“Whom [Christ] the heavens must receive until the times of restitution of
all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets
since the world began.” A text they use to teach there shall be a thousand
years in which restitution is to be made, makes no such intimation. In
fact, it teaches to the contrary. Let us carefully examine it. Christ was
taken up to heaven. He will some day come again. Acts 1:11. The positive
teaching of this text is that the heavens will retain the Lord Jesus until
everything is restored to the Father. Christ came to restore all things.
Mat. 17:11. Full restitution for sin was made by the Savior. The Holy
Spirit all through this dispensation is leading men to the blood and
restoring them to the Father. The day will soon come when the Holy Spirit
has gleaned out the last one and all has been restored to the Father that
will be restored. This then is the full restitution of all things. Then
the heavens will retain the Son of God no longer. He will come to claim
his own. Instead of this text teaching that restitution is to be made
after Christ’s second coming, it teaches that the restitution is to be
made before he comes the second time.
We will now ask the reader to read the only text that speaks of a thousand
years. This is found in Rev. 20:1-10. If you will open your Bible and
read, we can by the help of the Lord show you that this can not possibly
mean a thousand years of Christ’s reign upon the earth after his second
coming. This language is figurative. Satan is an evil spirit and can not
be bound with a literal chain. After the thousand years have expired,
Satan is to be loosed, and shall deceive the nations. After Christ reigns
here a thousand years in righteousness shall Satan be loosed and deceive
the nations? Who can look forward to such an end with joy? How do you know
but you will be one that will be deceived? If you are building hopes upon
a millennium you are already deceived, and this deception is among the
deceptions which are to come after the thousand years. This thousand years
is in the past. This may be a startling statement to one who has been
educated to believe in a reign of Christ in person here upon the earth in
some future age of a thousand years’ duration. Reader, will you please
notice that the devil and Satan, that was to be bound a thousand years, is
also called the dragon? Now the Scriptures do not always mean Beelzebub
when speaking of Satan. Jesus upon one occasion, because Peter was
remonstrating with him concerning his death, said, “Get thee behind me,
Satan.” Christ did not mean to say that Peter was the devil, but he
addressed him as Satan, because the devil was using him as an instrument
to persuade the Savior to escape the death he came here to endure for all.
So Satan and the devil spoken of in Rev. 20:2 does not refer to the
personal devil, the prince of evil spirits, but to some great power
antagonistical to gospel light and truth as revealed in the church of God.
Now we feel ourself under obligation to the reader to give him the correct
interpretation of this binding of Satan a thousand years, and of his being
loosed at the end of that period. The term “dragon” is used to represent a
state power, which gives power to some religion antagonistical to the
religion of the Bible. However the original and real fundamental dragon
power was Rome, when she supported a heathen religion, and when the world
on the whole was so under the seducing charms of idolatrous worship that
it knew not the one true God and his relationship to man. The Syriac New
Testament, in speaking of this dragon in verse two, says, “Who seduced the
whole habitable world.” The binding of Satan refers to some time when the
delusive charms of heathenish worship were largely cleared away and there
became a greater universal knowledge of the true God. At the end of that
thousand years, or long period of time, which time we have reached, the
true God and the pure religion will be lost or unknown to the generality
of mankind, and heathenish rites and customs and ceremonies will be the
universal religion. Do we not read that at the end of the thousand years
Satan shall again deceive the nations? We understand by this that the
world on the whole shall be reveling in the delusive seductions of a lewd,
lustful, idolatrous religion, making the times like it was in the days of
Noah. Let me again say we are now entering these times, and this world is
swiftly passing under awful and blinding delusions. So great are the
delusions that if possible the very elect should be deceived.
The religious teachers of to-day on the whole are in ignorance concerning
the binding of Satan. We will give you a sample of the ignorance of these
teachers. In the _Gospel Messenger_ of March 25, 1899, the Querist
Department in answer to a question asked concerning the binding of Satan,
said: “Satan will then be bound, cast into the bottomless pit, and there
will be a chance to convert the unrighteous and lead them to accept Christ
as the Savior.”
A subscriber in search of knowledge asked the Querist Department to give a
scripture to prove the last clause. He received this answer: “It seems to
us that it is one of those self-evident views that needs no proof. If the
Bible teaches otherwise let us have the chapter and verse. The Querist
Department does not pretend to know everything.”
There are many other chapters and verses that teach otherwise. “Now is the
day of salvation.” “How shall we escape if we neglect so great salvation?”
The wicked shall be resurrected to damnation. John 5:29.
Conclusion Of Part Second.
We have now passed the noonday. The reader, no doubt, fully comprehends
why it was dark. The morning was light because the whole Word of truth was
taught and experienced by the church. All were under the immediate control
of the infallible Holy Spirit.
The noonday was dark because the leadings and teachings of fallible man
were substituted for the Holy Spirit and Word. A thousand errors were
brought in, the Word of God rejected. The faith once delivered to the
saints was lost, sin and iniquity abounded and their love waxed cold. The
preachers divined for money, and sought places of affluence, and thus the
day was dark over them. Sectism to-day is a mass of worldliness.
Infidelity abounds and every abominable work. If you desire a perfect
description of sectism as it appears upon the scene to-day, read that
given by the angel in Rev. 18:2.
PART III. THE EVENING.
Or,
Christianity In The Closing Days Of This Gospel Era.
We have now come to consider the evening time of this gospel day. The
morning was light because of the truth being experienced and taught. The
noonday was dark because traditions and theories and vain philosophies of
man became substitutes for the Word of God. This evening time was seen by
prophetic eye. “But it shall be one day which shall be known to the Lord,
not day, nor night: but it shall come to pass, that at evening time it
shall be light.” We are nearing the close of this gospel day. The sun of
time hangs low in the western horizon. The gospel light is now shining in
peaceful splendor like the clear setting of the sun after a dark and
cloudy noonday.
“Misty fogs so long concealing
All the hills of mingled night
Vanish, all their sin revealing,
For the “evening shall be light”
“Lo, the ransomed are returning,
Robed in shining crystal white,
Leaping, shouting, home to Zion,
Happy in the ev’ning light.”—_Sel._
Chapter I. The Apostasy In Two Days.
In our introduction we gave a number of texts which spoke of the whole of
the gospel dispensation as one day; but any period of time distinguished
by some extraordinary historic event may be and is also termed a day. The
apostasy or dark noonday being under two forms is marked in Bible history
as two days. The first form of the apostasy, namely, Catholicism, is
called by the Scriptures a “dark day.”
A Cloudy Day.
The second form of the apostasy was not such utter darkness as the first,
and is therefore called a cloudy day. “For thus saith the Lord God;
Behold, I, even I, will both search my sheep, and seek them out. As a
shepherd seeketh out his flock in the day that he is among his sheep that
are scattered; so will I seek out my sheep, and will deliver them out of
all places where they have been scattered in the cloudy and dark day.”
Ezek. 34:11, 12. The cloudy day was a day of the scattering of God’s
people. This has been true of Protestantism. God’s own people have been
divided and scattered among the various organizations of man. The time of
the seeking out refers to the evening, when God is going to gather his
children together that “were scattered abroad,” and they shall be “one
heart and one soul” as in the morning.
One more text refers to the cloudy day. “And it shall come to pass in that
day that the light shall not be clear, nor dark: but it shall be one day
which shall be known to the Lord, not day, nor night: but it shall come to
pass, that at evening time it shall be light.” Zech. 14:6, 7. This day of
Protestantism was neither “clear nor dark”; was neither “day, nor night.”
It was a mixture of light and darkness, truth and error, and therefore is
fitly termed a cloudy day.
A Revival.
After those two days there shall be a great revival caused by the
outpouring of the Holy Spirit. “Come, and let us return unto the Lord: for
he hath torn, and he will heal us; he hath smitten, and he will bind us
up. After two days will he revive us: in the third day he will raise us
up, and we shall live in his sight. 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.”
Hos. 6:1-3.
The two days of beastly power come to an end. The time comes when they
shall no longer govern God’s true people. It was true of literal Babylon,
that had taken captive the children of God, that the time came when they
returned from their captivity. The same is true of spiritual Babylon. The
children of God have long been taken captive in her. In the evening time,
after two days, they shall say, “Come, let us return unto the Lord: for he
hath torn, and he will heal us; he will revive us in the third day, he
will raise us up,” etc. Praise God! Then shall we know the Lord. “His
going forth is prepared as the morning.” Just as God was known in the
morning in his holiness and power, just so he will be known in the
evening. Throughout the “two days” (apostasy) the Lord in his power to
save to the uttermost, to heal, and to exclusively control his church was
unknown. Therefore he says: “Then shall the seers be ashamed, and the
diviners confounded: yea, they shall all cover their lips; for there is no
answer of God.” Micah 3:7.
Such is the ignorance of the seers of Babylon. They are educated in the
wisdom of the world, but know little of God. Their sermons are the
theories of man, and not the pure Word of God. For this reason there is a
great spiritual famine in Babylon.
The evening time is called the third day, when God shall send copious
showers of rain. The first day is a “dark day,” and relates to the reign
of the Catholic power. The second or dark and cloudy day relates to the
reign of Protestantism. The third day is the “time of the end,” when there
shall be a consumption of the beast powers. Dan. 7:26. Daniel was told
that the fourth beast he saw in his vision was a fourth kingdom. This was
the Roman kingdom. Three had preceded—the Babylonian, Medo-Persian and
Grecian. This beast had ten horns. Ver. 7. These ten horns were ten kings,
or kingdoms, which were created out of the Roman empire by the barbarians
of the North. History records the overrunning of the Roman empire from
A.D. 376 to A.D. 476 by the different “powerful and warlike nations of the
North; namely, the Huns, Goths, Vandals,” etc. Thus in one century of time
the kingdom of the Cæsars gave rise to ten different minor kingdoms.
In verse twenty-four of Daniel seven the prophet was told that another
horn should arise after these ten. From the description of this horn we at
once learn it to represent the Roman hierarchy, or to be the same as the
first beast of Rev. 13. In verse twenty-six the prophet says, “Judgment
shall sit, and they shall take away his dominion, to consume and to
destroy it unto the end.” The apostasy is being consumed by the powerful
and sharp judgments of God’s Word being executed by the faithful and true
who are proclaiming, “Fear God, and give glory to him, for the hour of his
judgment is come.” This is in the time of the end, this glorious evening
hour.
The apostle Paul gives a description of the apostasy in 2 Thes. 2. In
verse eight he speaks of its consumption, which is being effected in this
evening of time. Babylon is being consumed. Hear her cries of pain. The
prophet Isaiah foretells the consumption of the apostasy in these words:
“And the destruction of the transgressors and of the sinners shall be
together, and they that forsake the Lord shall be consumed.” This is being
accomplished in this present day. The gospel truth is being held up as a
“lamp that burneth,” and Babylon is consumed. The Lord is washing “away
the filth of the daughter of Zion, ... by the spirit of judgment, and by
the spirit of burning.” Isa. 4:4.
“Flee out of the midst of Babylon, and deliver every man his soul.”
Morning And Evening Light Compared.
How light shall be the evening? Will God “revive us and raise us up” in
the third day to the apostolic plane? The answer is, “His going forth is
prepared as the morning.” “Then shall thy light break forth as the
morning, and thine health shall spring forth speedily: and thy
righteousness shall go before thee; the glory of the Lord shall be thy
rearward.” Isa. 58:8.
By these two texts we are given to understand that in the evening the
light shall shine as bright as in the morning. The church of God will be
raised to the same plane from which it was dragged down by ecclesiastical
lords. God’s people shall enjoy the same degree of holiness in the evening
as they did in the morning. They shall enjoy the same blessed unity—“one
heart and one soul,” “and all speak the same thing.” They shall possess
apostolic faith. They shall have power with God to heal the sick, to open
blinded eyes, to cause the lame to walk and the deaf to hear, to cast out
devils, and to raise the dead the same as did the saints in the morning.
Why shall they be given such power? Because they believe, experience and
practise the whole truth. They are free from all manism. God has absolute
control in each and every heart. Every hindrance to faith is removed,
every barrier between them and God is taken away, and the Lord works with
them, “confirming the word with signs following.” Glory to his name!
Chapter II. The Time Of The Evening.
The morning was of 270 years’ duration. The first form of the apostasy
lasted, as we have shown, 1260 years, bringing us to the Lutheran
reformation in 1530. Now when we ascertain the duration of the second
beast power we will know the time the sun, moon and stars reappear in the
evening. One especial text that gives us information on this subject is
found in Revelation. In speaking of the two witnesses the Revelator says:
“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.” Rev. 11:10, 11.
In this we learn the duration of the power of Protestantism and the
breaking forth of the evening light. We have before proven that a day in
Scripture is used to represent different lengths of time, sometimes the
whole of the Christian era, sometimes a thousand years, sometimes a
hundred years, and sometimes a year. In this text a day represents a
century. Three days are three centuries, and a half day is a half century.
After three days and a half, which are three centuries and a half, or 350
years, of the reign of Protestantism, the Spirit of life from God entered
into them. This is the dawning of the evening, when the whole and entire
Word of God is believed and experienced and the Holy Spirit has the same
power in governing the church of God as he did in the days of the
apostles. The downfall of the first beast, or Romanism, and the arising of
the second beast, or Protestantism, was in the year 1530. The duration of
Protestant power is 350 years, which added to 1530 brings us to the year
1880 A.D., at which time the dark noonday closes and we emerging hail with
joy the peaceful glowing evening light.
Prior to the year 1880 it was, with rare exceptions, universally conceded
that to gain heaven we needs must unite with some religious denomination.
About this time God by his Holy Spirit gave to men everywhere (whose
hearts were prepared) an intuitive knowledge that we could be saved and
live a Christian life outside the walls of sectism. Just to lean upon God
alone and be guided solely by his Word and Spirit, they discovered to be
their blessed privilege. We are not alone in thus interpreting Rev. 11:11.
We will quote from other authors. “Cloudy day (Protestantism). Length of
period 350 years.” Rev. 11:9.—_S. L. Speck in Bible Readings_, p. 104.
“The two witnesses [Word and Spirit] lie dead three days and a half [three
and one-half centuries]. Rev. 11:7-9. The church dwells in a wilderness,
which is neither dark nor light. Period 350 years. Time from 1530 to
1880.”—_W. G. S. in Bible Readings_, p. 69.
“Time of reign of second beast, from the year 1530 to 1880, making 350
years.”—_H. C. Wickersham in Holiness Bible Subjects_, p. 178.
This same author on page 244 in quoting Rev. 11:11 encloses in brackets
the words: “At the end of three hundred and fifty years of Protestant
sectism the true children of God come out of Babylon and are sanctified.”
“The three days and a half they were to lie dead is interpreted by the
Holy Spirit to mean three centuries and a half. This gives us the length
of the Protestant age.”—_Biblical Trace of the Church_, p. 143.
In the few years prior to 1880 A.D., there was a great declension in the
spirituality of Protestantism. Who can deny this fact? Quite a number of
the leading denominations held revivals, where was witnessed the power of
the Holy Spirit. People were genuinely converted. They loved and worshiped
God in quite a degree of simplicity and equality. The ministry was of a
humbler class and more devoted to its charges. In the decade preceding
1880 there was a great change. This change perhaps can be no better
described than is done in the following words of Mr. Foster, bishop of the
Methodist denomination:
“Worldly socials, fairs, festivals, concerts, and such like, have taken
the place of the religious gatherings, revival meetings, class and
prayer-meetings of earlier days.... Under such worldly performance
spirituality is frozen to death.... The early Methodist ministers went
forth to sacrifice and suffer for Christ. They sought not places of ease
and affluence, but of privation and suffering. They gloried not in their
big salaries, fine parsonages, and refined congregations, but in the souls
that had been won for Jesus. Oh, how changed! A hireling ministry will be
a feeble, a timid truckling, a time-serving ministry, without faith,
endurance, and holy power. Methodism formerly dealt in the great central
truth. Now the pulpits deal largely in generalities and in popular
lectures. The glorious doctrine of entire sanctification is rarely heard
and seldom witnessed in the pulpits.”
There is not a Methodist minister but knows the truthfulness of these
statements, however much they may deny it. In the quoted texts of
Scripture from Revelation 11, the ninth and tenth verses say: “And they of
the people and kindreds and tongues and nations shall see their dead
bodies three days and a half, and shall not suffer their dead bodies to be
put in graves. And they that dwell upon the earth shall rejoice over them,
and make merry, and shall send gifts one to another.”
By the “dead bodies” is meant the two witnesses, the Word and Spirit.
These throughout Protestantism were dead. While they professed to be led
by the Spirit and to believe and practise the Word, they did neither. Thus
they would not entirely and openly in words deny the power of the Holy
Spirit and verity of God’s Word, yet in works they did deny them. “They
profess that they know God; but in works they deny him, being abominable,
and disobedient, and unto every good work reprobate.” Titus 1:16. These
two witnesses were dead, yet they would not allow their dead bodies to be
buried: they professed to receive them.
The tenth verse tells of the worldliness of sectism at the time the Spirit
of life from God entered into the Word and Holy Spirit, after the 350
years or the ushering in of the evening light. They were making merry and
sending gifts. Sectism is straining every nerve, and adopting most every
scheme for money-getting. The fundamental object in the socials, fairs,
concerts, etc., is to get money. They adopt these worldly, sensual
amusements to rob men of their money. We have in possession a clipping
from the _New York Sun_ which is a fair sample of the present-day
performances and merry making for money, and well explains the rejoicing,
merry making and sending of gifts as mentioned in Rev. 11:10. It is as
follows:
“_Saved The Church._
“Members Performed Many Services in Turning an Odd Penny.
“From New York Sun.
“Pittsburg, March 5.—The church edifice of the Coraopolis Methodist church
was advertised to be sold by the sheriff this week, and the members of the
congregation made a heroic attempt all last week to save it. Coraopolis is
a few miles below here. One vivacious young woman won a wager by riding a
spirited horse without a saddle; other good sisters and brethren cleaned
shoes and peddled, while some pushed wheelbarrows in which were conveyed
some very staid-looking business men. The whole church community was
animated by the common desire to keep the sheriff from the church-door.
Luxuries were denied, and many ludicrous situations were invented until
enough money was raised to secure a postponement of the sale.
“Nobody seemed in the least disconcerted over these unusual exhibitions.
If any one asked Samuel Marshall, the well-known station agent, what he
was doing when he was shining the boots of the ex-Burgess, he would have
replied: ‘Raising money for our church. Don’t you want a shine?’ Among the
most active in the work was Mr. Marshall, and his industry in turning in
the most money won for him the prize of a gold watch. The following items
from his statement show some of the methods adopted:
“February 20.—Delivered message to F. D. Stickney, 10 cents. H. S.
Misseldine wanted me to stand on my head, but found I could not do this,
so added up fifty columns of figures, for which I received 50 cents.
“February 21.—Carried can of milk to restaurant of J. G. Walters, 10
cents.
“February 22.—Delivered head of cabbage, which afterward on a ‘banter’ was
thrown at Mr. Walters, 10 cents.
“February 23.—Young lady paid me 5 cents to call on her; polished shoes
for George Arras, 5 cents.
“February 24.—Swept pool-room of J. E. McKee, 10 cents; delivered hardware
to Mr. Boyers, $2.00.
“February 26.—Wheeled M. W. Watson from store of J. C. Walters to shop, 25
cents.
“February 27.—Shaved Henry DeGrange, the barber, for which I charged him
10 cents.
“Mrs. Hamilton, a well-known society woman, sold bread and laundered the
gentlemen’s ties. She also presented a report in rhyme at the ‘pledge
meeting’ on last Tuesday night. One item of the report was:
“First I peddled chestnuts and met with success,
And to-day I raked in nickels is the truth, you better guess.
Say, I must tell a secret, those chestnuts were alive,
But what of that, when I realized one dollar thirty-five.
“Mrs Hamilton returned about forty dollars as the result of her labors.
Miss Fannie Siebold, a vivacious young woman with auburn hair and with
eyes that sparkle, was visiting friends in the place. She never lost an
opportunity to show her interest in the little church. Her host, curious
to see if she could not be made to retract from her offers, told her he
would give her fifty cents if she would ride one of his spirited horses
without, a saddle.
“She was told that she might ride any fashion. Miss Siebold made all the
male portion of the family promise to remain indoors, where they could not
observe her during the performance. They agreed to this, but people
passing along the road were surprised at the sight of a handsome young
lady galloping over the fields on the flying charger in a manner that
would do credit to any man.
“As a result of all the industry, $208.54 was raised, the sheriff’s
placard was taken down from the church-door, and a thirty days’ extension
secured on the $2,500 remaining to be paid.”
The following article, recently published in a God-fearing, religious
paper, contains weighty and powerful truths, and should awaken the reader
to the present condition of things in this dark, seducing, and
soul-deluding, sinful world.
“There has been for many years a rapid decline among the Protestant
churches of the spirit of revivals and of the manifestations of the power
of the Holy Spirit. Not only is there great ignorance on the doctrines of
the Bible, but almost universally a positive antagonism to anything like
the supernatural in religious experience.
“Just as Jesus was rejected and crucified by the professed church at the
close of the Jewish age, so the Holy Spirit is being despised and
crucified by the professed church at the close of the Gentile age. Just as
Jesus was rejected from the nice homes of Bethlehem, and had to go into a
stable to find a place to be born, and where he could utter his infant
cries, so the Holy Spirit to-day is utterly rejected from thousands of
Protestant churches, and he has to go into rented halls, slum missions,
canvas tents, and woods meetings to find a place to utter his voice
through the lips of those who know and feel him. Just as there were a few
who had supernatural discernment to recognize and worship the infant God,
so there are now a few who discern the personality and operation of the
Holy Spirit, and pour out to him their gold and frankincense and myrrh.
Just as the people of Bethlehem, who had turned the unborn Savior from
their door were soon made to wail by the king’s order of assassination, so
the thousands of nominal churches which now reject the work of the Holy
Spirit from their doors will soon wail under the awful tribulation that is
rapidly coming on all the earth. Oh, if the Protestant churches could only
see the day of their visitation, and that the history of the way the Jews
treated Jesus is being exactly repeated over and over again in the way the
modern churches treat the Holy Spirit, and that the same doom that
overtook the Jewish church for rejecting Christ, will speedily overtake
the modern churches for rejecting the Holy Spirit!
“Another feature of the present crisis is, God is working mainly through
individuals, and not so much through machinery. Thousands of individuals
in Europe and America have been called of the Spirit to launch out into
soul-saving work along lines of personal enterprise more than ever in past
ages.
“There never was a time in the world’s history when Christian men and
women felt so led of God not to wait for committees nor the red tape of
ecclesiastical authority, but to hurry forth under a personal call from
God and do what they could with their individual means and talents for the
saving of souls, the sanctifying of believers, and preparing the chosen
few to meet Jesus. There never seemed a time when anything like church
machinery would run to seed so quick as now. Even if an enterprise that is
started definitely as a holiness work gets a few officers and committees
in it, in a few days or months it gets just as churchly and high-headed
and dictatorial as an old popish institution. For this reason God is
utilizing individuality in his kingdom as never before.
“Another feature of the present crisis is, that God will test the faith of
his waiting ones, and all those persons who are making almanacs for the
Lord, and fixing dates for the fulfilling of certain prophecies, are going
to be disappointed. We are living a life of faith in every particular,
clear down to the last moment of his appearing in the sky. The Scriptures
are very clear in setting forth two facts concerning Christ’s coming. On
the one hand we are told of the signs that would precede his coming, and
we are told to watch those things, and they will indicate his coming as
near; on the other hand we are expressly told that the day and hour of his
appearing will never be made known beforehand, and our wisdom lies in not
forgetting the signs on the one hand, nor in fixing dates on the other.
Hence Jesus commands us to keep in the attitude of a watcher, always
ready, always expecting, yet not knowing. In the parable of the ten
virgins, our Savior clearly intimates that the bridegroom will tarry
beyond the time that his people expected him. The picture is that of a
crowd of passengers sitting in a station and waiting for a night train
which is behind time, and while they are yet waiting they get drowsy and
nod. The sentence, ‘They all slumbered and slept,’ should more properly
be, they became ‘drowsy and nodded.’ This applies to the very elect, who
will be taken into the wedding, and indicates a crisis of the trial of the
faith of the sanctified ones.
“But the most significant of all things in the present crisis is the
testing of true faith in all points of doctrine. There never was a time
since the fall of Adam when the human race was so drenched with the muddy
waters of heresy. Everything moves with lightning rapidity. The principles
that lie hidden in every system of government, education, social life, and
manifold forms of religion, are swiftly pushing themselves to prestige and
open manifestation. Sin is not only working out every species of
wickedness that can be invented, but the intellect of the so-called
Christianized world is showing signs of decay in its ability to grasp
sturdy Bible truth, and is largely turning from the Bible to old worn-out
heathen ideas. Every doctrine of the Bible is being twisted into fanciful
theories. The scriptures teaching of sin and the need of broken-hearted
repentance is practically ignored by thousands of ministers and
church-members. The absolute divinity of Jesus is growing weaker in the
faith of many who claim to teach his gospel, and some who profess to be
very orthodox say they do not pray to Jesus. The literal resurrection of
the body taught by the Scriptures is caricatured and treated lightly by
professed theologians, ministers, and professed Christians. The
immortality of the soul and its conscious existence, either in heaven or
hell, during the sleep of the body in death, is being rejected for the old
heathen notion. The experience of justifying and sanctifying grace,
attested by the personal Holy Spirit, is rejected by millions of
church-members. Everlasting reward and punishment is laughed at as an old
tradition instead of a serious doctrine of the Bible.
“It is well nigh impossible to enter a single professed Christian family
in Europe or America in which some member has not a new patent on
Scripture truth and holds some fanciful notion concerning the serious
teachings of the Bible. I find a great many passages in which the last
form of testifying for God’s saints will be that of their faith in the
simple plain old doctrines of God’s Word. Jesus warns us that just before
his coming every possible heresy and every variety of false Christ will
appear to deceive the people, and that if it were possible they should
deceive the very elect. And John in Revelation tells us of an era of the
going forth of frogs, which are evil spirits, to seduce the people from
the true faith. We are living in the frog era. In nearly every city in the
land there are from one to three persons who claim to be God, or an
incarnation of Christ, or the Holy Spirit. Thousands of religious people
think it is too tame and uninteresting to accept all of the plain old
doctrines of the Scripture, so they want something original and
startling.”
In the past two years the popular religious bodies, including an
aristocratic ministry, have turned to worldliness at a rapid and
unprecedented rate, and what will be seen of proud formalism, socialism,
and rejection of divine truth in the circles of denominationalism within
the next ten years would now appear incredulous.
The following poem selected from a recent religious periodical is vividly
descriptive of the present-day religious denominations, commonly known as
churches. However the true church of God is an entirely different
institution, and just as far separated from the world, and just as
bitterly hated by her as when she imprisoned, stoned and martyred her
devoted followers.
The Church Walking With The World.
"The Church and the World walked far apart,
On the changing shores of time;
The World was singing a giddy song,
And the Church a hymn sublime.
’Come, give me your hand,’ cried the merry World,
’And walk with me this way;’
But the good Church hid her snowy hand,
And solemnly answered, ’Nay,
I will not give you my hand at all,
And I will not walk with you;
Your way is the way of endless death;
Your words are all untrue.’
"’Nay, walk with me but a little space,’
Said the World with a kindly air;
’The road I walk is a pleasant road,
And the sun shines always there.
Your path is thorny and rough and crude,
And mine is broad and plain;
My road is paved with flowers and gems,
And yours with tears and pain.
The sky above me is always blue:
No want, no toil, I know;
The sky above you is always dark;
Your lot is a lot of woe.
My path, you see, is a broad, fair path,
And my gate is high and wide—
There is room enough for you and for me
To travel side by side.’
"Half shyly the Church approached the World,
And gave him her hand of snow:
The old World grasped it and walked along,
Saying, in accents low,
’Your dress is too simple to please my taste;
I will give you pearls to wear,
Rich velvet and silks for your graceful form,
And diamonds to deck your hair.’
The Church looked down at her plain white robes,
And then at the dazzling World,
And blushed as she saw his handsome lip
With a smile contemptuous curled.
’I will change my dress for a costlier one,’
Said the Church with a smile of grace;
Then her pure garments drifted away,
And the World gave in their place,
Beautiful satins, and shining silks,
And roses and gems and pearls;
And over her forehead her bright hair fell
Crisped in a thousand curls.
"’Your house is too plain,’ said the proud old World,
’I’ll build you one like mine:
Carpets of Brussels, and curtains of lace,
And furniture ever so fine.’
So he built her a costly and beautiful house—
Splendid it was to behold;
Her sons and her beautiful daughters dwelt there,
Gleaming in purple and gold;
And fairs and shows in the halls were held,
And the World and his children were there;
And laughter and music and feasts were heard
In the place that was meant for prayer.
She had cushioned pews for the rich and the great,
To sit in their pomp and their pride,
While the poor folks, clad in their shabby suits,
Sat meekly down outside.
"The angel of mercy flew over the Church,
And whispered, ’I know thy sin.’
The Church looked back with a sigh, and longed
To gather her children in;
But some were off in the midnight ball,
And some were off at the play,
And some were drinking in gay saloons;
So she quietly went her way.
The sly World gallantly said to her,
’Your children mean no harm—
Merely indulging in innocent sports.’
So she leaned on his proffered arm,
And smiled, and chatted, and gathered flowers,
As she walked along with the World;
While millions and millions of deathless souls
To the horrible pit were hurled.
"’Your preachers are all too old and plain,’
Said the gay old World with a sneer;
’They frighten my children with dreadful tales,
Which I like not for them to hear:
They talk of brimstone and fire and pain,
And the horrors of endless night;
They talk of a place that should not be
Mentioned to ears polite.
I will send you some of the better stamp,
Brilliant and gay and fast,
Who will tell them that people may live as they list,
And go to heaven at last.
The Father is merciful and great and good,
Tender and true and kind;
Do you think he would take one child to heaven
And leave the rest behind?’
So he filled her house with gay divines,
Gifted and great and learned;
And the plain old men that preached the cross
Were out of the pulpit turned.
"’You give too much to the poor,’ said the World;
’Far more than you ought to do.
If the poor need shelter and food and clothes,
Why need it trouble you?
Go, take your money and buy rich robes,
And horses and carriages fine,
And pearls and jewels and dainty food,
And the rarest and costliest wine.
My children they dote on all such things,
And if you their love would win,
You must do as they do, and walk in the ways
That they are walking in.’
The Church held tightly the strings of her purse,
And gracefully lowered her hand,
And simpered, ’I’ve given too much away;
I’ll do, sir, as you have said.’
"So the poor were turned from her door in scorn,
And she heard not the orphans’ cry;
And she drew her beautiful robes aside,
As the widows went weeping by.
The sons of the World and the sons of the Church
Walked closely hand and heart,
And only the Master who knoweth all,
Could tell the two apart.
Then the Church sat down at her ease and said,
’I am rich, and in goods increased;
I have need of nothing, and naught to do
But to laugh and dance and feast.’
The sly World heard her, and laughed in his sleeve,
And mockingly said aside,
’The Church is fallen—the beautiful Church—
And her shame is her boast and pride!’
"The angel drew near to the mercy-seat,
And whispered, in sighs, her name;
And the saints their anthems of rapture hushed,
And covered their heads with shame.
And voice came down, through the hush of heaven,
From Him who sat on the throne,
’I know thy work, and how thou hast said,
I am rich; and hast not known
That thou art naked and poor and blind
And wretched before my face;
Therefore, from my presence I cast thee out,
And blot thy name from its place!’"—_Sel._
To-day the proud, fashionable sectarian churches are lovingly folded in
the arms of the giddy world, and in her mad, drunken, lustful craze she is
crying, “On with the dance, let joy be unconfined.”
Mysterious Prophecies Revealed.
The bringing in of the evening light by the Holy Spirit has been the
clearing away of much mystery from prophetic texts. The voice of the angel
said, in speaking to Daniel, “But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and
seal the book, even to the time of the end.” Dan. 12:4. We have reached
the time of the end—the evening, and the book is unsealed and revealed and
the “wise understand”; but “none of the wicked understand.” Many texts of
Revelation were fulfilled and understood when the evening light flashed
across its pages. We will quote a few.
_Revelation 14:6-8._
“And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the
everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to
every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people, saying with a loud
voice, Fear God, and give glory to him, for the hour of his judgment is
come: and worship him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the
fountains of waters. And there followed another angel saying, Babylon is
fallen, is fallen, that great city, because she made all nations drink of
the wine of the wrath of her fornication.”
Angel is from the Greek _anggelos_, and means agent or messenger. “Heaven”
does not refer to the glory world above, but to the work of God and heaven
here upon earth. This angel is a messenger or servant in the work of the
Lord. He has the everlasting gospel to preach to the people. The burden of
his ministry is, “Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his
judgment is come.” The evening or time of the end is reached, the hour of
God’s judgment, the time of the bride’s especial preparation for the
coming of the bridegroom. This ministry is closely followed by another
messenger declaring, “Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city,
because she made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her
fornication.”
“Babylon is fallen.” This is a prediction against mystery Babylon the
great and her harlot daughters—Catholicism and Protestantism. This God’s
pure ministry has been preaching for the last two decades. Sectism is in a
fallen condition. It is fallen into the depths of worldliness. She has
opened her bosom and invited the world in to revel with her. She has
prepared a potion of charming delusive spirits, by which she has
intoxicated and inflamed the blood of nations. In the last few years the
concerts, fairs and socials are frequented by both the professed
Christians and non-professors, and in their dress, conversation, and
general manner, they are undistinguishable. Sectism to-day in not enticing
people to enter her fold by preaching the everlasting gospel, but she
allures them by her seducing love decoction of lewdness, worldliness and
licentiousness. Babylon is fallen.
Some of the Old Testament texts contain a spiritual import. “Flee out of
the midst of Babylon, and deliver every man his soul: be not cut off in
her iniquity; for this is the time of the Lord’s vengeance; he will render
unto her a recompense.” Jer. 51:6. This language is especially forcible at
this present day. We have reached the time of the Lord’s vengeance.
“Babylon hath been a golden cup in the Lord’s hand, that made all the
earth drunken: the nations have drunken of her wine; therefore the nations
are mad.” Jer. 51:7. The woman (mystery Babylon and her daughters) sitting
upon the scarlet-colored beast had a golden cup in her hand. Rev. 17:4.
The day was, as we have before spoken, when God did save some souls in
sectism and gave them the Holy Spirit’s power. But Satan has succeeded in
emptying the golden cup of that which was divine and filled it with
intoxicating potions that have allured nations to commit fornication with
her.
“Babylon is suddenly fallen and destroyed: howl for her; take balm for her
pain, if so be she may be healed. We would have healed Babylon, but she is
not healed: forsake her, and let us go every one into his own country: for
her judgment reacheth unto heaven, and is lifted up even to the skies.”
Jer. 51:8, 9. Babylon can never be healed. She will not be healed. She is
irredeemable. Destruction is her doom. “Forsake her and let us go every
one into his own country.”
Hear the lamentation of the children of God in their captivity in Babylon:
“By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down, yea, we wept, when we
remembered Zion. We hanged our harps upon the willows, in the midst
thereof. For there they that carried us away captive required of us a
song; and they that wasted us required of us mirth, saying, Sing us one of
the songs of Zion. How shall we sing the Lord’s song in a strange land?”
Psa. 137:1-4.
Perishing souls in sectism would love to serve God better, but in their
captivity they can not sing the songs of praise and glory.
Babylon.
By thy dark deceptive waters,
Sighing, moaning, troubled sea,
Captives sing their songs of sorrow,
Hoping, longing to be free.
Who shall sing the songs of Zion
On thy banks, O raging sea?
The voice of bridegroom and the bride
Is heard no more at all in thee.
Golden days are gone forever,
Days now dark and dreary be;
Harps untuned and silent ever,
Silent by the moaning sea.
Sadly weeping stands the willow
On thy shore, O surging sea;
’Neath its shade my steps shall never,
Never, never more shall be.
“Zion” is a metaphor, signifying “Jerusalem, which is from above,” or the
church of God. It is the home of the saints, where they are cared for by
the Lord. As the ancient literal city of Babylon typifies the great
spiritual Babylon, so the literal city of Jerusalem typifies the spiritual
Jerusalem or Zion or church of God. God does not want his people joined
unto a sect and under the laws and creeds and authority of man. He wants
the full care of them. However, many of God’s children, through ignorance,
have been induced to seek a home in Babylon. Here they have been taken
captive. In this evening time God is leading them back to Zion. “The
ransomed of the Lord shall return and come to Zion with songs and
everlasting joy upon their heads.” Isa. 35:10. The songs of Zion are not
to be sung in the barren land of Babylon. Babylon has gone into Zion and
captured God’s devoted children, but God will be avenged. “And I will
render unto Babylon and to all the inhabitants of Chaldea all their evil
that they have done in Zion in your sight, saith the Lord.” Jer. 51:24.
Here is a prophecy relating to this evening time. “In those days, and that
time, saith the Lord, the children of Israel shall come, they and the
children of Judah together, going and weeping: they shall go, and seek the
Lord their God. They shall ask the way to Zion with their faces
thitherward, saying, Come and let us join ourselves to the Lord in a
perpetual covenant that shall not be forgotten.” Jer. 50:4, 5. See them
coming home to Zion with the glory of God risen upon them. Halleluiah!
Zion.
In thy clear, transparent water,
Peaceful, cleansing, crystal sea,
In thy sparkling beauty flowing,
Let me ever sail on thee.
There is music in the ripple
Of thy wave, O purest sea;
Here we sing the songs of Zion,
In a soft sweet melody.
Peaceful are thy streams forever,
Gentle, calmest, tranquil sea;
Harps are tuned to heavenly music;
Hear the pleasant melody.
Tree of life is blooming ever
On thy shore, O crystal sea;
’Neath its shade my walk shall ever,
Ever and forever be.
_Revelation 18:1-5, 16, 17, 23._
“And after these things 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. For all nations have
drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, and the kings of the
earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth
are waxed rich through the abundance of her delicacies. 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, for
her sins have reached unto heaven, and God hath remembered her
iniquities.”
“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 nought.” “And the light of a candle
shall shine no more at all in thee; and the voice of the bridegroom and of
the bride shall be heard no more at all in thee.”
This holy messenger announces the fall of Babylon, and gives a description
of it. All that is pure, holy and divine has been driven out of sect
Babylon and leaves its subjects to be ravished by unclean, worldly
spirits, devouring their souls, and leaving the whole an unclean cage. God
has gone out of sectism. He works with them no more; his voice is heard no
more in her, and his call to his people is to “come out of her.” “Flee out
of Babylon, and deliver every man his soul.” God dwells in Zion, and there
shines the beautiful light of the gospel. “Out of Zion the perfection of
beauty God hath shined.” “Arise, shine: for thy light is come, and the
glory of the Lord is risen upon thee.” Isa. 60:1.
Return and come to Zion, O captive daughter; unloose the bands of sectism
from off thy neck; cast aside the creeds and tyranny of man; cease the
cold forms and frozen conventionalities, and seek the green pasture fields
of Zion, where there are songs and everlasting joy, and sighs and sorrow
come no more.
_Matthew 13th chapter._
The parable of the Savior in which he likens the kingdom of heaven unto a
man which sowed good seed in his field is also illustrative of the gospel
day. The field is the world. The Son of man sowing the good seed is the
glorious gospel work of the morning. The enemy that sowed the tares is the
apostasy, which destroyed much of the good seed and sowed discord,
contention, strife and superstition. The harvest-time is the evening time.
The angels are God’s holy messengers.
In the evening of time the Son of man shall send forth his angels or
messengers, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that
offend, and them which do iniquity. God is calling his people out of all
confusion and darkness, separating them from sin and the works of man.
Such is the work to be done in the end of the world.
_Jeremiah 23d chapter._
In the fifth and sixth verses of this chapter is a beautiful prophecy of
Christ. “Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will raise unto
David a righteous Branch, and a king shall reign and prosper, and shall
execute judgment and justice in the earth. In his days Judah shall be
saved, and Israel shall dwell safely: and this is his name whereby he
shall be called, The Lord our Righteousness.”
In the ninth verse the prophet tells of his broken heart because he
foresees the dark apostasy. From verse nine to verse eighteen he speaks of
the wicked doings of apostates.
In verse nineteen he describes the present holiness reformation that is
sweeping over the land. “Behold, a whirlwind of the Lord is gone forth in
fury, even a grievous whirlwind: it shall fall grievously upon the head of
the wicked.”
_Matthew 24th chapter._
In the third verse of the twenty-fourth chapter of Matthew we read of the
disciples questioning the Savior concerning the end of the world. They
say, “Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of
thy coming, and of the end of the world?” In answering, the Savior in the
sixth and the following few verses speaks of political upheavals. In the
eleventh and twelfth verses he predicts the apostasy of the noonday. “Many
false prophets shall rise and shall deceive many. And because iniquity
shall abound the love of many shall wax cold.” That is why a child of God
finds it so difficult to retain an experience of salvation in sectism.
Iniquity abounds, and being yoked up with such evil companions he can not
stem the tide of influence.
In the fourteenth verse the Savior says: “And this gospel of the kingdom
shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and
then shall the end come.” This preaching of the gospel of the kingdom is
to be after the apostasy, and just prior to the end of the world.
Throughout sectism theology and tradition have been substituted for the
gospel, but in the evening time John beholds an angel flying in the midst
of heaven having the everlasting gospel to preach to them that dwell on
the earth. This is the same as the preaching of the gospel in the end of
the world to which the Savior refers. He has now taken the disciples once
down through the whole of the Christian dispensation to the end of the
world.
In the fifteenth verse he begins with them again at the desolation spoken
of by Daniel, which is the destruction of Jerusalem in the year 70 A.D.
From the sixteenth to the twenty-second verse inclusive, he instructs them
concerning this abomination. From the twenty-third to the twenty-sixth
inclusive he again speaks of the apostasy. False Christs and false
prophets shall arise. In the twenty-seventh and twenty-eighth verses he
speaks of the end of the world. He has now taken them through the
Christian era again down to the time of the end. In the twenty-ninth verse
he leads them back again to the destruction of Jerusalem. “Immediately
after the tribulation of those days [by this he refers to the destruction
of Jerusalem] shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her
light, and the stars shall fall from heaven.” This is the obscuring of
Christ and the church by the beast power in the noontime.
In the thirty-first verse he says, “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.” These are the angels
that are shouting, “Come out of her, my people.” They are gathering out of
God’s kingdom all things that do offend and them that do iniquity. This is
the work of God in the time of the end. “Deliver thyself, O Zion, that
dwellest with the daughter of Babylon.” Zech. 2:7. “Behold, I will send
for many fishers, saith the Lord, and they shall fish them; and after will
I send for many hunters, and they shall hunt them from every mountain, and
from every hill, and out of the holes of the rocks.” Jer. 16:16.
“Woe be unto the pastors that destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture!
saith the Lord. Therefore thus saith the Lord God of Israel against the
pastors that feed my people; Ye have scattered my flock, and driven them
away, and have not visited them: behold, I will visit upon you the evils
of your doings, saith the Lord. And I will gather the remnant of my flock
out of all countries whither I have driven them, and will bring them again
to their fold; and they shall be fruitful and increase.” Jer. 23:1-3.
In the evening of time God will gather the scattered remnant of his
people, but woe be to the pastors that scattered them. Let the proud lords
of sectism repent of their evil doings ere God visits his woe upon them.
“For thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I, even I, will both search my
sheep, and seek them out. As a shepherd seeketh out his flock in the day
that he is among his sheep that are scattered; so will I seek out my
sheep, and will deliver them out of all places where they have been
scattered in the cloudy and dark day [sectism]. And I will bring them out
from the people, and gather them from the countries, and will bring them
to their own land, and feed them upon the mountains of Israel by the
rivers, and in all the inhabited places of the country. I will feed them
in a good pasture, and upon the high mountains of Israel shall their fold
be: there shall they lie in a good fold, and in a fat pasture shall they
feed upon the mountains of Israel. I will feed my flock, and I will cause
them to lie down, saith the Lord God. I will seek that which was lost, and
bring again that which was driven away, and will bind up that which was
broken, and will strengthen that which was sick: but I will destroy the
fat and the strong; I will feed them with judgment.” Ezek. 34:11-16.
God is gathering out his own into the beautiful light of Zion. We have now
reached the time when the above promise is being fulfilled by the
delivering hand of God. Amid the ruins of Babel confusion the Lord has a
remnant which he is gathering home to their goodly fold, in the top of the
mountains of Israel.
“Except the Lord of hosts had left unto us a very small remnant, we should
have been as Sodom, and we should have been like unto Gomorrah.” Isa. 1:9.
“Yet, behold, therein shall be left a remnant that _shall be brought
forth_.” Ezek. 14:22.
"Have you heard the voice from heaven,
Calling in a solemn tone,
’Come, my people, from confusion,
This is not your native home?’
"Do you know, O ransomed brother,
That we stand upon the verge,
Where old time fills up his ages,
And the lost will mourn his dirge?
"Yes, I heard, and to my vision
Zion’s glory brightly shone;
Then I rose and fled the ruin,
Taking not a Babel stone.
"Yes, my soul has come to Zion,
On the high and holy way,
And I’ve seen all darkness flying,
Driven by the light of day.
[Now the evening light is flashing,
God is gathering to their home
All the pure and holy remnant
Waiting for the Lord to come.]
"Oh, what myriad souls are sleeping,
Soon to wake in judgment-fires;
Help, O God, thy remnant gleaning,
Until time indeed expires."
-------------------------------------
I have cast each sectish idol
To the mole and to the bat; (Isa. 2:20.)
I am feeding on the mountain,
And my soul is growing fat. (Ezek. 34:14.)
The Second Coming Of Christ.
When Jesus was taken up into heaven and a cloud had received him out of
sight, two heavenly visitants appeared unto the men of Galilee and said,
“This same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in
like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven.” Acts 1:11. Jesus went up
in a cloud and he is to come again in like manner as he went up. “And then
shall they see the Son of man coming in the clouds with great power and
glory.” Mark 13:26.
No one knows the exact time of his coming. “But of that day and hour
knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only.” Mat.
24:36. We can know, however, when his coming is near. “So likewise ye,
when ye shall see all these things, know that it is near, even at the
door.” Mat. 24:33. The things spoken of here by which we may know that the
coming of the Lord is near, is the gathering together of God’s elect from
out the ruins of Babylon and the world. The work of gathering is now in
rapid progress. The messengers are flying with the everlasting gospel.
Soon it will reach all nations. They are calling, “Come out of her, my
people, for the hour of her judgment is come.” Thus we now see the
Savior’s coming is near, even at the door. Even so, come, O Lord Jesus!
He sounds a warning to all to be ready. “Therefore be ye also ready: for
in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh.” Mat. 24:44. What
will be the condition of this world when Jesus comes? “But as the days of
Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. For as in the
days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying
and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, and
knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the
coming of the Son of man be.” Mat. 24:37-39. Who is not able to fully
understand this? In the end of the world wickedness and revelry shall be
as it was in the days of Noah. “In the last days perilous times shall
come.” “But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving and
being deceived.” 2 Tim. 3:13. The very deepest deceptions shall be upon
the people in the time of the end. They shall be saying, “Peace and
safety,” then sudden destruction cometh upon them.
Just before the second coming of the Savior, and while God is gathering
together the scattered fold of Israel, Satan “shall go out to deceive the
nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog [both
forms of the apostasy], to gather them together to battle: the number of
whom is as the sand of the sea. And they went upon the breadth of the
earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city
[Zion].” Rev. 20:8, 9.
We are now living in the time when the sixth angel is pouring his vial
upon the great river Euphrates, and the waters are being dried up. The
time when the unclean spirits (the state power, ecclesiastical power, and
the Babylon ministry) are going out unto the whole earth to gather them to
the battle of that great day of God Almighty. Rev. 16:12-14. Even at this
day the state power is favorably inclined toward the beast power. The
candidate for office is upheld and defends the corrupt city for advantage.
The kings of the earth are committing fornication with her. The state
officials are so infatuated with her delicacies and intoxicated upon her
wines that a true child of God can scarcely get a hearing of justice
to-day in the courts. The prophet (ministry), church (so-called), and
state, are the powers engaged in battle against God.
We are living in the time when the sixth angel is sounding. Rev. 9:13.
Soon the seventh angel will stand upon the land and sea and with hand
uplifted to heaven swear by him that liveth forever and ever, that time
shall be no longer. Rev. 10:5-7. That day shall not come unawares upon the
children of light. They will be watching for their Lord to come, when they
shall be caught up to meet him in the air and forever be with him. Amen. 1
Thes. 4:17.
What shall be the doom of the wicked when that great and notable day of
the Lord shall come? “And to you who are troubled rest with us, when the
Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels, in
flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not
the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ: who shall be punished with
everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory
of his power.” 2 Thes. 1:7-9.
This flaming fire in which the Lord shall be revealed from heaven is the
fire that shall come down from God out of heaven and devour Gog and Magog
as they are compassing the camp of the saints and the beloved city. Rev.
20:9.
Dear saint, our God is able to deliver thee. “Wherefore, beloved, seeing
that ye look for such things, be diligent that ye may be found of him in
peace, without spot and blameless.” 2 Pet. 3:14. The Holy Spirit is in the
world searching out and bringing to the light every one that can be
persuaded to accept salvation. Soon he will have gone over the world and
gleaned out every one that is disposed to serve God. The world at large
will reject him. His mission will be ended. He will ascend to the Father.
Then as Christ went into heaven he will come again, taking vengeance on
them that know not God, and receiving his own unto himself. Then the
Savior’s mission will be ended. He will turn all over to the Father, and
the three shall be but one.
“Be ye therefore also ready; for in such an hour as ye think not the Son
of man cometh.” “Prepare to meet thy God.”
The Last Day.
This gospel day is the last day. There never will be another age of time.
An age-to-come teacher is branded by the Word of God and the Holy Spirit,
as a false teacher. We need no other age in which to prepare for eternity.
This is the day of salvation. “Now is the accepted time.” Now is the day
and this is the time for us to accept Christ, and to be accepted of him.
The Word of God holds no promise to you of another day of salvation. How
can man, unless he be wholly subverted, teach another age to come when so
many immutable and infallible texts declare this is the last day and last
time? We will quote a few texts on this subject, and that alone will
convince every one that is candid.
“That in the dispensation of the fulness of times he might gather together
in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on
earth; even in him.” Eph. 1:10. Are we not to understand that with this
dispensation time is full? Then it will be the end, and as the seventh
angel declares, “Time shall be no more.”
“This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come.” 2 Tim.
3:1. These are declared to be the last days, hence there is no other day
to come. Only eternity lies before us when this present time is ended.
“God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto
the fathers by the prophets, hath in these last days spoken unto us by his
Son.” Heb. 1:1, 2. Here again it is declared that the day of Christ, this
Christian dispensation, is the last day, and that “there should be mockers
in the last time, who should walk after their own ungodly lusts.” Jude 18.
How can you expect another time when this is declared to be the last time?
“Who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was
manifest in these last times for you.” 1 Pet. 1:20. “Knowing this first,
that there shall come in the last days scoffers.” 2 Pet. 3:3. “Little
children, it is the last time.” 1 John 2:18.
How does John know it is the last time? Because the antichrists that Paul
says should come in the last days have come, therefore John says in the
same verse, “We know that it is the last time.”
Many more texts from both Testaments could be quoted, but surely the
reader will not ask for any more to help him believe it is the last time.
"While false prophets are confiding
In a foolish, erring dream,
Of millennial enjoyments,
They neglect the cleansing stream.
"O poor sinner, don’t believe them,
There will be no age to come;
If in life you find not Jesus,
Death will seal your awful doom."
Conclusion Of Part Third.
We have placed before the reader in the best manner we could, considering
our limited time, the beautiful light and wonderful accomplishments of
redeeming grace in the morning of this gospel day. In the apostolic
period, we again repeat, the church was the light of the world. The
Christians believed the whole Word of God. They taught the whole truth and
no more. They lived a pure, holy life just as Jesus lived and just as the
Bible declares that Christians must live. They were fully consecrated to
God. They counted not their lives dear unto themselves. They forsook all
to follow Jesus and lived wholly unto him. They had faith in God and power
with him. They were of one heart and of one soul. They all spake the same
thing. They were humble and equal. They healed the sick, cast out devils,
and raised the dead in Jesus’ name. Thus they were the light of the world.
Now the evening shall be as light as the morning. Man, as a Christian,
shall live as pure and holy and as deeply consecrated in this evening of
time as did the Christian in the morning time. At this present time God is
raising up a people who believe, experience and teach the whole Word of
truth. They have fled the ruins of Babylon and are proclaiming the
everlasting gospel in the fear of God and the clear light of heaven. God
is working with his pure and consecrated ministry, confirming the Word
with signs and deeds and wonders, the same as he did with the early
ministry.
There are thousands to-day who gladly bear testimony to the wonderful
healing power of God. The blind have been made to see, the lame to walk;
broken bones have been united, cancers removed, consumption cured. The
deaf have been made to hear, the dumb to speak, and devils have been cast
out. All these wonders, and many more, have been wrought in the name of
the holy child Jesus in God’s pure church within the last few years. God
is increasing his church in faith, purity, power, and glory, and in the
immediate coming years much greater things than these shall ye hear and
see. Amen.
A Personal Experience.
It is recorded in the Bible that God will not hear sinners. While this is
true it has its modifications. Those who are in wilful and stubborn
rebellion against God he will not hear, even though in a day of trouble
and fear they should call upon him. But when in the more sober moments of
life man’s heart feels the influence of the Holy Spirit inclining his
desires toward a better life, arousing the nobler aspirations of his soul,
enkindling to a brighter flame the spark of humanity; when, though he be
not in possession of God’s saving grace, under such an influence he, in
sincerity of heart, calls upon God, he will hear and answer his call as
far as consistent with the divine mind, and thus encourage his soul on to
the Christian goal.
Our boyhood days and the early days of our manhood were spent amid the gay
scenes and pleasures of life. When in the whirl of society-life we had no
serious thoughts. There would, however, in our more secluded hours, when
naught stood between us and the whisperings of our soul, arise thoughts of
futurity. The Holy Spirit would speak to our heart of God, of heaven, of
Christ and the blood; he would hold before us in a beautiful picture the
life of a Christian journeying onward to a glory world. He would also
disclose to our view the hideousness and awfulness of sin, and the
uneasiness, discontentments, trouble and fear attending the wicked as they
journey onward to the eternal region of woe.
In these more sober hours we would seek God for his protection with
sincere, heartfelt pledges that some day we would serve him. God heard
these prayers and gave his protection. We now in reviewing the scenes of
those early days see the many snares and dangers Satan had arranged for
our destruction, but out of them all the Lord delivered us. Bless his
name! There was one instance of God hearing our prayer, though in what may
be considered a trivial matter, yet made a deep impression upon us and
went far to enforce upon us the reality of God and his Word.
One night we had a journey of several miles to make on horseback. It was
nine o’clock when we started. After traveling about two miles our horse
became very lame. In our pity for him we dismounted and throwing the reins
over the saddle started the horse on before us. After some two or three
miles of traveling thus, our horse seemed much improved. For the purpose
of faster travel, we concluded to again ride. Our attempts to catch the
horse seemed in vain. Repeatedly we tried to come up with him, but when we
had come near he would trot on before. After many unsuccessful trials it
occurred to our mind that we should ask God to aid us. Accordingly the
Father was implored to cause the horse to stand that we might come up with
him. Although not a Christian we believed there was help in God, and
trusting in him we approached the animal, speaking to him as we had
before, when he stopped and we mounting continued our lonely journey in
deep and solemn thought of the verity of God.
In the winter of 1886-87 we became very much concerned about our soul. A
revival meeting was in progress in the little village in which we lived.
They did not teach salvation by grace through faith as was taught by the
apostles, but we, knowing no better, and wanting to escape the damnation
of hell, and hoping for an avenue of escape, concluded to take this.
Accordingly we gave the minister our hand one night, and answered in the
affirmative his few questions concerning our belief in God. On our way
home we were baptized, for we were taught that the water washed away sins.
During the days following we kept a close watch upon our heart and life to
learn if there was any change. We were disappointed. We found that sin
held the same power over us. There remained the same uncertainty of our
eternal state. The thoughts of death had lost none of their fear, and the
grave none of its terror. We were troubled. Here we had entered, as we
hoped, a path that led to heaven, but yet all was dark and uncertain. O
God, is this all of thy kingdom upon the earth?
I would question the older members of our congregation about their
experience. Should you be called for to-night to depart this life are you
fully assured that your home will be in heaven? Have you no fear to meet
God? They would answer me thus: “We can never know in this life just what
the decision of the Great Judge will be until we come before his awful
tribunal. In this world we can only go on the best we can, and hope for
the most in the judgment.”
This was sad news to my soul. Is this all there is in a Christian life?
Where is the great peace, the joy, the bright hope and positiveness
promised in the Bible? But thinking these old heads knew all about the
Christian life, I endeavored to console myself and calm my fears. I very
poorly succeeded, for which I now praise God.
One instance occurred at this time that troubled me very greatly. One
night after retiring we heard a shout of “Fire! fire!” upon the street. On
rushing to the door and looking up the whole heavens above us seemed to be
one burning flame. All was on fire. The first thought that came to our
mind was, It is the last night of this world. The earth, and all its
works, is burning up. A great fear came upon me. Whither shall I go, and
whither shall I flee from His presence? The cause of alarm proved to be a
burning building over a hill, casting the reflection on the dark clouds
over us. We read in the Bible of a class unfit and unprepared for heaven,
that would in that day call for the mountains and the hills to fall upon
them to hide them from God’s presence. Here we, trying and claiming to be
a Christian, experienced just what was said should be the experience of
the wicked, and my soul was alarmed. Earnest became our efforts to live a
better life. Fierce was our struggle against sin, deep and firm would be
the resolutions, but sin was a hard, strong master, who ground us beneath
his iron heel. We sought every known means for relief, walking for miles
to hear a sermon to learn of a more successful life.
Often in these days of struggle would I become unpleasant in my home.
Should my children be a little trying, I would speak to them in a cross,
snappish way. I would see them stand back in fear before my harsh voice,
and this would sting my conscience. A child in fear of its father! how
unchristianlike! When my wife, whom I had vowed to love always, would not
do according to my judgment I would hastily reprove in strong language. We
would see the tears start from her eyes, and again our conscience would be
heavily smitten. Resolve after resolve was made to be more tender and kind
to our dear ones, only to be broken by the power of impatience.
In our efforts to become more gentle and tender we often would read an
article in an old school-reader entitled “Sorrow for the Dead.” In this
the writer said words like these, to the best of our remembrance: “As we
look upon the cold, lifeless form of some dear, departed friend, there
will come rushing to our memory, the unkind acts and deeds and thoughts we
have had toward them. This remorse of conscience,” he said, “should cause
us to be more true to the living.” We often would read this, and did
receive some benefit from it for the time, but we found it powerless to
conquer an irritable disposition. We can not forbear telling the reader
here, although it is a little in the advance, that the day came when we
found the Savior in the wonders of his redeeming love and he broke the
power of sin, and by his grace did strengthen and help us to be “true to
the living.” Glory, glory to his name!
It was in the summer of 1890 that the struggle became very desperate. The
convicting hand of God lay heavily upon me. The burden of sin lay heavily
upon my soul, especially the sin of tobacco using. We had no man to teach
us. None seemed to care, nor pity. God, however, was humbling us down to a
final decision. One late October morning on our way to the schoolroom, as
we were teaching at that time, all alone upon the road, God spoke peace to
our soul. Where is the pen to describe the experience of that hour! Mine,
it seems, is utterly helpless. We were conscious of a life, power and
glory, not terrestrial, filling our entire being. The earth was lit up
with a splendor never seen before. In our days of deepest conviction we
would picture to our mind the happiness of angels, but here we had come to
the realization of something that far surpassed all we had imagined of the
heavenly host. We felt like we wanted to sing and praise God forever. Wife
had received a similar experience in her home a few days before. Our home
at once became a heaven. We remembered in pity those who had endeavored to
comfort us in our fears and tell us there was no better way.
Two weeks passed of uninterrupted glory. However, one morning after about
two weeks, when doing some work which went wrong, we were strongly tempted
to speak as we had formerly done on such occasions, but we overcame. The
second time the work went wrong as previously, when the temptation came
stronger than before. We felt something unpleasant within us; however, God
helped us to overcome, and we set to doing the work over, when it went
wrong the third time. This time we were overcome and gave utterance to a
word that brought a sense of guilt. No sooner had we spoken than we fell
upon our knees and did not arise until we knew we were forgiven. By this
experience we became conscious of a foe within us that was going to give
us trouble in the Christian life.
About this time we providentially received a copy of a holiness paper,
_The Gospel Trumpet_, which taught a higher life, namely, entire
sanctification. This came as a light from heaven. We began to earnestly
seek this experience. Before we reached this experience there were a few
other occurrences in our Christian life of which we wish to speak. At this
time we were very ignorant of the Bible. It was our custom to have prayer
at the schoolroom after the children were all gone to their homes. We
would then go to our home with a heavenly glory resting upon us. One
evening on our way home, we met a company of our former worldly
associates. They accosted us in their customary worldly way. We replied
somewhat under the influence of their worldly spirit. I felt the glory
depart, and an emptiness instead. I went on my way hastily, asking God to
smile upon me again. He taught me by this that he had chosen me out of the
world and its witticisms, and that slang phrases were foreign to his
salvation.
Soon after this, one morning in November when laboring in my garden a
transparent glory shone all around me, and my soul was filled with peace.
It was on election day. After working a few hours amid rapturous bliss, we
went to the place of voting and cast our ballot along with political men.
A shade came over my spirit, and for the remainder of the day it appeared
that God had forsaken me and would never smile on me again. He taught me
once more that he had chosen me out of the world and that politics in
civil government was foreign to the kingdom of heaven.
The Christmas-time drew near, and great preparations were being made by
the people for their festivities. In these we found nothing congenial to
our spirit. We had decided to remain at home on the night of these
festivities and have a protracted Bible reading and prayers. We looked
forward to the evening with pleasure, expecting great blessings from God.
Just before we were ready to begin our Bible reading wife was taken with a
severe aching in the head, that threatened to mar the enjoyment of the
evening. We wondered why it was that God permitted us to be thus
interrupted, when the Holy Spirit whispered, “If you will ask God, he will
heal her.” Accordingly we fell upon our knees and petitioned God for his
healing virtue, and instantly she was healed. This was our first
experience in divine healing.
In the following February a Holy Ghost minister came to our place and held
a short series of meetings. He taught us the way of God more perfectly. We
entered the glorious experience of entire sanctification during this
meeting. We also beheld the body of Christ, the one true church, and saw
in a clear light the monstrous beast religion in all her evils. God soon
after called us into his work. We sold our little home, all we had of this
world, and used the means in the work of the Lord. Our work for God has
been independent of the creeds of men, teaching a full salvation and
trusting God for everything. We have held meetings in over twelve of the
different states, and have never asked for money. Not on one single
occasion have we taken up a collection. It would require volumes to tell
of the many times the Lord has blessedly answered our prayers. God has
never called us to any conspicuous position in this world. The great faith
for the building of orphanages and homes, and establishing missions has
been entrusted to other men. Our faith has been only for our daily bread
and needs. Oh, what an assurance our heavenly Father gives us that he will
never forsake us. We do not want the riches of this world. We would rather
not have them. There is a blessedness in taking our every want to Jesus.
To look unto him daily for your temporal as well as spiritual support has
a strong tendency to draw one very near to him.
We would take pleasure in telling you of many of the instances in which
God has heard and answered our prayers, but fearing you will take less
pleasure in reading we will forbear, only saying that God has been
petitioned for corn for our horse, and the prayer answered in a marvelous
way before the day was over. We have asked God for a spool of thread, and
our prayer has been answered at once. One time wife was on her knees
asking God for soap, when there was a rap at the door, and upon opening it
a lady presented her with a bar of soap. Almost daily the Lord is
petitioned for flour, meat, sugar, or clothes, and he always gives us what
we need. It is wonderful and just as glorious as it is wonderful. In fact,
such a life is made up of glory.
Some one may wonder if we ever have any tests of our faith. Oh, yes; there
is where the greatest glory is. Not long since we were much in need of a
dollar. In searching through my vest pocket for a match I found a dollar
bill all neatly rolled up. Where it came from, and how, I never knew, only
that the Lord sent it. Just last night, our twelve-year-old daughter said,
“This is the last Sunday I can wear these shoes. Unless I get a new pair I
shall have to stay at home.” We asked her if she had been asking the Lord
for a pair. She answered, “Yes, sir.” This morning in our family devotions
we made especial mention, amid some other things, of the shoes. In less
than two hours a Christian man came to the door and presented her with a
pair. Yes, we would rather have a faith and trust in God than the wealth
of a world. We feel more secure.
The times God has healed different ones of our family we are unable to
number. For the past eight years he, and he only, has been our physician.
We have not in that time spent one cent for medicine. We have three
children, aged four, six, and eight years, who have never tasted medicine.
They never were given a dose of any kind of soothing syrups or “teas.” God
has always healed from the toothache to a broken limb. It does not take
much of the Lord’s means to provide for us. We wear no superfluous
clothing. Our daily fare is plain and common. We use no stimulants,
narcotics, nor medicines, and consequently just a few pennies a day is all
we need. God in his great goodness supplies all these, while we go telling
the world of the wonderful blessings of salvation.
We are at present engaged in ministerial work without salary. In all our
meetings we take up no collection, we ask for no money in any way of man,
and we have no other source of support but in God alone. Just as the
apostles lived in the morning light, so we live in the evening light. Just
what they enjoyed, we enjoy. In their preaching they gave God’s people
warning of the apostasy. In our ministry we preach, “Come out of her, my
people.”
We enjoy more of the love of God than ever before. His very life and power
and glory fills our soul to the full. We are led exclusively by his Spirit
and are fed and clothed by his bountiful hand. Our life is one of blessed
contentment. Our home is a heaven and our happiness is complete. Even as
we write, the waves of glory roll over our soul until we are made to shout
praises to our God. We have never a care nor a sorrow, but a faith and
trust in God that keeps us above every wave of trouble. We are dead to the
world and living alone for his glory. His great heart’s love sweetens and
tenders every fiber of our soul, and bids us wait in brighter hope the
happy day when he shall call us to our home.
O home of my soul,
In that far away goal;
Each day brings me nearer to thee,
The great throne so white,
And my crown shining bright,
Mine eyes ever longing to see.
There’s a musical strain
From that far away plain;
Its melody sweeps o’er my soul,
While a wave of sweet peace
In my heart shall increase,
While the years of eternity roll.
FOOTNOTES
1 There is a little book entitled “Tea and Coffee as an Evil,”
published by the Gospel Trumpet Co., which gives the opinions,
respecting these stimulants, of the best known men of medical
science.