righteous and the risen saints unite
their voices in a long, glad shout of victory.

All come forth from their graves the same in stature as when they entered
the tomb. Adam, who stands among the risen throng, is of lofty height and
majestic form, in stature but little below the Son of God. He presents a
marked contrast to the people of later generations; in this one respect is
shown the great degeneracy of the race. But all arise with the freshness
and vigor of eternal youth. In the beginning, man was created in the
likeness of God, not only in character, but in form and feature. Sin
defaced and almost obliterated the divine image; but Christ came to
restore that which had been lost. He will change our vile bodies, and
fashion them like unto His glorious body. The mortal, corruptible form,
devoid of comeliness, once polluted with sin, becomes perfect, beautiful,
and immortal. All blemishes and deformities are left in the grave.
Restored to the tree of life in the long-lost Eden, the redeemed will
“grow up”(1117) to the full stature of the race in its primeval glory. The
last lingering traces of the curse of sin will be removed, and Christ’s
faithful ones will appear “in the beauty of the Lord our God,” in mind and
soul and body reflecting the perfect image of their Lord. Oh, wonderful
redemption! long talked of, long hoped for, contemplated with eager
anticipation, but never fully understood.

The living righteous are changed “in a moment, in the twinkling of an
eye.” At the voice of God they were glorified; now they are made immortal,
and with the risen saints are caught up to meet their Lord in the air.
Angels “gather together the elect from the four winds, from one end of
heaven to the other.” Little children are borne by holy angels to their
mothers’ arms. Friends long separated by death are united, nevermore to
part, and with songs of gladness ascend together to the city of God.

On each side of the cloudy chariot are wings, and beneath it are living
wheels; and as the chariot rolls upward, the wheels cry, “Holy,” and the
wings, as they move, cry, “Holy,” and the retinue of angels cry, “Holy,
holy, holy, Lord God Almighty.” And the redeemed shout “Alleluia!” as the
chariot moves onward toward the New Jerusalem.

Before entering the city of God, the Saviour bestows upon His followers
the emblems of victory, and invests them with the insignia of their royal
state. The glittering ranks are drawn up, in the form of a hollow square,
about their King, whose form rises in majesty high above saint and angel,
whose countenance beams upon them full of benignant love. Throughout the
unnumbered host of the redeemed, every glance is fixed upon Him, every eye
beholds His glory whose “visage was so marred more than any man, and His
form more than the sons of men.” Upon the heads of the overcomers, Jesus
with His own right hand places the crown of glory. For each there is a
crown, bearing his own “new name,”(1118) and the inscription, “Holiness to
the Lord.” In every hand are placed the victor’s palm and the shining
harp. Then, as the commanding angels strike the note, every hand sweeps
the harp strings with skilful touch, awaking sweet music in rich,
melodious strains. Rapture unutterable thrills every heart, and each voice
is raised in grateful praise: “Unto Him that loved us, and washed us from
our sins in His own blood, and hath made us kings and priests unto God and
His Father; to Him be glory and dominion forever and ever.”(1119)

Before the ransomed throng is the holy city. Jesus opens wide the pearly
gates, and the nations that have kept the truth enter in. There they
behold the Paradise of God, the home of Adam in his innocency. Then that
voice, richer than any music that ever fell on mortal ear, is heard,
saying, “Your conflict is ended.” “Come, ye blessed of My Father, inherit
the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.”

Now is fulfilled the Saviour’s prayer for His disciples, “I will that they
also whom Thou hast given Me be with Me where I am.” “Faultless before the
presence of His glory with exceeding joy,”(1120) Christ presents to the
Father the purchase of His blood, declaring, “Here am I, and the children
whom Thou hast given Me.” “Those that Thou gavest Me I have kept.” Oh, the
wonders of redeeming love! the rapture of that hour when the infinite
Father, looking upon the ransomed, shall behold His image, sin’s discord
banished, its blight removed, and the human once more in harmony with the
divine!

With unutterable love, Jesus welcomes His faithful ones to the “joy of
their Lord.” The Saviour’s joy is in seeing, in the kingdom of glory, the
souls that have been saved by His agony and humiliation. And the redeemed
will be sharers in His joy, as they behold, among the blessed, those who
have been won to Christ through their prayers, their labors, and their
loving sacrifice. As they gather about the great white throne, gladness
unspeakable will fill their hearts, when they behold those whom they have
won for Christ, and see that one has gained others, and these still
others, all brought into the haven of rest, there to lay their crowns at
Jesus’ feet, and praise Him through the endless cycles of eternity.

As the ransomed ones are welcomed to the city of God, there rings out upon
the air an exultant cry of adoration. The two Adams are about to meet. The
Son of God is standing with outstretched arms to receive the father of our
race,—the being whom He created, who sinned against his Maker, and for
whose sin the marks of the crucifixion are borne upon the Saviour’s form.
As Adam discerns the prints of the cruel nails, he does not fall upon the
bosom of his Lord, but in humiliation casts himself at His feet, crying,
“Worthy, worthy is the Lamb that was slain!” Tenderly the Saviour lifts
him up, and bids him look once more upon the Eden home from which he has
so long been exiled.

After his expulsion from Eden, Adam’s life on earth was filled with
sorrow. Every dying leaf, every victim of sacrifice, every blight upon the
fair face of nature, every stain upon man’s purity, was a fresh reminder
of his sin. Terrible was the agony of remorse as he beheld iniquity
abounding, and, in answer to his warnings, met the reproaches cast upon
himself as the cause of sin. With patient humility he bore, for nearly a
thousand years, the penalty of transgression. Faithfully did he repent of
his sin, and trust in the merits of the promised Saviour, and he died in
the hope of a resurrection. The Son of God redeemed man’s failure and
fall; and now, through the work of the atonement, Adam is re-instated in
his first dominion.

Transported with joy, he beholds the trees that were once his delight,—the
very trees whose fruit he himself had gathered in the days of his
innocence and joy. He sees the vines that his own hands have trained, the
very flowers that he once loved to care for. His mind grasps the reality
of the scene; he comprehends that this is indeed Eden restored, more
lovely now than when he was banished from it. The Saviour leads him to the
tree of life, and plucks the glorious fruit, and bids him eat. He looks
about him, and beholds a multitude of his family redeemed, standing in the
Paradise of God. Then he casts his glittering crown at the feet of Jesus,
and falling upon His breast, embraces the Redeemer. He touches the golden
harp, and the vaults of heaven echo the triumphant song, “Worthy, worthy,
worthy is the Lamb that was slain, and lives again!” The family of Adam
take up the strain, and cast their crowns at the Saviour’s feet as they
bow before Him in adoration.

This reunion is witnessed by the angels who wept at the fall of Adam, and
rejoiced when Jesus, after His resurrection, ascended to heaven, having
opened the grave for all who should believe on His name. Now they behold
the work of redemption accomplished, and they unite their voices in the
song of praise.

Upon the crystal sea before the throne, that sea of glass as it were
mingled with fire,—so resplendent is it with the glory of God,—are
gathered the company that have “gotten the victory over the beast, and
over his image, and over his mark, and over the number of his name.”(1121)
With the Lamb upon Mount Zion, “having the harps of God,” they stand, the
hundred and forty and four thousand that were redeemed from among men; and
there is heard, as the sound of many waters, and as the sound of a great
thunder, “the voice of harpers harping with their harps.”(1122) And they
sing “a new song” before the throne, a song which no man can learn save
the hundred and forty and four thousand. It is the song of Moses and the
Lamb,—a song of deliverance. None but the hundred and forty-four thousand
can learn that song; for it is the song of their experience,—an experience
such as no other company have ever had. “These are they which follow the
Lamb whithersoever He goeth.” These, having been translated from the
earth, from among the living, are counted as “the first-fruits unto God
and to the Lamb.”(1123) “These are they which came out of great
tribulation;”(1124) they have passed through the time of trouble such as
never was since there was a nation; they have endured the anguish of the
time of Jacob’s trouble; they have stood without an intercessor through
the final outpouring of God’s judgments. But they have been delivered, for
they have “washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the
Lamb.” “In their mouth was found no guile: for they are without fault”
before God. “Therefore are they before the throne of God, and serve Him
day and night in His temple: and He that sitteth on the throne shall dwell
among them.”(1125) They have seen the earth wasted with famine and
pestilence, the sun having power to scorch men with great heat, and they
themselves have endured suffering, hunger, and thirst. But “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.”(1126)

In all ages the Saviour’s chosen have been educated and disciplined in the
school of trial. They walked in narrow paths on earth; they were purified
in the furnace of affliction. For Jesus’ sake they endured opposition,
hatred, calumny. They followed Him through conflicts sore; they endured
self-denial and experienced bitter disappointments. By their own painful
experience they learned the evil of sin, its power, its guilt, its woe;
and they look upon it with abhorrence. A sense of the infinite sacrifice
made for its cure, humbles them in their own sight, and fills their hearts
with gratitude and praise which those who have never fallen cannot
appreciate. They love much, because they have been forgiven much. Having
been partakers of Christ’s sufferings, they are fitted to be partakers
with Him of His glory.

The heirs of God have come from garrets, from hovels, from dungeons, from
scaffolds, from mountains, from deserts, from the caves of the earth, from
the caverns of the sea. On earth they were “destitute, afflicted,
tormented.” Millions went down to the grave loaded with infamy, because
they steadfastly refused to yield to the deceptive claims of Satan. By
human tribunals they were adjudged the vilest of criminals. But now “God
is judge Himself.”(1127) Now the decisions of earth are reversed. “The
rebuke of His people shall He take away.”(1128) “They shall call them, The
holy people, The redeemed of the Lord.” He hath appointed “to give unto
them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise
for the spirit of heaviness.”(1129) They are no longer feeble, afflicted,
scattered, and oppressed. Henceforth they are to be ever with the Lord.
They stand before the throne clad in richer robes than the most honored of
the earth have ever worn. They are crowned with diadems more glorious than
were ever placed upon the brow of earthly monarchs. The days of pain and
weeping are forever ended. The King of glory has wiped the tears from all
faces; every cause of grief has been removed. Amid the waving of
palm-branches they pour forth a song of praise, clear, sweet, and
harmonious; every voice takes up the strain, until the anthem swells
through the vaults of heaven, “Salvation to our God which sitteth upon the
throne, and unto the Lamb.” And all the inhabitants of heaven respond in
the ascription, “Amen: Blessing, and glory, and wisdom, and thanksgiving,
and honor, and power, and might, be unto our God forever and ever.”(1130)

In this life we can only begin to understand the wonderful theme of
redemption. With our finite comprehension we may consider most earnestly
the shame and the glory, the life and the death, the justice and the
mercy, that meet in the cross; yet with the utmost stretch of our mental
powers we fail to grasp its full significance. The length and the breadth,
the depth and the height, of redeeming love are but dimly comprehended.
The plan of redemption will not be fully understood, even when the
ransomed see as they are seen and know as they are known; but through the
eternal ages, new truth will continually unfold to the wondering and
delighted mind. Though the griefs and pains and temptations of earth are
ended, and the cause removed, the people of God will ever have a distinct,
intelligent knowledge of what their salvation has cost.

The cross of Christ will be the science and the song of the redeemed
through all eternity. In Christ glorified they will behold Christ
crucified. Never will it be forgotten that He whose power created and
upheld the unnumbered worlds through the vast realms of space, the Beloved
of God, the Majesty of heaven, He whom cherub and shining seraph delighted
to adore,—humbled Himself to uplift fallen man; that He bore the guilt and
shame of sin, and the hiding of His Father’s face, till the woes of a lost
world broke His heart, and crushed out His life on Calvary’s cross. That
the Maker of all worlds, the Arbiter of all destinies, should lay aside
His glory, and humiliate Himself from love to man, will ever excite the
wonder and adoration of the universe. As the nations of the saved look
upon their Redeemer, and behold the eternal glory of the Father shining in
His countenance; as they behold His throne, which is from everlasting to
everlasting, and know that His kingdom is to have no end, they break forth
in rapturous song, “Worthy, worthy is the Lamb that was slain, and hath
redeemed us to God by His own most precious blood!”

The mystery of the cross explains all other mysteries. In the light that
streams from Calvary, the attributes of God which had filled us with fear
and awe appear beautiful and attractive. Mercy, tenderness, and parental
love are seen to blend with holiness, justice, and power. While we behold
the majesty of His throne, high and lifted up, we see His character in its
gracious manifestations, and comprehend, as never before, the significance
of that endearing title, “Our Father.”

It will be seen that He who is infinite in wisdom could devise no plan for
our salvation except the sacrifice of His Son. The compensation for this
sacrifice is the joy of peopling the earth with ransomed beings, holy,
happy, and immortal. The result of the Saviour’s conflict with the powers
of darkness is joy to the redeemed, redounding to the glory of God
throughout eternity. And such is the value of the soul that the Father is
satisfied with the price paid; and Christ Himself, beholding the fruits of
His great sacrifice, is satisfied.





41. DESOLATION OF THE EARTH.


                     [Illustration: Chapter header.]

“Her sins have reached unto heaven, and God hath remembered her
iniquities.” “In the cup which she hath filled, fill to her double. How
much she hath glorified herself, and lived deliciously, so much torment
and sorrow give her: for she saith in her heart, I sit a queen, and am no
widow, and shall see no sorrow. Therefore shall her plagues come in one
day, death, and mourning, and famine; and she shall be utterly burned with
fire: for strong is the Lord God who judgeth her. And the kings of the
earth, who have committed fornication and lived deliciously with her,
shall bewail her, and lament for her, ... saying, Alas, alas that great
city Babylon, that mighty city! for in one hour is thy judgment
come.”(1131)

“The merchants of the earth,” that have “waxed rich through the abundance
of her delicacies,” “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.”(1132)

Such are the judgments that fall upon Babylon in the day of the visitation
of God’s wrath. She has filled up the measure of her iniquity; her time
has come; she is ripe for destruction.

When the voice of God turns the captivity of His people, there is a
terrible awakening of those who have lost all in the great conflict of
life. While probation continued they were blinded by Satan’s deceptions,
and they justified their course of sin. The rich prided themselves upon
their superiority to those who were less favored; but they had obtained
their riches by violation of the law of God. They had neglected to feed
the hungry, to clothe the naked, to deal justly, and to love mercy. They
had sought to exalt themselves, and to obtain the homage of their
fellow-creatures. Now they are stripped of all that made them great, and
are left destitute and defenseless. They look with terror upon the
destruction of the idols which they preferred before their Maker. They
have sold their souls for earthly riches and enjoyments, and have not
sought to become rich toward God. The result is, their lives are a
failure; their pleasures are now turned to gall, their treasures to
corruption. The gain of a lifetime is swept away in a moment. The rich
bemoan the destruction of their grand houses, the scattering of their gold
and silver. But their lamentations are silenced by the fear that they
themselves are to perish with their idols.

The wicked are filled with regret, not because of their sinful neglect of
God and their fellow-men, but because God has conquered. They lament that
the result is what it is; but they do not repent of their wickedness. They
would leave no means untried to conquer if they could.

The world see the very class whom they have mocked and derided, and
desired to exterminate, pass unharmed through pestilence, tempest, and
earthquake. He who is to the transgressors of His law a devouring fire, is
to His people a safe pavilion.

The minister who has sacrificed truth to gain the favor of men, now
discerns the character and influence of his teachings. It is apparent that
the omniscient eye was following him as he stood in the desk, as he walked
the streets, as he mingled with men in the various scenes of life. Every
emotion of the soul, every line written, every word uttered, every act
that led men to rest in a refuge of falsehood, has been scattering seed;
and now, in the wretched, lost souls around him, he beholds the harvest.

Saith the Lord: “They have healed the hurt of the daughter of My people
slightly, saying, Peace, peace; when there is no peace.” “With lies ye
have made the heart of the righteous sad, whom I have not made sad; and
strengthened the hands of the wicked, that he should not return from his
wicked way, by promising him life.”(1133)

“Woe be unto the pastors that destroy and scatter the sheep of My
pasture!... Behold, I will visit upon you the evil of your doings.” “Howl,
ye shepherds, and cry; and wallow yourselves in the ashes, ye principal of
the flock: for your days for slaughter and your dispersions are
accomplished; ... and the shepherds shall have no way to flee, nor the
principal of the flock to escape.”(1134)

Ministers and people see that they have not sustained the right relation
to God. They see that they have rebelled against the Author of all just
and righteous law. The setting aside of the divine precepts gave rise to
thousands of springs of evil, discord, hatred, iniquity, until the earth
became one vast field of strife, one sink of corruption. This is the view
that now appears to those who rejected truth and chose to cherish error.
No language can express the longing which the disobedient and disloyal
feel for that which they have lost forever,—eternal life. Men whom the
world has worshiped for their talents and eloquence now see these things
in their true light. They realize what they have forfeited by
transgression, and they fall at the feet of those whose fidelity they have
despised and derided, and confess that God has loved them.

The people see that they have been deluded. They accuse one another of
having led them to destruction; but all unite in heaping their bitterest
condemnation upon the ministers. Unfaithful pastors have prophesied smooth
things; they have led their hearers to make void the law of God and to
persecute those who would keep it holy. Now, in their despair, these
teachers confess before the world their work of deception. The multitudes
are filled with fury. “We are lost!” they cry, “and you are the cause of
our ruin;” and they turn upon the false shepherds. The very ones that once
admired them most, will pronounce the most dreadful curses upon them. The
very hands that once crowned them with laurels, will be raised for their
destruction. The swords which were to slay God’s people, are now employed
to destroy their enemies. Everywhere there is strife and bloodshed.

“A noise shall come even to the ends of the earth; for the Lord hath a
controversy with the nations, He will plead with all flesh; He will give
them that are wicked to the sword.”(1135) For six thousand years the great
controversy has been in progress; the Son of God and His heavenly
messengers have been in conflict with the power of the evil one, to warn,
enlighten, and save the children of men. Now all have made their decision;
the wicked have fully united with Satan in his warfare against God. The
time has come for God to vindicate the authority of His downtrodden law.
Now the controversy is not alone with Satan, but with men. “The Lord hath
a controversy with the nations;” “He will give them that are wicked to the
sword.”

The mark of deliverance has been set upon those “that sigh and that cry
for all the abominations that be done.” Now the angel of death goes forth,
represented in Ezekiel’s vision by the men with the slaughtering weapons,
to whom the command is given: “Slay utterly old and young, both maids, and
little children, and women: but come not near any man upon whom is the
mark; and begin at My sanctuary.”(1136) Says the prophet, “They began at
the ancient men which were before the house.”(1137) The work of
destruction begins among those who have professed to be the spiritual
guardians of the people. The false watchmen are the first to fall. There
are none to pity or to spare. Men, women, maidens, and little children
perish together.

“The Lord cometh out of His place to punish the inhabitants of the earth
for their iniquity: the earth also shall disclose her blood, and shall no
more cover her slain.”(1138) “And this shall be the plague wherewith the
Lord will smite all the people that have fought against Jerusalem: Their
flesh shall consume away while they stand upon their feet, and their eyes
shall consume away in their holes, and their tongue shall consume away in
their mouth. And it shall come to pass in that day, that a great tumult
from the Lord shall be among them; and they shall lay hold every one on
the hand of his neighbor, and his hand shall rise up against the hand of
his neighbor.”(1139) In the mad strife of their own fierce passions, and
by the awful outpouring of God’s unmingled wrath, fall the wicked
inhabitants of the earth,—priests, rulers, and people, rich and poor, high
and low. “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.”(1140)

At the coming of Christ the wicked are blotted from the face of the whole
earth,—consumed with the spirit of His mouth, and destroyed by the
brightness of His glory. Christ takes His people to the city of God, and
the earth is emptied of its inhabitants. “Behold, the Lord maketh the
earth empty, and maketh it waste, and turneth it upside down, and
scattereth abroad the inhabitants thereof.” “The land shall be utterly
emptied, and utterly spoiled: for the Lord hath spoken this word.”
“Because they have transgressed the laws, changed the ordinance, broken
the everlasting covenant. Therefore hath the curse devoured the earth, and
they that dwell therein are desolate: therefore the inhabitants of the
earth are burned.”(1141)

The whole earth appears like a desolate wilderness. The ruins of cities
and villages destroyed by the earthquake, uprooted trees, ragged rocks
thrown out by the sea or torn out of the earth itself, are scattered over
its surface, while vast caverns mark the spot where the mountains have
been rent from their foundations.

Now the event takes place, foreshadowed in the last solemn service of the
day of atonement. When the ministration in the holy of holies had been
completed, and the sins of Israel had been removed from the sanctuary by
virtue of the blood of the sin-offering, then the scapegoat was presented
alive before the Lord; and in presence of the congregation the high priest
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.”(1142) In like manner, when the work of atonement in the heavenly
sanctuary has been completed, then in the presence of God and heavenly
angels, and the host of the redeemed, the sins of God’s people will be
placed upon Satan; he will be declared guilty of all the evil which he has
caused them to commit. And as the scapegoat was sent away into a land not
inhabited, so Satan will be banished to the desolate earth, an uninhabited
and dreary wilderness.

The revelator foretells the banishment of Satan, and the condition of
chaos and desolation to which the earth is to be reduced; and he declares
that this condition will exist for a thousand years. After presenting the
scenes of the Lord’s second coming and the destruction of the wicked, the
prophecy continues: “I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key
of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. And he laid hold on
the dragon, that old serpent, which is the devil, and Satan, and bound him
a thousand years, and cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up,
and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till
the thousand years should be fulfilled: and after that he must be loosed a
little season.”(1143)

That the expression “bottomless pit” represents the earth in a state of
confusion and darkness, is evident from other scriptures. Concerning the
condition of the earth “in the beginning,” the Bible record says that it
“was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the
deep.”(1144) Prophecy teaches that it will be brought back, partially at
least, to this condition. Looking forward to the great day of God, the
prophet Jeremiah declares: “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.”(1145)

Here is to be the home of Satan with his evil angels for a thousand years.
Limited to the earth, he will not have access to other worlds, to tempt
and annoy those who have never fallen. It is in this sense that he is
bound: there are none remaining, upon whom he can exercise his power. He
is wholly cut off from the work of deception and ruin which for so many
centuries has been his sole delight.

The prophet Isaiah, looking forward to the time of Satan’s overthrow,
exclaims: “How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning!
how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations!...
Thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my
throne above the stars of God.” “I will be like the Most High. Yet thou
shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit. They that see thee
shall narrowly look upon thee, and consider thee, saying, Is this the man
that made the earth to tremble, that did shake kingdoms; that made the
world as a wilderness, and destroyed the cities thereof; that _opened not
the house of his prisoners_?”(1146)

For six thousand years, Satan’s work of rebellion has “made the earth to
tremble.” He has “made the world as a wilderness, and destroyed the cities
thereof.” And “he opened not the house of his prisoners.” For six thousand
years his prison-house has received God’s people, and he would have held
them captive forever, but Christ has broken his bonds, and set the
prisoners free.

Even the wicked are now placed beyond the power of Satan; and alone with
his evil angels he remains to realize the effect of the curse which sin
has brought. “The kings of the nations, even all of them, lie in glory,
every one in his own house [the grave]. But thou art cast out of thy grave
like an abominable branch.... Thou shalt not be joined with them in
burial, because thou hast destroyed thy land, and slain thy people.”(1147)

For a thousand years, Satan will wander to and fro in the desolate earth,
to behold the results of his rebellion against the law of God. During this
time his sufferings are intense. Since his fall, his life of unceasing
activity has banished reflection; but he is now deprived of his power, and
left to contemplate the part which he has acted since first he rebelled
against the government of heaven, and to look forward with trembling and
terror to the dreadful future, when he must suffer for all the evil that
he has done, and be punished for the sins that he has caused to be
committed.

To God’s people, the captivity of Satan will bring gladness and rejoicing.
Says the prophet: “It shall come to pass in the day that the Lord shall
give thee rest from thy sorrow, and from thy trouble, and from the hard
service wherein thou wast made to serve, that thou shalt take up this
proverb against the king of Babylon [here representing Satan], and say,
How hath the oppressor ceased!... The Lord hath broken the staff of the
wicked, the scepter of the rulers; that smote the peoples in wrath with a
continual stroke, that ruled the nations in anger, with a persecution that
none restrained.”(1148)

During the thousand years between the first and the second resurrection,
the judgment of the wicked takes place. The apostle Paul points to this
judgment as an event that follows the second advent. “Judge nothing before
the time, until the Lord come, who both will bring to light the hidden
things of darkness, and will make manifest the counsels of the
hearts.”(1149) Daniel declares that when the Ancient of days came,
“judgment was given to the saints of the Most High.”(1150) At this time
the righteous reign as kings and priests unto God. John in the Revelation
says: “I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto
them.” “They shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with
Him a thousand years.”(1151) It is at this time that, as foretold by Paul,
“the saints shall judge the world.”(1152) In union with Christ they judge
the wicked, comparing their acts with the statute-book, the Bible, and
deciding every case according to the deeds done in the body. Then the
portion which the wicked must suffer is meted out, according to their
works; and it is recorded against their names in the book of death.

Satan also and evil angels are judged by Christ and His people. Says Paul,
“Know ye not that we shall judge angel?”(1153) And Jude declares that “the
angels which kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation,
He hath reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgment of
the great day.”(1154)

At the close of the thousand years the second resurrection will take
place. Then the wicked will be raised from the dead, and appear before God
for the execution of “the judgment written.” Thus the revelator, after
describing the resurrection of the righteous, says, “The rest of the dead
lived not again until the thousand years were finished.”(1155) And Isaiah
declares, concerning the wicked, “They shall be gathered together, as
prisoners are gathered in the pit, and shall be shut up in the prison, and
_after many days shall they be visited_.”(1156)





42. THE CONTROVERSY ENDED.


                     [Illustration: Chapter header.]

At the close of the thousand years, Christ again returns to the earth. He
is accompanied by the host of the redeemed, and attended by a retinue of
angels. As He descends in terrific majesty, He bids the wicked dead arise
to receive their doom. They come forth, a mighty host, numberless as the
sands of the sea. What a contrast to those who were raised at the first
resurrection! The righteous were clothed with immortal youth and beauty.
The wicked bear the traces of disease and death.

Every eye in that vast multitude is turned to behold the glory of the Son
of God. With one voice the wicked hosts exclaim, “Blessed is He that
cometh in the name of the Lord!” It is not love to Jesus that inspires
this utterance. The force of truth urges the words from unwilling lips. As
the wicked went into their graves, so they come forth, with the same
enmity to Christ, and the same spirit of rebellion. They are to have no
new probation, in which to remedy the defects of their past lives. Nothing
would be gained by this. A lifetime of transgression has not softened
their hearts. A second probation, were it given them, would be occupied as
was the first, in evading the requirements of God and exciting rebellion
against Him.

Christ descends upon the Mount of Olives, whence, after His resurrection,
He ascended, and where angels repeated the promise of His return. Says the
prophet: “The Lord my God shall come, and all the saints with Thee.” “And
His feet shall stand in that day upon the Mount of Olives, which is before
Jerusalem on the east, and the Mount of Olives shall cleave in the midst
thereof, ... and there shall be a very great valley.” “And the Lord shall
be king over all the earth: in that day shall there be one Lord, and His
name one.”(1157) As the New Jerusalem, in its dazzling splendor, comes
down out of heaven, it rests upon the place purified and made ready to
receive it, and Christ, with His people and the angels, enters the holy
city.

Now Satan prepares for a last mighty struggle for the supremacy. While
deprived of his power, and cut off from his work of deception, the prince
of evil was miserable and dejected: but as the wicked dead are raised, and
he sees the vast multitudes upon his side, his hopes revive, and he
determines not to yield the great controversy. He will marshal all the
armies of the lost under his banner, and through them endeavor to execute
his plans. The wicked are Satan’s captives. In rejecting Christ they have
accepted the rule of the rebel leader. They are ready to receive his
suggestions and to do his bidding. Yet, true to his early cunning, he does
not acknowledge himself to be Satan. He claims to be the prince who is the
rightful owner of the world, and whose inheritance has been unlawfully
wrested from him. He represents himself to his deluded subjects as a
redeemer, assuring them that his power has brought them forth from their
graves, and that he is about to rescue them from the most cruel tyranny.
The presence of Christ having been removed, Satan works wonders to support
his claims. He makes the weak strong, and inspires all with his own spirit
and energy. He proposes to lead them against the camp of the saints, and
to take possession of the city of God. With fiendish exultation he points
to the unnumbered millions who have been raised from the dead, and
declares that as their leader he is well able to overthrow the city, and
regain his throne and his kingdom.

In that vast throng are multitudes of the long-lived race that existed
before the flood; men of lofty stature and giant intellect, who, yielding
to the control of fallen angels, devoted all their skill and knowledge to
the exaltation of themselves; men whose wonderful works of art led the
world to idolize their genius, but whose cruelty and evil inventions,
defiling the earth and defacing the image of God, caused Him to blot them
from the face of His creation. There are kings and generals who conquered
nations, valiant men who never lost a battle, proud, ambitious warriors
whose approach made kingdoms tremble. In death these experienced no
change. As they come up from the grave, they resume the current of their
thoughts just where it ceased. They are actuated by the same desire to
conquer that ruled them when they fell.

Satan consults with his angels, and then with these kings and conquerors
and mighty men. They look upon the strength and numbers on their side, and
declare that the army within the city is small in comparison with theirs,
and that it can be overcome. They lay their plans to take possession of
the riches and glory of the New Jerusalem. All immediately begin to
prepare for battle. Skilful artisans construct implements of war. Military
leaders, famed for their success, marshal the throngs of warlike men into
companies and divisions.

At last the order to advance is given, and the countless host moves on,—an
army such as was never summoned by earthly conquerors, such as the
combined forces of all ages since war began on earth could never equal.
Satan, the mightiest of warriors, leads the van, and his angels unite
their forces for this final struggle. Kings and warriors are in his train,
and the multitudes follow in vast companies, each under its appointed
leader. With military precision, the serried ranks advance over the
earth’s broken and uneven surface to the city of God. By command of Jesus,
the gates of the New Jerusalem are closed, and the armies of Satan
surround the city, and make ready for the onset.

Now Christ again appears to the view of His enemies. Far above the city,
upon a foundation of burnished gold, is a throne, high and lifted up. Upon
this throne sits the Son of God, and around Him are the subjects of His
kingdom. The power and majesty of Christ no language can describe, no pen
portray. The glory of the Eternal Father is enshrouding His Son. The
brightness of His presence fills the city of God, and flows out beyond the
gates, flooding the whole earth with its radiance.

Nearest the throne are those who were once zealous in the cause of Satan,
but who, plucked as brands from the burning, have followed their Saviour
with deep, intense devotion. Next are those who perfected Christian
characters in the midst of falsehood and infidelity, those who honored the
law of God when the Christian world declared it void, and the millions, of
all ages, who were martyred for their faith. And beyond is the “great
multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and
people, and tongues, ... before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed
with white robes, and palms in their hands.”(1158) Their warfare is ended,
their victory won. They have run the race and reached the prize. The palm
branch in their hands is a symbol of their triumph, the white robe an
emblem of the spotless righteousness of Christ which now is theirs.

The redeemed raise a song of praise that echoes and re-echoes through the
vaults of heaven, “Salvation to our God which sitteth upon the throne, and
unto the Lamb.” And angel and seraph unite their voices in adoration. As
the redeemed have beheld the power and malignity of Satan, they have seen,
as never before, that no power but that of Christ could have made them
conquerors. In all that shining throng there are none to ascribe salvation
to themselves, as if they had prevailed by their own power and goodness.
Nothing is said of what they have done or suffered; but the burden of
every song, the keynote of every anthem, is, Salvation to our God, and
unto the Lamb.

In the presence of the assembled inhabitants of earth and heaven the final
coronation of the Son of God takes place. And now, invested with supreme
majesty and power, the King of kings pronounces sentence upon the rebels
against His government, and executes justice upon those who have
transgressed His law and oppressed His people. Says the prophet of God: “I
saw a great white throne, and Him that sat on it, from whose face the
earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them. And
I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were
opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the
dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books,
according to their works.”(1159)

As soon as the books of record are opened, and the eye of Jesus looks upon
the wicked, they are conscious of every sin which they have ever
committed. They see just where their feet diverged from the path of purity
and holiness, just how far pride and rebellion have carried them in the
violation of the law of God. The seductive temptations which they
encouraged by indulgence in sin, the blessings perverted, the messengers
of God despised, the warnings rejected, the waves of mercy beaten back by
the stubborn, unrepentant heart,—all appear as if written in letters of
fire.

Above the throne is revealed the cross; and like a panoramic view appear
the scenes of Adam’s temptation and fall, and the successive steps in the
great plan of redemption. The Saviour’s lowly birth; His early life of
simplicity and obedience; His baptism in Jordan; the fast and temptation
in the wilderness; His public ministry, unfolding to men heaven’s most
precious blessings; the days crowded with deeds of love and mercy, the
nights of prayer and watching in the solitude of the mountains; the
plottings of envy, hate, and malice which repaid His benefits; the awful,
mysterious agony in Gethsemane, beneath the crushing weight of the sins of
the whole world; His betrayal into the hands of the murderous mob; the
fearful events of that night of horror,—the unresisting prisoner, forsaken
by His best-loved disciples, rudely hurried through the streets of
Jerusalem; the Son of God exultingly displayed before Annas, arraigned in
the high priest’s palace, in the judgment-hall of Pilate, before the
cowardly and cruel Herod, mocked, insulted, tortured, and condemned to
die,—all are vividly portrayed.

And now before the swaying multitude are revealed the final scenes,—the
patient Sufferer treading the path to Calvary; the Prince of heaven
hanging upon the cross; the haughty priests and the jeering rabble
deriding His expiring agony; the supernatural darkness; the heaving earth,
the rent rocks, the open graves, marking the moment when the world’s
Redeemer yielded up His life.

The awful spectacle appears just as it was. Satan, his angels, and his
subjects have no power to turn from the picture of their own work. Each
actor recalls the part which he performed. Herod, who slew the innocent
children of Bethlehem that he might destroy the King of Israel; the base
Herodias, upon whose guilty soul rests the blood of John the Baptist; the
weak, time-serving Pilate; the mocking soldiers; the priests and rulers
and the maddened throng who cried, “His blood be on us, and on our
children!”—all behold the enormity of their guilt. They vainly seek to
hide from the divine majesty of His countenance, outshining the glory of
the sun, while the redeemed cast their crowns at the Saviour’s feet,
exclaiming, “He died for me!”

Amid the ransomed throng are the apostles of Christ, the heroic Paul, the
ardent Peter, the loved and loving John, and their true-hearted brethren,
and with them the vast host of martyrs; while outside the walls, with
every vile and abominable thing, are those by whom they were persecuted,
imprisoned, and slain. There is Nero, that monster of cruelty and vice,
beholding the joy and exaltation of those whom he once tortured, and in
whose extremest anguish he found satanic delight. His mother is there to
witness the result of her own work; to see how the evil stamp of character
transmitted to her son, the passions encouraged and developed by her
influence and example, have borne fruit in crimes that caused the world to
shudder.

There are papist priests and prelates, who claimed to be Christ’s
ambassadors, yet employed the rack, the dungeon, and the stake to control
the consciences of His people. There are the proud pontiffs who exalted
themselves above God, and presumed to change the law of the Most High.
Those pretended fathers of the church have an account to render to God
from which they would fain be excused. Too late they are made to see that
the Omniscient One is jealous of His law, and that He will in no wise
clear the guilty. They learn now that Christ identifies His interest with
that of His suffering people; and they feel the force of His own words,
“Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these My brethren,
ye have done it unto Me.”(1160)

The whole wicked world stand arraigned at the bar of God, on the charge of
high treason against the government of heaven. They have none to plead
their cause; they are without excuse; and the sentence of eternal death is
pronounced against them.

It is now evident to all that the wages of sin is not noble independence
and eternal life, but slavery, ruin, and death. The wicked see what they
have forfeited by their life of rebellion. The far more exceeding and
eternal weight of glory was despised when offered them; but how desirable
it now appears. “All this,” cries the lost soul, “I might have had; but I
chose to put these things far from me. Oh, strange infatuation! I have
exchanged peace, happiness, and honor, for wretchedness, infamy, and
despair.” All see that their exclusion from heaven is just. By their lives
they have declared, “We will not have this Jesus to reign over us.”

As if entranced, the wicked have looked upon the coronation of the Son of
God. They see in His hands the tables of the divine law, the statutes
which they have despised and transgressed. They witness the outburst of
wonder, rapture, and adoration from the saved; and as the wave of melody
sweeps over the multitudes without the city, all with one voice exclaim,
“Great and marvelous are Thy works, Lord God Almighty; just and true are
Thy ways, Thou King of saints;”(1161) and falling prostrate, they worship
the Prince of life.

Satan seems paralyzed as he beholds the glory and majesty of Christ. He
who was once a covering cherub remembers whence he has fallen. A shining
seraph, “son of the morning;” how changed, how degraded! From the council
where once he was honored, he is forever excluded. He sees another now
standing near to the Father, veiling His glory. He has seen the crown
placed upon the head of Christ by an angel of lofty stature and majestic
presence, and he knows that the exalted position of this angel might have
been his.

Memory recalls the home of his innocence and purity, the peace and content
that were his until he indulged in murmuring against God, and envy of
Christ. His accusations, his rebellion, his deceptions to gain the
sympathy and support of the angels, his stubborn persistence in making no
effort for self-recovery when God would have granted him forgiveness,—all
come vividly before him. He reviews his work among men and its
results,—the enmity of man toward his fellow-man, the terrible destruction
of life, the rise and fall of kingdoms, the overturning of thrones, the
long succession of tumults, conflicts, and revolutions. He recalls his
constant efforts to oppose the work of Christ and to sink man lower and
lower. He sees that his hellish plots have been powerless to destroy those
who have put their trust in Jesus. As Satan looks upon his kingdom, the
fruit of his toil, he sees only failure and ruin. He has led the
multitudes to believe that the city of God would be an easy prey; but he
knows that this is false. Again and again, in the progress of the great
controversy, he has been defeated, and compelled to yield. He knows too
well the power and majesty of the Eternal.

The aim of the great rebel has ever been to justify himself, and to prove
the divine government responsible for the rebellion. To this end he has
bent all the power of his giant intellect. He has worked deliberately and
systematically, and with marvelous success, leading vast multitudes to
accept his version of the great controversy which has been so long in
progress. For thousands of years this chief of conspiracy has palmed off
falsehood for truth. But the time has now come when the rebellion is to be
finally defeated, and the history and character of Satan disclosed. In his
last great effort to dethrone Christ, destroy His people, and take
possession of the city of God, the arch-deceiver has been fully unmasked.
Those who have united with him see the total failure of his cause.
Christ’s followers and the loyal angels behold the full extent of his
machinations against the government of God. He is the object of universal
abhorrence.

Satan sees that his voluntary rebellion has unfitted him for heaven. He
has trained his powers to war against God: the purity, peace, and harmony
of heaven would be to him supreme torture. His accusations against the
mercy and justice of God are now silenced. The reproach which he has
endeavored to cast upon Jehovah rests wholly upon himself. And now Satan
bows down, and confesses the justice of his sentence.

“Who shall not fear Thee, O Lord, and glorify Thy name? for Thou only art
holy: for all nations shall come and worship before Thee; for Thy
judgments are made manifest.”(1162) Every question of truth and error in
the long-standing controversy has now been made plain. The results of
rebellion, the fruits of setting aside the divine statutes, have been laid
open to the view of all created intelligences. The working out of Satan’s
rule in contrast with the government of God, has been presented to the
whole universe. Satan’s own works have condemned him. God’s wisdom, His
justice, and His goodness stand fully vindicated. It is seen that all His
dealings in the great controversy have been conducted with respect to the
eternal good of His people, and the good of all the worlds that He has
created. “All Thy works shall praise Thee, O Lord; and Thy saints shall
bless Thee.”(1163) The history of sin will stand to all eternity as a
witness that with the existence of God’s law is bound up the happiness of
all the beings He has created. With all the facts of the great controversy
in view, the whole universe, both loyal and rebellious, with one accord
declare, “Just and true are Thy ways, Thou King of saints.”

Before the universe has been clearly presented the great sacrifice made by
the Father and the Son in man’s behalf. The hour has come when Christ
occupies His rightful position, and is glorified above principalities and
powers and every name that is named. It was for the joy that was set
before Him,—that He might bring many sons unto glory,—that He endured the
cross and despised the shame. And inconceivably great as was the sorrow
and the shame, yet greater is the joy and the glory. He looks upon the
redeemed, renewed in His own image, every heart bearing the perfect
impress of the divine, every face reflecting the likeness of their King.
He beholds in them the result of the travail of His soul, and He is
satisfied. Then, in a voice that reaches the assembled multitudes of the
righteous and the wicked, He declares, “Behold the purchase of My blood!
For these I suffered, for these I died, that they might dwell in My
presence throughout eternal ages.” And the song of praise ascends from the
white-robed ones about the throne, “Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to
receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honor, and glory,
and blessing.”(1164)

Notwithstanding that Satan has been constrained to acknowledge God’s
justice, and to bow to the supremacy of Christ, his character remains
unchanged. The spirit of rebellion, like a mighty torrent, again bursts
forth. Filled with frenzy, he determines not to yield the great
controversy. The time has come for a last desperate struggle against the
King of heaven. He rushes into the midst of his subjects, and endeavors to
inspire them with his own fury, and arouse them to instant battle. But of
all the countless millions whom he has allured into rebellion, there are
none now to acknowledge his supremacy. His power is at an end. The wicked
are filled with the same hatred of God that inspires Satan; but they see
that their case is hopeless, that they cannot prevail against Jehovah.
Their rage is kindled against Satan and those who have been his agents in
deception, and with the fury of demons they turn upon them.

Saith the Lord: “Because thou hast set thine heart as the heart of God;
behold, therefore I will bring strangers upon thee, the terrible of the
nations: and they shall draw their swords against the beauty of thy
wisdom, and they shall defile thy brightness. They shall bring thee down
to the pit.” “I will destroy thee, O covering cherub, from the midst of
the stones of fire.... I will cast thee to the ground, I will lay thee
before kings, that they may behold thee.... I will bring thee to ashes
upon the earth in the sight of all them that behold thee.... Thou shalt be
a terror, and never shalt thou be any more.”(1165)

“Every battle of the warrior is with confused noise, and garments rolled
in blood; but this shall be with burning and fuel of fire.” “The
indignation of the Lord is upon all nations, and His fury upon all their
armies: He hath utterly destroyed them, He hath delivered them to the
slaughter.” “Upon the wicked He shall rain quick burning coals, fire and
brimstone, and a horrible tempest: this shall be the portion of their
cup.”(1166) Fire comes down from God out of heaven. The earth is broken
up. The weapons concealed in its depths are drawn forth. Devouring flames
burst from every yawning chasm. The very rocks are on fire. The day has
come that shall burn as an oven. The elements melt with fervent heat, the
earth also, and the works that are therein are burned up.(1167) The
earth’s surface seems one molten mass,—a vast, seething lake of fire. It
is the time of the judgment and perdition of ungodly men,—“the day of the
Lord’s vengeance, and the year of recompenses for the controversy of
Zion.”(1168)

The wicked receive their recompense in the earth.(1169) They “shall be
stubble: and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the Lord of
hosts.”(1170) Some are destroyed as in a moment, while others suffer many
days. All are punished “according to their deeds.” The sins of the
righteous having been transferred to Satan, he is made to suffer not only
for his own rebellion, but for all the sins which he has caused God’s
people to commit. His punishment is to be far greater than that of those
whom he has deceived. After all have perished who fell by his deceptions,
he is still to live and suffer on. In the cleansing flames the wicked are
at last destroyed, root and branch,—Satan the root, his followers the
branches. The full penalty of the law has been visited; the demands of
justice have been met; and heaven and earth, beholding, declare the
righteousness of Jehovah.

Satan’s work of ruin is forever ended. For six thousand years he has
wrought his will, filling the earth with woe, and causing grief throughout
the universe. The whole creation has groaned and travailed together in
pain. Now God’s creatures are forever delivered from his presence and
temptations. “The whole earth is at rest, and is quiet: they [the
righteous] break forth into singing.”(1171) And a shout of praise and
triumph ascends from the whole loyal universe. “The voice of a great
multitude,” “as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of mighty
thunderings,” is heard, saying, “Alleluia; for the Lord God omnipotent
reigneth.”

While the earth was wrapped in the fire of destruction, the righteous
abode safely in the holy city. Upon those that had part in the first
resurrection, the second death has no power. While God is to the wicked a
consuming fire, He is to His people both a sun and a shield.(1172)

“I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first
earth were passed away.”(1173) The fire that consumes the wicked purifies
the earth. Every trace of the curse is swept away. No eternally burning
hell will keep before the ransomed the fearful consequences of sin.

One reminder alone remains: our Redeemer will ever bear the marks of His
crucifixion. Upon His wounded head, upon His side, His hands and feet, are
the only traces of the cruel work that sin has wrought. Says the prophet,
beholding Christ in His glory, “He had bright beams coming out of His
side: and there was the hiding of His power.”(1174) That pierced side
whence flowed the crimson stream that reconciled man to God,—there is the
Saviour’s glory, there “the hiding of His power.” “Mighty to save,”
through the sacrifice of redemption, He was therefore strong to execute
justice upon them that despised God’s mercy. And the tokens of His
humiliation are His highest honor; through the eternal ages the wounds of
Calvary will show forth His praise, and declare His power.

“O tower of the flock, the stronghold of the daughter of Zion, unto thee
shall it come, even the first dominion.”(1175) The time has come, to which
holy men have looked with longing since the flaming sword barred the first
pair from Eden,—the time for “the redemption of the purchased
possession.”(1176) The earth originally given to man as his kingdom,
betrayed by him into the hands of Satan, and so long held by the mighty
foe, has been brought back by the great plan of redemption. All that was
lost by sin has been restored. “Thus saith the Lord ... that formed the
earth and made it; He hath established it, He created it not in vain, He
formed it to be inhabited.”(1177) God’s original purpose in the creation
of the earth is fulfilled as it is made the eternal abode of the redeemed.
“The righteous shall inherit the land, and dwell therein forever.”(1178)

A fear of making the future inheritance seem too material has led many to
spiritualize away the very truths which lead us to look upon it as our
home. Christ assured His disciples that He went to prepare mansions for
them in the Father’s house. Those who accept the teachings of God’s word
will not be wholly ignorant concerning the heavenly abode. And yet, “eye
hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man,
the things which God hath prepared for them that love Him.”(1179) Human
language is inadequate to describe the reward of the righteous. It will be
known only to those who behold it. No finite mind can comprehend the glory
of the Paradise of God.

In the Bible the inheritance of the saved is called a country.(1180) There
the heavenly Shepherd leads His flock to fountains of living waters. The
tree of life yields its fruit every month, and the leaves of the tree are
for the service of the nations. There are ever-flowing streams, clear as
crystal, and beside them waving trees cast their shadows upon the paths
prepared for the ransomed of the Lord. There the wide-spreading plains
swell into hills of beauty, and the mountains of God rear their lofty
summits. On those peaceful plains, beside those living streams, God’s
people, so long pilgrims and wanderers, shall find a home.

“My people shall dwell in a peaceful habitation, and in sure dwellings,
and in quiet resting-places.” “Violence shall no more be heard in thy
land, wasting nor destruction within thy borders; but thou shalt call thy
walls Salvation, and thy gates Praise.” “They shall build houses, and
inhabit them; and they shall plant vineyards, and eat the fruit of them,
They shall not build, and another inhabit; they shalt not plant, and
another eat:... Mine elect shall long enjoy the work of their
hands.”(1181)

There, “the wilderness and the solitary place shall be glad for them; and
the desert shall rejoice, and blossom as the rose.” “Instead of the thorn
shall come up the fir-tree, and instead of the brier shall come up the
myrtle-tree.”(1182) “The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the
leopard shall lie down with the kid; ... and a little child shall lead
them.” “They shall not hurt nor destroy in all My holy mountain,”(1183)
saith the Lord.

Pain cannot exist in the atmosphere of heaven. There will be no more
tears, no funeral trains, no badges of mourning. “There shall be no more
death, neither sorrow, nor crying, ... for the former things are passed
away.”(1184) “The inhabitant shall not say, I am sick: the people that
dwell therein shall be forgiven their iniquity.”(1185)

There is the New Jerusalem, the metropolis of the glorified new earth, “a
crown of glory in the hand of the Lord, and a royal diadem in the hand of
thy God.”(1186) “Her light was like unto a stone most precious, even like
a jasper stone, clear as crystal.” “The nations of them which are saved
shall walk in the light of it: and the kings of the earth do bring their
glory and honor into it.”(1187) Saith the Lord, “I will rejoice in
Jerusalem, and joy in My people.”(1188) “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.”(1189)

In the city of God “there shall be no night.” None will need or desire
repose. There will be no weariness in doing the will of God and offering
praise to His name. We shall ever feel the freshness of the morning, and
shall ever be far from its close. “And they need no candle, neither light
of the sun; for the Lord God giveth them light.”(1190) The light of the
sun will be superseded by a radiance which is not painfully dazzling, yet
which immeasurably surpasses the brightness of our noontide. The glory of
God and the Lamb floods the holy city with unfading light. The redeemed
walk in the sunless glory of perpetual day.

“I saw no temple therein: for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the
temple of it.”(1191) The people of God are privileged to hold open
communion with the Father and the Son. “Now we see through a glass,
darkly.”(1192) We behold the image of God reflected, as in a mirror, in
the works of nature and in His dealings with men; but then we shall see
Him face to face, without a dimming veil between. We shall stand in His
presence, and behold the glory of His countenance.

There the redeemed shall “know, even as also they are known.” The loves
and sympathies which God Himself has planted in the soul, shall there find
truest and sweetest exercise. The pure communion with holy beings, the
harmonious social life with the blessed angels and with the faithful ones
of all ages, who have washed their robes and made them white in the blood
of the Lamb, the sacred ties that bind together “the whole family in
heaven and earth,”(1193)—these help to constitute the happiness of the
redeemed.

There, immortal minds will contemplate with never-failing delight the
wonders of creative power, the mysteries of redeeming love. There will be
no cruel, deceiving foe to tempt to forgetfulness of God. Every faculty
will be developed, every capacity increased. The acquirement of knowledge
will not weary the mind or exhaust the energies. There the grandest
enterprises may be carried forward, the loftiest aspirations reached, the
highest ambitions realized; and still there will arise new heights to
surmount, new wonders to admire, new truths to comprehend, fresh objects
to call forth the powers of mind and soul and body.

All the treasures of the universe will be open to the study of God’s
redeemed. Unfettered by mortality, they wing their tireless flight to
worlds afar,—worlds that thrilled with sorrow at the spectacle of human
woe, and rang with songs of gladness at the tidings of a ransomed soul.
With unutterable delight the children of earth enter into the joy and the
wisdom of unfallen beings. They share the treasures of knowledge and
understanding gained through ages upon ages in contemplation of God’s
handiwork. With undimmed vision they gaze upon the glory of creation,—suns
and stars and systems, all in their appointed order circling the throne of
Deity. Upon all things, from the least to the greatest, the Creator’s name
is written, and in all are the riches of His power displayed.

And the years of eternity, as they roll, will bring richer and still more
glorious revelations of God and of Christ. As knowledge is progressive, so
will love, reverence, and happiness increase. The more men learn of God,
the greater will be their admiration of His character. As Jesus opens
before them the riches of redemption, and the amazing achievements in the
great controversy with Satan, the hearts of the ransomed thrill with more
fervent devotion, and with more rapturous joy they sweep the harps of
gold; and ten thousand times ten thousand and thousands of thousands of
voices unite to swell the mighty chorus of praise.

“And every creature which is in heaven, and on the earth, and under the
earth, and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, heard I
saying, Blessing, and honor, and glory, and power, be unto Him that
sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb forever and ever.”(1194)

The great controversy is ended. Sin and sinners are no more. The entire
universe is clean. One pulse of harmony and gladness beats through the
vast creation. From Him who created all, flow life and light and gladness,
throughout the realms of illimitable space. From the minutest atom to the
greatest world, all things, animate and inanimate, in their unshadowed
beauty and perfect joy, declare that God is love.





APPENDIX.


General Notes.

Page 50. TITLES.—In a passage which forms a part of the Roman canon law,
Pope Innocent III. declares that the Roman pontiff is “the vicegerent upon
earth, not of a mere man, but of very God;” and in a gloss on the passage
it is explained that this is because he is the vicegerent of Christ, who
is “very God and very man.” (See Decretal. D. Gregor. Pap. IX. lib. 1. de
translat. Episc. tit. 7. c. 3. Corp. Jur. Canon. ed. Paris, 1612; tom. II.
Decretal. col. 205.)

For the title, “Lord God the Pope,” see a gloss on the Extravagantes of
Pope John XXII., title 14, ch. 4, “_Declaramus_.” In an Antwerp edition of
the Extravagantes, dated 1584, the words “_Dominum Deum nostrum Papam_”
("Our Lord God the Pope") occur in column 153. In a Paris edition, dated
1612, they occur in column 140. In several editions published since 1612,
the word “_Deum_” ("God") has been omitted.

Page 52. IMAGE WORSHIP.—“The worship of images ... was one of those
corruptions of Christianity which crept into the church stealthily and
almost without notice or observation. This corruption did not, like other
heresies, develop itself at once, for in that case it would have met with
decided censure and rebuke: but, making its commencement under a fair
disguise, so gradually was one practice after another introduced in
connection with it, that the church had become deeply steeped in practical
idolatry, not only without any efficient opposition, but almost without
any decided remonstrance; and when at length an endeavor was made to root
it out, the evil was found too deeply fixed to admit of removal.... It
must be traced to the idolatrous tendency of the human heart, and its
propensity to serve the creature more than the Creator....

“Images and pictures were first introduced into churches, not to be
worshiped, but either in the place of books to give instruction to those
who could not read, or to excite devotion in the minds of others. How far
they ever answered such a purpose is doubtful; but, even granting that
this was the case for a time, it soon ceased to be so, and it was found
that pictures and images brought into churches darkened rather than
enlightened the minds of the ignorant—degraded rather than exalted the
devotion of the worshiper. So that, however they might have been intended
to direct men’s minds to God, they ended in turning them from Him to the
worship of created things.”—_J. Mendham, __“__The Seventh General Council,
the Second of Nicæa,__”__ Introduction, pp. iii-vi._

For a record of the proceedings and decisions of the Second Council of
Nice, A.D. 787, called to establish the worship of images, see Baronius,
“Ecclesiastical Annals,” Vol. IX, pp. 391-407 (1612 Antwerp ed.); J.
Mendham, “The Seventh General Council, the Second of Nicæa;” Ed.
Stillingfleet, “Defence of the Discourse Concerning the Idolatry Practiced
in the Church of Rome” (London, 1686); “A Select Library of Nicene and
Post-Nicene Fathers,” second series, Vol. XIV, pp. 521-587 (N. Y., 1900);
C. J. Hefele, “History of the Councils of the Church, from the Original
Documents,” bk. 18, ch. 1, sec. 332, 333; ch. 2, sec. 345-352 (T. & T.
Clark ed., 1896, Vol. V, pp. 260-304, 342-372).

Page 53. EDICT OF CONSTANTINE.—The law issued by Constantine on the
seventh of March, A.D. 321, regarding a day of rest, reads thus:

“Let all judges, and all city people, and all tradesmen, rest upon the
venerable day of the sun. But let those dwelling in the country freely and
with full liberty attend to the culture of their fields; since it
frequently happens, that no other day is so fit for the sowing of grain,
or the planting of vines; hence the favorable time should not be allowed
to pass, lest the provisions of heaven be lost.”—_A. H. Lewis,
__“__History of the Sabbath and the Sunday,__”__ pp. 123, 124 (2d ed.,
rev., 1903)._

The original (in the “Codex of Justinian,” lib. 3, tit. 12, leg. 3) is
quoted by Dr. J. A. Hessey in his Bampton Lectures on “Sunday,” lecture 3,
par. 1, and by Dr. Philip Schaff in his “History of the Christian Church,”
Vol. III, sec. 75, par. 5, note 1. See also Mosheim, “Ecclesiastical
History,” cent. 4, part 2, ch. 4, sec. 5; Chambers’ Encyclopædia, art.
Sabbath; Encyclopædia Britannica, ninth ed., art. Sunday; Peter Heylyn,
“History of the Sabbath,” part 2, ch. 3 (2d ed., rev., London, 1636, pp.
66, 67).

Page 54. PROPHETIC DATES.—See note for page 329.

Page 56. FORGED WRITINGS.—Among the documents that at the present time are
generally admitted to be forgeries, the Donation of Constantine and the
Pseudo-Isidorian Decretals are of primary importance.

In citing facts concerning the question, “When and by whom was
Constantine’s Donation forged?” M. Gosselin, Director of the Seminary of
St. Sulpice (Paris), says:

“Though this document is unquestionably spurious, it would be difficult to
determine with precision the date of its fabrication. M. de Marca,
Muratori, and other learned critics, are of the opinion that it was
composed in the eighth century, before the reign of Charlemagne. Muratori,
moreover, thinks it probable that it may have induced that monarch and
Pepin to be so generous to the Holy See.”—_Gosselin_, “_The Power of the
Pope during the Middle Ages_,” _Vol. I_, _p. 321_ (translated by the Rev.
Matthew Kelly, St. Patrick’s College, Maynooth; Baltimore, J. Murphy &
Co., 1853).

On the date of the Pseudo-Isidorian Decretals, see Mosheim,
“Ecclesiastical History,” bk. 3, cent. 9, part 2, ch. 2, sec. 8. As Dr.
Murdock, the translator, points out in a foot-note, the learned Catholic
historian, M. L’Abbé Fleury, in his “Ecclesiastical History” (diss. 4,
sec. 1), says of these decretals, that “they crept to light near the close
of the eighth century.” Fleury, writing near the close of the seventeenth
century, says further that these “false decretals were looked upon as
authentic for the space of eight hundred years; and it was with much
difficulty that they were given up in the last century. It is true that at
present there are hardly any, though meanly instructed in these matters,
who do not acknowledge that these decretals are false.”—_Fleury_,
“_Ecclesiastical History_,” _bk. 44_, _par. 54_ (G. Adam’s translation,
London, 1732, Vol. V, p. 196). See also Gibbon, “Decline and Fall of the
Roman Empire,” ch. 49, par. 16.

Page 57. DICTATES OF HILDEBRAND (GREGORY VII.).—See Baronius.
“Ecclesiastical Annals,” An. 1076 (Antwerp ed., 1608, Vol. XI, page 479).
A copy of the “Dictates,” in the original, may also be found in Gieseler,
“Ecclesiastical History,” period 3, sec. 47, note 4 (ed. 1836, tr. by F.
Cunningham). An English translation is given in Mosheim, “Ecclesiastical
History,” bk. 3, cent. 11, part 2, ch. 2, sec. 9, note 8 (Soames’ ed., tr.
by Murdock).

Page 59. PURGATORY.—Dr. Joseph Faa Di Bruno thus defines purgatory:
“Purgatory is a state of suffering after this life, in which those souls
are for a time detained, who depart this life after their deadly sins have
been remitted as to the stain and guilt, and as to the everlasting pain
that was due to them; but who have on account of those sins still some
debt of temporal punishment to pay; as also those souls which leave this
world guilty only of venial sins.”—“_Catholic Belief_,” _page 196_ (ed.
1884; imprimateur Archbishop of New York).

See also K. R. Hagenbach, “Compendium of the History of Doctrines,” Vol.
I, pp. 234-237, 405, 408; Vol. II, pp. 135-150, 308, 309 (T. & T. Clark
ed.); Chas. Elliott, “Delineation of Roman Catholicism,” bk. 2, ch. 12;
Catholic Encyclopædia, art. Purgatory.

Page 59. INDULGENCES.—For a detailed history of the doctrine of
indulgences, see the Catholic Encyclopædia, art. Indulgences (contributed
by W. H. Kent, O. S. C., of Bayswater, London); Carl Ullmann, “Reformers
before the Reformation,” Vol. I, bk. 2, part 1, ch. 2; M. Creighton,
“History of the Papacy,” Vol. V, pp. 56-64, 71; L. von Ranke, “History of
the Reformation in Germany,” bk. 2, ch. 1, par. 131, 132, 139-142, 153-155
(2d London ed., 1845, tr. by S. Austin, Vol. I, pp. 331, 335-337,
343-346); Chas. Elliott, “Delineation of Roman Catholicism,” bk. 2, ch.
13; H. C. Lea, “A History of Auricular Confession and Indulgences;” G. P.
Fisher, “The Reformation,” ch. 4, par. 7.

On the practical outworkings of the doctrine of indulgences during the
period of the Reformation, see a paper by Dr. H. C. Lea, entitled,
“Indulgences in Spain,” published in “Papers of the American Society of
Church History,” Vol. I, pp. 129-171. Of the value of this historical
sidelight, Dr. Lea says, in his opening paragraph: “Unvexed by the
controversy which raged between Luther and Dr. Eck and Silvester Prierias,
Spain continued tranquilly to follow in the old and beaten path, and
furnishes us with the incontestable official documents which enable us to
examine the matter in the pure light of history.”

Page 59. THE MASS.—On the doctrine of the mass, see Cardinal Wiseman’s
work, “The Real Presence of the Body and Blood of Our Lord Jesus Christ in
the Blessed Eucharist;” also Catholic Encyclopædia, art. Eucharist
(contributed by J. Pohle, S. T. D., Breslau); “Canons and Decrees of the
Council of Trent,” sess. 13, ch. 1-8 (London ed., 1851, tr. by T. A.
Buckley, pp. 70-79); K. R. Hagenbach, “Compendium of the History of
Doctrines,” Vol. I, pp. 214-223, 393-398, and Vol. II, pp. 88-114; J.
Calvin, “Institutes,” bk. 4, ch. 17, 18; R. Hooker, “Ecclesiastical
Polity,” bk. 5, ch. 67; Chas. Elliott, “Delineation of Roman Catholicism,”
bk. 2, ch. 4, 5.

Page 65. WALDENSIAN VERSIONS OF THE BIBLE.—On early Waldensian
translations of portions of the Bible into the language of the common
people, see Townley, “Illustrations of Biblical Literature,” Vol. I, ch.
10, par. 1-13; E. Petavel, “The Bible in France,” ch. 2, par. 3, 4, 8-10,
13, 21 (Paris ed., 1864); G. H. Putnam, “The Censorship of the Church of
Rome,” Vol. II, ch. 2.

Page 77. EDICT AGAINST THE WALDENSES.—A considerable portion of the text
of the papal bull issued by Innocent VIII. in 1487 against the Waldenses
(the original of which is in the library of the University of Cambridge)
is given, in an English translation, in Dowling’s “History of Romanism,”
bk. 6, ch. 5, sec. 62 (ed. 1871).

Page 84. INDULGENCES.—See note for page 59.

Page 85. WYCLIFFE.—For the original text of the papal bulls issued against
Wycliffe, with an English translation, see J. Foxe, “Acts and Monuments,”
Vol. III, pp. 4-13 (Pratt-Townsend ed., London, 1870). See also J. Lewis,
“Life of Wiclif,” pp. 49-51, 305-314 (ed. 1820); Lechler, “John Wycliffe
and His English Precursors,” ch. 5, sec. 2 (pp. 162-164, London ed., 1884,
tr. by Lorimer); A. Neander, “General History of the Christian Church,”
period 6, _sec. 2_, part 1, par. 8.

Page 86. INFALLIBILITY.—On the doctrine of Infallibility, see Catholic
Encyclopædia, art. Infallibility (contributed by P. J. Turner, S. T. D.);
Geo. Salmon, “The Infallibility of the Church;” Chas. Elliott,
“Delineation of Roman Catholicism,” bk. 1, ch. 4; Cardinal Gibbons, “The
Faith of Our Fathers,” ch. 7 (49th ed., 1897).

Page 103. INDULGENCES.—See note for page 59.

Page 104. COUNCIL OF CONSTANCE.—On the calling of the Council of Constance
by Pope John XXIII., at the instance of the emperor Sigismund, see
Mosheim, “Ecclesiastical History,” bk. 3, cent. 15, part 2, ch. 2, sec. 3;
J. Dowling, “History of Romanism,” bk. 6, ch. 2, par. 13; A. Bower,
“History of the Popes,” Vol. VII, pp. 141-143 (London ed., 1766); Neander,
“History of the Christian Religion and Church,” period 6, sec. 1 (1854,
5-vol. ed., tr. by Torrey, Vol. V, pp. 94-101).

Page 128. INDULGENCES.—See note for page 59.

Page 234. JESUITISM.—For a statement concerning the origin, the
principles, and the purposes of the “Society of Jesus,” as outlined by
members of this Order, see a work entitled “Concerning Jesuits,” edited by
the Rev. John Gerard, S. J., and published in London, 1902, by the
Catholic Truth Society. In this work it is said that “the mainspring of
the whole organization of the Society is a spirit of entire obedience:
‘Let each one,’ writes St. Ignatius, ‘persuade himself that those who live
under obedience ought to allow themselves to be moved and directed by
divine Providence through their superiors, just as though they were a dead
body, which allows itself to be carried anywhere and to be treated in any
manner whatever, or as an old man’s staff, which serves him who holds it
in his hand in whatsoever way he will.’

“This absolute submission is ennobled by its motive, and should be,
continues the ... founder, ‘prompt, joyous, and persevering; ... the
obedient religious accomplishes joyfully that which his superiors have
confided to him for the general good, assured that thereby he corresponds
truly with the divine will.’ ”—_The Comtesse R. de Courson, in
__“__Concerning Jesuits,__”__ p. 6._

See also L. E. Dupin, “A Compendious History of the Church,” cent. 16, ch.
33 (London ed., 1713, Vol. IV, pp. 132-135); Mosheim, “Ecclesiastical
History,” cent. 16, sec. 3, part 1, ch. 1, par. 10 (including notes 5, 6);
Encyclopædia Britannica (ninth ed.), art. Jesuits; C. Paroissien, “The
Principles of the Jesuits, Developed in a Collection of Extracts from
Their Own Authors” (London, 1860—an earlier edition appeared in 1839); W.
C. Cartwright, “The Jesuits, Their Constitution and Teaching” (London,
1876); E. L. Taunton, “The History of the Jesuits in England, 1580-1773”
(London, 1901).

Page 235. THE INQUISITION.—See Catholic Encyclopædia, art. Inquisition
(contributed by J. Blötzer, S. J., Munich); H. C. Lea, “History of the
Inquisition in the Middle Ages;” Limborch, “History of the Inquisition,”
Vol. I, bk. 1, ch. 25, 27-31 (London ed., 1731, tr. by S. Chandler, Vol.
I, pp. 131-142, 144-161); L. von Ranke, “History of the Popes,” bk. 2, ch.
6.

Page 265. CAUSES OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION.—On the far-reaching
consequences of the rejection of the Bible, and of Bible religion, by the
people of France, see H. von Sybel, “History of the French Revolution,”
bk. 5, ch. 1, par. 3-7; H. T. Buckle, “History of Civilization in
England,” ch. 8, 12 (N. Y. ed., 1895, Vol. I, pp. 364-366, 369-371, 437,
550, 540, 541); _Blackwood’s Magazine_, Vol. XXXIV, No. 215 (November,
1833, p. 739); J. G. Lorimer, “An Historical Sketch of the Protestant
Church in France,” ch. 8, par. 6, 7.

Page 266. PROPHETIC DATES.—See note for page 329.

Page 267. EFFORTS TO SUPPRESS AND DESTROY THE BIBLE.—Referring to the
long-continued efforts in France to suppress the Bible—particularly
versions in the language of the common people, Gaussen says: “The decree
of Toulouse, 1229,” which established the “tribunal of the Inquisition
against all the readers of the Bible in the vulgar tongue, ... was an
edict of fire, bloodshed, and devastation. In its 3d, 4th, 5th, and 6th
chapters, it ordained the entire destruction of the houses, the humblest
places of concealment, and even the subterranean retreats of men convicted
of possessing the Scriptures; that they should be pursued to the forests
and caves of the earth; and that even those who harbored them should be
severely punished.” As a result, the Bible “was everywhere prohibited; it
vanished, as it were, underground; it descended into the tomb.” These
decrees were “followed for five hundred years by innumerable punishments,
in which the blood of the saints flowed like water.”—_L. Gaussen, __“__The
Canon of the Holy Scriptures,__”__ __ part 2, bk. 2, ch. 7, sec. 5, prop.
561; and ch. 13, sec. 2, prop. 641, par. 2._

On the special efforts made to destroy Bibles during the Reign of Terror,
late in 1793, Dr. Lorimer says: “Wherever a Bible could be found it might
be said to be persecuted to death; so much so, that several respectable
commentators interpret the slaying of the two witnesses in the eleventh
chapter of the Apocalypse, of the general suppression, nay, destruction,
of the Old and New Testaments in France at this period.”—_J. G. Lorimer,
__“__An Historical Sketch of the Protestant Church in France,__”__ ch. 8,
par. 4, 5._

See also G. P. Fisher, “The Reformation,” ch. 15, par. 16; E. Petavel,
“The Bible in France,” ch. 2, par. 3, 8-10, 13, 21 (Paris ed., 1864); G.
H. Putnam, “The Censorship of the Church of Rome,” Vol. I, ch. 4 (1906
ed., pp. 97, 99, 101, 102); Vol. II, ch. 2 (pp. 15-19); S. Smiles, “The
Huguenots: Their Settlements, Churches, and Industries,” etc., ch. 1, par.
32, 34; ch. 2, par. 6; ch. 3, par. 14; ch. 18, par. 5 (with note); S.
Smiles, “The Huguenots in France after the Revocation,” ch. 2, par. 8; ch.
10, par. 30; ch. 12, par. 2-4; J. A. Wylie, “History of Protestantism,”
bk. 22, ch. 6, par. 3.

Page 276. THE REIGN OF TERROR.—On the responsibility of misguided leaders,
in both church and state, and particularly in the church, for the scenes
of the French Revolution, see W. M. Sloane, “The French Revolution and
Religious Reform,” Preface, and ch. 2, par. 1, 2, 10-14 (1901 ed., pp.
vii-ix, 19, 20, 26-31, 40); P. Schaff, in “Papers of the American Society
of Church History,” Vol. I, pp. 38, 44; S. Smiles, “The Huguenots after
the Revocation,” ch. 18, par. 4, 6, 9, 10, 12-16, 27; J. G. Lorimer, “An
Historical Sketch of the Protestant Church of France,” ch. 8, par. 6, 7;
A. Galton, “Church and State in France, 1300-1907,” ch. 3, sec. 2 (London
ed., 1907); Sir J. Stephen, “Lectures on the History of France,” lecture
16, par. 60.

Page 280. THE MASSES AND THE PRIVILEGED CLASSES.—On social conditions
prevailing in France prior to the period of the Revolution, see H. von
Holst, “Lowell Lectures on the French Revolution,” lecture 1; also Taine,
“Ancient Régime,” and A. Young, “Travels in France.”

Page 283. RETRIBUTION.—For further details concerning the retributive
character of the French Revolution, see Thos. H. Gill, “The Papal Drama,”
bk. 10; E. de Pressensé, “The Church and the French Revolution,” bk. 3,
ch. 1.

Page 284. THE ATROCITIES OF THE REIGN OF TERROR.—See M. A. Thiers,
“History of the French Revolution,” Vol. III, pp. 42-44, 62-74, 106 (N. Y.
ed., 1890, tr. by F. Shoberl); F. A. Mignet, “History of the French
Revolution,” ch. 9, par. 1 (Bohn ed., 1894); A. Alison, “History of
Europe,” 1789-1815, Vol. I, ch. 14 (N. Y. ed., 1872, Vol. 1, pp. 293-312).

Page 287. THE CIRCULATION OF THE SCRIPTURES.—In 1804, according to Mr.
William Canton, of the British and Foreign Bible Society, “all the Bibles
extant in the world, in manuscript or in print, counting every version in
every land, were computed at not many more than four millions.... The
various languages in which those four millions were written, including
such bygone speech as the Mœso-Gothic of Ulfilas and the Anglo-Saxon of
Bede, are set down as numbering about fifty.”—“_What Is the Bible
Society?_” p. 23 (rev. ed., 1904).

A hundred years later, at the close of its first centenary, the British
and Foreign Bible Society was able to report a total distribution of
Bibles, Testaments, or portions thereof, by that society alone, to the
number of 186,680,101—a total that, in 1910, had grown to upwards of
220,000,000 copies, in nearly four hundred distinct tongues.

To these totals must be added the millions of copies of the Scriptures or
portions thereof, in many languages, distributed by other Bible societies
and by various commercial agencies. The American Bible Society,—the
greatest of the daughters of the British parent society,—during the first
ninety-four years of its work, reported a total distribution of 87,296,182
copies. (See _Bible Society Record_, June, 1910.) According to
conservative estimates, about six million copies of the Bible are printed
annually by commercial houses, which, added to the combined output of the
Bible societies, gives a total yearly circulation of more than fifteen
million copies.

The Scriptures, in whole or in part, have been printed in more than five
hundred distinct tongues; and the work of translation into new languages
and dialects is still carried forward with unflagging zeal.

Page 288. FOREIGN MISSIONS.—Dr. G. P. Fisher, in a chapter on “Christian
Missions” in his “History of the Christian Church,” outlines the
beginnings of the missionary movement, which, in “the later years of the
eighteenth century, ushered in a brilliant era of missionary activity, an
era which, in the history of missions, is only less remarkable than the
first of the Christian ages.” In 1792, “the Baptist society was founded,
with Carey as one of its first missionaries. Carey sailed for India, and
there, with the help of other members of the same society, founded the
mission of Serampore.” In 1795, the London Missionary Society was founded;
in 1799, there was formed “the organization which in 1812 became the
Church Missionary Society.” Soon afterward, the Wesleyan Missionary
Society was founded.

“While the missionary activity was growing up in Great Britain, the
Christians of America were becoming animated with a like zeal.” In 1812,
they founded the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions; and
in 1814, the American Baptist Missionary Union. Adoniram Judson, one of
the first missionaries to go out from America, sailed for Calcutta in
1812, and reached Burmah in July, 1813. In 1837, the Presbyterian Board
was formed. (See Fisher, “History of the Christian Church,” period 9, ch.
7, par. 3-25.)

Dr. A. T. Pierson, in an article published in the _Missionary Review of
the World_ for January, 1910, declares: “A half-century ago, China and
Manchuria, Japan and Korea, Turkey and Arabia, and even the vast continent
of Africa, were sleeping—hermit nations, locked in the cell of long
seclusion and exclusion. Central Asia was comparatively unexplored, as was
Central Africa. In many lands, Satan’s long occupation was undisputed and
his empire unmolested. Papal countries were as intolerant as pagan; Italy
and Spain imprisoned a man for daring to sell a Bible, or preach the
gospel. France was practically infidel, and Germany permeated with
rationalism; and over a large part of the mission field, the doors were
shut and locked by a more or less rigid exclusion and caste system. Now
the changes, on every side, are so remarkable and so radical that, to one
who should suddenly come out of this middle period of the last century,
... the world would be unrecognizable. He who holds the keys of the
two-leaved gates has been unlocking them, opening up all lands to the
Messenger of the Cross. Even in the Eternal City, where, a half-century
ago, a visitor had to leave his Bible outside the walls, there are
Protestant chapels by the score, and a free circulation of the
Scriptures.”

Page 327. PROPHETIC DATES.—See note for page 329.

Page 329. PROPHETIC DATES.—The historical and chronological facts
connected with the prophetic periods of Daniel 8 and 9, including many
evidences pointing unmistakably to the year 457 B.C. as the proper time
from which to begin reckoning these periods, have been clearly outlined by
many students of prophecy. See Stanley Leathes, “Old Testament Prophecy,”
lectures 10, 11 (Warburton Lectures for 1876-1880); W. Goode, “Fulfilled
Prophecy,” sermon 10, including Note A (Warburton Lectures for 1854-1858);
A. Thom, “Chronology of Prophecy,” pp. 26-106 (London ed., 1848); Sir
Isaac Newton, “Observations upon the Prophecies of Daniel, and the
Apocalypse of St. John,” ch. 10 (London ed., 1733, pp. 128-143); Uriah
Smith, “Thoughts on Daniel and the Revelation,” part 1, ch. 8, 9. On the
date of the crucifixion, see Wm. Hales, “Analysis of Chronology,” Vol. I,
pp. 94-101; Vol. III. pp. 164-258 (2d London ed., 1830).

Page 335. FALL OF THE OTTOMAN EMPIRE.—For further details as to the
predicted fall of the Ottoman empire during the month of August, 1840, see
J. Litch, “The Probability of the Second Coming of Christ about A.D. 1843”
(published in June, 1838); J. Litch, “An Address to the Clergy” (published
in the spring of 1840; a second edition, with historical data in support
of the accuracy of former calculations of the prophetic period extending
to the fall of the Ottoman empire, was published in 1841); the _Advent
Shield and Review_, Vol. I (1844), No. 1, article 2, pp. 56, 57, 59-61; J.
N. Loughborough, “The Great Advent Movement,” pp. 129-132 (1905 ed.); J.
Litch, article in _Signs of the Times, and Expositor of Prophecy_, Aug. 1,
1840. See also article in _Signs of the Times, and Expositor of Prophecy_,
Feb. 1, 1841.

Page 340. WITHHOLDING THE BIBLE FROM THE PEOPLE.—On the attitude of the
Roman Catholic Church toward the circulation of the Holy Scriptures, in
vernacular versions, among the laity, see Catholic Encyclopædia, art.
Bible; also G. P. Fisher, “The Reformation,” ch. 15, par. 16 (1873 ed.,
pp. 530-532); J. Cardinal Gibbons, “The Faith of Our Fathers,” ch. 8 (49th
ed., 1897, pp. 98-117); J. Dowling, “History of Romanism,” b. 7, ch. 2,
sec. 14, and b. 9, ch. 3, sec. 24-27 (1871 ed., pp. 491-496, 621-625); L.
F. Bungener, “History of the Council of Trent,” pp. 101-110 (2d Edinburgh
ed., 1853, tr. by D. D. Scott); G. H. Putnam, “Books and Their Makers
during the Middle Ages,” Vol. I, part 2, ch. 2, par. 49, 54-56.

Page 373. ASCENSION ROBES.—The story that the Adventists made robes with
which to ascend “to meet the Lord in the air,” was invented by those who
wished to reproach the cause. It was circulated so industriously that many
believed it; but careful inquiry proved its falsity. For many years a
large reward has been offered for proof that one such instance ever
occurred, but the proof has not been produced. None who loved the
appearing of the Saviour were so ignorant of the teachings of the
Scriptures as to suppose that robes which they could make would be
necessary for that occasion. The only robe which the saints will need to
meet the Lord is the righteousness of Christ. See Rev. 19:8.

Page 374. THE CHRONOLOGY OF PROPHECY.—Dr. Geo. Bush, Professor of Hebrew
and Oriental Literature in the New York City University, in a letter
addressed to Mr. Miller, and published in the _Advent Herald, and Signs of
the Times Reporter_, Boston, March 6 and 13, 1844, made some important
admissions relative to his calculation of the prophetic times. Mr. Bush
wrote:

“Neither is it to be objected, as I conceive, to yourself or your friends,
that you have devoted much time and attention to the study of the
_chronology_ of prophecy, and have labored much to determine the
commencing and closing dates of its great periods. If these periods are
actually given by the Holy Ghost in the prophetic books, it was doubtless
with the design that they _should_ be studied, and probably, in the end,
fully understood; and no man is to be charged with presumptuous folly who
reverently makes the attempt to do this.... In taking a _day_ as the
prophetical term for a _year_, I believe you are sustained by the soundest
exegesis, as well as fortified by the high names of Mede, Sir Isaac
Newton, Kirby, Scott, Keith, and a host of others, who have long since
come to substantially your conclusions on this head. They all agree that
the leading periods mentioned by Daniel and John do actually expire _about
this age of the world_, and it would be a strange logic that would convict
you of heresy for holding in effect the same views which stand forth so
prominently in the notices of these eminent divines.” “Your results in
this field of inquiry do not strike me as so far out of the way as to
affect any of the great interests of truth and duty.” “Your error, as I
apprehend, lies in another direction than your chronology.” “You have
entirely mistaken _the nature of the events_ which are to occur when those
periods have expired. This is the head and front of your expository
offending.”

Page 399. PROPHETIC DATES.—See note for page 329.

Page 435. A THREEFOLD MESSAGE.—Rev. 14:6, 7, foretells the proclamation of
the first angel’s message. Then the prophet continues: “There followed
another angel, saying, Babylon is fallen, is fallen, ... and the third
angel followed them.” The word here rendered “followed,” means, in
constructions like that in this text, “to go with.” Liddell and Scott
render the word thus: “_To follow one, go after_ or _with_ him.” Robinson
says: “_To follow, to go with, to accompany_ any one.” It is the same word
that is used in Mark 5:24: “Jesus went with him; and much people followed
Him, and thronged Him.” It is also used of the redeemed one hundred and
forty-four thousand, where it is said, “These are they which follow the
Lamb whithersoever He goeth.” Rev. 14:4. In both these places it is
evident that the idea intended to be conveyed is that of going together,
in company with. So in 1 Cor. 10:4, where we read of the children of
Israel that “they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them,” the
word “followed” is translated from the same Greek word, and the margin has
it, “went with them.” From this we learn that the idea in Rev. 14:8, 9, is
not simply that the second and third angels followed the first in point of
time, but that they went with him. The three messages are but one
threefold message. They are _three_ only in the order of their rise. But
having risen, they go on together, and are inseparable.

Page 447. SUPREMACY OF THE BISHOPS OF ROME.—Some of the leading
circumstances connected with the assumption of supremacy by the bishops of
Rome, are outlined in Mosheim’s “Ecclesiastical History,” cent. 2, part 2,
ch. 4, sec. 9-11. See also G.P. Fisher, “History of the Christian Church,”
period 2, ch. 2, par. 11-17 (1890 ed., pp. 56-58); Gieseler,
“Ecclesiastical History,” period 1, div. 3, ch. 4, sec. 66, par. 3,
including note 8 (N.Y. ed., 1836, tr. by F. Cunningham); J.N. Andrews,
“History of the Sabbath,” pp. 276-279 (3d ed., rev.).

Page 574. EDICT OF CONSTANTINE.—See note for page 53.

Page 578. THE ABYSSINIAN CHURCH.—On the observance of the Bible Sabbath in
Abyssinia, see Dean A.P. Stanley, “Lectures on the History of the Eastern
Church,” lecture 1, par. 15 (N. Y. ed., 1862, pp. 96, 97); Michael Geddes,
“Church History of Ethiopia,” pp. 87, 88, 311, 312; Gibbon, “Decline and
Fall of the Roman Empire,” ch. 47, par. 37-39; Samuel Gobat, “Journal of
Three Years’ Residence in Abyssinia,” pp. 55-58, 83, 93, 97, 98 (N. Y.
ed., 1850); A. H. Lewis, “A Critical History of the Sabbath and the Sunday
in the Christian Church,” pp. 208-215 (2d ed., rev.).

Page 581. DICTATES OF HILDEBRAND.—See note for page 57.





INDEX OF SCRIPTURE REFERENCES.


GENESIS

1:2; 658
2:1-3; 455
2:2, 3; 52
3:1; 531
3:2-5; 532
3:4, 5; 561
3:5; 554
3:15; 505
3:19; 532
3:24; 534
6:5, 11; 543
15:1; 86
22:9, 16-18; 18
28:12; 19
32:24-30; 616
32:30; 622

EXODUS

5:2; 269
20:8-11; 434
20:10, 11; 437
25:8; 411
25:9, 40; 413
31:17; 437
32:33; 483
34:6; 19
34:6, 7; 500, 541, 627

LEVITICUS

10:17; 418
16:8, 21, 22; 419
16:16, 19; 419
16:17; 428
16:21; 658
16:22; 485
16:29-34; 400
17:11; 418
19:31; 556
20:27; 556

NUMBERS

14:34; 324
23:8, 10, 20, 21, 23; 529
24:9; 529
25:1-3; 556

DEUTERONOMY

4:6; 230
28:56, 57; 32
29:29; 324
30:15; 544

II SAMUEL

13:39; 537

I KINGS

18:17; 104
18:17, 18; 590

II KINGS

6:17; 208
19:35; 512

I CHRONICLES

28:12, 19; 23

II CHRONICLES

32:21; 512
36:16, 15; 19

EZRA

3:12; 24
7:12-26; 326

NEHEMIAH

4:10, 14; 56
8:10; 477
13:14; 481

JOB

1:6; 518
1:9, 10; 513
9:2; 254
11:7; 344
14:10-12; 550
14:21; 550
19:25-27; 299
38:6, 7; 455
38:7; 511
42:6; 471

PSALMS

1:1-3; 478
6:5; 546
8:5; 511
9:5, 6; 545
11:6; 672
14:1; 275
16:4; 310
19:7; 468
25:14; 312
27:5; 634
30:5; 350
34:7; 513, 632
37:10; 545
37:29; 674
37:38; 541
40:8; 466
46:1-3; 639
48:3; 17
50:2-4; 300
50:3, 4; 642
50:6; 639, 650
51:17; 484
53:5; 117
56:8; 481
73:11; 274
76:2; 23
78:68, 69; 23
80:8; 19
84:11; 673
90:2; 479
91:3-10; 630
95:6; 437
96:5; 437
96:11, 13; 300
97:11; 522
100:3; 437
103:19-21; 512
106:28; 556
109:5; 20
111:7, 8; 288, 434
112:4; 346
115:17; 546
119:11; 600
119:18; 600
119:45; 466
119:46; 207
119:89; 434
119:97; 468
119:99, 104; 602
119:105; 267
119:130; 94, 195, 320
119:142, 172; 467
121:5-7; 630
132:13; 19
139:12; 346
145:10; 671
145:20; 541
146:4; 545

PROVERBS

1:24, 25; 642
1:27; 644
1:29, 31; 286
1:33; 285
3:13; 602
3:14; 312
4:18; 476
11:31; 673
14:34; 277
16:12; 277
16:25; 597
28:9; 436
28:13; 489

ECCLESIASTES

8:11-13; 286
8:12, 13; 540
9:5, 6, 10; 546
10:16; 165
12:6; 550
12:13; 436
12:13, 14; 482
12:14; 481

CANTICLES

6:10; 425

ISAIAH

2:10-12, 20, 21; 638
3:10, 11; 540
4:2, 3; 485
5:1-4; 20
5:20; 557
6:3, 5; 471
8:16, 20; 452
8:19, 20; 559
8:20; 593
9:5; 37, 642, 672
11:6, 9; 676
13:6; 638
13:9; 311
13:11; 310
14:3-6; 660
14:7; 673
14:12-17; 659
14:13, 14; 494, 504
14:18-20; 660
21:11, 12; 632
24:1, 3, 5, 6; 657
24:4, 5; 590
24:22; 661
25:8; 650
25:8, 9; 300
25:9; 644
26:19; 300
26:20, 21; 634
26:21; 657
27:5; 619
28:5; 301
28:15; 560
28:17, 18; 562
28:21; 627
30:11; 28
30:29, 30; 635
32:17; 277
32:18; 675
33:16; 626, 629
33:24; 676
34:2; 672
34:8; 673
35:1; 675
35:2; 302
37:23; 287
38:18, 19; 546
40:5; 301
40:8; 288
40:25, 26; 437
41:17; 629
42:16; 346
42:21; 466
43:25; 483
45:18; 437, 674
46:9, 10; 344
48:18, 22; 285
49:14-16; 626
49:15; 32
51:3; 302
51:7, 8; 460
51:11-16; 633
51:21-23; 634
53:4; 416
53:7; 18
54:17; 288
55:8, 9; 344
55:13; 675
56:1, 2, 6, 7; 451
56:8; 451
58:1, 2; 452
58:12, 13; 453
58:13; 447
59:14; 586
59:19; 600
60:18; 675
61:3; 650
61:11; 301
62:3; 676
62:4, 5; 302
62:12; 650
65:6, 7; 481
65:19; 676
65:21, 22; 675
66:5; 372

JEREMIAH

2:13; 478
3:14; 381
3:20; 382
4:19, 20; 310
4:23-27; 659
6:16; 478
8:11; 655
9:1; 21
13:17; 21
16:21; 287
17:8; 602
17:21-25; 19
23:1, 2; 655
25:31; 656
25:33; 657
25:34, 35; 655
26:18; 35
30:5-7; 616
30:6; 641
31:34; 485
50:20; 485

LAMENTATIONS

4:10; 32

EZEKIEL

1:14; 512
2:7; 459
3:7; 459
4:6; 324
9:1-6; 656
12:21-25, 27, 28; 393
13:22; 655
14:20; 623
16:8, 13-15, 32; 382
16:14, 15; 583
18:20; 533
18:24; 483
20:20; 437
28:6; 494
28:6-8, 16-19; 672
28:12-15, 17; 494
28:18, 19; 504
33:7-9; 460
33:8, 9; 330
33:11; 535, 627, 642

DANIEL

5:27; 491
7:2; 440
7:9, 10; 479
7:10; 414, 512
7:13; 424
7:13, 14; 480
7:14; 427
7:22; 661
7:25; 51, 54, 446
7:27; 347
8:14; 409
9:18, 15, 20; 471
9:22, 23, 25-27; 325
9:25; 313
10:8; 471
10:11; 470
12:1; 481, 613
12:2; 637
12:4; 356

HOSEA

2:19; 381
4:6, 1, 2; 60
6:3; 611
8:2, 1; 310
12:4; 617
13:9; 35
14:1; 35

JOEL

1:10-12, 17-20; 628
2:1, 15-18, 12, 13; 311
2:11; 310
2:23; 611
2:26; 350
2:31; 308

AMOS

3:7; 324
5:20; 310
8:3; 628
8:11, 12; 629

OBADIAH

16; 545

MICAH

3:9-11; 26
3:12; 27
4:8; 484, 674
5:2; 313
7:8, 9; 346

NAHUM

1:3; 627
1:9; 504
2:10; 641

HABAKKUK

1:13; 310
2:2; 521
3:3, 4; 641
3:3-13; 301
3:4; 674
3:17, 18; 629

ZEPHANIAH

1:12; 310
1:15, 16; 310
1:18, 13; 310

HAGGAI

2:3; 24
2:9, 7; 23

ZECHARIAH

2:8; 626
3:2; 484
4:6; 232, 529
6:13; 416
9:9; 405
14:5, 4, 9; 663
14:12, 13; 657

MALACHI

2:17; 557
3:1; 424
3:2, 3; 425
3:4; 425
3:5; 426
3:16; 481
3:17; 634
3:18; 640
4:1; 504, 672, 673
4:2; 645

MATTHEW

4:19; 171
5:17, 18; 466
5:17-19; 447
5:18; 434
7:2; 29
7:7; 528
7:16; 465, 520
8:11; 427
10:5, 6; 327
10:18-20; 112
10:23; 196
10:32, 33; 483
10:33; 156
10:34; 46, 126
11:5; 20
11:28; 20, 75, 569
11:29, 30; 489
12:22; 515
12:36, 37; 481
13:30, 38-41; 321
18:10; 513
20:27; 58
21:5; 100
21:8-16; 367
21:9; 402
21:12; 127
22:11; 428
23:4; 568
23:37; 22
23:38; 24, 431
24:2, 3; 25
24:9, 21, 22; 39
24:15; 341
24:15, 16; 26
24:22; 267
24:23-26; 525
24:24-27, 31; 625
24:29; 37, 333
24:30, 27, 31; 322
24:30, 31; 37
24:33; 38, 334
24:35; 26
24:36, 3, 33, 42-51; 371
24:39; 338, 491
25:5-7; 398
25:21, 41; 549
25:31; 625
25:31, 32; 301, 347
25:31-34; 322
25:40; 77, 668
26:64; 643
27:25; 32
27:42; 630
27:42, 43; 643
28:3, 4; 512
28:20; 351

MARK

1:14, 15; 327
1:15; 345
2:28; 447
5:9; 514
7:26-30; 515
9:17-27; 515
12:24; 599
13:1; 25
13:24; 306
13:24-26; 37, 304
13:33; 490
13:35; 38
13:35, 36; 491
13:37; 57
16:15; 351

LUKE

1:32, 33; 416
2:14; 46, 314
2:25, 32; 315
4:8; 51
4:18; 20, 327
4:25; 323
4:33-36; 515
4:36; 516
6:26; 144
9:54, 56; 570
10:20; 481
11:13; 477
12:36; 427
13:7; 27
18:7, 8; 631
19:40; 404
19:41; 18
19:42-44; 17
19:44; 316
20:35, 36; 482
21:16, 17; 54
21:20; 26
21:20, 21; 30
21:25; 37, 304
21:28, 30, 31; 309
21:34, 36; 309
22:24; 348
22:30; 427
24:27; 349
24:32; 350
24:52, 53; 339

JOHN

1:9; 262, 528
1:51; 19
3:14, 15; 74
3:16; 417
3:19; 265
3:20; 458
3:36; 533
5:28, 29; 544
5:29; 482
5:40; 22
7:16; 243
7:17; 528, 599
8:12; 312, 476
8:29; 469
11:48; 27
11:50; 615
12:35; 312
14:1-3; 301
14:2, 3; 548
14:3; 339
14:14; 477
14:26; 600
14:30; 623
15:10; 469
15:19, 20; 144
15:20; 47
15:22; 164
16:13; 469
16:24; 477
16:26, 27; 417
17:17, 19; 469
17:24; 501, 636
18:36; 297
20:13; 403

ACTS

1:11; 301, 339
2:17, 21; 611
2:29, 34; 546
2:47; 379
3:19, 20; 485, 612
3:21; 301
4:12; 74
4:32, 31; 379
8:4; 219
8:4, 5; 328
8:10; 625
8:20; 128
10:38; 20, 327
13:47; 315
17:3; 405
17:31; 548
22:21; 328
24:15; 544
24:25; 164
26:5; 213
26:28; 164

ROMANS

1:17; 125
2:5, 6, 9; 540
2:7; 533
2:12-16; 436
3:20; 467
3:31; 468
5:12; 533
6:2; 468
6:23; 544
7:12; 467
8:1; 477
8:4; 468
8:7; 467
8:32; 477
8:34; 350
8:38, 39, 37; 350
11:33; 527
12:1; 473
13:10; 467
14:23; 436
15:4; 324
15:16; 469

I CORINTHIANS

1:27, 25; 232
2:9; 675
2:14; 524
3:10, 11; 56
4:5; 481, 661
5:7; 399
6:2, 3; 661
6:10; 539
6:19, 20; 475
10:20; 556
13:12; 676
15:16-18; 546
15:22; 544
15:23, 20; 399
15:50; 323
15:51-53; 322
15:52-55; 550
15:55; 644
15:57; 470

II CORINTHIANS

4:4; 508
4:17; 460
5:19; 417, 502
6:17, 18; 475
7:1; 474
7:9-11; 462
11:2; 381
12:2-4; 471
12:9; 489
13:8; 101

GALATIANS

1:8; 243
5:22, 23; 474

EPHESIANS

1:14; 674
2:20-22; 416
3:8; 471
3:15; 677
3:16-19; 476
4:3-5; 379
5:5; 541
5:14-16; 602
5:27; 425, 484
6:11; 510
6:12; 510
6:17; 56

PHILIPPIANS

1:12; 219
2:12, 13; 469
3:13, 14; 470
3:21; 399
4:3; 481
4:4; 478

COLOSSIANS

1:9-11; 476
1:16; 493

I THESSALONIANS

4:3; 469
4:14; 550
4:16; 301
4:16, 17; 322, 625
4:16-18; 302, 548
5:2-5; 38, 371
5:4, 5; 315
5:16-18; 478
5:23; 469, 473

II THESSALONIANS

1:8; 424
2:3; 356, 444, 456
2:3, 4; 571
2:3, 4, 7; 49
2:4; 53
2:7; 54, 384
2:8; 37, 321, 579
2:9, 10; 553
2:9-11; 390, 444
2:10, 11; 559
2:10-12; 431, 524
2:12; 390

I TIMOTHY

2:3-6; 262
4:1; 444
6:20; 522

II TIMOTHY

1:10; 533
3:1-5; 444
3:9; 275
3:12; 48, 507, 608
3:13; 321
3:16; 324
4:3; 595

TITUS

2:11; 262

HEBREWS

1:6; 502
1:14; 511
2:11; 477
2:14; 503
2:18; 416
3:19; 458
4:15; 416
4:16; 347
6:18, 19; 350
6:19, 20; 421
6:20; 489
7:25; 482
8:1, 2; 413
8:5; 413, 418
9:1-5; 411
9:9, 23; 413
9:12; 421
9:22, 23; 417
9:24; 413, 420, 482
9:28; 315, 485
10:29; 600
10:32; 39
10:35-39; 408
11:6; 74, 436
11:14-16; 675
11:26; 460
11:35; 41
11:36-38; 40
12:14; 541
12:22; 512

JAMES

1:25; 466
2:8; 466
2:10; 582
2:12; 482
2:14-24; 472
3:15; 554

I PETER

1:10-12; 344
1:25; 350
2:6; 210
2:11; 474
3:3, 4; 462
3:12, 13; 529
4:17; 480
5:8; 510

II PETER

1:5-10; 470
1:19; 312
1:21; 324
3:3, 4; 370
3:9; 48
3:10; 672

I JOHN

1:7; 74
2:1; 416, 482
2:4, 5; 472
3:4; 467
3:6; 472
5:3; 436, 468
5:4; 477

JUDE

3; 51, 64
6; 661
6, 14, 15; 549
14, 15; 299, 426
24; 646

REVELATION

1:1-3; 341
1:5, 6; 416, 646
1:7; 301, 625, 637
1:9; 78
1:13-15; 624
1:17; 471
2:10; 41
2:17; 646
3:1, 3; 310
3:3; 371, 490
3:4; 484
3:5; 483
3:7, 8; 430, 435
3:10; 560, 619
3:21; 416
4:5; 414
4:11; 437
5:11; 512
5:12; 671
5:13; 545, 678
6:12; 304
6:12-17; 37, 334
6:13; 333
6:15-17; 642
7:9; 665
7:10, 12; 651
7:14; 428
7:14-17; 649
8:3; 414
11:2-11; 266
11:4; 267
11:5; 268
11:11; 286
11:12; 287
11:15; 301
11:19; 415, 433
12:6; 55
12:9; 438
12:10; 520
12:12; 623
12:17; 592
13:1-10; 439
13:2; 54
13:3; 579
13:5-7; 54
13:8; 579
13:11; 439
13:11-14; 442
13:11-16; 579
13:13; 612
13:13, 14; 553
13:16; 450, 604
13:16, 17; 445
14:1-5; 649
14:6, 7; 311, 355
14:8; 381, 536, 603
14:9, 10; 438, 605, 627
14:9-11; 594
15:2; 648
15:2, 3; 450
15:3; 649, 669
15:4; 670
16:2-6, 8, 9; 628
16:13, 14; 562
16:14; 556
16:17, 18; 636, 637
16:19, 21; 637
17:2; 536
17:4-6, 18; 382
17:15; 440
18:1, 2, 4; 603
18:3, 15-17; 653
18:4; 390
18:5; 604
18:5-10; 653
19:9; 427
19:11, 14; 641
19:16; 641
20:1-3; 658
20:4, 6; 661
20:5; 661
20:6; 544, 673
20:11, 12; 666
20:12; 480, 549
21:1; 674
21:2; 427
21:4, 11, 24, 3; 676
21:6, 7; 540
21:9, 10; 427
21:22; 676
21:27; 474, 481
22:5; 676
22:11; 613
22:11, 12; 491
22:12; 352, 422
22:14; 466
22:14, 15; 541
22:18, 19; 268
22:20; 302





GENERAL INDEX.


Abel, hated by Cain, 46.
  Sabbath kept by, 453.

Abraham, Messianic promise to, 18.
  pleads for Sodom, 431.
  Sabbath observed by, 453.
  angels’ mission to, 512.

Abyssinia, Wolff’s travels in, 360.
  Christian churches in, 578.

Accuser, Satan the, 395, 484.

Accusers of the brethren, Satan’s helpers, 519, 520.

Adam, promise of redemption to, 345.
  Sabbath kept by, 453.
  temptation and fall of, 531-534, 666.
  stature of, 644.
  repentance of, 647, 648.
  redeemed, 644.
  meeting of first and second Adams, 647.
  joy of, in New Jerusalem, 648.

Adams, John Quincy, 360.

Advent of Christ, types of, 399, 400.
  _see also_ First advent; Second advent.

Advent faith, scriptural basis of, 409.

Advent message, proclamation of, timely, 351-354.
  general proclamation of, 355-374.
  result of receiving, 379.
  rejection of, by churches generally, 380.
  _see also_ Advent Movement; Prophecies; Signs.

Advent Movement, beginning of, 330.
  impetus given to, by fulfilment of Litch’s prediction, 334, 335.
  opposition to, 336-338, 403.
  defense of, by Miller, 337.
  growth and progress of, 337, 357, 368-370, 395-398, 401.
  experiences during, 351-354.
  extent of proclamation of, 357.
  character of, 400-404.
  results of, 340, 405.
  a test, 406.
  no regrets for experiences in, 406, 407.
  God’s power manifested in, 398-408, 611.
  God the leader in, 410, 411, 423, 424, 432, 457.
  _see also_ First angel’s message; Second angel’s message; Third angel’s
              message; Miller; Prophecy; Prophecies; Signs.

Adventists, rise of, 331, 332, 335.
  opposition to, by churches, 337.
  disappointment of, in 1844, 329, 351, 374, 391-394, 403-408.
  infidelity charged to, 336.
  mistake of, 353.
  persecution of, 372.
  polity of, in days of Miller, 375.
  unity among, 379, 398.
  withdraw from churches, 375, 376, 390.
  trial and faith of, 391, 392, 403-408.
  parable of ten virgins applied to, 393, 394, 398-402.
  searching Scriptures after passing of time, 391.
  fanaticism among, 395-398.
  midnight cry given by, 400-403, 423.
  sanctuary question studied by, 411-415, 429, 454.
  law of God studied by, 434, 435.
  attitude of, toward further light, 456-460.
  _see also_ First angel’s message; Prophecy; Prophecies; Seventh-day
              Adventists; Signs.

Advocate, _see_ Christ.

Affection, natural, destroyed by monastic system, 82.
  one of Satan’s agencies to hold men in his snares, 597.

Africa, Christians in, 63, 577, 578.
  Wolff’s travels in, 360.

Agrippa, 165.

Albigenses, as refugees in Bohemia, 97, 271.
  _see also_ Waldenses.

Aleander, papal legate, at Diet of Worms, 133, 146-150, 162, 168.

Alleine, work of, in England, 252.

America, an asylum for the persecuted, 252.
  Whitefield and the Wesleys as missionaries to, 253, 254.
  religious liberty in, 295, 296.
  advent message proclaimed in, 368.
  prediction of supremacy of Roman Catholic Church in, 573, 579.
  _see also_ United States; Miller.

American Bible Society, organization of, 287.

American Sabbath-school Union on the change of the Sabbath, 447.

American Tract Society, on the change of the Sabbath, 447.

Amnon, Universalist minister on fate of, 537-539.

Ananias and Sapphira, 44.

Angel, seeking for watchers for first advent of Christ, 314, 315.

Angels, good, announce the birth of Christ, 46.
  records of persecution kept by; 59, 61.
  give tidings of Christ’s birth, 313, 314.
  watch effect of warning of second advent, 373.
  protect advent believers after disappointment, 374.
  work of, under midnight cry, 402.
  not spirits of departed, 511.
  work of, as recorders, 482, 486, 487.
  number, power, and work of, 511-514, 630-632.
  guardianship of, 512, 513.
  will bring truths to remembrance when needed, 600.
  protect people of God in time of trouble, 630-632.
  attend Christ at second advent, 641.
  as speakers in national councils, 632.

Angels, evil, agency of, 398, 511-517.
  power of, 614.
  when to be judged, 661.
  _see also_ Spirits; Spiritualism.

Annihilation, 318.

Antediluvians, warnings unheeded by, 337, 338.

Antichrist, recognized by Wycliffe, 86;
  by Luther, 139, 141, 205.
  spirit of, in Protestant churches, 384.
  _see also_ Papacy.

Antinomians, warnings unheeded by, 337, 338.

Antinomianism, errors of, 260, 261.

Apostasy, of ancient Israel, 20, 21.
  of early church, 49-60.
  the great, 42-45, 286, 289, 298, 384, 389, 443, 571, 619.
  of Protestant churches, 383-390, 443-445.
  prepared way for papacy, 443.
  in last days, 444.
  _see also_ Babylon.

Arabs, belief of, in second coming of Christ, 362.
  Wolff’s travels among, 361, 362.

Ark of God’s testament, seen in heavenly sanctuary, 433.
  tables of stone in, 433.

Armageddon, battle of, 663, 664, 671, 672.

Armenia, Christians in, 63.

Artaxerxes, decree of, to restore and rebuild Jerusalem, 326, 327, 410.

Ascension of Christ, 350, 351.

Asia, Wolff’s travels in, 360-362.

Associations, influence of, 508, 509.

Atheism, definition of, 269.
  in France, 269, 270, 274-276, 285, 584.

Atkins, Robert, on spiritual declension in England, 387, 388.

Atonement, in earthly sanctuary. 418-420.
  important truths taught by, 420.
  in heavenly sanctuary, 399-402, 420-422, 428-430.
  great time of, 489, 490, 623.

Augsburg, trial of Luther at, 134-137.
  Diet of, 206, 207.
  Confession of Protestant princes at, 206-211.

Baal, 583.

Babylon, symbol of apostate religion, 65, 381-384, 390.
  fall of, 383-390.
  many of God’s people in, 383, 390.
  the great sin of, 388.
  false doctrines of, 388-390, 536, 537.
  message to God’s people in, 603, 604.
  sins of, revealed by preaching of third angel’s message, 605, 606.
  judgments to fall upon, 653.
  _see also_ Apostasy; Church; Papacy; Roman Catholic Church.

Backsliding, of Israelites, 19.
  among professed Christians, a sign of Christ’s coming, 309, 316.

Baden, conference at, 182-184.
  results in strong impetus to Protestant cause, 184.

Balaam, 529, 530.

Baptism, prohibited in France, 274.
  of Christ, 327.

Barnes, English Reformer, 248.

Basel, Switzerland, 173, 178.

Battle, the last great, 663, 664.

Baxter, work of, 252, 253.
  belief of, in second advent, 303.

Beasts of prophecy, interpretation of:
  the dragon (Satan and pagan Rome), 438.
  the leopard (papacy), 48, 439, 443-445.
  the two-horned beast (United States), 439-442, 445.
  beast from bottomless pit, 269, 286.
  _see also_ Prophecy; Prophecies.

Beda, 216.

Beecher, Charles, on creeds, 388.
  on condition of Protestant ministry in America, 444, 445.

Belgium, Luther’s writings circulated in, 139.

Bengel, second advent message given by, in Germany, 363, 364.

Bern, Zwingle in convent at, 172, 173.

Berquin, Louis de, life, work, and martyrdom of, 215-218.

Bethlehem, story of, 313-315.

Bible, a system of revealed truth, 320, 321.
  the charter of liberty, 296, 335.
  preservation of, through ages of darkness, 69, 79.
  our guide, 63, 208, 205, 521.
  immutability of, 66.
  power of, to protect in danger, 361.
  chart of truth, 598.
  its own interpreter, 93, 173, 324, 598, 599.
  harmony in, 329.
  reliability of history in, 522.
  how to study, 132, 173, 174, 320, 321, 521, 598, 599.
  results from study of, 72, 79, 94, 195, 196, 204, 212, 214, 215, 222,
              277, 530, 560, 572, 593-602.
  memorizing of, 67, 194.
  study of, by Miller, 319-330;
  by Adventists, 405-408.
  can be understood by common people, 60, 89, 195, 246, 319, 320, 341.
  ignorance of, among people, 60, 99, 195, 342;
  among Roman Catholic clergy, 195.
  efforts of Satan against, 204, 526, 593-595.
  little valued, 582, 583.
  suppression of, by papacy, 51, 69, 194, 340, 388;
  by Protestants, 376.
  results of suppression of, 55, 60, 586.
  results of rejection of, 465, 526, 527, 586, 587, 598.
  war against, in France, 265-288.
  God’s two witnesses, interpretation of, 266-269, 280, 287;
  honor shown to, 287, 288.
  false theories regarding, 522, 523, 536, 537.
  denied by evil spirits, 557.
  supplanted by spirit manifestations, 557.
  ridiculed, 561.
  authority of, contended for by Wycliffe, 81;
  acknowledged by Vaudois, 68;
  Huss, 102;
  Luther, 126, 132, 166;
  Zwingle, 173, 177;
  Œcolampadius, 183;
  German princes, 204;
  Calvin, 221;
  Dutch, 238;
  Tyndale, 245;
  by all leading Reformers, 203, 249;
  by Miller, 319;
  by Protestants, 448.
  as a rule of faith and practice, rejected, 45;
  accepted by Waldenses, 63, 249;
  Wycliffe, 249;
  Huss, 249;
  Luther, 120, 249;
  Zwingle, 173, 249;
  German princes, 205;
  Pilgrim Fathers, 296;
  by all Protestants, 204, 205;
  by Miller, 396;
  by people of God at the end of the world, 595.
  translations of, by Waldenses (French), 65;
  by Wycliffe (English), 80, 81, 87-89, 245;
  by Luther (German), 193, 194;
  by Lefevre (French), 214;
  into Dutch, 238;
  Danish, 242;
  Swedish, 244;
  by Tyndale (English), 245-247.
  circulation of, 72, 89, 99, 194, 195, 231, 233, 247, 287, 288, 298, 361.
  copying by hand, 68, 69, 88, 89.
  _see also_ Prophecy; Two witnesses.

Bishops of Rome, power claimed by, 50, 56, 261, 580, 581.
  _see also_ Pope; Papacy; Roman Catholic Church.

Blindness of Jews, regarding first advent, 378.
  of people of this generation, 561, 562.

Blood of Christians is seed, 42, 240, 249, 634.

Bohemia, gospel planted in, 97.
  an asylum for Waldenses and Albigenses, 97.
  papal bull prohibiting public worship in Bohemian tongue, 97, 141, 197.
  the Bible in, 99.
  cartoon of Christ and the pope, by two artists, 99, 100.
  advance of gospel in, after death of Huss, 115.
  crusades against, miraculous defeat of, 116, 117.
  persecution of Hussites in, 118, 119, 254.
  _see also_ ; Jerome.

Bokhara, travels of Wolff in, 360, 361.

Books, on second advent, in Spanish lands, 363.
  in Germany, 363, 364.
  in America, 368.
  of record in heaven, blotting out of sins from, 421, 422, 614;
  to determine decisions in final judgment, 480-483;
  wicked to be judged from, 666.
  Book of Life:
  contains names of all who have entered service of God, 480, 484;
  names of finally impenitent blotted out of, 483.
  Book of Remembrance:
  contains record of good deeds, 481; good deeds of wicked erased from,
              483;
  interest of heaven in, 484.
  Book of Death:
  contains record of evil deeds, 481;
  sins of righteous erased from, 483;
  judgment passed on wicked, recorded in, 661.
  _see also_ Literature; Writings.

Bottomless pit, represents desolated earth, 658, 659.
  beast from, represents atheistical power displayed in France, 269, 286.

British and Foreign Bible Society, founding of, 287.

Britons, primitive Christianity among, 62.
  Rome attempts to subjugate, 63.
  _see also_ England; Great Britain.

Brock, Mourant, 362.

Bulls, papal, to exterminate Vaudois, 76, 77.
  against Wycliffe, 85, 86.
  against Luther, 141;
  burned by Luther, 142;
  published, 147.
  to establish the Inquisition, 235.

Bunyan, John, 252.

Cain, hatred of, for Abel, 46.
  life of, why spared, 543.

Calvary, wages of sin proclaimed by, 348, 504, 540.
  Satan’s character revealed by, 501, 502.

Calvin, educated for priesthood, 221.
  conversion of, to Protestantism, 219-221.
  labors of, in Geneva, 233-236.
  not free from errors, 236, 292.
  belief of, in second coming of Christ, 303.

Cartoon, of Christ and the pope, 99, 100.

Catacombs, a shelter for Christians from persecution, 40.

Catholicism, _see_ Roman Catholic Church; Papacy; Pope; Jesuits.

Cestius, retreat of, from Jerusalem, 30, 31.

Character, examination of, in final judgment, 428, 479.
  of God, misrepresented by Satan, 569;
  by papacy, 569.

Charity, monks claimed that Jesus was supported by, 84.
  false, 571.

Charles V., 145, 233, 239.
  refusal of, to receive light, 163-165.
  at Diet of Spires, 197, 198, 202.
  at Diet of Augsburg, 206, 207.
  abdication of, 211.

Charles IX., 272.

Chart, prophetic, 392.

Child-preachers, in Sweden, 366, 367.

Children, of Geneva, Gaussen began his ministry with, 365, 366.
  Christ heralded by, at triumphal entry into Jerusalem, 367.

Christ, birth of, 46, 313.
  sorrow of, over Jerusalem, 18-22.
  care of, for Israel, 19, 20.
  work of, on this earth, 20, 415-417, 503.
  rejected by Israelites, 20, 23.
  beholds downfall of Israel, 21, 22.
  peace on earth due to His restraining power, 36.
  sacrifice of, 345, 348.
  coming of, to most holy place in heavenly temple, 424-427.
  ministration of, 427-432;
  Christians generally ignorant of, 430, 431;
  not understood by Adventists in 1844, 429, 431.
  our advocate, 474, 482-484.
  work of, in investigative judgment, 482, 483.
  contest of, with Satan, 501.
  death of, revealed Satan’s true character, 501, 502.
  victory of, over temptation, 510.
  deity of, 524.
  tenderness of, 570.
  rejection of, by Jewish leaders, 595, 596.
  views exaltation of human authority, 596.
  close of work of, in heavenly sanctuary, 425, 427, 428, 613, 614.
  second coming of, 299-316, 640-644.
  appearance of, at second coming, 641.
  how regarded by redeemed, 652.
  satisfied with fruits of sacrifice, 652, 671.
  returns to earth at close of thousand years, 662.
  coronation of, 666.
  _see also_ First advent; Messiah; Second advent.

Christian church, danger of, in seeking support of secular rulers, 384,
            385.

Christian world, great sin of, is rejection of law of God, 22.

Christianity, assailed by paganism, 39.
  union of, with paganism, 43.
  _see also_ Religion.

Christians, escape of, from Jerusalem, 30, 31.
  persecution of, in first centuries, 39-48.
  gospel advanced by persecution of, 42.
  spiritual declension of, 309-311, 463.
  to reject the message of Christ’s second coming, 338, 339.
  true, in every church, 449, 565.
  to be divided into two classes, 450.
  satisfied with religion of their fathers, 454.
  reject Sabbath truth, 454.
  self-indulgence of, 474, 475.
  blessings on true, 476.
  heights to be gained by, as sons of God, 476, 477.
  character and work of Satan not comprehended by, 507, 508.
  to watch and pray, 510.
  under care of guardian angels, 512, 513, 517.
  Christian experience needed by, 601, 602.
  _see also_ People of God; Persecution; Redeemed; Religion; Books of
              record.

Chronology, scriptural, 323-329, 398-400, 409, 410, 424, 438-440.
  _see also_ Prophecy; Prophecies.

Church, the true, 64.
  perils of, in Dark Ages, 55-60.
  represented in prophecy by virtuous woman, 381.
  seeking favor of world, 383.
  use of secular power by, always oppressive, 442, 443.
  Satan preparing last campaign against, 510.
  _see also_ People of God; Redeemed; Israel; Christians; Reformation.

Churches, spiritual apathy in, 308, 309, 376-378, 463, 464.
  apostasy of, 384, 444.
  rejection of advent message by, 373, 380.
  Adventists forced to withdraw from, 375, 376, 390.
  worldliness in, 376, 380, 382-388.
  fall of, 389;
  true Christians in, 390, 464.
  seeking aid of civil power, 445.
  unholy traffic in, 474.
  cause of lack of power in, 463.
  _see also_ Babylon; Protestants; Roman Catholic Church.

Church and state, 201.
  in Europe, 268, 269.
  in the United States, 293, 296, 297, 442-445.
  in all the world, 450, 606, 607.

Church of England, 289, 384, 443.
  _see also_ England.

Church of Rome, _see_ Roman Catholic Church; Babylon.

Civil rulers, _see_ Church and state.

Clarke, Dr. Adam, on sleep of the dead, 547.

Cleansing of sanctuary, _see_ Sanctuary.

Clergy, _see_ Ministers.

Cloud, sign of Christ’s coming, 640, 641.

College of the Propaganda, Rome, 358.

Colporteurs in time of Wycliffe, 87.
  in time of Reformation, 178, 194, 231.
  _see also_ Bible, circulation of; Literature; Writings.

Columba, 62, 249.

Comforter, work of, 600.

Coming of Christ, second, _see_ Second advent.

Commandments, _see_ Law of God; Sabbath; Fourth commandment.

Compromise of principle, urged upon early Christians, 42, 43.
  between Christianity and paganism, 49, 50, 298.
  of Bohemians with Rome, 118.
  urged upon Luther, 165, 166.
  at Spires, rejected, 199.
  between Protestants and Roman Catholics, 199, 566.

Compulsion, Satan’s resort, 591.

Confessional, evils of the, 74, 83, 98, 567.

Confession of faith, by Wycliffe, 91, 92.
  by Luther, 158, 160.
  by German princes, at Augsburg, 202-210.

Conflict, the impending, causes of, 582-592.

Conscience, Rome no right to coerce, 200.
  freedom of, 591.
  _see also_ Freedom; Religious Liberty.

Consciousness in death, theory of, 58, 545.
  _see also_ Spiritualism.

Constance, martyrdom of Huss and Jerome at, 109, 115.
  _see also_ Council of Constance.

Constantine, nominal conversion of, 50.
  first Sunday law issued by, 574.

Constitution of the United States, 295, 296, 441, 442.

Controversy, between truth and error, 144.
  between Christ and Satan, beginning of, 493-500, 582;
  close of, 518, 582-592, 662-678.

Conversion, fruits of true, 463, 478.
  work of, 465, 467.

Convictions of duty, result of stifling, 378.

Coronation of Christ, 666.

Councils, ecclesiastical, 53.
  forged decrees of, 56, 198, 206.
  of Constance, 95, 96, 104-115.
  of Nice, 52.
  of Zurich, 180-182.

Counterfeits in religion, 186, 193, 464, 528.

Courts, of heaven, angels interested in decisions of, 483, 484.
  of justice, corruption in, 586.
  angels of heaven attend earthly, 632.

Covenants, old and new, sanctuaries of, 413.

Cranmer, 248.

Creation, Sabbath the memorial of, 437, 438, 446, 452.

Creeds, resting faith on, 388.

Criminals, false sympathy for, 585, 586.

Crosby, Howard, on condition of churches in 1871, 387.

Cross, insignia of, displayed by Rome, 568.
  to be science and song of redeemed, 651.

Crusades, against Waldensee, 76.
  against Hussites, 115-117.

Culture, use made of, by Satan, 509.

Cyrus, decree of, to restore and rebuild Jerusalem, 326.

Daniel, first advent foretold by, 312.
  an example of true sanctification, 470.
  protected by angels in heathen court and in lions’ den, 512.
  overcome by vision of persecution, 325.
  book of, studied by Miller, 320;
  unsealed in 1798, 356;
  relation of, to the Revelation, 341.

Darius, decree of, to restore and rebuild Jerusalem, 326.

Dark Ages, 54, 55, 60, 93, 556.
  _see also_ Middle Ages.

Dark Day, 305-308.

Daughters of Rome, 382-384.
  _see also_ Churches; Protestants.

Day of the Lord, 38, 48, 310, 311, 479.
  _see also_ End.

Day for year, in prophetic exposition, 324.

Dead, condition of, 544-552.

Death, theory of consciousness in, 58, 545, 551, 552.
  declared by France to be an eternal sleep, 274.
  the penalty of transgression, 533, 540, 541, 544.
  contrast between first and second, 544.
  a sleep, 546-550, 556.
  _see also_ Resurrection.

Decalogue, _see_ Law of God.

Deceptions, of Satan, 192, 193, 389, 390, 516-530, 556.
  the first great, 531-550.
  why so successful, 507, 508.

Declaration of Independence, 295, 296, 441, 442.

Decree, to restore and rebuild Jerusalem, 326-329, 398.
  against Wycliffe’s followers, 89.
  against Reformation, 198, 199.
  against the Lutherans, 199, 200.
  against Sabbath-keepers, 615, 626, 631.
  _see also_ Edict.

Decretals, forged, in support of papal claims, 56.

Deists, Miller’s association with, 318, 319.
  effect of his preaching on, 332.

Deliverance of God’s people, 635-652.
  terror of wicked at beholding, 636, 639, 640, 642-644.

Demons, possession by, in time of Christ, 513-516.
  _see also_ Evil spirits.

Denmark, Reformation in, 241, 242.

Denominations, effect on, of Miller’s message, 332.
  Miller at first no thought of separating from, 375.
  Adventists forced to leave, 376, 379.
  true Christians in all, 449.

Dependence on God, our need of, 530.
  on man, danger in, 388, 596, 597.

Destruction, of Jerusalem, 17-38.
  compared to destruction of world, 37, 38, 653-661.
  in time of trouble, 637.

Diet, of Augsburg, 206, 207; “greatest day of the Reformation,” 207.
  of Spires, first, 197;
  second, 198;
  decree of, against Reformation, 198, 199;
  protest of princes against decree of, 201-204.
  of Worms, 145-168;
  Luther before, 150-167.
  _see also_ Council.

Disappointment, of disciples, 346, 348.
  of advent believers, 353, 354, 374, 391, 393, 403-408, 423, 431, 432.
  of disciples and advent believers compared, 351, 404.
  will of God fulfilled in, 353, 354, 391, 405.

Disciples, humble men, 171.
  in siege of Jerusalem, 328.
  failure of, to understand Christ’s prediction of the destruction of
              Jerusalem, 4, 25.
  failure of, to understand Christ’s mission, 345, 349.
  disappointment of, 346, 348, 404.
  courage of, after resurrection, 349, 350.
  commission to, 351.

Disobedience, result of, 532, 533.
  penalty of, 533, 534.

Doctrine, Bible the foundation of all true, 126.
  of election, 261.
  perverted by Satan, 298.
  false, in churches, 388, 389.
  pleasing fables of, 523.
  _see also_ Indulgences; Infallibility; Mass; Purgatory.

Door, the open and shut, 429, 430, 435.
  _see also_ Mercy.

Doubt, cause of, 522.
  becoming fashionable, 526, 527.
  how to be freed from, 526-528.
  youth assailed by, 600.
  _see also_ Infidelity.

Dragon, of Revelation twelve, 438, 439, 658.
  voice of, heard in early persecutions, 77.
  two-horned beast speaks like, 441, 442.

Earth, as home of Adam and Eve, 531-533.
  how sin entered, 531.
  final desolation of, 653-661.
  condition of, during thousand years, 658-660.
  purification of, by fire, 672-674, 678.

Earthquake, the great, at Lisbon, 304, 305.
  at end of world, 637.
  _see also_ Signs.

Eck, Doctor, champion of Rome, 182.
  at discussion in Baden, 183, 184.
  on refutation of Augsburg Confession, 208.

Eden, loss of, by Adam and Eve, 348, 531-533, 646.
  restoration of, 299, 484, 648.

Edict, of Spires, 197;
  repeal of, 198.
  of Worms, against Lutherans, 167, 168, 197, 201, 202, 208.

Edward III., Wycliffe chaplain for, 81, 84, 85.

Egypt, boldest of nations in resisting God, 269.
  spiritual, 269.
  labors of Joseph Wolff in, 360.
  plagues of, 614, 627, 628.

Einsiedeln, Zwingle at, 174-176.

Election, doctrine of, 261.

Elector of Saxony, _see_ Frederick; John.

Elijah, visited by angels, 512, 629.
  accusations against, 458, 520, 590.
  idolatry in time of, 583.
  as a reprover, 606.

Elisha, protected by angels, 208, 512.
  Miller compared to, 331.

End of world, 37, 38, 662-678.
  _see also_ Day of the Lord.

“End of the Lord,” meaning of, 354.

England, primitive Christianity in, 62.
  attempt of Rome to conquer, 62, 63.
  Sabbath observed in, 63.
  Wycliffe’s influence on political affairs in, 82, 84, 85.
  progress of Reformation in, 245-264.
  persecution of believers in, 94, 95, 252.
  Protestantism established in, 251.
  departure of Puritans from, 290, 291.
  advent message proclaimed in, 362.
  _see also_ Church of England.

Enmity, between man and Satan, 505-510.
  of man against Satan, implanted by God, 506.
  of Jews against Christ, 506.

Enoch, 299.

Erasmus, Greek and Latin editions of New Testament by, 245.
  letter of, to Berquin, 216.

Erfurt, preaching of Luther at, 152.

Errors, accepted by rejecters of truth, 523.
  enumeration of some great, 524-526, 588.
  _see also_ Truth; Deceptions; Snares.

Esau, Jacob’s deliverance from, 616-618.

Eternal torment, theory of, 58.
  contrary to God’s character, 534-537.
  received from Rome, 536.

Ethiopia, Christians in, during Dark Ages, 577.

Eucharist, _see_ Mass.

Eusebius, on the Sabbath, 574.

Eve, temptation of, 531-534.
  Satan’s lie to, 561.

Everett, Edward, 441.

Evil, origin of, 492-504.
  God not responsible for, 492, 493.
  Satan the author of, 493-504.
  final extermination of, 504, 545, 673, 678.
  _see also_ Satan; Sin.

Evil spirits, agency of, 511-517.
  work of, 513.
  efforts of, against Christ, 513, 514.
  danger of those who deny existence of, 516.
  cast out by Christ, 514-516.
  _see also_ Angels, evil; Satan; Spiritualism.

Excommunication, of Huss, 100.
  of Luther, 133, 141, 143, 147.

Faith, awakening of, by Luther’s preaching, 133.
  lack of, in our day, 373.
  essential to keeping of the law, 436.
  nature of, 469-472.
  faith only, without works, a popular doctrine, 472.
  ample evidence for, 527.
  need of cherishing, 621.
  _see also_ Justification; Works.

False decretals, 56.

False doctrines, of Rome, in Protestant churches, 388, 389.

False prophets, 186, 187.

Familiar spirits, 556.
  _see also_ Spiritualism.

Fanaticism, in time of Luther, 186-193, 396, 397.
  in Paul’s day, 396.
  in Wesley’s time, 396.
  in Netherlands, 239.
  after disappointment of 1844, 395-398.
  disappeared before proclamation of midnight cry, 400.
  met by all reformers, 396.

Farel, 213, 214.
  New Testament translated by, 214.
  work of, in France, 219.
  in Switzerland, 230-232.
  in Geneva, 232, 233, 265.

Fashion, worship of, 474.

Fathers, clinging to customs and traditions of, 164, 454.

Fathers of the church, traditions of, used for support of Sunday as
            Sabbath, 448, 455.

Ferdinand, King, 201, 202, 205.

Finney, Prof. C. G., on spiritual apathy in the churches, 377.

First advent of Christ, failure of Jews to understand prophecies of,
            312-314, 378.
  a curse pronounced by Jews on all who should compute time of, 378.
  _see also_ Jews; Pharisees.

First angel’s message, 311.
  giving of, 351, 355-374, 379, 380, 398.
  purpose of, 379.
  represented by coming of bridegroom, 393, 394, 398, 400-403.
  points to Christ’s ministration in most holy place, and to investigative
              judgment, 424, 434-436.
  _see also_ Advent Movement; Adventists.

Fitch, Charles, prophetic chart of, 392.

Flavel, work of, in England, 252, 253.

Forbearance of God, limits to, 36.
  _see also_ God.

Force, not employed by God, 493, 541-543, 591.

Foreign missions, rise and growth of, 287, 288.

Forged documents, used by papacy, 56.

Formalism in Christian churches, 378.

Fourth commandment, importance of, 434, 435.
  change of, by papacy, 52, 446-449.
  contains the seal of God, 640.
  _see also_ Sabbath; Law of God; Seal.

France, Luther’s writings circulated in, 139.
  Reformation in, 211-236.
  rejection of gospel by, 230.
  compared to Sodom, 270.
  atheism and licentiousness in, 270-274, 584.
  St. Bartholomew massacre in, 272, 273.
  persecution of believers in, 97, 271.
  conditions in, during the Revolution, 279-287.
  proclamation of advent message in, 364.

Francis I., attitude of, toward gospel, 214, 222, 223.
  admiration of, for Berquin, 216, 217.
  decides against the Reformation, 227-230.

Frederick, elector of Saxony, friendship of, for Luther, 138, 145, 165.
  at Diet of Worms, 162.
  plans Luther’s escape to Wartburg castle, 168.
  Luther’s letter to, on leaving Wartburg, 188, 189.
  death of, 198, 199.

Freedom, of conscience, crushing of, 62.
  of will, granted by God, 493, 541, 542, 591.
  _see also_ Conscience.

French Revolution, 230, 265-288.
  scenes of, 273-277, 282-287.

Friars, mendicant, influence of, 82-85.
  opposed by Wycliffe, 82-84, 87, 88.
  sale of indulgences by, 127-129.
  in time of Luther, 195.

Frith, 248.

Froment, work of, in Geneva, 232, 233.

Gamblers, influence of Miller’s message on, 332.

Gambling, Governor Washburn on, 387.

Gaussen, work of, in Geneva, 364-366.
  teaching children, 365.

Geneva, establishment of Reformation in, 232-234.
  an asylum for Protestants, 236.

Gentiles, Paul an apostle to, 328.

George, duke of Saxony, denunciation of papacy by, 149, 150.

Germany, early missionaries to, 62.
  progress of Reformation in, 120-170, 185-210.
  proclamation of advent message in, 363.

Gethsemane, 348.

Gifts, mental, use of, 509.

God, long-suffering toward Israel, 27, 28.
  forbearance of, 354, 495.
  as Creator, 437, 438, 452.
  wisdom of, in dealing with rebellion of Satan, 497, 498.
  character of, 500, 541, 542.
  care of, for His people, 528-530, 560, 621, 626, 627, 633, 634.
  love of, contrasted with cruelty of Satan, 570.

Goddess of Reason, 275, 276.

Godliness, revival of, before end, 464.

Gospel, opposed to worldly maxims, 47.
  advanced by death of Huss, 119.
  establishment of, in Zurich, 179-181.
  acceptance of, in France, 214, 215.
  preaching of, committed to men, 312.
  first dissemination of, by disciples, 328.
  man freed from condemnation by, 468.

Government, of God, founded on love, 493.
  Satan’s efforts against, 534, 591.
  laws necessary to, 584.
  _see also_ United States.

Great Britain, progress of Reformation in, 79-96.
  _see also_ England; Church of England.

Gregory VII., pope, perfection of Roman Church proclaimed by, 57, 97, 581.

Gregory XI., death of, 86.

Gregory XIII., attitude of, toward St. Bartholomew massacre, 273.

Grynæus, rescue of, by Melanchthon, 205.

Guardian angel, detailed to every follower of Christ, 572.

Guillotine in France, 282.

Guthrie, Dr. Thomas, on separation of Presbyterian Church from Rome, 384.

Haller, 182-184.

Hamilton, 250.

Heaven, purity and holiness of, 542.
  rebels could not be happy in, 542, 543.
  sanctuary in, _see_ Sanctuary.

Hell, false theories regarding, 535-537.

Henry IV., humiliation of, 57, 58.

Heresy, 44, 45, 58.
  the council of Constance designed to root out, 104.
  in Roman Catholic Church, 58, 59.
  in America, 293, 443.
  sound doctrine denounced as, 389.
  in Paul’s day, 396.
  accusations of, against Protestants, 51;
  Waldenses, 61, 76-78;
  Wycliffe, 89, 90;
  Huss, 100, 107;
  Jerome, 114;
  Luther, 132, 133, 196;
  Berquin, 216.
  _see also_ Error.

Heretics, attitude of Roman Catholic Church toward, 76-78, 104-115, 153,
            154, 215-219, 577, 578.
  _see also_ Persecution; Religious liberty.

Herod, 643.

Hezekiah, 546.

Holiness, cannot be acquired without obedience, 472, 473.
  perfecting, 488.
  _see also_ Justification; Sanctification.

Holland, Luther’s writings circulated in, 139.
  Puritans in, 290, 291.

Holy of holies, 423-432.
  coming of Christ to, 424-427, 480.
  work of Christ in, 427-430, 433.
  _see also_ Sanctuary.

Holy Spirit, work of, 343, 462.
  aid of, promised to sincere seekers, 526.
  _see also_ Pentecost; Spirit of God.

Hopkins, Dr. Samuel, on corruption in Protestant churches, 384.

Huguenots, persecution of, 227, 271-273.
  effect of flight of, on France, 279.

Humility, 477.

Huss, John, 97-119.
  early years and education of, 98.
  conversion of, 100.
  writings of Wycliffe read by, 96, 99.
  condemnation of, by the pope, 100.
  joined by Jerome in work of reform, 102, 103.
  character of, 103.
  used as God’s instrument, 103.
  summoned to council of Constance, 104.
  letter of, to friends in Prague, 105.
  letter of, to converted priest, 105, 106.
  imprisonment of, 106.
  courage of, 107, 110.
  refusal of, to recant, 108.
  martyrdom of, 109, 110.

Hypocrites in the church, 396.

Idolatry, in the church, 42, 43.
  prevalence of, 43, 514, 583.
  in France, 276.
  in Roman Catholic Church, 568.
  _see also_ Image worship.

Ignorance, of Bible, 99, 195, 342.
  no excuse for sin, 597, 598.

Image to the beast, 438, 442-445, 449.
  _see also_ Mark of the beast; United States; Protestants.

Image worship, 52, 65, 446.

Immortality of the soul, natural, taught by the Roman Church, 58, 549;
  Satan’s first deception, 531-550;
  origin and falsity of, 545, 549, 588;
  not taught in Scriptures, 550.
  true, when to be conferred, 223, 322, 323;
  to be received through obedience, 533.

India, Wolff’s travels in, 360.

Indulgences, a profitable fabrication, 59, 567.
  sale of, in Germany, by Tetzel, 127-129;
  in Switzerland, by Samson, 178, 179.
  Luther’s famous theses against, 128, 129.

Infallibility, of Scriptures, 89, 173, 174.
  of pope, doctrine of, 50, 57, 237, 564.
  _see also_ Gregory VII.

Infidelity, attacked by Luther, 126.
  prevalence of, 281, 288, 461, 526, 583, 586.
  in France, 270, 274-277, 281, 285, 288, 586, 587.
  Wm. Miller converted from, 318, 319.
  cause of, 522.
  danger from, 463, 600.
  _see also_ Atheism; Deism.

Innocent III., 581.

Inquisition, establishment of, 59.
  in France, 235.
  instruments of, a means of “conversion,” 569.

Intemperance, result of, 586, 589.

Intercession of Christ, 482-484, 489.

Interdict, papal, against Prague, 100, 101.

Intolerance, of Pilgrims, 293.

Iona, center of missionary effort, 62.
  Sabbath observed on, 62.

Ireland, Christianity in, 62.

Isaiah, an example of true sanctification, 471.

Israelites, long-suffering of God toward, 19, 28.
  compared to a goodly vine, 20.
  apostasy of, 21.
  great sin of, rejection of Christ, 22.
  in bondage, lost knowledge of God’s law, 453.
  advent believers in 1844 compared to, 457-460.
  cause of forty years’ wandering of, 458.
  enticed into sin by association with heathen, 508, 529, 530.
  _see also_ Jews.

Italy, missionaries sent to, 62.
  persecution in, 97.
  Luther’s writings in, 139.

Jacob, Sabbath kept by, 453.
  experience of, at brook Jabbok (Jacob’s trouble), 616-622.

Jeremiah, distress of, over Jerusalem, 21.
  denounced as a traitor, 458.
  fearlessly opposed wrong, 520.

Jerome, 99-119.
  character of, 103.
  imprisonment of, in Constance, 110, 111.
  sufferings of, 111.
  recantation and repentance of, 111-114.
  defense of Huss by, 113.
  martyrdom of, 115.

Jerusalem, destruction of, 17-38.
  sorrow of Christ over, 18-22.
  privileges bestowed upon, 19.
  symbol of rebellious world, 22.
  strategic location of, 26.
  prophecies against, 27.
  self-righteousness of, 27.
  condition of society in, after rejection of Christ, 28.
  besieged by Cestius, 30, 31;
  by Titus, 31.
  sufferings of people in, during siege, 31-33.
  not one Christian perished in, 30.
  destruction of, foreshadows destruction of world, 36-38.
  _see also_ New Jerusalem.

Jesus, _see_ Christ; Messiah.

Jesuits, organization, aims, and work of, 234, 235.
  in France, 279.

Jewish church, alliance of, with heathen, 382.
  leaders, failure of, to understand prophecies of first advent, 312, 313,
              378.

Jews, woe upon, 30.
  sufferings of, during siege of Jerusalem, 31-33, 35.
  Sabbath laws of, 52.
  sinful ignorance of, regarding first advent, 313.
  fate of, sealed by rejection of gospel, 328.
  seventy weeks allotted to, in prophecy, 328, 345.
  proclamation of second advent to, by Joseph Wolff, 359-362.
  spiritual darkness of, 377, 378.
  worldliness of, in time of Christ, 378.
  formalism of, 378.
  rejection of prophetic truths by, 378.
  refusal of, to receive light, 430.
  rejection of, by God, 431.
  satisfied with religion of their fathers, 454.
  spirit of, revealed in rejection of Christ, 506.
  ceremonies of, 568.
  God’s presence withdrawn from, 615.
  guilt of, 628.
  _see also_ Israelites; Jerusalem.

Job, affliction of, 589.
  an example of true sanctification, 471.

John the Baptist, Wycliffe compared to, 93.

John, duke and elector of Saxony, 199.
  signs Confession at Augsburg, 207.
  Luther’s letter to, 209, 210.

John XXIII., pope, summoned to council of Constance, 104.
  character of, 104, 106.
  Huss imprisoned by order of, 106.
  committed to same prison, 106.

Jonah, 406.

Joseph, 626.

Judas, failure of, to learn lessons of Christ, 43, 44.

Judgment, warning of, 353.
  message, extent of, 361.
  preparation for, 436.
  law of God the standard in, 482.
  time of, 548.
  the investigative: 352, 353, 422-429, 436, 479-491;
  opening of, announced by message of first angel, 355, 356, 486;
  Daniel’s vision of, 479;
  only cases of professing Christians considered in, 480;
  righteous dead not raised till after, 482;
  work of Christ in, 483-485;
  work of Satan in, 484;
  work of, finished before second advent, 485;
  close scrutiny of, 428, 486-488;
  should be clearly understood by people of God, 488, 489;
  progress of, 489-491.
  _See also_ First angel’s message.
  the executive: 425, 426, 503;
  scenes of, 665-673.
  of wicked, going on in heaven during thousand years, 480, 660, 661.

Judgments of God, 543, 627, 628.

Justice, courts of, corruption in, 586.

Justice of God, shown in punishment of wicked, 541-544.
  acknowledged by the lost, 668;
  by Satan, 669, 670.

Justification by faith, revealed to Luther, 125.
  held by Huss, 140.
  learned by Wesley, 253-256.
  _see also_ Faith.

Justification by works, 55, 56, 73, 83, 123, 253, 255, 256.

Kingdom, when the saints will inherit, 322.
  reception of, by Christ, 427, 479, 480.
  of God, when set up, 323.
  of glory, 347.
  of grace, 347, 348.

Knox, John, work of, in Scotland, 250, 251.
  conflict of, with Queen Mary, 250, 251.
  belief of, in second coming of Christ, 303.

Laborers, to be qualified by Holy Spirit, in latter rain, 606.

Lacunza, work of, in South America, 363.

Latimer, supremacy of Bible upheld by, 248, 249.
  martyrdom of, 249.

Latter rain, power attending, 611-613.

Law, ceremonial, abrogation of, by death of Christ, 328.

Law, moral, the foundation of God’s government, 66.
  immutability of, 66, 433-450, 454, 466, 467, 503.
  not abrogated by Christ, 260, 466-468.
  sacredness of, 433, 434.
  perpetuity of, 434, 453.
  unerring rule of life, 452.
  knowledge of, preserved in earth, 453.
  nature of, 467.
  defended by Wesley, 262-264.
  in ark in heavenly sanctuary, 433, 434.
  reveals sin, 467, 468.
  blessings in obedience to, 478.
  standard of character in judgment, 482.
  how regarded by religious leaders, 465, 466;
  by prophets and apostles, 466.
  to be rejected by Christian world, 22.
  changes made in, by Roman Catholic Church, 52, 65, 446.
  result of believing it abolished, 260-262.
  trampled underfoot by Rome, 65, 453;
  by France, 274, 285, 286.
  result of disobeying, 478.
  result of setting aside, 584-588.
  Satan’s object, to lead into transgression of, 582.
  wide-spread belief in abrogation of, 584, 585.
  light on, to be given to all, 605.
  wicked see in hand of Christ at second advent, 639, 668.
  _see also_ Fourth commandment; Sabbath; Sanctuary; Temple in heaven.

Laws, oppressive, to be enacted in the United States, 442.

Laymen, advent message largely proclaimed by, 380.

Lefevre, first in France to receive Reformation, 212.
  teachings of, 213.
  translation of New Testament by, 214.

Leopard beast of Revelation thirteen, interpretation of, 439, 578.
  characteristics of, 446.
  _see also_ Beast.

Lessons in God’s dealings with men, 343, 344.

Liberality in religious belief, sometimes danger in, 520-522.

Liberty, civil and religious, Wycliffe’s struggle for, 80.
  end of religious, in Bohemia, 118.
  secured by edict of Spires, 197, 198.
  in Germany, 200, 201.
  goes with Bible, 265, 276, 277, 281, 285.
  not license, 281, 284.
  rejection of principles of, by France, 265, 276, 277, 281, 285.
  false ideas of, 522, 535.
  in God’s law, 285, 466-468.
  carnal, 559.
  of conscience once valued by Protestants, 563.
  _see also_ Persecution; Puritans; Religious liberty; United States.

Light of truth, result of rejecting, 164, 165, 378, 431, 456, 458-460,
            583, 597.
  importance of receiving, 344, 408.
  to be faithfully disseminated, 459, 460.

Liquor-dealers, influence of Miller’s preaching on, 332.

Lisbon earthquake, 304, 305.

Litch, Josiah, prediction of, regarding fall of Ottoman empire, 334, 335.

Literature, circulation of, by Waldenses, 70, 71.
  in time of Wycliffe, 84, 85, 87-89, 94.
  in Bohemia, 96, 97, 99, 100, 119.
  in time of Luther, 139, 140, 160, 169, 194.
  in Switzerland, 178.
  in France, 214, 215, 231.
  in Geneva, 236.
  in Scotland, 249.
  _see also_ Books; Writings.

Little horn of Daniel seven, 446.
  _see also_ Leopard beast.

Lollards, persecution of, 94, 95.
  Lollard towers, 95.

Lord’s day, _see_ Sabbath; Fourth commandment; Sunday; Roman Catholic
            Church.

Lord’s supper, supplanted by the mass, 59.

Lot, escape of, 431, 512.

Lotteries, 387.

Louis XV., selfishness of, 280.

Louis XVI., execution of, 230.

Lucian, 178.

Lucifer, the originator of evil, 493-499.
  desire of, to penetrate secret purposes of God, 523.
  _see also_ Satan.

Luther, Martin, 120-170, 185-210.
  early years, parentage, and training of, 120-122.
  study of Scriptures by, 122, 123.
  work of, in University of Wittenberg, 124-126, 128, 139.
  visit of, to Rome, 124, 125.
  accepts doctrine of righteousness by faith, 125.
  theses of, against indulgences, 129, 130.
  efforts of Rome against, 131, 137, 140-144.
  trial of, at Augsburg, 135-137.
  refusal of, to recant, 136.
  escape of, from Augsburg, 137.
  wide influence of writings of, 139, 140, 194.
  crisis in work of, 141-143.
  courage of, 141, 142, 151-153.
  final separation of, from Rome, 143.
  journey of, to Worms, 151-153.
  before the Diet, 155-161.
  prayer of, 157.
  refusal of, to compromise with Rome, 165, 166.
  edict of Rome against, 167.
  seclusion of, in Wartburg castle, 168, 169.
  saved from self-exaltation, 169, 170.
  efforts of, against fanaticism at Wittenberg, 188-193.
  translation of New Testament by, 193.
  resort to secular power for protection, opposed by, 209.
  belief of, in second coming of Christ, 303.
  on time of the judgment, 356.
  on state of the dead, 549.

Lutterworth, _see_ Wycliffe.

Magi, rank, learning, and wealth of, 315.
  Hebrew Scriptures understood by, 315.
  watching for the Messiah, 315.
  light heeded by, 316.

Man, nature of, at creation, 467.
  Satan plots ruin of, 531.
  looking to, in place of God, 595.

“Man of sin,” developed by compromise between paganism and Christianity,
            50, 266.
  _See_ Papacy.

Margaret, sister of Francis I., a Protestant, 214.
  protector of Protestants, 221-224.

Mark of the beast, sign of allegiance to Rome, 445-450, 579, 627.
  how received, 604, 605.
  _see also_ Image; Protestants; United States.

Marks of the crucifixion, Christ always to bear, 674.

Marriage as a symbol, 381, 382.
  supper of the Lamb, 427, 428.

Martyrs, early Christian, 40, 47.
  in the sixth century, 54, 55.
  by the Inquisition, in the thirteenth century, 59.
  no fear of death in, 74.
  in England, 94, 95, 247, 249, 252.
  in Bohemia, 98, 109, 110, 114, 115, 254.
  in Switzerland, 180.
  in Germany, 211.
  in France, 217, 218, 220, 225-230, 271, 282.
  in Meaux, 215.
  in the Netherlands, 238, 240.
  in Scotland, 249, 250.

Mary, Queen of Scots, and John Knox, 250, 251.

Mass (or Eucharist), 59, 189, 190.

Meaux, Reformation in, 214, 215, 219.

Mediator, Christ as, 74, 75, 126, 133, 488.
  when man will be without a, 425.

Melanchthon, the friend of Luther, 134, 151, 210.
  perplexed by fanaticism, 187.
  rescues Grynæus, 205.
  Augsburg Confession drawn up by, 196-206.
  on second advent, 303.

Mendicants, _see_ Friars.

Menno Simons, work of, 238, 239.

Mercy of God, to first disciples, 348.
  door of, open, 429, 430, 435.
  shown in destruction by flood, 543.

Message of Revelation eighteen, when given, 390, 603.
  condition of world under, 603, 604.
  _see also_ First angel’s message; Second angel’s message; Third angel’s
              message; Advent Movement.

Messiah, prophecies of, 326, 327, 345, 346, 410.
  first advent of, explained to Joseph Wolff, 357-359.
  Jews ignorant of coming of, 378.
  _see also_ Christ; First advent.

Meteoric shower, _see_ Stars.

Methodists, origin of, 257.
  character of, in days of Wesley, 259.
  persecution of, 259.
  _see also_ Wesley.

Middle Ages, 66, 572.
  _see also_ Dark Ages.

Midnight, God’s people delivered at, 636.
  of the world (figurative), 60.

Midnight cry, 398-408, 426, 427.
  impelling power of, 402.

Millennium, temporal, not taught in Bible, 321.
  effect of belief in, 321.
  condition of earth during, 653-660.
  _see also_ Thousand years.

Miller, William, 317-342.
  early years and character of, 317, 318, 335.
  conversion of, from infidelity, 319.
  study of Bible by, 319-330.
  called to preach, 330, 331.
  work of, 331, 332, 368-375.
  associates of, in labors, 335.
  opposition to, by religious teachers, 335-337.
  protected by angels, 337.
  wrong conclusion of, regarding end of 2300 days, 351-353.
  proclamation of second advent message committed to, 368.
  attitude of, toward fanaticism, 396, 397.
  _see also_ Advent Movement; First angel’s message.

Mind, when under control of Satan, 59.
  a law of the, 555.

Ministers, training of, by Vaudois, 70, 71.
  influence of popular, in undermining faith in Bible, 336.
  errors taught by, 536.
  not infallible, 596, 597.
  leaning on, for religious belief, 596.
  harvest from false teachings of, 654, 655.
  _see also_ Preaching.

Ministration, of earthly priests, 413, 418-422.
  of Christ, 413, 415-417, 420-422, 480, 482-485, 488-491.
  of angels, 480, 482, 486, 487, 511.

Miracles, of Christ; casting out of devils, at Gadara, 514, 515;
  man possessed, blind and dumb, 515;
  youth who had dumb spirit, 515;
  demoniac at Capernaum, 516.
  of healing, to be performed in time of trouble, 612, 624.
  so-called, in support of Sunday observance, 575-577;
  through agency of Spiritualism, 588;
  counterfeit, 593;
  of Satan, 612, 624.

Missionary spirit, the spirit of Christ, 70.

Missionaries, Waldensian, 70-76.
  in England, 87, 94.
  Whitefield and the Wesleys in America, 254.
  _see also_ Colporteurs; Writings; Wolff.

Missions, foreign, growth of, 287.

Monasteries, 82-84.

Money, Wesley on right use of, 385.
  how squandered by professed Christians, 475.
  used in self-indulgence, 488.

Monks, 82-85.
  _see also_ Friars; Monasteries.

Moon, darkening of, 305-308.
  _see also_ Signs.

Moravians, churches of, 119.
  in storm at sea, 254, 255.
  Wesley’s stay among, 255, 256.

Morin, 225, 226

Moses, writer of Pentateuch, 434.

Munsterites, 239.

Münzer, 191-193.

Myconius, 183.

Mysteries, revealed, 341, 599.
  unrevealed, 522.

Mystery in God’s providences, 47, 48.

Mystery of iniquity, work of, in early church, 49, 384, 385.

National prosperity, foundation of, 277-279, 285, 286.

National reform movement, 587.

Nature, worship of, 522, 583.

Nehemiah, 56.

Nero, character of, 78.
  among Satan’s host, at end of world, 667.
  mother of, 667.

Netherlands, progress of Reformation in, 237-240.

New birth, results of, 468.

New earth, description of, 675-678.

New England, as an asylum for the oppressed, 295, 296.
  advent message in, 332.

New Jerusalem, as the bride, 426, 427.
  righteous welcomed to, 646, 647, 665.
  descends from heaven, 663.
  effort of Satan to conquer, 663, 664.
  metropolis of new earth, 676.

New Testament, _see_ Bible, translations of.

Nineveh, Jonah’s message to, 406.

Noah, message of, 337-339, 371, 431, 491.
  Sabbath kept by, 453.

Nobles, of France, 279, 280.

Obedience, blessings of, 476.

Œcolampadius, character and work of, 182-184.
  death of, 212.

Offerings, _see_ Sanctuary.

Olivetan, cousin of Calvin, 220.

One hundred and forty-four thousand, song of, 648.

Open door, _see_ Door of mercy.

Oppression, _see_ Dark Ages; Papacy; Persecution.

Ottoman empire, fall of, predicted by Litch, 334, 335.

Paganism, union of, with Christianity, 43, 50, 52.
  persecutions under, 39-48.
  errors of, in Christian church, 58.

Pagan Rome, in prophecy, 438.
  authority of, transferred to papacy, 54, 439.
  _see also_ Dragon.

Palestine, travels of Wolff in, 360.

Papacy, establishment of, 50, 54.
  supremacy of, 50, 51, 60, 82, 126, 251, 453, 573, 581.
  condition of world under, 60.
  arrogance of, 50, 60.
  attitude of, toward Waldenses, 76-78.
  efforts of, to silence Wycliffe, 85, 86.
  the great schism in, 86, 87, 103.
  how represented in prophecy, 438, 439, 445, 446, 578.
  special characteristic of, 446.
  how Protestants pay homage to, 442, 447, 448.
  attempt of, to change law of God, 52, 446.
  character and aims of, 562-581.
  infallibility claimed by, 50, 57, 564.
  in the United States, 564, 573.
  future success of, 566, 572.
  an attractive religion, 566.
  right to pardon sin, claimed by, 83, 567.
  compared to Jewish church, 568.
  cruelty of, 569-571.
  false science to prepare way for, 573.
  to regain power, 578-581.
  _see also_ Pope; Popes; Roman Catholic Church; Traditions.

Parable, of ten virgins, 393-395, 398, 400, 402, 426-428.
  of marriage supper, 428.

Pardon for sin, claimed by Rome, 83, 567.
  obtained only through Christ, 126.

Paris, the Reformation in, 212-230.
  conditions in, at Revolution, 279, 283.

Park, Edwards A., on law of God, 465, 466.

Passover lamb, Christ represented by, 399.

Pastors, trusting to, for religious belief, 380, 655.
  _see also_ Ministers.

Paul, conversion of, 328.
  commission of, to Gentiles, 328.
  heresy in days of, 396.
  warning of, to Thessalonians, 456.
  accusation against, 458.
  an example of true sanctification, 471.
  protected by angels, 512.
  courageous opposer of wrong, 520.
  in the New Jerusalem, 667.

Penalty, civil, to be inflicted for keeping law of God, 459.

Penance, 56.

Pentecost, 351;
  experience of last days similar to, 611.
  _see also_ Holy Spirit.

People of God, suppression of history of, during Dark Ages, 61.
  contrasted with worshipers of beast and image, 445, 446.
  distinguished by regard for fourth commandment, 446.
  during great day of atonement, 490, 491, 601, 602.
  protected by angels, 513, 517, 630-632.
  care of God for, 528-530, 560, 621, 626, 627, 631-634.
  denounced as cause of disasters, 590-592, 614, 615.
  trial of, to the utmost, 618.
  persecution of, 619.
  faith of, 619, 621, 622.
  anxiety of, over past sins, 619-621.
  seek for perfection in Christ, 622, 623.
  deliverance of, 635-652.
  rainbow about companies of, 636.
  translation of, 645, 646.
  _see also_ Christians; Persecution; Redeemed; “Time of trouble.”

Persecution, Christ’s followers to suffer, 39, 143, 144, 507, 610.
  in first centuries, 39-48.
  a means of keeping church pure, 44, 48.
  reasons for, to be left with God, 47, 48, 609.
  why not seen to-day, 48.
  during 1260 years, 55, 266, 439;
  cut short, 266, 267.
  truth extended by, 96, 196, 219, 240, 250, 252.
  of Waldenses, 65, 78, 97.
  of Wycliffe, 89, 90, 609.
  of Lollards, 94, 95.
  of Huss, 100-109, 609.
  of Luther, 137-143, 145-167, 609.
  in Germany, 196.
  of French Protestants, 223-226, 271-273, 278.
  of believers in Netherlands, 239, 240.
  of Wesley and his followers, 258, 259, 609.
  of Puritans, 290.
  of advent believers, 372.
  of Sabbath-keepers, 607-609.
  _see also_ Heretics.

Persia, Wolff’s travels in, 360.

Peter, protected by angels, 512.

Petri, Olaf and Laurentius, 242-244.

Pharaoh, 251, 269, 275.

Pharisees, ignorance of, regarding Messiah, 314.

Philosophy, pagan, in the church, 58.
  human, 126, 522.

Physical righteousness, 473-475.

Piedmont, _see_ Waldenses.

Pilate, 164.

Pilate’s staircase, 125.

Pilgrim Fathers, _see_ Puritans.

“Pilgrim’s Progress,” 252.

Pius IX., pope, 564.

Plagues, of Egypt, 627, 628.
  of last days, 628, 629.

Plan of salvation, revealed in Bible, 81.
  under the guidance of God, 343.
  culmination of, 486.
  to be study of redeemed, 651.

Pleasure-seeking, 387.

Policy in religious matters, 460.

Political corruption, 586, 592.

Pope, arrogant claims of, 50, 51, 56.
  authority claimed by, 50, 57, 261, 580.
  acknowledged as God’s vicegerent, 51, 53, 102, 140.
  faith transferred from Christ to, 55.
  impeachment of, 237.
  led into captivity, 439.
  _see also_ Papacy; Roman Catholic Church.

Popes, great schism of, 86, 87, 103, 104.

Prague, Reformation in, 99, 100, 104.
  placed under interdict, 100, 101, 104.

Prayer, necessity of, in Bible study, 132, 599, 600.
  Luther’s belief in, 156, 157, 209, 210.
  power of, 210.
  lack of, 373, 488.
  necessity for, 525, 530, 601.
  in time of trouble, 621, 622.

Preaching, of Luther, 152.
  of Zwingle, 174-177, 180.
  of Farel and Froment, 232.
  of Joseph Wolff, 359-362.
  of children in Scandinavia, 366, 367.
  of advent truths, in 1844, 400-408.
  of unpopular truths, 458-460.
  _see also_ Ministers.

Predestination, 261.

Present truth, in days of Luther, 143.
  in our day, 143, 144.

Presumption, 59.

Priests, at bar of God, 668.
  _see also_ Friars; Monks.

Priests and rulers, rejection of Christ by, 595.
  ministers of to-day compared with, 596.

Printing, art of, 61, 88, 288.
  of Tyndale’s Bible, 247.
  _see also_ Books.

Prison-house of Satan, 659.

Prizes, offering of, a species of gambling, 387.

Probation, close of, 428, 429.
  no future, 662.

Procopius, 116-118.

Prophecy, importance of study of, 341, 342, 344, 345.
  consolation in, 391-394.
  study of, by William Miller, 320-329;
  by prophets, 344;
  by Gaussen, 365;
  by Adventists, 391, 423.
  fulfilled by Miller and his associates, 405.
  of 1260 years, 54, 266, 439.
  of 2300 years, 324-329, 351-353, 398, 409, 410, 417, 429, 457, 486.
  of the “two witnesses,” 266-287.
  to be understood, 340, 341, 521.
  of first advent, not understood by disciples, 346, 347.
  _see also_ Beasts; Chronology; Prophecies; Signs.

Prophecies, of destruction of Jerusalem, 21, 22, 25-27, 30.
  of second advent, 299-302, 310, 311, 320-329.
  failure of Jews to understand, 313-316, 344-346.
  concerning first advent, fulfilment of, 344-348, 405, 424-429.
  of Daniel and the Revelation, not mysteries, 340-342, 365, 380, 594.
  fulfilled, 391-408.
  on Sabbath reform, 451-453.
  _see also_ Chronology; Papacy; Prophecy; “Time of trouble;” United
              States.

Protest, of early Christians, 95.
  of the Princes, 197-204;
  text of, 202-204;
  effect of, 203, 204.

Protestantism, vital principles of, 197, 202, 203, 291, 441.
  dangers of, 211, 234, 235.
  strength of, 236.
  apostasy of, 297, 298, 384-390, 444, 571.
  to clasp hands with Spiritualism and Catholicism, 588.

Protestants, rise of, 204, 205.
  persecution of, in France, 225, 230.
  menaced by powerful foes, 234.
  increasing favor shown to Rome by, 563, 566.
  homage paid to Rome by, in Sunday-keeping, 447, 448.
  following in steps of Rome, 383, 384, 443, 523, 573.

Protestant churches, rise of, 383.
  daughters of Rome, 382.
  fall of, 383, 389.
  many true Christians in, 383, 390.
  seeking aid of secular power, 383.
  union of, upon common points of doctrine, 444, 445.
  seeking favor of world, 571.

Punishment, of rich, 653, 654.
  of unfaithful pastors and people, 654-657.
  of Satan, 658-660.
  of wicked, 666, 673.

Purgatory, doctrine of, 58, 59.
  an invention of paganism, 58.

Puritans, 280-298.
  persecution of, in England, 290.
  flight of, from England, 290.
  departure of, from Holland, 291-293.
  intolerance of, 293.
  character of early, 296.
  regard of, for Bible, 296.

Rainbow, seen in time of trouble, 636.

Reason, worship of, 193.
  in France, 275, 276.

Rebellion, of Lucifer, 493-500, 503.
  spirit of, 500, 502.

Rechabites, Wolff visits, 362.

Reconciliation, 467, 468.

Records, of Inquisition, 59, 61, 62.
  in books of heaven, 59, 61, 486, 487.
  _see also_ Books.

Redeemed, entrance of, into New Jerusalem, 646, 647.
  song of, 649-651, 665.
  triumph of, 650.
  home of, 674-678.
  hold open communion with God, 676, 677.
  education of, 677, 678.

Reformation, foundation of, laid by Wycliffe, 92-94.
  advancement of, 148, 186, 197.
  efforts of Satan to counterfeit, 186-192.
  friends of, protected by angels, 205-208.
  threatened by grave dangers, 206, 209.
  brought to notice of great men, 208.
  progress of, in Great Britain, 79-96, 245-253;
  in Germany, 120-170, 185-210;
  in Switzerland, 171-184, 232-234;
  in France, 214-224;
  in Netherlands and Scandinavia, 237-244.
  France warned against, by pope, 277.
  extent of, 265.
  work of, to restore Bible to people, 388.
  obstacles met by, 396.
  _see also_ Calvin; Huss; Luther; Protestantism; Protestants; Tyndale;
              Wycliffe; Zwingle.

Reformers, Wycliffe one of the greatest, 94.
  character of, 94, 171, 243, 244.
  work of, 606.
  belief of, in second coming of Christ, 302, 303.
  _see also_ Calvin; Huss; Jerome; Knox; Latimer; Luther; Melanchthon;
              Wycliffe; Zwingle; etc.

Reign of Terror, 273, 282.

Religion, profession of, has become popular, 386.
  formality in, 55.
  the sport of infidels, 463.
  Satan’s counterfeit of, 464.
  pure, defined, 474.

Religious liberty, termed heresy, 45.
  in Germany, 197-205.
  in Holland, 240.
  in Reformed countries, 244.
  believed in by Puritans, 291-298.
  upheld by Roger Williams, 293-295.
  in United States, 441, 443.
  merely endured by Rome, 565.
  God’s way of working, 591.
  _see also_ Conscience; Heretics; Persecution; Puritans; Toleration;
              United States.

Religious worship prohibited in France, 274.

Remission of sin, in sanctuary services, 417, 418.

Repentance, 468.

Republicanism, a fundamental principle of the United States, 441.

Resurrection of the dead, 322.
  of Christ, wave-sheaf a type of, 399.
  the first, 482, 544.
  the first and second, distinction between, 544.
  doctrine of, why neglected, 547.
  special, of Sabbath-keepers, 637;
  of those who crucified Christ, 637.
  of righteous, 644.
  of wicked, 661, 662.

Revelation, book of, studied by Miller, 320.
  to be understood, 341, 342.
  relation of, to book of Daniel, 341.

Revivals, modern, 461-478.
  results of genuine, 461, 462.
  popular, 463, 464.
  secret of lack of power in, 465.

Revolution, _see_ French Revolution.

Rich, punishment of, 654.

Richard II., 89.

Ridley, 248, 303.

Righteousness by faith, _see_ Justification by faith.

Robbing God, 475.

Robinson, Pastor John, address of, to Puritans, 291, 292.

Roman Catholic Church, development of, 50-60, 580.
  claims of, 261, 564, 567, 580, 596.
  customs in, 49.
  attitude of, toward Bible, 51, 81, 89, 97, 195, 235, 236, 265, 269, 340,
              388.
  errors introduced by, 58, 59, 82-84, 536.
  records of persecution, 61, 62, 563, 570, 571.
  condition of, in time of Wycliffe, 86;
  Huss, 103;
  Luther, 149.
  Luther’s separation from, 120-143.
  defended by Aleander, 147-149.
  efforts of, against Luther, 137-141, 145-167.
  description of, as Babylon, 382, 383;
  as leopard beast, 179, 439, 578.
  result of revolt against, in France, 283-285.
  sign of authority of, 446-448, 573.
  true Christians in, 449, 565.
  Protestants following in steps of, 383, 384, 443, 523, 573.
  gaining in favor with Protestants, 563, 572-574, 580, 581.
  popularity of, 566, 571.
  schools of, patronized by Protestants, 566.
  worship of, attractive, 566, 567.
  in comparison with Jewish church, 568.
  idolatry in, 568.
  means used by, to compel obedience, 569.
  reserves right to interpret Scriptures, 596.
  _see also_ Papacy; Pope.

Rome, the seat of papal power, 54.
  visit of Luther to, 124, 125.
  visit of bishops to, 237.

Rulers, corruption among, 586.

Russia, proclamation of advent message in, 364.

Sabbath, memorial of creation, 54, 455.
  authority of, 455.
  observed throughout the ages, 52, 61-65, 453.
  set aside for Sunday, 53.
  hatred of Rome for, 64, 65.
  abolished in France, 274.
  study of, by advent believers, 434, 435.
  importance of, 437, 438.
  a sign of creative power of God, 54, 436-438.
  change of, 447, 448, 452.
  not changed by Christ, 447.
  no authority in Bible for change of, 447.
  promises to observers of, 451-453.
  arguments against, 454, 455, 587.
  divine authority of, acknowledged by Romanists, 447, 577.
  disasters attributed to observance of, 590.
  test of loyalty to God, 605.
  _see also_ Fourth commandment; Law of God; Sabbath-keepers; Sunday.

Sabbath-keepers, in all ages, 52, 453.
  in 1844, 434, 435.
  work of, 454, 603-606, 609, 611, 612.
  among Waldenses, 577.
  persecution of, by enemies, 592, 607-610, 626, 627;
  by former brethren, 608.
  denounced as cause of disasters, 590, 592, 614, 615.
  decree to be issued against, 615, 616, 626, 631, 635.
  experience of, in time of trouble, 616-634.
  the mountains afford refuge for, 626.
  special resurrection of, 637.
  triumph of, 638-640.
  _see also_ Christians; People of God; Redeemed; Sabbath.

Sabbath reform, 451-456, 587.

Sacrifice of the mass, 59, 189, 190.

Sacrifices, _see_ Sanctuary.

Sacrificing for Christ, 387.

Safe-conduct, of Huss, 105-107, 163.
  of Luther, 150, 154, 163.

Saloons, closed as effect of Miller’s preaching, 332.

Samson, indulgence-monger in Switzerland, 178, 179.

Sanctification,
  true, work of, 465, 467, 469, 470, 473;
  how attained, 469, 470;
  nature of, 470;
  as set forth in the Scriptures, 473, 474;
  fruits of, 477, 478;
  examples of, 470, 471.
  false, in Luther’s day, 193;
  in last days, 469, 471-473, 475.

Sanctuary, in type and antitype, 409-432.
  not the earth, 411.
  study of, by Adventists, 411-415.
  key to meaning of disappointment in 1844, 423, 431, 432.
  should be clearly understood, 488-490.
  earthly, description of, 411-415;
  a pattern of heavenly, 414, 415;
  services in, a type, 417-420, 428, 433, 435;
  cleansing of, 328, 352, 410, 417, 418, 426;
  services in, continued after crucifixion, 615.
  heavenly, services in, 413-415, 420-422, 428-431, 433, 435;
  advent believers directed to, 424, 425;
  ministration in first apartment of, 421, 422;
  work of Christ in, 421, 422, 433-435, 480, 482-491.
  _see also_ Advent Movement; Law; Tabernacle; Temple.

Satan, efforts of, to induce Christians to compromise with world, 49, 50,
            298.
  arts of, 192, 193, 518, 519.
  satisfaction of, in horrors of Reign of Terror, 284.
  policy of, 378.
  the accuser, 395, 484.
  position and beauty of, before fall, 493-495.
  disaffection and rebellion of, 494-500.
  long-suffering of God with, 496.
  rebellion of, a lesson to universe, 499.
  character of God misrepresented by, 281, 498, 500, 502.
  character of, 501, 502.
  self-exaltation of, 504, 554.
  enmity of, toward man, 505, 510.
  danger in denying existence of, 516, 524.
  importance of having right estimate of, 516, 517.
  power and malice of, 517.
  present at worship of God, 518.
  power of, to show appearance of departed friends, 552, 560;
  to appear as angel of light, 588.
  ability of, to quote Scripture, 559.
  work of, through elements, 589, 590.
  compulsion the resort of, 591.
  to personate Christ, 624.
  binding of, 658-660.
  sins of God’s people to be placed upon, 658, 673.
  judgment of, 661.
  last struggle of, for supremacy, 663, 664, 671, 672.
  acknowledges justice of his sentence, 669, 670.
  _see also_ Evil spirits; Lucifer; Snares of Satan.

Saxons in Great Britain, 62, 63.

Saxony, Bohemians flee to, 254.

Scandinavia, progress of the Reformation in, 241-244.
  proclamation of advent message in, 366.
  child-preachers in, 366, 367.

Scapegoat, in sanctuary service, 419, 420.
  Satan typified by, 422, 485, 658.

Schism, the Great, _see_ Popes.

Science, research into, sometimes a snare of Satan, 522.
  false, to prepare way for papacy, 573.
  not a true foundation for religious belief, 595.

Scoffers, in Noah’s time, 338.
  in Miller’s time, 339, 340, 404, 408, 429.
  in last days, 561, 635, 642.

Scotland, a refuge for persecuted Christians, 62.
  persecutions in, 249, 250.
  work of Knox in, 250, 251.

Scriptures, the detector of error, 51.
  study of, 80, 81, 598, 599, 600.
  Wycliffe demands restoration of, to people, 81.
  infallibility of, 89, 249.
  Wolff on popular system of interpretation of, 360.
  study of, danger of neglecting, 519, 521.
  fanciful interpretations of, 520, 521.
  a safeguard, 559, 593-603.
  _see also_ Bible; Word of God.

Seal of God, 613, 640.

Second advent of Christ, foretold, 39, 454.
  hope of believers in all ages, 299-303.
  signs of, 304-316, 333, 334.
  warning of, why not committed to religious leaders, 315.
  manner of, 321.
  taught in Scriptures, 321-323.
  time of, 324;
  not known by men, 457;
  error in regard to, 328, 368, 482.
  warning of, rejected, 338, 339, 366.
  proclamation of, 352-354.
  preached by Joseph Wolff, 359, 360;
  William Miller, 329-333, 352-354, 368-374.
  belief in, found in Bokhara, Yemen, and Tartary, 361, 362.
  taught in England, South America, Germany, France, Switzerland,
              Scandinavia, 362-367.
  preparation for, in 1844, 401-403.
  false theory of, 525.
  manner of, cannot be counterfeited by Satan, 625.
  scenes of, 636-644.
  _see also_ Advent Movement; Christ; Prophecy; Prophecies.

Second angel’s message, 381-390.

Second commandment, expunged from law by papacy, 52.

Secrets of God, men not to search into, 523.

Self-depreciation, 477.

Self-exaltation, Luther removed from danger of, 170.
  danger from, 471, 494-499, 503.

Self-indulgence, 473-475, 488.

Self-justification, of Satan, 499.
  of sinners to-day, 500.

Self-sufficiency, 509.

Sennacherib, 512.

Seventh-day Adventists, 409-422, 429-432.
  proclamation of final warning by, 603-612.
  _see also_ Law; People of God; Sabbath; Sanctuary; Third angel’s
              message.

Seventy weeks, prophecy of, 324, 328, 345-347, 410.

Sigismund, 104-108, 115-118, 163.

Signs of second advent, 304-316, 391, 456.
  Lisbon earthquake, 304, 305.
  darkening of sun and moon, 306-308.
  condition of churches, 309, 310.
  falling of the stars, 333, 334.
  _see also_ Prophecies.

Simon Magus, 128.

Sin, definition of, 472.
  origin of, 492-502.
  love of, 508.
  end of, 504, 545.
  remission of, in sanctuary service, 417, 418, 421, 425.
  _see also_ Evil; Satan.

Sins, secret, revealed in judgment, 486.
  blotting out of, from books in heaven, 421, 422, 484-486, 614.

Skepticism, _see_ Infidelity.

Snares of Satan, 518-530.
  in worldly business, 519.
  self-gratification, 519.
  in appeals to appetite, 474.
  neglect of prayer and Bible study, 519, 525.
  accusing of brethren, 519.
  unconverted church-members, 520.
  false theories, 520, 523.
  wresting and perverting of Scripture, 520, 521.
  liberality of religious belief, 522.
  scientific research, 522.
  unwise speculations, 522, 523.
  Spiritualism, 524.
  denial of pre-existence of Christ, 524.
  false teaching regarding second advent, 525.

Society, condition of, in last days, 583-586.
  corruption in, attributed to Sunday desecration, 587.

Sodom, warning rejected by, 431, 512.
  spiritual, 269.

Solomon, 509.

Sophie Arnoult, 270.

South America, proclamation of advent message in, 363.

Spain, Luther’s writings in, 139.
  earthquake felt in, 304.

Spalatin, 165.

Speculation, human, 126, 522.

Spires, Diet of, 197-210.
  protest of, 197-204.

Spirit of God, when to be withdrawn from earth, 615.
  _see also_ Holy Spirit; Pentecost.

Spirit manifestations, 552, 560.
  the rapping delusion, 553.
  made to take place of Bible, 557.
  _see also_ Evil spirits; Spiritualism.

Spirits, to be tried by Bible, 397.
  agency of evil, 511-517.
  communion with, forbidden, 556.
  uphold Sunday observance, 591.

Spiritualism, 551-562.
  one of Satan’s most successful agencies, 524, 552, 561, 562.
  converts to, where found, 556.
  erroneous teaching of, 555-558.
  leads to self-indulgence and excess, 555, 603, 604.
  assuming Christian guise, 558.
  deceptive power of, 558, 559, 588.
  Scriptures a safeguard against, 559.
  miracles to be wrought through, 588, 589.
  _see also_ Angels; Evil Spirits; Satan; Spirit manifestations.

Spurgeon, on sacramentarianism in the Church of England, 384.

Standard-bearers, 55.

Star, seen at deliverance of God’s people, 638.

Stars, falling of, 333, 334.
  _see also_ Signs.

State, duty of, 201.
  _see also_ Church and state; United States.

Staupitz, 123.

St. Bartholomew massacre, 272, 273.

Stephen, 328.

Suffrage in the United States, 297.

Sun, darkening of, 305-308.
  _see also_ Signs.

Sunday, made a public festival, 53.
  given place of Sabbath by Rome, 53, 447, 448.
  origin of observance of, 54, 474-477.
  no scriptural evidence for, 434, 435.
  observance of, an act of homage to Rome, 442, 448, 449, 579, 580.
  not the Lord’s day, 447.
  enforcement of, in United States, 573.
  first law for observance of, 574.
  so-called miracles in support of, 575, 576.
  observance of, in future, to be enforced by law, 449, 573, 579, 592.
  movement in United States, 587.
  accusations against non-observers of, 587, 590.
  spirit manifestations in support of, 591.
  to be declared sacred by Satan when personating Christ, 624.
  _see also_ Mark; Sabbath.

Supremacy of Rome, _see_ Papacy.

Sweden, gospel welcomed to, 243.
  work of the Petri brothers in, 242, 243.
  work of, in Thirty Years’ War, 244.
  Reformation in, 243, 244.
  second advent message in, 366, 367.

Switzerland, missionaries to, 62.
  Luther’s writings in, 139.
  advent message proclaimed in, 364.

Symbols of prophecy, interpretation of, 438-445, 578.

Syria, travels of Wolff in, 360.

Tabernacle, of Moses, 411-415.
  replaced by temple of Solomon, 412.
  destruction of, by Romans, 17-38, 412.
  the sanctuary of first covenant, 413.
  services in, a shadow of heavenly, 433.
  _see also_ Sanctuary.

Talent, proper use of, 487.
  use of, by Satan, 509.

Tarrying time, 398-408.
  a trial of patience, 392, 393.
  a fulfilment of prophecy, 407, 408.

Tausen, “Reformer of Denmark,” character and work of, 241, 242.
  imprisonment of, 242.

Temperance work and the Sunday movement, 587.

Temple of Solomon, beauty of, 17, 18, 23.
  history of, 24 (note), 412.
  destruction of, beheld by Christ, 21.
  second, made more glorious by presence of Christ, 24.
  overthrow of, predicted, 24, 25.
  destroyed by Titus, 31-35, 412.
  scenes at destruction of, 30-35.
  _see also_ Sanctuary.

Temple in heaven, God’s dwelling-place, 414, 415.
  sanctuary of new covenant, 413.
  opened, 433.
  _see also_ Law, moral.

Temptation, of Christ, 50, 51, 510.
  of Waldensian youth, 70.
  how to resist, 510, 600.
  why permitted, 528-530.
  of Adam and Eve in Eden, 531, 532.

Ten virgins, parable of, 393, 394, 400-402.

Terror of wicked at advent of Christ, 636-644.

Test, of world, in giving of advent message, 353, 354.
  of Adventists, in disappointment of 1844, 373, 374.
  of loyalty to God, Sabbath the great, 605.

Tetzel, sale of indulgences by, 127-129, 178.

Theology, popular, opposed by Luther, 126.
  result of, 525.

Theories, false, a snare of Satan, 520-525.

Theses of Luther against indulgences, 129, 130.
  discussion aroused by, 130.

Thessalonian church, Paul’s advice to, 456, 457.

Third angel’s message, 432, 435, 437-450.
  the last to go to the world, 390.
  fearful threatening of, 449.
  extent of, 450.
  to be proclaimed with power, 605, 606.
  close of, marks beginning of “time of trouble,” 613.
  _see also_ People of God; Prophecy; Prophecies; Signs.

Thirty Years’ War, part of Sweden in, 244.

Thousand years, _see_ Millennium.
  work of redeemed during, 660, 661.

Threefold message, 450, 453.

“Time of trouble,” 613-634.
  warning regarding, 310, 311.
  beginning of, 613.
  soon to open, 622.
  scenes of, 623, 624.
  experience of people of God in, 615-634.

Time-setting, 457.

Tithing, 475.

Titus, in siege of Jerusalem, 21, 31-35.
  humanity of, 32-34.

Tobacco, 474, 475.

Toleration, not a precept of Roman Church, 564.
  _see also_ Religious liberty.

Traditions acknowledged as authority by Rome, 183, 448.

Translation, of Bible, _see_ Bible.
  of righteous at second advent, 645, 646.

Transubstantiation, 238.

Trial, object of, 291, 621.
  _see also_ Test.

Tree of life, 532.

Trust in God, need for, 527.

Truth, spread of, in time of persecution, 42, 95, 96, 101, 196, 240, 249,
            634.
  opposition to, 458-460.
  men moved to search Bible for, 79, 81.
  Rome contending against, 90.
  progressive nature of, 291, 292, 297.
  why not revealed to great men, 316.
  proper attitude toward, 378-380.
  need of searching for, 522, 598.
  counterfeits of, 523, 528.
  _see also_ Sabbath; Sanctuary; Third angel’s message.

Truths, development of new, 609.

Turkish empire, _see_ Ottoman empire.

Twelve hundred and sixty years, beginning of, 54, 266, 439.

Twenty-three hundred years, exposition of, 324-329, 351-353, 398, 409,
            410, 417, 429, 457.
  end of, marks opening of investigative judgment, 423, 424, 486.
  _see also_ Miller; Prophecy; Sanctuary.

Two-horned beast, United States represented by, 439-443.
  _see also_ United States.

Two witnesses, prophecy concerning, 266-287.
  _see also_ Bible; Scriptures.

Tyndale, work of, 245-247.
  martyrdom of, 247.
  on sleep of the dead, 547.

Types, _see_ Sanctuary.

Unbelief, result of cherishing, 527, 528.

Union, of Christians and pagans, 45.
  of church and state, 297, 442, 445, 450, 607.
  of church and world, 390.
  of all Protestant churches, 444, 445.
  of Protestantism, Spiritualism, and Roman Catholicism, 588.

United Brethren, 119.

United States, religious liberty in, 295.
  growth of, 295, 296.
  government of, 297.
  dark day seen in, 306-308.
  falling stars seen in, 333, 334.
  Joseph Wolff’s visit to, 360.
  represented in prophecy by two-horned beast, 439, 440.
  rise of, 440, 441.
  characteristics of, 441.
  once an asylum for the oppressed, 441, 442.
  Constitution of, 442.
  to enact oppressive laws, 442, 579.
  prediction of supremacy of Rome in, 578, 579.
  Sunday movement in, 587.
  _see also_ Mark of the beast; Protestants; Puritans; Religious liberty;
              Two-horned beast.

Unity among advent believers, 379.

Universalism, fallacy of, 537-539.
  a Universalist minister on state of the dead, 537-539.

University of Erfurt, Luther a student at, 121, 122.
  of Paris, Lefevre in, 212, 217.
  of Prague, Huss in, 98-100.
  of Wittenberg, Luther and Melanchthon as professors in, 124-126, 134.

Vaudois, _see_ Waldenses.

Virgin Mary, 43, 58, 174, 175, 217.

Voice, from heaven, heard by God’s people, 636.
  of God declares hour of Jesus’ coming, 640.

Voltaire, infidelity of, 281.
  boast of, against Christianity, 288.

Waldenses, 61-78.
  among the first to obtain translation of Bible, 65.
  training of youth of, 66-68.
  authority of Bible recognized by, 68, 72.
  diligence of, in copying Bible, 69.
  youth of, sent to institutions of learning, 70.
  belief of, in second advent, 72, 303.
  self-sacrificing missionary labors of, 70-76, 237.
  results of work of, 71-76.
  persecution of, 76-78, 97.
  Sabbath-keepers among, 577.
  _see also_ Albigenses; Heretics.

War, delight of Satan in, 589.

Warning, last message of, 311, 312, 390, 432, 435, 604-612.
  to be given to all, 38, 605.
  of judgment to come, 352, 353.
  rejection of, 375-390, 431.
  against worship of beast, 445.
  most fearful ever given to men, 449.
  will be heeded by leading men, 611.
  _see also_ Third angel’s message.

Warnings, importance of, 594.

Wartburg, Luther concealed in, 168-170, 185-193.

Washburn, Governor, on church gambling, 387.

Watchman, false, first to suffer at the end, 656.

Waters or sea, as a symbol, 440.

Wedding garment, 428.

Week, length of, changed by France, 273.

Wesley, Charles, missionary to America, 254.
  trusting to good works for salvation, 253, 254.

Wesley, John, missionary to America, 254.
  acceptance of righteousness by faith, 255, 256.
  work of, 256-258.
  guarded by an angel, 258.
  law of God upheld by, 262-264.
  results of work of, 264.
  wiles of Satan encountered by, 396.
  on right use of money, 385.
  _see also_ Methodists.

Whitefield, a missionary to America, 253, 256, 257.

Wicked, how restrained, 36.
  why permitted to prosper, 48.
  end of, 544, 545.
  terror and remorse of, at second advent, 37, 635, 644.
  resurrection of, 661.
  sentence pronounced upon, 666.
  destruction of, 673.
  _see also_ Judgments; Evil.

Wiles of Satan, _see_ Satan; Snares of Satan.

Will, freedom of, _see_ Freedom.

Williams, Roger, apostle of religious liberty, 293.
  work and banishment of, 294.

Winds, prophetic, symbol of war, 440.

Wine of Babylon, meaning of, 388.
  application of, 389, 536.

Winter, Robert, advent message proclaimed by, in England, 362.

Wise men, _see_ Magi.

Wishart, 250.

Witchcraft, Spiritualism a form of, 556.

Wittenbach, a teacher at Basel, 173.

Wittenberg, students of, carried Reformation to Scandinavia, 241.
  _see also_ Luther; University of Wittenberg.

Wolff, Dr. Joseph, parentage and early years of, 357.
  education of, 357, 358.
  message of second advent given by, 359, 360.
  work and travels of, 360-362.

Woman as a symbol, 55, 381, 382.

Word of God, weapon of Christ against Satan, 51.
  medium of communication between God and man, 69, 79.
  results following the preaching of, 461.
  our only safety in time of trouble, 625.
  attitude of Roman Catholic Church toward, 81.
  _see also_ Bible; Scriptures.

Works, righteousness by, 55, 56.
  salvation by, 253.
  _see also_ Faith; Wesley.

World, condition of, under papal rule, 60.
  religious, condition of, 390, 586, 603, 604.
  following in steps of Jews, 36-38.
  end of, 653-678.

Worldliness in nominal churches, 376-390, 508.

Worms, _see_ Diet; Luther.

Worship, of beast, _see_ Leopard beast.
  of Reason, 193, 275, 276.
  of God prohibited in France, 274.
  freedom of, _see_ Religious liberty.

Writings, of Christians, suppression of, in Dark Ages, 61.
  of Wycliffe, 89, 96, 249.
  of Luther, circulation of, 133, 139, 178, 194, 233;
  condemnation of, at Worms, 155, 156;
  he refuses to retract them, 158-160;
  read eagerly, 185, 186, 194, 195;
  translated into French, 231;
  in Netherlands, 238;
  read by Tausen, 241;
  in England, 249.
  of Bunyan, 252.
  of Flavel, 253.
  of Baxter, 253.
  of Miller, 335, 368.
  of Lacunza, 363.
  of Bengel, 364.
  of Gaussen, 365.
  on second advent, 362.
  _see also_ Books; Literature.

Wycliffe, John, 79-96.
  herald of reform, 80.
  scholarship of, 80.
  study of Scriptures by, 80, 81.
  fearlessness of, in exposing claims of papacy, 81.
  battle of, against friars, 82-85.
  as ambassador to Netherlands, 84, 85.
  influence of, on court and nation, 84, 85.
  protected by God, 86, 92.
  teacher at Oxford, “the Gospel Doctor,” 87.
  illness of, 87, 88.
  translation of Bible into English by, 88.
  doctrines taught by, 89.
  persecution of, by papacy, 89.
  trials of, by papacy, 85, 89, 90.
  refusal of, to retract, 90.
  arraignment of his persecutors by, 90.
  summoned to Rome, 91.
  letter of, to pope, 91, 92.
  work of, 93.
  character of, 93, 94.
  death of, 92.
  writings of, in Bohemia, 99.
  belief of, in second coming of Christ, 303.

Wycliffites, _see_ Lollards.

Yemen, Wolff’s travels in, 362.

Youth, Waldensian, training of, 67, 68, 70, 71.
  influence of monastic life on, 82, 83.
  infidelity of, 600, 601.
  as princes of heaven, 622.

Ziska, defends Bohemia against army of Sigismund, 116.
  death of, 116.

Zurich, Zwingle’s labors at, 176-181.
  peace in, a result of the gospel, 181.
  council of, refuse to take action against Zwingle, 180, 181.
  disputation at, between Eck and Œcolampadius, 182-184.

Zwingle, Ulric, 171-184.
  early surroundings of, 171, 172.
  designs of friars upon, 172.
  acceptance of Bible as rule of conduct by, 173, 174.
  work of, at Einsiedeln, 174-176.
  work of, at Zurich, 176-182.
  efforts of Rome against, 180-184.
  death of, 212.






FOOTNOTES


    1 Luke 19:42-44.

    2 Ps. 48:2.

    3 Luke 19:41.

    4 Isa. 53:7.

    5 Gen. 22:9, 16-18.

    6 1 Chronicles 21.

    7 Ps. 132:13.

    8 Gen. 28:12; John 1:51.

    9 Jer. 17:21-25.

   10 2 Chron. 36:16, 15.

   11 Ex. 34:6.

   12 Ibid.

   13 Ps. 80:8.

   14 Isa. 5:1-4.

   15 Ibid.

   16 Ibid.

   17 Acts 10:38; Luke 4:18; Matt. 11:5.

   18 Matt. 11:28.

   19 Ps. 109:5.

   20 Jer. 9:1; 13:17.

   21 Matt. 23:37.

   22 John 5:40.

   23 Ps. 76:2; 78:68, 69.

   24 Ibid.

   25 1 Chron. 28:12, 19.

   26 Haggai 2:9, 7.

   27 Haggai 2:3; Ezra 3:12.

   28 Matt. 23:38.

   29 Mark 13:1.

   30 Matt. 24:2, 3.

   31 Ibid.

   32 Matt. 24:15, 16; Luke 21:20.

   33 Matt. 24:35.

   34 Micah 3:9-11.

   35 John 11:48.

   36 Micah 3:12.

   37 Luke 13:7.

   38 Isa. 30:11.

   39 Matt. 7:2.

   40 Milman, “History of the Jews,” book 13.

   41 Luke 21:20, 21.

   42 Isa. 49:15.

   43 Lam. 4:10.

   44 Deut. 28:56, 57.

   45 Matt. 27:25.

   46 Milman, “History of the Jews,” book 16.

   47 Jer. 26:18.

   48 Hosea 13:9; 14:1.

   49 Isa. 9:5.

   50 Matt. 24:30, 31.

   51 2 Thess. 2:8.

   52 Luke 21:25; Matt. 24:29; Mark 13:24-26; Rev. 6:12-17.

   53 Matt. 24:33.

   54 Mark 13:35.

   55 1 Thess. 5:2-5.

   56 Ibid.

   57 Matt. 24:9, 21, 22.

   58 Heb. 10:32.

   59 Heb. 11:36-38.

   60 Ibid.

   61 Heb. 11:35.

   62 Rev. 2:10.

   63 Tertullian’s “Apology,” par. 50 (ed. T. and T. Clark, 1869).

   64 Luke 2:14.

   65 Matt 10:34.

   66 John 15:20.

   67 2 Peter 3:9.

   68 2 Tim. 3:12.

   69 2 Thess. 2:3, 4, 7.

   70 Ibid.

   71 See Appendix.

   72 Luke 4:8.

   73 Jude 3.

   74 Dan. 7:25.

   75 See Appendix.

   76 Gen. 2:2, 3.

   77 See Appendix.

   78 2 Thess. 2:4.

   79 2 Thess. 2:7, R.V.

   80 Rev. 13:2; see Appendix.

   81 Dan. 7:25; Rev. 13:5-7.

   82 Luke 21:16, 17.

   83 Rev. 12:6.

   84 See Appendix.

   85 1 Cor. 3:10, 11.

   86 Neh. 4:10, 14.

   87 Ibid.

   88 Eph. 6:17.

   89 Mark 13:37.

   90 See Appendix.

   91 Matt. 20:27.

   92 See Appendix.

   93 See Appendix.

   94 Cardinal Wiseman’s Lectures on “The Real Presence,” Lecture 8, sec.
      3, par. 26.

   95 See Appendix.

   96 Wylie, “History of Protestantism,” book 1, chap. 4.

   97 Hosea 4:6, 1, 2.

   98 D’Aubigné, History of the Reformation of the Sixteenth Century," b.
      17, ch. 2.

   99 Jude 3.

  100 See Appendix.

  101 Wylie, b. 1, ch. 7.

  102 1 John 1:7.

  103 John 3:14, 15.

  104 Heb. 11:6.

  105 Acts 4:12.

  106 Matt. 11:28.

  107 See Appendix.

  108 Wylie, b. 16, ch. 1.

  109 Matt. 25:40.

  110 Rev. 1:9.

  111 Sears, Barnas, “Life of Luther,” pp. 70, 69.

  112 See Appendix.

  113 D’Aubigné, b. 17, ch. 7.

  114 Lewis, Rev. John, “History of the Life and Sufferings of J. Wiclif,”
      p. 37 (ed. 1820).

  115 See Appendix. Neander, “History of the Christian Religion and
      Church,” period 6, sec. 2, part 1, par. 8.

  116 Gen. 15:1.

  117 See Appendix.

  118 Vaughan, R., “Life and Opinions of John de Wycliffe.” Vol. II, p. 6
      (ed. 1831).

  119 D’Aubigné, b. 17, ch. 7.

  120 Wylie, b. 2, ch. 13.

  121 Foxe, “Acts and Monuments” (edited by Rev. J. Pratt), Vol. III, pp.
      49, 50.

  122 D’Aubigné, b. 17, ch. 8.

  123 Ps. 119:130.

  124 Fuller, T., “Church History of Britain,” b. 4, sec. 2, par. 54.

  125 Wylie, b. 3, ch. 1.

  126 Wylie, b. 3, ch. 1.

  127 Matt. 21:5.

  128 Bonnechose, “The Reformers before the Reformation.” Vol. I, p. 87
      (ed. 1844).

  129 2 Cor. 13:8.

  130 Wylie, b. 3, ch. 2.

  131 See Appendix.

  132 1 Kings 18:17.

  133 See Appendix.

  134 Bonnechose, Vol. I, pp. 147, 148.

  135 Bonnechose, Vol. I, pp. 148, 149.

  136 See Idem, p. 247.

  137 Lenfant, “History of the Council of Constance,” Vol. I, p. 516.

  138 Bonnechose, Vol. II, p. 67.

  139 D’Aubigné, b. 1, ch. 6.

  140 Bonnechose, Vol. II, p. 84.

  141 Bonnechose, Vol. II, p. 86.

  142 Wylie, b. 3, ch. 7.

  143 Ibid.

  144 Wylie, b. 3, ch. 7.

  145 Bonnechose, Vol. I, p. 234.

  146 See Bonnechose, Vol. II, p. 141.

  147 Bonnechose, Vol. II, pp. 146, 147.

  148 Matt. 10:18-20.

  149 Bonnechose, Vol. II, p. 151.

  150 Bonnechose, Vol. II, pp. 151-153.

  151 Wylie, b. 3, ch. 10.

  152 Bonnechose, Vol. II, p. 168.

  153 Wylie, b. 3, ch. 17.

  154 Ps. 53:5.

  155 Wylie, b. 3, ch. 18.

  156 Wylie, b. 3, ch. 19.

  157 Ibid.

  158 Gillett, “Life and Times of John Huss” (3d ed.), Vol. II, p. 570.

  159 D’Aubigné, “History of the Reformation of the Sixteenth Century,” b.
      2, ch. 2.

  160 Ibid.

  161 D’Aubigné, b. 2, ch. 3.

  162 D’Aubigné, b. 2, ch. 4.

  163 D’Aubigné, b. 2, ch. 6.

  164 Ibid.

  165 Rom. 1:17.

  166 Matt. 10:34.

  167 D’Aubigné, b. 5, ch. 2.

  168 Matt. 21:12.

  169 See Gieseler, “Ecclesiastical History,” Period IV, sec. 1, par. 5.

  170 D’Aubigné, b. 3, ch. 1.

  171 D’Aubigné, b. 3, ch. 1.

  172 See Hagenbach, “History of the Reformation,” Vol. I, p. 96.

  173 Acts 8:20.

  174 See Appendix.

  175 D’Aubigné, b. 3, ch. 4.

  176 D’Aubigné, b. 3, ch. 6.

  177 D’Aubigné, b. 3, ch. 6.

  178 D’Aubigné, b. 3, ch. 7.

  179 D’Aubigné, b. 3, ch. 9.

  180 D’Aubigné, b. 4, ch. 2.

  181 D’Aubigné, b. 4, ch. 4.

  182 Martyn, “The Life and Times of Luther,” pp. 271, 272.

  183 D’Aubigné, b. 4; ch, 8 (London ed.).

  184 D’Aubigné, b. 4, ch. 10.

  185 D’Aubigné, b. 4, ch. 10.

  186 Idem, b. 5, ch. 1.

  187 D’Aubigné, b. 6, ch. 2.

  188 Wylie, b. 6, ch, 1.

  189 D’Aubigné, b. 6, ch. 3.

  190 D’Aubigné. b. 6, ch. 3.

  191 D’Aubigné, b. 6, ch. 9 (3d London ed., Walther, 1840).

  192 D’Aubigné, b. 6, ch. 9.

  193 D’Aubigné, b. 6, ch. 10.

  194 D’Aubigné, b. 6, ch. 10.

  195 Martyn, “Life and Times of Luther,” pp. 372, 373.

  196 John 15:19, 20.

  197 Luke 6:26.

  198 D’Aubigné, b. 6, ch. 11.

  199 D’Aubigné, b. 7, ch. 1.

  200 D’Aubigné, b. 7, ch. 1.

  201 Wylie, b. 6, ch. 4.

  202 D’Aubigné, b. 7, ch 3.

  203 D’Aubigné, b. 7, ch. 4.

  204 D’Aubigné, b. 7, ch. 4.

  205 D’Aubigné, b. 7, ch. 6.

  206 Idem, ch. 7.

  207 Idem, ch. 7.

  208 D’Aubigné, b. 7, ch. 7.

  209 D’Aubigné, b. 7, ch. 7.

  210 Ibid.

  211 D’Aubigné, b. 7, ch. 8.

  212 Martyn, “Life and Times of Luther,” p. 393.

  213 D’Aubigné, b. 7, ch. 8.

  214 Ibid.

  215 Matt. 10:33.

  216 D’Aubigné, b. 7, ch. 8.

  217 D’Aubigné, b. 7, ch. 8.

  218 D’Aubigné, b. 7, ch. 8.

  219 Ibid.

  220 D’Aubigné, b. 7, ch. 8.

  221 D’Aubigné, b. 7, ch. 8.

  222 D’Aubigné, b. 7, ch. 8.

  223 D’Aubigné, b. 7, ch. 9.

  224 Ibid.

  225 Ibid.

  226 See Lenfant, “History of the Council of Constance.” Vol. I. p. 422.

  227 Ibid.

  228 John 15:22.

  229 Acts 24:25; 26:28.

  230 Eccl. 10:16.

  231 Martyn, Vol. I, p. 404.

  232 D’Aubigné, b. 7, ch. 10.

  233 Ibid.

  234 Ibid.

  235 Martyn, Vol. I, p. 410.

  236 D’Aubigné, b. 7, ch. 11.

  237 Ibid.

  238 Martyn, Vol. I, p. 420.

  239 Ibid.

  240 D’Aubigné, b. 9, ch. 2.

  241 Matt. 4:19.

  242 Wylie, b. 8, ch. 5.

  243 Wylie, b. 8, ch. 6.

  244 Ibid.

  245 D’Aubigné, b. 8, ch. 9.

  246 D’Aubigné, b. 8, ch. 5.

  247 Ibid.

  248 D’Aubigné, b. 8, ch. 6.

  249 D’Aubigné, b. 8, ch. 6.

  250 Ibid.

  251 Ibid.

  252 D’Aubigné, b. 8, ch. 6.

  253 Ibid.

  254 Wylie, b. 8, ch. 9.

  255 D’Aubigné, b. 8, ch. 9.

  256 Wylie, b. 8, ch. 11.

  257 D’Aubigné, b. 8, ch. 11 (London ed.).

  258 Ibid.

  259 Wylie, b. 8, ch. 15.

  260 D’Aubigné, b. 11, ch. 13.

  261 Ibid.

  262 Ibid.

  263 Ibid.

  264 D’Aubigné, b. 9, ch. 1.

  265 D’Aubigné, b. 9, ch. 7.

  266 Ibid.

  267 Ibid.

  268 Ibid.

  269 D’Aubigné, b. 9, ch. 7.

  270 Ibid.

  271 D’Aubigné, b. 9, ch. 8.

  272 Ibid.

  273 Ibid.

  274 D’Aubigné, b. 9, ch. 8.

  275 D’Aubigné, b. 10, ch. 10.

  276 Ibid.

  277 Ibid.

  278 D’Aubigné, b. 9, ch, 11.

  279 Ps. 119:130.

  280 D’Aubigné, b. 9, ch. 11.

  281 D’Aubigné, b. 9, ch. 11.

  282 Matt. 10:23.

  283 D’Aubigné, b. 13, ch. 6.

  284 D’Aubigné, b. 13, ch. 5.

  285 Ibid.

  286 D’Aubigné, b. 13, ch. 5.

  287 Ibid.

  288 Ibid.

  289 Wylie, b. 9, ch. 15.

  290 D’Aubigné, b. 13, ch. 5.

  291 Ibid.

  292 Ibid.

  293 D’Aubigné, b. 13, ch. 5.

  294 Ibid.

  295 Idem, b. 13, ch. 6.

  296 D’Aubigné, b. 13, ch. 6.

  297 D’Aubigné, b. 13, ch. 6.

  298 Ibid.

  299 D’Aubigné, b. 13, ch. 6.

  300 D’Aubigné, b. 14, ch. 2.

  301 D’Aubigné, b. 14, ch. 6.

  302 Idem, b. 14, ch. 7.

  303 Ibid.

  304 Ps. 119:46.

  305 D’Aubigné, b. 14, ch. 7.

  306 Idem, b. 14, ch. 8.

  307 2 Kings 6:17.

  308 D’Aubigné, b. 10, ch. 14 (London ed.).

  309 D’Aubigné, b. 10, ch. 14.

  310 Idem, b. 14, ch. 1.

  311 D’Aubigné, b. 14, ch. 6.

  312 Ibid.

  313 1 Peter 2:6.

  314 Wylie, b. 13, ch. 1.

  315 D’Aubigné, b. 12, ch. 2 (London ed.).

  316 Ibid.

  317 Acts 26:5.

  318 Wylie, b. 13, ch. 2.

  319 Wylie, b. 13, ch. 2.

  320 D’Aubigné, b. 12, ch. 3.

  321 Wylie, b. 13, ch. 9.

  322 Ibid.

  323 Ibid.

  324 Wylie, b. 13, ch. 9.

  325 D’Aubigné, “History of the Reformation in the Time of Calvin,” b. 2,
      ch. 16.

  326 Wylie, b. 13, ch. 9.

  327 Ibid.

  328 D’Aubigné, “History of the Reformation in the Time of Calvin,” b. 2,
      ch. 16.

  329 D’Aubigné, b. 12, ch. 9.

  330 Phil. 1:12.

  331 Acts 8:4.

  332 Wylie. b. 13. ch. 7.

  333 Martyn, Vol. III, ch. 13.

  334 Wylie, b. 13, ch. 9.

  335 See D’Aubigné, “History of the Reformation in the Time of Calvin,”
      b. 2, ch. 30.

  336 D’Aubigné, “History of the Reformation in the Time of Calvin,” b. 4,
      ch, 10.

  337 D’Aubigné, “History of the Reformation in the Time of Calvin,” b. 4,
      ch. 10.

  338 Wylie, b. 13, ch. 20.

  339 Wylie, b. 13, ch. 21.

  340 D’Aubigné, “History of the Reformation in the Time of Calvin,” b. 4.
      ch. 12.

  341 Wylie, b. 13. ch. 21.

  342 D’Aubigné, “History of the Reformation in the Time of Calvin.” b. 4.
      ch. 12

  343 Wylie, b. 13, ch. 21.

  344 Deut. 4:6.

  345 Wylie. b. 14. ch. 3.

  346 Zech. 4:6.

  347 1 Cor. 1:27, 25.

  348 D’Aubigné, “History of the Reformation in the Time of Calvin,” b. 9,
      ch. 17.

  349 See Appendix.

  350 See Appendix.

  351 Brandt, “History of the Reformation in and about the Low Countries,”
      b. 1, p. 6.

  352 Brandt, b. 1, p. 14.

  353 Martyn, Vol. II, p. 87.

  354 Wylie, b. 18, ch. 6.

  355 Ibid.

  356 See Tertullian’s “Apology,” par. 50.

  357 John 7:16.

  358 Gal. 1:8.

  359 Wylie, b. 10, ch. 4.

  360 Wylie, b. 10, ch. 4.

  361 D’Aubigné, b. 18, ch. 4.

  362 Ibid.

  363 Ibid.

  364 Anderson, “Annals of the English Bible,” p. 19 (rev. ed. 1862).

  365 Latimer, “First Sermon Preached before King Edward VI.” (ed. Parker
      Society).

  366 Latimer, “Sermon of the Plough.”

  367 “Works of Hugh Latimer,” Vol. I, p. xiii (ed. Parker Society).

  368 Laing, “Works of John Knox,” Vol. II. pp. 281, 284 (ed. 1895).

  369 Whitehead, John, “Life of the Rev. Charles Wesley,” p. 102 (2d Am.
      ed. 1845).

  370 Job 9:2 (margin).

  371 Whitehead, “Life of the Rev. John Wesley,” p. 10 (Am. ed. 1845).

  372 Idem, pp. 11, 12.

  373 Whitehead, “Life of John Wesley,” p. 52.

  374 Idem, p. 74.

  375 Wesley’s Works, Vol. III, pp. 297, 298 (ed. 1831).

  376 Wesley’s Works, Vol. III, pp. 152, 153.

  377 McClintock and Strong’s Cyclopædia, art. Antinomians (ed. 1871).

  378 Titus 2:11; 1 Tim. 2:3-6.

  379 John 1:9.

  380 Wesley’s Works, Sermon 25.

  381 Ibid.

  382 Wesley’s Works, Sermon 35.

  383 John 3:19.

  384 See Appendix.

  385 Rev. 11:2-11.

  386 See Appendix.

  387 Matt. 24:22.

  388 Rev. 11:4; Ps. 119:105.

  389 See Appendix.

  390 Rev. 11:5.

  391 Rev. 22:18, 19.

  392 Ex. 5:2.

  393 Scott, Sir Walter, “Life of Napoleon Buonaparte,” Vol. I, ch. 17
      (ed. 1854).

_  394 Blackwood’s Magazine_, November, 1870.

  395 Scott, Vol. I, ch. 17.

  396 See Wylie, b. 22, ch. 6.

  397 Wylie, b. 22, ch. 7.

  398 White, Henry, “The Massacre of St. Bartholomew,” ch. 14, par. 34
      (ed. 1871).

  399 Scott, Vol. I, ch. 17.

  400 Ps. 73:11.

  401 Lacretelle’s “History,” Vol. XI, p. 309; in Alison’s “History of
      Europe,” Vol. I, ch. 10.

  402 Ps. 14:1.

  403 2 Tim. 3:9.

  404 Scott, Vol. I, ch. 17.

  405 Thiers, M. A., “History of the French Revolution,” Vol. II, pp. 370,
      371.

  406 Alison, Vol. I, ch. 10.

_  407 Journal of Paris_, 1793, No. 318. Quoted in Buchez-Roux’s
      collection of Parliamentary History, Vol. XXX, pp. 200, 201.

  408 See Appendix.

  409 Félice, G. de, “History of the Protestants of France,” b. 1, ch. 2,
      par. 8.

  410 D’Aubigné, “History of the Reformation in the Time of Calvin,” b. 2,
      ch. 36.

  411 Wylie, b. 13, ch. 4.

  412 Prov. 14:34; 16:12.

  413 Isa. 32:17.

  414 Wylie, b. 13, ch. 20.

  415 See Appendix.

  416 See Appendix.

  417 See Appendix.

  418 Isa. 48:18, 22; Prov. 1:33.

  419 Eccl. 8:11-13.

  420 Ibid.

  421 Prov. 1:29, 31.

  422 Rev. 11:11.

  423 Isa. 37:23.

  424 Jer. 16:21.

  425 Rev. 11:12.

  426 See Appendix.

  427 See Appendix.

  428 Isa. 54:17.

  429 Isa. 40:8; Ps. 111:7, 8.

  430 Martyn, Vol. V, p. 22.

  431 Bancroft, George, “History of the United States of America,” Part I,
      ch. 12, par. 6.

  432 Palfrey, J. G., “History of New England,” ch. 3, par. 43.

  433 Bancroft, Part I, ch. 12, par. 15.

  434 Brown, J., “The Pilgrim Fathers,” p. 74.

  435 Martyn, Vol. V, p. 70.

  436 Neal, D., “History of the Puritans,” Vol. I, p. 269 (two-vol. ed.
      1848).

  437 Martyn, Vol. V, pp. 70, 71.

  438 Martyn, Vol. V, p. 297.

  439 Idem, p. 335.

  440 Bancroft, Part I, ch. 15, par. 16.

  441 Martyn, Vol. V, p. 340.

  442 Bancroft, Part I, ch. 15, par. 2.

  443 Idem, par. 10.

  444 Martyn, Vol. V, pp. 349, 350.

  445 Idem, p. 354.

  446 Congressional Documents (U. S. A.), Serial No. 200, Document No.
      271.

  447 Martyn, Vol. V, p. 417.

  448 Bancroft, Part I, ch. 19, par. 25.

  449 John 18:36.

  450 Jude 14, 15.

  451 Job 19:25-27.

  452 Ps. 50:2-4.

  453 Ps. 96:11, 13.

  454 Isa. 26:19; 25:8, 9.

  455 Hab. 3:3-13.

  456 John 14:1-3.

  457 Matt. 25:31, 32.

  458 Acts 1:11.

  459 1 Thess. 4:16.

  460 Rev. 1:7.

  461 Acts 3:21.

  462 Rev. 11:15.

  463 Isa. 40:5; 61:11; 28:5.

  464 Isa. 51:3; 35:2; 62:4, 5 (margin).

  465 1 Thess. 4:16-18.

  466 Rev. 22:20.

  467 Taylor, Daniel T., “The Reign of Christ on Earth; or, The Voice of
      the Church in All Ages,” p. 33.

  468 Taylor, “The Voice of the Church,” p. 54.

  469 Idem, pp. 129-132.

  470 Idem, pp. 132-134.

  471 Idem, pp. 158, 134.

  472 Ibid.

  473 Idem, pp. 151, 145.

  474 Baxter, Richard, “Works,” Vol. XVII, p. 555.

  475 Idem, p. 500.

  476 Baxter, “Works,” Vol. XVII, pp. 182, 183.

  477 Luke 21:25.

  478 Mark 13:24-26.

  479 Rev. 6:12.

  480 Lyell, Sir Charles, “Principles of Geology,” p. 495 (ed. 1858,
      N.Y.).

  481 Encyclopædia Americana, art. Lisbon, note (ed. 1831).

  482 Ibid.

  483 Mark 13:24.

  484 Devens, R. M., “Our First Century,” p. 89.

  485 “The Essex Antiquarian,” Salem, Mass., April, 1899 (Vol. III, No. 4,
      pp. 53, 54).

  486 Gordon, Dr. Wm., “History of the Rise, Progress, and Establishment
      of the Independence of the U. S. A.,” Vol. III, p. 57 (N. Y., 1789).

  487 Thomas, “Massachusetts Spy; or, American Oracle of Liberty,” Vol. X,
      No. 472 (May 25, 1780).

  488 Letter by Dr. Samuel Tenney, of Exeter, N. H., December, 1785 (in
      “Massachusetts Historical Society Collections,” 1792, 1st series,
      Vol. I, p. 97).

  489 Joel 2:31.

  490 Luke 21:28, 30, 31.

  491 Luke 21:34, 36.

  492 Rev. 3:1, 3.

  493 Ibid.

  494 Joel 2:11; Hab. 1:13; Hosea 8:2, 1; Ps. 16:4.

  495 Ibid.

  496 Amos 5:20.

  497 Zeph. 1:12.

  498 Isa. 13:11.

  499 Zeph. 1:18, 13.

  500 Jer. 4:19, 20.

  501 Zeph. 1:15, 16.

  502 Isa. 13:9.

  503 Joel 2:1, 15-18, 12, 13.

  504 Rev. 14:6, 7.

  505 2 Peter 1:19.

  506 Prov. 3:14.

  507 Ps. 25:14.

  508 John 12:35.

  509 John 8:12.

  510 Micah 5:2.

  511 Dan. 9:25.

  512 Luke 2:14.

  513 Luke 2:25, 32; Acts 13:47.

  514 Heb. 9:28.

  515 1 Thess. 5:4, 5.

  516 Luke 19:44.

  517 Bliss, S., “Memoirs of Wm. Miller,” pp. 65-67.

  518 Ps. 119:130.

  519 Bliss, “Memoirs of Wm. Miller,” p. 70.

  520 Matt. 13:30, 38-41.

  521 2 Tim. 3:13, 1.

  522 2 Thess. 2:8.

  523 1 Thess. 4:16, 17.

  524 Matt. 24:30, 27, 31.

  525 Matt. 25:31-34.

  526 Ibid.

  527 1 Cor. 15:51-53.

  528 1 Cor. 15:50.

  529 See Luke 4:25.

  530 Bliss, “Memoirs of Wm. Miller,” pp. 74, 75.

  531 Deut. 29:29.

  532 Amos 3:7.

  533 See 2 Tim. 3:16.

  534 2 Peter 1:21.

  535 Rom. 15:4.

  536 Bliss, “Memoirs of Wm. Miller,” p. 75.

  537 Num. 14:34; Eze. 4:6.

  538 Bliss, “Memoirs of Wm. Miller,” p. 76.

  539 Dan. 9:22, 23, 25-27.

  540 Ezra 7:12-26.

  541 See Appendix.

  542 Acts 10:38.

  543 Luke 4:18.

  544 Mark 1:14, 15.

  545 Matt. 10:5, 6.

  546 Acts 8:4, 5; 22:21.

  547 See Appendix.

  548 Bliss, “Memoirs of Wm. Miller,” pp. 76, 77.

  549 Bliss, “Memoirs of Wm. Miller,” p. 81.

  550 Eze. 33:8, 9.

  551 Bliss, p. 92.

  552 Bliss, “Memoirs of Wm. Miller,” p. 138.

  553 Matt. 24:29.

  554 Rev. 6:13.

  555 Devens, R. M., “American Progress; or, The Great Events of the
      Greatest Century,” ch. 28, pars. 1-5.

  556 Reed, F., in the _Christian Advocate and Journal_, Dec. 13, 1833.

  557 “The Old Countryman,” in Portland evening _Advertiser_, Nov. 26,
      1833.

  558 Matt. 24:33.

  559 Rev. 6:12-17.

  560 Litch, Josiah, article in _Signs of the Times, and Expositor of
      Prophecy_, Aug. 1, 1840.

  561 See Appendix.

  562 Bliss, “Memoirs of Wm. Miller,” p. 183.

  563 Bliss, “Memoirs of Wm. Miller,” pp. 250, 252.

  564 Matt. 24:39.

  565 John 14:3.

  566 Acts 1:11.

  567 Luke 24:52, 53.

  568 Bliss, “Memoirs of Wm. Miller,” p. 146.

  569 See Appendix.

  570 Matt. 24:15.

  571 Rev. 1:1-3.

  572 Job 11:7; Isa. 55:8, 9; 46:9, 10.

  573 1 Peter 1:10-12.

  574 Mark 1:15.

  575 Micah 7:8, 9; Ps. 139:12; 112:4; Isa. 42:16.

  576 Dan. 7:27.

  577 Heb. 4:16.

  578 Matt. 25:31, 32.

  579 Luke 22:24.

  580 Luke 24:27.

  581 Luke 24:32.

  582 Heb. 6:18, 19.

  583 Rom. 8:38, 39, 87.

  584 1 Peter 1:25.

  585 Rom. 8:34.

  586 Joel 2:26.

  587 Ps. 30:5.

  588 Mark 16:15; Matt. 28:20.

  589 Rev. 22:12.

  590 Rev. 14:6, 7.

  591 Dan. 12:4.

  592 2 Thess. 2:3.

  593 “Travels and Adventures of the Rev. Joseph Wolff.” Vol. I, p. 6 (ed.
      1860).

  594 “Travels and Adventures of the Rev. Joseph Wolff,” Vol. I, p. 7.

  595 Wolff, “Researches and Missionary Labors,” p. 62 (ed. 1835).

  596 “Journal of the Rev. Joseph Wolff,” pp. 378, 379 (ed. 1839).

  597 Idem, p. 294.

  598 Wolff, “Researches and Missionary Labors,” pp. 404, 405.

  599 “Journal of the Rev. Joseph Wolff,” p. 96.

  600 “Journal of the Rev. Joseph Wolff,” pp. 398, 399.

  601 Adams, W. H. D., “In Perils Oft,” p. 192.

  602 Idem, p. 201.

  603 “Journal of the Rev. Joseph Wolff,” p. 377.

  604 Idem, p. 389.

  605 Encyclopædia Britannica, art. Bengel (ninth edition).

  606 Ibid.

  607 Gaussen, L., “Daniel the Prophet,” Vol. II, Preface.

  608 Matt. 21:8-16.

  609 2 Peter 3:3, 4.

  610 Matt. 24:36, 3, 33, 42-51.

  611 Ibid.

  612 Ibid.

  613 Rev. 3:3.

  614 1 Thess. 5:2-5.

  615 Isa. 66:5.

  616 See Appendix.

  617 See Appendix.

  618 Bliss, “Memoirs of Wm. Miller,” p. 328.

  619 Ibid.

_  620 Congregational Journal_, May 23, 1844.

  621 Acts 4:32, 31; 2:47.

  622 Eph. 4:3-5.

  623 Rev. 14:8.

  624 Hosea 2:19.

  625 Jer. 3:14.

  626 2 Cor. 11:2.

  627 Eze. 16:8, 13-15, 32; Jer. 3:20.

  628 Rev. 17:4-6, 18.

  629 Eze. 16:14, 15.

  630 Ibid.

  631 Dr. Challoner, “The Catholic Christian Instructed,” Preface, pp. 21,
      22 (ed. 1897).

  632 Hopkins, Samuel, “Works,” Vol. II, p. 328 (ed. 1854).

  633 Guthrie, John, “The Gospel in Ezekiel,” p. 237 (Edinburgh ed. 1857).

  634 2 Thess. 2:7.

  635 Robinson, Robert, “Ecclesiastical Researches,” ch. 6, par. 17 (ed.
      1792, p. 51).

  636 Gavezzi’s Lectures, p. 278 (ed. 1854).

  637 Ibid.

  638 Wesley’s Works, Sermon 50, “The Use of Money.”

  639 “The Healthy Christian: An Appeal to the Church,” pp. 141, 142 (ed.
      1871).

  640 Second Advent Library, Tract No. 39.

  641 Sermon on “The Bible a Sufficient Creed,” delivered at Fort Wayne,
      Ind., Feb. 22, 1846.

  642 2 Thess. 2:9-11.

  643 2 Thess. 2:12.

  644 Rev. 18:4.

  645 Eze. 12:21-25, 27, 28.

  646 Bliss, “Memoirs of Wm. Miller,” pp. 236, 237, 282.

_  647 The Advent Herald and Signs of the Times Reporter_, Vol. VIII, No.
      23 (Jan. 15, 1845).

  648 Ibid.

  649 Matt. 25:5-7.

  650 See Appendix.

  651 1 Cor. 5:7.

  652 1 Cor. 15:23, 20.

  653 Ibid.

  654 Phil. 3:21.

  655 Lev. 16:29-34.

  656 Bliss, “Memoirs of Wm. Miller,” pp. 270, 271.

  657 Bliss, in the _Advent Shield and Review_, Vol. I, p. 271 (Jan.,
      1845).

  658 Matt. 21:9.

  659 John 20:13.

  660 Luke 19:40.

  661 Acts 17:3.

  662 Zech. 9:9.

_  663 The Advent Herald and Signs of the Times Reporter_, Vol. VIII, No.
      14 (Nov. 13, 1844).

  664 Bliss, “Memoirs of Wm. Miller,” pp. 256, 255, 277, 280, 281.

  665 White, J., “Life of Wm. Miller,” p. 315.

  666 Heb. 10:35-39.

  667 Dan. 8:14.

  668 Heb. 9:1-5.

  669 Ex. 25:8.

  670 Heb. 8:1, 2.

  671 Ex. 25:9, 40.

  672 Heb. 9:9, 23; 8:5; 9:24.

  673 Dan. 7:10.

  674 Rev. 4:5.

  675 Rev. 8:3.

  676 Rev. 11:19.

  677 Zech. 6:13.

  678 Eph. 2:20-22.

  679 Rev. 1:5, 6.

  680 Luke 1:32, 33.

  681 Rev. 3:21.

  682 Isa. 53:4; Heb. 4:15; 2:18; 1 John 2:1.

  683 John 16:26, 27.

  684 2 Cor. 5:19.

  685 John 3:16.

  686 Heb. 9:22, 23.

  687 Heb. 8:5.

  688 Lev. 17:11.

  689 Lev. 10:17.

  690 Lev. 16:16, 19.

  691 Lev. 16:8, 21, 22.

  692 Ibid.

  693 Heb. 9:24.

  694 Heb. 6:19, 20; 9:12.

  695 Rev. 22:12.

  696 Dan. 7:13.

  697 Mal. 3:1.

  698 2 Thess. 1:8.

  699 Mal. 3:2, 3.

  700 Mal. 3:4.

  701 Eph. 5:27.

  702 Cant. 6:10.

  703 Mal. 3:5.

  704 Jude 14, 15.

  705 Rev. 21:9, 10.

  706 Rev. 19:9.

  707 Dan. 7:14; Rev. 21:2.

  708 Matt. 8:11; Luke 22:30.

  709 Luke 12:36.

  710 Matt. 22:11.

  711 Rev. 7:14.

  712 Lev. 16:17.

  713 Rev. 3:7, 8.

  714 Matt. 23:38.

  715 2 Thess. 2:10-12.

  716 Rev. 11:19.

  717 Matt. 5:18.

  718 Ps. 119:89; 111:7, 8.

  719 Ex. 20:8-11.

  720 Rev. 3:7, 8.

  721 See Appendix.

  722 Rom. 2:12-16.

  723 Heb. 11:6; Rom. 14:23.

  724 Eccl. 12:13.

  725 1 John 5:3; Prov. 28:9.

  726 Ps. 96:5.

  727 Isa. 40:25, 26; 45:18.

  728 Ps. 100:3; 95:6.

  729 Rev. 4:11.

  730 Ex. 20:10, 11.

  731 Eze. 20:20.

  732 Ex. 31:17.

  733 Andrews, J.N., “History of the Sabbath,” ch. 27.

  734 Rev. 14:9, 10.

  735 Rev. 12:9.

  736 Verses 1-10.

  737 Rev. 13:11.

  738 Dan. 7:2.

  739 Rev. 17:15.

  740 Townsend, G.A., “The New World Compared with the Old,” p. 462 (ed.
      1869).

  741 The _Dublin Nation_.

  742 Speech delivered at Plymouth, Mass., Dec. 22, 1824, p. 11.

  743 Rev. 13:11-14.

  744 2 Thess. 2:3.

  745 2 Tim. 3:1-5.

  746 1 Tim. 4:1.

  747 2 Thess. 2:9-11.

  748 Sermon on “The Bible a Sufficient Creed,” delivered at Fort Wayne,
      Ind., Feb. 22, 1846.

  749 Rev. 13:16, 17.

  750 Dan. 7:25, R. V.

  751 See Appendix.

  752 Mark 2:28; Isa. 58:13.

  753 Matt. 5:17-19.

  754 Elliott, George, “The Abiding Sabbath,” p. 184.

  755 Waffle, A. E., “The Lord’s Day,” p. 186.

  756 Idem, pp. 187, 188.

  757 Tuberville, H., “An Abridgement of the Christian Doctrine,” p. 58.

  758 “Plain Talk about Protestantism,” p. 213.

  759 Rev. 13:16.

  760 Rev. 15:2, 3.

  761 Isa. 56:1, 2, 6, 7.

  762 Isa. 56:8.

  763 Isa. 8:16, 20.

  764 Ibid.

  765 Isa. 58:1, 2.

  766 Isa. 58:12, 13.

  767 Job 38:6, 7; Gen. 2:1-3.

  768 2 Thess. 2:3.

  769 Heb. 3:19.

  770 John 3:20.

  771 Eze. 3:7; 2:7.

  772 Eze. 33:7-9.

  773 2 Cor. 4:17.

  774 Heb. 11:26.

  775 Isa. 51:7, 8.

  776 1 Peter 3:3, 4.

  777 2 Cor. 7:9-11.

  778 Matt. 7:16.

  779 Ps. 119:45.

  780 James 2:8; 1:25.

  781 Rev. 22:14.

  782 Isa. 42:21.

  783 Matt. 5:17, 18.

  784 Ps. 40:8.

  785 Rom. 13:10.

  786 Ps. 119:142, 172.

  787 Rom. 7:12.

  788 Rom. 8:7.

  789 1 John 3:4; Rom. 3:20.

  790 3:31; 6:2; 1 John 5:3.

  791 Rom. 8:4.

  792 Ps. 119:97.

  793 Ps. 19:7.

  794 1 Thess. 4:3; 5:23.

  795 John 17:17, 19.

  796 Rom. 15:16.

  797 John 16:13.

  798 John 15:10; 8:29.

  799 Phil. 2:12, 13.

  800 1 Cor. 15:57.

  801 Phil. 3:13, 14.

  802 2 Peter 1:5-10.

  803 Dan. 10:11.

  804 Dan. 9:18, 15, 20; 10:8.

  805 Job 42:6.

  806 Isa. 6:3, 5.

  807 Cor. 12:2-4 (margin); Eph. 3:8.

  808 Rev. 1:17.

  809 James 2:14-24.

  810 1 John 3:6.

  811 1 John 2:4, 5.

  812 1 Thess. 5:23.

  813 Rom. 12:1.

  814 1 Peter 2:11.

  815 2 Cor. 7:1.

  816 Gal. 5:22, 23.

  817 Rev. 21:27.

  818 1 Cor. 6:19, 20.

  819 2 Cor. 6:17, 18.

  820 John 8:12.

  821 Prov. 4:18.

  822 Col. 1:9-11.

  823 Eph. 3:16-19.

  824 Rom. 8:32.

  825 Luke 11:13.

  826 John 14:14; 16:24.

  827 Rom. 8:1.

  828 Heb. 2:11.

  829 1 John 5:4.

  830 Neh. 8:10.

  831 Phil. 4:4; 1 Thess. 5:16-18.

  832 Jer. 2:13.

  833 Ps. 1:1-3.

  834 Jer. 6:16.

  835 Dan. 7:9, 10, R.V.

  836 Ps. 90:2.

  837 Dan. 7:13, 14.

  838 1 Peter 4:17.

  839 Rev. 20:12.

  840 Luke 10:20.

  841 Phil. 4:3.

  842 Dan. 12:1; Rev. 21:27.

  843 Mal. 3:16.

  844 Neh. 13:14.

  845 Ps. 56:8.

  846 Eccl. 12:14; Matt. 12:36, 37.

  847 1 Cor. 4:5.

  848 Isa. 65:6, 7.

  849 Eccl. 12:13, 14.

  850 James 2:12.

  851 Luke 20:35, 36.

  852 John 5:29.

  853 1 John 2:1.

  854 Heb. 9:24; 7:25.

  855 Ex. 32:33.

  856 Eze. 18:24.

  857 Isa. 43:25.

  858 Rev. 3:5; Matt. 10:32, 33.

  859 Micah 4:8.

  860 Ps. 51:17.

  861 Zech. 3:2.

  862 Eph. 5:27.

  863 Rev. 3:4.

  864 Jer. 31:34; 50:20.

  865 Isa. 4:2, 3.

  866 Acts 3:19, 20.

  867 Heb. 9:28.

  868 Lev. 16:22.

  869 Heb. 6:20.

  870 Prov. 28:13.

  871 2 Cor. 12:9.

  872 Matt. 11:29, 30.

  873 Mark 13:33.

  874 Rev. 3:3.

  875 Rev. 22:11, 12.

  876 Matt. 24:39.

  877 Mark 13:35, 36.

  878 Dan. 5:27.

  879 Col. 1:16.

  880 Eze. 28:12-15, 17.

  881 Ibid.

  882 Eze. 28:6; Isa. 14:13, 14.

  883 Ex. 34:6, 7.

  884 John 17:24.

  885 Heb. 1:6.

  886 2 Cor. 5:19.

  887 Heb. 2:14.

  888 Isa. 14:13, 14; Eze. 28:18, 19.

  889 Mal. 4:1.

  890 Nahum 1:9.

  891 Gen. 3:15.

  892 2 Tim. 3:12.

  893 2 Cor. 4:4.

  894 Eph. 6:12 (margin).

  895 1 Peter 5:8.

  896 Eph. 6:11.

  897 Heb 1:14.

  898 Job 38:7.

  899 Ps. 8:5.

  900 Ps. 103:19-21; Rev. 5:11.

  901 Dan. 7:10; Heb. 12:22.

  902 Eze. 1:14.

  903 Matt. 28:3, 4.

  904 2 Kings 19:35; 2 Chron. 32:21.

  905 Job 1:9, 10.

  906 Ps. 34:7.

  907 Matt. 18:10.

  908 Mark 5:9.

  909 Mark 7:26-30.

  910 Matt. 12:22.

  911 Mark 9:17-27.

  912 Luke 4:33-36.

  913 Luke 4:36.

  914 Job 1:6.

  915 Matt. 7:16.

  916 Rev. 12:10.

  917 Hab. 2:2.

  918 Ps. 97:11.

  919 1 Tim. 6:20.

  920 2 Thess. 2:10-12.

  921 1 Cor. 2:14.

  922 Matt. 24:23-26.

  923 Rom. 11:33.

  924 John 1:9.

  925 Matt. 7:7; John 7:17.

  926 Zech. 4:6.

  927 1 Peter 3:12, 13.

  928 Num. 23:8, 10, 20, 21, 23; 24:9.

  929 Ibid.

  930 Gen. 3:1.

  931 Gen. 3:2.

  932 Gen. 3:19.

  933 Rom. 5:12; 2 Tim. 1:10.

  934 John 3:36.

  935 Rom. 2:7.

  936 Eze. 18:20.

  937 Gen. 3:24.

  938 Eze. 33:11.

  939 Rev. 14:8; 17:2.

  940 2 Sam. 13:39.

  941 1 Cor. 6:10.

  942 Rev. 21:6, 7.

  943 Ibid.

  944 Isa. 3:10, 11.

  945 Eccl. 8:12, 13.

  946 Rom. 2:5, 6, 9.

  947 Eph. 5:5, A.R.V.

  948 Heb. 12:14.

  949 Rev. 22:14, 15.

  950 Ex. 34:6, 7.

  951 Ps. 145:20; 37:38.

  952 Gen. 6:5, 11.

  953 Rom. 6:23.

  954 Deut. 30:15.

  955 Acts 24:15.

  956 1 Cor. 15:22.

  957 John 5:28, 29.

  958 Rev. 20:6.

  959 Ps. 37:10; Obadiah 16.

  960 Ps. 9:5, 6.

  961 Rev. 5:13.

  962 Ps. 146:4.

  963 Eccl. 9:5, 6, 10.

  964 Isa. 38:18, 19.

  965 Ps. 6:5; 115:17.

  966 Acts 2:29, 34.

  967 1 Cor. 15:16-18.

  968 Tyndale, Wm., Preface to “New Testament” (ed. 1534). Reprinted in
      “British Reformers—Tindal, Frith, Barnes,” p. 349 (ed. 1830).

  969 Commentary on the New Testament, Vol. II, general comments on 1
      Corinthians 15, par. 3.

  970 John 14:2, 3.

  971 1 Thess. 4:16-18.

  972 Acts 17:31.

  973 Jude 6, 14, 15.

  974 Rev. 20:12.

  975 Matt. 25:21, 41.

  976 Ibid.

  977 Petavel, E., “The Problem of Immortality,” p. 255 (ed. 1892).

  978 Luther’s “Exposition of Solomon’s Booke Called Ecclesiastes,” p. 152
      (ed. 1573, London).

  979 1 Thess. 4:14; Job 14:10-12.

  980 Eccl. 12:6.

  981 Job 14:21.

  982 1 Cor. 15:52-55.

  983 Ibid.

  984 2 Thess. 2:9, 10.

  985 Rev. 13:13, 14.

  986 James 3:15.

  987 Gen. 3:5.

  988 Compare Num. 25:1-3; Ps. 106:28; 1 Cor. 10:20; Rev. 16:14.

  989 Lev. 19:31; 20:27.

  990 Mal. 2:17.

  991 Isa. 5:20.

  992 Isa. 8:19, 20.

  993 2 Thess. 2:10, 11.

  994 Rev. 3:10.

  995 Ibid.

  996 Isa. 28:15.

  997 Gen. 3:4, 5.

  998 Rev. 16:13, 14.

  999 Isa. 28:17, 18.

 1000 Mosheim, “Eccl. Hist.,” b. 3, cent. 11, part 2, ch. 2, par. 9, note
      1.

 1001 Strong, Dr. Josiah, “Our Country,” ch. 5, pars. 1-3.

 1002 Matt. 23:4.

 1003 Matt. 11:28.

 1004 Luke 9:54, 56.

 1005 2 Thess. 2:3, 4.

 1006 Lenfant, “History of the Council of Constance,” Vol. I, p. 516 (ed.
      1728).

 1007 A.D. 321; see Appendix.

 1008 Cox, R., “Sabbath Laws and Sabbath Duties,” p. 538 (ed. 1853).

 1009 West, Francis, “Historical and Practical Discourse on the Lord’s
      Day,” p. 174.

 1010 Morer, Tho., “Discourse in Six Dialogues on the Name, Notion, and
      Observation of the Lord’s Day,” p. 271 (ed. 1701).

 1011 See Heylyn, “History of the Sabbath,” Part II, ch. 5, sec. 7.

 1012 See Roger de Hoveden, “Annals,” Vol. II, pp. 528-530 (Bohn ed.).

 1013 Morer, “Dialogues on the Lord’s Day,” pp. 290, 291.

 1014 Idem, pp. 281, 282.

 1015 See “Church History of Ethiopia,” pp. 311, 312.

 1016 See Appendix.

 1017 Rev. 13:11-16.

 1018 Rev. 13:3.

 1019 2 Thess. 2:8.

 1020 Rev. 13:8.

 1021 Dowling, J., “History of Romanism,” b. 5, ch. 6, sec. 55.

 1022 Mosheim, “Ecclesiastical History,” b. 3, cent. 11, part 2, ch. 2,
      sec. 9, note 8 (tr. by Murdock). See also Appendix.

 1023 James 2:10.

 1024 Isa. 59:14.

 1025 Isa. 24:4, 5.

 1026 1 Kings 18:17, 18.

 1027 Rev. 12:17.

 1028 Isa. 8:20.

 1029 Rev. 14:9-11.

 1030 2 Tim. 4:3.

 1031 Prov. 16:25.

 1032 Mark 12:24.

 1033 John 7:17.

 1034 Ps. 119:18.

 1035 Isa. 59:19.

 1036 John 14:26.

 1037 Ps. 119:11.

 1038 Heb. 10:29.

 1039 Eph. 5:14-16.

 1040 Ps. 119:99, 104.

 1041 Prov. 3:13; Jer. 17:8.

 1042 Rev. 18:1, 2, 4.

 1043 Rev. 14:8.

 1044 Rev. 18:5.

 1045 Rev. 13:16.

 1046 Rev. 14:9, 10.

 1047 2 Tim. 3:12.

 1048 Hosea 6:3.

 1049 Joel 2:23.

 1050 Acts 2:17, 21.

 1051 Acts 3:19, 20.

 1052 Rev. 13:13.

 1053 Dan 12:1.

 1054 Rev. 22:11.

 1055 John 11:50.

 1056 Jer. 30:5-7.

 1057 Gen. 32:24-30.

 1058 Hosea 12:4.

 1059 Rev. 3:10.

 1060 Isa. 27:5.

 1061 Gen. 32:30.

 1062 Eze. 14:20.

 1063 John 14:30.

 1064 Rev. 12:12.

 1065 Rev. 1:13-15.

 1066 Acts 8:10.

 1067 Matt. 24:24-27, 31; 25:31; Rev. 1:7; 1 Thess. 4:16, 17.

 1068 Isa. 33:16.

 1069 Isa. 49:14-16.

 1070 Zech. 2:8.

 1071 Isa. 28:21.

 1072 Eze. 33:11.

 1073 Ex. 34:6, 7; Nahum 1:3.

 1074 Rev. 14:9, 10.

 1075 Rev. 16:2-6, 8, 9.

 1076 Ibid.

 1077 Joel 1:10-12, 17-20; Amos 8:3.

 1078 Amos 8:11, 12.

 1079 Isa. 33:16; 41:17.

 1080 Hab. 3:17, 18.

 1081 Ps. 121:5-7; 91:3-10.

 1082 Matt. 27:42.

 1083 Luke 18:7, 8.

 1084 Ps. 34:7.

 1085 Isa. 21:11, 12.

 1086 Isa. 51.11-16.

 1087 Isa. 51:21-23.

 1088 Mal. 3:17.

 1089 Ps. 27:5.

 1090 Isa. 26:20, 21.

 1091 Isa. 30:29, 30.

 1092 John 17:24.

 1093 Rev. 16:17, 18.

 1094 Rev. 16:17, 18.

 1095 Rev. 16:19, 21.

 1096 Dan. 12:2.

 1097 Rev. 1:7.

 1098 Isa. 13:6.

 1099 Isa. 2:10-12, 20, 21 (margin).

 1100 Ps. 46:1-3.

 1101 Ps. 50:6.

 1102 Mal. 3:18.

 1103 Rev. 19:11, 14.

 1104 Hab. 3:3, 4.

 1105 Rev. 19:16.

 1106 Jer. 30:6; Nahum 2:10.

 1107 Ps. 50:3, 4.

 1108 Rev. 6:15-17.

 1109 Isa. 9.5.

 1110 Eze. 33:11.

 1111 Prov. 1:24, 25.

 1112 Matt. 26:64.

 1113 Matt. 27:42, 43.

 1114 Prov. 1:27.

 1115 Isa. 25:9.

 1116 1 Cor. 15:55.

 1117 Mal. 4:2.

 1118 Rev. 2:17.

 1119 Rev. 1:5, 6.

 1120 Jude 24.

 1121 Rev. 15:2.

 1122 Rev. 14:1-5; 15:3.

 1123 Ibid.

 1124 Rev. 7:14-17.

 1125 Ibid.

 1126 Ibid.

 1127 Ps. 50:6.

 1128 Isa. 25:8.

 1129 Isa. 62:12; 61:3.

 1130 Rev. 7:10, 12.

 1131 Rev. 18:5-10.

 1132 Rev. 18:3, 15-17.

 1133 Jer. 8:11; Eze. 13:22.

 1134 Jer. 23:1, 2; 25:34, 35 (margin).

 1135 Jer. 25:31.

 1136 Eze. 9:1-6.

 1137 Ibid.

 1138 Isa. 26:21.

 1139 Zech. 14:12, 13.

 1140 Jer. 25:33.

 1141 Isa. 24:1, 3, 5, 6.

 1142 Lev. 16:21.

 1143 Rev. 20:1-3.

 1144 Gen. 1:2. The word here translated “deep” is the same that in Rev.
      20:1-3 is rendered “bottomless pit.”

 1145 Jer. 4:23-27.

 1146 Isa. 14:12-17.

 1147 Isa. 14:18-20.

 1148 Isa. 14:3-6, R. V.

 1149 1 Cor. 4:5.

 1150 Dan. 7:22.

 1151 Rev. 20:4, 6; 1 Cor. 6:2, 3.

 1152 Ibid.

 1153 Ibid.

 1154 Jude 6.

 1155 Rev. 20:5; Isa. 24:22.

 1156 Ibid.

 1157 Zech. 14:5, 4, 9.

 1158 Rev. 7:9.

 1159 Rev. 20:11, 12.

 1160 Matt. 25:40.

 1161 Rev. 15:3.

 1162 Rev. 15:4.

 1163 Ps. 145:10.

 1164 Rev. 5:12.

 1165 Eze. 28:6-8, 16-19.

 1166 Isa. 9:5; 34:2; Ps. 11:6 (margin).

 1167 Mal. 4:1; 2 Peter 3:10.

 1168 Isa. 34:8; Prov. 11:31.

 1169 Ibid.

 1170 Mal. 4:1.

 1171 Isa. 14:7.

 1172 Rev. 20:6; Ps. 84:11.

 1173 Rev. 21:1.

 1174 Hab. 3:4 (margin).

 1175 Micah 4:8; Eph. 1:14.

 1176 Ibid.

 1177 Isa. 45:18.

 1178 Ps. 37:29.

 1179 1 Cor. 2:9.

 1180 Heb. 11:14-16.

 1181 Isa. 32:18; 60:18; 65:21, 22.

 1182 Isa. 35:1; 55:13.

 1183 Isa. 11:6, 9; 33:24; 62:3; 65:19.

 1184 Rev. 21:4, 11, 24, 3.

 1185 Ibid.

 1186 Ibid.

 1187 Ibid.

 1188 Ibid.

 1189 Ibid.

 1190 Rev. 22:5; 21:22.

 1191 Ibid.

 1192 1 Cor. 13:12.

 1193 Eph. 3:15.

 1194 Rev. 5:13.